Pitt to face Notre Dame as Panthers clinging to hopes for ACC Tournament berth
With 5 regular-season video games remaining, what does Pitt nonetheless have to play for?
Players could be questioning that, whereas coach Jeff Capel contemplates how to inspire them.
“I don’t know what I’ll use,” Capel stated. “I haven’t thought about that as much. We’ve tried different things this year. They haven’t worked. We’ll continue to try different things.”
The final purpose of an NCAA Tournament look is properly out of attain and has been disputed for months.
An NIT or CBI berth for Pitt (9-17, 2-11 ACC) additionally appears extremely unlikely.
But attracting an invite to both of these lesser tournaments would seemingly require a robust end to the season coupled with some success within the ACC Tournament.
The downside is, have been the ACC Tournament to start Saturday, Pitt can be disregarded of the sphere.
When the ACC welcomed SMU, Cal-Berkeley and Stanford forward of the 2024-25 marketing campaign, it made the choice to convert the event right into a 15-team affair.
Fast ahead to now, and Pitt (together with Boston College and Georgia Tech) finds itself on the chopping block as a workforce with one of many three worst convention data.
So starting Saturday afternoon vs. Notre Dame (12-14, 3-10) at Petersen Events Center, the Panthers will battle towards making the ACC Tournament with a Fighting Irish workforce that enters the day in place to take the fifteenth and ultimate seed.
Making the ACC Tournament is feasible, however Capel is not utilizing it as a rallying level.
“I don’t know if that’s something that will work with these guys,” Capel stated. “Will it put extra strain on them? … We need to strive to take away strain from them and get them to play freely.
“When you’re losing and you’re going through a difficult time like we are, unless you’re a really secure person, it’s hard. If you throw things out there like that, sometimes it can make players shrink. It adds pressure.”
For Capel, encouraging gamers to push towards that purpose is not one thing that ought to want to be verbalized.
“I don’t know, man, I just feel like as a coach, if you constantly have to try to motivate and trick and do different things, you’re probably not good and you’re probably not going to be good if you have to do that,” Capel stated. “There has to be some private satisfaction. There has to be some stuff inside every man.
“I didn’t have to do that with Bub Carrington, Blake Hinson, Jamarius Burton and things like that. I know we’re not that, but if you’ve got to start trying to do that stuff, man, that takes away from your prep (and) that takes away from all of those things that you have to do.”
Pitt, which has misplaced 5 straight video games, prepares to host a Notre Dame squad that has misplaced 10 of its final 12 video games, with wins coming in opposition to Georgia Tech and Boston College.
Beyond that, the Panthers play at Stanford (Wednesday) and Cal (Feb. 28) earlier than returning dwelling in opposition to Florida State on March 4 and wrapping the season at Syracuse on March 7.
Saturday may also be Pitt’s first sport following information of Brandin Cummings’ season-ending ankle surgical procedure.
Cummings, who missed seven prior video games due to harm, is Pitt’s main scorer, averaging 12.5 factors.
Capel’s remaining troops can manufacture any momentum stays to be seen.
“They know that we’re losing,” Capel stated. “They know that it’s been difficult, (and) they know where we are.”
