DALLAS — DJ Burns Jr. experienced a rare moment inside American Airlines Center Saturday afternoon when there were no lights or cameras rolling. The North Carolina State center was asked by reporters how he prefers to be defended: single coverage or double teams?
“I prefer winning,” Burns said. “So no matter how much you come at me, I'm going to do whatever it takes to win. It doesn't matter if it's a pass or a score. I don't care if I don't get any touches at all. That we win. I care because if we win, everyone will pay attention.”
When the only tape recorder on the table in front of him was turned off, Burns was asked again, “What do you do?” Really prefer?
“I mean, it's-” Burns said. “Even after all those grades, no one knew my name until I started winning.” He paused to hear rapper Burns give his take on this incredibly puzzling North Carolina State breakthrough. summarized in the following manner. That's why I decided to become a winner. ”
What Barnes wants, Barnes gets.
On Sunday afternoon, the nation's new favorite went one-on-one against Duke, but it turned out to be the wrong decision. Barnes scored 29 points (21 after halftime) to lead the Blue Devils in a 76-64 victory, giving America what it wanted: a Dancing Bear in the Final Four against the Purdue giants.
The 11th-seeded Wolfpack, who are on a nine-game winning streak, have played more games in three weeks than they have since the calendar flipped to 2024 until the end of the regular season. To be honest, no one expected this to happen. “No way,” said her mother, Takera, as she watched her son celebrate on stage. “I couldn't imagine it.”
Her son and his well-traveled teammates will forever be part of March legend, no matter what happens from here. Their performance is more improbable than just about any team, including the Wolfpack's 1983 championship, a team that was ranked in the preseason and had at least a winning record in ACC play. This guy had to win five games in five days in the ACC Tournament. The game was caught at halftime in the ACC tournament opener against Louisville. Louisville! — a team whose coach was fired at the exact moment the buzzer sounded. And none of that would have been possible had Virginia's Isaac McKneely not missed the front line of a one-on-one with 5.3 seconds left in the ACC semifinals, giving Michael O'Connell a chance to force overtime with a 25-foot bank shot. Ta. -in 3 The buzzer sounds.
Thank the basketball heavens. Because most of the basketball watching world didn't know about Barnes until the Wolfpack decided to transform into this generation's Danny Manning and the Miracles. (It's time to come up with a nickname for this group.)
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'He's like a polar bear and a ballerina': The incomparable DJ Burns leads NC State
SparkNotes version of how the unthinkable happened: Barnes decided to start dominating, the Wolfpack started guarding, and that was it. A monster released.
Tactically, NC State's coaches decided to make some minor adjustments to their defense before the ACC Tournament. Their pick-up point was close to the 3-point line and not too far away, so opposing guards didn't have as long a runway to attack Barnes, who was constantly falling back in drop coverage.
The Wolfpack has also gotten very good at flipping switches to get Barnes back in the paint. It's more a question of chemistry than anything else. And considering the Wolfpack brought in eight new players last offseason (seven transfers and one freshman), it's no wonder it took so long. The idea was to build around Barnes, who was an unconventional fit when the Wolfpack scouted him as a graduate student out of Winthrop two years ago.
Burns began his career at Tennessee, redshirting as a freshman before leaving and landing at Winthrop, where he was named Big South Player of the Year in his third year. He averaged 15 points and shot 62.6 percent from the field while playing 20.9 minutes per game. . He was one of the most talented scorers in the transfer portal, but his size limited him from playing for long periods of time. The Wolfpack decided to take a chance.
“We felt like we couldn't pass up a player who could provide a presence in the low post,” assistant coach Kareem Richardson said. “I knew he wasn't like a normal big man for Coach (Kevin) Keatts. I wasn't going to run the rim or dunk off a ball screen, but to Coach's credit, Let me tell you, he changed his style a little bit.”
The original plan a year ago was to have Burns come off the bench as a microwave scorer, or changeup, when star players Terquvion Smith and Jarkel Joiner were benched. It was an NBA-type approach with Barnes headlining the second unit.
Dusan Mahorcic, who transferred from Utah, started at center. However, Mahorsic dislocated his right patellar tendon in the 10th game of the season, forcing Barnes to start. He started the next five games, came off the bench for the next three games, and then returned to the starting lineup for the remainder of the season. In a game at Wake Forest in late January, the Wolfpack decided to pass him on. He scored 31 points on 26 shots in a 79-77 win, which boded well for the season.
Keatts built the roster around Barnes and former Virginia wing Casey Morsell, with the vision that Barnes would be the focal point of the offense. Despite a good start, January was shaky. After scoring 10 points on 14 shots against Syracuse on Jan. 27 and coming off the bench that night in the loss, Richardson led a substantial intervention to recruit Barnes. Get your body in shape and your mind in the right place.
The Wolfpack lost their final four games of the regular season, and Barnes struggled in three of them (one goose egg, 15 total points in two others), but his most dominant performance of the season came in a home loss to Duke. showed a great performance. The Blue Devils never sent a double team and he scored 27 points.
Since the start of the ACC tournament, he has scored in double figures in every game except the Sweet 16, where Marquette was double-teamed and had a career-high seven assists. difference?
“I decided I didn't care about getting fouled,” Burns said. “And I'm just going to make things happen.”
The attention he brought started to help his teammates moving forward as well. O'Connell, who averaged 4.4 points during the regular season, is averaging 10.2 points during the nine-game winning streak. Mohamed Diarra only scored in double digits in back-to-back games once during the regular season, but he has become an elite rim protector, scoring in double digits in five of the six games leading up to Sunday. And Burns' promotion doesn't take anything away from DJ Horn, the team's leading scorer.
“DJ Burns’ energy just flows through our team,” Keatts said.
DJ Burns Jr. and his teammates celebrate making it to the Final Four. (Tim Heitman/USA Today)
The Wolfpack also stopped making careless mistakes that led to losses. They played well this season, minimizing turnovers and taking good shots. Even during a four-game losing streak leading up to the postseason, coaches remained optimistic. The offense was recovering and there was some effort. They were just having a hard time stopping.
That's why everyone on the Wolfpack side was so optimistic at halftime Sunday when Duke led 27-21. They only turned the ball over twice, got the ball on target, and Barnes only played eight minutes due to two fouls. Before the coaches entered the locker room, players inside could be heard saying, “We're fine.” we're going to win this game. ”
“I don't think there was a moment when I thought we were going to lose the game,” Burns said. “The energy that the coaches came in at halftime was also completely different than what we expected.”
What?
“He was just happy. We were losing the game, but he didn't get yelled at.”
Keats's message: “You guys are playing good defense. Everybody go out there and do it again and win this game.”
Barnes also realized that Duke intended to stick to the game plan of not doubling up, saying, “Honestly, that would be a terrible mistake.” “We decided to take advantage of that.”
The Wolfpack decided to start the second half with a mid-post touch from Barnes, but Barnes backed Kyle Filipovski, but Filipovski felt a flutter in his right shoulder, so he spun in the opposite direction and put the ball in. . A few minutes later, Barnes got the ball. At the same spot, Filipovski stayed right behind him and landed a left hook. Well, it's actually not as hooky as a lofted flip.
Time and time again, he outmaneuvered Filipovski and Ryan Young, hit unconventional shots, put his shoulder against his opponent's chest and lifted the ball out of reach of his opponent, or when his opponent tried to put his body on the line. Sometimes he would spin and pirouette into space.
Richardson said, “His touch is the best I've ever encountered.” Just hop, hop, hop, and go in. I've been playing college basketball for over 25 years and I've never seen a player like him. ”
Meanwhile, Duke tried to get Barnes involved in as many on-ball and off-ball screens as possible. However, that backfired, as the Blue Devils lost their rhythm and the Wolfpack shortened the floor, unable to race against Barnes as much as they had hoped.
Duke almost outscored itself in the second half after Barnes spun around the baseline around Mark Mitchell and sent a floater over Sean Stewart with 4:19 left. Duke had 17, Barnes had 15, and the Wolfpack had 14.
In the final minutes of the game, Barnes played to the crowd, skipping to the bench every time Keatts was replaced by a teammate who chest-bumped the defense, knocking a poor junior guard Breon Pass off his feet and into a chair. Even.
He then danced on stage as the North Carolina State faithful chanted the team's new rallying cry: “Why not us?” — and threw his Triple XL South Region Championship T-shirt to his cousin. His parents watched from afar and filmed him cutting off the net and pinching himself, realizing that this was really happening.
“This is one of the proudest moments of my life,” said his father, Dwight. “Everything he's been through, his journey, for this moment that's happening today, that's the culmination. It's not the culmination, so I'll say it again. There's more to come.”
Burns gave a preview and review before leaving the arena, holding court in front of reporters and essentially performing a comedy routine.
Regarding his various skills, he says: I'm not going to give up all the sources. ”
As for when this starts, say, “What time is it? (It was 7:30 PM Central time.) 12-14 hours. Then I get up and go to the gym in the morning.”
As for why he didn't wear a championship T-shirt like the other players, “I didn't want it to get dirty before I put it on tomorrow.”
Keats then appeared and joined the media scrum.
Kevin Keatts, North Carolina State basketball player, I have a few questions for you. How do you feel about your coach throwing the ball to you 19 times in 28 minutes?
“Hopefully we can keep that spirit going next week,” Burns said with a toothy grin.
What does he expect from Purdue star Zach Eady, who awaits his next game?
“It was a good match. I don't talk about it much.”
We will be happy to serve you. Because we all know that eventually he's going to have something to say.
(Top photo: Lance King/Getty Images)
