NC State hosts Monte Towe’s former team tonight at 6:30 in the RBC Center. The game will be televised on many of Fox’s regional sports networks.
For more about Towe & NO then you can click here. But, for some of the best pre-game analysis we turn your attention to this entry at S6.
New Orleans had the fifth-worst adjusted defensive efficiency in I-A last year. When your top four minutes-getters are all 6-3 or shorter, as was the case in 2007, defense tends to be an issue. Opponents shot with ease from inside and out, and they grabbed a ton of their own misses.
The Privateers are led by NBA prospect, Bo McCalebb (6-0, 180). S6 says:
McCalebb took more than 500 two-point attempts last season and made nearly half of them, quite a feat for someone his size. If there’s a limitation to his game, it’s his outside shooting, but he understands this and doesn’t take many from beyond the arc. I’m not sure what’s more impressive–that he had a turnover rate below 13% or that he had an OR% north of 8%; both numbers are incredible. He averaged 22.4 field goal attempts per 40 minutes last year.
Games like to tonight’s game often provide superstars from smaller programs a stage on which they can shine and earn more national recognition. Sometimes players try too hard and end up flopping. Using our newfound athletic depth with a rotation of DeGand, Gonzalez, Fells and Grant to harass and hopefully slow down McCalebb will be a primary key of the game to watch.
In other league news, SFN tips our hat to Virginia who defeated nationally ranked Arizona for the second consecutive season. Games like these can ultimately be very important when March rolls around.
Although a lot of games have been closer than expected, ACC teams’ are showing well in the early season. Heading into tonight’s games the ACC is a combined 24-2 in out of conference competition with the top three projected ACC teams having only played a combined four games.
Florida State’s loss to Cleveland State tempers some of the league excitement for UVa’s win but it has been a good start for the ACC with Miami beating VCU and Clemson winning at Mississippi State.
