With NC State men’s basketball struggling in the middle part of its season, there has been a common theme stressed by head coach Kevin Keatts: guard play. Whether its senior Braxton Beverly or two of the freshmen guards, that position group needs to be more effective and efficient, but which players should get more playing time?

Case for freshmen guards

Wade Bowman, Correspondent

NC State fell below .500 for the first time this season on Saturday following a brutal 53-69 loss to Duke. The Pack offense was mediocre at best in this one, as has been the case for much of the season so far. The expectations for this Wolfpack squad were not astronomically high coming into the season, but it is certain the team could be performing at a much higher level. 

The blame for the poor performance of this team obviously cannot be put on one person, but I do believe that senior guard Braxton Beverly is a big part of the problem. I would have to agree that Beverly has contributed more than what was expected of him when he came to NC State, and his accomplishments should be appreciated by Wolfpack faithfuls. However, his performance this year has not been near good enough to justify such a large minutes share from Keatts and the coaching staff.

Beverly is averaging 25.3 minutes per game in the 16 games (14 starts) he has played in so far this year. While playing in over half of the minutes in those games, he has only averaged 6.1 points, 2.6 assists, 1.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. 

NC State desperately lacks deep threats, allowing teams to load the paint on the Wolfpack’s offense, which focuses on interior scoring. Now, it would be easy to stereotype Beverly as your typical catch-and-shoot player given his 6-foot, 185-pound body frame, but he isn’t. Even with the best 3-point percentage of his career this season, he doesn’t shoot the ball near enough. 

His 3.3 3-point attempts per game are far too low for a player who is on the court to take pressure away from the paint. What good is a floor spacer who is not a threat to score from the outside? Beverly shoots the ball even less from inside the arc, with 1.8 attempts per game. As a player who has consistently shot within that 35-40% range from the field over the course of his career, Beverly should absolutely be putting up more shots given his huge minute share.

That huge minute share is also a large problem I have with Beverly. I understand the sentiment of giving the older guys some more minutes during their last year, but NC State boasts a top-25 recruiting class this year. In that recruiting class are a pair of extremely talented guards in freshmen Shakeel Moore and Cam Hayes, who both average under 20 minutes per game. What does this team lose by giving the young guys more minutes?

Moore and Hayes are obviously the future of this program, that’s why they were asked to come play basketball here. If Keatts is expecting them to become consistent double-digit scorers and confident shooters at any point in their careers, he has to start giving them more minutes now. 

I would have no issue if Beverly was averaging what he is on 15 minutes or less, but to play around 25 minutes per game only to score six points on five shots attempted is not what this program needs. Losing redshirt senior guard Devon Daniels is even more of a reason to give these younger guys a chance, and the loss against Duke was a clear indicator that the hopes of a run at the upper echelon of the ACC are gone with Daniels done for the year.

Case for Braxton Beverly

Tristan Tucker, Assistant Sports Editor

In any other season, I would be on the other side of the fence of this debate. However, Beverly has played into his role really well for this Wolfpack team and is one of the only sources of identity for a team that severely lacks one.

For starters, Beverly is averaging career highs in 2-point percentage and steals per game, while shooting consistently from downtown. He’s averaging a career low in fouls per game, and while his points-per-game mark is the lowest it has been at NC State, it’s a result of him making smarter basketball plays and not trying to be the hero, like in the past.

Furthermore, he ranks in the 81st percentile nationally for 3-point percentage, the 86th percentile for assists per game and the 90th percentile for steals per game. When Beverly is on the floor, the Pack is outscoring teams by 10.9 points, and the team struggles mightily without him on the court.

This is very much a transition year for the Pack, so having players like Beverly who can provide some veteran insight is key to the development of younger point guards like Hayes and Moore. Beverly’s numbers don’t jump off the page, but he does a lot that doesn’t show up on the box score, and he’s one of the only capable ball-handlers on the roster.

One of my biggest worries entering the season was that Keatts was going to try and force Beverly to do too much, but that hasn’t been the case at all, and Beverly hasn’t detracted from the playing time of young players. Hayes and Moore are second and third, respectively, in turnovers per game among active players, and the team would experience even more growing pains if Beverly was to get no minutes altogether.

Beverly also isn’t taking away shots from any players; he’s second to last among rotation players in field-goal attempts per game. In fact, if any rotation player is taking minutes and shots away from the young guards, it’s junior guard Thomas Allen, who plays way better in a bench role and is shooting just 36.8% from the floor.

In all, Beverly is an important piece on this team, and he’s been more of a help to the Pack than a detriment. There are a lot of people at fault for this abysmal season, but a guy that brings the ball up the court, hustles well and locates his spot in the half court well, while also bringing good on-ball pressure, is not one of them.