Jeff Capel Wants Improvements From Two Pitt Starters
PITTSBURGH -- Despite a win over Canisius, Jeff Capel remains unsatisfied with the play of two of the Pitt Panthers' current starters.
Zack Austin and Federiko Federiko have remained in the starting lineup all season thus far, but their status in that regard feels as though it is in jeopardy.
Guillermo Diaz Graham and Will Jeffress began the second half in place of Austin and Federiko, a move that seemed to signal Capel's dissatisfaction with the latter group's play. When asked why he came to that decision, Capel's response said a lot with a little.
"Just guys who were playing better," Capel said.
Austin played just six minutes against Canisius, his lowest total of the season, while scoring zero points. Federiko recorded 19 minutes and added five points with one rebound.
Neither Austin nor Federiko have settled into a rhythm or performed with much consistency this season. Their overall production simply hasn't been up to par, and in turn it has affected both players' effectiveness in filling their individual roles on both ends of the floor.
With the depth of the roster emerging as a question mark quite a bit up to this point, Capel's message about needing improvement comes with added urgency and exasperation. When speaking about Austin, Capel stated he wanted to see his effort levels and overall play elevate.
“He’s gotta play better," Capel said. "He’s gotta play all the time, motor has to be revved up all the time.”
On Federiko's end, many of those same sentiments reoccurred. However, Capel alluded to the fact that he was impressed by his showing towards the end of the game.
"Tonight, in the first half, he didn’t play with the force necessary," Capel said. "He had some turnovers, didn’t rebound and he just didn’t play well. I thought he did a much better job in the second half of playing with force. He made some good passes, he finished, he got an offensive rebound and kicked it back out. He just has to play better.”
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