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Film Room: NC State Finds New Juice in UNC Win


NC State played a nearly complete game against UNC, defending generally well in the halfcourt, scoring in a variety of ways through different initiators, and finding counters to UNC's defensive scheme. Copeland controlling the game was not a surprise, but the Pack hit on interesting things in this one. It shot 44 twos to 20 threes, it second-most lopsided distribution of the season in that direction, and that was a product of taking what was given to it and maximizing it. Let's take a look.



Darrion the Creator Returns


Darrion Williams has been a good player for NC State. He's shot the ball at an elite level for a lot of the year from three, hitting over 40% at a pretty high volume. His comical 16/29 stretch against Syracuse, Wake Forest, and SMU helped State secure one of its best wins of the year at the end of a winning streak where he averaged over 22 points.


The part of his game that hasn't computed correctly for a lot of the season has been his expected role as an offensive hub. As a guy who can operate out of the post, handle the ball in pick and roll, and allow your offense to flow easily through progressions because of his versatility, his value is incredible. That role hasn't materialized for him, and the numbers align with this. Williams' three-point volume is up and his two-point volume is down. Despite the rate cut, his two-point shooting percentage is still down, and his assist rate is down from a year ago.


Against UNC, he looked like his old self. This was the most exciting part of this game to me. State found success clearing out for Williams and letting him attack switches or positive matchups, and he was 6/10 from two with two misses getting almost the entire way into the basket.

This is classic DW.


Simple down screen from Williams (1) for Able (3) to initiate the set. UNC switches Dixon on to Williams and Stevenson on to Able, creating the mismatch. State instantly clears it out for Williams to go at Dixon, and he takes him to the paint and scores with the baby hook.
Simple down screen from Williams (1) for Able (3) to initiate the set. UNC switches Dixon on to Williams and Stevenson on to Able, creating the mismatch. State instantly clears it out for Williams to go at Dixon, and he takes him to the paint and scores with the baby hook.
Here's Williams creating in a completely different way. State runs the zoom action for him. Copeland (11) sets the down screen for him into the DHO with Lubin. UNC plays a soft drop coverage. You'll see the UNC guard chase over the screen while the big sinks into the paint. The Tar Heels are trying to run Williams off the line while protecting the paint with the drop big. That's the essence of drop coverage, and the concession is usually the mid-range pull up or floater. So Williams hits the mid-range pull up. The diversity of his scoring ability is on display here.
Here's Williams creating in a completely different way. State runs the zoom action for him. Copeland (11) sets the down screen for him into the DHO with Lubin. UNC plays a soft drop coverage. You'll see the UNC guard chase over the screen while the big sinks into the paint. The Tar Heels are trying to run Williams off the line while protecting the paint with the drop big. That's the essence of drop coverage, and the concession is usually the mid-range pull up or floater. So Williams hits the mid-range pull up. The diversity of his scoring ability is on display here.

State runs its gaggle action for Williams here. Williams and Lubin will screen for McNeil, but instead of coming to the ball, Williams will basket cut between the two screens. Then, Lubin will screen for Williams. This is trying to get a three for Williams, but instead he calls off the flare screen from Lubin to isolate. You can even see Wade react and tell them to clear out. Check out the rest of the play below.
State runs its gaggle action for Williams here. Williams and Lubin will screen for McNeil, but instead of coming to the ball, Williams will basket cut between the two screens. Then, Lubin will screen for Williams. This is trying to get a three for Williams, but instead he calls off the flare screen from Lubin to isolate. You can even see Wade react and tell them to clear out. Check out the rest of the play below.
Williams takes Jayden Young to the paint and scores again with the baby hook. It's a cool moment of on-court leadership and confidence.
Williams takes Jayden Young to the paint and scores again with the baby hook. It's a cool moment of on-court leadership and confidence.

Williams didn't face a ton of doubles. UNC generally stayed out of rotation as much as it could, so the assist numbers weren't there, but that's purely a result of defensive scheme. He took the look he got and answered it. The senior scored 13 points in just 17 minutes and did not have a single turnover.



A Strong Defensive Showing


State was a long way from perfect against UNC, but it was good in the halfcourt. I didn't love the way it looked when the Pack was trying to hedge ball screens early in the game, but it got out of that pretty fast, after which it contained the ball well, got some timely deflections, and didn't have too many critical busts. It was bad in transition as it often is, but the halfcourt defense was encouraging.


UNC gets Holloman switched on to Zayden High, an obvious plus matchup in the post. State will double the post here and zone up the weakside, standard practice for the Pack when these mismatches happen. You can see Copeland and McNeil read the ball while Lubin doubles Zayden High. It's been an up-and-down experience this season, but this was a good result. Holloman forces the ball baseline into the double, High fires back to the point, and Copeland's length allows him to affect the passing lane. This possession ended with a late shot clock pull up because of the deflection.
UNC gets Holloman switched on to Zayden High, an obvious plus matchup in the post. State will double the post here and zone up the weakside, standard practice for the Pack when these mismatches happen. You can see Copeland and McNeil read the ball while Lubin doubles Zayden High. It's been an up-and-down experience this season, but this was a good result. Holloman forces the ball baseline into the double, High fires back to the point, and Copeland's length allows him to affect the passing lane. This possession ended with a late shot clock pull up because of the deflection.
UNC initiates a chin action from a down screen, putting three different screening actions into a about a two-second window. State's communication issues are definitely being tested here, but they handle this really well. UNC rejects the ball screen, but Lubin contains the ball well. They try to reinitiate the screen and Zayden High slips to the rim. Copeland isn't burned by the slip and makes the lob over the top difficult. McNeil is on time from the weakside and State gets a turnover.
UNC initiates a chin action from a down screen, putting three different screening actions into a about a two-second window. State's communication issues are definitely being tested here, but they handle this really well. UNC rejects the ball screen, but Lubin contains the ball well. They try to reinitiate the screen and Zayden High slips to the rim. Copeland isn't burned by the slip and makes the lob over the top difficult. McNeil is on time from the weakside and State gets a turnover.

Shooting Gravity Aids Nontraditional Scoring


UNC had a plan for Paul McNeil, and State did a good job countering it. The impact of McNeil's shooting gravity has been heavily documented, and his ability to shoot off a flare screen was pretty obviously keyed on by Hubert Davis' team. He still hit two, but UNC denied as many perimeter screens for him as it could and even his makes were heavily contested.


When teams aggressively deny McNeil the ball like UNC did, it opens up the backdoor cut.


State wants to run the flare screen for McNeil. Lubin gives Copeland the ball and then you'll see him set the flare screen for McNeil at the point. Dixon will step over Lubin and deny the screen while Zayden High plays drop coverage to protect the back cut. McNeil uses the screen denial against UNC with the back cut, Copeland throws an excellent pass, and McNeil finishes.
State wants to run the flare screen for McNeil. Lubin gives Copeland the ball and then you'll see him set the flare screen for McNeil at the point. Dixon will step over Lubin and deny the screen while Zayden High plays drop coverage to protect the back cut. McNeil uses the screen denial against UNC with the back cut, Copeland throws an excellent pass, and McNeil finishes.
Here you can again see how tight DIxon is on McNeil. Lubin's ability to handle the ball can open up keep actions out of the 5-out alignments, which is what you see above. The only help here is going to come off Able in the corner with the way UNC is guarding McNeil and Copeland. Able was 5/7 from three in this game, and you can bet that affected Trimble (7) here.
Here you can again see how tight DIxon is on McNeil. Lubin's ability to handle the ball can open up keep actions out of the 5-out alignments, which is what you see above. The only help here is going to come off Able in the corner with the way UNC is guarding McNeil and Copeland. Able was 5/7 from three in this game, and you can bet that affected Trimble (7) here.

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