NC State senior power forward Abdul-Malik Abu has missed six of the first 10 games of the season due to a preseason knee injury, but could be starting to turn the corner.
The depth in the post took a hit during the non-conference slate due to Abu’s absence, and sophomore power forward Darius Hicks suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice after appearing in four contests.
Abu had high hopes for his last year of college and appeared to be a perfect fit for the new style of play of head coach Kevin Keatts. He missed the first four games and came back to play three games in three days in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas. He wasn’t 100 percent, but he still came through with eight points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench to help NC State stun then No. 2-ranked Arizona 90-84 on Nov. 22.
Abu’s knee didn’t respond ideally to the three games and he took a little over two weeks off of game action, missing a pair of games. He returned to the court against Missouri-Kansas City, but was limited to nine minutes.
Keatts thinks the extra rest in December — the Wolfpack play three games between Dec. 1-to-Dec. 18 — has helped out Abu. He will take the court against North Carolina Greensboro on Saturday at PNC Arena.
“He has had really good practices,” Keatts said. “It’s a little bit different than the Bahamas trip because he is starting to get in better shape. He is starting to get better.”
The 6-foot-8, 240-pounder averaged 11.8 points and 7.0 rebounds in 28.5 minutes per game last year, and shot 52.9 percent from the field. He has chipped in 5.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in 15.8 minutes off the bench this season, and shooting 46.7 percent. The Wolfpack are looking forward to seeing the version of Abu who was dreaming of getting 100 dunks this season, but patience is needed for the time being.
“He is starting to get his groove back and his timing back,” Keatts said. “He is having more chemistry with his teammates.
“It’s going to be a game-time feel, depending on how he is playing and how he feels. I’ll look at him and trust what he is telling me.”
The NC State players have sympathy for what Abu has gone through, but are confident he’ll be ready to roll at some point this season. “Day-by-day, we have one of the best trainers in the country I believe,” Hunt said. “He is getting stronger and getting his confidence back. Once he gets that, I feel he’ll be back to where he was.”
Several NC State players know what it is like to sit and not play at times. Fifth-year seniors Hunt, Lennard Freeman and Allerik Freeman, plus redshirt junior Torin Dorn know the feeling of being in street clothes on the bench.
“It’s tough for anybody to go through that, especially your senior year,” Hunt said. “He has handled it well. Mentally, he’s back focused. He’s working out and is competing at practice. His energy at practice is great.”
Dorn said he’s seen some flashes of his old explosiveness during practice.
“He is coming along pretty good,” Dorn said. “He has handled it extremely well and has a positive attitude. He’s ready to get back on the court and is really anxious.”
The aforementioned extra time in month is partly due to the Wolfpack players going through final exams.
“We are still finishing up exams, so we took Sunday and Monday and kind of worked on ourselves, and then in the last couple of days, we’ve looked at some UNCG stuff,” Keatts said.
The Spartans are off to a 7-3 start under head coach Wes Miller, a former North Carolina guard. UNCG topped Keatts’ former program, North Carolina Wilmington, 71-58 on Wednesday night.
“They are playing very good basketball,” Keatts said. “Looking at the two ACC opponents, UVa was a 12-point game, and the Wake Forest game was a 5-6-point game.
“They are playing extremely well, especially on the defensive end. They are holding most of their opponents under 60 points. They are doing really good job of picking up three-quarter court and trapping a little bit.”
UNCG junior shooting guard Francis Alonso of Malaga, Spain, is as gifted an outside shooter as NC State will face this season.
The 6-3, 185-pounder is shooting 45.8 percent from three-point range, and has drained at least seven three-pointers in a game this season, not once, not twice, but three times this season.
Alonso went 8 of 10 on three-pointers for 32 points in a 79-66 win vs. Delaware on Nov. 20, and then showed his shooting translates well against an ACC opponent. He torched Wake Forest for 31 points and went 7 of 10 from beyond the arc in a 81-75 loss Nov. 24. He followed up with going 7 of 19 on three-pointers and 36 points in a 76-75 triple overtime win at Liberty on Dec. 2.
Alonso leads the team with 18.2 points per game and has been a feared shooter since his arrival for the Spartans.
“He is good and that kid makes shots, makes big shots and makes challenged shots,” Keatts said. “We have to do a great job of being there on the catch. He is one of those guys who is going to take the shots, whether he misses them or makes them. We have to do a great job of challenging those shots."
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