Wolfpack dribbles away shot at championship game

09-10 Basketball334

Georgia Tech 57
NC State 54

NC State may have lost today’s ACC semifinal game against Georgia Tech back in January of this 2009 when then high school stud recruit, Derrick Favors, ultimately picked Georgia Tech over NC State.

Link to N&O

Freshman forward Derrick Favors scored 17 points to lead the seventh-seeded Yellow Jackets to a 57-54 win and into the final against top-seeded Duke.

The 11th-seeded Pack was able to withstand the size mismatches against Clemson and FSU but it can’t get the same outside shots (6-26 from 3-point range) and couldn’t contain Favors, who scored five points in a critical sequence.

If Favors’ decision and ultimate presence for the Yellow Jackets didn’t do it alone, the Wolfpack’s atrocious free throw shooting certainly aided the cause. On the afternoon, the Wolfpack shot just 10 of 19 from the free throw line, including misses on the front end of multiple one and one opportunities.

The play of the game clearly happened as described below:

Favors’ step-out jumper at 2:50 gave GT a 47-46 lead it held for the remainder of the game. Favors was grabbed on a breakaway by Javier Gonzalez, after Gonzalez turned the ball over at midcourt, and he scored three points on the intentional foul free throw and the ensuing possession.

09-10 Basketball

334 Responses to Wolfpack dribbles away shot at championship game

  1. jamieinkorea 03/14/2010 at 7:59 AM #

    You guys crying about the “foul” that occurred after Javi mugged that guy should just drop it. If anything, Javi deserved to be ejected since what he did was as bad or worse than throwing a punch. I personally would have liked to see him get his crap kicked out.

    What a classless thug.I hope I never see him in a Wolfpack uniform again.

  2. wolfonthehill 03/14/2010 at 9:17 AM #

    I’m coming out of the weekend pretty satisfied, honestly. We won 5 of our last 7, finished strong (against solid competition), vastly improved our defensive play, got Wood on track again, and gave everyone a reason for hope next year.

    That being said… (1) Make free throws and we win. It was the case in multiple games this year, but I thought we were past it. Maybe tired legs? (2) Brown and Harrow’s presence preserve this win for us next year. It’s impossible to overstate the importance of top-notch guard play. Next year we have it for the first time in 20 years. (3) I’m damn glad I don’t have to watch us lose to Duke again. Yesterday was frustrating and disappointing – today would’ve made me damn angry. I’ve simply watched us lose to dook/unc-ch one too many times in ACC Men’s/Women’s finals for a lifetime.

  3. blpack 03/14/2010 at 9:40 AM #

    We made about as good a run as we could. Javi killed us; Javi helped us a lot. That is how things are. Better guard play will help some next year. We need to do much better at the line and from the field. 54 points won’t win you many games. We need to get tougher underneath too. The effort and intensity was there, the results we wanted were not. I think State is getting closer.

  4. EdMar 03/14/2010 at 10:16 AM #

    I will tell myself that I have one more WTNY in me. It does not look bad on paper

    Guards – Harrow (do a search on u-tube, he’s is good), Brown, Gonzales, Mays.

    Bigs – Smith, Howell, Painter, Vanderberg

    Everything else – Wood, CJ, Davis, Thomas.

    Add Cothron and maybe Leslie

  5. packfan03 03/14/2010 at 11:20 AM #

    I will tell myself that I have one more WTNY in me. It does not look bad on paper

    Well said. I hope the sentiment is shared by most of Wolfpack nation. If not, I understand based on the previous four years. However, it’s awfully fun to think about our incoming talent combined with Tracy and Co.

  6. wolfonthehill 03/14/2010 at 11:50 AM #

    ^ Yep. I’m the LAST person who says WTNY… I’m done with waiting.

    But next year is different. I’ll be patient for 12 more months.

    And that’s it.

  7. pakmannfay 03/14/2010 at 6:18 PM #

    AlphWolf According to fact Sid has the worst overall ACC record of any of State’s Men’s BB coaches, no math required. Obviously you are on the WTNY bandwagon, so we shall see. I want set my expectations to high.

  8. 61Packer 03/14/2010 at 6:22 PM #

    It was a really good effort by the Pack. Their defense was outstanding. But the play that defined the loss was the one by that selfish little ballhog wearing #10 and a huge chip on his shoulder. Not only did he lose sight of several other teammates while trying to take over the game during those critical final minutes, but he took away any momentum we had to win when he slung down a Tech player from behind in a fit of frustration over being one-upped.

    He should’ve been benched the rest of the game. Like I’ve said and will repeat- the hallmark of the Sidney Lowe era so far is that his players are undisciplined. That was Exhibit A last night.

    I’m loathe to criticize players on here, but I agree 100% with the comment made earlier by one Pack fan who hoped he never saw Javi Gonzalez in a Wolfpack uniform again.

  9. ncsuinpa 03/15/2010 at 7:55 AM #

    Living in PA, I didn’t see the 1st round game (not shown on the ESPN family of networks) and then saw only parts of the 2nd game. And due to other activities on Saturday, I only saw the final 20+ seconds of the Ga Tech game. However, I have an officiating question. After Javi made the basket to pull within 1, GaT had to inbound the ball. The rule after a made basket is the player can run the whole baseline to throw it in. When the pass was attempted to be thrown in, it was kicked out of bounds. Doesn’t that mean that the inbounds play is a normal inbounds play and the player can NOT run the baseline? That is a “Travel”. The GaT player ran the baseline to get it to the player that was fouled. Of course he made both free throws for a 3-point lead. I thought that would be a turnover and possession to State for the final shot. Help me out on this someone. Thanks.

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