Analysis: Heavy minutes from Pitt's starters managed within practices

Nelly Cummings drives during Pitt's game against Miami on Saturday.It has been anything short of a secret that Pitt is heavily reliant on its starters.

But, as the calendar is set to flip over to February and the final month of the regular season approaches, Jeff Capel has taken liberty in adjusting his practices to help combat some of the wear-and-tear. This is a standard process which generally takes place within every program, but for a Pitt team which has aspirations of making the NCAA Tournament, it will be paramount now, more than ever.

"I think as you go on throughout a season you have to adjust what you do in a practice, how much you do," Capel said on Monday in the ACC coaches'…