The NC State front line was impacted well before the season even started due to the injury of senior post player Lennard Freeman and senior center BeeJay Anya entering the season at 344 pounds.
NC State has been crushed on the boards the last two games in losses against Miami (Fla.) and Florida State. The Hurricanes grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and the Seminoles had 21. The two opponents combined for 85 rebounds, with the Wolfpack grabbing just 46.
“Our defensive rebounding has probably hurt us more than anything in the last two games,” Gottfried said. “You have to be almost be perfect defensively to be able withstand those kind of issues rebounding.”
Part of the problem is struggling to rebound out of the zone defense, but head coach Mark Gottfried lamented Friday that having a healthy Freeman and an in-shape Anya would have helped NC State’s issues on defense and rebounding.
“Lennard is kind of that glue guy for a lot of different reasons,” Gottfried said. “He is older. I am glad that Lennard is getting the opportunity to completely heal his body, and that is what he needed more than anything.
“If you have had Lennard as a senior this year and BeeJay walked in at the beginning of the year in phenomenal shape as a senior, now you got two senior post players that are ready to be good players in this league. It didn’t work out that way.”
Anya started the season listed at 344 pounds, and that was eventually lowered to 320, but might not be entirely accurate by the middle of the season. The 6-foot-9 senior center, who has 242 career blocks, saw his role reduced for four games, and then he was suspended for the Florida State contest. Anya is back on the squad for Saturday road contest at Wake Forest.
“BeeJay is back and ready to go today,” Gottfried said. “We’ll see what happens as far as to how much he plays at Wake Forest. He’s back in the fold.”
Anya averaged 4.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in a career-high 23.4 minutes per game last year, and had 73 blocks. He has fallen to 3.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 13.4 minutes per contest, and has 32 blocks. His best game came in helping NC State rally for an overtime win over Tennessee State on Dec. 10. He had 12 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks.
NC State understand last spring that Freeman was most likely going to redshirt this season. The 6-9, 267-pounder, who played traveling team basketball with Anya on Team Takeover in high school, had surgery to help overcome a serious shin condition.
Freeman averaged 3.2 points and 5.0 rebounds last year while trying to come back from his first surgery. He had averaged 3.6 points and 5.6 rebounds his sophomore season, but Gottfried always credited him for doing the little things that lead to victories.
“Lennard is kind of that X-factor guy where the things he does doesn’t always show up in a stat sheet, but he finds a way to help you win,” Gottfried said.
Wake Forest star sophomore power forward John Collins will once again test the Wolfpack’s interior defense. Collins had 21 points and nine rebounds in the Demon Deacons’ 93-88 win Jan. 21.
“The big fellow is maybe one of the best big players in the country and he has developed,” Gottfried said. “They’ve been down in the past, but they’ve gotten older, added pieces in there and I think this is a really good Wake Forest team.”
Having Freeman redshirting and Anya in a reduced role has led to the Wolfpack’s five freshman to grow up faster than expected. The group might have hit rock bottom in the 95-71 loss to Florida State on Wednesday. Dennis Smith, Omer Yurtseven, Markell Johnson, Ted Kapita and Darius Hicks combined for just two points in the first half, courtesy of Yurtseven. They finished with 14 for the game — eight by Smith and six from Yurtseven.
“We have a lot of young players and that is what is difficult sometimes,” Gottfried said. “We got five freshmen and three sophomores. There aren’t a lot of guys that have been through the wars a ton.
“You have to stay positive because those guys are hunting sometimes. They are hunting for an answer. They haven’t been through the wars enough to learn at this level. It’s a big jump from high school to college basketball, especially at the ACC level.”
Gottfried knows it could be easy to fall into the trap of being negative with his young players, but he has emphasized positively this week as the key to overcome a 3-9 start in the ACC. He just has to find that magical elixir that the Wolfpack showed in wins over Virginia Tech and at Duke.
“I don’t think what young players need is for me to just beat them down every day, and be negative,” Gottfried said. “I don’t think that is the answer. Growing pains is part of the process. We are learning that the hard way, but I think good things are in store.”
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