Preparation is key for any team to be successful. It’s imperative a team knows the opposing star players and limit their chances to affect the game. College basketball games are often won by the team which limits the opposing top scorer and their scoring chances. So how does a team prepare to face an opponent whose top five scorers average within .7 points of each other?
N.C . State’s men’s opponents are challenged with this problem every game. The team is fortunate enough to have one of the most balanced offenses not only in the ACC, but in men’s Division I basketball.
The team has five different players averaging 12.2 to 12.9 points per game. Among these players are Lorenzo Brown (12.9 pts /gm), CJ Leslie (12.8 pts /gm), Scott Wood (12.7 pts /gm), CJ Williams (12.2 pts /gm), and Richard Howell (12.2 pts /gm).
The points aren’t just coming from one section of the floor either. Two of the top five scorers, Leslie and Howell, collect most of their points down low in the paint. Teams can try and help out defensively down low, which leaves more room for shooters like Williams, Wood and Brown to hit open jump shots or create room to drive to the basket. The threat of scoring from every angle only opens up scoring opportunities.
“With five guys averaging 12 points per game, it creates opportunities,” Williams said. “You have different guys scoring different ways. I’m a mid range shooter, Scott is a 3-point shooter, Zo is penetration, and CJ and Rich are near the basket. The floor opens up and creates more opportunities.”
This poses another challenge to opposing teams: If they shut down one player or section of the court State has the ability to score with other players any where on the court. If opponents have to double team a big player down low, such as Leslie or Howell, then often times the mid range shot and three point shots are left uncontested.
“Teams have to respect Zo’s ability to drive plus mine and Scott’s jump shot,” Williams said. “So now that gives everyone else more room on the court to create opportunities.”
Wood and CJ Williams’ jump shots are something teams have to step out and defend. The sharp-shooting duo is shooting 47% and 52% respectively from the floor. Wood also leads the team in 3-point shooting with 45 made 3-pointers at 43%. When teams step out to defend mid range and long-range shots, Brown has more space to penetrate, and Leslie and Howell have more room to work down low.
“The type of threat Scott poses deep and Lorenzo has driving really creates a lot of room down low,” says Howell. “Not only does he create a threat dribbling but he has exceptional vision but when he’s dribbling he sees everything on the court and that’s something we definitely need.”
N.C . State’s strength lies in its ability to score from every angle. The team does not rely heavily on one player to create and score night after night. Instead the team focuses on a more balanced style of play that causes nightmares for many defenses.
“We don’t have a type of person that has to go out and get 20 30 plus every night just for us to stay close in a ball game,” says Howell. “We are the type of team that one of us can get 10 one night or the next or we can all get 10 like we’ve been doing as of late.”
This balanced attack on offense has the Wolfpack up to 13 wins already this year, two shy of its wins from last year.
