QUICK HITS: From NC State’s 71-61 loss to #13 Purdue

NC State played the Boilermakers strong but weren’t able to stop 6’9 Kaufman-Renn or slow down PG Braden Smith, falling 71-61 in the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego. Here are some quick hits from that game…

– Good first test for NC State. Look, Purdue is a top 15 team right now and NC State really hung in there with them, but we’re the ACC Champs coming off a Final Four run, we aren’t settling for consolation prizes. I think there are definitely some positives from this game, but this was a winnable game for the Pack and if they can clean up a few issues and settle a few roles for certain guys, I think this team can be a real factor that builds off of last years successes.

– NC State forced just 6 turnovers. Purdue was having turnover troubles coming into this game, so you might expect the Wolfpack’s pressure to cause problems, but as has been the case over and over, teams with quality, veteran guards aren’t phased. NC State continues to wear itself down with the constant full-court pressure, tiring out it’s guards and constantly having to play help and recover defense when beat off the bounce. I wish they’d just remember that this was never the recipe for success during their Final Four run. In fact, it wasn’t until they called off the dogs a bit on the full-court pressure and really started to get the most out of their size, length, and, athleticism by packing it down a bit and forcing their opponents to take contested shots every time down. They were forced to conserve energy because of needing to play 5 games in 5 days during the ACC Tournament.

– Can Brandon Huntley-Hatfield play a version of the DJ Burns role? BHH had a great game and was the best player on the court for NC State. He finished with 13 points and 8 boards. Purdue’s initial run in the first half came with BHH on the bench and then in the second half, NC State seemed to forget how successful they were when he was touching the basketball. Sure, they started doubling him, but he’s a good passer and an incoming double team means someone is open. NC State failed to use this to their advantage and started running their offense through their guards. This shift was when the game started getting away from the Wolfpack.

Huntley-Hatfield showed you what he’s capable of, going up against the star of the 13th-ranked team in the nation and doing damage. NC State’s biggest weakness on this team team is the fact that they don’t have a guard who can create off the dribble and they don’t have a pure shooter. It should be obvious that the offense needs to run through the post on most nights, allowing BHH to play a pseudo-DJ Burns role for the Pack.

– Trey Parker needs to be thrown into the fire. Jayden Taylor will be a huge part of this team, but it was apparent last year and it’s apparent again this year that spreading the floor and allowing him to go one-on-one off the dribble isn’t going to be the answer. He has 20 turnovers and 11 assists in 6 games while he’s shooting just 19% from 3pt range. Taylor brings a ton to the table though. He’s a great defender, he’s a high-energy guy and is amazing in transition and he can knock down uncontested jumpers. But if NC State wants to maximize their potential this season, they’ll need Taylor to settle into a role that more suits his skill set.

However, if Taylor isn’t pushing the issue to score then who is? Well, I think the answer is Trey Parker. He’s a 3-level scorer with elite athleticism and he’s showing signs of being a go-to guy on the offensive end. He finished with 7 points on 3-5 shooting in just 13 minutes. The things is, he’s just a freshman and he’s going to make mistakes. He’s going to shoot a few bad shots here and there, but I think you need to let him take his lumps right now and get acclimated to a more central role on this team. The sooner the better.

– Where does Marcus Hill fit in? 
I asked this question when he was signed. I asked this question over the first few games, and I’ll ask it again. Where does Marcus Hill fit in? He was a dominant scorer at Bowling Green, but you saw in early games and you saw last night that his game is all about getting into the paint and scoring. However, in Power 5 college basketball, the paint is filled with giants.  There were those 2 big scoring games prior to this matchup where he looked as advertised, so maybe he carves out that role evnetually, but Keatts needs to get his rotation figured out a lot sooner this season, and this will be one of those questions. Breon Pass has been looking good as a scorer, finishing at the rim and shooting 50% from 3pt range. I wouldn’t mind Keatts asking Pass to look for his shot a little more this year, just to see if he can regain that mojo he had in highschool where he was one of the top scorers in the state of North Carolina. At the same time, I don’t think they really cleared the floor and let Hill work against Purdue. Let’s give him a shot to get rolling, but I think until he does it against high end competition, it’s fair to wonder about his role.

– Paul McNeil, where are you? 
Keatts has obviously seen more of these guys than any of us, and he’s seemingly deeming McNeil not ready, but this team is struggling shooting the ball, while Paul McNeil was one of high school’s better shooters last season. I’m guessing from his limited minutes that the reason he’s not finding himself on the floor is because of his defense.  It would be nice if McNeil could get in and prove himself on the defensive end so we could see what he has to offer where we really need him, on the offensive side. Until then, we need to find shooting elsewhere.

– Good game from O’Connell
No real shocker here. He isn’t going to lead you in scoring, but O’Connell continues to calm down NC State and play a smart PG role. 6 points, 6 assists and zero turnovers. We need O’Connell to find that ACC Tournament shooting stroke from last season, because again, this team needs someone they can count on around the perimeter.

– Good game from Middlebrooks
Middlebrooks played well for the most part. He’s the same player he was last year, and that’s a good thing. I like the ability to use him and BHH at the same time when teams go big, however you saw their stretch 4 get too many open looks when Middlebrooks was forced to try to guard him on the perimeter. Otherwise, you got what you wanted out of him. He’s super physical, great at drawing contact on the block and a good finisher. He’s certainly one of NC State’s best 5 players, so finding ways to get him on the floor as much as possible is ideal.

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Overall, I’m being nitpicky here, but we need a win against one of these early ranked teams we’re playing, and every possession matters, meaning every substitution and every decision matters. This NC State team can be good. Just how good, is up to the execution of the players and the coaching style of Kevin Keatts.