The Tar Heels are currently preparing to face off against NC State tomorrow night in the Lenovo Center. It will be the lone game between the two teams in the regular season, which feels wrong on so many levels. There is likely a non-zero amount of UNC fans that hate State enough to where they’re ok facing off against them once a season, but something about it just feels unnatural. Gotta love this new version of the ACC, right?
Tomorrow night’s game will likely be a good one for college basketball
fans, but a bit stressful for Carolina fans. Let’s talk about why that is and a couple of other things to watch during the game between these two foes.
Will we see Henri Veesaar?
Things are already pretty dark without Caleb Wilson, but we were all stunned to find out that Henri Veesaar was out against Pitt. The good news is that Jarin Stevenson and Zayden High stepped up big time, but Veesaar will likely be needed against the Wolfpack. On one hand, High and Stevenson should be more than capable of dealing with Ven-Allen Lubin. On another hand, Veesaar returning would take a lot of doubt out of that equation.
Here’s the thing: it was great to see so many players stepping up against the Panthers, and it’s very possible that they will be able to hold their own against the Wolfpack. The problem, though, is that State is a much better team than Pitt. Do with that what you will, but ultimately it shouldn’t be expected that this game will be easy. Veesaar’s return would be huge, but if he can’t go tomorrow night, we’ll just have to hope that his teammates have enough left in the tank to survive without him.
Dealing with Darrion Williams
NC State’s star player Darrion Williams has had an interesting season. He has been pretty hot and cold as far as how much production he has given the Wolfpack, but he isn’t that far under his numbers from last season. Right now he is averaging 14.2 points per game and is shooting 40.3% from the three-point line. He had a sub-optimal outing against Miami from the perimeter, though, only knocking down one of his five three-point attempts.
Still, Hubert Davis will have to find a way to keep Williams from getting hot. Considering the fact that the team switches on defense, it’s not as simple as saying Seth Trimble needs to guard him all night. Everyone on the floor will have to stay in his face all night and keep him from getting as many touches as they will likely want him to get. It’ll be a tough task, especially with Quadir Copeland floating around to pick up any scraps Williams leaves behind. But ultimately keeping these two from going off will be the difference-maker in this game.
Will Wade’s first bout against UNC
NC State head coach Will Wade was quick to step into the fray when he was hired to take Kevin Keatt’s spot. He talked a lot of junk, used the Ven-Allen Lubin situation to pop shots at UNC, and has embraced the kind of attitude State fans want from him. All of that talking will need to be backed up with a win, though, and having his first game against the Tar Heels play out in the Lenovo Center isn’t a bad deal.
Perhaps the big question here, though, is whether or not Wade knows what he’s getting himself into. That isn’t to say that I think that he isn’t prepared for the whole UNC thing — in fact, he may be the most prepared Wolfpack head coach that I’ve personally seen. But what does that actually mean? So many coaches have had such a bad time dealing with UNC. Things have looked pretty decent for NC State so far, but does that all fall apart Tuesday, or does Wade have what it takes to have Wolfpack fans singing his praises from the mountaintops? There’s a decent chance that he catches a break with Caleb Wilson being out, but it’s just as likely that he falls on his face.
Here’s a little final food for thought: in the last 20 years, NC State is 7-33 against UNC. Only one of those head coaches won more than two games, and that guy was Kevin Keatts with four wins. The stakes are pretty high for Wade here. Let’s see how he handles it.
