CardinalSports.com's Howie Lindsey caught up with Panther-Lair.com writer Jim Hammett to preview Louisville vs. Pitt.

1. How different is Capel than Stallings?

JH: I think there are many ways to answer that question. First off, from a stylistic standpoint Stallings was known to be a good offensive coach, and Capel seems more defensive oriented. The difference between last year and this team is that they are in the face of defenders and playing with pressure and intensity. Capel really expects a lot of his team’s on the defensive end of the floor, and that was not always demanded last year.

I would also think a big difference is personality and Capel seems more personable on many levels. He’s been to a lot of the football games, he’s connecting with the fan base, and he has more of a social media presence than the prior coaches at Pitt. I think that has drawn Pitt fans to him quite a bit. I will say both Capel and Stallings never sugar coat things.

I don’t expect Capel to yell at fans the way Stallings did last year in a game against Louisville, but in a press conference setting both guys just speak their minds usually. Pitt recently had a transfer, and Capel was pretty open that his lack of rebounding was the reason he rarely played.

The last difference is probably recruiting. Pitt is off to a slow start for the 2019 class, but the expectation is that Capel will end up with some talent in the spring much like he did in 2018. Pitt’s trio of freshmen may not have been five-stars or anything, but they have really upped the talent level in a short amount of time. Stallings did not seem to land as many talented players during his brief tenure. So it may take a year or two to get it off the ground, but many expect Capel to start bringing in some talent to Pitt in the near future and there was not that same belief under Stallings.

2. What are expectations for Pitt this season?

JH: I would say expectations were pretty low overall. Pitt was picked last in the ACC, and I’m not sure if the team has raised the expectations much higher than that to this point.

Pitt may be able to win a few games and avoid a second consecutive last place finish, but the ceiling is not much higher than that. In Kevin Stallings first year, it was a senior oriented team led by Jamel Artis and Mike Young. In that first offseason,Pitt saw a lot of graduations and kids transfer out of the program and Stallings pretty much started over and he did it without the best recruiting class as well. Now fast forward until now, Capel did not quite start from scratch but Ryan Luther opted to transfer along with promising freshmen Marcus Carr and Parker Stewart.

A few players from the 8-24 team last year chose to stick around, and Capel surrounded them with a promising group of freshmen in Xavier Johnson, Trey McGowens, and Au’Diese Toney. The roster just isn’t built to be all that successful at this point in time however.

3. If Pitt were to beat Louisville, how would it happen?

JH: If Pitt is going to win, I think senior shooting guard Jared Wilson-Frame needs to knock down some 3-point shots. Pitt freshmen point guard Xavier Johnson is 11th in the ACC in scoring at 16.1 points per game and third in assists with 4.8 a game. He’s been tremendous, as has his fellow freshmen guard Trey McGowens. McGowens scored 17 against North Carolina on Saturday and he’s been pretty reliable most of the year.

Pitt really needs something from it’s other players to win a big conference game however. Wilson-Frame is averaging 11.6 points a game, but he’s done most of his damage against mid-majors this season. He only had 7 points against Iowa, 6 against West Virginia, and just five the other day against UNC. For Pitt to really get anywhere this season, it really needs someone other than the freshmen to score in big games. Pitt’s lack of size and outside shooting are the two biggest weaknesses right now, but Wilson-Frame can knock down open shots and he did lead the team in scoring last season. If he can step up and the freshman can continue to play well, they will steal some games this season, but he just needs to prove it.