Connect with us

After a fourth ACC loss, NC State has their backs against the wall and head coach Mark Gottfried knows what the problem is.

“It is real simple. We scored enough points to win the game tonight. You get 76 points at home in an ACC game you ought to win the game, but this group right here, they better figure it out real fast because right now we have got to figure out how to get a little tougher. We have got to decide if we want to play some defense.” said Gottfried.

At the end of the day, when you get hit in the mouth, there are two types of people. One type lays on the ground, pouts, makes excuses why he got hit and then walks away. The other one gets up with blood on his lip and fights harder than he ever has before.

Right now, NC State is on the ground pouting because they got hit in the face. They have gone limp. They are letting other teams do whatever they want to them with no repercussion. That’s basically the unadulterated breakdown of what you’ve been watching.

Playing defense is about having pride. When your man scores on you, it should sting. Every single possession is a battle, and every time you give up a bucket, you lose. Players should be held accountable for each and every defensive breakdown. This takes team accountability. Right now, you see none because this team has no on-court leadership, thus no one is providing accountability.

With the defense we’ve seen, it should pain you that there is not more on-court bickering. Players should be yelling at teammates if they take a play off or are out of position defensively. Instead, it’s become a culture where no one wants to point a finger or get in somebody’s face. That is a major problem.

We could come on here and talk about specific plays, and how guys didn’t fight over a screen or failed to communicate on a switch. Or how someone was out of position, or late on a help and recover, but at the end of the day it comes down to desire. It comes down to pride. It comes down to someone taking leadership and demanding accountability.

Part of this falls on Gottfried. While he can’t be out there on the floor playing defense or diving for loose balls, he obviously hasn’t made it clear that stopping your man is mandatory for getting court time. Until that happens, until players understand that they can score 30 points per game, but if they can’t stop anyone they sit, then you will continue to have guys that don’t play with grit and passion on that end of the floor.

When they don’t feel hurt or embarrassed when their man scores there is a problem. When they are not in each other’s faces barking at each other about missed assignments or lack of effort on the defensive end, then the coach has not gotten his point across.

Gottfried will never be a defensive coach. He never has been and he never was supposed to be, but he can control effort. He can control minutes, and with the depth he has, that’s what he has to do. Take a bad shot. Sit down. Miss a defensive assignment. Take a seat. The season, at it’s current trajectory, is going to be a loss, so taking drastic measures and a hard line on discipline and teamwork might be your only shot.

Gottfried is pissed off right now. The question is, can he get his guys to channel him against Pitt on Tuesday night? We’ll have to wait and see.

10 Comments
Subscribe
Notify of
10 Comments
newest
oldest most Upvoted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

“Gottfried will never be a defensive coach. He never has been and he never was supposed to be”

If this is true then we got half a coach. We should pay him half his salary. If he does like defense, then why did he not hire an assistant that did? There has always been two parts to the game. We got suckered.

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago
Reply to  wolfpack74

Sorry, doesn’t like defense.

Ian
Ian
7 years ago

Well said. Good write up. I only hope Gott and leadership above him is thinking the same thing because this year feels like a broken record.

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
7 years ago

Time to get a new coach.

packbackr04
packbackr04
7 years ago

too little too late. this discussion should have happened after Creighton, or Illinois not 5 games into conference play.

wornoutstatefan
wornoutstatefan
7 years ago
Reply to  packbackr04

And definitely after UNC….

Ian
Ian
7 years ago

Yes. I mentioned in a post, my inability as fan to see the world around me and make “decisions” based on everything in all directions, not just what’s in front. It’s hard, in season, not to become myopic a feel a sense of doom after a loss or or several. But it’s nice to see level headed responses to our situation. Like you said, “I guess we’ll see.”

NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Releases Their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

Published

on

NC State Women’s Basketball team released their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule yesterday.

Image

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State women’s basketball program has announced its non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season, as revealed on Thursday.

The Pack will play eight of its 11 games, in addition to a preseason exhibition, at Reynolds Coliseum. Coming off a historical 2023-24 season that was highlighted by the program’s first Final Four since 1998, second in program history, head coach Wes Moore is entering his 12th season at the helm. With a strong home court advantage, the Pack has accumulated a 117-15 (.886) record at home since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum was completed in August 2016.

NC State will participate in the Pink Flamingo Championship at Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas on Monday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 27 against opponents that will be announced at a later date. As previously announced, NC State will play the defending NCAA Champion South Carolina at the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Sunday, Nov. 10, as well as host Ole Miss for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The Wolfpack will host Anderson (S.C.) for an exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 29 before officially starting the season at home vs. ETSU on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Following the Ally Tipoff, NC State will return home to host Kent State on Thursday, Nov. 14.

NC State’s first true road game of the season is at TCU on Sunday, Nov. 17. The Pack will then play Coastal Carolina at home on Thursday, Nov. 21 before its trip to the Bahamas for two games (Nov. 25-27).

The Pack will close out the non-conference slate with four straight games at Reynolds Coliseum, starting with the SEC/ACC Challenge game vs. Ole Miss (Thursday, Dec. 5). NC State will then host Old Dominion (Sunday, Dec. 8), Davidson (Wednesday, Dec. 11) and James Madison (Thursday, Dec. 19) to wrap up non-conference play.

With NC State’s known non-conference opponents, six are coming off postseason tournament appearances. Three received NCAA Tournament bids (Kent State, Ole Miss and NCAA Champion South Carolina), two were invited to play in the WBIT (TCU and James Madison) and one played in the WNIT (Old Dominion).

NC State’s Atlantic Coast Conference schedule will be announced by the league office at a later date. NC State will play Wake Forest, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech at home. The Pack will take on Wake Forest, Cal, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, Stanford and Syracuse on the road.

Season tickets are sold out for the 2024-25 season. Tip-off times and television designations will also be released at a later date.

2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Anderson (Exh.)

Tuesday, Nov. 5 – ETSU

Sunday, Nov. 10 – South Carolina $

Thursday, Nov. 14 – Kent State

Sunday, Nov. 17 – at TCU

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Coastal Carolina

Monday, Nov. 25 – Opponent TBD &

Wednesday, Nov. 27 – Opponent TBD &

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Ole Miss +

Sunday, Dec. 8 – Old Dominion

Wednesday, Dec. 11 – Davidson

Thursday, Dec. 19 – James Madison

$ – Ally Tipoff (Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.)

& – Pink Flamingo Championship (Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas)

+ – SEC/ACC Challenge (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

NC State Legend Julius Hodge Named Head Coach at Lincoln University

Published

on

NC State Legend Julius Hodge has been named the Head Coach at Lincoln University.

This marks Hodge’s first stint as a Head Coach.

Hodge has been in the Coaching world since 2015, when he served as Director of Player Development at the University of Buffalo under Bobby Hurley. Then, he spent 2016 and 2017 as an Assistant Coach under Herb Sendek at Santa Clara. From 2018-20, Hodge served as an Assistant Coach at San Jose State. Hodge has spent the past three seasons as an Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

At NC State, Hodge earned 1st Team All-ACC honors in 2003 & 2004, and 2nd Team honors in 2005. Hodge was named the ACC Player of the Year in ’04. He earned the All-Freshman Team in 2002.

Hodge is 1 of 11 players in NC State history to earn 1st Team All-ACC honors more than once.

His 2,040 career points scored rank 3rd in NC State history. Hodge also ranks 1st in Free Throws Made, 14th in Rebounds, 7th in Offensive Rebounds, 6th in Assists and 7th in Steals.

Congrats Julius! You deserve this!

 

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

WATCH: Getting to Know NC State’s Trey Parker

Published

on

NC State Men’s Basketball is releasing videos helping fans get to know the new players on the 2024-25 roster.

Below is the video of Freshman Trey Parker (6’1″/178), with a transcript underneath.

“My name is Trey Parker. I’m an incoming Freshman from Fayetteville, North Carolina.” 

“I was recently playing at Overtime Elite. It was a great experience. A whole lot of development and great energy.” 

“Coach Levi (Watkins) recruited me. As soon as I got to the campus, it was a great experience. They just gave me that big inspiration to feel like I’m home, and feel like a great student outside of basketball.”

“I knew I wanted to be a part of the Pack back in November of 2022. I just felt like it was a great fit for me.”

“Living in North Carolina, and now playing in North Carolina, is a big opportunity. There’s a lot of people from North Carolina looking up to me, and I want to give them what they want to see.” 

“Being close, allows for them to bring the whole city out. It just feels like I’m already at home.” 

“Y’all stay tuned. Showtime is coming this year.”

_______

Parker originally signed with NC State in November of 2022, as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. He decided to reclassify, making him a member of the 2024 class.

Parker is a consensus 3-Star prospect, though 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have him as a 4-Star prospect. 247 ranks him as the #135 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class, the #26 Shooting Guard, and the #13 player in the state of Georgia.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

Jersey Numbers for 2024-25 NC State Men’s Basketball Team Revealed

Published

on

The NC State Men’s Basketball team revealed the Jersey Numbers for their 2024-25 team yesterday.

Image

Numbers that are Staying the Same

Michael O’Connell – #12

Ben Middlebrooks – #34

Dennis Parker Jr. – #11

KJ Keatts – #13

Jordan Snell – #22

Numbers that have Changed

Jayden Taylor – #1 –> #8

Breon Pass – #10 –> #4

Numbers of New Players

Mike James – #0 (He wore #0 at Louisville last year)

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – #1 (He wore #5 at Louisville last year)

Paul McNeil – #2 (He wore #2 in High School last year)

Dontrez Styles – #3 (He wore #0 at Georgetown last year)

Trey Parker – #5 (He wore #5 in High School last year)

Marcus Hill – #10 (He wore #0 at Bowling Green last year)

We don’t know what number Ismael Diouf will be wearing at NC State next year yet. 

 

 

Continue Reading