Tar heels down thin Wolfpack, 67-55

Forgive me if you wanted or expected more from us. Forgive me if you actually want to analyze and dissect Saturday’s game between NC State and UNC. But, I just don’t have it in me. I’ve got so little excitement and engagement about this season and about this team that I don’t understand why we would all waste our time and efforts. At 10-8 overall and 0-5 in the ACC, this team is going nowhere fast; and this season has become one of those seasons where I’m doing what I can to invest in other aspects of my life so that when/if we are ever good again then I won’t feel guilty about caring and paying attention. It happens every now and then…and, this is the year. Missing the tournament 20% of the time and making the NCAA four out of every five years is a pretty appropriate expectation for this program.

Of course the refs sucked on a trip to the Dean Dome. That is a given. After State got a well officiated game in Chapel Hill last season (oh what a surprise…we WON), then you can rest assured that we will come nowhere close to another win for at least the next decade. Don’t take our word for it —

The headlines and storylines on this game is that Carolina just used its depth to wear down State. Yep. That’s about right. But, as deep as UNC’s roster may be – the story there is that NC State is TOO THIN; it isn’t that UNC is SO DEEP (although they are very deep). State is 10-8 and 0-5 in part due to the fact that Coach Gottfried and staff could only find a way to fill the roster with 9 scholarship players that includes one kid that is clearly not Division One ready – Shaun Kirk. This leaves eight players, and one is injured, in our coach’s fifth season where his recruiting has had the benefit of momentum created by four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and two Sweet 16s. It is THIS lack of strategy and lack of tactical execution of running a program that has State sitting in the cellar and has most of us pulling our hair out.

In case you didn’t know, NCAA rules allow you to have thirteen student athletes on scholarship in basketball. So, the next time the Wolfpack Club comes calling for your dollars I think you should ask why they need more money if our coaches can’t/won’t spend the scholarship money that we provide them today?

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

15-16 Basketball Big Four Rivals Mark Gottfried

Home Forums Tar heels down thin Wolfpack, 67-55

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 54 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #97345
    StateFans
    Keymaster

    Forgive me if you wanted or expected more from us. Forgive me if you actually want to analyze and dissect Saturday’s game between NC State and UNC. Bu
    [See the full post at: Tar heels down thin Wolfpack, 67-55]

    #97346
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Roy bas beaten our behinds 18 of the last 20. In case you need a little help with math, that’s a 90% success rate. It’s no longer a rivalry, folks.

    #97347
    StateFans
    Keymaster

    Unfortunately, at least 3 of those Roy wins were RIDICULOUS travesties of officiating — not just the normal death by a thousand cuts like yesterday.

    #97348
    redisgood
    Participant

    Just not enough bodies to hang in the whole game. So many fouls on our bigs early in the 2nd (a few pretty cheap ones too) made them back off playing aggressive defense, and Meeks had a monster half.

    Gott talking about Cat not being aggressive or having a good game. I have to say I can’t blame Cat. He has to be shell shocked, worn out, and mentally whipped.

    It’s interesting to see even Duke and K aren’t immune from struggling due to a key injury. Even with their half dozen Macdonald AAs, they lose Amile Jefferson and suddenly can’t beat Utah or Clemson. And yesterday they lose to ND.

    #97349
    pakfanistan
    Participant

    Cat +
    Terry +
    Lennard +
    Beejay +
    Torin +
    Cody +
    Caleb +
    Abu +
    Maverick +
    Shaun +
    DSJ = 11

    Why didn’t MG find somebody to spend those last 2 scholarship on??

    #97350
    BJD95
    Keymaster

    struck out with all our late transfer and freshman targets, other than Mav.

    #97352
    choppack1
    Participant

    The officiating won’t change until our leadership calls them out. Believe me, we’ve been politely complaining to the acc office for years about the officiating.

    I think the best thing to do is the call them out publicly and question the integrity of the leadership. If that doesn’t yield results, pull the team off the court mid-game. You want to start a conversation… Do that -and then have the university back such a move.

    Will that work? I have no idea, but doing things the “right way” and through the appropriate channels certainly hasn’t worked.

    Regarding Gott – you have to remember – one of his lessons from his time @ Bama was that he gave too many scholarships to kids who in hindsight (his mind you) weren’t good enough.

    What I would point out is that this is an indication of poor scouting and teaching. Anyone can identify the elite guys – but the best talent evaluators identify talent that everyone doesn’t want…and develops those guys.

    One would think this season and his time at bama would have shown him that he needs more depth, but I see zero evidence of that thus far.

    #97353
    choppack1
    Participant

    It also should be noted he doesn’t play a lot of guys, so when its clear that you are out of that rotation guys leave.

    #97376
    Texpack
    Participant

    True. When you have an eight man rotation, you don’t spend a lot of time looking for the tenth guy and you don’t stick around if you’re not top eight.

    In year five the lack of depth is on Gott and nobody else. I’ll be shocked if we win another game before Henderson gets back. We haven’t been this overmatched since Les.

    If we don’t recruit some bigs who can play, we are headed for D2. It gets really serious pretty soon.

    #97383
    Primewolf
    Participant

    I am afraid Gott is on the down slide. Hopefully, he can right the ship next year, but there seem to be so many flaws in his program from recruiting to coaching, or lack thereof, to in game decisions, and playing only 7-8 guys. Does anyone see us as a contender in the ACC with Gott at the helm.

    #97384
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Does anyone see us as a contender in the ACC with Gott at the helm.

    Contender as in competing for conference championships? Nope. Plenty of tape to know that’s not going to happen. Contender as in getting us into the dance with a chance to make a run? Yes, he can do that. But the dancing shoes are going to have to be dusted off. We’re not going this year, and next year does not look good either.

    #97385
    wolfpack92owen
    Participant

    I am afraid Gott is on the down slide. Hopefully, he can right the ship next year, but there seem to be so many flaws in his program from recruiting to coaching, or lack thereof, to in game decisions, and playing only 7-8 guys. Does anyone see us as a contender in the ACC with Gott at the helm.

    People keep saying this but how exactly? Whats the best case scenario here? I dont see it. At best, at absolute best I see us back in the middle of the acc and a bubble team.

    We are losing Cat and probably 2 others just by the nature of the beast. We are gaining Smith and a UNCC transfer and thats it. I just dont see next year as some high water team and with recruiting going the way it is 2017 looks embarrassingly bad.

    #97389
    papackman
    Participant

    Can’t see where Coach Gottfried and staff is doing any better than Sendek & Company….and this in no way is intended to show any support for Herb Sendek. Just sayin!

    #97391
    john of sparta
    Participant

    yeah, i don’t know.
    might this be our business model?

    spend the least, fulfill requirements,
    and receive our share of the ACC pie.
    that seemed to be Maryland’s Big10
    strategy, but the Terps brought
    basketball to the table.

    our comparative net would be instructive.

    #97394
    pakfanistan
    Participant

    Can’t see where Coach Gottfried and staff is doing any better than Sendek & Company….and this in no way is intended to show any support for Herb Sendek. Just sayin!

    I understand the frustration w/Gott, but this is straight ridiculous.

    100% NCAA tournament appearance > 50% tournament appearance, two S16 > 1 S16. I’m bored and don’t feel looking up the all time stats against Carolina and Duke, but Gott has won 4 in four years and I’m pretty sure Sendek sucked a fatty against anyone not named Matt Doherty.

    Doesn’t stress fundamentals, can’t coach defense, poor roster management, whatever, but Gott is clearly better than Sendek at this point.

    #97396
    wolfpack92owen
    Participant

    Can’t see where Coach Gottfried and staff is doing any better than Sendek & Company….and this in no way is intended to show any support for Herb Sendek. Just sayin!

    I understand the frustration w/Gott, but this is straight ridiculous.

    100% NCAA tournament appearance > 50% tournament appearance, two S16 > 1 S16. I’m bored and don’t feel looking up the all time stats against Carolina and Duke, but Gott has won 4 in four years and I’m pretty sure Sendek sucked a fatty against anyone not named Matt Doherty.

    Doesn’t stress fundamentals, can’t coach defense, poor roster management, whatever, but Gott is clearly better than Sendek at this point.

    not to defend Herbert but he was finishing high in the ACC (2nd 3rd) regardless of getting his ass handed to him by the blues. I think I would take finishing high in the ACC now vs the occasional win.

    #97397
    Rick
    Keymaster

    Can’t see where Coach Gottfried and staff is doing any better than Sendek & Company….and this in no way is intended to show any support for Herb Sendek. Just sayin!

    I understand the frustration w/Gott, but this is straight ridiculous.

    100% NCAA tournament appearance > 50% tournament appearance, two S16 > 1 S16. I’m bored and don’t feel looking up the all time stats against Carolina and Duke, but Gott has won 4 in four years and I’m pretty sure Sendek sucked a fatty against anyone not named Matt Doherty.

    Doesn’t stress fundamentals, can’t coach defense, poor roster management, whatever, but Gott is clearly better than Sendek at this point.

    I agree Gott is better than Herbie but the similarity is both have an obvious ceiling. Gott’s is just a little higher.

    #97400
    pakfanistan
    Participant

    not to defend Herbert but he was finishing high in the ACC (2nd 3rd) regardless of getting his ass handed to him by the blues. I think I would take finishing high in the ACC now vs the occasional win.

    Herb finished second once, and third once. In ten years. His average finish was 5.3. Gott’s is about the same, and Duke and Carolina are arguably better now than they were during the Herb years.

    Also who gives a crap about second and third place (at best) regular season conference finishes?

    I care about winning an NCAA championship, winning an ACC championship and beating Carolina and Duke. In that order.

    #97401
    wolfpack92owen
    Participant

    not to defend Herbert but he was finishing high in the ACC (2nd 3rd) regardless of getting his ass handed to him by the blues. I think I would take finishing high in the ACC now vs the occasional win.

    Herb finished second once, and third once. In ten years. His average finish was 5.3. Gott’s is about the same, and Duke and Carolina are arguably better now than they were during the Herb years.

    Also who gives a crap about second and third place (at best) regular season conference finishes?

    I care about winning an NCAA championship, winning an ACC championship and beating Carolina and Duke. In that order.

    2nd or 3rd place puts us in a good position for the ACC tourney and a higher seed in the NCAA. I just want to win an ACC title and then go from there. Not having to play the extra game in the ACC tourney so far has proven vital in the tourney.

    #97402
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    I care about winning an NCAA championship, winning an ACC championship and beating Carolina and Duke. In that order.

    Let’s reverse that…

    I think Everybody will be alot happier!

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    #97404
    pakfanistan
    Participant

    Let’s reverse that…

    I think Everybody will be alot happier!

    Truly, I understand the appeal of that, but it’s always the fallback for the teams in blue. “Sure, you beat us, but who won/has more NCAA/ACC championship(s).”

    I want to be able to use that line.

    #97405
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    It more a matter of taking a big job and breaking it down into a bunch of little jobs…

    Building on fundamentals from the ground up…
    which is a concept few under 40 is today’s world of instant gratification understand.

    If you consistently beat the “blues”, then you should be contending for an ACC title every season…
    IF you are ACC champs… you’re two steps closer to the Final Four…
    From that point, the Natty is really a combination of talent and luck…

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    #97406
    NCSU84
    Participant

    Back to your point about only having 9 scholarship players. You do realize Gott is competing against (and I hate to admit it) two of college basketball’s premiere programs. Others probably shied away from us for that reason (e.g. Callipari, Smart, Wright, etc…). Gott knew that recruiting against the blues would be a challenge, but accepted the job anyway. Does anyone in his right mind think that Gott only wanted 9 scholarship players this year? Does anyone think that he did not try to recruit 5 star talent? Stop and think about it, if you are a 5 star recruit, would NC State be at the top of your list – probably not. So he had an off recruiting year – it happens and will continue in the short term. I for one am not willing to re-live the Les, Herb, or Sidney years all over again. After a pattern of bad seasons then and only then would I entertain the idea of a coaching change. But until that happens, staying the course is the most prudent thing to do.

    #97407
    Tau837
    Participant

    not to defend Herbert but he was finishing high in the ACC (2nd 3rd) regardless of getting his ass handed to him by the blues. I think I would take finishing high in the ACC now vs the occasional win.

    Herb finished second once, and third once. In ten years. His average finish was 5.3. Gott’s is about the same, and Duke and Carolina are arguably better now than they were during the Herb years.

    Also who gives a crap about second and third place (at best) regular season conference finishes?

    I care about winning an NCAA championship, winning an ACC championship and beating Carolina and Duke. In that order.

    Yes, Herb finished second once and tied for third once… both times in a 9 team ACC, once with Doherty coaching UNC and the other time with Roy cleaning up Doherty’s mess. Those finishes are not particularly impressive in retrospect.

    Gott is coaching in a different and more difficult ACC than Herb was in those two seasons.

    #97408
    wolfpack92owen
    Participant

    not to defend Herbert but he was finishing high in the ACC (2nd 3rd) regardless of getting his ass handed to him by the blues. I think I would take finishing high in the ACC now vs the occasional win.

    Herb finished second once, and third once. In ten years. His average finish was 5.3. Gott’s is about the same, and Duke and Carolina are arguably better now than they were during the Herb years.

    Also who gives a crap about second and third place (at best) regular season conference finishes?

    I care about winning an NCAA championship, winning an ACC championship and beating Carolina and Duke. In that order.

    Yes, Herb finished second once and tied for third once… both times in a 9 team ACC, once with Doherty coaching UNC and the other time with Roy cleaning up Doherty’s mess. Those finishes are not particularly impressive in retrospect.

    Gott is coaching in a different and more difficult ACC than Herb was in those two seasons.

    Yeah I get all of that, but I was just making the point that by finishing high in the ACC, whether you are beating the blues or not, you have a better chance of winning the ACC tourney and getting a higher seed to go further in the NCAA. Having to play those extra games in the ACC tourney has proved deadly in years past. Teams, especially those with short benches, are not equipped to play so many times in a short time frame. Kindof stupid actually but that is the new ACC.

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 54 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.