QUICK HITS: From NC State’s 81-72 win over Presbyterian

Overall, NC State’s 9-point win over Presbyterian was pretty sloppy, especially on defense. But a win is a win and there were some good things to take away from this one as well. Here are my thoughts…

• Giving up 28 points to Kory Mincy and allowing Presbyterian to shoot 50% at home is concerning. NC State was active on D, but there was certainly a lack of discipline on that end of the court. Keatts has the athletes, the size, and the length to pester teams on defense, but guys need to be a lot more focused on staing between their man and the basket. Far too often State gambled on point-to-point passes, leaving them out of position and creating a ton of ‘help and recover’ havoc.
• I liked what I saw from Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. Great scoring on the block and great vision. We need to take a page from last year’s book and play through him on the block.
• Jayden Taylor scored 19, but I would really like to see him a little more controlled. The 5 turnovers from a guy who is supposed to be one of your main cogs is concerning. However, it was good to see him get his 3 ball going late in the game. You can’t have him having a huge cold stretch (like we saw mid-season last year) to start the season.
• Loved Mike O’Connell’s play. very efficient. 11 points on 4-7 shooting, 2-4 from 3pt range, 8 assists and just 1 TO.
• Would like to see more of Paul McNeil and Bryce Heard. 8 minutes combined isn’t enough for guys I think we’re going to need. This is a squad that needs to be 10 deep if they’re going to thrive in the ‘up and down’ Keatts system. Only 7 guys played significant minutes against a team they should have run out of the gym.
• Middlebrooks looked good. Great spark. Needs more than 19 minutes. Find ways to get he and Huntley-Hatfield on the court as we start playing bigger, stronger opponents.
• Hill played well on paper, but definitely still unsure of how he fits from a role perspective. He producing positive minutes and scoring the ball, but is he a PG who is creating plays for others or is he a scorer who is forcing the issue to the rim? Hill is going to need to play a major role on this team, but I think the faster he can figure out what the defined role looks like, the faster we’re going to see his full value to this team.