Game Thread [2022-23] NC State

[Pantone287]

I predicted we’d go 13-7 or 14-6 in the ACC in the preseason, and we’re sitting at 13-6, and would be 14-5 with competent refs in Charlottesville. Very solid season so far

5 straight conference wins is a really impressive response to the UVA theft. Sure, the conference sucks, but we kind of do too, so that isn't nothing. As we know from Cut, that was the kind of game that can kill a team (program?), but if anything, that seems to be when they turned a corner.

 

[Devilsforlife]

I predicted we’d go 13-7 or 14-6 in the ACC in the preseason, and we’re sitting at 13-6, and would be 14-5 with competent refs in Charlottesville. Very solid season so far

5 straight conference wins is a really impressive response to the UVA theft. Sure, the conference sucks, but we kind of do too, so that isn't nothing. As we know from Cut, that was the kind of game that can kill a team (program?), but if anything, that seems to be when they turned a corner.

Jon and the program handled the fuckjob there so much better than Cutcliffe did. The snark on social media was perfect. Just enough “fuck you” without coming across as truly insufferable. Wish we’d done something similar with football, maybe late 2015-2019 go better if we do.

 

[DurhamSon]

Besides the ND game we’re not just beating teams, we’re regularly leading by double digits. I don’t care about the margin just because they made some bullshit shots at the very end. To even go into the final two minutes up a dozen after shooting like garbage from three ourselves means we dominated a team defensively with a far superior backcourt in a way that hasn’t been a common occurrence in a good while. Smith and Joiner were the most talented backcourt we’ve played all year and certainly more talented than any we’ve had since…2020? 2017? 2015? Awful job by Keatts if he doesn’t make the tournament with that pair

in this weird year I don’t think there’s a team we can’t beat anymore, which is very odd given how relatively mediocre we are, and speaks much more to how down the sport is comparatively. Not that we’d be favored either, obviously.

I do wish Scheyer was willing to give Young more leash tonight, especially when Flip was missing his tenth shot in a row or up to his fourth turnover. The defensive rebounding is just so so so much better with him in the game and State couldn’t seemingly stop his world record unathletic up and under move tonight, lol.

 

[rome8180]

I haven't watched yet. Why didn't Whitehead play more? We leaned very heavily on the starters. Whitehead was efficient, but he was only out there for 17 minutes and didn't get many shots up. His minutes had been trending in the other direction.

Agree about the way we're beating teams lately. The VT and NCSU games should have been 25-point and 12-point wins, respectively. Fwiw, Torvik had us as the 19th best team over the stretch spanning UVA, ND, Syracuse, UL, and VT. So definite improvement from the 36th best team we were overall, or whatever it was.

 

[rome8180]

I still like Grandison.

I know he wasn't good last night, but I'd actually say he's been trending up during our winning streak. He's had some great games. He and Young were arguably the biggest factors in our run against UL when we were down 9 early.

 

[best4heisman]

I still like Grandison.

I know he wasn't good last night, but I'd actually say he's been trending up during our winning streak. He's had some great games. He and Young were arguably the biggest factors in our run against UL when we were down 9 early.

He has had some bad no-shows and his shooting against strong competition has been quite poor. Probably just a small sample size thing but it does leave a lasting impression. Still, he's been perfectly fine for his role and along with Wendell Moore, he's one of the better passing wings we've had in a while. I think having non-primary ballhandlers who can make nice reads and make those sort of "connective tissue" passes is often underrated.

 

[Pantone287]

It feels like Scheyer has been playing him alongside Whitey and Mitchell at the 2-4 more often lately, which is a nice change of pace lineup. More shooting and versatility than our starting five, and it gets even funkier when Young is the 5.

Our bench feels more like an NBA bench this year, in that it's three guys who can all be legitimate assets in their roles, rather than just the roster leftovers who aren't quite there yet. It's our best shooter, best (at times) rebounder, and most experienced player.

 

[rome8180]

Watching this now. Burns should be given a tech each time he flexes specifically because it's a lie. He should have to make a motion of opening a refrigerator instead.

 

[rome8180]

Jarkel has the worst shot selection I've ever seen. I wish announcers would quit celebrating that shit. They should instead have a moment of silent mourning for good basketball if it goes in.

 

[rome8180]

Roach embarrassed them in the pick-and-roll the way teams used to embarrass us.

I love Lively. I find myself just watching him or Proctor play defense on any given possession. I can only imagine what this staff could have done defensively with last year's team. I feel like Lively's defense has been even better than Mark Williams', but I really think that's a function of the schemes and not the player. Mark was clearly the better offensive player.

Mitchell's been fun lately too. Really the only player that is frustrating of the starters is Flip. He still exists outside the flow of the offense too often. If you're getting triple-teamed, someone's open, bro. I will say that he's a monster on the offensive glass.

 

[best4heisman]

Really the only player that is frustrating of the starters is Flip. He still exists outside the flow of the offense too often. If you're getting triple-teamed, someone's open, bro. I will say that he's a monster on the offensive glass.

It's like he's still treating these recent games like November/December when he was often the only competent offensive player on the court. I don't really blame him for taking on such a huge role because it's been necessary at times, but his 99 offensive rating on 30% usage in ACC play is disgusting. We're overdue for an adjustment there given the emergence of other guys.

 

[best4heisman]

And yea, watching Roach destroy Burns in the pick and roll was very gratifying.