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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

NC State Basketball

NC State’s Win Against Boston College: BY THE NUMBERS

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NC State started their 2023-24 ACC slate with a 84-78 win over Boston College. Her’s a look at the victory BY THE NUMBERS.

Let’s start with team numbers.

NC State won in 3 of the 4 Factors, which is a good recipe for a victory. All 4 factors matter, but they are ranked in level of importance from left to right. Obviously, shooting the ball better than your team is of the utmost importance, which NC State did. In a category the Wolfpack normally excels in, they lost the turnover battle in Chestnut Hill. Turnover Percentage was the only Factor that NC State wasn’t superior in. They also grabbed a higher percentage of possible offensive rebounds, and clearly won at the charity stripe in Free Throw Rate.

(SportsRef)

Now lets look at some individual numbers.

  • NC State had 4 players score in double-figures.
    • D.J. Horne had a season high of 21 points, and he also led the team with 5 assists, turning the ball over only once. Horne also had 5 rebounds.
      • NC State was +13 when Horne was on the court, which was a team high.
    • Jayden Taylor had 18 points, shooting a clean 5 of 8 from the field, and was 2 of 3 from three. Taylor also had 7 rebounds and a team high 4 steals.
      • On the year, Taylor is blistering the net from beyond the arc, shooting 48.1%
    • D.J. Burns had 17 points, but shot under 50% from the field for the second straight game, making only 8 of his 19 shots. He also led the team with 5 turnovers. Despite that, the Wolfpack were +10 when Burns was on the court, which was the 2nd highest on the squad.
      • Burns did foul out of the game.
    • Casey Morsell had 12 points.
      • He shot poorly from the field (3-9), but great from three (3-6).
  • Mohamed Diarra had freaking 18 rebounds.
    • That’s the most since Dereon Seabron had 19 back on December 1, 2021.
  • Boston College shot 53.8% from the free throw line.
    • They also shot 28.6% from three.
      • Both of those numbers are the worst an opponent has shot against NC State so far.
  • NC State shot 44% from beyond the arc, which is a season high for the Pack.
    • They also shot 85.7% from the free throw line, which was also a season high.

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NC State Basketball

NC State 84 BC 78: BOX SCORE

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NC State improved to 5-2 this afternoon, defeating Boston College 84-78 on the road, winning their 2023-24 ACC opener. Below is the box score.

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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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