Pitt coach Jeff Capel has Guillermo Diaz Graham's back during shooting slump

If Guillermo Diaz Graham is seeking help — or even sympathy — while trying to recover from his shooting slump, he doesn’t need to go far.

Help is available a few decks above the Petersen Events Center floor, inside Pitt coach Jeff Capel’s office.

“It happened to me my senior year (at Duke),” Capel said. “I know what it’s like to be him. I feel for him.”

Diaz Graham, a 7-foot junior whose enrollment with his twin brother Jorge coincided with Pitt’s basketball resurgence two years ago, is struggling to find an accurate shooting touch. Expected to provide solid 3-point shooting after converting at a 40.5% rate (32 of 79) last season, Diaz Graham is 9 of 46 (19.6%) beyond the arc. Overall, he’s shooting 37.7% (26 of 69), down from his 47.6 percentage the past two seasons.

His next opportunity to snap out of the slump will be Saturday against Sam Houston at Petersen Events Center in Pitt’s final nonconference game.

Diaz Graham is second on the team in 3-point attempts, but Capel has no problem with the frequency of his shots.

“As long as he’s taking good shots, I’m OK with it,” he said, adding Diaz Graham’s attempts are set up differently this season. “He’s not as still as he was when he was at the 5 (center position). What we’ve really tried to work with him on is his shot preparation. He has to be able to get his feet set quicker and get power into his shot where he’s stepping into it. When you have more time, you have more time to do that.

“Teams are also playing him differently because of how he shot the basketball last year.”

Pitt’s coach believes Diaz Graham enduring his shooting slump will make him a better player and serve him well for the rest of his life.

“It’s something he’s going to have to get through. It’s something he’s going to have to fight through,” Capel said. “In a lot of ways, I think he’ll be way better as a young man as he becomes a man and as a player because of it.

“I think you have to go through hard stuff in order to become a man and be ready for the real world. You have to be able to go through hard things and figure things through difficult moments. This is going to end up being really, really good.”

Capel said Diaz Graham’s work ethic hasn’t diminished this season. Plus, he’s made some big plays, most notably a 3-pointer and two free throws during Pitt’s second-half rally to victory against Virginia Tech two weeks ago.

He also leads the team in rebounding (6.4 per game after averaging 3.6 coming into the season).

“I know that he’s struggling, but I see him show up every day with an unbelievable attitude,” Capel said. “I see him work before practice. I see him work after practice, and it’s just a matter of time before the floodgates are open and he’s starting to shoot the basketball like we know he’s capable of shooting it.”

Capel called his slump in college “the worst thing,” but he also said he’s grateful for it happening.

Since his days at Duke, Capel has experienced his share of career speedbumps, but he said learning to handle adversity during his shooting slump helped.

“I don’t know if I would have been able to survive those things if I didn’t go through what I went through during my four years,” he said.

What makes Diaz Graham’s slump so difficult to watch for Capel and the players is the impact the twins from the Canary Islands have made on Pitt’s program.

“There have been no one more proud to wear this jersey than he and his brother,” Capel said. “Guillermo has been as important as any guy in the program the past three years. Our program changed when he got here. He was a part of a group, but he was a big part of it, he and his brother’s energy and what he brings to our program every day. There is no one on our team who’s beloved more than Guillermo.

He’s going to be good for us. “I believe it. We believe it.”

The key for Diaz Graham may be — as Capel expressed it — getting “outside of your own head.”

“He has to block the noise out, because I’m sure it’s a lot of noise. My big thing is if you’re a Pitt fan then you should cheer for the kid. You shouldn’t judge him.

“It’s easy to pile on someone when they’re down. But my thing is if you’re a fan of our program, you’re a fan of Pitt basketball, you’re a fan of all of Pitt basketball, not just when someone’s doing well.

“We need everyone to rally around him because we need him to be at our best.”