Jeff Capel On Zion: “He’s Like Kevin Durant”

No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (16-2) visited Pittsburgh Panthers (12-7) last night and won 79-64. Mike Krzyzewski was able to see in person what his former student learned while working with him. It turned out that Jeff Capel knows a lot of things, but simply, his Panthers are not in the same league as the Blue Devils.

“You all are lucky to have him and he’s lucky to be here. Pitt had a great brand that needed to be reignited,” said Coach K about Capel after the game.

Coach K on what Jeff Capel’s presence at Pitt will do for the program and the ACC pic.twitter.com/ITrmA4ZEYy

— WPTS Sports (@WPTSSports) January 23, 2019

After defeating Florida State and Louisville, Panthers’s fans were hoping to see another big upset, but that was not possible against first-class Duke, led by probably the two best players in this generation, R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson.

Them two combined for 51 points, Barrett 26, Zion 25.

But what was impressive, was Williamson’s performance and the level of confidence he possesses.

He finished the game shooting 11 of 13, hitting all of his opening 10 shots. Those two misses came from behind the three-point line.

The big man was dominating on both ends of the court, picking up 7 boards and assists apiece, presenting the enigma for the home team, for which they didn’t have any solutions. In the moments when Blue Devils didn’t have some adequate answer in the attack, teammates would just pass the ball towards him.

“Zion, I don’t know if I’ve seen anything like it,” Capel said. “I looked up at one point in the first half and he had 17 and my assistants told me he hadn’t missed a shot.”

Coach Capel said that Zion’s performance was fantastic and that his team couldn’t do anything about him.

Then he pulled one very interesting comparison. More than 11 years ago, while he still coached Oklahoma, Cappel had the opportunity of encountering with young Kevin Durant who was a freshman playing for the Texas Longhorns.

That night Duran poured 20 points in the first 20 minutes of the game.

“I said, `There’s nothing we can do about this,” Panthers coach said. “It’s kind of the same with Zion. He’s very unique. He’s very, very unique.”

At the end of his press, Capel admitted that his team isn’t capable of competing with the Blue Devils at this stage of their development. Coach K’ boys are much better than his in almost every aspect of the game, especially when looking at their athleticism.

“Look, they’re better than us,” Capel said. “They’re more talented than us. I think that’s what it was. I don’t think it was just the zone. I think it was their talent.”

Opening statements from Jeff Capel pic.twitter.com/Z2SWgMqij0

— WPTS Sports (@WPTSSports) January 23, 2019

Duke played zone throughout most of the game, disabling two of the most dangerous players in the home team from penetrating and reaching the free throw line. That was the key in both of the big upsets Panthers made. Krzyzewski mentioned that when speaking about the key factors why his team won.

“The zone was good. The best thing was it kept McGowens and Johnson off the free-throw line.”

As for Zion, he might have been more inspired than usual after seeing rapper Jay-Z in the stands. The superstar heard that Williamson’s playlists include many of his songs. For example, pregame playlists include “A Dream.”

When speaking about that, the young player couldn’t hide his excitement for seeing one of his favorites giving him support.

“That was like a dream come true,” Williamson said. “To me, he’s the GOAT”

Regarding the game itself, the freshman pointed out that the fans at Petersen Events Center are a huge advantage for the hosts, but also, that his team managed to overcome that and to impose its own rhythm.

“That’s to be expected at all away games, people are just going to bring the energy,” Williamson said. “Just got to be mature and take their best shot. I think once we did that, we were able to control the game.”

The Blue Devils are now 16-2, and their next game is at home against Georgia Tech.