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OUR TAKE: NC State goes toe-to-toe with #3 Kansas, losing by 6

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4 months ago

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We all were hoping for a big win against #3 Kansas, but no one can be mad with the product the Wolfpack put on the floor today.

Sure, NC State lost by 6, but we learned that the Pack can compete with the nation’s best. Here is ‘Our Take’ on the close loss.

NC State showed that they are going to be competitors
The game being this close the whole way through was no fluke. This wasn’t a game where State was red hot, making everything they put up. This wasn’t a game where Terquavion Smith was pouring in crazy 3s all day long. State shot just 38% from the floor. This is a team that you can expect to shoot in the mid-40s to low-50s from the floor on most nights. So what you got was a little below-average offensive output from the Pack.

And defensively NC State looked very, very good. There were very few missed assignments. They were swarming everywhere. The help and recover was great, and Kansas really had to work for their points. The x-factor ended up being Grady Dick, the 6’8 freshman sharpshooter. There were a few times when they lost him, but for the most part all of his 3s were pretty well contested. It just so happened he went 6-12 from 3-point range.

Casey Morsell is becoming a star
Morsell was seen by most as a glue guy coming into the season. Someone who was going to defend well, give you a little offense, but mostly just be that do-it-all jack of all trades that gives you positive output across the board. Well, he’s been that, but he’s been so much more. Morsell is an absolute smothering defender on the ball, and he’s always in the right spot on help-side. And suddenly, he’s found his shot. He is now hitting 62% of the 3s on the season after going 5-8 in this one.

Oh, and he also filled up the stat line. He was 2nd on the team with 8 boards, had 2 assists and 2 steals. He finished with a team-high 21 points.

Give credit to Smith for adjusting at the half
This wasn’t the Terquavion Smith we were hoping for, at least not early on. He came out of the game gunning as you would expect in a nationally televised game. And no one should fault him for that, but the kid was off. He was forcing the issues and in previous years it would be a game where he just disappeared. However, Smith adjusted at halftime. He came out and didn’t shoot a single 3 in the second half. Instead, he let Morsell and Joiner take a little more control, and when he did attack, he did that off the bounce, getting to the rim and scoring or drawing contact. He also played a lot better on defense, especially on the help side. Oh and he finished with 19 points on the game, despite going 5-15 from the floor.

The bigs held their own
There were some positives and negatives from the NC State bigs. This was a tough matchup for them, with Adams being so mobile, but they did fine against him. They both defended the screen and roll pretty well, and they didn’t get out physicalled at any point of the game.

What we would have loved to see is a little more offense. They had the size advantage, but struggled to get it going offensively. I think both are getting their taste of high level college basketball. Lots of bodying and bumping is allowed in the post, so when you go up to score, you have to be ready for that. I think this is bothering Burns a little more than it’s bothering Mahorcic, but both need to be able to play through the contact and give NC State a few points from the block. That said, Mahorcic scored 4 points and snatched up a team high 9 boards, and Burns scored 8 and grabbed 5 rebounds.

NC State’s depth is in question
One thing that was clear. When State had to sub at any position other than center, there was a big drop off in production. Pass struggled once again and is battling some confidence issues it seems. Meanwhile, Ross isn’t putting himself in a position to make much of a difference offensively and seems to be getting pushed around a bit defensively. We didn’t see Greg Gantt or LJ Thomas, but both could start seeing some minutes if Pass and Ross don’t start showing some improvement with their minutes.

Because of this, it seemed as if NC State really wore down, down the stretch. They fought so hard, but they pressed a lot, played full-court defense, and had to really work on offense to get good shots. I’m worried about the type of energy they’ll have against Dayton/Wisconsin, tomorrow at 4 pm.

Overall, a great showing for Keatts and Company
Keatts was on his deathbed after last season. With his job in jeopardy this year, he only had Morsell surely coming back. Smith and Seabron were thought to be going pro and he had a bunch of transfers right after the year ended. What we saw on the floor today was a well-built team that is going to contend. With Smith back, Joiner in the mix and Morsell greatly improved, this team has one of the best backcourts in the ACC. Add in some flexibility at center, and you have a pretty good team.

Now, Keatts needs to choose his moments for technical fouls a little better, but aside from that, I think most fans really liked what they saw in this game and I’ll hold to my prediction that this team is either in the Top 25 or flirting with it at some point this season.

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Rev
Rev
3 months ago

Terq had an off night and 8 of 22 for the team from three point land just wasn’t enough. But then, the 5 of 14 from Burns and Mahoric didn’t help either. The good news was the tenacity on defense and holding our own on the boards. The bad news is the lack of depth. Playing with that much intensity will tire us in every game. Pass, Thomas, Ross, Gantt must be able to give the starters more rest.

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Dof87
Dof87
3 months ago

It certainly was encouraging to see us play like we did, and a signal of our potential. I liked the style of ball we played and the tenacity of the team. If we can follow up with 2 wins before coming home this trip will have been a big success.

The difference in the game was 3 pt shooting, and we tried to hard to find 3 pt shots in the last 2 minutes, we could have kept going inside and that may have put is in better position when the final seconds were ticking off.

Last edited 3 months ago by Dof87
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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Ebe Dowuona Enters Transfer Portal

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4 hours ago

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March 23, 2023

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NC State Junior F/C Ebe Dowuona has entered the transfer portal, with two years of eligibility remaining.

This year, Ebe played in 30 games, averaging 1.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game. As a Sophomore, after the injury to Manny Bates in the first game of the season, Dowuona went on to start in 27 of the 31 games he played in, averaging 4.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game.

I’m not shocked. I don’t blame Dowuona for wanting to find a place where he would get more playing time.

Nonetheless this is a hit to the Wolfpack’s front court. While he didn’t offer much on the offensive end, he continually altered shots on the defensive end.

Ernest Ross will be a Junior next year, and fans will likely get to see Freshman Isaiah Miranda for the first time after redshirting after arriving to Raleigh midseason. Greg Gantt will be a Redshirt Junior next season as well.

Other questions loom for the Wolfpack front court as well. Will DJ Burns and Jack Clark return for their final year of eligibility? Will Dusan Mahorcic be granted a medical waiver for an additional year of eligibility?

Time will tell.

We wish Ebe all the best!

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NC State Ranked in Top-25 in Men’s Basketball Attendance in 2022-23

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2 days ago

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March 21, 2023

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When it was all said and done, the NC State fans represented in 2022-23, ranking 20th amongst Division-1 teams in Men’s Basketball attendance. The Wolfpack ranked 4th in the ACC, behind UNC, Syracuse, and Virginia.

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Wolferetti: Feed me my crow. NC State lost to Creighton and I’m here to break it down (and admit I was wrong)

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5 days ago

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March 18, 2023

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I was wrong.

I thought this matchup was a good one for NC State. I watched a lot of Creighton this year and to me, they looked like a team that NC State could roll over. Let me explain why.

I knew a few things. I knew Nembhard was a PG that could get a little out of control if sped up. I knew with a little defense and physicality, Sheierman could be made uncomfortable. I knew Kalkbrenner was a good defender but was going to sink on the pick-and-roll to protect the basket.

Joiner’s pull up just wouldn’t fall

I figured that Joiner, the pull-up king would be taking that DJ Burns screen, getting to the middle, and pulling up as Kalkbrenner sank. I figured Smith would exploit this as well. Well, turns out Joiner was off and couldn’t get his pull-up game going and Smith, well yeah Smith did exploit this pretty well.

Burns didn’t look like Burns

The other thing I’d figure would happen is that I thought DJ Burns would really frustrate Kalkbrenner. If you’ve looked at games where Kalkbrenner had to face a really good, physical back-to-the-basket big man, those bigs usually had pretty good games in the scoring column.  I honestly don’t understand what happened to Burns in this one. Sure he got a few stupid early fouls, but before he even picked up a foul he looked out of it. With no double teams coming, Burns is usually calculated, slowly backing you down and hitting you with a flurry of head fakes, pump fakes or spins. If the big doesn’t bite, Burns can fade away, go with a contested hook shot, or pass out.

In this game, Burns looked sped up for some reason. The first time he got the ball he quickly backed in and threw up a hook that rattled out. Not awful, but usually you see him probe a little more. Then the next time he didn’t even look for contact, instead, he threw up a little floater that didn’t fall. While neither were awful shots, both were uncharacteristic of Burns. On top of those things, he looked absolutely gassed within minutes of coming in. My guess is that it was the altitude, but either way, it took a toll on him.

Whatever it was, it had him frustrated and he had two really bad fouls where he just shoved Kalkbrenner (he also had a phantom foul that was ridiculous). That said, it just wasn’t his night and this made NC State a lot more one-dimensional.

Casey Morsell came to play, but this NC State roster just wasn’t built to get a guy like him going, which is a shame. Jarkel Joiner was a huge reason why NC State got to where they got. His scoring ability, his speed and his toughness and leadership skill were huge. But Joiner is a scoring guard, and great basketball teams need POINT guards.

What is a point guard, and why can’t we have one?

A point guard isn’t just a guy who dribbles it down. It’s a guy who understands the games within the games. Guys who dictate pace, call plays (sets) and are essentially coaches on the floor. NC State and Kevin Keatts never had that this season, and while you can get a long way with scoring guards and good big men, you’ll never compete for anything of worth until you prioritize the skill set of a true point guard. I think that has been NC State’s problem for years, and I find it kind of insane that coach after coach falls into this idea of having a scoring guard play as a PG for more offense to get on the court.

This is no shot at Jarkel, either. The guy was one of my favorite players to watch on this team, but it just is what it is. He is a scoring guard who happens to be slotting in at PG. When you see Keatts bring in a guy whose priority is getting his guys open and dictating pace, then you can start to believe that this program may be close to arriving. Until then, sneaking into the tournament and hoping guys get hot hands is as good as it gets.

Look at Kihei Clark (Virginia’s PG). I know it’s not a great time to be talking about Clark, whose errant pass ended up losing the game for Virginia on Thursday, but look at Clark’s build.5’10, 170lbs. Look at his stats. Mid-30s shooting % from 3. Hight 70s from the FT line. The guy is nothing special when it comes to the numbers, but he’s a leader and he distributes the basketball to the right guys at the right time. Tony Bennett has started Clark for 4 years despite the fact that he’s coaching a team that is always in the running to win the ACC and won a national championship less than 5 years ago.  He could replace Clark with an elite, tall, athlete at any moment. But he doesn’t. Why? Because he understands what I’m talking about. It’s a puzzle that coaches need to put together, and one piece of that puzzle is a guy like this.

I was wrong about this game. I thought things would play out differently. They didn’t. I’m not blaming anyone in particular, but the makeup of this team vs. the makeup of teams that play deep into March are different. Maybe this is step one to getting there. We’ll have to see how the roster shapes up next season.

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VIDEO: NC State falls to Creighton 72-63 in first round of NCAA Tournament | Extended Highlights & Box Score

NC State came out flat, DJ Burns looked gassed, and for the most part, the Pack looked shell-shocked vs. Creighton from the opening tip. However, Terquavion Smith is excluded from all of that. He was amazing and in what was likely his final game at NC State, he kept the Pack afloat, dropping 32 points on 12-25 shooting. In the end, it wasn’t enough as their big man, 7’1 Ryan Kalkbrenner went for 31.

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5 days ago

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March 18, 2023

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NC State came out flat, DJ Burns looked gassed, and for the most part, the Pack looked shell-shocked vs. Creighton from the opening tip. However, Terquavion Smith is excluded from all of that. He was amazing and in what was likely his final game at NC State, he kept the Pack afloat, dropping 32 points on 12-25 shooting. In the end, it wasn’t enough as their big man, 7’1 Ryan Kalkbrenner went for 31.

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