Louisville plays their second Atlantic Coast Conference game tonight against North Carolina State in Raleigh. Sportsbooks have opened with the Wolfpack as a 16.5 point favorite tonight. Let’s take a look what Louisville will be up against this evening.
North Carolina State’s offense has started the year well by scoring .981 points per possession, which ranks 50th in the nation. The Wolfpack look to score primarily in transition and through using pick and roll sets with the ball handler as the primary scoring target. Playing in transition can be common for most teams, but what is worrisome for the Cardinals is how efficient the Wolfpack are using these pick and roll sets.
When North Carolina State runs a pick and roll set with the ball handler as the primary scoring threat, then they score .917 points per possession, which ranks 35th in the nation in this type of play. Where does Louisville rank defensively against pick and roll sets when the ball handler is the primary scoring threat? The Cardinals rank second to last in the nation defending this type of play. This is not good news for Louisville.
Defensively, North Carolina State doesn’t struggle in many areas. The Wolfpack rank 110th in the nation allowing .837 points per possession. During their competition this year, particularly against the Kansas Jayhawks and the Miami Hurricanes, there is sufficient evidence to back up this statistic, even against ranked opponents.
Recently, the Wolfpack has struggled, especially over the last month, in their difficulty in defending pick and roll sets. Ironically, the team that runs it well offensively has had trouble defending this type of play. Louisville struggles to run pick and roll sets at times, but could exploit this weakness if the Cardinals could run this play well.
Louisville did not get any time this week to have quality practice before playing North Carolina State due to their game against Lipscomb Tuesday evening. The Cardinals hope to find the rhythm that they did against the Hilltoppers last week when they play tonight in Raleigh.
Fans hope to see some of the successes they witnessed against the Hilltoppers and the Rattlers.