If you’re a Canes fan, should you be worried?

Just because Adam's gone doesn't mean we don't talk to Luke DeCock on Fridays.

Now Luke DeCock of the News & Observer joining us here on the Adam Gold Show talked to you last night during the Carolina Hurricanes game. We'll get into some transfer portal stuff in here in just a little bit, but something that you pointed out to me during the second intermission that was kind of concerning for you in terms of the Canes power play. What was it about the power play and them just being stagnant that that concerns you yesterday? Yeah, I mean one, the mere fact that their third power play especially, they ended up just passing it around the perimeter and for the most part among four guys they basically turned it into a four on four on one side of the ice and that's concerning not just what they needed but because that's what they've done in years past especially in the playoffs when their power play is misfired. They get stagnant, they get perimeter oriented, they pass it around, nobody's moving, nobody's cutting and so asserting to see that in game against a potential if not likely playoff opponent. So, you know, I think there's still the end of March obviously Andrei Svechnikov's absence changes things a little bit but, you know, this is the time of year where you should be honing in and getting things dialed in especially with with Gostasbir here for a few weeks now and instead it feels like they're sort of indulging in some old bad habit. So I think that's got to get fixed.

There's no question about that. But it, you know, for me that the disconcerting part of it was just sort of not, there was so much deja vu about that Rangers game last night out chancing them going 0 for 3 on the power play somehow finding a way to lose that game. It felt like the playoffs last year in so many ways and the power play and the way it looked certainly fit into that. Yeah, I think that's what has a lot of people concerned and honestly if I'm a fan I'd be concerned too in terms of the way the game played last night. It looks like that series against the Rangers last year. Should I be worried if I'm a Canes fan?

Should I be worried? I mean, I think a little bit and I think this is why it's so important that they win the Metropolitan Division because I think you'd rather, you know, take your chances with whoever wins the wild card. Let the Devils and Rangers beat each other up. I think given their history against the Rangers, hope that the Devils beat the Rangers. I think the Hurricanes would feel much more comfortable playing the Devils in the playoffs, but you know, you're putting the cart before the horse a little bit there. But that's kind of why I wrote what I wrote, which is they clinched a playoff spot last night, which is great.

Five years into it now. It's not that big a deal. It's expected in a lot of ways and there was absolutely no celebration. But by the same token there's still a lot to play for. I think winning the division and avoiding the Rangers in the first round is huge. Not necessarily because the Hurricanes are scared of the Rangers necessarily, but I think we can say at this point it's not a great matchup for them. And if you can push that off to the second round and potentially have some momentum going into that series or have the Devils beat them entirely, you know, I think that's fine. Like I think the Hurricanes probably if they're honest about it we'll look at the way the East shakes out and say, hey, you know, if we can get to Boston we beat them last year, even though they're a better team. We feel pretty good about that matchup.

We'll take our chances. I think the one team in the East that really stands out as a team the Hurricanes don't want to play is the Rangers. You've got a chance to push that series back around, you know, take advantage of it. So Luke, you mentioned, you know, obviously wanting to win the Metro and I think so much of that and so much of where these canes will be come, you know, mid-April is gonna really shake out over this four-game homestand with facing all this tough competition. What do you want to see by the time, you know, the end of next week rolls around and the canes are back on the road? Yeah, I don't necessarily know that it does just because I mean to me the biggest game of the homestand was was last night.

You know and a chance to prove something. It's the Rangers coming out 48 hours after the comeback at the Garden. You know the chances that the Hurricanes play the Leafs I think are pretty small. So I'm not particularly concerned about the playoff implications of that matchup. Look, with the the 10-11 games left, whatever it is, they're all gonna matter the same in terms of sort of staying ahead of the Devils. So, you know, I mean, I think it's important that they get points at home, but I don't know that necessarily that this homestand against really difficult competition is necessarily that much more important than it will be to go and win on the road.

It doesn't be any good to win these home games and then go give it away on the road. So, you know, I think of these home games last night was the big one. And look, the other part of it is they they played well. I mean, they should have been up two or three nothing after the first period and they killed up a five on three in the first period.

109 seconds of two man advantage. So, you know, that's a game that you come out of that first period. Not only do you expect to be up, you expect to win. And so there isn't sort of an additional layer of frustration with that. But, you know, this, I feel it feels to me like, especially with the way the Devils are playing, this is going to come down to the last game.

So it really, every one of these games is going to matter. There's no space to let up here if you want to win the division. Lou to got news and observer joining us here on the Adam Gold show alongside Louis Fernandez.

I'm Dennis Cox. I'm a transition here to college basketball. We saw the news this morning. RJ Davis, UNC garb tweeted out eight coming back. So he's coming back to UNC for his fourth season. So as a couple years of eligibility left, just looking as a whole in terms of what we've seen, not only just at UNC, but even with NC State. And just nationally guys that are entering the transfer portal, but also we're seeing guys stick around is UNC a school like UNC, they're, they're trying to do it the pure and quote unquote pure and right way in terms of how they're handling NIL Especially when it comes to transfers and freshmen people that they're incoming into the program. Are they going to get left behind or going to be kind of trailing some of these other schools. That don't if they don't play the NIL game, if that makes sense, because if they're not going to use some money to maybe I know we can't use recruiting entice and To entice recruits with with money, but let's be real, it happens. Does a school like UNC who doesn't want to play the NIL game potentially get left behind.

Does that make no, no. And I think Armando make out to great example, he's going to make more money playing at UNC, regardless of whether there's a school supported or affiliated Bag of NIL money, he's going to make more money playing at UNC than he would playing in the, you know, Maltese league or wherever he would end up next year and did this year. So, you know, there's opportunities. In the community, you know, RJ Davis was was doing radio commercials and and Leakey Black did a plumbing commercial. There are opportunities that are unrelated to the school necessarily That come with playing for a big time program. The other part of that is it hasn't affected their recruiting when you look at not necessarily this class, but the class after it.

You know, Hubert Davis is bringing in one of the best classes in the country. So, and they've had success in this transfer portal with Brady Manick or Or Pete Nance didn't really work out, but he was a player. A lot of teams wanted and Hubert Davis said, you know, he was he was glad he wasn't in the NBA, which seems a little odd to say now having seen Pete Nance play for a season, but still Was a transfer.

A lot of people wanted. So no, I don't think so at all. I mean, I think if you're North Carolina or Duke that probably matters less than it does it at NC State.

You've got that sort of national rep. When you look at what Kellen's needs are in the transfer portal, right? You've got spacing being the big one. I think you've go get a two point guard who can let RJ kind of do his thing more off the ball is if, is it fair to say that whoever they bring in the transfer portal will ultimately decide what this next season looks like for Carolina. I mean, to a certain extent. I mean, I think when you bring back, they got Davis, you've got a pretty good foundation regardless, but they need wings. They need shoes. They need a lot of They need they need guys, you know, if you go back to sort of, you know, and Hubert's done this differently. But, you know, when you go back to sort of Roy Williams best teams, they had two bigs and they had two wings. You could shoot and they had a point guard. You know, it looks, you know, if you go back to last year, Hubert's best team sort of had a big and a stretch for and two wings and point guard. So, you know, Leaky Black was never a shooting point guard.

Obviously, but he was such a good defender that you didn't care. But I think they need to get back to a sort of Hubert Davis version of that where they have a cop in the middle. They have a sort of a 234 who are perimeter players and they have a point guard.

I'm not as worried about the point necessarily. I feel I'm sort of fine if RJ Davis ends up there again. If Seth Trimble is here, you know, he can be an option there as well.

You just never know what's going to happen in the portal, but they need wings to me. They need shooters. They need guys who can shoot the three and you need more than one.

And in today's game, especially to make Armando Baker as useful as he can be. You know, you're going to want to put four guys in the perimeter around him right now. They've got one, maybe two of those, maybe three of those guys, but they've got holes to fill.

And to me, I wouldn't you know, I like what I saw very briefly from jail in Washington. If he's still here, I think he's a good backup to five. You know, you've got Trimble DiMarco done is still here at the moment. You've got some guys who can slide into some of those roles, but you got to go get shooters. You just have to go. That's, that's what it's the game.

They need shares. If I'm NC state, I'm going right after Dontre styles. Oh, no, no question. And, and look, we've never had that transfer happen, but it makes a lot of sense. They recruited them hard out of Kinston. There's a relationship there. He'd slot right into their lineup. You get a chance to play with, with potentially with DJ burns.

I mean, there's a, there's a lot to like, um, a lot about that, that makes sense for both sides. And, uh, and you know what, it would be certainly interesting to see a kid transfer from Carolina, the state, but it's going to happen eventually. I mean, there's a women's lacrosse player who, who's went to Carolina and is a grad transfer at Duke. So this stuff is going to happen in basketball eventually. I called that game when they're at East Carolina a couple of days ago. So yes, I saw her play.

So it is happening. Uh, speaking of NC state, you mentioned DJ burns. I think it's a mistake if he goes and try and play somewhere else. I think DJ burns needs to stick it out as final season at NC state.

Yeah. I, you know, I mean, I'd like to see him back cause I think he's entertaining and I think he's fun to watch. He's a good player.

He's a unicorn. I mean, there's, there's not many guys who post up to the three point and three point line and back in all the way, but I also don't begrudge DJ burns for doing what's best for him. And if she looks at NC state minus turquavian Smith and minus charcoal joiner and says, the grass is greener somewhere else. That's part of college basketball in 2023 guys are going to do what's best for them. That said, you know, it'd be great for college basketball in the area.

If DJ burns were back and, and the relationship that he built with the fan base, you know, certainly suggest that there's, there's, there'd be something in it for him. I think what's so hard right now is trying to see state gain this momentum. Now that they went back to the tournament for the first time in a few years, but, but at the same time, they're, they're losing so many guys. I don't know if they're going to be able to take that next step and say, make a run at a second week in the NCAA tournament next year. And that's, that's tough just based on where they are as a program and what's going on around them.

Yeah. But, you know, you got to remember a couple of things. One that the staff changes they made over the summer had a huge effect, both in recruiting and player development. It's a better staff than it was two years ago. And playing in the NCAA tournament is a huge deal from a recruiting perspective when you haven't done it since 2018.

And I was there in Denver talking to Kevin Keats before their open practice. He's on his phone FaceTiming recruits. That's an opportunity that he hasn't had for five years. It makes a difference.

You got to strike while the iron is hot. Now they've got some rebuilding to do. There's no question. And, and, and, you know, obviously they could lose a couple more guys because it's a transfer portal error and everybody could, but there's that momentum can be converted into impact transfers and it can be converted into recruiting. And as much as their back court will be decimated by departures, if you look at what Wake Forest has done, you can build a back court through the portal and just slot in some freshmen with that.

It's doable. You wouldn't have done it four years ago, but you can do it now because there are older and better players in the portal. So, you know, it, it, it, it's the way the game is.

Now you sometimes you have to rebuild on the fly. I mean, Duke's been doing it for 15 years or whatever it is with everybody else is doing it now with freshmen and transfer. So, you know, I, I think the difference for NC state is yes, they're not returning a lottery pick, which is a big deal, but they are in a position where if you're a point guard and you look at But they are in a position where if you're a point guard and you look at Jarkel Joiner, who went from Cal State Bakersfield to Ole Miss, to NC State and ends up having a monster season that unrelated really to Terquavian Smith.

Sometimes it seemed like the offense ran depending on, you know, which side of the court, which the ball was on among those two guys. You can say, hey, like, I can do that. Like I could, you know, you have that example now. And, and, you know, so, so that I think that's the significance of this season for NC State from a spiraling into the future perspective. You can go out and recruit and say, hey, you know, look what we did for DJ Burns. Look what we did for Jarkel Joiner. You know, we have a program that's set up and a coaching staff that's in place. That's going to get the most out of you.

And you've got a chance to compete in the ACC, which for a lot of players is going to be attractive. Luke Tkach, news and observer. Give him a follow on Twitter at Luke Tkach. Thanks for your time. Enjoy your weekend. See you guys.