A win is a win, and at the end of the day, this team looks like a group that just needed to notch one in the W column.
But despite the saying, winning does not really ‘cure all ills’, and Will Wade is well aware of that.
“We just needed a win.” said Wade. “I wouldn’t say it was perfect. We just needed to win. We’d been rough for a couple days on them, but we needed to win. We got a big week ahead of us coming up, and we need to prepare. We need to rest. We probably don’t need to see each other for a while tomorrow, and then we’ll regroup a little bit and get ready for a big week ahead with Liberty on Wednesday.”
When you look at the roster on paper, you see a deep team with tons of interchangeability. Able to play big, able to play small, able to have an offensive unit or a defensive unit on the floor. But right now, the pieces just don’t feel like they’re fitting. Neither does Wade, as he explained in his post-game presser…
“Look, we just haven’t hit our stride. We haven’t found the right combinations yet. I think that’s fairly obvious. I’m not stating anything that’s not obvious, but look, we’ve got good players. We’ve got good pieces. It’s on us to fit it together and have everything play and look a lot tighter and a lot better than we have. Today, we played a few of the more defensive-oriented lineups, in which our defense was somewhat improved. That’s not a very high bar to clear, but it was somewhat improved. When we play some of those defensive lineups, our offense is a little clanky, so we’ve got to find the balance on that, and I think that’s important for us moving forward.”
Wade has played just about every combo he has, but I think what he’s getting at is that he needs to find a group that consistently clicks. That might mean potentially changing usage a little bit. Not who is on the court, per se, but how they are being used and what their role is when they’re on the floor.
I still think this team has Top-25 level personnel, but I think they need to overcome a few major issues.
1) This team could use the PG slot to play more ‘game manager’ than playmaker
I think this is one of the biggest issues this team currently has, in my opinion. Lack of flow. No pace control. No ‘calm you down’ type player who is an extension of Wade on the floor.
This isn’t anywhere NEAR a shot at Quadir Copeland. Q has been one of the best players on this team. He’s scored 50 points and dropped 9 assists the two prior games. He had 13 tonight and dished out 8 assists. He’s a huge reason we are either winning or at least ‘in’ games here recently.
But he’s not your cookie-cutter PG who has spent his whole life learning how to control pace and flow. He’s 6’7 with guard skills, so he’s always been asked to be a playmaker. And as you’d assume, he’s always in ‘play-maker’ mode. And while that does get NC State quite a bit, it also creates a lot of standing and watching.
Q does a lot of freelancing. In the lane, looking to score or drop off to the roll man, which is great, but a lot of times he gets stuck down there. He pump fakes, pivots into contact, keeps the defense guessing. But it also keeps the NC State offense guessing. Guys are just standing around waiting for Q to make a play, instead of having the ball move constantly and running an offense that keeps everyone involved.
I know this take isn’t for everyone. But as a former PG, it’s something that is glaring to me and something I’m not sure how you fix because you really don’t have this type of player on your roster.
The one guy I am seeing potentially taking on this kind of role is Alyn Breed. And I’m not sure if this is what Wade is seeing in him, but he’s seeing something. Breed logged 15 second-half minutes in this game and was +7 on the night.
Now, he’s not really a true PG by trade either, but the way he plays seems to have a calming effect on this team. He’s not a direct playmaker; instead, he drives to move the defense and really takes what the defense gives him. He doesn’t force anything and is pretty predictable with the basketball.
I’d consider allowing Breed to handle the ball a little more and move Copeland off the ball at times, allowing him to do his thing, but more in the flow of an offense. I think doing this still allows Q to playmake, but it might open up some more touches for Darrion Williams to showcase his skillset and start getting more involved.
Look at it this way. Copeland, Williams, and Lubin are all great options almost all the time. But there’s only one basketball, and having a situationally aware PG who can read the flow of the game, know when it’s time for a dump down to Lubin, when it’s time to let Q cook, or when it’s time for Darrion to become the point man on a possession, might be just the orchestrator this basketball team is missing.
2) They need to find ways to get Darrion Williams going.
This kind of piggybacks off my last point. Darrion Williams was the prize of the portal. The Preseason ACC Player of the Year. He finished this one 8 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds. I mean, that’s a good stat line, but Wade and NC State need more. Darrion knows he can give more. So what’s going on?
Well, Wade mentioned he has a bit of a shoulder issue and that might be the cause of his lack of usage lately, but I went back and watched a few games from his time at Texas Tech. Williams was certainly getting more touches there, especially in areas where he can be lethal.
He was a more central piece of the playmaking. They put him as the ball handler in ball screen situations; they found him in the middle a lot more. They really just had him in these situations where he had the ball in his hands and was the primary decision maker.
It seems like this is where he flourishes. I think too often it’s Copeland/Holloman and Lubin as the central focus of the offense, and Williams is just a bystander, waiting to get the ball.
If he does get it, he’s then downstream in the playmaking process, being used mostly as a shooter/scorer.
Now, this is just one play, but it’s an example that seems to be happening a little too often. Is this Williams not making himself available? Or is this how we want to use him?
This play ended up in a bucket, and Copeland has been an elite player for NC State, but if Wade wants to unlock this team’s potential, he needs to find ways to continue getting that output from Q, but also find a way to put Williams in spots where you’re getting all of his value as well.
I guess what I’m suggesting is that Copeland and Williams are very similar players who need the ball in their hands to make things happen. With Copeland at PG, he’s by nature getting to do that quite a bit. However, he works best with catch-and-shoot scorers or guys cutting to the hoop. Williams isn’t necessarily one of those guys, and he, too, is a guy who works best as a central hub, with shooters/cutters around him. This redundancy is, I believe, causing you to not unlock all of the value that’s on the floor at the same time.
This is why I think a ‘game manager’ type PG would work best here, being able to spread playmaking around a little. Understanding when it’s Q time and when it’s D1 time.
3) The defense needs to get serious
Tre Holloman, for no real reason, overplaying the PG, who with one juke, leaves him behind and creates a 3-2 situation.
Those are just two plays that don’t happen if you’re locked in, focused, and taking pride in your defense. There are breakdowns of some sort on most defensive possessions for this team, and while Wade is likely going crazy pointing this stuff out in film sessions, at some point, you have to figure out how to stop it or this team will continue to struggle against offensively efficient teams.
I think it’s important to remember, the biggest issues with the prior staff were that there seemed to be no desire to tinker or adjust strategy. This staff has been constantly trying new things and new combinations, looking to unlock a really talented group.
The season is still young, and I’m confident they’ll crack the code sooner than later.
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