FanPost

NC State basketball: An 8-game review, 5 big takeaways, and 5-man units

Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Eight contests into the season, the men's basketball team checks in with a 5-3 record. Terry Henderson tore ligaments in his ankle during the opening game loss, pressing freshman Maverick Rowan into a larger role. The injury piled an even larger burden on Cat Barber as well. Thus far, we've seen that this team is relatively inexperienced when you factor in that every player in the rotation is adjusting to bigger minutes and bigger roles. Cat is getting used to being THE guy, the big men are playing more minutes than last year, Rowan was thrust into the starting role, and the Martin twins have taken huge steps forward in responsibility. We have seen the inexperience rear its head, but all things considered, State could be in a worse position as they enter the last portion of games before conference play.

Barber averages an incredible 37.5 minutes per game and carries the load of the lone lead guard. Despite a giant amount of responsibility each game, he is largely up to the task each night. Despite a mostly cold jumper (until a breakout game against Bucknell), he stamps his impact on the game. He makes his presence known on the boards, which allows him to get out on the break immediately and in the open court, he is a terror. The free throw line has proven to be a profitable place for Barber as well, averaging just over 11 attempts per game and shooting at an 87% clip. I love how often he gets to the line and that will probably need to continue, considering he has all but abandoned any semblance of shooting three pointers so far.

As good as he has been, a few things have stuck out. He takes a ton of mid-range jumpers, which may very well be his range right now (which is fine), but all too often they are products of isolation basketball. I wouldn't immediately assign the blame specifically on Cat. Often, he is dribbling with the paint packed and no space to make anything happen. Connected to that, a few times this year he seemingly abandons set plays to attack off the dribble. This may be a situation where the coaches have given him the green light to attack if he sees the space open up, but it is something to keep an eye on going forward. The weight on Cat's shoulders is enormous, and he has answered the call so far.

The player that may most confound State fans at the moment is Abdul-Malik Abu. Coming into the year, it was anticipated he would be a focal point of the team's offense. He is averaging more minutes than last year and doesn't lack for effort. He certainly hasn't been awful, but you can see that he is struggling for confidence. Early in the season, it appeared as though State wanted him to become a back to the basket presence, which hasn't really been his game.

He didn't actually do that poorly, but he doesn't look completely comfortable working down there in post up isolation. When he catches the ball and faces up, he can be a very good scorer. He is extremely quick and we all know he possesses explosive leaping ability. He can get to the rim and/or draw fouls on defenders who just can't keep up with him. When he catches the ball at the free throw line, he has shown the ability to make some nice passes and shown confidence in the foul-line jumper. Defensively, Abu has shown he can occasionally switch out onto guards and stick with them for stretches. He had a rough outing against Michigan but bounced back and played well against Bucknell, hopefully he can use that as a springboard forward.

The injury to Terry Henderson has given Maverick Rowan the chance to gain a ton of experience. I feel confident in assuming Rowan expected to play and contribute but I doubt he thought his role would be this big this fast. He's met this added responsibility and done well. He's a willing rebounder, boxing out well, in addition to his contributions on offense. His jumper looks great and his percentages should rise as we get a larger sample of shot attempts. Rowan displays the ability to attack off the bounce and I'd like to see him attack more instead of settling for the long twos. He also broke out a side dribble after a player jumped out at him at the three-point line. This allows him to still get a good look from three and is another option to pursue instead of the mid-range jumpers.

He's looked okay for a young player on defense, especially in the occasions where State has gone to zone. Due to State's sub-optimal depth and the need for his offense, it's crucial he avoid some of the cheap fouls that occurred in the early games. Improvement should come on the defensive end as he puts more collegiate games under his belt and offensively he should become more and more comfortable as the season progresses.

The team plays five more games before ACC play opens on January 2nd. These will be good games to iron out any kinks the team is facing and give them more time to get comfortable before the hot cauldron of conference play. Offensively, the team should end up in a place that will allow them to win games. That being said, I'm not sure Cat and Abu are being put in the best possible positions. The fact that those two have hardly run any pick and roll is unconscionable. What harm can come just running it a few times a game? I know Coach Gottfried is devoted to the system and that it can indeed, and has in the past, produce good offense. That doesn't mean some pick and roll is incapable of co-existing with it. How much worse of a shot will it generate compared to force feeding Abu, Freeman, or Anya down on the block? I'd like to see them just try it, space the floor with Rowan and Caleb (who has been amazing), and run some side pick and roll. If it doesn't produce great results, at least you tried something different.

On the other end, the team has a ton of switchable parts on defense, but multiple times already, Cat has ended up on a big man and been eaten up down low. Effort has to be made to avoid having Cat guard these guys, to avoid giving up easy baskets and the risk that Cat picks up unnecessary fouls. The team typically hedges out on ball screens and most of the rotations have begun to look better as of late. Seeing the rotations improve has been encouraging, but I'm not sure this is the best use of BeeJay Anya's rim protection. He's in markedly better shape than he's ever been in at State and has pretty quick feet, but watching him hedge out takes him away from what he does best on defense. Regardless, the team has to get the defense in order if they want to reach the desired heights of the season.

5 Things I Like/Dislike

1. Anya's penchant to swat down occasionally leads to highlight blocks, but he's going to pick up needless fouls that way. We all know about his huge wingspan, he doesn't need to chase blocks to deter opponents at the rim. Tall up and go vertical, that will provide the rim protection State needs.

2. Cody Martin hasn't gotten the fanfare of his twin brother, but he continues to impress with his versatility. He operates on the block and serves as the de facto point guard in non-Cat lineups. He makes plays for others and shows grit on the defensive end. His development has been a welcome sight to a team sorely needing depth.

3. Coach Gottfried has sparingly used pressure in some of the games and it has worked in bursts. With the much ballyhooed change of the shot clock, this delays teams from getting into the half court and leaves them less time to run through their sets.

4. The mid-range jumpers from Cat that come immediately after he dribbles into the front court with no passes having been made are not good. Even if (and when) he makes some, the process is not conducive to the best offense this team can manage. I don't mind jumpers off the bounce, but I'd prefer them to come after ball movement (which in turn, could help Cat catch and attack in rhythm against an off kilter defense).

5. Caleb Martin's outstanding play has proven just as important as Cat's. His newfound three-point accuracy (and number of attempts) has been a welcome boon for the offense. He averages around 8 attempts per game and is shooting them at a very nice rate of 41%. The percentage will likely regress a bit on such a large number of attempts, but there is no doubt that the improvement in Caleb's long range game is a crucial development.

Below are the +/- (if the unit outscored the opponent or was outscored by the opponent) numbers for State's four most used lineups. I have been tracking this myself, so there may be some small errors. If a lineup changed during a free throw, a make counts for/against the player who was on the floor when the foul occurred.

Cat-Rowan-Caleb-Abu-Freeman: Plus 17 in 59 minutes and 58 seconds.

Cat-Rowan-Caleb-Abu-Anya: Minus 2 in 35 minutes and 52 seconds.

Cat-Rowan-Martin-Martin-Anya: Plus 15 in 33 minutes and 47 seconds.

Cat-Rowan-Caleb-Anya-Freeman: Plus 8 in 25 minutes and 15 seconds.