Evitmov’s Demotion

General NCS Basketball44

Prior to the start of his sophomore season, the popular Ilian Evtimov encountered a horrible knee injury that sidelined him for the entire season. At the time of Evtimov’s injury, the world famous NCSEC (NC State Excuse Club) immediately went into high gear and before you knew it was proclaimed (I think by Coach Sendek?) that “Ilian Evtimov is the Philip Rivers of the basketball program.”

Rivers ended up All-ACC, All-American, one of the top passers in NCAA history and perhaps the greatest quarterback in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference. I guess now that such milestones cannot be projected for Evtimov, the poor guy has been demoted from being Philip Rivers to just being “NC State’s Glue”.

As anyone who has read this blog in the past knows, Ilian Evtimov is Jeff’s hero and we don’t appreciate the demotion that Ilian has been given!

We don’t have a clue if Evtimov is going to be ready for the big match-up against Carolina on Wednesday night. We would rather he be well for the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. But, we do notice that the NCSEC is in full force all over the internet right now. (Do these people put an asteric beside State’s win over Carolina in the mid-90s when starter Dante Calabria was injured?) It is ridiculous how much whining and excuse making is going on out there.

To quote one of our author’s responses on one of the excuse-laden threads on Pack Pride (Hey, JB – you swore to me last week that you were never posting on Pack Pride again!):

Q: How do we beat UNC without Evtimov?

A: The same way that they beat us without Rashad McCants last year.

If our “BEST TEAM IN DECADES” cannot beat 4 freshman and 2 players that entered their program as walk-ons on our HOME FLOOR (in light of our past performance against them)….then we NEVER will.

Why do we bother having “interchangeable parts” if the parts aren’t interchangeable enough to absorb the loss of a single player that has never made 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team All-ACC?

We are in the TENTH year of this program and their season is an anomoly that of which we must take advantage. We were told by our Athletics Director that this was going to be our year against them, I fully expect it to be.

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General NCS Basketball

44 Responses to Evitmov’s Demotion

  1. Kirk 02/21/2006 at 8:44 AM #

    This UNC team does not have anymore freshman. The experience of play and confidence they have gained over the past few months has turned them into sophmores. They are a very talented and dangerous team. Hansbrough could be considered one of the best centers in college basketball. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Frasor has limited his turnovers (since the beginning of the season) and has a great ability to push the ball up the floor to create points in transition. He has awesome vision.
    Forget the fact that they have lost 7 of their best players (which every broadcast has to remind us of 80 times a game). They have very good talent and are well coached. We are going to have to play a great game to beat them even at home. The part that scares me is that we have been hitting 3’s with our eyes closed over the past 6-7 games, and one game they are just not going to fall. I just hope it is not Wen. Some how we have to find a way to contain Hansbrough, and Im not sure exactly how you go about doing that. A zone defense seemed to work well against him, and i would like to see us force them to hit shots from the outside. But Herb is not going to play zone.
    As far as Evtimov, it would be nice to see him play Wen. night, but only if he is 100%. You never know, we may be able to play better without him. His lack of speed may be something that would hurt us against a team that likes to run the court. The main problem without having Evtimov is depth. We now only have 6 players that play quality minutes. McCauley and Fells are able to give those 6 a breather, but not quality time. I wish Fells could have recieved more playing time up to this point so that he could have been more prepared for this game.
    As far as “supposed to be our year against them”, both times we played them this year UNC was in the top 25. So just keep in mind that we are not playing the Capel and Lang type UNC team. Herb and his team want to beat UNC just has bad as us State fans. And when you are pressing to beat a team, you can see it on the court, and you can hear it in the crowd.
    I hope that while im at the RBC Center on Wen. night that all the fans support the team win or lose. And that the fans dont turn their back on NC State if they lose.

  2. Rick 02/21/2006 at 8:53 AM #

    This is what NCSU has become. An excuse waiting to happen. This is what having no aspirations causes. You are just happy with where you are.

    BTW have you ever noticed how great a p layer beome when he is hurt? Once down he becomes a player we cannot handle losing.

  3. Daniel 02/21/2006 at 9:04 AM #

    honor the process, fellas. honor the process.

  4. Jeff 02/21/2006 at 9:09 AM #

    I have been caught! I had been doing SO WELL with avoiding PP…and then this morning I couldn’t resist.

    Kirk, I completely understand your perspective that “because Carolina is good, then we shouldn’t expect to ever beat them”. I wish that you held us to a standard anywhere close to what you hold them and other schools. For six years, all I ever heard was how we weren’t supposed to beat anyone because we were so young (even when we had sophomores and juniors).

    Conversely, our very same fan base finds a way to rationalize Carolina as not being young because their freshmen have played a little over half of a season and have significantly over-achieved anyone’s expectations. It is truly baffling.

    I’ll be in the RBC on Wednesday night…and I don’t think that being willing to recognize the truth is “turning your back on NC State”. Then again, I fully expect to win this game, so I don’t think that I need to position my comments with such posturing statements.

  5. Jim 02/21/2006 at 9:27 AM #

    I think Ev. has made a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd All-ACC team. But I agree with most of Thee Brockstar’s thoughts on this UNC-CH game.

    For once his over-the-top-isms are on the money.

    Someone needs to explain to me why Sheridan was the last coach we had (in a revenue sport) who had his players going hard against UNC-CH. UNC seems to play harder than us consistently when we play them in bball and fball since about 1991, and that should be the opposite given that they are our main rival and we are not theirs.

  6. VaWolf82 02/21/2006 at 9:41 AM #

    And that the fans dont turn their back on NC State if they lose.

    If this was going to happen, then there wouldn’t be any State fans left today. No offense to Kent, but this is one of those code phrases that really means….Don’t ever say anything without your rose-colored glasses on.

    Another phrase that has started to irk me is “I’m just enjoying this season without……” What State fan isn’t enjoying this season? That shouldn’t rule out intelligent discussion on issues surrounding the program. Oh well, those that don’t ever expect anything ain’t ever going to be disappointed.

  7. Rick 02/21/2006 at 10:07 AM #

    “Oh well, those that don’t ever expect anything ain’t ever going to be disappointed.”

    This is the point I am slowly getting to. I just do not see our program becoming anything more than it is right now. So I watch the games with little expectations. To me it is just like watching another bball game.

  8. cfpack03 02/21/2006 at 10:20 AM #

    I agree that some pack fans have already set up their excuse for a loss wedn. But Evt’s injury isn’t a big a deal as some think. The biggest impact from his absence is on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively, we have plenty of weapons to fill in that give us an altered personality. Mainly, Brackman and Grant will play more, giving us potential for more penitration. Which I prefer over live/die-by-the-3.

  9. james bossert 02/21/2006 at 11:02 AM #

    We need to live in day-tight compartments. We don’t have a game today, therefore how can we possibly loose? Go Herb!

  10. class of '74 02/21/2006 at 11:59 AM #

    We should be favored with or without IE for all of the apparent reasons. If we do not win for some reason then we are staring at a situation akin to that of Clemson @ Chapel Hill. Yes that’s right an 0-fer. O for however long Roy Williams is at UNC. He’s just getting that program started and if we don’t get them now don’t expect things to get better anytime soon.

  11. BJD95 02/21/2006 at 12:32 PM #

    It’s time for the “0 for Roy” streak to end. Although UNC does have some talent, they have struggled against solid NCAAT-caliber squads (see home loss to BC as a prime example). Their upside is as limited as it EVER will be as long as Roy Williams is coach. Essentially, they have the talent of a Top 50 caliber team that has been coached into a Top 25 unit. But it’s no more than a “first weekend” NCAAT team.

    Bottom line – this is as ripe for the picking as UNC will get – at least for the next 10+ years. They certainly won’t be vulnerable next season.

    FWIW, the “Philip Rivers” quote came from departed assistant Coach Hunter. I believe it was his primary opinion that the offense had to flow through Evtimov. This season (without Harris), I believe Sendek has utilized Evtimov more appropriately.

    I agree that of all possible ACC opponents, Evtimov matches up worst against UNC. Having both Simmons and Brackman down low will be alot for Hansbrough to handle, and feeding the post repeatedly should land him in foul trouble (and he is truly their only above-average offensive player).

  12. Mick 02/21/2006 at 12:38 PM #

    No excuses! We have equal or better talent. We are playing at home. We have a better record. That should be enough. However…………..

    The two biggest weaknesses we have in regards to this particular game are: 1) Roy usually outcoaches Herb. Meaning, he makes better and quicker in game adjustments that benefits his team moreso than Herb does with our team. I bet Roy is a good chess player as well. 2) For whatever reason (and this was mentioned earlier), UNC under Roy plays with more passion and energy for this game than we do.

    If we don’t have the deer in the headlights look, I believe we will win this game.

  13. Sam '92 02/21/2006 at 12:51 PM #

    ok, it irks me to hear, as one often does, the accusation that critical fans are “turning their backs” on the team – it’s just not a grown up comment

    if we don’t *strive for excellence*, we will never achieve it — and criticism is essential to that effort. if we aren’t aware of, and talking about, the program’s shortcomings they will never be fixed

    when i (or anyone else) makes a point about something the team is missing (like stepping it up at the end of the second half of close games, instead of just hanging on), it’s not turning my back on the team, it’s pointing out what i think is missing — not to insult the team, but to say that’s where i think they can improve

    and our opinions collectively send a message to the athletic department — whether they act on it is up to them, but they hear it.

    if your opinion is different from mine – great, express it, but the “turning our backs” comments and the like are nothing more than an attempt to silence any criticism. give it a rest already

  14. Kirk 02/21/2006 at 1:15 PM #

    Jeff, im not saying that to make an excuse for possibly losing Wen. night. It was in response to the quote “If our “BEST TEAM IN DECADESâ€? cannot beat 4 freshman and 2 players that entered their program as walk-ons on our HOME FLOOR (in light of our past performance against them)….then we NEVER will. ” That quote makes it sound like we are at some great advantage, but in all honesty both teams are pretty even.
    I expect to win Wen. night, and I expected to win in Chapel Hill. But Carolina played a great game against us, Hansbrough hit every free throw, and Frasor hit every shot in the 2nd half.
    As far as State fans “turning their back” if we were to lose to unc…too many state fans would forget the fact that we could have 22+ win season and the possibility of making some serious noise in the tourny. Those state fans may not be you or me, but i have seen it before.

  15. Kirk 02/21/2006 at 1:37 PM #

    Sam i agree that we could do a much better job closing out games. I wish that we would continue to play the same way we play in the first half of the game vs the 2nd half when we have a big lead. We tend to pass up the shots we were willing to take in the 1st as we do in the 2nd. We tend to wait until the shot clock runs down to 1 and throw up a shot. But dont forget that we have won two 2-OT games on the road in the ACC. Granted we should have avoided it @ Miami.
    It is a “grown up” comment to make when many state fans focus on the negative aspects of our game vs the positive.

  16. Fish 02/21/2006 at 1:44 PM #

    I have come to expect NCSU will lose to UNC in every sport every year. In fact, our generation will probably never see a victory against UNC again. Don’t get me wrong. My expectations are to beat your rival on regular basis at least at home. However, I am a realist and I understand our current coaches (Amato, Yow, Sendek, etc.) are and will not do it. Our pitiful administration just stands back and “accepts” our whoopings.

    For those of you predicting victories tomorrow night, just remember how little we have beating UNC in anything since the late 80s. UNC will win going away (9 or more points)!

  17. VaWolf82 02/21/2006 at 3:19 PM #

    It is a “grown up� comment to make when many state fans focus on the negative aspects of our game vs the positive.

    Very, very few State fans focus only on the negative. Many people who try to evaluate the whole picture…positive and negative….are mislabeled as negative by those who refuse to take off their rosy-red glasses.

  18. PACDADDY 02/21/2006 at 3:31 PM #

    FIrst off…this UNC team isn’t much different than the NCSU team in Hodge’s freshman year(on paper). We relied on freshmen and a couple of vets and the freshmen were ranked lower than UNC recruits. Arch was injuried(or not 100% most of season)) and Grundy and Crawford(not ranked as high as Thomas) were our senior leaders. He’s better than Noel, but they are different players. On paper, UNC has more talent right now(or at least equal) than the 2001 team, if you consider Hansbro and overall player rankings. We had slightly more experience but by much.

    Secondly…IE is a senior leader on this team. I don’t think it’s a stetch to say he’d help us, much like Scooter would have helped in 2nd half of close game the McCants went off and later in season. I don’t think the “excuse crowd” will have much to say, but I certainly can’t understand how anyone wouldn’t agree IE makes us a better team.

    Third…Losing IE a few years back was a MUCH different situation. He was the QB and focal point of that team on offense. IE was our point forward and he played all through the preseason and we lost just him just before season started…BIG DIFFERENCE! The team had to adjust and we did towards end of year.

    This years team doesn’t need to adjust because we have enough depth to compensate for his loss…but anyone that has watched this team knows IE is still an important part of the team on both sides of the ball…several games we won when he didn’t contribute statisically, but in the GT lost he almost had a triple double, so we are capable of losing with him and winning without him. Brackman needs to step up.

    We should beat UNC with or without IE…but this is college BB and many things can happen when 2 quality teams play against each other.

  19. choppack 02/21/2006 at 3:46 PM #

    PacDaddy – A correction:

    Crawford wasn’t a senior on the 2001-2002 team, but a junior.

    A) Ilian is important to this team – is he more important than Ced, Atsur, Bethel or Bennerman – that’s debatable. He’s hit big shots and gives us more line up options – but so do the other guys I’ve mentioned.
    B) We need to beat UNC-Ch tomorrow.

  20. VaWolf82 02/21/2006 at 4:29 PM #

    I don’t think the “excuse crowd� will have much to say,

    Surely you jest.

  21. JeremyHyatt 02/21/2006 at 4:33 PM #

    choppack – Ilian is of course important. But moreso in the way of bringing intangibles, in ways not always salient on the stat sheet. So I agree with Sendek that no one in going to come out of a phone booth and replace ilian Evtimov– the players out there will just have to take care of the little things, just a little bit better. Bennerman and Bethel are rolling, as is Atsur, with Ced and Grant close behind. We all are hoping Brackman finds his way again. If Ilian said his foot is 80% I would still bench him, naturally.

    I am interested in the Ced / Hansborough matchup, and also what strategies are employed for stopping Hansborough. If we double then Frazier and Co. will be put on the spot to hit the three. I hope all you debaters that are in proximity to the Triangle make it to the game and scream your hearts out. Home court has been golden for us in conference play this year.

  22. choppack 02/21/2006 at 5:13 PM #

    Hyatt – I agree.

  23. PACDADDY 02/21/2006 at 5:41 PM #

    Thanks Choppack…The memory isn’t quite what it used to be.

    VA…you’re probably right. You won’t here an excuse from me unless he’s gone for at least 5 games 🙂

  24. Fred McCulloch 02/21/2006 at 8:39 PM #

    I was a student in ’83 and watched us beat a “superior” UNC-CH team. The fans stormed the court. The Chancellor lead the cheers from his mid court, upper level, front row seats. We partied long into the night. This morning I had visions of 3’s falling from all over, fist pumping, crowd rockin’ destruction of the Heels. This team needs to come out fast and pound Carolina for 40 minutes.

  25. lumberpack 02/21/2006 at 8:44 PM #

    We should win, but I won’t be a bit surprised if we tank the game. If we do tank the excuse will be:
    .
    .
    .
    .
    A poor shooting night

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