DBR: Featherston On NC State Hoops

07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball125

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. Texpack 10/24/2007 at 8:48 PM #

    Ohio State had great teams through the early 60’s with Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, and company. They made several Final Fours during that time so I would say they can claim more basketball heritage than you give them credit for.

  2. redfred2 10/24/2007 at 9:33 PM #

    Thanks for the links PackGirl, they just show that sports writers don’t have much else to go on in the off season, besides their own opinions. Too bad that this rings true all year long, for most of them in this vicinity

  3. redfred2 10/24/2007 at 10:00 PM #

    I can’t remember, did I mention this before, but Sidney Lowe is coming off a short notice in his FIRST season, and before his second season has even begun, we’re hearing…

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

    So much time in the middle, then so little time to be considered at the top.

    Strange, huh??? Wonder why the SUDDEN change?

  4. graywolf 10/24/2007 at 10:18 PM #

    I thought it took 5 to 10 years to do this in football and basketball.
    Must have been mistaken……

    Hope out AD learns something from this.

  5. highstick 10/24/2007 at 10:52 PM #

    Twice this week, I’ve heard Rush Limbaugh referring to a certain political group as the “Lunatic Fringe”. Then Monday night, I heard the local political commentator on WBT radio(Tera Servatius) refer to the North Carolina Parole Board as the “Lunatic Fringe”.

    Do we need to get this name copyrighted or something so that they don’t mistake those folks for us??? Remember, WE ARE THE REAL LUNATIC FRINGE, and Lee Fowler better not forget it!

    You guys are really getting me pumped up for Roundball Season!

  6. choppack1 10/24/2007 at 11:43 PM #

    The article itself is fair. The only fault I find is that Duke is second. I understand from a historical perspective why you pick them there – but I’m just not impressed w/ what they have coming back.

  7. Mike 10/25/2007 at 12:33 AM #

    It will be interesting. Wonder why Featherston is no longer at the Durham Herald? Maybe b/c he wrote real stuff, what he thinks, and not what some editor wanted him to write.

    Heard an interesting commentary yesterday on Cowherd’s ESPN show, talking about Dook and how overrated they are. He said based on how many McD AA’s they have, he would prefer Burger King or Wendy’s AA’s. Too funny. His point was valid though. Players are McD AA’s b/c they are recruited by Duke, not the other way around. If Duke is recruiting him, he must be good. Duke has proven they have no go to guy in the clutch now that JJ Whiner is gone. I look at their team and frankly, they dont scare me.

  8. MadWolf92 10/25/2007 at 1:34 AM #

    I think it was more like they were cutting back on their sports department. Could be wrong, but that’s the story I remember hearing.

  9. RabidWolf 10/25/2007 at 7:52 AM #

    It’s actually because certain people were thinking and evolving, and they couldn’t have that!!

    Possibly could have been because some people were passing on the blue kool-aid!

  10. haze 10/25/2007 at 8:10 AM #

    I don’t buy Duke as a strong #2 but there is enough talent to be a very good basketball team. There is no way I’d put them below #3. Henderson, in particular, has POY potential and they have a ton of shooters.

    Where they fall short is beef and overall athleticism, the latter being ironic as Henderson is probably the best athlete in the league and Nelson and Nolan Smith are no slouches.

  11. Rick 10/25/2007 at 8:43 AM #

    Again I ask why the assumption that UNC is so unbeatable? They were good last year but not dominate and they lost more than they gained.

  12. Mr O 10/25/2007 at 8:58 AM #

    Rick: I think it is because they are so strong at PG and they have the conference’s best player(Hansbrough). But I agree with you that I don’t see them any more unbeatable than they were last year. They have two big guys to replace Brandon Wright, but in theory those guys shouldn’t be as good as a top 10 draft pick. They lost Sr. Reshawn Terry and Wes Miller, two guys who essentially won the ACC championship game against us.

  13. haze 10/25/2007 at 8:58 AM #

    ^ True that losses exceeded gains for the Heels. However, they had a ton of youth last year and those kids are all 1 year older and wiser.

    It just doesn’t make sense for us to trumpet “offseason improvement” from Fells and Horner along with the virtues of several guys who have never even played at this level (Degand, Hickson, Smith, Javy, MJ, Harris) and to then imply that UNC shouldn’t expect improvement from their impressive Soph class of Thompson, Stephenson, Ellington & Lawson.

    UNC isn’t unbeatable by any stretch but they will be very good.

  14. cpwolfpackfan 10/25/2007 at 9:05 AM #

    I just wanted to take a few seconds to ask wolfpack nation a question. Why were there so few people last friday at b-balling at the old barn? I am as disapointed as I could have been. I know it is just a practice but I went (not becasue I wanted to) to late night with roy and the place was packed. Now I hate the baby blue cry babies just as much as anyone else, but we as NC STATE fans need to quit talking and start doing. Reynolds holds no more than 10,000 people now and we can’t fill it up during our “mid night Madness” It was just really disapointing. I could even see Ben and Gavin talking to each other about the lack of people there . State fans its time to step up quit talking about being the b-ball program and go and support. Its real easy to make it to the unc and duke games, but when it comes to the unc-ashvilles, and such, we would rather stay at home at scratch our asses. The players and coaches desirve more that that and we as fans owe it to them. Sorry if i was preaching to the quire but it needed to be said

  15. RickJ 10/25/2007 at 9:21 AM #

    Rick – I think the biggest reason UNC might get better is the potential improvement of three sophomore players – Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington & Deon Thompson. Lawson & Ellington were ranked as the number 1 PG & WG in the 2006 class. I agree with you regarding Hansbrough – he’s as good as he is going to get but some people actually project Thompson as a higher draft pick than Hansbrough.

    We all know the key to our season – if we can get a high enough level of guard play, we should be an elite team.

  16. Mr O 10/25/2007 at 9:21 AM #

    The crowd was what I expected. There was no scrimmage and if I would have known that, then I might not have gone either. If we hadn’t also had a Red-White game, then the crowd would have been larger IMO.

  17. LRM 10/25/2007 at 9:25 AM #

    That reminds me, “quire” is what my papaw use to call strange folks.

  18. Stoner 10/25/2007 at 9:29 AM #

    Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington scare me, if they can develop to use all their given athletic ability and skills. Roy Williams is a very good coach and I see no reason those two shouldn’t dramatically improve. They played markedly better basketball at the end of last year compared to the beginning.

    I could see those two equal or overshadow Hansborough as the most important players on UNC’s team.

  19. cpwolfpackfan 10/25/2007 at 9:59 AM #

    ellington dosen’t scare me at all, you put a lock down defender on ellington he can’t do anything. I will take fells over ellington every day of the week and that is not becasue i am a wolfpack fan, Just as good a shooter, bigger, more athlethic, and can finish better, pluse he is a much better defender. Lawson scares me more that anything, and also danny green because green can get hot and finish around the basket better than ellington

  20. noah 10/25/2007 at 10:10 AM #

    “I agree with you regarding Hansbrough – he’s as good as he is going to get but some people actually project Thompson as a higher draft pick than Hansbrough.”

    If I were an NBA team, Hansborough wouldn’t do a thing for me. He’s 6’7. How many power forwards are there currently in the NBA at 6’7? I think he’s looking at a very brief NBA career and then a lengthy european career (if that’s what he wants). But he’s a good college player, I’ll admit.

    I think people forget how highly-regarded Deon Thompson was coming out of high school. He didn’t get a whole lot of minutes, but I think he’s going to be a force this year.

  21. newt 10/25/2007 at 10:19 AM #

    Scheyer at Duke is going to be very obnoxious and shoot them to a lot of wins.

  22. TNCSU 10/25/2007 at 10:39 AM #

    I see our 3 potential PG’s being very complimentary. If we want to push it, we use Degand. If we need shut down defense, we use Johnson, if we to generate offense, we put in Javi. Either way, with all three, we should be able to wear down Lawson. He’s the only variable for UNC that would worry me. We match up well with the rest of the team. I think Hansbrough will have a tough time matching up with J.J. – just my thoughts. I think overall that Courtney should be able to lock down Ellington and Henderson at Duke. Our perimeter D will have to improve against Duke – which I think it will.

  23. PamlicoPack 10/25/2007 at 11:51 AM #

    I’m not going to be a true believer in all this “challenge for the regular season title” stuff until I actually see how we play when the grind starts in January. Remember, we had some pretty awful lapses in regular season play…the 28 point laugher at FSU, the 20 point dismantling by a pretty mediocre Duke team among others. No question we are hands down the best ACC tournament team that hasn’t actually won one over the last 10 years, and have frequently bailed out mediocre regular seasons with sparkling finishes.

    But it takes a consistent combination of workmanlike grinding down of the weaker teams on the schedule AND the emotional surges (like the UNC game last year) to steal a few from the strong teams in order to fashion an 11, 12, or 13 win season in ACC play. The regular season championship is built, not only on pulling off wins over the elite teams, but by avoiding the mental lapses that cause you to lose on the road (or even worse, at home) to the weak teams. You have to maintain the mental intensity, no matter your level of physical prowess or the perceived strength of the opponent.

    The most amazing statistic in ACC hoops, IMO, is the fact that Clemson has NEVER won in Chapel Hill…the consistency of effort there over 40 years of ACC play is just mindboggling. Was UNC a vast favorite in many of those games? Sure! Point is, they have never allowed Clemson to pull an upset on their home floor, and came up big in the rare years (maybe 2 in ACC history?) when Clemson came calling with a higher ranked team.

    The 2008 Champions will, more likely than not, be the team that avoids screwing up the games with the likes of Wake, Miami, BC, and Virginia Tech, just as UNC, year after year, has managed to consistently beat Clemson at home.

    I need to assess this team’s mental toughness before I get all caught up in the ACC top three lather many of you are working yourselves into. If they win the Old Spice Classic, and then go up and pull off a win at Michigan State in the span of a week or so in December, then count me in among the excited. Heck, I’ll be pretty excited about an appearance in the Old Spice championship game and a competitive loss at MSU.

    Valvano went from 14-13 his first year to 20 wins and a 1st round NCAA loss in his second. I will be content with the equivalent from this team, and we all know what happened in V’s third year…

  24. noah 10/25/2007 at 11:53 AM #

    “The most amazing statistic in ACC hoops, IMO, is the fact that Clemson has NEVER won in Chapel Hill…”

    I don’t think that’s correct. I don’t think they’ve ever won at the Dean Dome, but they won at Carmichael, didn’t they?

  25. noah 10/25/2007 at 11:56 AM #

    I stand corrected. They have beaten them at some neutral sites as part of the North-South doubleheader, but they never won at Chapel Hill.

    That is pretty amazing.

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