5 Things to watch for in tonight’s basketball exhibition vs. Chowan

NC State fans will get their first glimpse of the new-look basketball team tonight at 7pm when they take on Chowan in an exhibition game at the PNC Arena.

Most years, exhibition games are only attended by hardcore basketball fans. That’s because absolutely nothing is at stake and you really don’t learn anything new. This year, however, things are a little different.

Coming off of a wildly successful first season, Kevin Keatts has completely revamped the Wolfpack’s roster, bringing in 3 freshmen and 6 transfers. In fact, only 3 players from last years roster are back. Usually, a roster like this means it’s a rebuilding year, but with the depth and talent that is incoming, Wolfpack fans hope Keatts already has a contender on his hands.

If you don’t know much about this team, we don’t blame you. A lot has happened since NC State was knocked out of the NCAA Tournament’s first round last season. If you haven’t got to know this year’s roster, take a few minutes and get caught up with our ‘Player Previews’.

As far as tonight’s game is concerned, this exhibition should be of a little more interest to Wolfpack fans. Not only will they get to see a lot of new faces in action, but there are just so many questions about this team that can’t really be answered until they take the court.

Here are 5 things to watch for in tonight’s game.

1. Who are the starters?
We know Markell Johnson will be starting at PG, but after that no one really knows. Obviously, Braxton Beverly won’t be suiting up tonight thanks to a broken hand suffered last week,  so that makes things a bit more clear. Our best guess is that you’ll see Markell at PG, Devon Daniels and CJ Bryce as the other two guards, with Torin Dorn at the 4 and Wyatt Walker at the 5.

Coming off the bench first we think you’ll see Blake Harris and DJ Funderburk. We think Eric Lockett will also see some time early on (he’s a dark horse to actually get the start).

2. What does the rotation look like?
NC State could go 10 deep tonight (even without Beverly). This team is that deep. For us, this is the biggest thing we want to take away. How is Keatts planning to rotate these guys? Does he go 5 in, 5 out? He might tonight, but we don’t expect him to handle things like that for the meat of the season. Keatts makes adjustments on the fly and he likes to tinker with lineups. We think the first few games will see him testing out combinations to see who click together, which will be fun for the fans to watch (and learn) as well.

3. How good are the NC State bigs?
You know that Keatts want to play small. That’s his m.o. But he’s going to have to get some sort of production from his bigs. Without Yurtseven back, he has to rely on two transfers and a freshman. While it may look like a problem area for State, we think that this gives them added versatility.

Sure, Yurt was, in a sense, versatile. He could shoot and he could take you down low, but Yurtseven was slow and really didn’t have much craftiness with his back to the basket. Wyatt Walker is a creative big. He’s not going to be taller or more athletic than most guys he goes up against, but from all reports, the guy is a workhorse and is extremely efficient from the blocks.

Adding DJ Funderburk to the mix is a bigger deal than most think. The 6’9 big is agile, quick and extremely athletic. He brings a dimension to NC State that we haven’t see since CJ Leslie.

4. Does Markell take the next step in his maturation?
Markell Johnson is just a junior, but he’s already solidified himself as one of the best passers in the country. Keatts, however, doesn’t want Johnson to settle for that. He wants him to be a scoring threat for the Wolfpack. We saw spurts of that last season, but we also saw him become timid and fade back to just being a distributor at times. If NC State is going to be a contender, Markell needs to take the next step. It will be interesting to see how aggressive he is to start the season.

5. Who are the go-to scorers?
Maybe #4 answers #5. Maybe not. We think Markell will start scoring more, but we don’t think he’ll necessarily lead this team in scoring. With CJ Bryce, Devon Daniela and Torin Dorn in the mix, we think State will use a more balanced attack then we saw last season. However, if we had to bet, we’d put our money on Devon Daniels being State’s go-to scorer as the season wears on. He scores it at all 3 level with efficiency and is a very motivated, high motor type player.

Check back after the game for a full recap of the game and some answers to these questions.