The general makeup of this year's Pitt team is cut and dried.
Jeff Capel loves to run through his experienced backcourt and gain action on the offense through it. Jamarius Burton and Nelly Cummings are the primary facilitators, while Burton maintains as Pitt's most reliable scorer who can get inside the paint and create chances from inside-to-out, with Cummings roaming the wings and facilitating outside-to-in.
But there are points, and will be points, where Pitt has to allow its forwards to provide the primary spark. The frontcourt is the youngest position group on the team, and that at times shines through in positive and negative lights.
One of those bright spots in an overall scope is Federiko Federiko, who has done plenty outside of the scoring column and from outside of the box score to help compliment these pieces.
The next step in the Finnish sophomore's development is the continuation of the development of his game inside the post.
One of four players to log time in all 20 of Pitt's games this season, the 6-foot-11 Federiko is second on the team in rebounding (5.4 per game), and his 34 blocked shots are 23 more than the next Panther. His 1.7 blocks per game rank third in the ACC, while his 2.4 offensive boards per game is good for seventh in the ACC.
He fits his role quite well, but there is still more to add to his game offensively.
"I just think being more comfortable with college basketball," Capel said this week. "I don't think it was as physical over in Finland, and it certainly wasn't that way in his one year of junior college. The physicality of everything. How hard you have to play, how hard you have to work. Building his body. He was a little bit behind when he got here because he didn't spend the summer with us -- or, at least the second summer session. I thought he's progressed very quickly. Right now where he is with his game is that he scores off of other people."
Federiko has taken advantage of those opportunities, for as seldom as they have come his way. He has made 51 of 79 attempts from the field for a 64.6% clip, which would be head and shoulders tops in the ACC with enough attempts to qualify. (Miami's Norchad Omier leads the ACC at 60.1% from the field.)
There is something unique to what Federiko does in the post, as he typically is not a back-to-the-basket forward quite yet.
That comes with Capel's system, and it is not necessarily to a fault, but if Federiko can continue to develop his toolbox of moves and bulk up from his 220-pound frame, Capel can start to utilize him more in what he already has a good feel for -- scoring off of other people, as Capel illustrated.
"What I mean by that -- on ball screens, rolls, drop-offs, penetration from the guards, out in transition, offensive rebounds," Capel said. "He's not at a point yet with his game where he's a back to the basket, where you throw it to him, and he's doing that. That's something that we'll continue to work with him on, and hopefully at some point he can make progress. He's done an outstanding job for us all year with his energy, his effort, and with being a really good teammate."
At the caution of potentially being misinterpreted, Federiko has had his fair share of outstanding games for Pitt. He has scored exactly eight points in three of his last six games, and he was instrumental in quelling Syracuse center Jesse Edwards to a 4-for-8 effort from the field in Pitt's win over the Orange in December. He also popped for eight points (on 4 of 6 shooting) and a season-best 11 rebounds in Pitt's win over No. 11 Virginia to kick off the 2023 calendar.
Federiko is very long for his stature, with a wingspan at 7-foot-3. His defense has been among the best offered within the ACC. Especially without John Hugley IV in the rotation and with Guillermo Diaz Graham still discovering his offensive game, Federiko's chances -- though few and far in between -- are something which Pitt has been able to effectively cash in with in certain scenarios, and could continue to do so frequently as Federiko develops more of his toolbox.
MORE FROM OAKLAND
• Wednesday will be "Send it in, Jerome!" night at the Petersen Events Center in commemoration of the 35th anniversary to the date of Jerome Lane's backboard-shattering dunk against Providence on Jan. 25, 1988.
The two-time All-American Lane will be at The Pete to sign autographs at the Pitt Shop in the Thomas E. Richards Family Lobby from 6:00 to 6:45 p.m. and will be recognized on the court during the game.
"When you go up to dunk, you try to bring the rim home with you," Lane said in an interview with the Post-Gazette this week. "But, I never did it before. ... I just thought the rim collapsed. Before they did the rims the way they are now, they had those springs in there. So when we used to dunk the springs would collapse and the rim would just fall down, and they'd just replace the rim and then that's it. But, this time when I dunked the ball, I came up, and that's when Demetreus Gore said, 'Damn, 'Rome, look,' so I turned around, I was like, 'Damn,' then when I turned back around, Charles (Smith) had hugged me and was like, 'Wow, 'Rome.'
"They were trying to get the glass parts out of my hair and stuff, and then the referees had everybody go to the locker room. We had about a 30-minute delay so they can replace the hoop and get the glass up."
• Wednesday's matchup against Wake Forest is a clash of two ACC teams firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Pitt (13-7, 6-3 ACC) is 64th in the NCAA NET Rankings, while the Demon Deacons (14-6, 6-3) are 71st, as of Tuesday evening. Wake Forest lost to No. 7 Virginia 76-67 at home on Saturday, while Pitt is looking to rebound from its 71-64 loss to Florida State from Saturday.
Both teams are similarly constructed from the transfer portal, as Demon Deacons coach Steve Forbes went into it for much of his current production. Leading scorer Tyree Appleby (17.9 points per game) came from Florida, forward Andrew Carr (11.7 ppg.) came from Delaware, and reserves Davion Bradford and Jao Ituka came from Kansas State and Marist, respectively, over the offseason. Guards Daivien Williamson and Damari Monsanto each transferred over from East Tennessee State over the past two offseasons prior to reunite with the former ETSU coach Forbes.
Capel, meanwhile, went into the portal at various parts -- mainly this recent offseason -- for his entire starting five.
"Jamarius Burton's been around so long I recruited him at East Tennessee State," Forbes said this week. "He came on a visit, which is crazy when you think about it. He went to Wichita (State). He's having an unbelievable year. Blake Hinson was somebody that we took a hard look at coming out when he left Ole Miss before he went to Iowa State. He's playing outstanding. Greg Elliott, we looked at him. He can shoot it. I'm really happy for Jeff. They got off to an unbelievable start in the league and just lost a real close one to Clemson.
"They're playing great. They're physical. They're really tough in the two-point field goal percentage, I think they lead the league. I know it's going to be a really hard-fought game."
