Connect with us

Head coach Mark Gottfried sat down and talked to the media about the upcoming season in Charlotte at ACC media day, here is the transcript of what he had to say:

Q. Tony Bennett was just in here, so I’ve got the pack line defense on the brain. Last year there were so many times late in the shot clock where you had jumpers, courageous jumpers against the pack line or Cat Barber driving. The two guys who took the jumpers are now gone. You’ve still got Cat. But the question is who’s going to take the tough shot now against the pack line defense?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, I think it’s a great question, and I think when you look at our team, Ralston Turner was a fifth year senior, Trevor Lacey was a fourth year junior. Those two guys had great experience and they both seemed to make very timely shots, big shots, key shots throughout the game, that key possession where you felt we really need to score on this possession down the floor.

I think for us that’s going to be the question. Can we develop some guys that can step up and make some shots. We’ve got a lot of very capable players, they just haven’t done it a lot at our level. So I think for us just trying to figure out as we go through the November and December games and figure out how we’re really going to score and score at key times I think is going to be a big thing for us as we get into ACC play in January.

Q. I know what your answer will be, but would you trade Cat for any of the other very good point guards in this league?

COACH GOTTFRIED: No, no, I love coaching Cat Barber. What I like about Cat is, number one, he’s just a great young guy and he’s very coachable. He wants to learn. And with him we’ve always tried to balance being that quarterback, that kind of cerebral point guard with at the same time just using his blaring, God- given speed and quickness.

I think we even got last year in the middle of the year where it was almost like, Cat, you’ve just got to turn it loose. You’re almost trying to think a little bit too much. You’ve just got to cut it loose and go. I think kind of when he did, his game, I thought, went to another level.

Now he’s a junior. You’ve got a guy now that’s a little bit older. He understands everything that’s going on around him, and I think he can start balancing those two things a lot better and do it really well.

Q. One of the funny dynamics when the players were in here, I asked Cat about is he a vocal leader, and he kind of started to explain that he was, and Beejay was sitting over there going, you’re lying. What’s your impression of his role?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, I think Cat is getting better at that. I think he’s one of those guys that when he was in high school, they just kind of played. It’s the old term, I used to say pivot pass, tear ass, first one to 100 wins, and that’s kind of how he played. He just kind of zipped up and down and he never really had to do much else.

So when he got to college it’s a little bit different for him. I think he’s getting a lot better. He’s getting better at using that great speed that he has. His shooting is much better. He’s a much better perimeter shooter. But at the same time, he’s starting to really learn how to get guys in the right places, whether it’s defensively what we’re in or what we’re trying to do offensively, he’s becoming a lot more vocal and stepping up there, as well.

Q. You’ve done a great job with this program, getting them to the NCAA Tournament, winning a few rounds. As far as the ACC is concerned, when you see what Virginia has done in the league and Notre Dame, is this team close to making that sort of — during the conference season step where you’re going to be in the conversation with those two clubs as well as Duke and Carolina?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, it’s interesting, I’ve been in the conference now four years. This is my fifth year, and I’ve watched Florida State win the ACC, Virginia, Notre Dame, Miami, teams that aren’t named Duke and North Carolina. And even though Duke and North Carolina are very good, I think it tells you how good our league is top to bottom.

We want to be one of those teams. We’ve lost some key players. We’ve got to replace key guys. But for us we want to be one of those teams that’s in the conversation every year and trying to figure out how to win an ACC championship or have a team that’s good enough to get in the tournament and then advance deep into the tournament.

Our league is as deep as any league in the country. You could be a seventh or eighth — you could finish seventh or eighth in this league and still be a team that could win games in the NCAA Tournament and advance, and I think that speaks of how well and how deep the ACC is.

Q. Beejay Anya has lost weight. Last year he had some sensational bursts of play, the first Duke game comes to mind. Is it automatic that playing with less weight, he’ll be more effective more minutes? If that’s not automatic, what has to happen for him to be more effective longer periods of time?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, I think with Beejay, if you take 40 or 50 pounds off your body, and I joke around with him, I said, you’ve been playing with a third grader on your back, and now, you know, you can move quicker and jump higher and get from one side of the floor to the other quicker and block a shot a little bit better. And just by the mere physical part of your body, he’s going to be better.

He’s also older. He’s been in college a few years and he knows he’s got to take that big step forward as a player. But there’s no doubt in my personal opinion that being lighter, being a little bit more agile, his stamina is better, he can get up-and-down the floor for longer periods of time than he did before, those things have to help him. They’re going to help him become a much better player.

Q. Your team has a lot of personality, a lot of guys with big personalities and they talked about how you allowed them to showcase those personalities. Do you have a guy on your team that has the competitive fire in his belly that you would like the other guys to also emulate?

COACH GOTTFRIED: I think we have a group of guys that they’re all pretty competitive. If I had to say somebody stands out, it would be the twins. I think Cody and Caleb Martin every day, they have kind of that chip on their shoulder, that edge. They want to challenge everybody every day in practice. If somebody has gone on for a fast break, they’re flying from behind trying to block it. They’re diving on the floor. They play at a level where I think everybody else who’s pretty competitive anyway. I think it kind of raises the game of everybody as far as how competitive they are.

Q. Going back to Cat, you want Cat to be Cat, but his freshman year he was on the gas a little bit too much, trying to prove himself. Last year he settled down a little bit. Where do you find that fine line, managing what he can do and what he wants to do?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, I think with Cat, a lot of things have happened. I think, number one, he’s improved himself as a perimeter shooter. And I think with him, that’s kind of changed the game for him because he doesn’t have to just use his speed and try to blow by people all the time. He can jump up and I think make a three-point shot a lot better than he has been able to in the past.

He’s learned how to be that quarterback. He’s a little bit older. He’s got a little more maturity. But I’ve told him many times, I don’t ever want him to sacrifice trying to be such the quarterback that he’s not using all that he has with his speed and quickness. He’s got a gear that a lot of people don’t have. There are times he’s dribbling the ball up the floor, and I think he’s going as fast as he can and the next thing you know he’s got one more burst of speed left in there, and he shifts it into another gear.

So he’s got something that a lot of people don’t have, and that’s the biggest thing I want him to use as far as getting the ball up and down the floor for our team.

Q. How do you assess this team’s prospects defensively? You have a fair amount of depth. Can that help you apply more pressure?

COACH GOTTFRIED: I think in general, a lot of people would say I’m more of an offensive-minded guy than a defensive-minded guy, which is okay. I think this is probably our best-built defensive team. We’ve got quickness, we’ve got some size and length all over the floor, and then we’ve got a guy in Beejay that can block a shot, that can protect the basket a little bit and keep you from scoring. So hopefully this is going to be a really good defensive team.

Q. What kind of a sophomore leap do you anticipate out of Malik? And is it so simple as sliding Terry into Trevor’s vacancy, or is that oversimplifying things?

COACH GOTTFRIED: Well, I think with Malik, I think he’s going to have a really good sophomore year. He’s worked really hard this summer. He’s had a really nice preseason as far as practices go. Last year, like a lot of freshmen, sometimes they can’t really score consistently night in, night out. You’re good enough to get 14 points at Miami and then come back and get 2 the next night. I think what you’re going to see is a more consistent guy that can get 10, 12, 14 points night in, night out. He’s learning how to do it. He’s a lot more comfortable with the ball. You know, he’s not in such a hurry.

Sometimes freshmen, they’re just in such a hurry all the time. They catch the ball and they’re going 100 miles an hour, and I think that’s the case with Malik. He’s a much more confident, relaxed kind of player.

I think as far as with Trevor, trying to replace Trevor, I think Terry has a chance to step in there. He’s much different than Trevor, and I like the fact that Terry has Big 12 experience. He’s played at Iowa State, at Kansas. The guy has been in some really big time games and he’s been a pretty good player in that league. We need him. We need Caleb. We’ve got a couple freshmen, our guy Maverick Rowan has a chance to really give us some scoring as far as a perimeter player goes.

But it’s hard when you have a potential fifth-year senior like Trevor Lacey that you’re just going to replace him with a guy. That’s hard to do. He was a really key player for us a year ago.

 

Related Topics:
Click to comment
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

Published

6 hours ago

on

April 25, 2024

By

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) has committed to NC State!

Hill took an Official Visit to NC State this past weekend.

This past season, Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.

For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.

247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #81 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

Even though 247Sports and ON3 consider Hill a Shooting Guard, NC State is recruiting him as a Point Guard.

Hill is the 4th player to transfer to NC State this offseason, joining Louisville’s Brandon Huntley-Hatfield & Mike James, and Georgetown’s Dontrez Styles.

With the addition of Hill, NC State now has 1 scholarship remaining for next season.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season

Published

1 day ago

on

April 24, 2024

By

NC State Forward Mohamed Diarra will not be returning to NC State for his final season of eligibility. Rather, he will give 100% of his focus to pursuing his professional career.

Image

Diarra is declaring for the NBA Draft, and will explore that possibility as far as it goes, but the likelihood of him playing professionally in his home country of France are high.

Diarra was a significant player for NC State all season long, averaging 6.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (team high), but his impact in March was tremendous, recording 10+ rebounds in 7 of the Wolfpack’s 10 postseason games, and five of those performances were double-doubles.

Wolfpack fans will always remember the grit and mental toughness that Diarra put on display in the NCAA Tournament, playing game-after-game while fasting for Ramadan.

The Wolfpack’s frontcourt just got a little bit thinner. In the past two weeks, NC State has lost Diarra and Ernest Ross.  Ben Middlebrooks is returning, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred in from Louisville. Dontrez Styles transferred in from Georgetown, and while he is more of a Small Forward, in certain lineups, he could play the Small 4 position. With all that being said, I fully expect NC State to try to find another post player in the Transfer Portal with Diarra’s exodus now official.

With Diarra not returning in 2024, NC State now has 2 scholarships available for next season.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

Published

2 days ago

on

April 23, 2024

By

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tipton Edits (@tiptonedits)

This past year, James averaged 12.6 points per game (3rd on the team) and 5 rebounds. He’s extremely physical and aggressive, taking 47% of his field goal attempts at the rim (making 46%). As a result, he draws a lot of fouls, ranking 10th in the ACC in Fouls Drawn, and 4th in Free Throw Rate. James made opponents pay this year when they put him on the line, making 81.8% from the charity stripe, which ranked 15th in the ACC.

James shot the ball better as a Redshirt Freshman, than he did this past season. His Effective Field Goal Percentage in 2022-23 was 55.8%, which ranked 19th in the ACC, and his True Shooting Percentage of 59.6% ranked 14th.

News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.

After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years.

He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.

James has 2 years of eligibility remaining. With James’ commitment, NC State currently has 1 scholarship available for next season.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill is on a Visit to NC State

Published

3 days ago

on

April 22, 2024

By

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) confirmed with me that he is currently on a visit at NC State.

Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons this season. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.

For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.

247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #78 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

According to a source, the NC State Coaching Staff is extremely high on Hill, and they are recruiting him as a Point Guard.

Continue Reading