BY THE NUMBERS: NC State ACC Total +/- after loss to UNC

Now that we are five games into the ACC season, we’re going to start counting +/- during ACC play only. Early in the season these numbers can get skewed by guys playing random amounts of minutes in lopsided games, and while that number is also somewhat valuable, I think focusing on in-conference games ensures that you’re seeing who is performing against quality competition.

Again, +/- is a personal stat to show whether the team was winning or losing just while you were in the game.

Here are the totals after FSU, UVA, Wake, Notre Dame, and UNC.

+19 Ben Middlebrooks
+9 Dennis Parker Jr
+4 Jayden Taylor
0 (even) Marcus Hill
-5 Ismael Diouf
-9 Mike O’Connell
-10 Trey Parker
-15 Dontrez Styles
-21 Breon Pass
-33 Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

The Takeaway:
NC State is 2-3 in conference. As an overall team, they are -12 in the ACC. I think my biggest takeaway. here is that NC State up 24 points when Dennis Parker Jr is on the floor vs. when Dontrez Styles is on the floor. This is interesting because I tend to think Dontrez is one of the guys playing well enough to deserve minutes. But seeing this, and now looking back, he had a huge game against FSU, but is 2 his last 15 from 3 point range. He’s also shooting just 38% from the floor in those games. He’s shooting 50% from the FT line in those games and while he’s doing pretty decent on the boards at almost 6 per game, Middlebrooks is only averaging 6 per game and Jayden Taylor is only averaging 2 per game over that stretch. So you’re getting 14 boards from your 3-5 guys.

I would assume Styles +/- improves, but aside from that big game vs FSU and the game vs. Texas where he scored 17, he actually hasn’t performed well against real competition. He had just 4 points and 3 boards vs. Purdue and 2 points and 0 rebounds vs. BYU. It makes me wonder, is Styles totally reliant on the 3 ball? When he hits 3s he has good games. When he doesn’t, he has bad games. It’s pretty clear NC State needs to take a closer look at how they’re using Styles based on his mid-season output. This is why we’d rather him get more minutes at the 3 and stead of playing the 4 where he’s undersized on the boards and not providing much offensive fire power inside of the arc.

Meanwhile, I think Middlebrooks number makes sense. They are better with him on the floor. Jayden Taylor’s +4 makes sense. Marcus Hill’s even seems as if it’d be a little higher, but while his offense has been great, his defense (especially off the ball defense) has been suspect.

Diouf coming in 5th (at -5) makes sense to me as well. It’s obvious he is one of the guys that needs to be on the court, and while he’s not a savior, he’s very fundamental and does a lot of good things that don’t show up in the box score.

O’Connell down at -9 looks right. He’s been just about average this season, which is how he was most of last season. He doesn’t kill you, but with a team void of real playmakers, he’s struggling to find his role.

Meanwhile Pass at -21 is interesting. He’s the only guy hitting 3s, so you’d assume he’d be a little better than -21, but I think the 3s are very memorable to people, while the questionable defense and his inability to really hunt is own shot or find any kind of volume hurts him.

And lastly, Brandon Huntley-Hatfield. This number may surprise some people, but to those who pour over every defensive possession, it’s not a surprise. Hatfield is a decent offensive player, but he just kills NC State on defense. He’s constantly out of position, rarely ever protecting the rim and just creating a ton of problems trying to guard the pick and roll. Hatfield is much less mobile than we were expecting and his lack of balance leads to a lack of physicality, which leads to a lot of points given up on the interior.