Moo U

[SeaPinesHeel]

Anyone else upset that the only place we will get to celebrate beating them this season is their small barn? I miss the days when we played them twice, that way we could hopefully beat them three times, including the ACCT.

I see us as head and shoulders better than them this season, after they lost a number of players? Also, Coach B is a much better coach than their coach....agreed? What do y'all think? GDTBATH

 

[Jriv23]

We have to play them at their place. The men also will have to play them one time at their place. How in the world did that happened. For both the men and women to have to play them in Raleigh. Oh well! We will just have to go in there and beat them. It will not be easy though. We will have to play not only them but the referees and their fans.

 

[3397char]

NCSU loses James, Rivers and Hayes. That roughly equates to us losing Ustby, Donarski, and Gakdeng. All of them were among the 4 best players on their top 20 teams.

So the question is who has more returning and added?

My rough breakdown by position, inserting returning players as starters when in doubt:

1. Kelly > Brooks: Brooks is more of a traditional PG and was a solid distributor to the better players on her team at 4 assist per game and scored well. But Kelly is a much more efficient scorer.
2. Grant > Jones: both played a 6th woman last year as frosh, but Grant was more impactful
3. Nivar < Pierre: Pierre is a great transfer from Vandy, dynamic scorer and rebounder, great at defense.
4. Harris > Awou: Harris is a top tier PF in the ACC, top 30 transfer get nationally. Awou needs significant growth to be an ACC starter.
5. Thomas < Trygger: Thomas is the better defender and has more upside, but based on what was put on the floor last year, Trygger held her own as an ACC role player as a freshman.

Both teams added talent beyond the above and this obviously may not be the starting lineup by the time we play each other (or maybe in game 1 of the season, who knows?)

So lets look at who else is coming in or is a major contributor left on the bench:

• Collier was a decent part-time starter at center but Toomey has tons more upside; she just needs to put it together. I prefer Toomey.
• UNC transfer G Aarnisalo was a part-time starter on #3 UCLA and a decent chance she will start at UNC. NCSU transfer G Samuels was deep bench at #1 UConn, hard to know how good she is but #41 HS player. I prefer Aarnisalo.
• UNC (Zubich, Hull) and NCSU (Quigley, Cox, Steele) both have deep bench players who were 4 star recruits. Most do not play meaningful minutes in contested games. But both teams should have depth to not implode with an injury or two.
• NCSU Recruiting class: #58 CG Jernigan, ESPN #60 PG Lunan
• UNC Recruiting class: #22 SF Brooks, #24 Henderson, #77 Queiroz, INT Astakhova

There is of course wide variance on how college players do versus their college rankings, but players outside of the top 50 do not project to be a top tier ACC starter in their career. UNC is much more likely to have a standout, immediate impact freshman. Brooks in particular may be a starter this season.

I only give UNC a modest edge among starters and proven star transfers. On a neutral court it should be a close game. I think UNC has significantly more depth and upside.

The X-factor is UNC's defense. UNC has relied a lot of defense that last few season to be a top tier ACC team, but 3 defensive stalwarts graduated. Conversely, NCSU has relied on dynamic offensive players, who at times could overcome UNC's methodical defense. Can UNC's defense reload better than NCSU's offense?

 

[Jriv23]

Thanks for all the information 3397Char. I like our chances; however, I just hope the referees do not start making calls only one way. I think Henderson is going to surprise a lot of people based on the comments made by CB. CB said that Henderson was faster than AU in transition (She was a track star in high school. She ran the 400m, 200m, and some relays). That speaks volumes because AU was fast IMO. CB and NH both stated that Henderson can shoot it, very athletic, and is a tremendous rebounder.

 

[AlWoodfor2]

Let the girls play first and then the men, like in high school same night 2 beat downs.

 

[ZinfanHeel]

Remember: If dook is our archrival, we are NCSU's. They hate us more than any other ACC program. One of Moo U's men was one asked if he would prefer (a) beat dook twice and lose to UNC, or (b) lose to dook twice and beat UNC. He said (b) hands down, no question.

Motivation can be a powerful force, particularly in front of your home fans.

 

[Carolina151]

They’ll be fired up in that small gym. Posters criticizing CB, fans yelling and cussing her up and down. The State Way.

 

[Carolina151]

NCSU loses James, Rivers and Hayes. That roughly equates to us losing Ustby, Donarski, and Gakdeng. All of them were among the 4 best players on their top 20 teams.

So the question is who has more returning and added?

My rough breakdown by position, inserting returning players as starters when in doubt:

1. Kelly > Brooks: Brooks is more of a traditional PG and was a solid distributor to the better players on her team at 4 assist per game and scored well. But Kelly is a much more efficient scorer.
2. Grant > Jones: both played a 6th woman last year as frosh, but Grant was more impactful
3. Nivar < Pierre: Pierre is a great transfer from Vandy, dynamic scorer and rebounder, great at defense.
4. Harris > Awou: Harris is a top tier PF in the ACC, top 30 transfer get nationally. Awou needs significant growth to be an ACC starter.
5. Thomas < Trygger: Thomas is the better defender and has more upside, but based on what was put on the floor last year, Trygger held her own as an ACC role player as a freshman.

Both teams added talent beyond the above and this obviously may not be the starting lineup by the time we play each other (or maybe in game 1 of the season, who knows?)

So lets look at who else is coming in or is a major contributor left on the bench:

• Collier was a decent part-time starter at center but Toomey has tons more upside; she just needs to put it together. I prefer Toomey.
• UNC transfer G Aarnisalo was a part-time starter on #3 UCLA and a decent chance she will start at UNC. NCSU transfer G Samuels was deep bench at #1 UConn, hard to know how good she is but #41 HS player. I prefer Aarnisalo.
• UNC (Zubich, Hull) and NCSU (Quigley, Cox, Steele) both have deep bench players who were 4 star recruits. Most do not play meaningful minutes in contested games. But both teams should have depth to not implode with an injury or two.
• NCSU Recruiting class: #58 CG Jernigan, ESPN #60 PG Lunan
• UNC Recruiting class: #22 SF Brooks, #24 Henderson, #77 Queiroz, INT Astakhova

There is of course wide variance on how college players do versus their college rankings, but players outside of the top 50 do not project to be a top tier ACC starter in their career. UNC is much more likely to have a standout, immediate impact freshman. Brooks in particular may be a starter this season.

I only give UNC a modest edge among starters and proven star transfers. On a neutral court it should be a close game. I think UNC has significantly more depth and upside.

The X-factor is UNC's defense. UNC has relied a lot of defense that last few season to be a top tier ACC team, but 3 defensive stalwarts graduated. Conversely, NCSU has relied on dynamic offensive players, who at times could overcome UNC's methodical defense. Can UNC's defense reload better than NCSU's offense?

Excellent analysis. We are a deeper squad.

however, their four of Brooks, Trigger, Pierre, and Jones are going to be really good and compete with any big 4 in the conference. Pierre in particular is elite. If any of them get in foul trouble and or hurt- they’re in trouble. I haven’t been impressed in Cox or Collier in multiple years. I don’t see Awou as a legit post player. Samuels was a Top 50 recruit, but was horrible at UCONN and couldn’t even get P.T. when they had all the injuries. You’re expecting a lot from two FR ranked 65/68 to be immediate contributors. Could they be? Absolutely. But very few players ranked >30 have any type of major impact on Top 25 teams. It’s not unheard of, but rare for them to give you significant production. Re Pierre, I’d love to know some of the background from Vandy leading to the dismissal.

If I am a state fan, I’m most interested to see if we’re able to play another big with Trygger. I don’t think she or Collier or Awou can guard at the 4. And if you do that, you’re moving Pierre to the 3 and now have 3 people who can’t shoot on the floor (with Brooks who is a career 23% shooter and only has 32 makes in 2 years). Talk about clog city and clank it off the backboard basketball. They’ve got to get decent shooting from someone other than Jones to be a legit Top 25 team.

 

[Jriv23]

Yeah, I agree with you Carolina151. IF I am CB, I would go and talk to Roy W. before we play them to see what he did to beat them the majority of the time. Roy took it personal and he wanted to beat them badly every single time. I think CB and company will need to do the same. I know we consider Duke as a rival but we must treat them the same IMO.

 

[JPack71]

NCSU loses James, Rivers and Hayes. That roughly equates to us losing Ustby, Donarski, and Gakdeng. All of them were among the 4 best players on their top 20 teams.

So the question is who has more returning and added?

My rough breakdown by position, inserting returning players as starters when in doubt:

1. Kelly > Brooks: Brooks is more of a traditional PG and was a solid distributor to the better players on her team at 4 assist per game and scored well. But Kelly is a much more efficient scorer.
2. Grant > Jones: both played a 6th woman last year as frosh, but Grant was more impactful
3. Nivar < Pierre: Pierre is a great transfer from Vandy, dynamic scorer and rebounder, great at defense.
4. Harris > Awou: Harris is a top tier PF in the ACC, top 30 transfer get nationally. Awou needs significant growth to be an ACC starter.
5. Thomas < Trygger: Thomas is the better defender and has more upside, but based on what was put on the floor last year, Trygger held her own as an ACC role player as a freshman.

Both teams added talent beyond the above and this obviously may not be the starting lineup by the time we play each other (or maybe in game 1 of the season, who knows?)

So lets look at who else is coming in or is a major contributor left on the bench:

• Collier was a decent part-time starter at center but Toomey has tons more upside; she just needs to put it together. I prefer Toomey.
• UNC transfer G Aarnisalo was a part-time starter on #3 UCLA and a decent chance she will start at UNC. NCSU transfer G Samuels was deep bench at #1 UConn, hard to know how good she is but #41 HS player. I prefer Aarnisalo.
• UNC (Zubich, Hull) and NCSU (Quigley, Cox, Steele) both have deep bench players who were 4 star recruits. Most do not play meaningful minutes in contested games. But both teams should have depth to not implode with an injury or two.
• NCSU Recruiting class: #58 CG Jernigan, ESPN #60 PG Lunan
• UNC Recruiting class: #22 SF Brooks, #24 Henderson, #77 Queiroz, INT Astakhova

There is of course wide variance on how college players do versus their college rankings, but players outside of the top 50 do not project to be a top tier ACC starter in their career. UNC is much more likely to have a standout, immediate impact freshman. Brooks in particular may be a starter this season.

I only give UNC a modest edge among starters and proven star transfers. On a neutral court it should be a close game. I think UNC has significantly more depth and upside.

The X-factor is UNC's defense. UNC has relied a lot of defense that last few season to be a top tier ACC team, but 3 defensive stalwarts graduated. Conversely, NCSU has relied on dynamic offensive players, who at times could overcome UNC's methodical defense. Can UNC's defense reload better than NCSU's offense?

Pierre won't be playing the 3, she will be the starting 4 at State with Tilda at the 5. The starting 3 will either be Samuels or soph Devon Quigley who played well in her role as a freshman off the bench last year. Whoever doesn't start there is the first player off the bench. Other important depth pieces for State will be Awou who I expect to take a significant step forward in her second year. She has the size and athleticism to become a really high quality player in the ACC over the next three years. Maddie Cox will be another valuable front court player who can give quality minutes at the 4 and even the 5 if needed (likely not needed this year). Last but not least, watch for freshman Destiny Lunan to get minutes as a freshman at the 2G spot. She has a lot of talent and is really athletic. Not a great shooter from deep at this point, but can defend and be really good in transition. I will be surprised if State isn't pre-season top 10 after landing Pierre. That was the one glaring need for the roster. Should be a good game as always against UNC.

 

[SeaPinesHeel]

Pierre won't be playing the 3, she will be the starting 4 at State with Tilda at the 5. The starting 3 will either be Samuels or soph Devon Quigley who played well in her role as a freshman off the bench last year. Whoever doesn't start there is the first player off the bench. Other important depth pieces for State will be Awou who I expect to take a significant step forward in her second year. She has the size and athleticism to become a really high quality player in the ACC over the next three years. Maddie Cox will be another valuable front court player who can give quality minutes at the 4 and even the 5 if needed (likely not needed this year). Last but not least, watch for freshman Destiny Lunan to get minutes as a freshman at the 2G spot. She has a lot of talent and is really athletic. Not a great shooter from deep at this point, but can defend and be really good in transition. I will be surprised if State isn't pre-season top 10 after landing Pierre. That was the one glaring need for the roster. Should be a good game as always against UNC.

LOL

 

[uman1]

Boo moo.

 

[Carolina151]

Pierre won't be playing the 3, she will be the starting 4 at State with Tilda at the 5. The starting 3 will either be Samuels or soph Devon Quigley who played well in her role as a freshman off the bench last year. Whoever doesn't start there is the first player off the bench. Other important depth pieces for State will be Awou who I expect to take a significant step forward in her second year. She has the size and athleticism to become a really high quality player in the ACC over the next three years. Maddie Cox will be another valuable front court player who can give quality minutes at the 4 and even the 5 if needed (likely not needed this year). Last but not least, watch for freshman Destiny Lunan to get minutes as a freshman at the 2G spot. She has a lot of talent and is really athletic. Not a great shooter from deep at this point, but can defend and be really good in transition. I will be surprised if State isn't pre-season top 10 after landing Pierre. That was the one glaring need for the roster. Should be a good game as always against UNC.

Thanks for joining the convo. Genuine question (and I don’t mean for this to come across as snarky) and actually curious. Where’s the shooting coming from? From my eyes, it’s eerily similar to the team we had a couple years ago with all the injuries and couldn’t shoot or had little to no proven deep threats.

This appears to be your starting 5, correct?
1) Brooks: returning All-ACC: 12-36 from deep last year, just 29 career makes in 2 years. Career 28% shooter
2) Jones: showed flashes last year as a true FR. 13-38 from deep, 6ppg as a Top 25 recruit.
3) Quigley: played just 7mpg as a recruit in a similar spot to the 2 incoming, 1-8 from 3 OR Samuels: saw PT significantly decrease to 5mpg last year and was 3-19 from deep. Shot decent FR year with 24 makes.
4) Pierre: there could be baggage there, but elite player. Career 19% 3-pt shooter, 6-32 in 2 years from 3.
5) Trygger: 8-23 from 3. (6-9 vs cal and GT, 2-14 remaining 30+ games)

4 of Pierre, Trygger, Brooks, and Jones should keep you in every game this year if they stay healthy. But where is the quality depth?

-7th man is Cox? slow and unathletic unless body has changed. 9 career 3-pt makes in 2 years at 20% clip. Hasn’t avg more than 10mpg and is a 26% FG shooter?
-collier struggled her entire career
-Awou is a big body.
-I would expect significant offensive production from either FR. It’s hard enough getting recruits ranked in the 15-35range to avg 10+ ppg a year and extremely rare for Americans outside the Top 50 to do so.

you’re correct. Our game will be a battle. It always is. Well-coached teams that make adjustments through the games.

 

[Jriv23]

If we are going to talk about NC State then we also need to be talking about Duke. The triangle teams are all good. This is what CB had hope for when she was first hired. These are must win games for bragging rights and for recruiting purposes.

 

[3397char]

Pierre won't be playing the 3, she will be the starting 4 at State with Tilda at the 5. The starting 3 will either be Samuels or soph Devon Quigley who played well in her role as a freshman off the bench last year. Whoever doesn't start there is the first player off the bench. Other important depth pieces for State will be Awou who I expect to take a significant step forward in her second year. She has the size and athleticism to become a really high quality player in the ACC over the next three years. Maddie Cox will be another valuable front court player who can give quality minutes at the 4 and even the 5 if needed (likely not needed this year). Last but not least, watch for freshman Destiny Lunan to get minutes as a freshman at the 2G spot. She has a lot of talent and is really athletic. Not a great shooter from deep at this point, but can defend and be really good in transition. I will be surprised if State isn't pre-season top 10 after landing Pierre. That was the one glaring need for the roster. Should be a good game as always against UNC.

I agree that it would be ideal for Pierre to play the 4 on your squad but, unless the Pack freshmen come in ready to hold down significant minutes without a dropoff, I do not see the rotational depth against good teams to play her at the 4, and still have 5 or so bodies to fill the 1, 2, and 3.

so my bet (just a guess) is that she will log more minutes at the 3 than the 4.

if she does play the 4 predominantly it will be a pretty epic battle between Pierre and Harris at the 4. Worth the price of admission. If that is the case I give Pierre the slight edge as the best player on the floor, but a solid edge to UNC at the 3 for Nivar against whoever state has in.

 

[Jriv23]

To be honest, we really do not how good NH is beause Louisville guards shot the ball alot and they really did not utilize her right last year. That is the main reason why she transferred. The year before NH had great stats. I think her and Piere are about even. She stated that last year she got most of points off of offensive rebounds because those freshman guards took to many shots. Cochrane ran into the same problem last year. The guards would not throw the ball inside. I think NH is going to really surprise people a lot at the fout becasue CB is going to let her play her game.

 

[JPack71]

Thanks for joining the convo. Genuine question (and I don’t mean for this to come across as snarky) and actually curious. Where’s the shooting coming from? From my eyes, it’s eerily similar to the team we had a couple years ago with all the injuries and couldn’t shoot or had little to no proven deep threats.

This appears to be your starting 5, correct?
1) Brooks: returning All-ACC: 12-36 from deep last year, just 29 career makes in 2 years. Career 28% shooter
2) Jones: showed flashes last year as a true FR. 13-38 from deep, 6ppg as a Top 25 recruit.
3) Quigley: played just 7mpg as a recruit in a similar spot to the 2 incoming, 1-8 from 3 OR Samuels: saw PT significantly decrease to 5mpg last year and was 3-19 from deep. Shot decent FR year with 24 makes.
4) Pierre: there could be baggage there, but elite player. Career 19% 3-pt shooter, 6-32 in 2 years from 3.
5) Trygger: 8-23 from 3. (6-9 vs cal and GT, 2-14 remaining 30+ games)

4 of Pierre, Trygger, Brooks, and Jones should keep you in every game this year if they stay healthy. But where is the quality depth?

-7th man is Cox? slow and unathletic unless body has changed. 9 career 3-pt makes in 2 years at 20% clip. Hasn’t avg more than 10mpg and is a 26% FG shooter?
-collier struggled her entire career
-Awou is a big body.
-I would expect significant offensive production from either FR. It’s hard enough getting recruits ranked in the 15-35range to avg 10+ ppg a year and extremely rare for Americans outside the Top 50 to do so.

you’re correct. Our game will be a battle. It always is. Well-coached teams that make adjustments through the games.

Shooting is likely to be one of the biggest question marks IMO, but I think as part of that you have to consider the roles that players were in previously instead of just looking at numbers. For example. Brooks because she was playing alongside two high WNBA draft picks was deferring quite a bit to them, and for good reason. She is likely to be a bit more scoring oriented with this year's team so I think her attempts from 3 will likely increase. She has been capable in games in the past, but she needs to show more consistency in that area. She's shown to be enough of a threat from deep to keep defenders honest and that opens up the rest of her game, thus the all conference selection. Zam Jones showed as a true freshman that she is a quality shooter at 35% from deep going 35-100 for the year. I think it's reasonable to think she can take her game to another level in only her second year. Tilda Trygger will play the 5 in Wes's 4 out offense and she showed over the summer with the Sweedish U20 team that she is a quality shooter. It was a real adjustment for her last year in getting used to the physicality of play at the ACC level, but I think folks who watched State play saw her really grow up over the last part of the season. Now she isn't going to be someone that State will consistently look to run plays for to free her from distance, but she is a quality pick and pop option. The player that most people who aren't State fans probably don't expect much from is Devon Quigley. She was a top 50 recruit who was known to be a three level scorer in HS. She showed last year in limited opportunities given the makeup of last year's team, that she is a quality shooter and defender. I expect you will see a significant increase in playing time for her and I expect her to be a quality option from distance. The other person I think people are going to be surprised by is Q Samuels from UConn. As a freshman she was a 35% shooter from distance on 99 attempts. Obviously UConn was an elite team last year and I think she just never could carve out consistent minutes at her position. I think between here and Quigley State has solid options at the 3.

As far as depth, again, whomever doesn't start at the 3 between Quigley and Samuels is first off the bench. That's a quality 6 man option IMO. Up front, at the 4 Cox can give solid minutes. Now, she needs to come into camp this year in better shape, but if she can do that, she has shown against quality competition to be a capable 10 minutes per game option. She had 8 and 7rebs against LSU in the NCAAT loss so it shows she has the ability. But as I said early last year when I watched her, she needed to come into camp in better shape. If she does that, she has a role. If she doesn't State may have play smaller at times when Pierre needs a break. I do think you may be underestimating Lorena Awou. She's more than a big body, she is a plus athlete at that size and she is going to be a really good rebounder and defender in the low post. She didn't start playing hoops until later in life so there is still learning, but you could see her growth over the year last year. In fact, she was a major factor in the ACCT win over UNC last year if you will remember. And last but not least is true freshman Destiny Lunan. I don't think Wes is counting on her from a scoring standpoint, but I will be surprised if she doesn't carve out a consistent role because of her athleticism and size at 5'10" and her ability to defend and be a factor in transition. So if you look at it through that lens, I see a quality starting 5 of:

Brooks
Jones
Samuels or Quigley
Pierre
Trygger

Off the bench you will have:

Samuels or Quigley who can give you minutes at multiple positions
Awou behind Trygger
Cox who has experience to give minutes at the 4
Lunan

That is a 9 deep rotation and doesn't include Collier who while nothing more than a large body with 5 fouls, does have ACC experience. I don't think perimeter shooting will necessarily be a strength of this team, but I do think they have a lot of versatility offensively and they have one of the 5 best players in the league in Pierre.

 

[JPack71]

I agree that it would be ideal for Pierre to play the 5 on your squad but, unless the Pack freshmen come in ready to hold down significant minutes without a dropoff, I do not see the rotational depth against good teams to play her at the 4, and still have 5 or so bodies to fill the 1, 2, and 3.

so my bet (just a guess) is that she will log more minutes at the 3 than the 4.

if she does play the 4 predominantly it will be a pretty epic battle between Pierre and Harris at the 4. Worth the price of admission. If that is the case I give Pierre the slight edge as the best player on the floor, but a solid edge to UNC at the 3 for Nivar against whoever state has in.

No Pierre is a PF all the way and she will likely be a pre-season first team all ACC selection. Trygger and Awou is a quality tag team at the 5. The SF spot is where the camp battle for the 5th starting spot will play out. Loser of that battle is the 6th man.

 

[3397char]

No Pierre is a PF all the way and she will likely be a pre-season first team all ACC selection. Trygger and Awou is a quality tag team at the 5. The SF spot is where the camp battle for the 5th starting spot will play out. Loser of that battle is the 6th man.

Sorry I had a typo , which I have since fixed. I meant to say that Pierre is ideal at the 4, but will have to play a bunch of 3 minutes unless at least one of NCSU’s perimeter freshmen come in ready to compete at an NCSU level. My best guess, based on their middle 100 ranking, is that they will not As true freshmen.

They just need more bodies at the 1-3 than they currently appear to have at the 4 and 5. Pirre is the most dynamic big player and thus the most likely to slide to the 3.

NCSU had entered the last two seasons in a row with multiple players at positions who were question marks that needed to immediately produce at an ACC level plus no major injuries to have a full rotation. To Moore and NCSU’s credit they did both years. Can they extend that streak to 3 in a row? We shall see. But I am not going to bet against Moore again, lol.

but yes, this a a good to great team on paper and will obviously be well within the rankings. Just saying there is a small margin for error again.

 

[6string]

Sorry I had a typo , which I have since fixed. I meant to say that Pierre is ideal at the 4, but will have to play a bunch of 3 minutes unless at least one of NCSU’s perimeter freshmen come in ready to compete at an NCSU level. My best guess, based on their middle 100 ranking, is that they will not As true freshmen.

They just need more bodies at the 1-3 than they currently appear to have at the 4 and 5. Pirre is the most dynamic big player and thus the most likely to slide to the 3.

NCSU had entered the last two seasons in a row with multiple players at positions who were question marks that needed to immediately produce at an ACC level plus no major injuries to have a full rotation. To Moore and NCSU’s credit they did both years. Can they extend that streak to 3 in a row? We shall see. But I am not going to bet against Moore again, lol.

but yes, this a a good to great team on paper and will obviously be well within the rankings. Just saying there is a small margin for error again.

I agree they will be good and tough to play. It is difficult for me to see them as a top ten team at this point.

 

[Jriv23]

Duke is going to be difficult to play as well.

 

[3397char]

Pierre won't be playing the 3, she will be the starting 4 at State with Tilda at the 5. The starting 3 will either be Samuels or soph Devon Quigley who played well in her role as a freshman off the bench last year. Whoever doesn't start there is the first player off the bench. Other important depth pieces for State will be Awou who I expect to take a significant step forward in her second year. She has the size and athleticism to become a really high quality player in the ACC over the next three years. Maddie Cox will be another valuable front court player who can give quality minutes at the 4 and even the 5 if needed (likely not needed this year). Last but not least, watch for freshman Destiny Lunan to get minutes as a freshman at the 2G spot. She has a lot of talent and is really athletic. Not a great shooter from deep at this point, but can defend and be really good in transition. I will be surprised if State isn't pre-season top 10 after landing Pierre. That was the one glaring need for the roster. Should be a good game as always against UNC.

Based on the exhibition game, you were right on Pierre playing almost exclusively at the 4. I was wrong. she actually played the 5 some.

In my defense, I did not foresee State trotting out a 7 player rotation to start the season.

And that was with Pierre fouling out in only 21 minutes of play. Collier and Awou came in briefly in Q2 to rest Trygger and bench Pierre after she had 2 fouls.

In the 2nd half Collier logged 2 minutes and Awou and Cox did not play at all. When Trygger rested a little, Pierre usually played the 5. When Pierre fouled out with 8 minutes left, Cox, Awou and Collier did not play at all; Trygger got no more rest and NCSU went small ball the rest of the game (successfully).

Do you think this will be Wes's rotation all season? Is anyone hurt or limited as a precaution?

Collectively Cox, Collier and Awou played 10 minutes, logging no points, no rebounds, 2 fouls and a turnover. Trygger played 33 min and did well offensively with an efficient 15 points and 2 Off Reb. But she was outrebounded considerably by the Maryland bigs. Maryland was supposed to be a strong backcourt but weak and shallow in the post.

Not trying to drag State, that just beat a very good team in an exhibition game.

 

[mddocisa]

First of all, Maryland was without the services of two very good players. Bri McDaniel averaged 10.6 ppg and 2.1 rpg for Maryland last season. Kaylene Smikle is a transfer from Rutgers and averaged 17.9 ppg and 4.4 rpg last year.

Secondly, I think coach Moore would have played Maddie Cox more in place of Pierre when she fouled out. Unfortunately, Cox sprained her ankle and could not continue. Fortunately, Coach Moore discovered that small forwards Devyn Quigley and Qadence Samuels did play well together at the same time.

Maryland is a formidable team right now but could be even more when they have their full compliments. I think State will improve also once they learn to play together.

 

[SeaPinesHeel]

Based on the exhibition game, you were right on Pierre playing almost exclusively at the 4. I was wrong. she actually played the 5 some.

In my defense, I did not foresee State trotting out a 7 player rotation to start the season.

And that was with Pierre fouling out in only 21 minutes of play. Collier and Awou came in briefly in Q2 to rest Trygger and bench Pierre after she had 2 fouls.

In the 2nd half Collier logged 2 minutes and Awou and Cox did not play at all. When Trygger rested a little, Pierre usually played the 5. When Pierre fouled out with 8 minutes left, Cox, Awou and Collier did not play at all; Trygger got no more rest and NCSU went small ball the rest of the game (successfully).

Do you think this will be Wes's rotation all season? Is anyone hurt or limited as a precaution?

Collectively Cox, Collier and Awou played 10 minutes, logging no points, no rebounds, 2 fouls and a turnover. Trygger played 33 min and did well offensively with an efficient 15 points and 2 Off Reb. But she was outrebounded considerably by the Maryland bigs. Maryland was supposed to be a strong backcourt but weak and shallow in the post.

Not trying to drag State, that just beat a very good team in an exhibition game.

My understanding is that Cox left early with an injury, their coach referenced it in his postgame. Said she tweaked her ankle

 

[JPack71]

Based on the exhibition game, you were right on Pierre playing almost exclusively at the 4. I was wrong. she actually played the 5 some.

In my defense, I did not foresee State trotting out a 7 player rotation to start the season.

And that was with Pierre fouling out in only 21 minutes of play. Collier and Awou came in briefly in Q2 to rest Trygger and bench Pierre after she had 2 fouls.

In the 2nd half Collier logged 2 minutes and Awou and Cox did not play at all. When Trygger rested a little, Pierre usually played the 5. When Pierre fouled out with 8 minutes left, Cox, Awou and Collier did not play at all; Trygger got no more rest and NCSU went small ball the rest of the game (successfully).

Do you think this will be Wes's rotation all season? Is anyone hurt or limited as a precaution?

Collectively Cox, Collier and Awou played 10 minutes, logging no points, no rebounds, 2 fouls and a turnover. Trygger played 33 min and did well offensively with an efficient 15 points and 2 Off Reb. But she was outrebounded considerably by the Maryland bigs. Maryland was supposed to be a strong backcourt but weak and shallow in the post.

Not trying to drag State, that just beat a very good team in an exhibition game.

The rotation was affected by an injury to Cox (she's had ankle issues over her career) and Awou who hasn't been at full strength. You likely will see an 8 player rotation most nights IMO with the occasional 9th when needed due to foul problems. Awou is going to be the primary backup for Tilda when she is at full go. Pierre may get some minutes there against smaller teams from time to time.

Based on the exhibition game, you were right on Pierre playing almost exclusively at the 4. I was wrong. she actually played the 5 some.

In my defense, I did not foresee State trotting out a 7 player rotation to start the season.

And that was with Pierre fouling out in only 21 minutes of play. Collier and Awou came in briefly in Q2 to rest Trygger and bench Pierre after she had 2 fouls.

In the 2nd half Collier logged 2 minutes and Awou and Cox did not play at all. When Trygger rested a little, Pierre usually played the 5. When Pierre fouled out with 8 minutes left, Cox, Awou and Collier did not play at all; Trygger got no more rest and NCSU went small ball the rest of the game (successfully).

Do you think this will be Wes's rotation all season? Is anyone hurt or limited as a precaution?

Collectively Cox, Collier and Awou played 10 minutes, logging no points, no rebounds, 2 fouls and a turnover. Trygger played 33 min and did well offensively with an efficient 15 points and 2 Off Reb. But she was outrebounded considerably by the Maryland bigs. Maryland was supposed to be a strong backcourt but weak and shallow in the post.

Not trying to drag State, that just beat a very good team in an exhibition game.

The rotation was affected by an injury to Cox (she's had ankle issues over her career) and Awou who hasn't been at full strength. You likely will see an 8 player rotation most nights IMO with the occasional 9th when needed due to foul problems. Awou is going to be the primary backup for Tilda when she is at full go. Pierre may get some minutes there against smaller teams from time to time.

The thing that I was talking about at the 3 spot has played out just as I anticipated. Samuels has shown to be able to knock down jumpers from deep, but even when she isn't she brings size, length and athleticism on the defensive end that is disruptive. Quigley brings solid size, ability to stroke and a Madison Hayes like grit that is the glue type that every good roster needs.

 

[Jriv23]

Either way, we know NC State is going to be hard to beat along with Duke bottom line.

 

[SeaPinesHeel]

Either way, we know NC State is going to be hard to beat along with Duke bottom line.

LOL, no way. The Wuffies are going to crumble at the sight of our team, in their small gym. I cant wait to be there and see Coach B take down that sorry excuse for a team.