DBR: Featherston On NC State Hoops

So where do you rank them? If you believe all the optimism about the newcomers at the point, it makes sense to project the Pack at second or third in the league.

But it’s dangerous to believe that optimism. You have to understand that one lesson you learn about more than 30-plus years of ACC Operation Basketball is that EVERYBODY is optimistic at this time of year. Every problem will be solved, either by a freshman underrated by the experts, or by a veteran who just hasn’t gotten a chance to show what he can do yet.

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07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball

125 Responses to DBR: Featherston On NC State Hoops

  1. packgrad93 10/24/2007 at 2:59 PM #

    what idiot media member picked ncsu 8th?

  2. VaWolf82 10/24/2007 at 3:07 PM #

    Yeah, Chuck, we like football … but we like good basketball better than bad football.

    Ain’t that the truth. I’ve always liked Featherston and it’s a shame that he got laid off from the Durham paper.

  3. burnbarn 10/24/2007 at 3:19 PM #

    That is a great write up and gives excellent insight into the thinking of this writer. I wish we could read more stuff like this. He gives us a lot of ink.

  4. tooyoungtoremember 10/24/2007 at 3:28 PM #

    Sid should put that media poll on the bulletin board. Everyone in the world expects the holes to be #1, but I think our guys have the talent and motivation to hang with them all day long. I’d love to see the media get put in their place this year.

  5. RabidWolf 10/24/2007 at 3:35 PM #

    I still can’t see Dook finishing 2nd.

  6. packgrad93 10/24/2007 at 3:35 PM #

    who cares what the media thinks?

  7. RabidWolf 10/24/2007 at 3:37 PM #

    Shhhhh….they haven’t figured that out yet.

  8. LRM 10/24/2007 at 3:40 PM #

    Featherston usually delievers a very reliable perspective, including this one.

  9. RabidWolf 10/24/2007 at 3:44 PM #

    There are precious few in the media that actually open their minds to multiple possibilities, rather than base their statements on past history and personal bias.

  10. beowolf 10/24/2007 at 3:51 PM #

    Good writeup. It’s hard to argue with his take on the Pack, and the difficulties with prognostication.

  11. Rick 10/24/2007 at 3:58 PM #

    My question is why is everyone assuming the Heels are better?

    They lost Wright, Terry and Miller while bringing in no one. The Traveler has peaked. He will get no better unless the refs begin allowing him 4 steps instead of the current 3 1/2 they are allowing him. They are not as deep.

  12. LRM 10/24/2007 at 4:03 PM #

    I despise Hansborough; I really, truly do. But he’s the ACC’s leading scorer and good calls/bad calls in regards to traveling are a fact of the life that we know as Tobacco Road basketball. Plain and simple, the guy is the best player in the ACC, so why does he need to get better for him to be a problem?

    Personally, I’m glad they’re at the top. Makes it all the more fun when we take them down!!

  13. Texpack 10/24/2007 at 4:22 PM #

    Al Featherston has to be my favorite ACC Basketball writer. His stuff is usually about as objective as you’ll find.

  14. CarnifeX 10/24/2007 at 4:40 PM #

    regardless of the big three that end up where; can anyone argue that Tobacco Road has never been as prominent as it is right now? Does history have another time when all three were as strong as they are now?

  15. Mr O 10/24/2007 at 4:41 PM #

    http://www.carolinawatercooler.com/PleaseStay.html

    Nice blog talking about the possiblity of BD to UNC.

  16. Sam92 10/24/2007 at 4:45 PM #

    That’s a great article. I’m glad he gave props to Monte Towe as well – I think Sid’s assistants are tremendous assets to the program, and I like DBR’s conclusion too; with multiple options we’ll find the right playmaker. we have reason to be optimistic.

  17. noah 10/24/2007 at 5:01 PM #

    Mr. O – I think he’s just too tempting a candidate for too many attractive jobs to last in Chapel Hill. This year…next year….I can’t tell you win, but I don’t think he’ll be there long term.

  18. Cosmo96 10/24/2007 at 5:08 PM #

    “For a sports fanatic stranded in the football wasteland known as Tobacco Road, there’s ACC Operation Basketball.”

    I know we don’t have a traditional football program here, but it’s not like we completely ignore it, either. I think we, at NC State, can be just as passionate about football as basketball. However, I think we have a much better chance of building a national power in basketball than football. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done in football, but it would be much harder for us.

    Florida and Ohio State are two football powers that have recently developed great basketball programs, too. Can they continue to sustain their traditional football success? Absolutely. Can they do the same with recent basketball success? Maybe, but I’m not so sure. I think it’s the opposite with us. I think we have the ability to build (or rather, rebuild) a sustained basketball power, but our football success might be more inconsistent and, like UF and OSU basketball, would depend on the coach, rather than the program.

    Sorry to go off on a tangent…overall great, in-depth piece by Featherston. I was just particularly struck by the way he compared/contrasted football vs. basketball prominence in different schools and regions.

  19. Mr O 10/24/2007 at 5:09 PM #

    Noah: Also, he may not get more attractive than right now. It does look like he has some quality young talent to keep improving UNC, but you never know. Right now, they are the best 2-5 team in the country and everyone is excited about close losses and landing JUCOs that never visited campus. Plus, if he turns down Arkansas this time, then the school may not want him next time they are looking for a coach.

    The one reason that makes me think he won’t leave is that I am usually not that lucky.

  20. primacyone 10/24/2007 at 5:10 PM #

    Here is another interesting media article and something to possibly look foward to in the future. 16 college graduates playing on the football team – I assume all are 5th year seniors.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/notebook?page=iform078&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

  21. PackGirl 10/24/2007 at 5:19 PM #

    You’re gonna love these predictions from Dane Huffman at WRAL today! More love for the Pack.

    http://www.wral.com/sports/story/1963163/

    It was the counterpoint to this article

    http://www.wral.com/sports/story/1963176/

  22. haze 10/24/2007 at 6:00 PM #

    Featherston has long been the best of the local writers. I remember his “Redshirt Philip Rivers” piece before PR’s Sr season (RS would have matched him with the great D from the following year).

    He’s dead on throughout this article.

    The Durham Herald sucks.

  23. colapack 10/24/2007 at 6:13 PM #

    All this nice press scares me. The team might start believing the headlines too much. It ain’t high school anymore for Hickson. There will be a learning curve. But Costner and McCauly take a lot of pressure off Hickson. He has some time to learn.

  24. redfred2 10/24/2007 at 7:42 PM #

    “it would not be hard to see N.C. State challenge UNC for dominance in the ACC.”

    THAT STATEMENT IS IN PRINT!!! Someone actually thought and believed it enough to put it out in the public eye!!!

    For all of those SS’ers and doubters, this is Y E A R T W O ! ! !

  25. redfred2 10/24/2007 at 7:50 PM #

    ^Actually, this is about year 1.75, but let’s not knit pick.

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