The Wolfpacker

JANUARY 2016 ■ 35 BY JACEY ZEMBAL S ometimes NC State men's basket- ball players have a past history with the opposition, but more often than not video clips are the first look they get at an opponent. With the advent of Synergy Sports, which cuts and catalogs every possession of ev- ery college game, the video available to coaches and players can be overwhelming and extremely helpful. The clips the Wolf- pack coaches receive can easily be sent to the players' iPads or emailed to them. That doesn't even take into account what is available on television or the Watch ESPN app. For instance, before NC State hosted Winthrop Nov. 27, players and coaches could have viewed the Eagles' game against South Carolina-Upstate from three days ear- lier on Watch ESPN. Prior to NCSU play- ing IUPUI Nov. 18, the Pack could have watched the Jaguars play Indiana State Nov. 13 on Watch ESPN and Marquette Nov. 16 on FOX Sports 1. Head coach Mark Gottfried doesn't con- sider himself to be totally reliant on video of opponents — he still strongly believes in one of his favorite sayings, "Have a hunch, bet a bunch" — but he does view it as an important tool. "Everybody is different, and some guys just watch hours and hours," Gottfried said. "I personally do, and as a staff we watch a ton of tape. [Assistant coach] Bobby Lutz will watch a gazillion hours of tape. "What we show to the players is very little, and we try to condense it down to a couple of things they can retain." Gottfried does not want his players to have paralysis by over-analysis. "With kids and their attention span nowa- days, if you have an hour film session, I think you have lost them 15 minutes in," Gottfried said. "They are done. They are thinking about all kinds of other things and aren't locked in anymore. We'll use cut-up tapes and shorter tapes. Our players do a little bit more on their own time." NC State junior center BeeJay Anya knows his ticket to playing time is defense, and he credits studying players' video as a key component in becoming the second- most shot blocker (159 career rejections through the first eight games this season) in school history. The ACC has its fair share of qual- ity big men this season, including Notre Dame's Zach Auguste, Wake Forest's Devin Thomas, Miami's Tonye Jekiri and North Carolina's Kennedy Meeks. All of them bring something different to the table, and it's Anya's job to figure out their tendencies and moves in the paint through his video viewing. "I think that is what makes me a good defender," Anya said. "Pat [McDonald], the video coordinator, and I will sit down and check out other people. I look at the bigs and how they score. "I will even look at the guards and how they get to the rim because I'll want to block their shot." Anya blocked 91 shots his sophomore year, which averaged out to 2.5 rejections per game. He had a career-best 10 blocks against Jacksonville last year and appreci- ates that opposing guards don't do their own video research, evidenced by continuing to try and tempt fate by driving at him in the lane. "I'll see if a guard shoots floaters, then I'll go in there and try to take a charge," Anya said. "If he tries a runner with the left hand, I'll know to try and block with my right hand. Same if he goes right hand, then I'll block with my left hand. I just watch a lot of film in my free time." Anya considers himself a student of the game, and part of that is figuring out if he can bait a player into shooting a shot just so he can swat it away. Anya prefers get- ting his blocks as a help defender from the weakside. "I do that all the time," Anya said. "I'm never in position on defense because I like to have people think they can go and lay it FILM STUDY The Widespread Availability Of Game Video Helps The Wolfpack Prepare For Opponents Junior center BeeJay Anya is one of NC State's most ardent users of scouting videos. He credits them with helping him accumulate the second-most blocks in school history. PHOTO BY JOSH RATTRAY "I think that is what makes me a good defender." ■ Junior center BeeJay Anya on watching video of opposing players

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