Wolfpack Looking Forward to Playing With a Full Deck

A light schedule over the next two weeks will allow coach Kevin Keatts and his team work on chemistry and consistency

It took three games into the new season for the NC State basketball team to finally play a game with all of its players available.

According to coach Kevin Keatts, it might take another few games for all those players to remember what it's like to be on the court together.

"I think we’ve had so many combinations in the last couple of games that haven’t had a chance to work out together," Keatts said after Wednesday's 86-77 win against Florida International. "That being said, we’ve got to get some time where all of these will be able to play."

The Wolfpack (2-1, 0-1 ACC) has added two key players back into its rotation over the past two games -- with preseason All-ACC point guard Markell Johnson returning from injury against Detroit Mercy last Sunday and suspended forward D.J. Funderburk being reinstated Wednesday against FIU.

While their presence on the floor has has helped State bounce back from its opening night overtime loss to Georgia Tech, it's clear that the team still has work to do in order to become a more cohesive unit.

With only three games on the schedule over the next 12 days, all against lesser competition, Keatts and his players should have time to work out the kinks and start building chemistry between now and their next major test against Memphis on Thanksgiving Day.

The first of those games is Saturday afternoon at Reynolds Coliseum against St. Francis of New York.

"For the first time I am looking around in practice and we have 10 good players that can get after each other opposed to guys injured," Keatts said. "Two weeks ago I probably had the best eight-man practice schedule you could have and I am tired of that, so it’s good to have five on five."

In addition to Johnson and Funderburk, several other players -- including starters Jericole Hellems and Braxton Beverly -- were also sidelined by injuries leading up to the start of the season.

Now that the Wolfpack has a full deck with which to play, senior forward C.J. Bryce said that he and his teammates can now begin working on improvement rather than just holding down the fort until everyone gets back. 

“We are just glad to have everyone healthy and everybody playing on our roster," Bryce said. "I feel like we got better (against FIU. I’m looking forward to practicing and getting ready for our next game.”

Among the most visible improvements against FIU was State's work on the glass.

After giving up the winning points against Georgia Tech on a second chance opportunity and getting outrebounded by Detroit Mercy, the Wolfpack finished with a 38-31 rebounding advantage in Funderburk's return Wednesday.

State's 18 offensive rebounds were only one fewer than it had recorded in its first two games combined.

The other immediate impact that can be directly tied to the addition of the 6-foot-10 Funderburk to the mix is the positive effect it had on fellow big man Manny Bates. Despite playing a season-low 18 1/2 minutes, Bates finished the FIU game with season highs in both points (10) and rebounds (six) while going 5 of 6 from the floor.

Things only figure to get better once Johnson -- who is just 4 of 22 from the floor in two games (2 of 13 from 3-point range -- regains his shooting touch.

“You notice through our games that no one on our team is going to put up 30 points a game," Funderburk said. "The point spread is kind of equal throughout everybody. Everybody can go and get a bucket. As long as we keep playing together and keep our composure down the stretch, we’ll be alright."

Once everyone finds their rhythm and gets on the same page, Bryce likes the potential of this team.

"I feel like that will come," he said. "I feel like (Wednesday) we did a great job of jelling together. No pressure on anybody. Everybody will come along at their own pace and we'll be a good team this year."