The Wolfpack started their season off on the right foot, beating Jackson State by a score of 93 to 58. There were plenty of noteworthy plays and performances by many players in the opener. I really enjoyed how we played with great effort and intensity from start to finish.

Here is a breakdown of all the action

Trevor Lacey:

We have all been hearing rave reviews out of the Wolfpack camp since Trevor arrived on campus as a transfer last season. Tonight we caught a glimpse of why he has received so many compliments and why he will be an important piece to the puzzle if the Pack wants to push their streak to 4 consecutive trips to the NCAA.

Trevor came out looking confident and didn’t hesitate offensively. He was aggressive in attacking the paint and accurate from distance. From the field he was 8-10 including 3-5 from three. He finished the night with 22 points, 2 steals, and 2 assists.

The effort Trevor displayed on the defensive end was pleasing as well; he was consistently disrupting passes by playing the passing lanes. He was also excellent in help defense and spearheaded a sound defensive effort for the Pack.

As long as he catches the ball in his spots, on the wing and in the break, I see no problems with him leading this team in scoring. He is a much better shooter off the catch from distance than off the dribble. Look for Lacey to continue to grow as a leader this season. He was vocal and had positive body language throughout the night; this will pay great dividends as the season progresses!

Cat Barber

This was by far the best game Cat has played since he arrived on campus; tonight he showed why he was a 5 star recruit and a McDonald’s All-American out of high school. As you look at the box score you realize what a night Cat had. He finished with 25 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and most importantly 0 turnovers. Not only was Cat aggressive tonight but he was completely in control and confident with his decision-making. He was wise when to call his own number or when to dish it to an open teammate.

Cat was an efficient 7-13 from the field and was 8-10 from the foul line. Another added dimension that Cat showed was the ability to knock down the open three! He was 3-5 from distance against Jackson State. This will be critical to Cat’s game as the season continues, if he can keep defenders honest this will only make him tougher to guard as opponents will be forced to play up on him, which will play into his ability to use speed to blow by defenders.

The only way State can finish in the top 4 of the ACC is for Cat to play like he did tonight. If he can build upon his performance and take care of the ball then the Pack will be tough to beat. I loved his willingness to defend as well. Frequently Cat picked up his man at half court and made the ball handler turn his back or forced him out of the offense.

Kyle Washington:

This guy is a workhorse! Offensively Kyle is always posting and active. Rarely will you ever see Kyle not with his hands up and calling for the ball, this keeps the defense honest and takes the pressure off of the guards. Defensively Kyle is equally if not even more active. Against Jackson State Kyle grabbed 9 boards and officially blocked 2 shots, yet he altered a handful of others.

One of Kyle’s greatest assets is his feet! Few guys his size can move as gracefully and quickly as he does laterally. This helps him bottle up opposing big men as he smoothers them into tough contested shots. His quickness is also great on pick and rolls; he is a great hedger on screens as he redirects guards off their intended lines to the basket.

Swat Team:

The Swat Team saw adequate minutes! This was some of the most entertaining 2 minutes and 47 seconds of the game. The play of the game came on a drive from Patrick Wallace as he shook one defender to throw a dandy of an alley to Chris Brickhouse who finished over a defender! The PNC erupted after this sequence only to reach even louder levels immediately following a turnover that found Staats Battle open for three…Bang he converted his only attempt much to the appreciation of the Wolfpack faithful and his teammates. Guess who assisted Staats on this play? If you guessed Chris Corchiani Jr. you would be correct! The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Improvements:

There are a couple of areas that the Pack need to improve on if they are going to contend for a top four finish in the highly competitive ACC. First I think they need to do a better job at feeding the post! To often we were unable to cleanly enter the ball inside. This is troublesome as we were playing an inferior opponent in Jackson State. All to often we chose bad angles that were not conducive to feeding a big. For example we didn’t execute in the half court to rotate the ball from one wing to the other and take a strong dribble to ball fake and enter the ball inside. I am sure they will improve as the season progresses.

Execution in the half court still needs work; however, this is to be expected early in the season. We consistently ran the first part of many half-court sets only to break the play off to early. Patience is vital in the half –court as is toughness. Our players must be mentally tough enough to go through the offense and look to the 3rd and 4th options in our sets. I can attest that Coach Gottfried has an excellent offensive scheme that has many counters to whatever defense a team chooses to use. He gives his players the freedom to read these counters, he wants players to react to whatever the defense gives them and not look to him to make every call.

Conclusion:

A great start to the season! Like I said earlier I loved our effort and intensity. Body language and communication were better than I have seen in year’s past. I could hear our guys talking to one another on defense; this is a common thread that great defensive teams share. This team has a legitimate shot at being one of the better defensive teams in years! With our combination of speed and length I see no reason why this cannot be a top 30 defensive team in the NCAA. As long as the desire continues to burn the sky is the limit for this team defensively.

A quick turnaround for the Pack as they return to action onMonday November 17th at 7PM facing Hofstra, the game can be seen online on ESPN3. I encourage all who have the opportunity to go to the game, we need to pack the PNC each and every night to give our team every advantage possible.