Wiederer: ‘State Doesn’t Need Wall’

Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer has an intriguing must-read column regarding the latest GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational. Even if you are not interested in prep sports or college recruiting, take the time to read Dan’s impressions of incoming State and UNC prospects.   Regarding Lorenzo Brown and John Wall:

“Sure, it’d be nice to snag the Class of 2009’s crown jewel. But the Wolfpack already has its game-changing point guard on the way in Lorenzo Brown, a senior at Centennial High School in Georgia.

“I never have to worry about Lorenzo, but I challenge him,” said Centennial coach Allen Whiteheart. “I’ve coached him in countless big games and he has always brought his A-game every time a big game comes. It started from the very beginning. He had the first triple-double in our school’s history as a freshman. He’s just a big-game player and a phenomenal teammate.”

That’s an interesting point of view.  One alternative take might be for Wall to have his year in a Wolfpack uniform with Brown as his understudy, which leaves one to wonder where Farnold Degand, the incumbent starter might fit in.  Or whether there could be another chemistry problem on the horizon.

A bonus impression Wiederer gives is his take on John Wall’s current team-mate, C.J. Leslie:

Forget J.J. Hickson. C.J. Leslie may wind up being the most dynamic post recruit of the Sidney Lowe era.

Granted that Hickson was only in a Wolfpack uniform for one season, but that’s a pretty lofty comparison.  Considering that this may be Brandon Costner’s final year, a ready-to-go Leslie might be a must, not a luxury.

09-10 Basketball Basketball Recruiting General

101 Responses to Wiederer: ‘State Doesn’t Need Wall’

  1. packalum44 01/06/2009 at 9:04 AM #

    Wall and Lorenzo backcourt would be fantastic.

  2. Packster 01/06/2009 at 9:22 AM #

    These are the kinds of things that give some hope for Sid and his crew.

  3. howlie 01/06/2009 at 9:39 AM #

    How come ‘injury challenges’ only come to the part of the team that has no ‘chemistry challenges?’ And why is it that the part of the team that has more than enough players at that position has no injuries?

    In that regard, let’s get all we can in every department so we’ll be done with injuries… 🙂

  4. choppack1 01/06/2009 at 9:39 AM #

    Very good news. We need a guard who can play both spots – and it sounds like he can – and more importantly – he plays them well.

  5. Noah 01/06/2009 at 9:46 AM #

    I read that not as, “State doesn’t need Wall” but as “Dont burn down the house if they don’t get him because they already have a good player in Brown.”

    If my problem with Lowe was that he hadn’t amassed enough talent, I would be excited about the future.

  6. BJD95 01/06/2009 at 9:51 AM #

    Let’s hope he’s right on all counts – but if Brown plays PG, who the hell plays SG next year? Kind of like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

  7. Trip 01/06/2009 at 9:54 AM #

    Fergy will still be around, and athletic ability be damned, he plays SG well enough. We also have Scott Wood coming in for SG.

  8. Ed89 01/06/2009 at 9:59 AM #

    Brown is really a 2 guard. He can play the point, but he’s better suited at the 2. A backcourt of him and Wall would be nice, as I think Brown even mentioned that in an interview. However, I think the bigger priority is to get either Favors or Cousins, as we’ll definitely need another 4/5. I think what you’re seeing with the current coaching staff is that they would really like to have two guys on the floor that can handle the point. I think the line-up with both Farnold and Mays at the same time will continue to be used more often.

  9. RickJ 01/06/2009 at 9:59 AM #

    “N.C. State doesn’t need John Wall”

    Duke & UNC can line up McDonald’s All Americans two deep and nobody ever mentions they don’t need the next great player they are recruiting. This reminds me of the comments concerning Wilson & Glennon – as if it is some kind of abomination that NC State should have 2 quality QB’s at the same time.

    The problem is having zero PG’s and QB’s, not two. Wilson was hurt in three games he played this year and while Lo Brown should qualify, this is not a slam dunk issue.

  10. BJD95 01/06/2009 at 10:02 AM #

    I see Scott Wood as our starting SF next year, based on reports of his improving stock. Perhaps there is just a general four guard rotation involving Brown, Degand, Mays, and Fergie.

    Still, if Brown is a “B” caliber PG and an “A” caliber off guard, then I would play him where he’s most comfortable and productive.

    The good news is that we should have much better secondary ballhandlers at SG and SF, regardless of the exact starting alignment.

    Noah – increasing talent is “a” problem with Lowe, but we don’t know if its “the” problem yet. We’ll find out soon enough. Since we’ve got no other option, might as well keep an open mind.

  11. Rick 01/06/2009 at 10:04 AM #

    I have seen both play and I prefer Brown. He has a better mind for the game and is close athletically. However both would give us a very good backcourt. Tall and athletic.

    Both Wall and Leslie are suffering from bad coaching. They do not play fundamental basketball. They both go for the superstar play instead of the right play. However they are both physical freaks. Speed and jumping ability out of this world.

  12. SEAT.5.F.2 01/06/2009 at 10:17 AM #

    Whoever is the best ball defender is that one we need.

    Degand is the only G on campus that could once say he could man up on D with practically anyone. My guess is that he took great pride during his RS year trying to shut down the two ISU teamates who were pretty talented.

    His knee has not allowed him to get back there and I really don’t blame him if he never pushes it to the limit. Anyone who has tried to earnestly play the game knows that playing hard defense is what gets you truly sore. You don’t control the diretion of the action-you react to it- that is much harder on muscles and tendons. Degand is in a hard place know and it’s only going to get tougher – ACC PG’s are not slack.

    If Wall is a better on ball defender then Brown- which is what seems the consensus- then YES, we have to get him. End of discussion.

  13. wufpup76 01/06/2009 at 10:21 AM #

    Wiederer certainly is high on Brown and Leslie … let’s hope they glow when they get here

    Very interested to see what Scott Wood brings to the table as well

    C’mon Sidney and crew, give us something to at least be positive about this season other than just potential recruiting news

  14. Sweet jumper 01/06/2009 at 10:25 AM #

    If Sid can bring in Wall and Favors/Cousins with the guys who have already committed, we may be revisiting the Fab Five Michigan class.

  15. choppack1 01/06/2009 at 10:30 AM #

    Just curious – on another thread where I was worried about our lack of big men, I started worrying about our lack of 2 Guards and SFs. This begs the question –

    Why has CJ Williams gone from starting to not seeing any game time? Do we ever expect him to see the floor again in any kind of meaningful action? Same w/ Thomas – I had written him off because of the severity of his injury – but he did get some minutes earlier – is he another guy to be written off as well?

  16. Ed89 01/06/2009 at 10:31 AM #

    I think you’ll see a huge difference in both Degand and Mays between now and late February. Degand is coming back from a serious injury, and still isn’t there yet, and Mays is a Freshman. He’s coming around, and will improve alot in the coming month. He’s got alot of upside, and seems to run the offense well. He doesn’t blow by you, but neither did Corch and/or Sidney. He CAN be a very good, effective PG. That being said, Brown is a BIG recruit, and coupling him with Wall would be HUGE.

  17. Noah 01/06/2009 at 10:33 AM #

    Noah – increasing talent is “a” problem with Lowe, but we don’t know if its “the” problem yet. We’ll find out soon enough. Since we’ve got no other option, might as well keep an open mind.

    I’m working on a Mazlow’s hierachy-of-needs type of evaluation. When they plane is plunging to it’s doom, you don’t worry about the fact that the drink cart got overturned.

  18. pakfanistan 01/06/2009 at 10:50 AM #

    Noah, then what is the first problem?

    In another thread, you said it was allocation of scholarships to non ACC caliber players…so, what’s problem 1A now?

  19. burnbarn 01/06/2009 at 10:53 AM #

    Chop,

    I think Williams was getting abused on D and it takes awhile to learn how to play D at this level. I think Williams is a player we will all love….in the future.

    I love all the talent we have coming in in 2009 and 2010, but those guys while very talented, will be inexperienced and we will be a very up and down team probably until 2011. This will be an improvement on being mostly down.

    Noah,
    I hear your comments, but we really have little choice but to wait at this point and hope this infusion of talent coupled with a more experienced coach will overcome this quagimire we find ourselves in as fans.

  20. Big Worm 01/06/2009 at 11:10 AM #

    Lack of talent at PG is clearly our biggest problem. It’s a non-starter. We simply cannot be a good team with the players we have at guard right now.

    Talent disparity between opposing players has a far, far greater impact on the game outcome than does talent disparity between opposing coaches. Our guard situation is atrocious – we don’t have a single guard on our roster that should be getting more than five minutes a game for a quality ACC program, and at least a couple that shouldn’t be playing in the ACC.

    You put Brown and Wood, and possibly John Wall, on this team and it immediately becomes an upper-eschelon ACC team. You add Favors to the mix and all of a sudden we’re ACC contenders, whether Sid, Herb or Les Robinson are pacing the sidelines.

    No one has ever accused Roy Williams of being a great X’s and O’s guy. He clealy struggles keeping his (extraordinarily talented) teams motivated and focused. His teams don’t play a lick of defense. How is he widely viewed as one of the better coaches of all time? He gets the players, and overwhelms other teams with talent.

    Did Steve Spurrier suddenly become a bad coach when he went to South Carolina? The truth lies somewhere in the middle – he’s probably not an awful coach, but he’s not a great X’s and O’s guy either – like Roy, he simply overwhelmed opposing teams with talent at Florida. It’s easy to look like a great coach when you’ve got the best players.

    College sports is about recruiting better players than your opponents to create an uneven playing field. This is distinctly unlike the NFL where there is extreme player personnel talent parity amongst teams and coaching acuity becomes so valuable.

    You put Sid Lowe on UNC’s or Duke’s bench and those teams are still top-5 teams. You put Roy or Kerzewski on our bench and we still are not winning more than six or seven conference games, if we are incredibly lucky. Sid’s problem isn’t his coaching. It’s his roster.

  21. ChiefJoJo 01/06/2009 at 11:25 AM #

    LOL @ State doesn’t need Wall. Does State need a better basketball program?

    Sorry, Lo Brown might end up being a very good PG, but I’ll take my chances with us getting Wall.

    BTW, can we take Wall & Favors in this class? I didn’t think we had the scholarships available.

    “No one has ever accused Roy Williams of being a great X’s and O’s guy. He clealy struggles keeping his (extraordinarily talented) teams motivated and focused. His teams don’t play a lick of defense.”

    I love NC State, but you can’t be serious. Say what you want about his teams underachieving–I won’t argue with that. But Roy has always coached an agressive 1/2 court man2man defense, and if you can’t see that then you are not facing reality.

  22. primacyone 01/06/2009 at 11:43 AM #

    I guess it is a really good thing we didn’t hire Oliver Purnell 5-6 years ago.

    You guys would have fired him 2 years ago.

  23. JeremyH 01/06/2009 at 11:46 AM #

    we get Wall and Favors, and they waits for Leslie and Harrow….

    … and we win the 2010 NCAAs

  24. Six Pack 01/06/2009 at 11:57 AM #

    I know someone who spoke with a well regarded former player from one of the Pack’s National Championship teams about Sidney. His opinion is probably the same as many of yours. He said that Sid is an unbelievable recruiter, but he is still learning how to situational coach. I hope Brown, Wood, and Lorenzo prove the first part to be true!

  25. Big Worm 01/06/2009 at 12:35 PM #

    “…Roy has always coached an agressive 1/2 court man2man defense, and if you can’t see that then you are not facing reality.”

    He may coach it, but they’re just not that good at it, or at a minimum, they are far, far worse at playing defense than playing offense. The tempo of their games has something to do with their inability to prevent opponents from scoring points, but Duke often plays at a comparable tempo and consitently holds opponents’ scoring in check much better than UNC.

    This season UNC is 11th in the conference in scoring defense. Duke is 1st. And it’s not like Duke isn’t getting up and down the floor -they’re third in the conference in scoring.

    In the six years since Roy arrived, UNC has averaged finishing eleventh in the league in scoring defense, while Duke’s scoring defense average is tops in the league.

    You and Roy can tout UNC’s defense all you want, but the reality with them is that they simply try to outscore their opponent, and are typically so talented offensively that that strategy works just fine.

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