Monday news and notes: optimism edition

09-10 Basketball ACC27

Just a few quick hits from the weekend in ACC basketball  for those who didn’t pay attention to any games besides NC State’s near-comeback/heartbreaker against Clemson.

Georgia Tech 73, Carolina 71

Georgia Tech (13-4, 2-2) blew a 20-point lead of its own in Chapel Hill Saturday before getting a big bucket late from Zach Peacock to seal the deal against the Heels. Iman Shumpert scored 30 for the Jackets and looked unstoppable on numerous occasions.

Maryland 73, Boston College 57

Greivis Vasquez scored 17 points and dished out nine assists for the Terps in what was the most boring game of the weekend. The Terps (11-5, 2-1) handed Boston College (10-8, 1-3) its third straight conference loss in a row.

Florida State 63, Virginia Tech 58

The Seminoles (14-4, 2-2), perhaps more than anyone else this weekend, tried to give their game away to the Hokies, allowing Va. Tech (13-3, 1-2) to get within one point after being down by eight with 37 seconds to go. Two late free throws from Michael Snaer pushed the lead to three and then two more put the game away.

Virginia 75, Miami 57

The Cavaliers remained unbeaten in league play with a wire-to-wire victory over Miami (15-3, 1-3), who is fast asserting itself as quite possibly one of the worst teams in the league despite being ranked coming into Saturday’s game. Virginia (11-4, 3-0) hasn’t been 3-0 in league since the 1994-1995 season.

On a side note, the Cavaliers are still trying to sell tickets for upcoming ACC games (sound familiar?). Prices start at $10.

Duke 90, Wake Forest 70

The lone Sunday game this week saw the Blue Devils use a 13-point second half run to pull away from the Deacons. Mason Plumlee scored 19 and grabbed 14 boards while Kyle Singler tallied 21 and 15 for the eighth-ranked Blue Devils (15-2, 3-1). Wake Forest (12-4, 2-2) dropped its 12h straight to Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Now, on to that whole optimism thing.

NC State fans should look forward to the next few weeks for several reasons, but the most important of those has absolutely nothing to do with the Wolfpack. The ACC is a complete crap shoot this season. More than any season I can remember — at least recently — anyone can win on any given night. And it doesn’t seem to matter where the games are either. Save Cameron Indoor Stadium, no home court appears safe thus far. 

Mix the ACC randomness with more consistent play from the Wolfpack and you could be talking about some wins that will surprise people.  The Duke game Wednesday doesn’t look too good, but if Kyle Singler’s somewhat injured wrist hampers him it could be interesting. Maryland is schizophrenic at best, so that game is suddenly winnable and next Tuesday’s match up with UNC looks more like a toss up every time Carolina steps on the court.

While many NC State fans are remaining pessimistic (which is a great plan as of now), it’s hard not to see the potential for good things in the next few weeks. And, at least for me personally, that’s very refreshing.

School Conf. Pct. Overall Pct.
Virginia 3-0 1.000 11-4 .733
Duke 3-1 .750 15-2 .882
Clemson 3-1 .750 15-3 .833
Maryland 2-1 .667 11-5 .688
Florida State 2-2 .500 14-4 .778
Georgia Tech 2-2 .500 13-4 .765
Wake Forest 2-2 .500 12-4 .750
Virginia Tech 1-2 .333 13-3 .812
North Carolina 1-2 .333 12-6 .667
Miami 1-3 .250 15-3 .833
NC State 1-3 .250 12-6 .667
Boston College 1-3 .250 10-8 .556
09-10 Basketball ACC

27 Responses to Monday news and notes: optimism edition

  1. choppack1 01/18/2010 at 1:58 PM #

    Saturday’s game while a bit of bummer – wasn’t one of those heartbreaking losses for me that I’d been so accustomed to. I really enjoyed watching us battle back – and I’m thrilled w/ the development of Howell. I’m also pleased that Lowe isn’t stubbornly playing certain guys…he appears to be going w/ those who are performing (which is a contrast to even earlier in the year when Howell sat on the bench of the last few minutes of the Arizona game when he played so well in the second half.)

    I think the key for the Pack this year will be staying close to .500. I think we can string together a few wins in a row – and it would be nice if those wins would result in us being 7-9 or better in the conference.

  2. VaWolf82 01/18/2010 at 2:05 PM #

    For Pack fans, it boils down to which State team shows up more often this year:

    a) 2nd half UVA/first half Clemson OR
    b) FSU/2nd half Clemson

    If I had to pick today between “optimism” or “pessimissm”, I would choose “neither”.

  3. wolfonthehill 01/18/2010 at 2:17 PM #

    ^ And if we continue to have one of each show up for a half, we could lose our next 13… we don’t need 40 minutes, but 30 would totally rock… 35 & this team breaks .500 in the league.

  4. dsgill87 01/18/2010 at 2:29 PM #

    A few things I would like to add as a new poster:
    1) State has more talent this year than they are getting credit for in the media and on this blog. They really don’t have a “bad” loss with Northwestern coming the closest to that moniker. There inside game has improved, but Howell needs to be stronger and less deliberate with the basketball. That takes time in the ACC and I think he will be a force at some point. Degand is an ACC caliber guard that has a tendency to make some bad mistakes, but he has been making up for it with quickness and his ability to penetrate. We need Javy to pick up his game because a solid Javy at 1 and Degand at 2 can win some games. If this was K’s team, he would have them at least 8-8 in the conference and going to the tournament. They have the components to be a contender: 2 decent (improving guards), a 3 (constant) point threat to spread the defense out, a durable inside presence with Tracy and serviceable bench. Don’t sell them so short. IMHO Lowe needs to find the right rotation and its too late in the season to be experimenting. I think they can win games if they slow down the tempo, but let Degand push periodically. We have seen how this disrupts opponents D and gives more space to Wood and Smith on the inside.
    2) The AP rankings are a complete joke – UNC is ranked #12. I think this team is really showing Roy’s weakness as a coach. The talent is in place, where are the results? It must be maddening to be a UNC fan right now, but they still have their NC to lean back on. Still, those people just think differently than we do. Look at the free-throw discrepancy b/t UNC and Tech Saturday.
    3) We have the ability to beat Duke, especially if Singler is out/hurt if we can pound the boards and shoot 50%-60%. Duke doesn’t have the talent they did earlier this decade, and I doubt they ever will but K can adjust in-game and Duke always plays balls to the wall. Scheyer is sneaky good with very good bball IQ
    4) We could be 3-1 in the conference and the surprise team easily.
    5) People are talking about the parity of the ACC and no real good teams this year. I disagree and I think we’ll see that in March. Give Georgia Techs current roster to a better coach and they would be scary dangerous.

  5. dsgill87 01/18/2010 at 2:33 PM #

    Ok so I read the polls early, but the Heels are still ranked (24).. so my point is still valid.

  6. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 3:50 PM #

    well said dsgill. only unc-ch would keep there ranking after that many losses.. including some back to back. i’m okay with that. my opinion differs a little in regards to duke. this is one of the more balanced teams i’ve seen for K. mainly coming from solid play in the paint. i never would have pegged sheyer to be such a threat at pg but my hat’s off to him. that said, duke is playing tougher inside but still are somewhat vulnerable to strong inside play. the biggest problem is have with playing duke is it seems they never miss shots against us. of course, it hurt when reddick seemed to shoot 60% from 3. it will certainly be a fun game to watch.

    i’m not sure if we’re far enough along for our team to exploit other teams weaknesses. if we have the guard play that we had against clemson and fsu or better.. that might be possible. hopefully we’ll get off to a quick start and work the youngsters thru the first half. i’m sure duke’s defense will key on tracy and wood as our primary scorers.. which leaves room for someone to step up. i guess i could continue to speculate on what might happen. generally, i believe that if we maintain the confidence from the last two games, the duke matchup is within reach

  7. D_Medlin 01/18/2010 at 3:52 PM #

    Good stuff dsgill.

    I wasn’t necessarily implying that the ACC is bad or worse than normal. It’s just crazy. That doesn’t mean there are zero good teams.

  8. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 3:57 PM #

    in regards to K having our team.. he probably would have won most of the early season games and may have esacped with one loss. duke usually starts off the season on a high level and maintains it to a certain degree all season. it seems that sid doesn’t have too strong of a start but this season alone, the team has greatly improved since early december. i attended the new orleans game and was pretty much disgusted. “here we go again..” i say! since then i’ve really only watched to 1, root the boys on but 2, and more importantly see our progress. we’re seeing the players that are going to make an impact this season play more and those future “stars” still see some minutes… as much as possible.

  9. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 4:02 PM #

    what i’ve seen from this years team.. mainly concerning horner and javi. is that they have more of an impact on the way the young guys play. that’s about the only case i can make for them seeing considerable playing time. they are kind of our fallback guys, not the gamechangers we need but a possible confidence boost to the younger guys. we expect, horner specifically, to be a polished ACC player by now but no such luck. however he does influence the younger guys in a good way. think if we still had costner whining like a little girl b/c there aren’t anymore half court three’s and back-door cuts. instead, horner tries to make an impact and cheers the youngsters on when riding the pine. javi will be the go to pg when we are at our lowest, definetly a fallback guy. hopefully degand and mays can see more of the success we had last week… if not, then maybe javi can come in and shake things up…

  10. JeremyH 01/18/2010 at 4:13 PM #

    Duke is always a tough game, no matter who the players are. K always has his guys playing 1) disciplined, 2) tough aggressive defense. We do have a way of playing up (and unfortunately down) to our competition; in the end a 5-7 minute scoring drought anywhere in the game will squash our chances.

  11. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 4:22 PM #

    … yeah, that can be said for the rest of the year. hopefully our defense can become a staple with these young guys and improve through the season. …

    …but we wouldn’t have scoring droughts if our upperclassmen understood that this is there place to shine. and i’m not talking horner here.. this is where you toss it in to tracy and work through him the most.. instead of frustrated three balls…

  12. dsgill87 01/18/2010 at 5:15 PM #

    I agree with JeremyH…
    we have been able to stick with lesser teams with those scoring droughts, or make up for it later with good 3 point shooting and sudden offensive flurries…but those significant droughts (more than 3-4 minutes) cannot happen against Duke. There is little room for error vs. a K team. That being said, I’ll take our chances to be beat the spread and I think losing by more than 7-13 would be a setback at this point (I feel like these guys have expectations for themselves, which is a good thing). That UVa game was really tough to swallow, even now and perhaps moreso than Florida.

    I’m really intrigued about the direction the holes season is heading and our game against them next Week. We need to be LOUD, we have the ability to truly make a difference that is sometimes not present in the RBC Center.

  13. JeremyH 01/18/2010 at 8:42 PM #

    I’m going to take a shot at this and say one big thing we are lacking is dribble penetration, and although I did not see the last game, I’m going to guess we got more of this from Degand and maybe some from Julius (if you’re hitting shots, the defense cannot afford to sag on you). This is why we cannot give up on the slumping Javi though, he has a better handle than Degand and more speed than Julius (I think they are about even shooting, although Julius is shooting well as of late). Someone who can create a shot for himself or someone else off the dribble is just instant offense. It’s amazing how much the game open up when this happens, because it leads to easy baskets or foul shots. By the way, we cannot give up on Horner either, because he is an excellent shooter, and one of the few players with a mid-range game.

  14. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 11:07 PM #

    i’m all for not “giving up” on javi. javi gonzalez does not have better handles than juls or degand. they would be equal at best. since you missed the last game, let me key you in on javi. javi drove the lane.. ok good start. he elevates over two defenders.. very nice. finishes the play by missing a finger roll lay up on the front of the rim.. BAD. i like javi but he is not an all around guard. he forces things all the time. sometimes we need that, we can get that from him off of the bench. he wants to win, not neccessarily in the starting lineup. julius is the best all around pg we have… now if he can only stay confident. degand, is best when in the open court.. he complements juls very nicely. javi can’t get out of his own way, IMO. degand struggles running pg in the half court sets… but again is nice in transition.

    degand had the most success penetrating the defense, mostly in transition but some in sets. juls started to drive a little as the 2nd half progressed.

    as far as horner goes. it may be better to ease him in and out of the starting lineup to keep his psyche at a moderate level. he is a good shooter, but the way we want to play.. he’s gotta be effective in the paint. our days of forwards jacking three’s all day are over. now if horner can be assertive in the post and work his way out from there, now were talking. we need our guards to be guards and forwards to be forwards. if we get solid play from tracy and howell down low, horner would be a nice complement from mid range and out. as of now, wood’s speed gives him an advantage over horner.

  15. 61Packer 01/18/2010 at 11:07 PM #

    It’s still early, but the ACC does indeed look like a crap shoot. Duke looks impressive inside and it’s my opinion that we’re in big trouble Wed nite if Vandenberg and Painter sit most of this game like they have lately. We do need to penetrate, but Smith and Howell are going to need help inside. We got a good performance from Howell vs Clemson, and Mays played well too. But these two tend to be great one game and awful the next.

    If Gonzalez isn’t allowed to help take care of the ball early on, we could end up in another hole against Duke. I’m wary of Mays being the primary ball handler, almost as much as I am when Horner tries to take it inside.

    I think the key to the Duke game will be how well we can rebound, play team defense, and hold on to the ball. You can beat a Marquette and a Florida State on the road by shooting lights out, but it won’t be as easy against a Coach K team, not even at home.

    If we do these 3 things well, we’ll have reason to be optimistic. This is the first step in separating ourselves from the Miamis and the Boston Colleges of this league.

  16. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 11:11 PM #

    also, juls is a much better shooter than javi or degand. just look at the ft%! or just watch them at the line. hell, degand or javi don’t even want to go to the line. mays bangs them. the edge javi has over the other two is confidence! and that is great. it will be something to draw upon. i don’t intend to bag javi to death, i like him and his dedication. he’s a good leader for the younger guys.. my q’marks are with his mental lapses he has? anyone know what’s up with that??????

  17. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 11:13 PM #

    what i expect to see is javi, degand, wood, horner, tracy…

  18. Wolfy__79 01/18/2010 at 11:58 PM #

    … and i’m totally okay with that! there will need to bee some adjustments probably within the first five minutes. it’s too bad cj isn’t a better defender, that’s what we’ll need for this entire game. i’m interested to see how well we can defend duke?? i see howell and vandenburg seeing plenty of playing time, i’d like to see josh davis in there for some defense too. i think that’s one area he fairs well in.

  19. dsgill87 01/19/2010 at 2:11 AM #

    Disagree with you about Mays Wolfy, agree with Packer. He makes me nervous with his handles, which are virtually non-existent.. I can’t imagine what the suffocating Duke D will do against Julius, no disrespect to him – but he isn’t ready to handle that pressure at this point. There is a reason teams still celebrate after beating Duke.. This is the toughest matchup we will probably face the entire season.

    But I still contend there is chemistry on this team, this team has expectations. We will be out coached Wednesday, but we have the heart that has been lacking since Sids ACC tourny run. It may be a cliche, but this team does not have the mental toughness to coincide with that heart. I’m cautiously optimistic about our chances against Duke and the forseeable future. Its just tough when Duke and UNC are the royalty of this league and we’re often portrayed as a red-headed step child or the court jester (Hubert Davis in that ESPN broadcast b/t heels and Clemson, wtf). We need to demand more than that. There is no reason an institution of our pedigree or tradition should be ‘expecting’ to lose games and not make the tournament. This whole program needs an attitude shift and it starts at the top. Baby steps, but realistically for NC State a Final Four run every 10 years is not asking to much and I will never pretend to accept less.

  20. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 2:55 AM #

    oh i cetainly see a final four every ten years isn’t asking much at all! we settled for less with HWSNBN. that was obvious towards the end when we stumbled into the ncaa’s. mays isn’t going to woo anyone with his handles, and javi should more than likely start the game.. but mays should come in a two soon after and degand should come in a play 1 or 2. no matter. depends on who we need him to defend. it’ll be an interesting lineup from start to finish. it all depends how we matchup down low. the tracy/howell/vandenburg/horner/davis/painter machine better be going. we’re also going to have to lean on cj a little in this one. can’t wait to see how sid attacks duke. it should be a good one to watch. i don’t know if we’re far enough along to take advantage of mismatches against duke if we can possibly find any. maybe wood can return reddicks favor we got four years in a row. i’m certain k is the top coach in the league, but he’s got respect for sid. defending duke is alot diff than clemson. they may not be as explosive with their big men, but they are bigger than us.

    mays came here to be a 2, or atleast judging by his play. but his decision making is getting better as well as his confidence. personally, i would like him to develop into the starting pg, he’s got much more of an upside than javi to me. one of those +’s being making free throws, another being a better shooter. but we know what we’ll get out of javi.. he’s the go to guy when all esle sucks. my prob with javi is his mental lapses… he just looks out of it alot of the time. not focusing on inbounds plays. he’s turned the ball over on the first couple of possessions in the last two games. just a bad way to start.

    with duke, its all about how we start. then, k will change it up and it’ll then be how we adjust. our defense is key in this one.. that’s where cj may make an impact. now looking forward to md, i think we’ll matchup with them nicely. i think our inside will be tough for them to hold all game. duke is very good down there, i’m interested to see how our bigs fair against theirs…

  21. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 3:02 AM #

    but all that said. it’ll be big for javi to get the start and see if we can work mays in to get comfortable. we’ll be strong like we have for a while now coming out of the half, its just that first half we’ve got to work on now.. duke or whoever. we need that other scorer, i honestly don’t think its horner. i’d like for cj to step up, since he’s got a defensive upside as well. maybe degand is the man? hopefully sid will come up with somehting to cause problems for duke early.. atleast keep us close until half.. i mean, sheyers not that good of a pg is he? sure a great shooter but, he’s not blowing by many other guards!!

  22. Pack05 01/19/2010 at 10:45 AM #

    4 Starting positions seem to have solidified after the clemson game.

    1.
    2. Degand
    3. Wood
    4. Howell
    5. Smith

    I guess point is just who is not wetting the bed between Mays and Javi but I feel real good about this team when those 4 are out on the floor together. Howell and Smith are causing problems for people / Degand is pushing the ball great and Scott is feeling it from deep.

  23. Wolfy__79 01/19/2010 at 12:09 PM #

    i definetly agree. those four definetly give us the best look at a win. sid said he hoped to get solid guard play out of using the three. it may be back and forth but juls is only a sophomore, he’s still pretty young but i’ve seen improvement. i hope degand can continue to penetrate and hit the little runners/fades to shake it up a bit…

  24. PoppaJohn 01/19/2010 at 12:39 PM #

    First, props to D_Medlin for writing such a positive post. Keep it up, I like your stuff.

    I am also encouraged about this year. I think we are seeing real progress this year, both in talent and coaching. I am not optimistic (being a Wolfpacker), but I would really love to see these guys make it to the NIT as a reward for the progress, and to whet their appetite for the big leagues next year.

    Duke – this will be a good measuring stick for our team, but we will lose by double digits. What I hope to see is toughness and continuing to be competitive to the end. I fully expect Mr Scheyer to have a career day and make our guards look pitiful.

    PG – Javi – 9.9 ppg, 43& FG, 37% 3-pt, 64% ft, 4 RB. Julius 6.9 ppg, 35% FG, 33% 3-pt, 89% ft, 0.8 RB. Javi has confidence, Julius does not. Javi generally makes better decisions. Javi is a junior, Julius is a Sophmore. That’s the key difference. Javi had some horrible games last year. We’ve just started the conference season and Julius is already giving me the ‘squirms’, but my main concern is BB IQ more than ability. We know they are both ‘good’ with occaissional flashes of brilliance. We’re hoping ‘great’ is waiting in the queue to start next year. (and even then will take some time to get used to the big leagues) Conclusion? We need them both, hoping that between the two we can get a reasonable quality of play for the season.

    Coaching – The good coaches make their teams better, ideally peaking at tourney time. Coach K seems to be the exception, Duke are usually good from the start and the rest of the league catches up later in the season. It will be interesting to see what Roy does with this team, and by comparison, what Sid does with ours. How much improvment will we see? Will either team reach their potential by the ACCT? That will be a good gauge of Sid’s progress.

  25. Pack05 01/19/2010 at 12:55 PM #

    ^

    Regarding the adjustments going forward. Hopefully we tighten the rotation with the 4 mentioned above getting the majority of the minutes.. // bring in CJ for Degand 8 minutes or so // Horner-JV for Howell or Smith depending on defensive matchups. I guess Davis gets a few minutes for Wood / at other times CJ moves up to the 3 when Wood sits.

    Just some quick thoughts.

1 2

Leave a Reply