LOVED IT, HATED IT: 5 Thoughts on NC State’s ‘too close for comfort’ win over VCU

The Pack is now 4-0 after beating VCU 85-79 tonight in Raleigh, but I definitely was not expecting to sweat this much.

That said, this is likely a Quad 2 win for NC State against a very feisty and very good VCU team. That said, let’s get into it…

LOVED IT | Darrion Williams is as good as advertised. He’s got that TJ Warren ‘makes it look easy’ vibe to his game. He’s just an elite shot maker. He’s never rushed and instead uses his frame and physicality to make space. He finished with 28 points and 7 boards, but honestly, I think he should have been in the high 30s this game. I didn’t like how the offense operated tonight. It didn’t look in control. Too much isolation and not enough working to get mismatches for Williams on the block. And down the stretch, even Williams looked shaken. He got his signature fadeaway blocked, in what was a rushed shot, and also got the ball stolen twice when double teams came from the weakside on his back down. His play won us this game, but even he has things to clean up.

HATED IT | Too many turnovers, too much isolation!! This game was sloppy, and that was by VCU’s design. VCU is throwing 6’6 athletes at you in droves, but Quadir Copeland, Tre Holloman and Darrion Williams need to be MUCH better at protecting the basketball. Those 3 were responsible for 11 turnovers and the team had 17 overall. That’s going to be unacceptable to Will Wade.

With Q out, Holloman had to take over the ballhandling, and things got sloppy. Holloman needs to be able to come in and take over PG duties when Q gets in foul trouble or needs a breather. But tonight, when that happened the Pack was sped up, Holloman was throwing the ball over the court trying to make too much happen. Wade’s going to need someone who can settle things down of Q is out. You hope it ends up being Holloman, but that 2nd half is concerning.

Able has worked with the PGs in practice and he played well, but is still a freshman and gets sped up at times. Breed might be your next best option here, but he played 9 minutes and didn’t contribute a single stat. Hey it’s still just game 4, and they’ll likely get it figured out, but this is a noted area of concern. Only 11 assists on 25 made field goals. That’s 44%. That number needs to be 60%+. When the going got tough, this team started freelancing. Lots of rushed shots, lots of one on one play. Early on the story has been how well this team shares the ball and plays as a team. Tonight, they faced their first stress and that team-mentality started fraying.

LOVED IT/HATED IT | Was our rebounding good or bad? My initial thought was that we may have gotten outrebounded in this one. But after looking at the box score, it wasn’t close. NC State had 45 boards and VCU had 31. If you had the same feeling, it’s likely from the first half where despite winning the overall battle on the glass 21-20, State allowed 9 offensive rebounds. NINE in the first half. That’s good for an entire game.

But credit Wade and company with cleaning this up in the second half. VCU finished with 12. Meaning they only had 3 in the second half. Meanwhile, NC State ended up winning the battle on the offensive glass 14-12. I think a lot of the adjustment was just NC State going big. Wade went with Lubin and Musa together with Williams and McNeil most of the second half. That’s a massive lineup, and it paid off. Give it up for Lubin who had his ups and downs this game, but finished strong with 9 boards (5 on the offensive glass). He fought. Meanwhile, Paul McNeil really gave State a boost rebounding from the 2 spot. He ended with 9 himself, adding value despite having an off shooting night (0-4).

LOVED IT | Free throws won us this game. Wow, I’m not sure the last time I typed that. It’s usually the opposite, but NC State shot the ball extremely well from the line, especially down the stretch when the pressure was on. They were in the bonus very early in this one, and it made FTs a focal point of NC State’s offense. I also think that this was the reason for a lot more of the straight line drives you were seeing. Every foul was getting the Pack to the line. They shot 14 3’s in the first half, which is normal for this team. But they only shot 7 in the 2nd half. I think part of the reason was that they were in the bonus and wanted to put pressure on VCU to either foul or give up easy layups. The Pack shot 82% from the line, which is amazing. Tre Holloman was the best, going 10-10 and Darrion Williams went 8-9. This was a major factor in NC State winning this game.

LOVED IT / HATED IT |Great test, lots to learn, but doing it with a W. Usually the price you pay for learning hard lessons in basketball is a loss. NC State gets to walk away with a win here in a game that really tested them and really showed some early flaws. There was a lot of good, but a lot of messy basketball that was played.

VCU is a good team, they’re picked to win their conference and there’s a reason you see them in March almost every year. This is a team that wears you out and has high motors at all 4 possessions. Mix that with long, wrangly athletes and you’re going to cause chaos. NC State was able to withstand this and win, but I think talent wise, the Pack should have won this one by about 15. But a win is a win, and now they get a week off before heading out to Maui to take on Seton Hall. If they win that one, it’s Boise State or USC and then win that, you’re in the championship vs. Texas, Arizona State, Chaminade or Washington State.

Passing thoughts…

– Tre Holloman might have had 5 turnovers, but the guy balled out. 25 points on 6-12 shooting and 3-6 from long range. 10-10 from the FT line. Huge game from the senior guard.

– Quadir Copeland is the glue guy. He played well (even better than his box score), but they need him on the floor. He helps dictate pace, he’s the guy who can make a play and distribute. He only played 23 minutes in this one and it showed. When he is out, NC State can get out of sorts. He’s also the vocal leader out there. He did have 3 turnovers, but he also led the team with 4 assists.

– Was Will Wade a little subdued tonight, or was it just me? Not that I need a technical foul every game, but he just seemed a little too calm for the type of basketball he was watching. Now, it’s not right or wrong, but just saying that he was losing his mind on calls when we were up 40 just a week or two ago.