Thoughts on the Seminole Beatdown

General NCS Basketball59

Sorry for the late post – I went to bed as soon as I got home from the game last night. Late in the first half, I was getting nervous. After about 15 minutes of play, the Pack was shooting nearly 70% (inside and behind the arc) – and only winning by TWO. Then, the defensive intensity kicked in, and State closed the half on a very impressive 16-0 run. That was the kind of basketball we’ve been waiting to see.

A big key was getting Big Ced back into the flow of the offense. The 3s are nice, but I really like to see at least 3-4 monster jams from Ced per game. There’s no higher percentage shot than that – and it never leads to a transition opportunity for the opponent.

I think our crowd might like Courtney Fells more than the freshman/sophomore version of Scooter Sherrill. Without question, he does bring needed energy whenever he’s in the game. His slashing ability reminds me of Cam, and he might be even more athletic.

After seeing a happy update earlier (50-32 GT), the crowd’s collective groan when the scoreboard flashed the 61-61 tie was quite audible. But that makes it even more confusing as to why nobody shouts the “Go to hell, Carolina” verse of our fight song anymore. What’s with you people?

Ilian Evtimov was playing his best, most controlled basketball of the year. So it sucks for him to get injured. That said, if he’s going to be back at full strength for tournament play (as all indications are that he will be) – it could end up being a blessing in disguise. We need Fells and McCauley to gain more experience and confidence. We don’t want to go into ACCT and NCAAT play only going 7 deep. Not that he’s asking, but my advice to Sendek would be to rest Evtimov until he’s fully recovered. We need him at 100% – not 80% or 90% – for tournament play. A setback, then subsequently playing him 30+ minutes at 80% in the NCAAT would be the surest route to an early exit.

Interesting Note – the games of consequence that I’ve attended in person are George Washington and Florida State. Luck does tend to come in threes – and just so you know, I have tickets for the UNC game next week…

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

General NCS Basketball

59 Responses to Thoughts on the Seminole Beatdown

  1. class of '74 02/17/2006 at 11:38 AM #

    I think the great coaches have one eye on the present and the other on the future. Fells and McCauley are a big part of the future or I hope they are.

  2. choppack 02/17/2006 at 11:40 AM #

    Rick – I have to agree w/ your comment on Coach K. One of the things that I’ve found most interesting about Coach K thus far is that he hasn’t produced an obvious prodigy. There is no Roy Williams out there for them to bring and not suffer a drop-off. It will be interesting to see what happens when Coach K leaves – because Duke had a very solid b’ball history when he got there, but he certainly broke the mold. Simply put, he’s doing for Duke basketball what Dean did for UNC-Ch basketball. Of course, Dean’s best accomplishment may have been mentoring Roy, who has insured another 10-15 years of excellence. Compare that to UCLA and Kentucky who also had giants for coaches, but who have had mixed results over the years.

  3. choppack 02/17/2006 at 12:07 PM #

    class of 74 – I think we can agree that Sendek hasn’t earned the right to be called a great coach. He can do things to make that possible, but at this point and time, you certainly can’t call him that.

    I like a lot of the things he is doing now – especially bringing back former Pack players and putting them on our bench – something I think Ilian can really excell at. Like others – I’d like to see Fells get more PT. However, I have a hard time getting fired up about it since I have so little information on which to make a decision.

    There are also rumors out there that Ilian’s injury may not have been as bad as the diagnosis typically is. Obviously, that would be ideal – I think we’d all prefer the Pack to go into March as healthy as possible.

  4. class of '74 02/17/2006 at 12:09 PM #

    ^It’s a done deal Johnny Dawkins will replace K if he wants the job. This is widely known from people in admin at Duke.

  5. choppack 02/17/2006 at 12:23 PM #

    I can see that.

    Hopefully, Dawkins will have similar results to Snyder, Amaker, and Brey. All of whom have had some successes, but who haven’t necessarily matched up w/ the accomplishments of those schools previous coaches.

  6. class of '74 02/17/2006 at 12:33 PM #

    chop, I agree with your assessment. My criticism comes from not finding time where possible for the freshmen who are our future. I go all the way back to Vic Bubas who talked of how important it was to build depth and morale on his great teams!

  7. class of '74 02/17/2006 at 12:36 PM #

    Obviously I can’t see the future but IMO Dawkins is the best by far of the K proteges. I know he is the best recruiter of the bunch.

  8. Sammy Kent 02/17/2006 at 12:56 PM #

    quote: One of the things that I’ve found most interesting about Coach K thus far is that he hasn’t produced an obvious prodigy. quote

    I agree, choppack, and I think that’s because Coach K’s success is more personality driven than strategy driven. You cannot pass down your personality like a philosophy. When it comes to Xs and Os K is no more brilliant than most coaches are. In fact, I think he’s pretty average. He isn’t this fantastic game tactician with a wealth of secret basketball knowledge he can pass on, at least on the offensive end of the floor. He IS a very sharp defensive tactician, a master judge of talent, and a superior emotional motivator. He has been a winner despite doing nothing terribly complicated with the offense. He recruits great shooters, teaches them his defense and a couple of screening basics, and pretty much lets them freelance when they have the ball…and he gets an intense effort from his team every time.

    There are some coaches that can take his’n and beat your’n and take your’n and beat his’n, but I don’t think Kersherooski is one. His greatest success has been to successfully recruit some fabulous shooters and scorers that didn’t require a lot of coaching for offense. His heir apparent, Johnny Dawkins, was a point guard, but one that first knew how to shoot and score.

    Dawkins will be a fine coach, not just because he’s the closest thing to K’s intellectual prodigy, but also because he was a point guard. Point guards make some pretty good coaches (Dean, V, Gary Williams, Jeff Jones, Sidney Lowe, etc.) And boy, were there ever some great point guards in the ACC when Dawkins was playing… Sidney Lowe and Spud Webb at State, Grayson Marshall at Clemson, Muggsy Bogues at Wake, Adrian Branch at Maryland, and some guy named Price at Georgia Tech.

  9. choppack 02/17/2006 at 4:57 PM #

    “chop, I agree with your assessment. My criticism comes from not finding time where possible for the freshmen who are our future.”

    I think that’s a valid criticism. I want Fells to see more minutes. I wanted more minutes from Ced last year.

    SamKent – I would agree w/ your thoughts on Coach K to a T. I’ve always said that from a gameday tactician/management standpoint, he’s mediocre. However, I do think he’s underrated in his X and O’s in one fashion or another. He’ll do little things -things you and I won’t notice, but I guarantee you the opposing coach notices. A couple of years ago when Dunleavy lit us up in Raleigh, a friend of mine who worked for the team informed me that Duke had a “treat” for us. They were doing something just a little different than they had done all season – and it wasn’t what we prepped for.

    I agree that Coach K is an astute judge of talent -but I think what he really has an eye for is competitors. I think the reason he wanted Redick so bad and Laettner so bad is because he saw the warrior instinct in them. (Actually, Hansborough and Coach K would be a great match, too – as would have Hodge and K.) He looks for guys who are willing to spill their guts out on the floor…and he finds them for the most part. I’d rather have faced Deano’s Heels any day of the week than K’s Devils. They aren’t satisfied by winning – they want to humiliate you.

    Oh yeah, Dawkins moved to SG when Amaker came in. I’m hoping that Dawkins doesn’t have K’s magic. The worst case is that he’s like Roy – retains all of the good stuff of his mentor, and has identified and reduced the weaknesses of his mentor.

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