State survives Virginia Tech, ACC officiating blunders

12-13 Basketball ACC Headscratchers SFN A/V131

NC State had to go to overtime because the Atlantic Coast Conference officials couldn’t monitor the free throw lane one of the most simple and basic rules of basketball.

In the end, the Wolfpack defeated Virginia Tech 90-86 to continue to fight to be positioned for an important #4 or #3 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. State continues to be ranked in the Top 20 of most computer systems, including the RPI where the Wolfpack also has played one of the ten toughest schedules in the country at this point of the season.

The following two videos were a couple of the more fun calls (or no calls) from the ACC officials today that have already hit the internet — the second of which is everyone’s favorite and a perfect example of how/why Richard Howell has been so foul plagued throughout his career.

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12-13 Basketball ACC Headscratchers SFN A/V

131 Responses to State survives Virginia Tech, ACC officiating blunders

  1. Wulfpack 02/16/2013 at 7:04 PM #

    Well, I don’t like this team. Ãœber talented, but consistently plays down to its level of competition. Very little emotion/intensity. Does not defend. The stats I see say this team is a bad defensie team. And eye test confirms that. A recipe for an upset if you ask me. Hope they prove me wrong but I am not seeing it right now.

    Last year, we got hot and nobody expected us to be there. This year, we had sky high expectations and everybody is shooting for us. We have better talent than 95% of the teams out there. We will have 3 maybe 4 NBA players go, and we struggle to beat the also rans. Had Clemson or VT had a possession or two go its way we would all be singing a different tune.

  2. WV Wolf 02/16/2013 at 7:15 PM #

    “I still like this team a lot. For some reason, I’m just not as panicked as perhaps I objectively should be. When we are right…it’s just so beautiful to watch.”

    I agree with BJD, I don’t have a good explanation either but I feel the same way. I guess I’m just building towards March, if it was up to me I’d fast forward through watching the regular season and go ahead and get to the important basketball.

    Just my opinion and not pointed at anyone in particular, but enough already with complaining about the defense. This team is not great defensively, never have been and at this point in the season, never will be. Accept it and move on. This team wins by putting up more points, not shutting the other team down (and yes I’m aware that forcing turnovers leads to easy baskets which means more points). Who cares if you give up 75 if you can score 85?

  3. Wulfpack 02/16/2013 at 7:20 PM #

    Because if you do not defend in the NCAAs it is a very short stay. The teams you will face there are very balanced. One spurt can put you away.

    I still think this team can get it together but as the weeks go by and we get closer to March I am losing faith. I do not believe this team possesses a championship mentality. Just too casual on way too many occasions for me to believe otherwise.

  4. highstick 02/16/2013 at 7:26 PM #

    Everything Bill said, except for this…we play crap defense cause we are too freakin’ lazy to raise our damn arms…We’ll get killed because of this which nullifies the other issues.

    I cannot believe Gott isn’t hammering them on this and if he’s not, then Holy Macaroni! If he is(which I suspect), then again, “We freakin are what we are’!

    Play D or don’t look for much!

  5. Thinkpack17 02/16/2013 at 7:27 PM #

    “Had Clemson or VT had a possession or two go its way we would all be singing a different tune.”

    If we had a possession or two go our way against MD, Mia or Michigan you’d be singing a different tune.

    We don’t get credit for close losses so don’t take credit from us on close wins.

  6. Wulfpack 02/16/2013 at 7:29 PM #

    I most certainly would not be singing a different tune because I know if you do not D up you can forget it. Sooner or later, those rims will go tight and you have an off night.

    Look, I know we are good. But I know we can be so much better. I don’t feel like we are getting the max out of this team, and it is disappointing.

  7. packalum44 02/16/2013 at 7:37 PM #

    This is the best team we’ve had since V years and Mark is the best coach since V.

    People forget that most of these guys aren’t Marks players. Sid would have us in the bottom 4 teams in the league with an identical roster. We have no post players!!! Show me a good defensive teams with no post presence. We will never be good defensively and will never dominate teams. Especially with ACC refs. They got damn hate us after Karl Hess situation.

  8. Thinkpack17 02/16/2013 at 7:41 PM #

    “I most certainly would not be singing a different tune because I know if you do not D up you can forget it.”

    If we beat Miami and Michigan and you were still complaining about this season I don’t think anyone would take you seriously. Really…I think people would say you’re trolling.

    “I don’t feel like we are getting the max out of this team, and it is disappointing.”

    I feel you…so I’m not going to pile on. But 95% of the teams in the nation don’t play to their potential. Fans love their team in preseason…but you have to play the games. Injuries happen and bad breaks happen. Every team except 1 goes home disappointed in the NCAAs.

  9. tractor57 02/16/2013 at 7:44 PM #

    In a transition game we probably have the best offense in college basketball but in a half court game not so much. As has been mentioned I don’t think we will ever be a lock down type defensive team but I disagree with statements that we cannot play defense. Over 40 minutes as a lock down defensive unit probably not but in spurts we can get with it. Think Gott had a great idea introducing the 3/4 court press today even though it did slow tempo. A defensive change up, caused VT to spend nearly 10 seconds getting across the timeline each possession.

    Not playing to potential – may be not but there is also the effect of the other team here. Agreed I can find individual plays that are not top notch (I could also with the ’83 team and the ’74 team).

    I see this game (and the other recent games) as NCAAT prep. Most of those games will be slower paced and if we don’t manage to play that sort of game we will be home very soon.

  10. MARinRVA 02/16/2013 at 7:53 PM #

    It’s frustrating the way we play to the level of our competition. OTOH, I haven’t felt anxiety like this in 25 years, mainly because the outcome was always predetermined. I had almost forgotten what it was like to need a Xanax to make it through an ACC basketball game!

  11. choppack1 02/16/2013 at 7:57 PM #

    I wrote this in the game thread, but I’ll repeat it here:

    What should scare the hell out of us is that I think the team is only doing what they are asked to do. Coach going on about bad bounces in the post game… funny how many bad bounces happen when u don’t box out

  12. vtpackfan 02/16/2013 at 8:01 PM #

    Just like the Clemson win, it just feels like a miracle to get out by the skin of our teeth. Wood played his best game in awhile. Zo and TL meshed better in the backcourt. We pressed other then the las few minutes of the game (semi-press,a 3/4 one) No one reads my posts but I’ve been begging for this all week. Hallelujah

    My concerns are at two: Guys like Rich and Zo even going to make the whole way? Just over a month to go before the NCAAs and these boys are going 35 minutes plus on bad ankles.

    How did the Zo goes out, we discover TL can perform, Zo comes back and we are still just 6 deep? Lewis and Purvis just swapped roles. I don’t remember Rodney playing after the first half. How is this possible? I like Gott a lot, and get into following this team, but dang, the shite for ‘Bama of not growing any consistency from the bench is just a fact of the matter. He will never rely on more then 7 players and two of them will just be get the hell in there, don’t mess up, but who cares your coming back out real soon guys.

  13. WeAreCured 02/16/2013 at 8:03 PM #

    So let me get this straight; we go 9-7 in the ACC, barely make it into the NCAA Tournament, make a nice run to the Sweet 16, THEN lose several key, veteran players, replacing them with FRESHMAN, albeit McD’s AAs, and somehow, we were supposed to be world beaters? Look at our roster. Other than people saying we were supposed to be amazing, what evidence was there to expect that?

    Let’s not forget how far we have come in the past year and a half. We are a good team that is fun to watch and has a chance to make a run at the ACC Tournament crown, and another Sweet 16, not to mention our best regular season ACC showing in years. That’s pretty nice.

  14. bill.onthebeach 02/16/2013 at 8:05 PM #

    Mr. Stick … Ha !

    You might be right….. ’cause “we” are so busy thinking about everything the Coach said do and about our ‘defensive footwork’… to think about our ‘hands”….. too….

    You can’t play the ‘organ’ if you hadn’t learned how to play “piano” first ???

    (For the engineers…. let me put that another way….
    You can’t do ‘calculus’ if you hadn’t mastered ‘algebra’ first…..)

    That will come next season….

    On another topic…. anybody know who was officiating the Twerps — Dook game…. damn if they didn’t try to give the game to Coach Rat…. but somebody forgot to give that freshman Allen the TV script for that one….

  15. tjfoose1 02/16/2013 at 8:12 PM #

    Bitch, whine, complain. Repeat. A bunch of Veruca Salts in this fanbase.

  16. gtspack 02/16/2013 at 8:17 PM #

    Just an observation, Is Calvin no better now than he was at this time last year(maybe worse)??? Oh yea, we play great D in spurts..???

  17. Thinkpack17 02/16/2013 at 8:21 PM #

    “Is Calvin no better now than he was at this time last year(maybe worse)???”

    Jumper is better, shot selection is better, handle is better, FT shooting is better.

    Intensity is the same, Mental toughness is the same.

  18. choppack1 02/16/2013 at 8:24 PM #

    “So let me get this straight; we go 9-7 in the ACC, barely make it into the NCAA Tournament, make a nice run to the Sweet 16, THEN lose several key, veteran players, replacing them with FRESHMAN, albeit McD’s AAs, and somehow, we were supposed to be world beaters?”

    Yes. We had 4 returning starters….all 4 of whom have more than 1000 career points. And let’s not make excuses, we aren’t 7-5 in the ACC because of the freshmen, we’re 7-5 because we don’t box out. That’s why we lost to UMd, why we lost to Miami, why we went to OT today, and huge reason of why we lost to Wake Forest.

    I don’t blame the kids – it’s pretty obvious to me that this staff doesn’t believe that boxing out is an integral part of the game.

    You take the good with the bad – and 2 years into the Gottfried era, I see a coach who runs a good offense, is absolutely a players coach, and a decent manager of egos. However, I also don’t think he’s big on the fundamentals, he rarely uses his bench, and my impression is that we don’t spend a lot of time on D. (I think he’s similar to Lowe in a lot of ways, but he actually has a bit of clue.)

    The man has a track record, we’re a bit foolish to ignore it. Then again, so did TOB,yet we expected ACC titles from him for some reason.

  19. vtpackfan 02/16/2013 at 8:30 PM #

    I’ll say this in defense for Calvin. His baseline spin is money and no one can stop him. When his man Ds him up right and forces him to pivot into the lane, with subsequent double team, he “creates” contact. Anyone with any recent memory knows for certain that Tyler Hansbrough made a living on the FT line doing the same exact thing. Enough of that.

    The best option for him-and this is where coaching helps- is to try a small hook shot where he can immediately use his ultra athleticism to spring back up and grab (slam back in) the miss if he doesn’t make it. Right not he ends up sprawled out on the floor and useless as the other team takes it up 5 on 4.

    That’s the only option-he hasn’t mastered aggressively making a move and kicking it out to an open man (unless its Rich two feet away) and he’s not going to get it now, plain and simple.

  20. rough2thebone 02/16/2013 at 8:30 PM #

    Does anybody on here remember a couple of years ago how bad we were. Gottfried has done a wonderful job in a very short time give him a couple more years to build some much needed depth. Espn might just be right we are a complete bunch of jerks as fan if we are not happy with our progress oh yeah duke almost lost to bc and just lost to maryland

  21. WeAreCured 02/16/2013 at 8:34 PM #

    For the reasons you see them as likely world-beaters, I see them as a good team with a chance. Returning 4 veteran starters from a 9-7 ACC squad does not make a world-beater to me. I expected them to be a good team with a legitimate shot at the ACC Tournament title and a repeat Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament performance. They are fun to watch and have won several games they would have likely lost last year and certainly lost two years ago, as well as the five preceding. They beat Duke when they were #1, crushed the Holes at home, and have a shot at sweeping them in the regular season. I would have loved it if they had taken down Miami, but it’s alright.

  22. Fastback68 02/16/2013 at 8:36 PM #

    I almost passed out when they ran the press, VT. Thank god. Someone figured it out. Two turnovers and shorter time possesions for hokies. Use the press every game

  23. vtpackfan 02/16/2013 at 8:39 PM #

    I don’t think we have a bad mood fan base. Every team in the nation barring Miami and maybe Florida, is so beatable by anyone that fan bases around the country are pondering the same type dilemmas with a month to go.

    Kentucky was down 40 today and Bubbleguts didn’t score. Think the defending champs blogs are sweet as roses over there?

  24. WeAreCured 02/16/2013 at 8:39 PM #

    Let’s also not forget that 2-5 ranked teams lose to unranked teams every week this year. That adds a little perspective.

  25. willalwaysbelieve 02/16/2013 at 8:40 PM #

    I’m happy with a W but have real concerns. As I think about them, most come back to coaching. This greatly disturbs me, since I see a ton of talent on our bench – Lutz, Farmer, etc. CJL is a great player and is gettng too much bad pub right now for his play. He’s getting ripped for 16 points and 9 boards. Really?

    Our biggest problems are twofold: first, we still do not realize that every opponet is bringing their A-game a t us every time. When is the last time 2 teams stormed the court after beating us?

    Second, we only play sporadic defense. If we just got 10% better, we would dominate games. That comes down to lack of discipline, whch comes down to coaching. Hate to say it, but it’s true.

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