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Any thread starting with “Bracket Master” Joe Lunardi’s predictions will tend to be dubious, though it does get the discussion going and gets us in the standard Wolfpack underdog state of mind.
agree with tjfoose on packalum44 – (not a frequent poster but read StateFans Nation everyday) every single day/topic its negative bs really tiring. I could care less if you give $1000 or more for the Chancellor’s Circle, do you not find anything positive about NCSU. I totally appreciate differing views and opinions; love the discussions on SFN even the jumping off the ledge moments but your comments are so one-track/negative. just my two cents.
I’m optimistic on State’s BBall next year – great depth and some good players coming in.
PLease stick to the topic and stop discussing another poster. I get that he can be irritating but we all can be at times.
Well, if there’s any more good news coming out of this, the Pack tends to finish any given season (over the last 10-15 years, at least) inversely proportionate to the preseason predictions. Can’t imagine they’ll be picked above the median next season, so we’ve probably got a mildly pleasant surprise in store by next March.
And agreed, until we get past draft declaration season and next year’s conference schedule, too soon to draw any major conclusions.
Damn it, a strong conference is never a con! If we have a bunch of teams winning instead of sucking eggs in December…Selection Sunday will be very, very kind. It would be especially nice if the bottom feeders are meh instead of “avert thine eyes” bad.
I also think Syracuse is getting WAY too much credit. They’ll be a tough out as always due to the Boeheim zone…but I don’t see anything approaching “elite” status.
Same with Louisville. I respect the hell out of their coach, but I’m not at all afraid of their roster.
I see this being a good solid team. No great strengths, no great weaknesses. Like others have said this is the most depth we have had in many years.
I see finishing around position 5-7 in a strong conference. Good enough for the NCAA.
^BJD, I agree with you about cons. I put it that way in terms of projecting how high the Pack can finish, which seemed to be a theme in this discussion. Louisville’s arrival likely bumps State down 1 spot for next year, for example.
Also, I agree Syracuse is possibly overrated, but I do think they will be better than State on paper and will be very likely to finish higher in the standings.
IMO the same can probably be said about next year’s UVA team.
I expect UNC and Duke to be elite. I don’t know enough about Louisville to say if they will be in the first (elite) or second tier of the conference.
A Pitino team will certainly cover one of the top 3 slots. Just an opinion, as I believe he’s the better coach, among a pretty good cast of ’em.
Yup, Tau – we are on same page then. I think that’s why I usually focus on NCAAT seeding rather than conference finish. 5-7 in the ACC sounds about right.
Duke will have out of this world talent. We’ll see if their buttholes clench in the dance again – but that talent will carry them through the ACC season in high position.
The Holes have the best PG by a longshot, which is a huge advantage. Plus, they won’t have that dipshit McAdoo around, which is addition by subtraction.
I don’t buy any of this junk. Nobody picked Miami in 13’and nobody picked Virginia in 14′. Gott has finished above expectations in 2 0f 3 seasons. It’s going to be tough but we are bringing back a group of guys who fought there way in to the tourney last year. If they head into the summer with the right attitude, they will “get out what they put in.” It’s not an easy conference, no doubt. We need to finish in the top half and we will most likely be fine.
Virginia is going to be pretty good too, so include them in the UNC/Duke category. With 7th year starter Joe Harris (seems like he’s been there forever) as well as Brogden and the rest returning, they’re a legit top 10 team.
Syracuse will need to replace 64% of their scoring. They will be good, but they won’t be world beaters. They’ll have Cooney, Christmas and DaJuan Coleman (maybe) so they cannot be taken for granted but they won’t be someone to totally fear.
Montrezl Harrell is returning to Louisville, and he is a load. With Chris Jones and Wayne Blackshear serving as a solid core, they also have four Top 100 recruits coming in. Better get the Cards early and at home.So yeah, the ACC will be tough. Beating UNC/Duke/UVA and/or Louisville will be a load. The difference for the year, however, will be in beating Miami, FSU, GT, BC, Clemson and Wake Forest. Short of more than one conference WTF loss, we should be okay…probably not enough to get a 1st round ACCT bye, but good enough to grab a win or two and then head on the NCAAT proper and not back to Dayton.
^Alpha, the UVA article you linked is from April 2013. Harris and Mitchell were both seniors this year and will not be back. They were 2 of their top 3 players. I don’t know much about their incoming players, but I expect they will take at least a small step back next season.
That’s why I said above that I think they, like Syracuse, are probably overrated, though they may still look better than State on paper and will be expected to finish higher in the conference standings.
I think we have a very good shot to beat UVA, Cuse, or Louisville when we play them, especially at home. Even the Holes at home we would have SOME chance. Only Duke is a guaranteed L.
But the schedule will give us lots of opportunities to bolster our resume and grow as a team. Bring it on.
Already sooooo bored with baseball, even though it’s the rare sport where my team isn’t a clusterf-ck (Cardinals).
I (for one) love watching packalum44 get summarily slapped around in here.
#MakesForGreatReading
Thanks so much.
🙂
I have to agree with Beej on this one. I don’t see how this team is weaker than this previous season’s, with the exception of a single premier scoring threat. If Anya spends the offseason conditioning, and Cat grows some claws to hold onto the ball more efficiently, I think this team takes a big leap. We lose, without question, our best ballhandler in Lewis; and we lose our single best scorer in TJW. I feel that Anya can fill Vandy’s quite literal gap (with Abu spelling him), and can improve our interior defense by a country mile. The scoring looks to be more spread out, with Cat being a better scorer than Lewis was, Lacey ruminating over the system for a season, and Turner moving to a more 3-pt friendly 3-position. The forward spots will be extremely solid next season.
Maybe it is just my recent move back to NC, or the surprising offensive success my White Sox are throwing down, that has me smelling roses and good ‘cue; but I think this team surprises a lot of people next year…hopefully in a positive way.
Cut ’44 some slack. He’s no Noah.
(although Noah’s former negativity was pretty hilarious)
I liked noah :/
Take the starting PG and ACC player of the year off a team and expect that team to improve seems like a tall order.
Like I said, a bunch of things have to go right for us to get better. NCSU history says expecting them all to go right is not prudent at this juncture.
IMO Cat is better than Lewis and would have been the starting PG even if Lewis stayed. IMO we lost our backup PG. And it’s possible that will open the door for us to sign a better backup PG in Graham.
No one chose to comment on my statement above that I expect our team to both score more points per game next season and allow fewer points per game next season.
If that happens, especially given everyone’s expectations that the ACC will be stronger next season, how much could the departures have really hurt us?
While I agree we have several players with the potential to see significant growth in their game between year 1 and year 2 (Anya, Barber, Washington, Freeman), I just can’t bring myself to raise expectations above last year. As Rick and others have said, that is a lot to ask when you lose Warren and Lewis. I see us finishing in the middle third again, somewhere in the 8, 9, 10 range, but I can understand how some can see the potential for us to finish in the 5-7 range. Anything above that is a reach imho.
That being said, before the start of this past season I thought Warren was a garbage basket scorer (from observations from his freshman year) that would have trouble creating his own shot so WTF do I know.
And I too miss Noah. The great thing about being a pessimist is you are constantly either being proven right or pleasantly surprised.
For NCSU to have success in basketball, Gottfried is going to have to keep his core guys together for 2, 3, 4 year stretches. Losing key members is going to significantly handicap his chances of gaining a foothold in the ACC. The group of 4 I mentioned above is a great foundation that could really pay dividends in the spring of 2016. That is what keeps me from jumping completely off the Gottfried bandwagon.
Yes, but without Warren, do we score more points per game?
It’s possible, but it will take CAT and Turner to increase their scoring (likely) and Trevor to average in double figures (likely). Washington and Freemon to score a little more (likely) Abu and Anya to score more than Anya and Vandy (very likely)
My worry is for someone to feed the bigs in good scoring position (likely Cat will be better, and the bigs hands will be better)And I worry that I am too optimistic for next year (likely? – guaranteed)
Rick, I think the tradeoff from Lewis to Cat is a wash. You get a better scoring threat with looser handles. The big question is can the team pick up 40pts across the board. That is TJW+Vandy on average, just throwing a number off the top of my head. I think BSW moving to the 3 will be a massive help. His stroke was noticeably better when he was out of the 2-slot.
I think the more difficult thing to replace will be the intangibles. Remember, we still limped into the tournament this year with a young team replacing 4 starters and a “big” (in terms of STAHHHHHS) transfer out.
The ACC will be an absolute meat grinder at the top next year, but I don’t see Virginia repeating without Akil Mitchell and Joe Harris; and I don’t buy that another team will make a quantumn leap. Clemson will continue to improve, but I don’t think they’ll be world beaters. GT and Wake will become serviceable. Miami, BC, and Virginia Tech will round out the bottom. I think Syracuse is wildly overrated as well. If Parker stays at Duke, they will probably win the ACC outright. Without him, I would say it is going to be a three way scrum between Duke, ‘Ville, and the Holes. Pitt, Syracuse, or FSU will be 4,5,6 in some order…but I do think State will have the all-around talent and depth to compete for those slots. Will we win the ACC? I highly doubt it…but in Gott’s 4th year I don’t see a lot of reasons to be pessimistic (not you, but the kommentariat on the whole).
For those who cry TL:DR, I think a fair order of finish, with fluidly interchangeable tiers in italics, bolded, and unaltered:
Duke
Louisville
*NX
Pitt
Syracuse
FSU
State
Virginia
Clemson
GT
Wake
BC
Miami
VTMe being the site’s resident optimist is bizarre to say the least.
Folks…I see the point. We will be missing an all-time great in Buckets. We will certainly be a DIFFERENT team as a result. There is no “understudy Buckets” in the wings.
But different does not mean worse. By position:
PG – Improved because Cat knows its his team. Yeah, TAFKAWBS was still starting down the stretch…but Cat almost always FINISHED our wins, didn’t he? Advanced metrics showed he was superior on offense and defense. He has room to improve. And if we sign Graham (I am VERY optimistic on that front), we’ve strongly upgraded the backup PG. A better player who will work hard and not bitch about backup minutes…and step up when circumstances call for more.
SG – Strong upgrade. We played BSW out of position here, and he was hopeless guarding opposing 2s. We basically had to choose between “some offense, no defense” and “some defense, no offense.” We’ll see whether Trevor Lacey is very good or merely solid – but he won’t be THAT. And if Des doesn’t improve, Graham can get minutes here.
SF – Strong downgrade, but only because Buckets was so great. BSW should thrive here, and if he ends up only being a designated shooter, we can turn to KW, Twin A, and/or Twin B. Options everywhere.
PF – Upgrade – Same dudes, more physical and game wisdom maturity. KW and Le Nard have a wide array of skills, and will give 40 excellent combined minutes.
C – Strongest possible upgrade. I wouldn’t trade the KH/Abu tandem for any in the league. It’s going to be special, I promise you that.
Keep a few things in perspective – this is finally a roster that is built for transition, and to defend credibly. Two VERY GOOD recruits are only #s 10 and 11 in the rotation (assuming Graham comes). Yes, we won’t have a designated “go to guy” in every situation. But we will have balance, depth, and skill all over the court.
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