NC State Basketball

No. 3 Arizona’s Trier may be nations best scorer, can Wolfpack stop him?

Published

6 years ago

November 20, 2017

NC State takes on No.3 Arizona this Wednesday night at 7pm as a part of the “Battle For Atlantis” tournament.

The matchup will be the first true test for both teams, however, a lot more will likely be learned about the Wolfpack, who are a bit of an unknown at this point. New head coach Kevin Keatts’ squad has passed the early eye test, but how will they hold up against elite competition. For instance, how will they deal with someone like Arizona’s top scorer, Allonzo Trier?

Trier could have gone to the NBA after his sophomore season. He averaged 17 points, 5 boards, shot 46% from the floor and 40% from beyond the arc. He would have likely been a late 1st round, early 2nd round pick, but that wasn’t good enough. Trier returned to Arizona this season to enhance his draft status and to try to win a national championship.

It’s safe to say, he’s off to a good start.

Trier is a 6’5, 205lb guard who can do it all. He’s long and strong and can get into the lane, create contact and finish. When he doesn’t have a lane, he’s fine settling for the 3 ball, where he’s a sharp-shooter from deep. Just look at these ‘per game’ stats so far this season:

Points: 30
Rebounds: 4
Assists: 3
Steals: 1
FG: 70%
3pt: 59%

Are you serious? Yeah, Arizona has only faced Northern Arizona, UMBC, and CSU Bakersfield, but those numbers are mind-boggling. 70% from the field? Maybe if you’re a big, scoring from 2 feet out, but this kid is shooting over five 3s per game. Speaking of 3s, he’s knocking down nearly 60% of those. Just for a Wolfpack comparison, Scott Wood’s BEST season was 42%.

So can NC State stop him?

That’s really the million dollar question. There isn’t really a blueprint on how to bother Trier. He’s put up big games in his career vs. both big and small guards.

NC State can try to bother him with constant pressure from Johnson and Batts, or they can go big and have Dorn or Al Freeman try to slow him down.

We believe from watching as much Treier film as we could, that a longer, athletic guard is the best option. Trier will kill you inside and outside. Just watch his highlights. The guy really gets going by getting to the rim and finishing through contact. However, the one weak spot (if you can call it that) in his game is his slow jumper. It’s accurate, sure, but it takes him a while to get it off. NC State could guard him with Dorn who could give him an extra step to stop the drive but have the length to close out and get a hand up by the time he’s ready to release.

We will wait and see how Keatts defends a guy like Trier, but we suspect he has a little more success than Gottfried did vs. elite scorers. Against Gottfried guys like this were going for career nights on the regular and we don’t expect that to be the case this time.

If NC State wants to shock the world and topple the Wildcats, it starts with stopping Allonzo Trier.

NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

Published

13 hours ago

April 23, 2024

Matthew Bradham

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

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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.

NC State Basketball

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

Published

1 day ago

April 22, 2024

Matthew Bradham

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.

NC State Basketball

What did an ACC Title & Final Four Mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.?

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Matthew Bradham

What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.? The man who won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 gave me a statement.

It means a lot. It means a lot to the university, the state of North Carolina and a lot more to my dad, grandma, and myself. They have been NC State fans since forever, so their excitement level was though the roof when they saw BOTH of our basketball teams shining like that. It was a great feeling!

2017 was Smith Jr.’s only year of College ball, averaging 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors, and obviously, he earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.

DSJ was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Smith Jr. just wrapped up his 7th season in the NBA. This was his 1st season with Brooklyn, playing in 56 games for the Nets. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, averaging 18.9 minutes per contest.