DALLAS — Without lights or cameras inside the American Airlines Center on Saturday afternoon, DJ Burns Jr. experienced a rare moment. The North Carolina State center was asked by reporters what kind of defense he prefers: single or double coverage?
“I prefer winning,” Burns said. “So no matter how you attack me, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win. I don’t care if it’s a pass or a score. I don’t care if it’s not touched at all. I care if we win, because when we win, everybody does Having attention.”
Once the only tape recorder on the table in front of Burns was turned off, he was asked, What are you going to do? real prefer?
“I mean—” Burns said. “No one knew my name before we started winning, even with all the statistics.” He paused, and then rapper Burns went out of his way to sum up this incredible, inexplicable North American run. Carolina Run: “Nobody cares about losers. That’s why I decided to be a winner.”
Whatever Burns wants, Burns gets.
It turned out to be a bad decision when the nation’s new favorite went one-on-one with Duke on Sunday afternoon. Burns helped the Blue Devils score 29 points (21 after halftime) in a 76-64 victory that gave Team USA what they wanted: a dancing Bruins vs. Purdue in the Final Four College Giants.
The 11th-seeded Wolfpack are on a nine-game winning streak and have won more games in three weeks than they did between the calendar flip to 2024 and the end of the regular season. To be honest, no one saw this coming. “Oh God, no,” said his mother, Takara, as she watched her son celebrate on stage. “Can’t imagine.”
Her son and his well-traveled teammates will always be a part of March lore no matter what happens here. Their championship odds are slimmer than any team’s, including the Wolfpack’s 1983 championship, a team that was ranked high in the preseason and had a winning record in at least ACC play. This guy has to win five games in five days in the ACC Tournament. In the first round of the ACC Tournament against Louisville, this team trailed at halftime— Louisville! — A team whose coach was fired the moment the whistle blew. If Virginia’s Isaac McKneely misses the front end of a one-on-one with 5.3 seconds left in the ACC semifinals, giving Michael O’Connell a chance to convert with a 25-foot tilt If the game goes into overtime, none of this will be possible. – Enter 3 when the buzzer sounds.
Thank basketball heaven for giving us Burns, who was unknown to most basketball viewers until the Wolf Pack decided to become this generation’s Danny Manning and Miracle. (It’s time to give this group a nickname.)
deeper
‘He’s like a polar bear and a ballet dancer’: Incomparable DJ Burns powers NC State
The SparkNotes version tells the story of how the unthinkable happened: Burns decided to dominate, the Pack started playing defense, and that was that. The monster is unleashed.
Tactically, NC State’s coaches opted to make some small adjustments to their defense ahead of the ACC Tournament. Their receiving point would be closer to the three-point line rather than as far away, leaving opposing defenders without a long enough runway to attack Burns, who was always drooping backwards when shooting.
The Wolf Pack has also been very good at switching Burns around and keeping him in the paint. It’s a question of chemistry, like anything. Considering the Wolfpack brought in eight new players last offseason (seven transfers, one freshman), it’s no wonder it took some time. The idea was built around Burns, who was an unconventional pick when the Wolfpack recruited him as a graduate out of Winthrop two years ago.
Burns began his career at Tennessee, leaving after redshirting as a freshman to come to Winthrop, where he was the Big South Player of the Year in his third season, averaging Played 20.9 minutes, averaged 15 points per game, and shot 62.6% from the field. He is one of the most efficient scorers in the transfer portal, but his size limits his playing time. The wolves decided to take a chance.
“We just felt like we couldn’t pass up a guy like that who could give us a downfield presence,” assistant coach Kareem Richardson said. “We knew that for coach (Kevin) Keats, he wasn’t going to be like a regular big man. It wasn’t going to be those runs around the rim or dunks off ball screens, but to the coach’s credit, he changed that. My own style.”
The original plan a year ago was to have Burns come off the bench as a microwave scorer, but that changed when stars Tekavion Smith and Jakeir Joyner came to the bench. It’s an NBA-style play, with Burns starring on the second unit.
Dusan Mahocic, a transfer from Utah, serves as the starting center. But Mahocic dislocated his right patellar tendon in the 10th game of the season, forcing Burns to start. He started the next five games, then came off the bench for three games before returning to the starting lineup for the remainder of the year. The Wolfpack decided to play him during a game at Wake Forest in late January. He scored 31 points on 31-of-26 shooting in the 79-77 win, a preview of things to come this season.
Keats built the lineup around Burns and former Virginia wing Casey Moser, hoping Burns would be the centerpiece of the offense. He got off to a good start but had a inconsistent performance in January. After scoring 10 points on 10-for-14 shooting in a loss to Syracuse on Jan. 27, Richardson came off the bench that night to spearhead a virtual intervention in an effort to get Burns on the floor. Stay in shape and have the right mindset.
While the Wolfpack lost their final four games of the regular season, and Burns struggled in three of those games — one as a goose and the other two games totaling 15 points — he lost at home. Played his most dominant performance of the season against Duke. The Blue Devils never sent out a double team, and he scored 27 points.
He has scored in double figures in every game since the start of the ACC tournament except the Sweet 16, when Marquette double-teamed him and dished out a career-high seven assists. the difference?
“I just decided I didn’t care about getting fouled,” Burns said. “I just made it happen.”
The attention he brought also began to help his teammates move forward. O’Connell, who averaged 4.4 points per game in the regular season, averaged 10.2 points per game during this nine-game winning streak. Mohamed Diarra had scored in double figures in consecutive games just once during the regular season and had scored in double figures in five of the six games before Sunday to become an elite rim protector. Burns’ rise hasn’t taken anything away from the team’s leading scorer, DJ Horne.
“DJ Burns’ energy, it just flows through our team,” Keatts said.
DJ Burns Jr. and teammates celebrate after earning a spot in the Final Four. (Tim Heitman/USA Today)
The Pack also no longer makes the careless mistakes that lead to failure. They’ve played well this season, they’ve minimized their turnovers and gotten good shots. During a four-game losing streak heading into the playoffs, coaches remain optimistic that the offense is picking up and the effort is there. They just try to stop.
That’s why everyone in the Wolfpack was feeling optimistic at halftime Sunday when Duke led 27-21. They only turned the ball over twice, got the shots they wanted, and Burns only played eight minutes because he committed two fouls. Before the coaches entered the locker room, they could hear the players inside saying, “We’re good. We’re going to win this game.”
“I don’t think there was a moment when we thought we were going to lose the game,” Burns said. “Even the energy the coach showed at halftime was completely different than what we expected.”
what is that?
“He was just happy. We lost the game, but we didn’t get scolded.”
Keats’s message was: “You all defended well. You all go out there and repeat it and we’re going to win this game.”
Burns also realized Duke would stick to the game plan of not double-teaming him: “That was a really serious mistake,” he said. “We decided to take advantage of that.”
The Wolfpack opened the second half when Burns touched the ball at the center post. Burns brought Kyle Filipovsky down on his back. Feeling that Filipovsky was cheating on his right shoulder, he turned and passed the ball in. The other direction. A few minutes later he had the ball in the same position, Filipovski stood directly behind him and landed a left hook. Well, it’s not actually a hook, but a flip.
Over and over again, he would backpedal Filipowski or Ryan Young and take an unorthodox shot, putting his shoulder into their chest and putting the ball above their reach. , or spin and spin into the air as they try to physically attack him.
“His touch is the best I’ve ever seen,” Richardson said. “His touch is never clean. It just bounces, bounces, bounces and goes in. I’ve played more in college basketball than It’s been 25 years and I’ve never seen anyone like him.”
Duke, on the other hand, tries to get Burns involved in as many on-ball and off-ball screen actions as possible. But that backfired because it took the Blue Devils out of rhythm and the Wolfpack shrunk the floor enough that they couldn’t really play around Burns like they’d hoped.
Burns nearly outdid Duke himself in the second half when he spun the baseline around Mark Mitchell and then hit a floater to Sean Stewart with 4:19 left. Duke scored 17 points and Burns scored 15 points. The Wolfpack led with 14 points.
In the final minutes of the game, Burns was performing for the crowd, and every time Keatts subbed him out for defense, Burns would jump to the bench and bang his teammates in the chest, even knocking the poor junior guard Bren Pass was knocked off his feet by a chair.
He then danced on stage as NC State fans chanted the team’s new rallying cry — “Why not us?” — and tossed his 3 XL South Region championship T-shirt to his cousin. His parents watched from a distance, filming him cutting the net and pinching himself as it really happened.
“This is one of the proudest moments of my life,” said his father, Dwight. “Everything he’s been through, his journey, leading up to this moment that happened today, that’s the pinnacle. Let me rephrase that, because it’s not the pinnacle. There’s more to come.”
Burns did a preview and review before leaving the arena, doing a courtroom performance in front of reporters and essentially performing his comedy routine.
On his series of moves: “We’re not going to talk about it. We’re not giving away all the sauce.”
On when it all starts: “What time is it now? (It was 7:30 PM Central Time.) Twelve to fourteen hours. Then I’ll wake up and we’ll go to the gym in the morning.”
On why he didn’t wear a championship T-shirt like everyone else: “I just didn’t want it to get stained before I wear it tomorrow.”
Keats then appeared and joined the media din.
Kevin Keatts, NC State basketball, has a few questions. How do you feel about your coach throwing the ball to you 19 times in 28 minutes?
“I hope we can carry that mentality into next week,” Burns said, flashing a toothy smile.
As for what he’ll bring to the table for Purdue star Zach Eadie, who awaits the next game?
“A good game. I won’t say too much about that.”
We will happily wait. Because we all know that eventually he will have something to say.
(Top photo: Lanskin/Getty Images)
