Whatever the recipe is for winning on any given night in college basketball, taking care of the ball is at or near the top of the list of ingredients.
Pitt has struggled with turnovers in many situations this season, having entered Monday's game at Northwestern averaging 13.4 assists and 14.7 turnovers per game. That ratio of 0.92 ranked 13th in the ACC in this early portion.
This distribution of the basketball, though still a work in progress on a consistent basis, has arrived primarily from Nelly Cummings, who paces the team with 35 assists in eight games. He has been the primary ballhandler for the team, which entered fall camp with the expectation that Dior Johnson would be able to help alleviate duties as the team's secondary ballhandler.
That, obviously, is not the case, and it might not be the case this season, if ever.
So, Jeff Capel had to pivot. Cummings cannot handle all of the Panthers' possessions over the course of a 40-minute game. Somebody had to step in and handle the role.
Capel might have found two solutions to one problem, in Jamarius Burton and Nike Sibande.
"I think those two guys have really shared those responsibilities," Capel said of Burton and Cummings during Wednesday's press conference at the Petersen Events Center. "I think they're right around the same number of assists, or maybe Nelly's a few more, but both of those guys have done a really good job for us. I think last game they had either 13 or 14 assists and two turnovers combined.
"But a guy that's stepped up and done a good job for us over the last four games is Nike Sibande. He's been able to generate offense off the bounce. We've put him in some ball-screen actions, and he's done a nice job for us."
During Monday's rout of Northwestern, that assist-to-turnover ratio was at 22:10. It was Burton who paced the Panthers in assists with seven. Cummings pitched in six assists, while Sibande dished four off the bench.
But it was more than just about sharing the ball which led to success against the Wildcats. Pitt did so effectively, recording 22 assists on 26 made field goals against the NCAA's No. 4-ranked scoring defense.
Having an effective secondary ballhandler can help change the whole complexion of an offense. It allows Cummings to go freely and open up his own shot, for one, and it helps facilitate different looks inside to forwards, namely John Hugley IV, who commands more attention and some double teams from opposing defenses. Pitt blew out Northwestern without Hugley having to score a single point.
While being the team's second-leading scorer at 14.6 points per game, Burton is also second on the team in assists with 30 (in seven games played). Sibande is third, with 17 assists (in eight games).
Sibande has chipped in at least three assists in each of his last four games, and he has hit that mark in five games overall this season.
"He's just been super aggressive at everything he's been doing on the basketball court," Greg Elliott said. "Rebounding the ball aggressively, defending aggressively. He's attacking the offensive end aggressively. I feel like he's doing everything in 'attack' mode, and that's what we need from Nike. He's our sixth starter, for real, so whenever he gets out there, we need him to be aggressive and to play with an 'attack' mindset. We've got an 'attack' mindset from Nike, and I feel like there's no team that can stop that."
But, the trio of Cummings, Burton and Sibande are also among the team's leaders in turnovers, a statistic you do not want to be at the top of. Cummings and Burton have each turned the ball over 21 times, while Sibande has racked up 12 turnovers. (Blake Hinson is third on the team with 16 turnovers.)
How does this get remedied? By good decision making, for one, but communication is a component which Capel and the players are stressing in helping to develop a more consistent flow to the offense.
"Blake is that way," Capel said. "Greg is that way, and we have some other guys -- J.B. (Burton) is that way. Nike has become that way over the last four games. Nelly is learning how to do that at a higher level. So we have some guys that are trending in the right direction that are learning how to do it. ... It's a lot more than we've had."
The turnovers have been mitigated over the previous two games. The Panthers turned the ball over just 10 times against each of Northwestern and William & Mary, compared to an average of 15.5 turnovers per game in the six games prior. Sibande and Cummings, along with Hugley, each distributed four assists against William & Mary on Friday, as the Panthers finished with a 17:10 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Entering Friday's matchup at NC State, the first against an ACC foe this season, Pitt is now 10th in the ACC with a 1.03 assist-to-turnover ratio. The offense has also tremendously benefitted from the concerted effort in making the extra pass and limiting turnovers. Per KenPom, Pitt is 74th in the NCAA with a 106.8 adjusted offensive efficiency, which measures a team's points scored per 100 possessions.
"Our offense has to help our defense," Capel said. "We can't have any turnovers, live-balls, because they really punish you there. When you turn the ball over, you allow them to get in transition."
That current mark is 11th in the ACC, but it is a significant improvement from KenPom's AdjO rankings from last season, where the Panthers ranked 243rd nationally and last in the ACC with a 99.7 AdjO.
And, as a result of a cleaner mode of ball movement, Pitt is picking up the tempo on offense. Though early in the season, the Panthers are averaging 67.7 possessions per 40 minutes, which is up from the 64.0 last season, per KenPom.
On Wednesday, Capel also noted his team's improvement in communication systems on the offensive side of the ball. Typically those systems are attributed to a team's success -- or sometimes a lack thereof -- on defense, but there is still just as much emphasis on communication on offense, be it verbal or nonverbal.
"I would say we've grown in that tremendously," Elliott said. "We just played a full month together. I feel it's different from practicing for a month. Yeah, you're getting more comfortable, but these are the rewards in the end.
"You see what your brother's really about when there's really bullets flying at you, and these teams (are) punching back, too. It's not like it is at practice where it's just one side. With that being said, if we're doing it like that, and we keep fighting, and we keep growing together."
