I didn’t have the opportunity to listen to the commentators during the State-Alabama game last week because I was watching the game at Amedeo’s. But, I did make note of some quotes that the Fox Basketball crew shared during the Miami game that I had not logged yet and thought that I would throw on the site.
Nothing really earth shattering. Just some little nuggets.
====> “This group seems to be coming together faster than Herb’s teams have in the past…I always thought that NC State played their better basketball closer to the end of the season‿ – Mike Gminski
In light of the facts recently brought to light by VaWolf, I thought that that was funny. If only the G-Man would read our blog, he may be able to talk about things from a factual perspective instead of a personal perspective.
====> “I don’t think that there is any doubt that this is a tournament team. There is no doubt that this team should be in the field of 65.‿ – Mike Gminski
I could not agree more. Then again, I could not have agreed more with the exact same feelings in each of the last 5 years – 1 of which we failed to make the tournament and 3 of which we were on the bubble sweating a bid on Selection Sunday. The Wolfpack has done a nice job of getting positioned to avoid the bubble thusfar this season. The overall weakness of the ACC this season should help the Pack navigate an acceptable conference record an have no problems making the tournament field. But…
====> “They are going to need a win against a quality opponent‿ – Tim Brando
Give credit to Brando for politely referencing the consequence of the Pack’s mild early-season schedule. Despite the ACC’s weakness, the conference schedule and this week’s game against George Washington should give State’s overall schedule enough boost not to be embarassing come March. But, from the OOC perspective, State is going to need Notre Dame and Alabama to pick up some steam….SOON.
The lack of wins vs quality opponents continue to be a source of contention for the Wolfpack and the measurement of the program against other Top 20 programs. Last season, State was a piss-poor 3-7 against NCAA Tournament teams in the regular season, which included a home win vs Louisiana-Lafayette. Analyzing the Wolfpack’s regular season record against top quality teams highlights a decade-long trend that is nowhere close to turning around. In the last four regular seasons that many Wolfpackers think is some kind of pinnacle, NC State is 15-29 against the RPI’s Top 50, segmented as follows:
* 1-13 vs #1-10
* 6-8 vs #11-25 (with 5 of those winnings coming in one season)
* 8-8 vs #26-50
I use ^these numbers to follow-up on VaWolf’s great entry, “Being Competitive”. The phrase “being competitive” is thrown around by too many people far too often because it is easy to use and hide behind since there is no real defnition or measurement applied to it. Lee Fowler has learned that many Wolfpackers will comply with him when he throws out comments like, “being competitive with the Top 20” and then runs to hide without any clarity.
Here’s my quick thought about the use of the word “competitive” — a program can only be legitimately deemed as “competitive” with another program or set of criteria when the program’s overall record against that standard is approximately .500
For example…over the last four years, NC State is obviously “competitive” against the #26 through #50 teams in the country due to our 8-8 record against that level of competition. Against #11-#25, the Wolfpack is 6-8 over the last four seasons, with five wins coming in a single season. Obviously, we are not really “competitive” against that level of competition yet.
This isn’t an indictment. Just some clarity around an otherwise ambiguous standard that is becoming the newest evolution in the Lee Fowler management playbook.
