Another opportunity for a resume win
When: Wednesday December 4 – 9:15 PM
Where: Lenovo Center (the venue formerly known as PNC Arena)
TV: ESPN2 – ACC / SEC Challenge
Opponent: Texas Longhorns (SEC)
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): TX 71-70 / TX 72-71
Wolfpack Snapshot: KP #69 / BT #69
Wolfpack Season So Far: 5-2
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Mike James had knee surgery on 10/30. Expected to miss 3-4 weeks.
Opponent Overview: KP #35 / BT #21 – Predicted to finish 7th in the SEC.
This is Head Coach Rodney Terry’s third season after taking over from Chris Beard. Last season they finished 21-13 and made it to the NCAAT Round of 32. This will be his first season with none of Beard’s recruits after their four leading scorers exited, two graduated and two transferred. He did a great job restocking, with a #5 recruit, and two high profile transfers to refill the starting lineup, and some strong players coming off the bench.
Their Season So Far: (6-1)
They started their season with a bang, taking on THE Ohio State University (KP #18) in Vegas, losing 72-80.
They then clobbered three KP 300+ teams Houston Christian (+31), Chicago State (+47), and Miss Valley St (+46).
Their holiday tournament was the UKG Legends classic in Brooklyn where they beat Syracuse (KP #101) 70-66, then St Joseph’s (KP #87) 67-58.
Last Friday they whipped another KP 300+, Delaware State (+22).
After our Wednesday night game, they head home to play UConn (KP #24) Sunday.
Player Notes
- Tre Johnson is a star. He was 247’s #5 player in the country, McDonald’s All American, Mr. Basketball in Texas as a junior. He scored 29 points against OSU in his first collegiate game.
- Arthur Kaluma is a transfer from Kansas State, KSU’s leading rebounder and third leading scorer, Honorable Mention All-B12
- Jordan Pope is a transfer from Oregon State, OSU’s leading scorer, All-PAC-12 Honorable Mention
First off the bench:
- Julian Larry – Transfer from Indiana St, All-MVC 3rd team, led ISU in assists and steals
- Jayson Kent – Transfer from Indiana St, All-MVC 2nd team, led ISU in rebounding
- Tramon Mark – Transfer from Arkansas, Razorback’s leading scorer at 16.2 ppg. He’s predicted to finish this season on the All SEC third team. (the only Texas player)
Wolfpack Worries:
After not showing up in San Diego, this is our last real shot at an OOC resume builder. We’re not going to beat Kansas on their home court. It’s too early to say this is a “must win”, but it’s really, really important. (really)
- Rebounding – Purdue outrebounded us by 10, BYU by 13.
- Sharing the ball – We averaged 15+ assists but we dropped to 10 BYU / 13 Purdue.
- Shooting – Lowest FG% of the season, 43.4% & 36.8%. (see previous bullet)
- We don’t have a volume scorer this season, so everyone’s got to chip in. Styles (6 pt, 3 reb, 1 blk) and Hill (9 pts, 2 ast, 1 stl) didn’t play their best in San Diego. We’re going to struggle without greater contributions from those two positions every game.
What Do We Do?
Countdown: We’ve got five games before the ACC season starts full time, and we’ve got to fix a lot of problems. Unfortunately, our OOC resume isn’t going to get us in the NCAAT, so we’re going to have to do it with league wins. (or by winning the ACCT, but that’s crazy talk) These suggested solutions won’t be overnight fixes but could be long term.
- Ismaël Diouf – We absolutely need his size in the rotation. Last season he was a good rebounder, shooter, and had 4+ assists in 10 (of 24) games. You’ve got to give him minutes, let him make mistakes, correct them, and give him more minutes. [Problems Addressed: Rebounding, defense, gives us five more ‘big’ fouls]
- Trey Parker – I liked giving him the start in front of Hill last game. Offensively, he’s the better player. He is a better 3PT shooter and he’s got the hops to finish at the rim. Hill was either getting his drive cutoff or stuffed at the rim by P4 competition. Defensively, Parker’s a work in progress, but like Diouf, let him screw up and fix it. Better now than later. [Problems Addressed: Outside shooting, rim pressure, speed]
- Mike James – The word being circulated is that he is ‘close to returning’, but as is always the case with Coach Keatts, no specific schedule. He’s missed time, he’ll have to ramp up, but he definitely checks the boxes on some of our needs and there’s a good chance he’ll work his way into the starting lineup. He’s a big guard, 6’5” 200. (Coach Keatts’ has said he’ll ‘play the same role as Casey Morsell’) Last season he averaged 12.6 ppg and importantly, 5 rpg. He likes to drive the basket and averaged 81.8% free throw percentage. He’s a hot/cold 3PT shooter like Taylor, so may help there some games. [Problems Addressed: Rebounding, defense, rim pressure, scoring]
- Points in the Paint – We’re not going to be a dominant 3PT shooting team, so we have to win the PiP battle every game! Feed the post and then feed it some more. BHH is a good passer, he can kick it out when he needs to, which might help Taylor who’s better at the catch & shoot than shooting off the dribble.