Mark Gottfried took over what was mostly an intact team. Ryan Harrow decided to transfer, and Tracy Smith and Javier Gonzalez graduated, but of the top nine players in terms of minutes, six returned this season. And those six happen to be the six who are getting the most minutes this year. The one new player is Alex Johnson, a graduate transfer (7th in minutes). That was the good news for Gottfried. The bad news was that this same crew played no defense last year. They were 140th nationally, and in ACC play only Wake Forest had a more porous defense, and Wake was historically bad. Of course Gottfried didn’t exactly come to Raleigh with a reputation as a great defensive coach, though his Ds were passable. They’d certainly never been as bad as Sidney Lowe’s last year. And three times in his seven years at Alabama his defenses ranked 61st or better.
So what’s happening this year? Have the Wolfpack improved?
The simple answer is yes. They’re 114th nationally, and 7th in ACC play. Those are significant improvements over last year’s numbers (140th, 11th).
The longer answer is more complicated. The optimistic NC State fans point out that Gottfried took over unskilled defenders, and has had to teach them a new system. And those fans are right. The pessimistic fans say that Gottfried never coached stellar defense at Alabama. His best defense (50th) was about on par with Lowe’s best defense (48th). Plus he’s taking over a roster that knows each other, has veterans, and has the size and athleticism to play elite defense. And those fans are right.
To look closer, I went to the film. Their win over Miami was a fair representation. Sure, Miami scored 1.12 points per possession (73 points, 65 possessions) but Miami came in hot and had scored more than a point per possession in 9 of their past 10 games, including 1.10 versus Florida State.
At first I tried isolating the possessions on which Miami scored. But those weren’t that interesting. So instead I began looking at the possessions where NC got a stop, and a pattern began to emerge.
In this first play, Miami is pushing the ball. Malcolm Grant (cricled) has the ball and is leading the break. Only one NC State defender is back, and two are running with the Miami players. This came off a rebound which Reggie Johnson grabbed at the top of the no-charge circle, and pump faked once before he passed. The Wolfpack had had plenty of time to avoid a fast break situation. But they didn’t.
Grant (circled) pushes pushes up the right side and gets his read off the NC State defenders. Only Scott Wood is back, and CJ Leslie and DeShawn Painter (arrows) have no idea where the ball is. So Grant follows them down the lane.
But fear not, NC State fans. What looked like certain trouble ends with a triple teamed layup, with help defenders (arrows) properly positioned to defend a dump down or kick out. The NC State players got their heads turned just in time, and now the Wolfpack have four rebounders in good position (no small accomplishment, given that last year’s team gave up more offensive boards than 292 Division I teams).
The video:
The 2nd play is a simple one, but fun to watch. CJ Leslie (circled) has all the talent in the world, but he also has the ability to be a horrible defender. Here he displays a little bit of everything good. He blows up a terrible pass, and then he shows that he’s the most athletic guy on the court.
Here’s the video. Keep your eye on Leslie the entire time.
In this play DeShawn Painter has forced a tough shot from Kenny Kadji (circled). NC State appears to be in great position for the board as they have a player between the basket and all of the Miami players. Unfortunately, CJ Leslie and Alex Johnson (arrows) stand still while their guys run to the rim and play volleyball for a bit.
The video:
In our final play Miami is a running a designed inbounds play. Once the ball is entered they dribble hand-off to Durand Scott (circled) to set the play. Miami runs two players baseline and Scott pushes the ball to Malcolm Grant (arrow).
Another exchange gets the ball back Scott (circled). Rion Brown (green arrows) breaks for the basket and Kenny Kadji screens Brown’s defender (Scott Wood, #15) to set up the alley oop. Richard Howell (where you going, bro?) does absolutely nothing to slow Brown down (he even takes several steps in the wrong direction).
Luckily, just a couple of frames later, Lorenzo Brown (blue arrow) gets his eyes on the ball in time to see the play developing. He ends up fouling Brown (green arrow) but at least it wasn’t an easy dunk with shot clock winding down.
The video:
Breaking down this game, it was easy to find multiple correctable problems on just about every possession. Is that a relic of Lowe or a continuation of poor defensive coaching? Who’s right, the optomists or the pessimists? It’s too early to tell, but with several elite recruits joining what will be a very experienced roster, we should know the answer as early as next year.
