I usually agree with the editorial comments of the front page articles on DBR, but the one today on Lorenzo Brown's surgery caught my eye:
State fans shouldn’t worry too much, because this is one of those relatively rare situations where incoming freshmen may be better than the guard(s) that are on hand and an injury may not be as big a deal as it would be otherwise.
I strongly disagree that Lewis and Purvis -- the incoming freshmen -- can and will be better for State next season that Brown. In the first place, Lorenzo Brown is a darn good player -- one who made the difficult transition from wing guard to point guard last season and by the end of the season may have been the best all-around point in the ACC (Kendall Marshall was a better, more valuable player, but he was one dimensional ... it's just that he was amazing in that one dimension).
Brown was an all-around player -- a good defender who averaged 12.7 ppg, 6.3 assists (second in the ACC to Marshall), 1.8 steals per game (best in the ACC), and a healthy 4.5 rebounds. He's one of the big reasons that NC State is being tossed around as a preseason top 10 pick and the preseason ACC favorite.
I can't see either Purvis or Lewis replacing that production. Purvis is an extremely talented player, but he's not a point guard -- he's even less of one that Duke-bound Rasheed Suliamon. I think there's a good chance that he takes CJ Williams' vacant wing guard position, but he can't replace Brown at the point.
Lewis can play the point. He's a natural playmaker. But he's 5-11, 160 pounds without great athleticism and without much scoring punch. He's going to replace the 6-5, 195-pound Brown? How's that goinf to work on the defensive end? If you saw Lewis play in high school, he's a nice prospect (no. 43 in the final rsci rankings), but his best-case-scenario is that he'll be another Wojo (although right now, he doesn't have the strength that Wojo had). And Wojo wasn't ready to lead an ACC contender as a freshman (indeed, he blossomed as a junior).
I think Brown's health is VITAL to NC State's high hopes for the 2013 season. He and CJ Leslie are their two ireeplaceable players.
The good news for State fans is that his injury does not appear too serious. It's reportedly not an ACL ... probably a meniscius tear. I'd be worried if this happened in February, but not in June. On the other hand, if he's sidelined for most of the offseason, that could impact the season -- Coach K recently talked about the impact that kind of layoff had on players such as Greg Paulus and Quinn Cook.
