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Why Markell Johnson’s court case could make or break NC State’s season

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As you already know, Markell Johnson is facing a felony assault case which has him suspended from the team until the court makes their ruling, which could come as soon as Jan. 8th.

If Johnson is found not-guilty then it’s likely he’ll be back. If he’s guilty well then… I guess we’ll cross that bridge if we come to it, but he certainly won’t be NC State’s PG for the rest of the season.

Although it’s just one player, Markell Johnson was important to this NC State team in so many ways. With him out, NC State is facing an uphill battle, to say the least. Here is why we believe the ruling on Johnson is make-or-break for the Wolfpack’s season.

Tempo / Style of play
When Kevin Keatts arrived, one thing was certain. He was going to change the way NC State played basketball. He immediately implemented a fast-paced system, complete with full-court defense, traps to create turnovers, and an offense that is built on getting out in transition to get quick, but good shots.

To do this, you need the right players. From day one it was going to be a tough to really run this system when you had Yurtseven and Lennard Freeman, both of whom are bigs who are more comfortable in a slower half-court set style of offense. But at the same time, he had a few pieces that did work. One of those was Markell Johnson.

Johnson is the super-fast, uber-quick, athletic point guard that works well in this style of offense. His ability to pester his man full court and jump passing lanes created a lot of deflections and turnovers. His ability to penetrate the defense. get into the lane, and find the open shooters is what allowed NC State to get good shots in transition.

Without Johnson, none of this is happening. The full court defense isn’t creating turnovers, which isn’t allowing them to get into transition. But even when they do get out and start running, they don’t have the facilitator who can control a game at that pace. Without Johnson, NC State is playing much slower, and this system isn’t designed for that.

 

Offense
Why is it good to get out in transition? Because it doesn’t allow the defense to get set. Because a lot of miscommunications happen on defense when you’re trying to defend on the fly.

When NC State was humming, they were running.

Once in transition, Markell Johnson took control. He was fast down the court, and quick to make a move, getting himself into the lane. Once there he was always a threat to throw one down or finish at the rim. This forced defenders to pinch-in to help on drives. Once that happened, Johnson was quick to read that pinch and find the guy being left open on the wing. This is why Johnson was one of the nations best in Assist Rate. In fact, even right now, he still ranks 19th in the country (Top 5 in the Power Conferences). Losing a PG  like that doesn’t just hurt your depth, it changes your entire offensive strategy.

 

Defense
Getting out in transition is how NC State is going to score, but doing that takes a lot more than just preaching it. To push tempo you need to force your opponent to play quicker then they’d like. Doing that leads them into taking bad shots, or turning it over.  But you can’t make them play faster if you don’t have the defenders.

Johnson was pestering the opposing PGs full court. He was in passing lanes. He was getting steals and deflections. Johnson was the point man on defense, just like he was on offense. His quickness, his fast hands, and his anticipation on the defensive end was what was making the Wolfpack so successful. It was allowing them to get into transition, at which point he was getting them better shots, which was allowing them to put up more points.

Overall
A guy like Johnson is necessary if this team is going to be successful. That is why the ruling on January 8th is so important. If he is found not guilty, then NC State gets their PG back (after missing just 3 ACC games) and can once again play the ‘Keatts brand of basketball.’ If he’s guilty, then, honestly, it could be a long season.

Braxton Beverly is a good PG, but he’s not built to run. He’s a freshman possession PG who values the basketball and can run an offense. He struggles at getting into the teeth of the defense and making things happen. That being said, he’s pretty darn good at it for his size. However, in the ACC, when everyone is long, tall and athletic, it’s just much tougher for a guy like Beverly to be a true creator without size, length and athleticism.

Lavar Batts is also just a freshman, but like Johnson, he has the quickness and athleticism to push tempo at this level. The problem is, he’s a freshman and he’s yet to really grasp his role as leader and facilitator.

As you can see, losing Johnson is a little bigger then people are admitting. NC State now has a depth problem with a team built to play 100% for 4o minutes (something you never want to have), and a personnel problem that is not allowing this team to really run the system they’ve practiced running all offseason.

That is why we believe Johnson’s status could really make or break the season for NC State.

NC State Basketball

An NC State Win Over Marquette in the Sweet 16 Would Be…

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Awesome. Obviously.

#11 seed NC State will play #2 seed Marquette tomorrow night in the Sweet 16. What would a win mean for the Wolfpack? Many things, but here’s just a few:

It would give NC State 25 wins on the year (25-14), which would be the most wins since 1982-83, when the Wolfpack went 26-10, winning the National Championship.

It would mark the 12th time in school history that NC State has won 25+ games in a single season.

1982-83 – 26-10 

1973-74 – 30-1 

1972-73 – 27-0 

1954-55 – 28-4 

1953-54 – 26-7

1952-53 – 26-6 

1950-51 – 30-7 

1949-50 – 27-6 

1948-49 – 25-8 

1947-48 – 29-3

1946-47- 26-5

It would be the 7th time NC State has advanced to the Elite 8 in the NCAA Tournament.

1950

1951

1974

1983

1985

1986

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NC State Basketball

NC State has Won 5 ACC Championships this Year

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NC State has won 5 ACC Championships this year, which is the most of any athletic program in the conference this year.

The Wolfpack has won ACC Titles in Women’s Cross Country, Men’s Swimming & Diving, Wrestling, Men’s Basketball and Gymnastics.

The last time NC State won 5 ACC Championships in one year was 1979-80.

As far as I can tell, here’s a look at the Wolfpack Conference Titles from 1979-80:

Football
Women’s Basketball
Women’s Cross Country
Men’s Swimming & Diving
Men’s Tennis

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NC State Basketball

NC State is 1 of 4 Schools to Have Both Men & Women’s Basketball Teams in Sweet 16

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NC State is 1 of 4 schools to have their Men and Women’s Basketball teams BOTH advance to the Sweet 16, along with Duke, Gonzaga and UCONN.

NC State and Duke are the only two schools in the country to send both Basketball teams to the Sweet 16, and also send the Football team to a bowl game.

This marks only the third time in school history that BOTH teams made the Sweet 16.

Years NC State’s Men & Women’s Teams Made the Sweet 16

1985
1989
2024

Despite the fact that the Men’s team has made the Elite 8 six times (1950, 1951, 1974, 1983, 1985, 1986), and the Women have made it 2 times (1998 & 2022), in the three occasions they both went to the Sweet 16 in the same year, neither team advanced to the Elite 8.

In 2024, Why Not Us?

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#3 seed NC State Holds on Against #6 Seed Tennessee, Defeating the Vols 79-72 to Advance to the Sweet 16

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#3 seed NC State held on last night, defeating #6 seed Tennessee 79-72 in Reynolds Coliseum to advance to the Sweet 16 for the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments.

The Wolfpack led by only 1 after the 1st Quarter, but they looked like they had things under control at halftime, leading by 18 points.

At one point, NC State led by as much as 20 points in the 3rd Quarter, but the Lady Volunteers weren’t about to give up.

With 4:19 left in the 4th, Tennessee cut the lead to 2 points, but NC State might have bent, but they wouldn’t break.

Junior Guard Aziaha James led the way with 22 points and 7 assists, which were both team highs. She scored 7 points in the final 3.5 minutes, helping to squash tue Last Vols’ comeback attempt.

Junior Guard Saniya Rivers had 20 points (6-14 FG) and 6 boards.

Freshman Zoe Brooks was clutch off the bench, chipping in 16 points and 6 boards.

This marks the 16th time the NC State Women’s Basketball team has advanced to the Sweet 16.

The Wolfpack will play #2 seed Stanford on Friday night at 7:30pm on ESPN in Portland.

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