WOLFERETTI: Two things can be true? Will Wade making good on his promises, but still a lot to prove for the Pack

Everyone around me keeps saying the same phrase: “Two things can be true…”

I don’t know what podcast this was on, or who decided it would be inserted into the 2025-26 buzz-phrase vocabulary, but it’s here. And I’m sick and tired of hearing it—mostly because saying it to me assumes that I may have been under the assumption that everything is black or white, and now you are bestowing upon me some ancient wisdom that, in fact, two separate things could be factual at the same time.

I know it shouldn’t bother me, but for some reason, it makes me mad that they feel smart when they say it, because it makes me sad to have to wonder if society has regressed this far.

But as NC State is set to take on #24 Louisville tonight… two things are true.

1. NC State is on an absolute burner right now, winning 6 in a row, sitting tied for 2nd place in the ACC, with Will Wade absolutely delivering on his preseason promises.

and

2. NC State has a lot left to prove.

NC State has figured something out. The coaching staff has figured out how to fit all these pieces together, and the players have bought in and accepted their roles.

Think about it…

– Quadir Copeland has lowered his usage rate, cut down on the scoring, and doubled down on making plays of others. In his last 9 games, he has 80 assists. That’s nearly 9 per game.

– Darrion Williams has increased his usage and started playing more physical.

– Tre Holloman has bought in defensively and accepted his role as an off-ball guard

– Matt Able has lowered his usage and stopped shot hunting

– Terrance Arcenaux has begun to fit in as a low-usage, mostly 3 and D wing.

This is a talented roster, but for it to work, guys coming from other programs had to accept tweaked roles in this new one. Early on, they were reluctant, and NC State looked messy and inconsistent. But since they started settling in, they have actually shown a lot of consistency.

There have been no big blowup games defensively like there were at times earlier in the season and there aren’t games where the offense doesn’t show up. It’s just been plug and play since the Clemson win.

Just look at these offensive and defensive efficiency numbers. They have all fallen into a tight range…

But Louisville will prove to be a new challenge.

NC State will enter this game as 5.5 point underdogs.

Louisville has a better offensive efficiency and a better defensive efficiency than NC State. I’m not sure they’ve come across a team that could say that since Kansas.

However, since ACC play heated up, Louisville’s offense has been more average than great. Take a look below.

The Pitt and Wake games were elite offensive outings, the VT game was good, but the other 3 weren’t so hot.

They have, however, played very good defense lately.

But this game is likely going to come down to who can hit the most 3s.

If you think NC State has shot and made a ton of 3s, you should see Louisville. They have attempted over 100 more 3s than the Wolfpack and made 2 more.

NC State is obviously more efficient from long range, but the scary thing here is NC State’s 3pt defense has been poor, and Louisville is built to exploit that.

State’s ‘switch everything’ defense can be frustrating at times, especially when they are forced to help or double team, which puts them into chaos on the back-end rotations. But against Louisville, a team that really doesn’t have a dominant threat inside, it could limit looks for their shooters.

It will be important for the staff to figure out how to hide Lubin on defense and not get him into too many switches (where help is needed), and it will be important to cut off drivers, so you don’t need help-side to pinch in (leaving shooters on the wings). But if they can do these things, they have a shot.

A win at Louisville would all but cement NC State in the Big Dance and would put the ACC on notice that the Pack is eyeing that top spot in the ACC.

This is a game NC State is picked to lose, but one that, if they win, could force doubters to transition to haters.