We have already had a lot of conversation about the upcoming basketball season, but the ACC’s Operation Basketball will most definitely raise the conversation for a few days. (Pack Pride has some NC State coverage at this link.) Coach Sidney Lowe continues to impress with some fantastic comments and statements.
The following are some of the results from Operation Basketball and the ACC Basketball rankings FINALLY look as they should look - UNC, Duke and NC State sitting at the top. Welcome back to Tobacco Road! If you want related audio then just click here.
2007-08 ACC Predicted Order of Finish
1. North Carolina (768)
2. Duke (653)
3. NC State (641)
4. Clemson (514)
5. Virginia (492)
6. Maryland (447)
7. Georgia Tech (389)
8. Boston College (332)
9. Florida State (284)
10. Virginia Tech (162)
11. Wake Forest (157)
12. Miami (153)
Pre-Season All-Conference Team
Tyler Hansbrough, Jr., North Carolina
Sean Singletary, Sr., Virginia
Tyrese Rice, Jr., Boston College
Brandon Costner, So., NC State
Ty Lawson, So., North Carolina
Pre-Season Player of the Year:
Tyler Hansbrough, Jr., North Carolina (60)
Sean Singletary, Sr., Virginia (4)
Pre-Season Rookie of the Year:
Kyle Singler, Duke (36)
J.J. Hickson, NC State (15)
Nolan Smith, Duke (5)
5 others with 8 votes
For fun, we thought that it would be interesting to look back at previous posts related to the ACC’s Operation Basketball.
* On October 24, 2005, NC State was chosen to finish fourth in the ACC (Link)
* On October 22, 2006, NC State was chosen to finish last in the ACC (Link)
did anyone go to Reynolds on Friday? how was it?
Pre season all conference team has three pg’s. Has it always been the five best players regardless of position?
No dig on him, but I think Rice is going to struggle a bit w/o the presence of guys like Dudley, Marshall, Williams, and Smith.
UMd is a close second as a dark horse coming into this season, although with all the attention springing up we’re hardy a sleeper pick at this point. I like their back court, and Williams always finds a way to get something resembling servicable out of his front court.
I’m a bit surprised Maryland is not higher. Those two rookie point guards did pretty well for Maryland last year and should be ready to up their game.
I really don’t, no wait, can’t see Dook finishing 2nd in the league. They will have to rely greatly on their backcourt for playmaking and scoring. Really, I mean, think about it…who do they have in the frontcourt? Henderson is a nice player, but he can’t dominate the frontcourt by himself. Sure, guard play has become the staple of college basketball in recent years, but name for me any team that has been successful with great guardplay and no frontcourt. Even though it was just McBob, Dook has lost a lot from last year in that area.
State’s frontcourt will be their strength, and the question mark will be point guard. I do believe, however, that coaching of inexperienced position players can go a long way toward stabilizing a shaky position. (Especially when those coaches PLAYED the position in this particular league)
Other than the top 4, I think I can agree with the preseason rankings for this season. 1–UNX
2–NCSU 3–Clemson 4–Dook.
Call me crazy, or an extreme optimist, but that’s how I see it.
I think the top 4 are fairly solid. Don’t hand UNC-ch the regular season yet though. After that it is anyone’s guess. I think Md and BC can be good. Who will score for UVa other than Sing? I like us to be as good, or better than predicted. Go Pack!
Duke will be good. Henderson is very close to breaking out into a true POY guy and they’ll have a lot of shooters (Scheyer, 2 Fr’s, Paulus). However, the weak frontcourt is a problem and I think they’ll struggle against the dominant paint teams (State and UNC).
bigwood,
Check out a few posts ago–the one about Calipari. Towards the end of the post there was some talk about the stuff at Reynolds Friday night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhkGCbE5XE4
This is Lowe’s pre-B-Ballin’-At-The-Old-Barn speech. For some reason he mentioned wanting to see everyone at the RBC Center making noise when they play Carolina. Am I missing something? Isn’t that game still 1/16th of the conference schedule?
UVA always seems to be too high on the preseason list than disappoints during the season. I think they are much too high especially given the lack of a true inside presence. The only true scoring threats are guys who make their living outside the perimeter or driving to the basket (Singletary, Joseph, and Diane). I think the deeper teams…UNC, NCSU, and Clemson will usher in guys to wear down the UVA guards. They will win some games against good teams based on Singletary’s talent alone, but I think the lack of an inside presence will make them inconsistent.
On the other hand, I expect Maryland to be a damn good team by the end of the season. I like the duo of Vaz & Hayes while Gist gives them a nice option on the inside.
Duke will not finish 2nd. Kyle Singler is not the next Greg Oden.
Test
Did anyone see G. Williams comments on how high we were picked and how low Maryland was picked? He said that he never pays attention to the preseason picks, yet commented on how his team beat us twice last year and is picked below them.
SFN: I would have no problem with what he said…if this were LAST YEAR. They lost Mike Jones, DJ Strawberry and their foreign-named-bigman-of-the-year. We lost one point guard and gained 5 abled bodies to support a talented core group of players.
^^
In light of Gary Williams snarky comments, I wonder if he is the unnamed ACC head coach quoted in Barry Jacob’s column on the WRAL website:
“Last season, Sidney Lowe’s first at the helm, N.C. State finished tied for 10th in the conference and settled for an appearance in the NIT, hardly a dramatic arrival. There is no experienced point guard. What’s more, one ACC head coach confides that, in his opinion, Lowe’s squad played little defense last season despite winning 20 games.”
BTW, Jacobs agrees with our ranking in the top 3, so don’t shoot the messenger…
^ It will be fun watching that cry baby try to control his language. If there is a school that has two more classless and dislikable revenue sports coaches than Maryland, I can’t think of it.
Has there been another ACC player in Hansbrough’s career that could match up with him like Hickson?
I see one of two scenarios when we play Carolina:
1 - Hansbrough gets frustrated facing his physical equal and ultimately explodes in a fit of steroid rage.
or
2 - Hickson picks up three fouls within the first five minutes of the game.
SFN: Get ready for option #2
Our D was lacking last year, but with our lack of depth we couldn’t afford to play more aggressively not to mention our top four players played more than 32 minutes per game and got very little rest.
Not to mention that our leading shot blocker was Courtney Fells.
My thoughts: who cares where we’re ranked preseason? No one gets a banner for that.
The great thing about college basketball is that if you win your games, the rest takes care of itself. This team will win its games.
Bingo.
It’s hard to speculate on Hickson’s matchup with Tyler OhMyStars HisWillHisWillHisWilltoWin UgExcuseMeNeedaKleenex Hansborough, but goodness knows the ACC refs and assorted sportswriters agree it’s hard to block out someone effectively who can walk on water.
Everyone, including the coaches, readily admitted that our defense was poor last year. They also have hinted that the increased depth and talent on this year’s squad has created a situation where competition on both sides of the court has been noticeably elevated.
I think this is where the projection of improvement actually lies. If NC State can simply be as efficient on offense as we were last year, any improvement on defense will yield much better results.
As tough as Engin Atsur was…even while he was on the court or defense struggled a bit because he was limited due to injury. Defense starts with pressure on the ball. The opposing point guard usually has the ball in his hands the most. With the athletic ability and toughness of both Degand and Gonzalez, you can’t help but expect immediate improvement on defense JUST because of improved pressure on the opposing point guard.
I think the run in the tournament actually provided proof positive that depth was an issue all season.
You can’t play twice a week for two months and survive — much less win — on heart and intensity alone. But you CAN muster up enough energy to do it for one very long weekend when your season is over when you lose.
I think the fact that we were so competitive in the tournament says a lot for how good this team can be with depth.
I don’t know if any of you guys saw the interview with Gavin Grant on WRAL.com but its awesome. I love to see that guy give interviews cuz he treats stupid questions from the media exactly like they should be; that it was a stupid question.
Anywho, in the interview they asked him about JJ and he said something like: “the guy has a great work ethic, he’s a beast, but i like the most that he blocks shots and rebounds.”
He also mentioned again: “if we hang out hats on defense we’ll be alright.”
and of course this quote from Coach Lowe shows that “The AD that shall remain nameless” basically lucked out and got not only a players-coach but more importantly a fans-coach, and someone who not only is a fan of the game but a fan of the history of the tradition and the rivalries…i love this quote.
“All the fans that wake up in the morning and their neighbors might be a Duke fan or a Carolina fan or a Wake fan. We are representing them. The fact that they can go outside and get their newspaper with a smile on their faces – that’s what its all about to me.”
And that’s what its all about to me too!
^ The newspaper quote is as eloquent an expression of true fan understanding as any I can remember. It is PRECISELY the truth.
I think Handsblo may just break down and weep after he realizes what JJ can do to him.
I for one am looking forward to basketball so I can watch Hansborough “listen” again… Some of the best listening I’ve ever seen was the presser after the Georgetown loss. Truly special listening…
That really was stellar listening, Dr. B. Who can ever forget it? People all across America that day said to each other, “Look at that kid listen! Have you ever witnessed such glorious listening?”
Just like old times again.
Got to like Lowe’s attitude:
““It’s definitely beneficial – absolutely,” Lowe said. “When you can say that you are right down the road from a University like that with a coach like that, with their tradition and their history… to me, that’s a drawing card, because if I’m one of the top players in the country, I’m going to look at that and say, ‘Okay, that’s who I want to play against.’”
This one is worth the read.
http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=275638
Good article Mike.
PS
Note it is not a subscription article adn anyone can read it.
lush,
What is wrong with you? I was just thanking melike (not mike) for posting an article I could read and enjoy.
^^^^Great find.
“Even with a nagging question at point guard, where all three candidates are untested, injured or both, you get the feeling that Lowe will flash that grin, throw on that red cape, er, coat and somehow figure out a way to make everything turn out right.”
Why is it the Fayetteville Observer always does a better job covering the pack than the N&O?
Gary Williams needs to spend more time worrying about HIS sorry academic record and GT destroying him in HIS backyard recruiting base and less worrying about Sid taking things back to the 70’s when Maryland’s best teams were an afterthought to State’s teams….
(Well, maybe he should worry a little bit about that…)
From the 2005 link:
LMAO.
“He straight-up told me that he’s here to win and he’s going to do whatever it takes for us. You could just see in his eyes that he believes it.”
This is a quote from the Fay. Obs. article from Ben McCauley. I think this sums up a lot about Sid. Not only does he say the right things, but it’s 100% believable. That is what has impressed me about him from the beginning. I was sitting in our house at Wake Forest watching his press conference on the internet and I immediately looked at my wife and said, “We’ve gotta hurry and get over to the track!” I got the same vibe listening to his radio interviews. I remember after Sid answered Mark Packer’s question about what he tells recruits about coming to NC State, Packer responded, “Where do I sign up!” I felt the same way. In his speech from Friday night, Sid didn’t just mention Carolina, but you could tell that when he did he meant it. It almost seemed like he wanted to play them right then and there. I can’t wait to see his infectious passion carry over onto the court again this year except with a few more players.
^^vtpackfan - No the all-ACC team hasn’t always been the top five vote getters. When UMd played the 3 guard offense with John Lucas, Mo Howard and Brad Davis, they designated Lucas as a forward. He and DT were the All-ACC forwards that year. They were unable to sneak one of the other guards on the first team, which was their goal. At some point after that the selection process changed.
I’m disappointed that we are picked behind Dook. Sidney still remembers the way V owned Coach K and he will expect to win 60-70% of the games with the Dookies.
I can’t wait for basketball season to actually start.
beowulf
These kids, what are you going to do with them. That sentence is both funny and sad at the same time. But those folks, “the ones under 30 years old” honestly don’t even have a clue what it is to be a LEGITIMATE ACC basketball program.
They’re about to find out though!!!
“I’m disappointed that we are picked behind Dook.”
Why? Who cares?
Otherwise though Texpack, I enjoyed your reference to the old three guard Terp offense. It’s fun to think back. That was back before whole universe was turned upside down. But anyway, UM had some some exciting players and great teams, there was just one team in their way though.
“Singletary’s talent alone”
Is that redundant?