NC State Basketball
NC State’s NET Report Heading Into Duke Matchup
NC State’s Men’s Basketball team is ranked 42nd in the NET Rankings heading into their matchup against Duke tonight, who is ranked 24th. The Wolfpack’s final regular season game is a huge Quad 1 matchup in Cameron Indoor, where the Blue Devils haven’t lost all year.
(NCAA)
The Wolfpack are the 4th highest ranked team in the ACC in the NET Rankings.
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) is a priority for NC State, according to a source.
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.
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.
He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.
NC State already hosted Indiana State Transfer Guard Ryan Conwell last week, and while the Wolfpack coaches like both players, from what I’m hearing, James would be their preference.
NC State hasn’t had James in for a visit, but that could happen soon.
James has 2 years of eligibility remaining.
NC State Basketball
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Seems weird to me that #7 UNC seems to have the easier game (BC/ Louisville) than #6 State (VT vs ND). Thoughts?
I think BC is the toughest team of the group right now. I’m more concerned about ND than VT but either could be a tough game. Good news is that they’ll likely have a tight battle so whoever wins will hopefully be a bit worn down.
Looks like we’re a sixth seed, then. Right?
Yes, that worked out well for us, we play winner of VT vs ND. I’ll take that. If we win we face a well rested Clemson team.
To clarify, I’m just glad we don’t have to worry about playing Boston College.
ND is the one I don’t want to face but the reality is, the team can’t think any of that. But not being the underdog is somehow unsettling for me.
So, since it’s safe to say Dusan won’t come back, what are the chances of him receiving a redshirt year and playing next year?
Good question. I think the staff must feel like there’s a good chance or they’d probably push to play him. On the other hand he has already used his Covid year so NCAA might not be as forgiving.
And I read that he exceeded the maximum number of games typically allowed for a medical redshirt.
Since I am trapped inside while the storm front moves through WNC, I thought I would share this worry: State was 3 and 4 over their last 7 games. Doesn’t really give the impression that we are peaking at the right time, huh? The record does not make feel in any way confident as we approach the ACCT, much less, SelectionSunday.
Now would be a really good time to start. The good, Joiner seems to have gotten back in shooting form, Morsel had an off game but over all has been fairly consistent. Clark is back. DJ didn’t have a great second half against Duke but faired okay and has been consistent all year. I think if T Smith can catch fire, maybe, just maybe…
Lets all hope a week off after a long season, plus a healthy Clark will work in our favor.
We’ll need good performances from our bench, so that our starters aren’t under so much pressure to do it all.
Yep. The fact they have a week “off” to prepare is a good thing. My question is, what makes a team all of a sudden peak? When do you know they’ve peaked. Understandably, people could look at the 83 team and feel like they truly gelled. And to their credit, they did. But talk about heart attacks. They slipped into the tournament by mere inches by winning the ACC Tournament against insurmountable odds. Then managed to pull off (for the most part), come back after come back along with last second wins. Sure, they peaked as a team, but only… Read more »
Things worked out well for us, although I hate playing the late game, we will face VT vs ND winner. Both teams we should be quite ready to handle.
Win that game and we face Clemson. A tough matchup but no way they hit 60 percent again. All we need to do is figure out how to defend their ball screen.
As much as I like this site, sometimes I get the feeling there are only four or five of us clicking on it. The complete silence rom the PI STAFF for days at a time, is discouraging because I have enjoyed hanging out with you guys for several years now. I truly wonder how long PI can hang on. Meanwhile, I absolutely hate our recent two game losing streak and desperately want to win not one, but two games in Greensboro. Terq is really in a scoring slump. If it is just other teams focusing their defense on Terq, then… Read more »
I’ve wondered the same. I think this being an independent site means the staff have lives outside of this. They’re not pulling in mad bucks. I do remember when Pack Insider first came about, the enthusiasm was super high and the inside scoop seemed to come from more than one source. That was a good ten years ago and a lot can and does change in ten years. I’m sure there’s at least one hold over with new blood on the team now. I’m grateful for the articles we do get but wish the forum was back up because I… Read more »
By the way, I knew ND was going to win one of those last two home games (UNC or Pitt) as a farewell present for Bray. They won Pitt, darn it.
Don’t really like a first game with Carolina in the ACC Tournament. Call me crazy but that just feels like all sorts of bad juju. Now, match up with them in the second game and I somehow like our chances better.
As far as I can tell, we will either be seeded 6 or 7, with UNC also either 6 or 7. So that means we will play a Tuesday winner from the 10 v 15 or 11 vs 14 game. Win that game and then we play one of the top 4 seeds with the double bye (likely UM or UVA but Sat games will tell). Only if we win that 2nd game would be possibly face UNC. I’ll pull for Duke over UNC, but if that happens, depending on other games, its possible we’d face Duke again in game… Read more »
I totally read that wrong. What you’re saying makes way more sense. Glad I read that wrong.
Here’s the official situation.
We are guaranteed at least 7 seed
We can get a 6 seed if;
Case 1 – UNC loses to Duke
or
Case 2 – Pitt loses to Miami and Virginia loses to Louisville (then we win tiebreaker with UNC)
Good to know. Shows you I know nothing about brackets and such.
I found a good site that has lots of neat tourney seeding info and probabilities
Can’t post proper links here, but it is playoffstatus DOT com
There is one possible scenario where Wake winds up 7 and UNC 8
I think we’re probably going to end up in a situation where our second round games in both tournaments are going to be steep, uphill battles. But if we win either, the sky is the limit.
I’m not deluding myself that we could win it all, but these guys deserve something good in the post season. A S16 would be amazing. Let’s not end the season losing 4 straight.
I feel better about our NCAAT success prospects than the ACCT where we have to face a double bye team game 2. But a lot of bye teams have lost in the past……lets not be one of them.
We certainly have some important things to be fixed. Rebounding – We’ve got to get back to rebounding, both Clemson and Duke out rebounded us.Shooting – We’ve got to shoot better. As AG said, Smith has to take better shots without rushing. Even DJ didn’t shoot as well as he normally does last night. Clearly, we struggle when they shut down Smith. There are strategies to get him open.Passing – We average 13 assists per game, Duke held us to 6, Clemson 9.Fouls – The coaches need to figure out why the refs think we foul so much. Is it… Read more »
re fouling; DJ has at least two fouls per game where he’s in decent position but brings his arms down over the shooter. Eliminate those and he’s not in trouble nearly as much. But we also have to prevent drives off ball screen allowing penetration and leaving DJ on an island too. Some reaches by T Smith and Morsell are attempts to stop penetration and protect DJ. Overall, we do foul more and that is OK with me. You can’t play intense defense and not have your share of fouls. I’ll accept that even if we reach a bit more… Read more »
Smith’s shooting has been suspect. Not sure what’s going on with him. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, he forces his shot too much. He needs to let the game come to him. I don’t think he lost the game, but he was mediocre at best even when it came to doing other things as well. Morsell just had a completely off night. Not usual for him to miss everything. Joiner. Joiner. And Joiner. Clark, welcome back! Both you and DJ get honorable mention. Anyway, for having an off night all around, I’m surprised we lost by… Read more »
Clark Joiner and Burns Are the glue of this team. Upward trajectory: Morsell. Even though he had a nasty night, I don’t believe for a second that we’ve seen anything close to last of him. He has been solid for us this whole season. I think Ross, LJ Thomas, Gantt and Pass will continue to give us solid minutes going forward but they seem consistent in their roles which is fine, IMO. Downward trajectory: Sorry, gotta say it. Smith. Please prove me wrong. If I had to pick a starting five, it would be: Joiner Burns Clark Morsell Gantt With… Read more »
Oh yeah, I forgot to thank the refs for a truly evenly called game. Drum roll…
Duke 23 of 29 on foul shots, and NC State 7 of 8. Yep.
I noticed Duke can still flop and get away with it, while also undercutting guys going up for layups so much it spins them halfway around and somehow not getting called.
I’m not sure we should have started Burns vs Duke. We really needed better interior defense and rebounding, Ebe and Ross are both more proficient in that area. The vast majority of Duke points were inside right at the basket, with guys blowing right around Burns and his lack of quickness highly exploited. Its a tough call because he’s scoring, but if he’s not hitting more than 40% and our opponent is hitting 55% in the paint its a net loss. Its not an easy call in my opinion. I think KK has strategically done well with DJ’s minutes most… Read more »
Smith is in a scoring slump but don’t dismiss the attention opponents are putting on him to make his life difficult. Also, while he has a few unneeded fouls, his defensive intensity is excellent, not to mention him being our assist leader most games. His presence on the court makes it easier for JJ to do what he does. Assists from Smith to JJ happen more often than the other way around. Also, remember teams have learned how better to defend Smith over two years of playing against him, The reason we lost the game was 1) Rebounding. Thats it.… Read more »
I think a week off will do wonders for this team. I think Smith is in a shooting slump but I also think he can let the game come to him more. I agree with you, though on everything else you’ve said about Smith and admit to being a little harsh. Conversely, similar to Seabron, if he’s slows down a little and lets the game come to him, maybe passes on those shots he shouldn’t take, his point totals would go up and so too would his overall game production as well.
Yes, definitely Smith is out of rhythm and needs to get back to that space. At Duke is a tough place to get your mojo back, but I was thinking he’d rise to the occasion. Honestly I think part of it is fitting in with JJ, in the sense that JJ is not a PG who creates shot for others, hence is very low assist numbers. There were two occasions in the second half I recall JJ driving into the paint and not seeing Smith open on the perimeter. JJ looks ahead to the basket even when the D is… Read more »
Duke game is more important than I’d like it to be. It will be very interesting to see how we perform. We have been decent on the road, and we should be quite motivated after our performance against Clemson. We must establish a tough defensive stance early, if Duke gets off to high shooting percentage start we are doomed. I would not argue with having Ross, Gantt, Ebe play early to establish some defensive posture, then bring in DJ for a scoring punch. That also reduces risk of early fouling. I’m begging for Clark to be able to run, it… Read more »
How often does this happen? We need heroics to save ourselves at the end of the season. I feared this would happen when I saw our schedule. Frustrating Agree with you. Duke is going to play physical, we need to match them right out of the gate. I don’t think we can repeat the last two patterns of getting down early and trying to come back. Like Clemson, Duke – especially at Cameron- is too good. Terquavion needs to play smarter. Resist the temptation to reach in when out of position, and step up closer to the arc when shooting… Read more »
For clarity. I thought we were pretty much in the tourney. Is this a do or die game?
Most still have us solidly in the tourney, but you never know what a Duke loss then a ACCT loss would do to us if some other teams start winning.
I think with a Duke loss we’ll be under pressure to win 1 ACCT game to lock up a spot.
Wouldn’t it be nice if they were more transparent about the selection process, so we knew for sure? If you look around, you see the optimists being pretty persuasive about us being in, and conversely, the pessimists are similarly persuasive that we’ve still got work to do.
Adding a Q1 win tonight certainly wouldn’t hurt.
GO PACK!