Virginia Military Institute (0-0)
	vs
	NC State (0-0)
	Friday, November 10th, 7:00pm TV: ESPN3

11/6/2017 7:51:56 AM

woot woot bball season is upon us. I know we aren't gonna be very good this year, but I am excited to see what our new coach can do.

11/6/2017 10:06:58 AM

I'm looking for three things:

1. Consistent effort

2. Off the ball movement

3. Anything that looks like defense.


I'm not a huge fan of the always press strategy, but it works.

11/6/2017 10:19:38 AM

Dancing L

11/6/2017 10:29:47 AM

i have virtually no expectations this year

let's just show effort on both ends of the court as well as defined, identifiable offensive "style".

11/6/2017 10:49:36 AM

I want to see us slappin the backboard on dunks as a protest against the NCAA. Let's start tweeting that out.

11/6/2017 12:46:04 PM

4 yards punt. 2rd half collapase. dancing L.

11/6/2017 1:11:48 PM

looking forward to watching some basketball again!

11/7/2017 11:24:05 AM

I watched most of the Mars Hill game on my lunch break. Hard to take much away from it, since we were just so much more physically imposing, but a few things stood out. If anybody cares:

*Markell looked like a star. I love him last year, but he looks 10x more confident out there this year. He was a one-man wrecking crew -- dishing out dimes, terrorizing them on defense, hitting a couple 3s. Not sure what his steal total was, but it seemed like he had at least 10. He's the most important player on our team, and it's not even close.

*Nard looks surprisingly nimble this year. Much faster and more agile than I remember. He's still not a shotblocker, but he'll be great in the pressure defense Keatts wants to run.

*The other Freeman looks like he's 40 years old; in a good way I suppose. He's jacked for a guard but doesn't seem quite as athletic as I initially thought. He did some good things even though his shot wasn't falling -- penetrated well, dished the ball wall, anticipated things well on defense. He looks like our go-to guy on offense

*Only guy that didn't impress me much was Batts. He played hard on defense, but he was out of control on offense -- often drove to the basket with no plan and just flung up a shot. He got bailed out with some foul calls, but that won't work against decent teams. He'll be really good in time I'm sure-- just needs to add some strength/muscle so he can finish at the rim.

*Other guys looked good, but it was pretty expected. Yurt had some nice shots and great touch around the rim. Dorn did everything well and quietly led the team in points. Hunt has a quick trigger and looks like our only legit deep threat. Nothing stood out about the other guys.

That's all I got.

11/8/2017 1:26:09 PM

Al Freeman is going to get his shots. And it worries me that he will shoot us out of games. Hopefully he more like a Trevor Lacey than a Harrington

11/8/2017 2:43:33 PM

Quote :

"Hopefully he more like a Trevor Lacey than a Harrington Rowan"

FTFY

11/8/2017 2:51:09 PM

My thoughts from the mars hill game

- Agree Nard looked good, but it looks like they have him on a pitch count early to try and ease him back in, so might still have some stuff ongoing.
- Markell is nice, will be curious what happens with the guard heavy sets on the ball distribution.
- The team still can't shoot.
- Love the press but I just hope this team is allowed to play defense by the refs otherwise everyone will foul out. In college certain teams are allowed to grab and clutch as much as they want because they are just supposed to be defensive stoppers (cough Virginia cough).
- Yurt is still getting outsized and outrebounded by tiny dudes. You can tell he wants to be a 3 or a 4 and not a 5 and this concerns me.
- Henderson would help this team so much.
- Cautiously optimistic that the team could do like GT did last year and get a couple surprises.

11/8/2017 3:05:47 PM

Quote :

"woot woot bball season is upon us. I know we aren't gonna be very good this year, but I am excited to see what our new coach can do."

Same here! A friend of mine is working his way through the referee ranks and currently does high school and NCAA D2 games. NC State always hires him for scrimmages. He said we look awful this year and that we just don't have any talent. I'm not going to stress when we lose most of our games.

11/8/2017 3:06:32 PM

Dude is more like a Trey Guidry or a Curtis Marshall.

11/8/2017 6:25:20 PM

VMI lives off points inside the arc. I doubt they get those against us.

They don't shoot threes at all. That's our main weakness defensively.

Defensively they are horrid.

They are hopelessly short and have zero depth.

I like NC State vs the spread. This has all the makings of a 30+ point game that might only be a 15 point spread.

11/8/2017 9:22:21 PM

Quote :

"He said we look awful this year and that we just don't have any talent"

Imagine my relief when I saw who posted this.

WHEW

11/9/2017 12:42:48 AM

[Edited on November 9, 2017 at 12:55 AM. Reason : close call]

11/9/2017 12:43:14 AM

again, i have no expectations this year. but we were super shitty last year so stuff like B4C's post don't really mean much to me. an "insider" who saw a few practices says a team that fired its coach and was sub .500 last year doesn't look good this year? i'm not shocked by that. i also don't put much stock in it, anyways.

11/9/2017 8:02:18 AM

Post your favorite retro NC State uniform to help us count it down:

11/9/2017 8:52:37 AM

11/9/2017 9:17:36 AM

11/9/2017 9:54:29 AM

The zubaz jerseys we refused to wear.

11/9/2017 11:53:02 AM

i have no memory of these that just said "State" in shitty font.



these cheap ass looking iron-on numbers.

11/9/2017 12:22:40 PM

Quote :

"i have no memory of these that just said "State" in shitty font."

Those are the same as the Todd Fuller ones. I think they were by Converse. But they're the early 90s so of course they're awful.

11/9/2017 12:50:00 PM

gotcha...just didn't recognize it without the shorts to go with it.

11/9/2017 2:15:38 PM

Those shorts are iconic

11/9/2017 2:16:36 PM

I'd like to be on record saying this team will outperform expectations. The cupboard is def not bare, especially with a healthy Abu and Freeman.

11/9/2017 5:38:58 PM

I am very excited for the new era and am looking forward to falling in love with Kevin Keatts

11/9/2017 5:44:52 PM

You know this forum is dying when there’s no Keatts credibility watch thread on the day of the first game

11/10/2017 2:18:59 PM

it can't be made until his first loss.

11/10/2017 2:27:19 PM

I'll admit its kinda nice going into a season with no real way to know what expectations are. If we suck then it wont be surprising and if we are sneaky good then we can all celebrate. I guess I just wanna see us hustle and play defense and hope to see offensive improvement as the year goes along.

11/10/2017 2:36:26 PM

there is a credibility thread

https://thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=648730

11/10/2017 3:13:36 PM

[Edited on November 10, 2017 at 6:10 PM. Reason : derp]

11/10/2017 6:09:45 PM

I have ESPN 3 access but apparently that doesn't include accn? What is this shit? How do I watch?

11/10/2017 6:57:26 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/tv/warm-tv-blog/article170326842.html

11/10/2017 7:06:19 PM

Thanks

11/10/2017 7:08:53 PM

Camera won't stop moving around, so annoying

11/10/2017 7:09:24 PM

somebody photoshop Nard Dog and Al in there

11/10/2017 7:16:52 PM

You know what makes the difference with renewal by anderson? FIBREX

11/10/2017 7:47:24 PM

Thank god this is looking like the slaughter that it should look like.

11/10/2017 7:53:10 PM

Pack is continuing strong play from the exhibition games, I like the intensity but we did have a couple breakdowns on d. Doubt we will get all these fouls calls driving to the basket in acc play.

Kirks dunk was sick.

Why was johnson out so much in the last half of the first? Foul trouble?

11/10/2017 7:58:30 PM

Quote :

"I am very excited for the new era and am looking forward to falling in love with Kevin Keatts"

same here

11/10/2017 8:29:41 PM

Yurtseven plays so soft for a seven footer it's making me irate

11/10/2017 8:34:51 PM

WTF with the miss-cuits promotion. Weird to hear nc state fans cheer for fouls called on nc state and people screaming foul him when we aren't trying to stop the clock

11/10/2017 9:19:02 PM

Call me crazy but with a healthy Abu this team could go 9-9 in ACC play. No reason can't hang with the Clemsons, BCs, and Pitts of the league. It's really early but it looks like the guys are buying in.

11/10/2017 10:13:43 PM

If we can get through these early games 9-3 or better, I'll agree with you.

11/10/2017 10:47:08 PM

I like the press and high intensity D, but I can't help but think it's gonna be abused badly when we play good teams. There were a number of times our help D left wide open 3 pt shooters and they just couldn't hit shots.

It's gotta be embarrassing to get dominated on the boards the way Yurt is with how tall he is. I don't know if it's a strength or positioning or maybe a heart thing (probably all three?), but there is no reason why he shouldn't have killed VMI around the rim with the size mismatch.

I love the offensive style we run. Lots of cutting and kickouts with a healthy dose of pick and rolls. The Keatts era is looking good so far.

11/10/2017 11:35:07 PM

I didn't get to see the game but I'm very happy with the scoring rate. Looks like the points came consistently without any cold streaks. Same on the defensive side not giving VMI any hot streaks.

11/10/2017 11:42:01 PM

Thoughts one game in:

- Obviously encouraging first result, though comes with the huge caveat that VMI is terrible
- Defense looked very good at times but also had some lapses and gave up open shots. Will get carved up at times this year but down the road a defense like what Keatts saw at L'ville when he was an assistant is at least a possibility
- Offense, particularly in the half court, has some big holes. We just aren't very talented right now.
Freeman (transfer) is one of those garbage bucket scorers, like that dude from Temple who beat us, Malcolm Delaney and so on. Getting him (and Hunt) for this season was huge but I can see why Baylor was ready to let him go after seeing years of that shit. I like the philosophy of having guys wantonly drive to the basket, but that shit's going to get out of control once teams with actual defenses see it. Going to need more drive and kick action once we get better shooters.
- Yurtseven is a fish out of water on this team. Will be a needed as a change of pace in some games, but it'll be interesting to see what happens to his minutes and happiness once Abu gets back
- Markell has a chance to be a monster in this system. Three years of him and the full court press. Holy shit

11/10/2017 11:54:19 PM

lol, where is kapita tho?

11/11/2017 12:50:04 AM