Despite New Roster, Pitt Runs Same Stale Offense

The Pitt Panthers are older and more talented, but they haven't executed any better on offense.

PITTSBURGH -- The two most striking characteristics of head coach Jeff Capel's latest edition of the Pitt Panthers were its talent and its experience. Capel himself said before the season that this is the most talented roster he's had at Pitt and the fact that this team - staffed by plenty of veterans and transfers - is the most experienced group of Panthers he's had is plastered on every edition of game notes the program publishes. 

Pitt has been abysmal on offense under Capel's leadership - their best offensive season was 2020-21, when they finished 180th in points per game and 77th in adjusted offensive efficiency. Outside of that year, their average rank in points scored is 275th and in offensive efficiency, it's 166th.  

Logically, the addition of experienced players with proven offensive talent to a group led by versatile super senior Jamarius Burton and 2022 All-ACC honorable mention John Hugley would equal a vast improvement in the team's offense and to their credit, Pitt has been better at scoring the basketball through six games this season, but it's marginal improvements at best. The Panthers are averaging 69.8 points per game and sit outside of the top-100 in efficiency. 

It's an indictment of the current coaching staff that despite all the roster turnover this team has gone through over the years Capel, the offensive results have stayed the same. There is still a lack of cohesion and tired efforts to force scoring through their best players. The exemplary ball movement Capel said had become a fixture of practices during the preseason has faded into isolation plays while made shots become hard to come by. 

Even when the Panthers have been at their best, like they were in the second half of their last game against Fairleigh Dickinson, it wasn't because they had suddenly started executing more cleanly with the ball in their hands. They simply overpowered and outran an opponent that was smaller and slower to get easy looks at the rim and they simply converted on those chances. 

In the first half, the plan seemed to be to seek out Hugley no matter what. It led to frequent turnovers, wasted possessions and rushed attempts at the end of the shot clock. 

While there is still lots of ball left to play this season, the early results in this crucial year of both Pitt and Capel himself are not promising. He has preached patience, citing the fact that his full roster has played together just twice two weeks into the season. 

There's no debating that the Panthers have been shorthanded, but what they've struggled with has more to do with effort and focus than health and chemistry. They have plenty of opportunities left to get back on track, but unless they can find a rhythm entering the start of conference play in December, Pitt could be in for another long winter. 

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