Connect with us

I’ll go ahead and admit a few things. Yes, this game was ugly, They forced the ball too much, the defense was terrible, the offense was out of sync, we turned the ball over way too many times. It was an altogether ugly loss to an Illinois team who had just lost 3 straight to Winthrop, WVU, and FSU. So what went wrong?

While it was in no way pretty, I think we need to take a step back and remember that this is a brand new team. I thnk they deserve our patience as they slowly develop into a more refined product.

At this point, we have all seen the flashes that tell us they have the talent to be a contender. Dorn has been great, Henderson has shown the ability to knock down shots, and Smith was averaging over 20 points in the past few games. Down low Abu has shown glimpses, Hicks and Anya have eaten up minutes and Kapita has come on as a real competitor on the blocks.

But It’s Already Been 7 Games, What’s up with the defense? 

We are still only 7 real games into the season! Getting a defense to mesh takes a lot of time. A good majority of this team hadn’t played together before this season and freshmen are getting massive minutes. These guys are still very raw and still need to get to know each other, learn how to communicate and move in unison on the court. Also, remember that a defense is only as good as its weakest link. There are alot of guys learning and one break down leads to a full defensive breakdown.

A good example of this is Duke during their last “National Title” title season. First off, we know we aren’t that Duke team and our coach isn’t Coach K. But remember, this team early in the season, with all the talent they had, still was an awful defensive team. Now, they were very polished on offense and Okafor was unstoppable in the post,however, they still struggled a good deal on the defensive end for a good portion of the season, even though they were stacked with talent and garnished a future HOF coach.

-We are going for the homerun defense play too often. While we love the aggression and down the line should lead to TO’s, right now guys are gambling too much, causing breakdowns on D. This is something else that just takes time as these guys are athletic enough to get steals but will learn when to pick and choose their times to go for a steal or blocked shot.
-A great example from the other night is Terry Henderson’s blowby on the baseline with the shot clock winding down and Smith’s deep 3 foul at the end of the shot clock. Terry a little less excusable but Smith’s was definitely a freshman mistake learned the hard way.

-Last is the ever rotation and addition of new pieces to our lineup. Due to injuries/NCAA Suspension, Gottfried has had to tinker with his defense with each added new piece. We have had to play small on alot of occasions, losing our rim protection and rebounding. We have also gone with a bigger lineup as Kapita slowly gets accustomed to the pace of the game. These changes will slow the proggress of a team learning their defensive identity.

Well, our offense still looks out of sync…

-Lets start with Dennis Smith. Don’t forget that for all the accolades Smith has received, he is still an 18 year old kid. His first few games we saw that Gottfried was right in saying that Smith was going to have an adjustment period. Smith did adjust and was looking like the player he was projected to be. Facing Illinois, was a new challenge for him. This is a much bigger, stronger, experienced team. Smith will learn what he can and cant’t get away with and how to attack better competition. It will just, unfortunately, be something learned by experience. Remember, Smith is still being seen as a lottery pick by guys who are paid to watch evalutate talent. This should say something about his Smith’s ability. We just need to give him time.

-Early on, the Pack was able to get by on talent alone (against the lesser competition.) As the competition picks up, they will need to learn how to execute in the half court set. The more they run the offense to more familiar they will get with it and the better they will be. Running the offense in a game is much different than running it in practice. Early on we were watching this team just out athlete people. For now,  we’ll need to be patient as they learn to trust the system and execute with efficiency and confidence.


Let’s wait until we are at full strength. Kapita is just getting started and Yurtseven’s debut is still to come…

-Kapita has looked very good in his minimal exposure so far for the Pack. The game against Illinois was his first true game in our  opinion (the first was in an already out of reach game, the latter he saw minimal minutes due to fouls) and it was evident in the errant passes and a few tough shots he took. It will still take Kapita a handful of games to get into the flow of things and get in sync with the rest of the offense. Until then, expect alot of ticky tack fouls and lapses on both sides of the ball. But overall he seems to have alot of upside and should be a reliable post player on both ends of the floor.

-Then we have Yurtseven. A five-star 7-footer who according to scouting reports and everyone around the program could really be a game changer for this Wolfpack team. Smith even quoted him as “The smartest player I’ve ever played with” and that “People don’t understand how good Omer is”. Though a breif glimpse, we saw how well Yurtseven got up and down the court for his size. He will be a huge boost on offense and defense and gives us one more guy in the post when we get in foul trouble.

Here is another tweet from Greenberg as well on this Pack team without Yurtseven.

Sorry for being long winded on this one, but we really think it’s important for fans to step back and understand that getting young teams to mesh is not a quick or easy process, especially with the unique scenarios tha Pack has seen so far this season. We also need to realize that this is not a thick-skinned veteran group. They need the fan’s support more than ever right now. Losses hurt, we all feel that, but the best is yet to come with this group and we need to remember that.  It will inevitably take longer than everyone hopes, but it’s not where this team starts, but where they are able to finish. Gottfried has proven that his team’s start slow but peak in March. I think staying the course, staying positive and holding off on the blame game is the role our fan base can play in helping this team reach thier full potential.

8 Comments
Subscribe
Notify of
8 Comments
newest
oldest most Upvoted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

We bet a team today that left the best player on the bench for the second half. Wow, had he played we would have been beaten again.

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

Hell no. He is not even half decent. They are embarrassing, period.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
7 years ago

A half decent coach will have his kids ready to play after an embarrassing loss. Let’s see if Gott is at least half decent.

yakima2k
yakima2k
7 years ago

Thank you for this post, Greg. I’m sorry that your plea for fan support will fall on so many deaf ears. I just wish the fans that have given up on the team in November would truly give up and do something else, so the rest of us can get on with supporting our guys.

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

We play in the toughest conference in the US. Losing these games early against a weak schedule hurts the overall RPI. We are not going to dominate in the ACC and therefore will be a bubble team again. If we lose Smith, Henderson, Abu, Anya, Kirk and Yurtseven at the end of the season, what have we really accomplished. anyway. This team is going nowhere again. Constantly bring in freshmen?

wolfpack83
wolfpack83
7 years ago
Reply to  wolfpack74

What will we have accomplished? Valuable experience for a cupboard that is more than half full with Markell, the most electrifying point guard we have seen in some time, Ted, one of the most fundamentally sound posts we have seen in a while, Dorn, one of the hardest workers we have seen in a while who is scoring surprising wel, and Mav, a capable shooter with experience. I like this year’s team.

WolfPack
WolfPack
7 years ago

so Yurtseven is going to change our defense from 0 to 8~9 level ?

We have enough athleticism to play at least average defense.

packfan
packfan
7 years ago

LOL, only really new players are Kapita and Johnson…. Henderson has been in the program 2 YEARS before this, Dorn 1 YEAR before this, Smith since Jan….

NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

Published

on

NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

Published

on

NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

Published

on

#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

A Historical Breakdown of the Series Between NC State & Marquette

Published

on

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, which will mark the 6th time the two teams have played one another.

The first time the Wolfpack and the Golden Eagles played one another was also in the NCAA Tournament, and it just so happened to be the 1974 Championship game, with NC State winning the game 76-64, giving the Pack their first National Championship.

Wolfpack led the way with 21 points, and Tommy Burleson had a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards, with 7 blocks, which is tied for the 8th most in school history in a single game.

NC State also had 12 steals in the game, which is the most by a Pack team in an NCAA Tournament game.

The next time the two teams would meet was on January 21st, in Reynolds Coliseum. The Wolfpack won 89-76, and it was a night for the history books for Point Guard Chris Corchiani. In that game, set ACC career records for assists with 861 and steals with 276.

The following year, the Golden Eagles picked up their first win against the Wolfpack, winning 66-42 in Milwaukee.

It would be over 15 years before NC State and Marquette would play one another again, and this time it would once again be a home-and-home series in back-to-back years.

On December 22nd, 2008, the Wolfpack lost a close one at home, falling 65-68. Wolfpack Forward Brandon Costner hit all five 3-Point attempts in that game, which still stands as the best 3-Point Percentage in a single game in school history.

The following year, on December 5th, 2009, the Wolfpack would claim the lead in the series again, defeating the Golden Eagles 77-73 on the road. NC State big man Tracy Smith had a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Point Guard Javier Gonzalez had 15 points and 7 assists, and Wing Scott Wood knocked down 4 of his 6 three-point attempts.

Continue Reading