ACC Implosion Now Almost Complete

Only Ty Lawson’s toe (why won’t the announcers ever mention it?) and Tyler Hansbrough’s will stand in the way of complete conference humilation, after Villanova’s 77-54 curb stomping of Duke tonight. This game was not as close as the final score indicated. It was like the Magic Johnson-era Lakers against a 12-and-under team from the local YMCA.

Nice punk move by Elliott Williams to steal the ball with 2 seconds left, and Nova showing mercy. I’m sure Greivous Vasquez would be proud. Shithead. Uh, yeah.

I think the Big East might have been a hair better than the ACC this year after all. My apologies for my assertions otherwise earlier in the season.

I was thinking about all of the ACC losses, and it’s really even worse than it first seems. Please note the following: – Clemson loses to Michigan. Wolverines bow out the next round. – USC annihilates Boston College. Trojans lose 2 days later. – Wake Forest completely shits the bed against Cleveland State. Arizona dispatches the Vikings with ease in Round 2. – Wisconsin edges an unprepared, energy-free Florida State squad. Yep, the Badgers are quickly sent home by Xavier. – After notching the ACC’s only win as a lower-seeded team, Maryland gets killed by Memphis. The Tigers get run out of the gym by Mizzou in Round 3.

That’s right, not only is the ACC 5-6 in the big dance, but teams knocking ACC squads out of the NCAA tourney have also yet to win a single game afterwards. 0-5, pending Villanova’s date with Pittsburgh on Saturday. That’s some kind of suckage.

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.

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61 Responses to ACC Implosion Now Almost Complete

  1. wufpup76 03/27/2009 at 12:06 AM #

    That was ugly …

    Ouch. Double Ouch.

    Xavier had a real chance against Pitt … too bad they couldn’t pull it off b/c I was really cheering for them. I thought Xavier was the better team for most of that game and I enjoy the way they play … oh well.

    GO ZAGS!

    Re: The ACC

    We truly have nothing to stand on now but that crappy winning streak in the ACC-Big10 challenge, and even that is greatly diluted thanks to Clemson and FSU crapping out against our friendly Big 10 foes in the *first* round.

    All sorts of stats have/had been coming out the woodowork after last week’s debacle by the league about how you could easily make a case of how overrated the league has been for the past several years … It’s not pretty.

    I’ll still be ragging on other conferences I’m sure, but I definitely won’t be mouthing off about how the ACC is clearly better … Clearly it is not … it’s worse 🙁

    Mission accomplished on having only the Holes and Duke matter, and Duke’s starting to become a tiny bit of a stretch. Sweet 16’s are a good accomplishment and nothing to sneeze at, but the Devils haven’t been past that level in a while.

    I hope better days are ahead for the Pack and the league in general … but if you’re not optimistic about the Pack, you’re probably not optimistic about the ACC at large right now either. Sad stuff.

  2. blpack 03/27/2009 at 12:09 AM #

    The ACC wasn’t as good as most thought. Oh well. Go Zags!

  3. blackdom 03/27/2009 at 12:16 AM #

    Kinda makes that big improvement to Sids strong 9th place finish seem even more shallow than what it was now.

  4. Wulfpack 03/27/2009 at 5:28 AM #

    Wow. Nova beat the ever living crap out of Duke. Don’t get me wrong, I knew Nova could beat Duke. But Duke wasn’t even on the same floor with them. The thing was over the first couple of minutes.

    I think the ACC needs to take a serious look at what is going down the past couple of years. The Big East is hands down ahead of us. I mean if Louisville wins, you’re talking half of the Elite 8 as Big East teams. If Syracuse wins as well, there’s your fifth. Prety damn amazing.

    I guess we need to stop comparing ourselves to the Big East and maybe shoot for the Big Ten, Big 12 or Pac 10. More on our level right about now.

    It’s all about coaching. The Big East has its legends (Boehem, Calhoun, Pitino), but it also has its young guns (Dixon, Wright). In the ACC, we’ve got three legends and then it REALLY falls off from there. This is a problem.

    I think UNC disposes of the Zags early and will carry the ACC banner into the Final Four. As much as I hate them, I think a loss to Gonzaga, Syracuse or Oklahoma does a whole lot more damage to us as a conference. Unacceptable for there not to be an ACC team in the Final Four when one conference when one mega-conference is still in position to fill each of the four slots themselves.

  5. MrPerfectionest 03/27/2009 at 6:05 AM #

    Is it possible the ACC officials favoring the 2 in blue has served to keep everyone else down (making recruiting harder, making it harder to win, and so on) while concentrating the power in those two, which in turn leads to them not developing players with the resolve for what it takes to win on a nightly basis when the cards aren’t going your way?

  6. Dogbreath 03/27/2009 at 6:10 AM #

    Saw the first 3 minutes of the Duke game, told my wife they were going to get roundhoused, went to bed.

    The ACC needs to take a long hard look at how it is scheduling its games, officiating them, and marketing Duke/UNC at the expense of everyone else.

    The ACC was a far superior product in the 70s and 80s when you had no idea who was going to win on any given night. I can remember arranging my evenings to watch an ACC game involving teams I had no affinity toward because the competition, stakes, and drama were riveting.

    Ask yourself, when is the last time you gave a shit about watching MD/GT, for example? I can’t even name the starting lineups for either team. Yet I can distinctly remember the stars and role players from those teams in the 80s.

    John Swofford, Nike, AAU, the NBA, ESPN, and Dick Vitale have ruined this once great league.

    What a shame.

  7. WolftownVA81 03/27/2009 at 6:24 AM #

    Duke got out hustled – period. On top of that, all they could do was chuck up the threes and when they didn’t fall, the game was decided. I thought it was funny that Villanova more than once reverted to that strategy and then Duke would start to close the gap. Then they’d wake up, move the ball,pass it inside for an easy lay up to extend the lead back to where it was. Guard play for Villanova was fun to watch. Hope we can get there one day.

  8. Wolfpack_1995 03/27/2009 at 6:48 AM #

    Once can have hope if Sean Miller comes here to coach!

  9. Sw0rdf1sh 03/27/2009 at 6:59 AM #

    Sorry Memphis! Or am I?

  10. TOBtime 03/27/2009 at 7:10 AM #

    I guess the great calamari gets out-coached once again. And make no mistake, it was coaching. Memphis has some SERIOUS talent on the floor.
    Duke should not have made it as far as they did. A good athletic team who could challenge their 3-ptrs and shut down Henderson was going to beat them.
    Go ZAGS! Please go Zags.

  11. Alpha Wolf 03/27/2009 at 7:19 AM #

    Calipari has gone for talent and not team. Even in today’s world of college basketball, team still means something.

    And it helps to have a good admiral to guide the fleet, which Calipari is not.

    Basically, he is a great recruiter but he couldn’t coach his way out of a real conference tournament much less the NCAA.

    Problem for Cal is that he gets players who focus too much on their career in the Association and not their time at Memphis. With all due respect to BJD95, i am glad that he is not on our sidelines.

  12. RickJ 03/27/2009 at 7:28 AM #

    There is a small but increasing chance that the Big East could have 4 teams in the Final Four.

  13. VaWolf82 03/27/2009 at 7:31 AM #

    I’m sorry, but I have to chuckle at anyone who blames the state of any ACC sport on Swofford/ACC. The state of every college program is a direct reflection on the head coach….not the conference, AD, fanbase, or facilities. The head coach hires his staff, recruits his players, implements his system, and makes game day decisions. If you are not happy with the results, it’s not hard to find the person responsible.

  14. Rick 03/27/2009 at 7:44 AM #

    “Is it possible the ACC officials favoring the 2 in blue has served to keep everyone else down (making recruiting harder, making it harder to win, and so on) while concentrating the power in those two, which in turn leads to them not developing players with the resolve for what it takes to win on a nightly basis when the cards aren’t going your way?”

    I agree with this.
    I saw it several times with Duke trying to draw charges. They WOULD have been called in ACC play. Duke and UNC get coddled in ACC play and then do not know how to react when they play with refs that do not baby them.

    Of course I also think K is recruiting the wrong type of player. He is avoiding the top talent because they tend to be one and done. He also is too perimeter oriented. Of course what big man would go to Duke to be coached on post moves by Wojo?

  15. mafpack 03/27/2009 at 7:47 AM #

    MrPerfectionest
    “Is it possible the ACC officials favoring the 2 in blue has served to keep everyone else down (making recruiting harder, making it harder to win, and so on) while concentrating the power in those two, which in turn leads to them not developing players with the resolve for what it takes to win on a nightly basis when the cards aren’t going your way?”

    ^^ This.

  16. Wulfpack 03/27/2009 at 7:53 AM #

    Ok so then how do you explain Wake, BC, FSU, Clemson and MD bombing out so early? B/c duke and unc get all the calls?

  17. Tampa-Pack 03/27/2009 at 7:54 AM #

    I posted this on the Coaching thread, but it fits here as well…

    I know alot of the member of this site, whom I highly respect the opinions of wish we had Calipari, but one of my favorite days each year of the tournament is when Memphis loses. Something about the program…

    I think if Cal gets the UK job, he will lose some of his luster having to complete in a (although weaker right now) more difficult conference night in and night out. I’ll admit, if I wrong, I will be the first one to credit him as a great coach, but as stated above he always looked great at mid-major programs, never a top job. I guess part of the fun is yet to be seen.

  18. wufpup76 03/27/2009 at 7:56 AM #

    “Duke and UNC get coddled in ACC play and then do not know how to react when they play with refs that do not baby them.”

    ^I agree.

    Watched some of the games last weekend with my Dad. He doesn’t follow it as closely anymore as he used to, but he still knew enough to say there was no way Duke could handle Nova’s physical play. Why? Because Duke would not be protected by Clougherty & Co.

    It’s pretty sad that someone who doesn’t even follow college ball on even a casual level anymore can immediately point that out.

  19. chuck 03/27/2009 at 7:57 AM #

    Not really buying the “ACC refs have made Duke and UNC soft” line. Villanova was a terrible match-up for Duke.

  20. newt 03/27/2009 at 7:59 AM #

    Yep. 7 McDonalds AAs or no, the Bus Stop (that’s Duke, if you’ve ever been on either campus, you know why I call them that) has definitely dropped from elite to solid Sweet 16 team.

    The Drinking Fountain (that’s UNC, if you’ve ever seen the old well, you know why I call them that) is the only premiere team left in the ACC, and I question Roy’s ability as a tournament coach. Kansas is probably better off now.

    For NC State, does this mean an opening or even less relevance than before? You can’t say that having to compete with Duke is an obstacle to success anymore.

    Also, it will be interesting to see how the fans treat this loss – will they exhibit “out of whack” expectations? If so, should K rightfully seek an easier environment? Would that equate to “letting him go” or “running him off”?

    Lots of changes going on right now in ACC land. NC State needs to think nationally, because it no longer follows that being top half of the ACC equates to a high level of achievement.

  21. Noah 03/27/2009 at 8:04 AM #

    I never understood the “No one wants to compete with Roy and K!” mentality.

    First…I’ve never met a coach who lacked confidence in his ability to outcoach the other guy.

    Secondly, what’s now…is not forever. K and Roy are not spring chickens.

  22. Sweet jumper 03/27/2009 at 8:17 AM #

    I was very surprised that Rick Barnes did not come back to try to kick Roy and K around. When he was at Clemson, I remember him telling Dean to sit down and shut up in one game and also standing up to K in another game when K was “making suggestions” to the refs.

  23. old13 03/27/2009 at 8:20 AM #

    BTW the coach of that Missouri team that beat Cal is in his THIRD year at Mizzu!

  24. LRM 03/27/2009 at 8:25 AM #

    Was everyone else that watched Villanova play last night wondering how on earth there could be three teams better than them in the Big East?

  25. Wulfpack 03/27/2009 at 8:32 AM #

    Yes folks, believe it or not, some programs actually show improvement in 3 years. As a matter of fact, some don’t waste any time and get down to business in year 1.

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