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NC State has two more games left on the schedule before the ACC tournament and they are looking to make one final run. Can they do it? Here are the reason we think they just might.

1) Moving Markell Johnson to the point
It was pretty obvious during ACC play that NC State wasn’t really even trying to run their offense. Dennis Smith Jr was putting up big time numbers, but his insistence to dominate the ball at the top of the key led to NC State looking stagnant and confused.

Tuesday night the NC State offense looked much better. The ball was moving from side to side, guys were getting open shots and it seemed as if this motivated them to cut harder and set better screens in order to get open. You can credit this to Johnson’s play. He gets the ball down the court and immediately moves the basketball to the wing. When he does make a move he’s always looking to penetrate and pitch, allowing shooters to get clean inside-out looks.

Having Johnson on the floor didn’t hurt Smith’s game either. in fact, he shot 6-13 on the night (46% – right on his average) while dropping 18 (again, right on his average).The other argument we’ve heard about playing Johnson at the point and using Smith as a 2 is that you’d either have to go small with Henderson and Rowan, or you’d have to choose between the two. Against GT, Rowan logged 37 minutes, while Henderson had 26. And as for ‘going small,’ it didn’t seem to hurt at all when the Pack did that. They ended up with a 40-28 edge on the boards.

2) Kapita stepping in
Say what you want, but Omer Yurtseven simply is not ready for the physicality of ACC basketball. Gottfried finally realized this and decided to decrease his minutes significantly. This opened up time for Kapita who has played a major role in most games that NC State has shown their potential.

I’m not sure why Kapita has seen such a fluctuation in playing time this season, but you could point to the fact that he doesn’t really seem to grasp the offense and he gets lost on defense occasionally. At this point, those are things that really don’t matter as much. NC State needs guys on the blocks who want to play hard and want to body up. Kapita plays with passion, fights for rebounds and is very aggressive on both ends. Simply put, NC State needs to put the five guys on the court who are willing to battle every play. Kapita is one of those guys.

3) Nothing left to lose
You want us against the world? Well, you’ve got it. Not many people believe NC State is going to make a run. Not at this point. Not since they’ve failed to really improve as the season has progressed. But don’t count them out just yet. They really have nothing left to lose. They aren’t going to the tournament without an ACC Tourny title. They aren’t playing for Gottfried’s job since that is out the window. What’s left other than pride and proving to the nation that they are in fact who everyone thought they’d be at the start of the season.
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I know the comment section is going to be filled up with snarky remarks on how we’re living in a dream world and how NC State is cooked. We get it. People have been severely let down and it stings, but this team showed at GT that with a few small changes, they might be able to muster up one more run. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

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wolfpack74
wolfpack74
6 years ago

Poised to make a run. Yeah, after visiting Taco Bell too many times. Over hype as always from PackInsider Staff.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
6 years ago

Too many ppl talk about this team being young? Problem with this team is that there are upperclassmen but they didn’t improve. That will pretty much kill any team when 3-4 year guys aren’t playing any better than year 1-2.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
6 years ago

#1 in particular was a glaring problem for me. As talented as DSJ is… he seems to enjoy killing about 10-15 seconds of clock just dribbling the ball. Lack of ball movement definitely hurt the offense. Kapita hurt himself early in the season by picking up quick fouls. But that doesn’t explain why he was basically relegated to the bench in so many games this season?

Tarhater
Tarhater
6 years ago

I have my doubts but by deep run if you mean losing in the 2nd round then I may buy that swamp land. There were numerous occasions during the year where the team’s offense worked better with Markel at the point. Dennis “Dribble,Dribble” Smith took the motion out of the team like Kyle Washington did when he played. Insert Lennard Freeman and you have a sweet 16 team. Too little too late.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
6 years ago
Reply to  Tarhater

Yeah but that’s all on coaching. Kyle W. is playing pretty well now that he’s actually being coached. I’m sure dribble loving DSJ could also have improved under better coaching. It’s almost like Gott didn’t know what to do so he put it in DSJ’s hands and hoped he would just take over.

yakima2k
yakima2k
6 years ago
Reply to  Wolfer96

Yes – Washington is another black mark on Gottfried’s record. Reduced his minutes and ran him out of town instead of coaching him up and recognizing his talent. He should have been a perfect high post player. Now he’s a star at Cincinnati. I like Freeman but I don’t believe he would have had a magical impact on this team – same big man coaching problems apply to him.

wolfpack74
wolfpack74
6 years ago
Reply to  yakima2k

Add the Martin twins to that list.

SatchPack85
SatchPack85
6 years ago
Reply to  Wolfer96

I would think coach knows better. He was the point guard on a team that made several consecutive deep runs in the NCAA tournament. Some of this could be the player not wanting to be coached? Look how good Lorenzo Brown did, and he was not a “true” point guard.

Wolfer96
Wolfer96
6 years ago
Reply to  SatchPack85

Remember Zo was there during the Lutz era. I don’t think coach Lutz is getting enough credit for what he did behind the scenes. The last 2 seasons were Gott’s worst and that coincides with Lutz changing titles and this season with him leaving. One could surmise that it was Lutz working with Zo, CJL, Howell and company. Maybe the story will come out one day from one of the players.

SatchPack85
SatchPack85
6 years ago

Nothing would make me happier, but that was pretty exhausted Georgia Tech team we barely beat the other night with us having a much deeper bench. Granted, it was on the road and Gottfried made some changes I think he had been scared to make earlier. Here’s hoping your right.

John
John
6 years ago

Hope you are right

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D.J. Burns is OFFICIALLY BACK!

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Well, it’s OFFICIAL. D.J Burns will be returning to NC State for his final year of collegiate eligibility!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by DJ Burns / BIG 30♨️ (@dj.b30)

This confirms everything I’d been hearing about the return of Burns. Burns was the key to the Wolfpack offense running effectively this past year. He averaged 12.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in 2022-23, but he elevated his game in ACC play, averaging 16.1 points and 5.6 rebounds in conference games.

Burns is celebrating his return to run with the Wolfpack by dropping his own Big 30 merch. Go over and snag something.

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Isaiah Miranda is an Early Entry Candidate for the 2023 NBA Draft

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The NBA released the names of the 242 players that have filed as early entry candidates for NBA Draft 2023 last night, and NC State’s Isaiah Miranda’s name was on the list.

Miranda (7’1″/225) joined the Wolfpack back in December, deciding to forgo the remainder of his prep season. Miranda didn’t see the court for NC State, resulting in a redshirt season.

ON3 ranked Miranda as the #16 overall player in the 2023 recruiting class.

It makes perfect sense for a player like Miranda, with his height and athleticism, to go through the draft process to be evaluated on what he needs to continue to work on. As an early entrant, Miranda has the ability to pull his name out of the draft and remain a collegiate athlete.

I don’t expect Miranda to keep his name in the hat when the time comes. From what I hear his game has tons of potential, but he still needs to fine tune his craft. Also, Miranda shared this on social media, implying he will be back in the Red and White next year.

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Missouri Transfer Mohamed Diarra Commits to NC State

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NC State picked up their 5th transfer today. Mohamed Diarra (6’10″/215) committed to run with the Wolfpack today while in Raleigh on an Official Visit.

Diarra originally spent his first two seasons at Garden City Community College, averaging 17.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game in his second season. He landed at Missouri last year, after being rated as the #1 JUCO prospect in the 2022 class according to JucoRecruiting.com.

In his only season at Missouri, Diarra averaged 11.7 minutes per game in 25 games played (6 starts), averaging 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. Because of the extra year due to Covid, Diarra has 2 years of eligibility remaining.

With news breaking today that Dusan Mahorcic entered the Transfer Portal, the Wolfpack found his replacement. NC State’s frontcourt in 2023-24 currently will be made up of D.J. Burns, Ben Middlebrooks, Mohamed Diarra and Ernest Ross.

Check out these highlights of Diarra.

There is a lot to like in Diarra’s game. He is athletic, can hit a jump shot, put the ball on the floor, can play defense on the perimeter, block shots, and is an aggressive rebounder.

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Missouri Transfer Mohamed Diarra is On an Official Visit to NC State Today

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Missouri Transfer Mohamed Diarra (6’10″/215) is on an Official Visit to NC State today. Diarra originally spent his first two seasons at Garden City Community College, averaging 17.8 points and 12.6 rebounds per game in his second season. He landed at Missouri last year, after being rated as the #1 JUCO prospect in the 2022 class according to JucoRecruiting.com.

In his only season at Missouri, Diarra averaged 11.7 minutes per game in 25 games played (6 starts), averaging 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. Because of the extra year due to Covid, Diarra has 2 years of eligibility remaining.

Diarra entered the Transfer Portal on March 28th.

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