NC State’s challenge in getting the best out of Markell Johnson
There’s a balance N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts is trying to find with Markell Johnson.
Sometimes, the point guard is not doing enough. Other times, Johnson tries to do too much. Often, it happens in the same game.
Keatts got both in his senior’s frustrating game in Saturday’s 81-70 loss at Clemson. Johnson, coming off of two of his best games of the season, attempted one shot in the first 12 minutes of the game. With leading-scorer C.J. Bryce sidelined with a concussion, Keatts needed Johnson to be more active than that.
Johnson got more involved in the game as N.C. State whittled what was a 14-point deficit near the end of the first half down to one point.
With 11:20 left in the second half, Johnson got the ball on the right wing and with N.C. State down 53-52. It was a chance for the Wolfpack to take its first lead of the game and put pressure on a weak Clemson team.
Johnson got the ball on the right wing and used a screen from freshman forward Manny Bates to create space from his defender, Clemson guard John Newman. Johnson dribbled to his right, and Clemson forward Trey Jemison (a 7-footer) switched onto the smaller guard.
Instead of driving by Jemison, Johnson stopped and tried an off-balance long 2-point jumper, falling away from the basket.
Statistically, it’s the worst shot in basketball. Logically, it wasn’t a much better idea. That’s not how a senior point guard, with four years of ACC experience, is supposed to react.
“We ran a lot of offense and got the lead down to one,” Keatts said without mentioning Johnson’s shot. “Once (we did), we took some questionable shots that certainly can take you out of the game and it did.”
Clemson followed up Johnson’s miss with a short jumper by Newman over Johnson on the other end to extend the lead. On the next possession, N.C. State’s Pat Andree missed an open corner 3 and Devon Daniels had a layup attempt knocked away. Curran Scott backed that up with another jumper from the paint over Braxton Beverly to make it 57-52 Tigers with 9:53 left.
Keatts, who has coached Johnson the past three seasons, has tried different many ways to pull more consistency and leadership out of his talented senior point guard.
Good moments out-number the bad with Johnson’s career. He led the ACC in assists as a sophomore in 2017-18 and averaged 12.6 points last season in more of a lead-guard role.
He just had a triple-double in a win over The Citadel two weeks ago and nearly another in a win over Appalachian State last week. He averages 12.9 points and 6.8 assists per game this season.
But Johnson has games, like Saturday’s loss to the previously winless-in-the-ACC Tigers, where he can frustrate his coach.
“I just think I have to continue to watch film with him,” Keatts said. “I have to have him be a quarterback on the floor when things are not going well.”
Things were not going well in the first half Saturday. Clemson guard Al-Amir Dawes, who hounded Johnson all afternoon, picked Johnson’s pocket on the perimeter and turned the steal into a layup for a 34-20 lead.
Up until that point, Johnson had one basket. Without Bryce, N.C. State doesn’t have enough scoring talent to win with Johnson being a passenger.
Even with Bryce, who averages 16.1 points per game, Johnson is still the Wolfpacks’ most important player because he has the most athletic ability and the talent to be a difference-maker. Keatts has built a roster with some good parts — and has an unpolished gem in Bates — but Johnson is the only player with elite-level talent.
When Johnson struggles or is not engaged (as was the case in the first half), N.C. State is in trouble.
Johnson did get more involved and was able to help N.C. State get back into the game. He finished 5 of 15 from the floor for 11 points with seven assists in 35 minutes. He also had six turnovers, missed five of his six 3-point attempts and was 0 for 3 from the foul line.
There’s a hitch in Johnson’s shot and it’s not clear if it’s a case of the “yips” or if there’s a mechanical fix. He shot 42.2 percent from the 3-point line last season, showing he has a capable stroke.
The trick for Keatts is trying to push the right buttons to help Johnson be at his best.
“I think at times, Markell thinks that we have to have him make the basket,” Keatts said. “I just need him to play like a senior and run the show.”
For sporadic frustrating gaps in Johnson’s career, that has been easier said than done.
This story was originally published January 5, 2020 at 3:16 PM.
