WOLFERETTI: My Take on NC State’s exhibition nail-biting win over South Carolina

Yeah, I know. I’m a few days late on this one, but a few of you tweeted at me for a recap so here it comes.

– This team is going to be good and play a FUN brand of basketball. 
Most of the nation thought this would be an elite defensive unit, but might struggle on offense. Well, they just put up 88 points on an SEC team, and offense didn’t seem to be an issue at all. Now, they did give up 86 point, but I’m not worried. Wade’s defense in complicated. We saw a press, a zone, and lots of switching in the man to man. This is just the exhibition, and defense is always the last thing to come along for kids this age. As they gel as a unit, the defense will tighten up.

Terrance Arceneaux is an absolute menace on defense. He’s a taller, more athletic Casey Morsell. And Copeland and Holloman were all over the court themselves. I also liked what I saw effort wise from Matt Able.

I’m not worried about the defense with this team, but I was pleasantly surprised by the offense and man, this team plays fast, hard, and tough, while Wade is on fire on the sidelines. This is the team we’ve always wanted, boys!

– I was (almost) right about the starting lineup
Three weeks ago I told you that the starting lineup I’d go with was Holloman, McNeil, Copeland, Williams and Lubin. Go look at the comments and responses on social. Nobody agreed with that, but this ended up being the starting lineup for the super-secret scrimmage vs. App State. While it wasn’t the starting lineup vs. South Carolina, it was the group that was on the floor at the end, and it was the group that Wade leaned on to make the second-half comeback (this lineup was +6 on the night).

Here is what I said…

Ok, so I know the consensus is that Holloman and Copeland will share time at the point, but I don’t think it’s going to be one or the other for Wade. If you watch the practice and clips, it’s clear that Copeland and Holloman are the vocal leaders of this team. These guys are both seniors and both very good defensive players. They also allow you to have two elite ball handlers on the floor. I think Wade trots them out there together quite a bit.

Paul McNeil at the 2 seems like a guarantee to me. I know there was a lot of early hype around Matthew Able, but he’s a freshman, and I’d be willing to bet Wade wants to see how he adjusts to college basketball and puts him in a position where he can earn a larger role with his on-court play. Meanwhile, McNeill’s shooting has been the talk of camp, and it’s one big question mark this roster had coming into the season.

The odd guy out of this starting 5 is Terrance Arceneaux. I think there is a chance he ends up in there, but right now, I think this team is willing to take a slight dip defensively to get a ball handler and playmaker on the floor (and that’s assuming Copeland is a slight dip defensively from Arceneaux). Bringing Terrance off the bench allows you to play Holloman and Copeland at the same time, which gives you the ball-handling help you’ll need from slotting McNeil in at the 2.

Now, I’m not saying McNeil is a bad ball handler, but he’s not creating a lot of rim pressure off the dribble. And while Tre Holloman is going to be a great PG addition, he isn’t really a rim pressure guy either. That leaves you with Copeland, who is one guy who is just constantly putting pressure on the defense with his ability and desire to get to the rack.

I expect to see this as the starting lineup on opening night.

– Quadir Copeland is Julius Hodge 2.0
He’s absolutely going to be your favorite player. He can do it all, he plays with passion, he’s the vocal leader, and he’s chirping from the second he gets on the floor. He’s the Philly version of The Jules from Harlem. Not the best jumper, but constant rim pressure and a motor that doesn’t quit. He was the reason NC State won this game. He scored 16 points on 6-9 shooting, didn’t shoot a 3, and was +19 when he was on the floor. He’s got flair, he’s got swagger, and he’s got game.

– Matthew Able and Musa Sangia will be fine in time
Neither one of these guys lit up the box score, but both looked the part. Able is huge, he’s active and when things start to click, he’s going to become an elite piece to this team. As for Sangia, it might take him longer, but his length and versatility is going to be needed against team with more versatile bigs. VAL and Williams give you a strong, meaty front court, but against teams like South Carolina that aren’t all that big, they’ll need lineups that can give you size AND guard hybrid bigs who want to attack off the bounce.

– Paul McNeil & Darrion Williams are the go-to guys
McNeil started. He had the first play run for him (hit a 3), and then he was the guy they ran a play for at the end when the game was on the line (hit a 3). Yeah, he only had 9 points, and he’ll need to clean up his defense if he wants to log the majority of the minutes at the 2 throughout the season, but as of now, the team has tons of confidence in P2’s ability to put the ball in the bucket.

As for Williams, he was slow to start. He really lets the game come to him, but when he started rolling you saw what the hype is all about. 4-6 from the floor, 14 points, 6 boards, 2 steals and a block. Wade said in the post game that he thinks they should have focused more on Williams early on, and I agree, but look, this was just he first game. There were jitters, this was a new group playing in front of a crowd for the first time. Winning and scoring 88 points vs. an SEC team…not too shabby.