Coaches! Who’re You Gonna Start?

We have more quality depth than we’ve seen, but more importantly, a wide variety of strengths to be used as needed. So coaches, who’re you going to start?

Looking at last season’s stats (Disclaimer - new coaches, new system, new teammates, results will vary), here’s a breakdown of the team’s anticipated strengths and weaknesses. (Kam Woods excluded since he is unlikely to play this season)

Offense

Scoring

• Taylor: 12.9 ppg, 40.8 FG% Notes – Butler leading scorer, 5 games 20+ points, career high 24
• DJ Horne: 12.5 ppg, 36.9 FG% Notes – AZ ST 2^nd leading scorer, 4 games 20+, career high 34
• DJ Burns: 12.5 ppg, 56.1 FG% Notes – NCSU 3rd leading scorer, 4 games 20+, career high 31
• Morsell: 11.8 ppg, 46.7 FG% Notes – NCSU 4th leading scorer, 3 games 20+, career high 26

3PT Shooting

• Morsell: 41.1%, 190 attempts, 5.5 attempts per game Note: equivalent to 3^rd in ACC
• DJ Horne: 35.5%, 203 attempts, 5.8 attempts per game, 37.7% career
• Taylor: 32.6%, 138 attempts, 4.3 attempts per game
• Thomas: 47.4%, 19 attempts, 0.6 attempts per game

Offensive Rebounding

• DJ Burns: 1.8 per game, (22.9 min per game) Note – Ranked 14^th in ACC
• Diarra: 1.2 per game, (11.8 min per game)
• Middlebrooks: 1.06 per game, (11.2 min per game)

Assists

• Michael O’Connell: 3.1 per game, averaged 3.2 apg for 89 game career, 17 games 3+, 12 in one game
• DJ Horne: 2.4 per game, averaged 2.1 apg for 120 game career, 13 games 3+

Free Throw Shooting

• DJ Horne: 81.6%
• Morsell: 78.8%
• Michael O’Connell: 78.2%
• Taylor: 77%

Defense

Quotes:

• Morsell – “Casey Morsell is our best on ball defender” Keatts 2022-2023
• Taylor – “Jaden Taylor is our best on ball defender” Keatts 2023-2024
• Taylor - “Me and Casey will compete to see who guards the other team’s best man”
• Parker - “Defense has always been one of my favorite parts of the game,” Parker Jr. said. “I always have to get better every year guarding different types of players — quicker players, taller players. I feel like defense is just one of the most interesting parts of basketball.
• Diarra – On what sets him apart. “My defense, My ability to switch one through five is going to help this team a lot. I can rebound the ball very well, too.”

Steals

• Taylor: 1.3 per game, 12 games 2+ Note – equivalent to 12^th in ACC
• Morsell: 1.1 per game, 11 games 2+
• DJ Horne: 1.1 per game, 10 games 2+

Defensive Rebounding

• DJ Burns: 3.0 per game, (22.9 min per game) Note – Ranked 25^th in ACC
• Diarra: 2.08 per game, (11.8 min per game)
• Ross: 1.6 per game, (11.4 min per game)
• Middlebrooks: 1.68 per game, (11.2 min per game)

Blocks

• DJ Burns: 29 blocks, 0.9 per game Note – tied for 14^th in ACC
• Ross: 27 blocks, 0.8 per game
• Diarra: 15 blocks, 0.6 per game

Areas of Concern

Turnovers (T Smith was highest on last year’s team at 2.2 TO per game)

• Taylor: 2.1 per game
• DJ Burns: 1.9 per game (second on last year’s team)
• O’Connell committed 5 in the exhibition

Fouls

• DJ Burns: 2.9 per game (22.9 mpg)
• Middlebrooks: 2.09 per game (11.2 mpg)
• Diarra: 1.8 per game (11.8 mpg)

Free Throw Shooting

• DJ Burns: 61.5%
• Ross: 59%
• Diarra: 56%

Past performance at the P6 level is a decent indicator of what we can expect, but picking the starting lineup is all going to come down to what happens in practice and how well they blend. (Whew! Blinding flash of the obvious!) And this year’s starting lineup could vary more frequently than in most seasons. But it looks like we will be deep, with a lot of options to counteract opposing strengths. As Seth Greenberg says, “With the transfer portal, so many teams are still identifying roles / rotations. The transfers are in some ways freshmen. I call them “the new 1 and done” it’s a new system, terminology and culture. It takes time and patience. Most important is to get everyone on the same page”