Survive and Advance- NC State 79, Seton Hall 73

07-08 Basketball64

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None of the basketball was particularly artful, and it would be a grave mistake to pronounce that the 2007-08 Wolfpack has turned the corner. However, the season is back on track, after surviving a grueling stretch of 3 games in 6 days (with Christmas in the middle). NC State had to win all three games, and win them they did. Assuming no catastrophic loss to Western Carolina, Presbyterian, or NC Central, State will enter ACC play at 11-3, which is fairly solid ground. Even more importantly, NC State has 2 quality non-home wins (Villanova and Seton Hall) for its NCAAT resume, to balance out the 2 inexcusable losses.

Neither replacement point guard played very well, but neither cost State the game, either. Johnson, in particular, had some moments where he was actually useful on each end of the floor. Fells carried the Pack in the first half, Gavin Grant in the second (with some help from Ben and J.J.). I now no longer fear complete disaster, which is a great relief.

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.

07-08 Basketball

64 Responses to Survive and Advance- NC State 79, Seton Hall 73

  1. Astral Rain2 12/27/2007 at 11:39 PM #

    If 11-3 noncon , and 8-8 conf, that would be 19-11

    Win a 1st round tourney game, probably against a poor team, and you’d get the 20 wins that usually gets you in easily.

  2. Trip 12/27/2007 at 11:41 PM #

    Survive and advance indeed. Our wins are gonna look like this until either MJ or Javi start to really show offensive capability. I liked what I saw(Well, heard) of MJ in the 2nd half, he had some good plays/passes and did attempt dribble penetration/dishing it out a few times. He gets the nod for starting next game IMO until Javi builds up more confidence. Play 25/15 with the PG position, with 25 minutes given to whomever is playing better for the next few games.

    Nailbiter as always, Seton hall can really throw the tempo into another gear if they get the chance. I’m impressed that they beat Virginia with Singletary at the helm.

  3. burnbarn 12/27/2007 at 11:41 PM #

    I think we will be playing lots of games like this. We have 1 start from either of our PGs. The Hall was not a very good team, but we could not get that run to take them out of it.
    You have to be pleased with MJs first game and he seemed to relax a little more late in the game. Once again, GG was not going to be denied.

    We still have many mental lapses during the game. It seemed we would get a run and get a little lead and then lose focus..I don’t need to name names.

    Where has Dennis Horner gone? He seems to have lost confidence in his shot. He does hustle on D and runs the sets well. Would love to see him and BC start knocking down some jumpers.

  4. Trip 12/27/2007 at 11:47 PM #

    GG I believe, while unrealistically, is trying to keep his “4 loss season” dream alive. There were so many possessions in the end of the game that Gavin just would not be denied points. That’s what you need from your lone senior, and that’s why GG will always be on the floor in the 2nd half. Let him rest some in the first half, then let him loose in the 2nd.

  5. Buck 12/28/2007 at 12:08 AM #

    Speaking og Gavin…Has anyone else noticed how Grant’s free throw shooting seems to get better in crunch time? I would love to know if his free throw percetage in the last 4 minutes is higher than in the first 36 minutes(?).

  6. Trip 12/28/2007 at 12:10 AM #

    Like I said before in another post, I think in the Bronx you’d get shot if you miss game winning free throws. Grant’s FT % without a doubt increases in the 4 minute crunch time.

  7. LRM 12/28/2007 at 7:21 AM #

    This team has showed a lot of character the past week. You can feel some momentum building…

  8. vtpackfan 12/28/2007 at 7:46 AM #

    Amazing, we went 3-1 in the course of a week with the “Old Spice Classic” and ACC/Big 10 challenge. Now 4-0 in a little over a week after the semester ended. Hhmmmm, surely AD Fowler can fix this problem and work to spread these games out more in the coming years.

  9. vtpackfan 12/28/2007 at 7:56 AM #

    At the end of both halfs we dominated the game. How often can we honestly say that has happened for years around here, versus any opponent?

    How awful of a coach does the Gonzalez sound like? Sid went man, zone, box-in-one, triangle-and-two, a Seton Hall kept up the full court press which led to many easy buckets and fast breaks for us. Most if not all of our TO’s happened in the halfcourt set due to reach in’s and unforced error’s on our own part.

    Did anyone know what happened to Larry Davis? I heard he was signed up with a YMCA
    team that is coached by a longtime friend/mentor. Reports are that he left the game in the first half to make the tip-off there. Confirm?

  10. LRM 12/28/2007 at 8:04 AM #

    Gonzalez also said Grant “isn’t great” but “helps” his team win. Grant is as clutch as anyone I’ve seen in a long time at State. When the game is on the line, I want the ball in his hands, just like I did Hodge, Grundy, and Harrison.

  11. Sweet jumper 12/28/2007 at 8:22 AM #

    I said this on another post: Our point guard does not have to be great. He just needs to be solid–6 or 8 points, 4 to 6 assists, 2 to 3 steals, and less than 3 turnovers. Solid, unspectacular play from the point guard keeps GG and Fells in their natural positions and allows them to attack and create and fast break. I think MJ can do this better than Javi at this point, but Javi will get better as he matures and gains confidence. The triangle and two and box and one defenses were great adjustments by Lowe and caused Seton Hall some headaches. Now let’s tuneup for the Holes! Frasor tore his ACL. This definitely hurts them by having to go with an inconsistent but admittedly very quick Quentin Thomas to spell Lawson.

  12. LRM 12/28/2007 at 8:29 AM #

    Quentin Thomas, The Chosen One?

    I remember this Bomani Jones column in ’05 about their national title celebration (where May, Felton, and Williams all announced they were going pro, and McCants was certain to follow): http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=jones/050422

    “That would also be the same Quentin Thomas who showed up at the team’s victory celebration at the Dean Dome wearing a white vest that had his likeness airbrushed on the back, a move that renders him unqualified to decide what to eat for dinner, let alone run Carolina’s offense.”

    You can’t make that stuff up.

  13. PackHooligan 12/28/2007 at 8:30 AM #

    I think Johnson will take more and more of gonzalez’s minutes as he keeps knocking the rust off. I thought he did much better on defense than gonzalez, and didn’t appear to panic when faced with pressure. Gonzalez needs to get his confidence back. Seton Hall was just daring him to take a 15-20 foot wide open jumper and he would just stand there like a deer in headlights.

    It was great to see Fells play like he is capable of in the first half, I just wish he would have stayed aggressive in the second half as well. Grant is really playing like a senior leader, and McCauley is being aggressive again.

    Also, great move by sid to go to the box and 1 and force seton hall into jumpshots.

  14. NCSU84 12/28/2007 at 8:40 AM #

    No one seems to notice the fact that this team has an arsenal of talent that we did not have in years past. For example, Brandon Costner had an off night without question. So what happens, Courtney Fells steps in and hits 17 in the first half. With the weapons available to this team, we do not have to count on “the one guy” to bail us out. The PG slot will contiune to haunt us, but MJ and Javi will improve and hopefully we have enough fire power down the stretch to overcome that weakness.

  15. Par Shooter 12/28/2007 at 8:42 AM #

    I really feel like our going to triangle & 2 and box & 1 in the 2nd half made the difference in the game. Harvey was getting layups at will against our man D and it was wonderful strategy by Sid to try a little junk. You could see that SH was totally caught off guard and it took them several possesions to figure out how to attack it (if they ever did).

    It was probably the clearest example yet of Sid’s defensive tactics helping to turn a game our way. You’ve got to give the guys credit for executing on both ends but Sid’s defensive calls certainly put them in a position to succeed, which is all you can ask from a coach.

  16. waxhaw 12/28/2007 at 8:43 AM #

    If we go 8-8 and that opening round game ends up being versus an easy opponent, you can thank expansion. Under the old format, we would have been playing another bubble team or better.

    It’s great that our bubble teams can pick up a tourney win without knocking each other out of consideration.

  17. Packster 12/28/2007 at 8:48 AM #

    The reason Fells did not score 17 more in the 2nd half was twofold:

    1) He wasn’t in the game for several minutes
    2) No one seemed to be able to get him the ball

    The PGs have to learn to feed to the person who is hot.

    This was such a great win. Whenever there was trouble we seemed to rise to the occassion. Lowe has one distinct coaching advantage over Sendek that I see. When he goes into the last 2 minutes with a 5 point lead or so…he knows how to win it. That is so much AKA Valvano who was a master at the end of the game.

  18. Sweet jumper 12/28/2007 at 8:52 AM #

    This year we can afford for BC to have an off night, and we still have the bodies and the talent to make up for that shortcoming. I hope all of his off nights result in 9 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks. My only concern about BC is that he is prone to frequent defensive lapses and “lazy” turnovers. I hope he is playing himself into shape after the knee injury this summer.

  19. Sweet jumper 12/28/2007 at 8:54 AM #

    I agree Packster. Sid was definitely taking notes when he was playing for Valvano and also for Sloan and Wooten.

  20. PackPT 12/28/2007 at 9:09 AM #

    Sidney is great and his coaching ability will be amplified when one of the PGs calms down and is able to run the play. What concerns me is what sweet jumper said about Costner, the lazy turnovers and defensive lapses. Other than his 3-pointers in a few games he has played awful this year. He needs to step it up.
    Who knew 3 years ago that Gavin Grant would be my favorite player this year? He has willed us to at least 3 wins this year, and that’s just from the games I’ve been able to watch. Any time we need a basket I find myself yelling at the screen “Drive Gavin, Drive!” because you know it’s going in.
    This leads me into what I see as the biggest difference in Sidney and Sendek is that the players get better over the years. Who remembers seeing Ron Kelley, Damon Thornton, and Kenny Inge thinking we were going to dominate in side for 3 years, and not one of them got ANY better the whole time they were there. Lowe shows up and suddenly Costner (who played ok but not great before his injury) and Ben (who barely played under Sendek) are the stars of the team, and outside of Gavin being forced out of position, he’s come a LONG way from the kid that turned it over while dreaming of the NBA under Sendek. And please don’t get me started on “the surprising play of Tim Wells in the NIT” when he was the only one that would throw an oop or shoot from mid-range and didn’t even play on Senior night…or don’t get me started on Herb reducing Tony bethel from an attacker on both sides of the court to a 3 point shooter.
    Sorry about the rant, but Lowe will be fine, and if costner wakes up we could make a serious run in March…but ONLY if he steps up. I think Lowe will make it happen.

  21. LRM 12/28/2007 at 9:18 AM #

    The fact is, if we’re 8-8 and on the bubble we’re not going far in March anyway. Look at that data of past national champions and Final 4 teams. Bubble teams just don’t make it because they’re on the bubble for a reason — they’re just not very good. And yes, I know all about ’83.

    I say we keep improving and forget about bubble talk. 11-5 or 10-6 in the ACC and it won’t be an issue.

  22. senez 12/28/2007 at 9:23 AM #

    Video link is busted…

    Use this:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3170495&n8pe6c=2

  23. Sweet jumper 12/28/2007 at 9:27 AM #

    Did anyone read the UNX story in the N&O today? The article focused nearly entirely on Bobby Frasor with very little game recap. Robbi Pickeral makes Frasor sound like the second coming of Isaih Thomas. Give me a break.

  24. wufpup76 12/28/2007 at 9:27 AM #

    i agree w/ sweet jumper & packhooligan’s posts above … i think marques will ultimately wind up starting over javi

    marques was a tad more effective in getting us into some offensive rhythm in the second half and was way more effective on the defensive end – not to say that javi didn’t hustle on D (he always does) – but javi kept blowing defensive assignments in the second half and he came out of the game

    i at least see more confidence from javi though as far as running the team from the point … he’s showed me enough over the last two games that i see now why we gave him a scholarship and i think he has a lot of potential to become a competent ACC point guard (not great, but effective)

    either way it works out, at least we have two point guards who seem to be able to handle the ball w/out turning it over at a high rate … given time and experience each should improve (hopefully some more offensive production as far as assists and points in addition to not turning the ball over)

    in a post on the game thread, i said coach lowe’s “junk” defenses were extremely effective in disrupting seton hall’s offense and momentum … agree w/ everyone who said this above … definitely some game changing coaching calls when we instituted those defenses

    let’s keep improving right on into ACC play … go pack!

  25. haze 12/28/2007 at 9:29 AM #

    All posts should just start off extolling the virtues of Gavin Grant, we probably wouldn’t be a .500 team without him. Serious Sr leadership.

    Beyond The Gavin, we are really a rather bizarre club. It’s kind of tough to see how we do it. We are weak at PG, largely due to youth (completely understandable, IMO), have a role player at the 2 (with no backup) and are getting very little from the 4 despite having our best returning players at that position. At 5, we have a monster frosh who is our best player not from the Bronx but he is still early in the learning curve. It’s hard to see where our points come from sometimes, though, at the same time, it’s easy to see that if we could just get Costner in the groove, we could actually be described as dangerous. Weird team.

    On the plus side, our defense and rebounding are improving (the latter notably) and our offense is starting to flow. Personally, I’m not too hard on the PG’s. I think Javy is just having a confidence issue right now. That can happen to a frosh. He needs to shoot his way out and gain some rhythm. I think he can be just fine at this level. As for MJ, I liked the size and, aside from a few errors of commission (e.g. not getting back on a play, bad pass to Hickson), he looked reasonably comfortable out there. He doesn’t look like an outside threat but I can live with that b/c his size will make him a match up problem for some teams (PG post plays and D).

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