OUR TAKE: Keys in the Pack’s Loss to the Irish

– Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner weren’t hitting like usual. State’s two leading scorers shot 8-23 and had 24 points combined which is lower than average for they sharp shooting duo.

– Abu needs to be on the court. When he was on the court against Miami, State got up by nearly 20. When he got in foul trouble and was forced to the bench, State fell apart. Against ND he was on fire early, State led by 18, and then he got in foul trouble again. State collapsed. There is a direct correlation between Abu being on the court and NC State dominating a basketball game. The talented freshman brings a blend of power, quickness and soft touch to the Wolfpack front court. He was 3-5 and finished with only 8 points, but that was in just 11 minutes of play. He was dominant on the blocks when he was in there.

– More Martins please. These twins are game changers. Cody Martin started for Cat Barber and gave the Pack a new dimension. They can rebound, score and play with the type of energy that can push the Pack to some big leads. The duo combined for 24 points, 10 boards, 4 steals and 6 assists. They load up the stat line and one of them needs to be on the floor at all times (if not both).

– Where was Washington? With Abu out most of the second half, down the stretch Gottfried decided to go with a smaller lineup which left Kyle Washington on the bench. The problem with that is that this always leaves State without a true scorer on the blocks. They become one dimensional and give up their big leads. Washington finally did come in with 7 minutes left and hit a jumper, but he had been sitting for a big chunk of the time that State was really allowing ND back in the game. Gottfried has a lot of weapons but making sure either Washington or Abu is in the game to allow the Pack to have some sort of inside presence is huge. Washington finished with a great line at 6-8 for 12 points and 6 boards.

– Beat on the boards. The only place NC State fell short against ND (other than late game decision making) was in rebounding. The Irish owned the board battle 43-34 and had 18 offensive boards to the Pack’s 12. That was the true difference in the game.

-Always Learning. This is a young team so all of these close calls are good for them, but they need to fail forward. They need to keep their confidence after losing huge leads the last two times out. They have to push harder, dig deeper when they’re up double digits. They have to be hungry not just for a W in the win column but hungry for dominance. When they are up 15, Gottfried should be red in the face demanding 25, and when they are up 25 they should push for 35. This team HAS to get that killer’s mentality and stop allowing teams to come back to life late in games.

-Confidence and belief. You can’t blame the fans for saying “We’ve all seen this before…” when NC State loses a big lead and the other team has the ball with a chance to win or tie. You know something weird is going to happen, something you may have never seen before, and it will fall in the other teams favor. The fans blame the players and I’ve spoken to players from past Wolfpack teams who blame the fans. They say “You can feel the air come out of the arena, it’s like the fans know whats going to happen.” This to me is an excuse. Sure the air comes out of the arena, because as State fans we have seen this a thousand times. But asking the fans to be mentally tough is probably not going to work. The game is played on the floor and whether the fans are going nuts or the fans are silent and negative, the team needs to dig deeper, come together, find a leader who won’t let them lose. They have to shake this complex at some point and demand more. Start nailing coffins, stepping on throats and not letting up. It only takes true confidence and 100% belief from one leader.