The Upside- NC State

[SWC75]

- I remember looking at those high school highlight films of “Michael Gbinije” and having my eyes bug out. The guy did everything. He looked like an NBA player. In his one year at Duke he didn’t do much. He sat out his transfer year and then, in his third year of college ball, didn’t do much here, either. But last year, in the heart of the conference schedule, he put together a six game stretch where he averaged 20.5 points 5 rebound and 5 assists. Jim Boeheim said he was probably the best player in the league. He faded a bit down the stretch, (as the team did because we had no depth and everybody was playing 40 minutes a game). Mike came into this year as the teams’ obvious star player and he hasn’t disappointed. He really ended him home career with a bang with his best ever game: 34 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, (I have him with 34 “net” points”, easily the highest total of the season). He hit 8 three pointers, one short of the school record. I looked up the “senior day” games of past years, (I don’t have the yearbooks for every year and some didn’t give individual game information) and the only higher output I could find was Hakim Warrick in his last home game vs. Providence in 2005: he scored 36 points, (after scoring 35 in the previous game against St. John’s). It was certainly a senior day to remember for “MICHAEL GBINIJE”

- This was as close as we’ve had to a “must” game so far this year. We’d lost two in a row with a trip to North Carolina in two days and only one more regular season game. We’ll open up against somebody pretty good in the ACC tournament. We needed this game and we got it.

- Besides Gbinije what really won this game was our defense. It held Anthony Barber, the league’s leading scorer, 8 points below his average and he wouldn’t have gotten that many if he hadn’t been put at the line for 9 shots from there. He made only 3 field goals in 34 minutes. Overall, the pack was 37.3%, including 4 for 17 from the arc. They made it close with 18 for 24 from the line.

- After getting pounded on the boards by Louisville and Pitt, we were ahead in rebounds during most of this game and only lost this battle by 36-38. And they had the bigger team.

- Our freshman class played well. Mal Richardson had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 67 assists. Tyler Lydon missed a run of treys in the second half but still scored 11 points and had 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Frank Howard didn’t have big numbers but when he was in there, the offense just seemed to have been movement, more energy and more confidence. He could give Tyus Battle a, well…battle… for the point guard job next year. It all bodes well for the future.

19-10 (9-7) with 2+ to go…

LET’S GO ORANGE!

 

[AlaskaSU]

In 11 minutes Franklin Howard had no buckets, committed 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. He has work to do.

 

[CuseinNYC]

I didn't watch the game, but one upside I thought worth mentioning: DJC played 35 minutes! I didn't know that he was capable of that. 7 pts, 7 rebs, and a block. Whether it's been foul trouble, or his getting back into game shape, I think it's fantastic that he was able to play a full game.

- I remember looking at those high school highlight films of “Michael Gbinije” and having my eyes bug out. The guy did everything. He looked like an NBA player. In his one year at Duke he didn’t do much. He sat out his transfer year and then, in his third year of college ball, didn’t do much here, either. But last year, in the heart of the conference schedule, he put together a six game stretch where he averaged 20.5 points 5 rebound and 5 assists. Jim Boeheim said he was probably the best player in the league. He faded a bit down the stretch, (as the team did because we had no depth and everybody was playing 40 minutes a game). Mike came into this year as the teams’ obvious star player and he hasn’t disappointed. He really ended him home career with a bang with his best ever game: 34 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, (I have him with 34 “net” points”, easily the highest total of the season). He hit 8 three pointers, one short of the school record. I looked up the “senior day” games of past years, (I don’t have the yearbooks for every year and some didn’t give individual game information) and the only higher output I could find was Hakim Warrick in his last home game vs. Providence in 2005: he scored 36 points, (after scoring 35 in the previous game against St. John’s). It was certainly a senior day to remember for “MICHAEL GBINIJE”

- This was as close as we’ve had to a “must” game so far this year. We’d lost two in a row with a trip to North Carolina in two days and only one more regular season game. We’ll open up against somebody pretty good in the ACC tournament. We needed this game and we got it.

- Besides Gbinije what really won this game was our defense. It held Anthony Barber, the league’s leading scorer, 8 points below his average and he wouldn’t have gotten that many if he hadn’t been put at the line for 9 shots from there. He made only 3 field goals in 34 minutes. Overall, the pack was 37.3%, including 4 for 17 from the arc. They made it close with 18 for 24 from the line.

- After getting pounded on the boards by Louisville and Pitt, we were ahead in rebounds during most of this game and only lost this battle by 36-38. And they had the bigger team.

- Our freshman class played well. Mal Richardson had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 67 assists. Tyler Lydon missed a run of treys in the second half but still scored 11 points and had 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Frank Howard didn’t have big numbers but when he was in there, the offense just seemed to have been movement, more energy and more confidence. He could give Tyus Battle a, well…battle… for the point guard job next year. It all bodes well for the future.

19-10 (9-7) with 2+ to go…

LET’S GO ORANGE!

 

[Cheriehoop]

Cat Barber's defense was also a great upside for SU.

 

[tbonezone]

hey! we finally got some home dome cooking from the refs. their coach was close to getting T'd up but i get his gripe.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Cat Barber's defense was also a great upside for SU.

They could have called his clutching and grabbing all game but only called it once towards the end.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

In 11 minutes Franklin Howard had no buckets, committed 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. He has work to do.

Two of his fouls were real bad after committing equally bad turnovers. He definitely needs to work on that.

 

[SBU72]

In 11 minutes Franklin Howard had no buckets, committed 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. He has work to do.

Don't forget 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 rebound. Not all bad. A freshman's stats.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

In 11 minutes Franklin Howard had no buckets, committed 3 fouls and 2 turnovers. He has work to do.

You didn't include his complete stat line, as SBU72 pointed out. Your posting has work to do.

 

[Ghost]

Don't forget 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 rebound. Not all bad. A freshman's stats.

Yeah, I thought he was fine.

Let's not forget, 1 of those 2 turnovers, and 1 of those 3 fouls occurred on the same play, in the 30 seconds he played in the second half. You take that away and you see that he had a good first half with but 1 turnover in extended run.

Disastrous second half - but I think he played all of two possessions.

JB pulled him when the ball fell out of his hands when he looked to reverse the ball to G and hesitated. Considering our first half where we built the lead with him for a significant portion of the time, I was surprised by the quick hook on a minor offensive lapse like that.

 

[Ghost]

Two of his fouls were real bad after committing equally bad turnovers. He definitely needs to work on that.

I mean, I get the point, but the mistakes are really highlighted by the quick hook.

This is NOT a knock on Cooney, I think it may have been his only turnover of the half...so, take it for what it is, just an example because it happened early in the second half. I just want to highlight that so nobody yells at me.

TC's first possession of the second half, he drives left, throws the ball right to nobody in particular. I think JB ultimately ended up catching it. If he's pulled then for the half - that's his stat line. A big disastrous turnover prone second half. But is it? It's easier to forget those plays, or at least they take on less significance, when they're not life and death toward your playing time. You can find examples for Mal, Lydon, G, etc...being a bench player is rough if you're leash isn't long. That 1 turnover stat line may be all you get. You don't get to overcome the error. That's his role though - and that's fine.

The fouls off a turnover are hard to judge, sometimes it's the right play if it stops the fast break. I don't recall the first one well enough to say if that was the case. If you're FH you're not worrying about foul trouble, but if you can stop a lay-up off your turnover, you take it.