Pitt coach Jeff Capel on NC State: ‘It looks like a team that has joy playing with each other’
Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel had an easy way to describe NC State’s current team. It did not take the sixth-year man to come up with a description of the Wolfpack during the ACC’s weekly Zoom call Monday morning.
“The first thing that really sticks out, and stands out, is the joy they seem to have playing with each other,” Capel said. “It looks like, again on film, that Kevin [Keatts] has a really good group that he really likes and they really like each other.”
Capel’s review of the Wolfpack roster was a high mark for the red and white considering eight of the players on the team are new to Raleigh this season. NC State has leaned on several of the transfers, including graduate guard DJ Horne, the Pack’s leading scorer.
While Horne has been the bus driver of NC State’s offense, Capel also looked to two of NC State’s stalwarts on the floor: graduate guard Casey Morsell and graduate forward DJ Burns. He thought that the trio’s talent level stood out the most when he scouted the Wolfpack.
Capel highlighted those three, but he made sure to note that this Wolfpack team plays with the same defensive intensity of most Keatts coached teams. But the guards are able to make life tough on the opposing defenses.
“They play really hard, they pressure you defensively, they push it in transition,” Capel said. “They usually have at least three, a lot of times four guys, out there that can break you down off the bounce, so that can be difficult to defend. I just think they’re a really good team.”
The guards that Capel referred to are a group that Keatts could run out as the starting five against Pitt, just as he did against Miami and Georgia Tech. NC State used a smaller lineup that had four guards and Burns on the floor together to have a more athletic group on the hardwood.
That move allowed graduate Michael O’Connell to run the point, while Horne was able to move to shooting guard with junior guard Jayden Taylor on the wing with Morsell at the small-ball four spot.
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Capel thought that the new lineup gave Horne the opportunity to display his scoring talent, while it has allowed the Wolfpack to run even faster in transition.
“It frees Horne up to score more, so he can concentrate on that,” Capel said. “Even with that, thay helps him be an even better playmaker because he doesn’t have to have primary ball handling responsibilities. I think it’s made them faster. O’Connell’s a tough kid, man. He’s tough, he’s competitive, he’s smart — both offensively and defensively. And just has given them even more pace and help put these guys in their natural positions.”
NC State could roll with that starting five on the floor, but Pitt’s size may force the Wolfpack to play with a pair of bigs on the floor — either Ben Middlebrooks or Mohamed Diarra — to match up well.
The Wolfpack did not bend when Georgia Tech had multiple forwards on the court with NC State’s smaller lineup, so Keatts may opt to do the same. The smaller lineup as led to back-to-back wins, and the ball has moved around the perimeter well for the red and white.
But for now, Capel thought the Wolfpack has been effective on the floor.
“They’re playing very, very well right now,” Capel said. “And again, it looks like a team that has joy playing with each other.”
