Wolfpack Needs 'Good Markell' to Be Its Best
There are any number of statistics that can be used to document and explain NC State's inconsistency through the first half of the ACC basketball schedule this season.
None of them, however, is as telling than one involving Markell Johnson.
It's not his scoring, which has fluctuated greatly recently, or his perimeter shooting touch, which has been off since his return from an ankle injury early in the season.
Rather, it's the way he's handled the ball in his duties as the Wolfpack's point guard.
It's not an exaggeration to say that as Johnson goes, so goes State.
Consider that that Wolfpack is 9-1 this season in games in which Johnson has turned the ball over fewer than three times. By contast, it is only 5-5 when he commits three or more.
It's a situation coach that has been a frequent source of frustration for coach Kevin Keatts.
'He just has to be consistent," Keatts said on his radio show. "Wolfpack Weekly," on Tuesday. "As a point guard, you don't want him turning the ball over. It's not good for him, that's not good for our team.
"We are a better team not when he scores the ball, but when he's got ball security, he passes the ball and runs the show."
Johnson has had three games this season in which he's posted double-digit assists and he ranks among the ACC leaders at 6.5 per game. But he's also averaging 3.2 turnovers.
More damaging than the raw numbers, is the type of turnovers his point guard is committing.
"A lot of his turnovers are live ball turnovers," Keatts said, adding that those are the kind that often result in fastbreak opportunities and easy baskets for the other team.
Part of the problem might be that Johnson is trying too hard to live up the expectations placed upon him when he was picked to the preseason All-ACC second team.
Keatts has tried any number of methods in an effort to bring out the "Good Markell" more often than the bad, ranging from film study to a heart-to-heart talk on tarmac of RDU airport.
He even called Johnson out publicly after a Jan. 5 loss to Clemson, saying that he needed to be more of a leader.
It was criticism the 6-foot-1 senior took to heart.
"Coach motivates me every day, whether it's in practice or when we're talking," Johnson said recently. "He's a motivator. He's always looking out for me and my best interest, so whatever he says, I take it to heart and try to work on it."
A case in point is the way Johnson responded to Keatts' post-Clemson criticism, scoring a career-high 27 points to lead the Wolfpack to a come-from-behind win against Notre Dame.
While State needed every one of those points on that particular night, Keatts said that it's more important for Johnson find a balance between his dual roles as a scorer and facilitator the way he did in his 11-point, 10-assist, 10-rebound effort against The Citadel on Dec. 22 -- only the fourth triple-double in school history that has happened.
"I need him to be the senior I know he can be, because he's had some great nights where he's been really, really good in ball security and he's had some nights where I thought he was a little careless with the basketball."
Keatts said that his team's chances at finishing strong and getting back to the NCAA tournament after missing out a year ago will hinge largely on Johnson's ability to have more good nights than bad over the final 10 games of the regular season.
"A point guard is supposed to know everybody, how to try to get everybody involved and everybody to play well," he said. "That's the job and then, of course, when our team needs a basket, he has the ability to go score. That's what you've got to do as a leader."
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