“They gotta guard us too, pal.” This is a common saying by Coach Gottfried and is the keystone of his coaching philosophy. Mark Gottfried is first and foremost an offensive coach who loves to have his teams go up and down the court.  Sure some people like to criticize him for this, but all coaches have their trademarks.

The shorter shot clock will have very little effect on the Pack as Gottfried regularly uses a 30 second clock during practice in order to have his teams push tempo and get into their sets quicker. Efficiency is the name of the game and he wants his team to push first in order to take advantage of an unset defense. If you pay attention to offense you can see that we have quick sets built in to be explored first in order to better capitalize on a scrambling defense. Turnovers and long rebounds are excellent opportunities that allow State to strike quick but sometimes running off of a made basket can be just as effective.

This season we could see one of the fastest paced teams in the Red and White since Gottfried arrived on campus. The reason being is Cat Barber who rides into this season with lots of momentum from the end of last season. Then you incorporate a smaller lineup and our games could resemble a track meet. I also believe that defensively State will be much more aggressive in the back court to force more turnovers. Our team has all the pieces to play ultra aggressive and fast.

However questions still remain. Will our team have enough outside shooting and firepower to hang in the ACC? It is tough to replace Lacey (15.7 PPG) and Turner (12.8 PPG). That’s our two leading scorers and emotional leaders from a season ago; however, I will remind you it is not the first time Gottfried has overcome a huge turnover! Look back to our team that lost in the opening round to Temple a few years ago. Following that season State lost 5 of our top 6 scorers and Gottfried still managed to get us into the NCAA the following season.

What will benefit the most from the faster pace? Defense? Or offense?