Vukovcan: Give Papa a Look

We’re certainly not in panic mode but there certainly is a different vibe concerning the Pitt men’s basketball team than there was a few weeks ago.

Considering we live in a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately society, that’s not surprising. As of late, we’ve witnessed poor play from the Panthers in their last 3 games, which were all losses. 76-47 at Duke, 82-78 vs. Louisville and 82-70 at Florida State.

While the margin of defeat against Duke was eye-opening, the last two games in particular are the ones that might have you concerned if you’re a Pitt fan.

The common thread in both of those unexpected results was the way in which Pitt was outplayed and manhandled in the front court.

Against Louisville, Pitt lost because of one thing: rebounding. The Cardinals out-rebounded Pitt, 39-30 and the killer was 14-5 in offensive rebounds. Louisville’s offensive boards resulted in 22 second-chance points, compared to just seven for Pitt.

Most times, rebounding is an effort thing and to get dominated that bad is undoubtedly concerning.

The struggles on the boards continued last night as Florida State had the edge, 37-31. In addition, the Seminoles had more points in the paint and free-throw attempts.

The most fight Pitt showed last night was after the game when they got into a mini skirmish with the Florida State players. Too little too late.

Despite this three-game losing streak, Pitt still sits with a record of 12-5 and 3-3 in the ACC. However, up next is a matchup against Clemson, which is 14-4 and 6-1 in conference. Needless to say, things aren’t getting any easier.

The question now is what buttons can Jeff Capel press to change things around before it gets too late? Last night, he changed the starting lineup by inserting Damian Dunn and having Jorge Diaz Graham come off the bench to play significant minutes.

This isn’t the NBA and Pitt isn’t able to go out and make a midseason trade, so Capel is going to need to change someone’s role and minutes, or existing starters are going to need to get a whole lot better if Pitt has any hope of qualifying for the tournament.

I believe the coaching staff needs to look at make a change in their rotation and try someone that can give them some energy and some toughness.

Papa Kante would be my choice.

When given the opportunity to get on the court, Kante is someone that you always seem to notice for his play underneath. For whatever the reason and maybe it has to do with this tendency to pick up fouls, but Capel has been reluctant to give him many minutes.

Last night, Kante played just 9 minutes. Against Louisville, his playing time was 3 minutes. He played 0 minutes against Duke.

I’m not going to profess to know more than Capel, but about my only negative critique of him is his usage or lack thereof of Kante.

Pitt has been putting all of their faith in Cam Corhen, Zack Austin and Guillermo Diaz-Graham. And while all 3 have had their moments, each has been very inconsistent of late, especially Corhen. The bottom line is that Pitt needs more toughness, grit, physicality down in the paint and none of those guys provide it on a consistent basis. These last two games, Corhen and Austin have given Pitt almost nothing and have been badly outplayed.

Why not give Kante a serious look? To be clear, I’m not suggesting drastically reducing the minutes of Corhen, Austin and Diaz-Graham, but I am saying Kante needs to be given a serious look and not for just 3 and 4 minutes. Hell, I’d start him this Saturday against Clemson.

Since taking over at Pitt, Jeff Capel has shown the ability to recruit guards and wing players, but the same can’t be said for big men.

The one highly ranked forward that Capel has signed was Kante, who had to miss all of last season with a knee injury.

Kante is healthy now and it’s time to see if he’s able to display his vast potential. Capel wasn’t reluctant to throw freshman Bub Carrington and Jaland Lowe into the spotlight immediately, it’s time he does the same with Kante.