HUGE NC State vs UNC tonight at PNC!

I'm not going to try and say that this game hasn't been this anticipated in a number of years because I think there have been many years where both North Carolina and NC State are good to varying degrees, right? But this is the first time in 50 years, 50, January 22, 1974, where these two teams are at least 3-0 each. First time since 74. That is bananas to me. Ernie Myers did not play in 1974. He is a child of the 80s and he joins us on the Adam Gold Show, former NC State star.

This is a, again, I don't even know how to term it. It's not necessarily super anticipated because I think NC State has sort of kind of slowly built their way to where they are at 3-0 in the league and looking very good doing it. And I thought the win over Virginia said a lot about them more than it did about Virginia. What are your thoughts going into a game like this from the NC State perspective?

Well, thanks for having me on, Adam. Yeah, it's an exciting time. This game is huge. Like you said, since 1974, both teams are vying for the top spot. They have identical records. They're both on four-game winning streaks right now.

And yeah, the environment and the fan base for both universities are going to be, the whole country is going to be watching this game tonight. That's right. Eight o'clock. Eight o'clock on ESPN. Yeah. Eight o'clock on ESPN.

And I'm going to be in the arena. And after that Virginia win, I agree with you. It says a lot more about what Coach Keats has done with this program. And, you know, they tied for first place. They, you know, they had a tough game out in Notre Dame and pulled that one out on the road. They have two road ACC wins, which is gold on the road when you can win on the ACC, in the ACC on the road. So, and after the Virginia home game and you know, you got Carolina coming in, it's going to be an exciting ball game.

Ernie Myers is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. The DJ, DJ Burns, I mean, he's a good player and he's impactful even when he is not scoring because he draws your attention, much in the same way for North Carolina that Armando Baycott can impact the game necessarily without necessarily scoring because you have to be, you have to be aware of where he is. But I thought it was interesting that they were so dominant against Virginia and there wasn't a whole bunch of buckets from DJ. He showed other aspects of his offensive game, the ability to pass and all of that. What do you think has been the key for them even when Burns is not, you know, scoring?

You know, they, they have the one down, you know, coke keeps with DJ Burns. He's a great passer and he draws a lot of attention, but the shooting from the, from the outside and, and they don't turn the ball over, you know, on DJ, a horn, he's only had 10 turnovers. And in these, you know, 13, 14 games they played so far, you know, the perimeter guys are knocking down shots. And so I think, you know, the, the perimeter game and the defense has propelled them into where they are right now. But it's the perimeter scoring. Cause if DJ Burns is looking and he's passing out and they, you know, they get a lot of, he gets a lot of attention. He's a willing passer. So, you know, all guys have to do is be ready to catch the ball and, and, and, and, and knock the shots now. So, I know they're going to be ready tonight in PSC arena.

Ernie Myers is joining us here, former NC state star national champion. Here's the thing about the turnovers. People don't, may not realize this third in the country at turnover rate, right. In terms of percentage, offensively with the ball, they do not turn it over 12.5%. But they also force a lot of turnovers, but North Carolina is also really good at taking care of the ball. Is it fair to say that whichever team does a better job of forcing mistakes is going to win this game?

Absolutely. You know, the team that has the most turnovers is going to lose this game. You know, RJ Davis is, you know, he's one of the best players in the country.

He might be ACC player of the year, the way he's playing right now, averaging 20 points a game. And yeah, whoever turns the ball over, cause they like to, you know, turn you over to and not on the break and run. Just like NC state, they like the defense to turn in the offense. And so whoever wins that battle is going to win that is going to win the game tonight.

Ernie Myers is joining us here on the Adam gold show. You talked about, you know, NC state's perimeter shooting. What I like about it, and I kind of want to see more, more of it, and maybe we'll see more of it tonight. When Kevin Keats, you know, before the year before he got to state, when he, when he won at Wilmington, they used, it almost seemed like there was a lot of similarity between the players and a lot of guys who had some length and they could press you and turn you over. And, you know, you know, turn you over.

Um, and I, um, part of, part of me wants to see more of that because I think you might be able to be successful speeding Carolina up a little bit. Uh, but they've got a lot of weapons. They have a lot of options that maybe he hasn't had over the last couple of years.

Yeah. He has a lot of options, you know, uh, uh, on the outside and the perimeter, he's got guys coming off the bench. He has the freshmen from Virginia coming off the bench playing really well.

Um, you know, he has some shooters on a per DJ DJ horn and he's, he's right here. He's from Cary, North Carolina, well-traveled, you know, um, uh, you know, from Arizona state now he's here and, uh, and Raleigh. So, uh, you know, but there's a lot of guys who don't, you know, both teams have guys who haven't played in this type of game, this rivalry type of game. And I think that's, you know, that's, that's important, uh, to bring up. So the intensity, uh, of this, you know, we still consider that our rivalry at NC state, you know, fans are going to be rabid and, uh, they're going to be, you know, and, uh, Hubert Davis, he, he, he, he remembers it when we went in with the rivalry. So, uh, and Roy used to, when he was a head coach there, he, you know, he hated playing, you know, in PNC arena and he kept that rivalry alive.

So it's going to be a, a great game, uh, tonight. Yeah. See, like, I understand everything's about North Carolina Duke and I get it.

I get it. You know, a contemporary of yours, Jimmy Black told me a long time ago that in his heyday and when he was playing and you guys played basically at the same time, uh, that the rivalry then was not Carolina Duke, that it was Carolina state. So that was the game, the big game for him as a player, more so than UNC Duke. Well, did, did you feel it that way as well?

Yeah. I thought that the, when ESPN got involved in big vital and the whole nine yards, he made it to Duke, uh, Carolina, uh, rivalry, but, uh, like Jimmy, he's from the Bronx. I'm from New York and, uh, I know him and, uh, we played in the same conference in, uh, in, uh, in, in New York city. But, uh, yeah, when I, when coach V recruited me, he said, this is a, this is a big rivalry game.

You're going to play against North Carolina. You know, the players were coming from New York down to, uh, North Carolina and, you know, planning ACC. And, uh, you know, that was the big rivalry told me, so they shut down the state, you know, kids, they bring TVs and everybody's watching this game. So, uh, it was a rivalry when I was there and it was, uh, and it was a big rivalry.

It was a pipeline from, uh, from New York city to the triangle back in the day, Ernie Meyers is joining us here on the Adam gold show. What's your, what's your best memory of a state Carolina game? Well, the first time my best memory is 83 when we beat them at home, uh, when they were ranked number two or three in the country. And, and it was coach V's first win over Dean Smith and Reynolds Coliseum when, when he left Iona and came here, it was his first win. So that was huge. And I think that game winning that game made us feel like we could beat anybody in the country.

And we went on and won the national championship that year. How, how was, uh, how was coach after the game? Oh man, if you know, coach V, he was out of his mind and, uh, you know, uh, he just was in, you know, just, he had lost his mind winning that game and the fans ran out on the court, uh, cause they hadn't beaten Carolina in so long.

And you know, it was just, uh, it was bedlam. Give me a key tonight for the Wolfpack, uh, that they need to win the game. They need DJ Burns not to be in foul trouble. You know, he can't, he can't get any cheap fouls and, uh, and, uh, you know, they got to knock down some shots and, you know, they, they count deflections at NC state, you know, they got to get some deflections and turn Carolina over to win this game.

Yeah, they can do that. Carolina, Carolina, again, both teams take care of the ball. Uh, and if I'm Carolina, I'm going to feed Armando breakout as much as possible to see if I can, cause as you said, DJ burns, staying out of foul trouble, I'm going to be feeding Armando breakout as much as possible. Um, cause, but I don't think that they want to guard DJ burns away from the basket.

Cause I'm not sure Armando can do that either. And DJ does set up all, you know, often well away from the basket 15, 18 feet. He's almost posted up out there, but he backs you down and backs you down. And they try to double them and he looks for the open man and, or he spends a baseline and, you know, it's patented left-hand move that he does. And, you know, he's pretty consistent. Is there a, is there a big man in the country with a better floater than DJ burns?

No, nobody, nobody. He's got the golden left hand and he uses it. Well, he uses his body.

Well positioned. He doesn't turn the ball over, uh, too much in the game. And, uh, you know, and he's a willing passer. So, uh, they run the offense through him. You know, he'll find people cutting to the basket or wide open for jump shots. And, uh, and if he, and if that happens, we'll pack up, be victorious tonight.

Yeah. He is, uh, one of their best assist guys, uh, in terms of percentage, uh, over the course of the season, Ernie Myers, a former NC state legend. Now you're, he can't be a former legend.

You're either a legend or you're not, uh, Ernie. I appreciate your time, man. Enjoy the game tonight. I appreciate it, man. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me on.

You got it. Ernie Myers here on the Adam Gold show. Um, yeah, there was a time. And without disparaging, you know, the influence of ESPN, which is very influential, uh, they are the taste makers and have been, but honestly college basketball, isn't what it is without ESPN. Um, and Jimmy black told me this a long, long time ago that in the eighties, in the early eighties, this was the game, not the Carolina Duke game, but what has happened with Carolina Duke is that, uh, once Mike Sheshevsky got it going, they were both great, basically all the time. What happens if there was also a time I would point out where Duke Maryland was the more anticipated game, because for about a three or four year stretch, both teams were always great. That's what happens. Um, but yeah, it's going to be an absolute blast tonight at PNC arena. Cannot wait for eight o'clock. And, uh, already said, I think state's going to win the game. Uh, but I think basically any outcome is possible out of this one.