Thought that we would open a thread for the day for your enjoyment. We’ve had a ton of activity and great entries over the last week…so, we implore you to surf the site and take a look at some of the great entries and fantastic conversations in some of the entries that exist).
Additionally, we will throw just a couple of neat things out in case you are interested:
* Raycom will broadcast four regular season ACC Basktetball games in High Definition this year and two of them will include the Wolfpack - whose home and away uniforms look particularly good in HD. You can see the schedule by clicking here.
* Speaking of the ACC Basketball schedule, this entry does some awesome work of analyzing what is to come for the Wolfpack as it relates to our RPI and chances to get into the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
* Speaking of the NCAA Basketball Tournament…I hope that Jay Bilas is wrong about is projection, but his comments are absolutely DEAD ON. You can click here to see his fantastic take on NC State and the entire ACC.
* Wondering how the ACC Basketball teams have been doing out of conference? Click here for a quick picture.
* Nice blog post tracking NC State and UNC-CH recruits.
* Paul Johnson has his staff together at Georgia Tech.
I admit, I am a conference guy. It pains me to deal with all of the SEC dolts in the Atl area. But make no mistake, with the Chokies loss last night, the ACC took it on the chin again this year. On and off the field (Duke case; no one in Final Four; football problems, etc.) the conference has struggled mightily. Here’s hoping we show flex some muscle in round ball (with the ‘Pack getting into the NCAAs of course) and rebound in football next year, w/ TOB leading a charge.
I thought it was a week of some of the dumbest coaching moves I have ever seen. WVU hiring a special teams coach with little head coaching experience (VMI for 3 seasons until racial slurr drove him out). He may do fine next year with all the returners, but in the long run I don’t see this guy recruiting well, plus 3 assistants from that staff are leaving for Michigan. Got to be the DoH! move of the year. way to go WVU way think with your heart and not your head. Morons.
Secondly, the dolphins for firing Cam Cameron. Yeah the guy went 1-15, but so did Jimmy Johnson at Dallas, so did Tom Landry and Chuck Knoll. Now I am not comparing Cameron to these guys but it at least proves that you don’t know how good a coach is going to be after 1 season. One in which your starting running back, starting quarterback and starting middle linebacker went down with injury. The Big Tuna think is a Big Fraud. Other than the Giants, which he won cause he is a good coach, where is there any evidence he knows how to build a great team. Any? He fires everyone and brings in his people. Will probably hire an unproven coach who will be his yes man, just like his hire for GM. Dolphins fans may regret they ever heard the name Parcells, just ask the Jets and Patriots, two teams he quit on before the rebuilding process was done.
I was a bit surprised that State appears twice in the Raycom HD roster…that’s very good news for us. Hopefully it will even be in 1080i.
Surprised that Bilas would go so far as to project us in the NIT. I assume that implies he does not project us to lose another non-conference game, so I have to assume this means he projects us getting 7 or fewer combined wins in our ACC regular season and ACC tournament play.
One other thing, if you’ll spare a moment: you folks may have seen that Google Ads have finally been completely implemented throughout the site.
When you see something you might be interested in, take a minute to click on the link in the ad and check it out a little further. Each time you do that, it helps out the guys who operate the site.
Yesterday, I was reading through an article and saw a link to a site that sells vintage college sports apparel and found a copy of an old National Championship t-shirt I had from back in summer of ‘83. It’s long worn out and yeah, I’ve gone up a couple (or three) sizes since then, but I was able to get a replacement for what was once one of my favorites. Pretty cool.
Different topic for the open thread. In case you guys aren’t aware of it, NCAA On Demand (http://www.ncaaondemand.com/) sells DVDs of games in many different NCAA sports. For Wolfpack men’s basketball, they currently have 19 games available - a mix of regular season, ACC tournament, and NCAA tournament games - with 48 other DVDs currently available for pre-ordering.
For Christmas, I got our 1998 regular season win over UNC in which C.C. Harrison scores 31 points. Pretty cool.
Can’t believe it took them this long to realize they could make money off all of the footage they have of all NCAA sports.
Speaking of dumb moves, who made the dumbest, Bob Stoops for losing all momentum against a WVU team that was flailing or Frank Beamer for losing the same by allowing ANY forward pass to be thrown after halftime.
“He may do fine next year with all the returners, but in the long run I don’t see this guy recruiting well”
I disagree. He’s an emotional coach. I see him recruiting well from WVA and surrounding states by appealing to kid’s and parent’s emotions. However, he is NOT a disciplinarian, so I see his future teams looking a lot like Chuck’s teams here. Plenty of talent, but never playing to that level on the field, and LOTS of stupid penalties.
“Other than the Giants, which he won cause he is a good coach, where is there any evidence he knows how to build a great team. Any?”
He built a pretty dang good Cowboys team. One that’s the best team in the NFC this year. I know half the guys were his and half were Jerry Jones’ boys, but there’s something to be said if you look at their records the years he was there vs. the years before he showed up. I’m a Dolphins fan, and I approve of Parcells as the captain of the ship. The guy knows how to win in the NFL. If he wants a yes man as coach, that’s even better. Especially if it’s the asst HC from Dallas.
And RAWFS, give me 720p for sports any day of the week over 1080i.
I watched the VT Bball game last night…. like the football team they too lost to Richmond. To top it off, Richmond had a 15 minute FG drought that spanned both halves.
Bad day to be a VT fan yesterday.
“the Big Tuna think is a Big Fraud. Other than the Giants, which he won cause he is a good coach, where is there any evidence he knows how to build a great team. Any?”
Um. Considerable.
Three Super Bowls (21, 25 and 31)? Which is, btw, three more than most coaches get to.
The Giants were the worst team in football before he took over. He won two super bowls with them.
The Pats were 1-15 when they hired Parcells. They got better every year after that. He was the one who drafted McGinnest, Ben Coates, Terry Glenn, and about 20 other guys who were part of the winning squad in the super bowl after he left.
The Jets were 4-28 when they finally dumped Rich Kotite. Two years after taking them over, Parcells had them at 12-4 and a game away from the Super Bowl. They were the favorites to win the AFC in 1999 before Testaverde ripped up his achilles.
The Cowboys were 5-11 three years in a row before hiring Parcells. They doubled that in his first year and are probably the best team in the NFC right now.
Half of the teams in the NFL playoffs in 2006 had coaches that were part of the Parcells coaching tree.
Fraud? He’s easily the best coach in the NFL since Lombardi. The only coach from the modern era that comes close to him is Shula.
Over on the Rivals site, there are a couple of stories about the Under Armor HS all star game and NC State commit Mike Glennon. he won the qb skills competition (which is airing tonight on espn2 at 7pm) and appears to be one of the starters in the game (2pm sat. on abc). i’m kinda getting excited about this kid now, as it seems he’s distinguishing himself even against top competion. he also took his team to a state championship. too bad he’s not enrolling in january for spring practice.
There is no way this team shouldn’t go to the NCAA’s. Otherwise Bilas’ comments seem about right.
Could SFN shed any additional light on Lorenzo Brown? Has State not offered him because of only having two scholarships and hoping to ink Wall and Kelly? He looks very good on paper.
Is Clemson for real? We’ll know for sure when Carolina shows up at Littlejohn on Sunday night (FSN, 7:30)
i disagree w/ bilas’ season-ending prognosis; he states some things that most of us have seen and are on target, but IMHO, is leaving little or no room for this team to improve throughout the season (a HUGE reason why predictions at this time of the year are generally a waste of time, though his effort is commendable)
in bilas’ rundown of this team, it’s as if our current roster won’t improve ANY as the season goes on … this could come to fruition, but certainly i hope it doesn’t
we all have seen how both our rebounding and defensive efforts have improved (in general) over the last 5 games … if this continues the major “IF” is all on our inexperienced point guards … if johnson and javi can keep improving and NOT TURN THE BALL OVER, then i think this team has a decent chance of making the tourney … i’m hoping for an end-of-season charge with contiued improved play and barring injuries (knock on wood) … even our offensive ball movement is starting to get a tad better
of course, in years past, we pretty much all agree (save for a few) that it was a given that the team and individual players would not improve as a season wore on and that we could hope for the NIT and call it a season … but i think this team COULD be a force by the end of the season - i really believe that … i’m not ready to write this season off yet
go pack!
^”Is Clemson for real? We’ll know for sure when Carolina shows up at Littlejohn on Sunday night (FSN, 7:30)”
i wouldn’t call clemson a fraud even if they lose somewhat badly sunday night (though, i think that won’t happen - i actually believe they have a decent chance to win) … chapel hill college is a pretty tough match-up for them -
they do well from the line, in general (whereas clemson still does not) … clemson is a pressing team, chapel hill college has plenty of press breakers (though we’ll see what happens if lawson has to come out of the game for any long stretch and either q thomas or ginyard (ginyard!) has to play point against the press now that frasor is out) … if clemson can stay out of foul trouble and make chapel hill turn it over some and deny transition buckets then it could certainly happen
as for clemson being a fraud, i don’t think so … i think they’re different this year and won’t collapse … i’ve seen them play 3 times or so now and have been impressed each time … and the schedule has been tougher this season as well - with the only loss coming to a solid ole miss club … time will tell, but i think clemson makes it in this year (to the NCAA’s that is)
After watching the Orange Bowl and VT’s bowl last year, I hope Mike Glennon is significantly better than his brother in big games.
I just read that PJ didn’t retain Tenuta at Tech. Any idea where he’ll end up? He’s a great DC and I hope he leaves the ACC (unless we needed a new DC).
TYTR^^i have to wander about beamer using the dual qb system this yr. and i wonder if that has affected Glennon’s play by getting him out of synch.
WolfmanDave: rumors have been floating around that Tenuta replaces departed Pelinni at LSU.
‘04: you could almost see the same sort of platoon system with M Glennon and Wilson here in Raleigh. It worked pretty well for VT most of the season, and it worked here with Davenport and Montgomery.
Miami going 9-7 in conference play? I’ll bet on Noah getting his date with Natalie Portman before that.
RAWFS:
You say you got a replacement for that t-shirt? Did you take it to a printer and have it duplicated? If so, was it in Raleigh? Assuming you’re talking about the old Cardiac Pack T with the wolf and the basketball, I’d like to have one of those as well to replaced the one I wore out as a kid.
Bilas’ words hit home oh too hard. But, what he is failing to acknowledge is the massive amounts of improvement over the last 2-3 weeks–throwing out the first half of WCU. Our PG situation is getting better, as I believe we had 21 assists on 22 FG’s against WCU. If you take a statistical view of our last 4-5 games, I think we’d be ranked much higher in the ACC in almost every stat.
MJ isn’t scoring yet, but I believe he has the ability to score, he was shooting 42% in high school at the arc over a period of 6 games out of position as a forward, so theres no reason to believe that he couldn’t knock down a open 3 if he had the chance. His form isn’t optimal, but I think that can be worked on in the off-season. He doesn’t seem afraid to drive the lane for a layup either, and seems to have good body control when he does.
Javi just needs to gain some confidence, his form isn’t bad and he’s pretty solid and doesn’t make any dumb mistakes for the most part.
Gawolf — no, I found it by clicking through one of the Google ad links here. I forget the site’s name, but it will come back up I am sure. The Google ads rotate.
On another note, here’s a funny-because-it’s-true article from ‘Making The Dance’: How To Win In The College Hoops Hype Game
1. Have a long list of schools you are considering (at least 7) and you can even pepper in a few top name schools (not showing interest) to increase the desirability factor for the fans of your interest schools. Remember you are playing to the fans at the schools to increase media attention, not the coaches. You want as many hoops-crazed fan forums talking about you as possible.
Great stuff.
^trip -
my sentiments exactly …
Clemson’s only loss? YOUR OLD MISS REBELS! Who remain undefeated. Andy Kennedy is our coach - wasn’t he an assistant at State at one point? I know there is some connection with the Pack.
Did any of y’all go and cheer for Nevada when the played at the dome of the dead? lol.
heck, OLE MISS - how said was that? I’d spell my own name wrong if it wasn’t tattooed on the back of my hand.
Ev -
IIRC, kennedy was on state’s bball roster briefly under V before transferring … there was some bitterness after the transfer, i believe
(of course, i could be pulling this all from my a**, but i think that’s what went down)
Bilas usually gets props for being smart but he doesn’t know as much about guard play as our coach. I think that our PG’s have turned the corner and that MJ esp. is looking like his 4* HS rating after only 2 games. We can only get better at that spot as our guys get more confident. UNC-CH always looks unbeatable in early season and then slips. I like Roy as a person and think he is a better game coach than Dean but he doesn’t get today’s game and players like Sid.
As noted by RAWFS, Javi is getting another start at the PG position. I honestly thought that Marques would have clenched that spot by now judging by his performance in the last 2 games, but as many have said, Sid knows what he’s doing, and he has his reasons. Sid has also drove home that it’s not who you start, it’s who you finish with. I think Sid is on the same page as some of us, in that Javi just needs a little confidence in his game, and hopefully starting will help that some.
Bring on the Midget Bomb Squad ! Once again I’m stuck beside the band with the goal in my face at the game but, GO WOLFPACK.
Presbyterian
Height:
Overall: 74.8 330
C: -1.2 299
PF: -2.1 331
SF: -1.0 272
SG: -1.1 267
PG: -3.3 326
3PA/FGA :49.9 (2) - One three pointer every other shot.
3-Point FG%:36.2 (145)
Kennedy was a sharp shooting 6′8″ freshman guard, but stick thin. He struggled on D but I think that was his partly due to 180 lbs. Andy could shoot it though, no doubt about it. Transferred out because there were a glut of players in his position.
Kennedy married a Raleigh girl and ended up in Cincinnati working for Huggins I believe, and I think he took over during Huggy’s troubles. Disappointed he did not get the full time gig, but obviously doing well now.
Call me crazy, but I have a bad feeling about the Presbyterian game. The Hose are all about the 3 point shot. I can see 2 or 3 of there guys having career days from the 3 line, especially if State takes this one as lightly as they did WCU. I’m taking my 2 grand nephews to the game, ages 7 and 10. This will be the first college basketball game they have ever attended. One is a UNX fan the other is a DOOK fan. I have been trying to sway them back from the dark side. Please Wolfpack put on a show for the boys and show them what real basketball is about. A loss or even a poor showing against the Hose means 2 potential new Wolfpack fans probably are gone to the dark and light blue side forever.
At the risk of SFN losing out on its click-though pennies (I can only wait for an ad so long), here it the vintage t-shirt site. Just select the Pack from the pull down school menu.
http://www.championsagain.com/
RAWFS
You did not happen to wear that shirt to Southpoint mall on Sat? I saw someone wearing one there.