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Yikes. NC State has fallen to 1-3 in ACC play after their loss to Boston College on Wednesday night.

If you listen to social media or message boards, then you’re left to believe that Gottfried is on his way out, this team has no chance and the season might as well be over. If you listen to Gottfried and his players, the narrative is quite different. The team improved. According to the coaches, NC State got a little bit better despite the loss because they fought through adversity and showed more will and want-to.

The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. NC State did do some things better in this game. The defensive pressure for most of the game was good. The hustle was there, however, communication on defense still left a lot to be desired. Offensively, NC State did do a better job of running the sets and getting good looks early on, but reverted to one on one play later in the ball game.

Gottfried is still tinkering with his lineups as well. Markell Johnson may have earned himself some minutes last night as he showed that he can coexist with Smith on the floor. This left Torin Dorn getting only 2 minutes in the 2nd half. Dorn has seemingly fallen in love with the jumper and it has ended up hurting his efficiency and scoring ability.

State also struggled in the paint. Yurtseven is simply not ready for ACC basketball. As harsh as it may seem, he is just too weak right now. He is getting pushed around and has shown very little aggressiveness or confidence over the conference season. Anya played well, but when he is on the floor the team is slower and more stagnant, at times they have to pull the ball back and wait for him to get down the court. Abu has bee good but he still has not shown the dominance he has flashed in the past. Kapita is still raw, and while he certainly works hard and is aggressive, he sometimes gets lost on both offense and defense.

So what do you make of this? Well, it’s hard to tell. Some of the blame certainly falls on Gottfried and company. This team is young, but mentally they are unprepared. This team has a ton of talent, but they seem to be lost as to what they are supposed to do with it. But, some of it still sits on the players. At the end of the day, these are guys who have the skills, yet mental mistakes, poor shots and lack of focus lead to them not getting everything they could out of themselves.

This season is far from over. The Pack obviously is not ready to compete on the road in this league quite yet. The good news is that with every game they grow up a little and the next 3 games are at home. This three-game stretch will probably be this team’s make or break time. If they come out 2-1 or better, then they are still in position to make a move. Lose 2 of the 3 or all 3 and it will be a very tough climb back into contention.

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yakima2k
yakima2k
6 years ago

We’re deep this year – how come we never press? We’ve got more shooters than ever – how come we never go small? I”m behind this team and Gott through the end of the season, but the kids need to get more dialed in and we need to start doing some things to make our opponents uncomfortable.

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
6 years ago
Reply to  yakima2k

Well said..

yakima2k
yakima2k
6 years ago

Gott’s certainly frustrated, but they don’t seem to be doing anything different. It’s just more of the same and a hope that the kids start doing it better. If we just keep putting Abu in the high post he’ll become a better passer. If we just keep playing straight man they’ll start defending better. Square pegs and a round hole.

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
6 years ago

If that was improvement, maybe we should schedule some high schools around Raleigh. We might show much greater improvement then. Just try something different, I would start with defense or is that a bad word for Gott.

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
6 years ago
Reply to  wolfpack74

Are you trying to make us look even worse!!! lol

yakima2k
yakima2k
6 years ago

Last night didn’t look like much improvement to me. Continued lackadaisical passing, especially in the second half, leading to crushing turnovers. The team is playing with very little focus, and there doesn’t seem to be much creativity in solving the problems. Road wins are always hard to come by, but this BC team is not very good and we should not have lost.

RIZ DOLLA
RIZ DOLLA
6 years ago
Reply to  yakima2k

Coaching…… Point Blank Period.. Move Butch Pierre to the head coach he has experience. Im sure he cant do any worse that Mark

NC State Basketball

NC State is a Slight Underdog in ACC Opener vs. Boston College

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NC State (4-2) will play their first ACC game of the 2023-24 season tomorrow on the road against Boston College (5-2), and they enter the game as slight underdogs. The Wolfpack are 1.5-point underdogs, and the Total is 150.5.

  • NC State is 0-2 Straight Up as underdogs
    • BC is 4-1 Straight Up as favorites.
  • NC State is 2-4 Against the Spread.
    • BC is 4-3 Against the Spread
  • The Total has gone Under in 2 games for NC State, Over in 3 and Pushed in 1.
    • The Total has gone Under in 3 games for Boston College and Over in 4.
  • NC State is 6-4 in their last 10 games against BC Straight Up.
    • NC State is 4–6 Against the Spread in their last 10 games against BC.
    • The Total has gone Under in 5 games, and Under in the other 5.

NC State

Boston College 

 

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NC State Basketball

#5 NC State 70 Vanderbilt 62: BOX SCORE (with notes)

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The 5th ranked NC State Women’s Basketball team improved to 8-0 tonight, defeating Vanderbilt 70-62 in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge.

Notes

  • Saniya Rivers scored 20+ points for the 2nd time this season, scoring 22 points on 8 of 14 shooting. She also chipped in 8 rebounds and 2 steals.
  • River Baldwin posted her first double-double of the season. She scored 12 points and grabbed 10 boards.
  • Aziaha James has now scored in double figures in 7 of 8 games, scoring 14 points tonight, shooting 6 of 10 from the field and 2 of 3 from beyond the arc.
  • Freshman Zoe Brooks led the Pack in steals (4) and assists (4).
  • NC State didn’t shoot well, making only 39% of their shots. Fortunately, they held Vandy to 34.3% shooting.

The Wolfpack will host Illinois State on Sunday at 2pm.

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NC State Basketball

NC State Stat Leaders Heading into the ACC Opener vs Boston College

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This Saturday, NC State heads to Boston College for the now-annual early ACC opener. The Pack will face off against the Eagles at 4pm on ACC Network. Here is where the team is statistically after 6 games.

  • Casey Morsell leads NC State in scoring with 14.5 ppg.
  • The Pack has 4 double-digit scorers this season. Morsell (14.5), Jayden Taylor (13.3), DJ Burns (13) and DJ Horne (11.2)
    (Last season State had 4 double-digit scorers as well. Terquavion (17.9), Joiner (17), Burns (12.5) and Morsell (11.8)) 
  • After their top 4 scorers there is a big dip. Parker comes in at 6.8, O’Connell at 6.3, and Middlebrooks at 5.5 ppg.
    (Last season Jack Clark was 5th on the team in scoring at 9 points and Mahorcic was at 8.7. However, both guys missed a large chunk of the season.) 
  • Burns is leading NC State in rebounding this year at 5.3 per game. Diarra is next with 5.3 (but is currently hampered by an ankle injury.) 
  • O’Connell is leading NC State in assists with 3.3 per game, and Burns is up next with 2.5. PG DJ Horne is only averaging 2.
  • LJ Thomas and Mike O’Connell are tied in leading the team at .15 assists per minute.
  • Jayden Taylor is leading NC State in 3pt %, shooting an outstanding 45.8%, while Morsell is up next at 34.6%. Horne is close behind at 33%.
    (LJ Thomas is shooting 50% from 3, but only has 2 attempts.) 
  • Burns is leading the bigs, shooting 56.5% from the floor, while Middlebrooks is close behind at 54.2%. Dennis Parker Jr is coming in at 45.2%.
  • For the guards, it’s Casey Morsell leading the way at 44.6% from the floor, while O’Connell is next up at 43.4%. Taylor is shooting 42.4%, and DJ Horne is struggling a bit, shooting just 34.8% from the field.
  • Jayden Taylor is turning the ball over the most at 1.8 times per game, while Burns is next at 1.7. Morsell is at 1.5 and O’Connell is at 1.2. DJ Horne has been doing a good job of protecting the basketball, turning it over just .3 times per game.

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NC State Basketball

NC State 52 Ole Miss 72: Box Score (with notes)

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NC State’s Men’s Basketball team lost it’s second straight game tonight, losing 52-72 on the road at Ole Miss in the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Below is the Box Score with some notes below.

Notes

  • Ben Middlebrooks posted a double-double, with 13 points and 12 boards. To be honest, Middlebrooks was the only bright spot in this game.
  • Casey Morsell was the only other player to score in double figures (12 points), but it wasn’t pretty, shooting 5 of 14 from the field.
  • One of the poorest statistical shooting performance I can remember.
    • NC State shot 31.8% from the field and 12% from three (3-25).
  • The Wolfpack’s DNA on defense is turning over their opponent, and they were unable to do so tonight, turning over the Rebels only 7 times.
    • For comparison, the Wolfpack turned it over 13 times, giving them a Turnover Margin tonight of -6.
    • Heading into tonight, they averaged a Turnover Margin of +7.8.
    • Ole Miss scored 13 points off of turnovers, compared to NC State’s 4.
    • This is the first time this season that NC State failed to force their opponent to commit at least 10 turovers.
  • NC State was -25 when D.J. Burns was on the court, which was the worst on the team.
    • NC State was +3 when L.J. Thomas was on the court, and +2 when Ben Middlebrooks were on the court. They were the only two players in the positive.
    • Thomas and Middlebrooks should have earned themselves some more playing time going forward.
  • Ole Miss’ length was problematic for the Wolfpack, blocking 9 of their shots.

There will be more analysis on this game coming tomorrow.

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