N.C. State vs. West Virginia; Saturday Open

Hi all – hope everyone’s having a good Saturday and that your weekend is off to a good start. In addition to Pack-WVa tonight, throughout the day there’s tons of college basketball, the first bowl game of the season, plus a couple of NFL games on today as we draw in on the NFL Playoffs (cue Jim Mora soundbite!). Please use this thread as an ‘open’ discussion for sports happenings – then we’ll transition into the game thread.

N.C. State (9-2) vs. West Virginia (9-1), Gotham Classic, ~9:30pm @ Madison Square Garden; Tv: Espn2

West Virginia team page

N.C. State heads into New York tonight for their first neutral court game of the season (let’s hope it’s the first of many neutral site games). The Wolfpack enters the Gotham Classic contest against West Virginia after a solid, bounce-back win over Tennessee on Wednesday evening. A great opportunity lays in front of the Pack tonight, as a neutral court victory over a solid Power conference opponent would carry a lot of weight on Selection Sunday if the Pack is in contention for a berth.

So, what exactly is the Gotham Classic? In addition to the linked page above, the ‘Richmond Times-Dispatch‘ offers the following:

“The Gotham Classic is comprised of seven teams in a competition held at various sites. N.C. State and West Virginia play in the Gotham Classic only in this Showcase Round. Richmond, Pepperdine, Howard, South Alabama and IUPUI face one another in a round-robin format.”

Richmond and Pepperdine qualified for tonight’s ‘Showcase Round’ through the round-robin, and will play at 7pm. The Wolfpack and Mountaineers will take the court approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Spiders-Waves game.

As for West Virginia, the Mountaineers are off to a pretty solid start at 9-1. Their RPI currently sits at 34 and they have wins over Boston College and UConn by virtue of winning the ‘Puerto Rico Tip Off’. West Virginia’s only blemish is a home loss to athletic but inconsistent LSU. The Mountaineers are ranked, primarily due to the victory over UConn before the Huskies started showing their flaws. That’s not meant to slight WVa’s accomplishments – it just goes to show how unreliable media rankings can be early in the season. West Virginia trailed for much of the game against opponents BC, Monmouth, and Marshall … so it will be interesting to see what we get out of the Mountaineers tonight.

As for style of play, the Mountaineers rely on pressure defense and rebounding – Bob Huggins staples. They’re not overly efficient on offense (of course, Tenn wasn’t a good shooting team yet nailed seemingly 500 threes against the Pack), instead relying on offensive putbacks and turnovers to create scoring opportunities. If the Pack backcourt can handle the WVa pressure and physicality, and if the team grab the majority of their defensive rebound opportunities then there may be chances to run and get out in space – a style of play that definitely favors the Wolfpack. I like the match-up and it will be very interesting to see this game play out. Regardless of the outcome, this will hopefully be another contest that helps the Pack put together the pieces of the puzzle (it’s all about working towards March, baby).

GoPack preview snippet with links to game notes and stats

Two videos today 🙂  :

Enjoy the game everyone and Go Pack!

 

About wufpup76

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Home Forums N.C. State vs. West Virginia; Saturday Open

Viewing 25 posts - 301 through 325 (of 346 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #66153
    1.21 Jigawatts
    Keymaster

    Here the thing.
    If a team plays that ultra aggressive defense they do get called for fouls…
    But…
    The refs are NOT going to allow there to be a huge fouls foul disparity. So the other team is going to get called for fouls also even though they are not fouling add much add the aggressive team.
    Coaches have figured this out and are taking advantage of our.

    The opposite also applies, if the other team isn’t trying to foul, while the refs will call fouls on them to keep it close, they also won’t call every foul on the ultra aggressive team.

    #66154
    Texpack
    Participant

    Ball game

    #66155
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Gotta make your free throws. Pretty simple.

    #66156
    coach13
    Participant

    The Hanson brothers of Chiefs fame could beat us.

    #66157
    Rick
    Keymaster

    This team has heart but losing this game after the Wofford game keeps us or if the tournament.

    We are not going to beat the to four in the league.
    So we will have no signature wins.

    #66158
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    Got within 1 and then missed FT’s killed us

    You can feel the deflation from here

    #66159
    Rick
    Keymaster

    Jigs,
    Or is unfortunate but that is what wins in college basketball now.

    It really sucks

    #66160
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    Stop effing complaining you fouling hack. You should have been fouled out twice over

    #66161
    Rick
    Keymaster

    Cat was grabbed for the entire city before the call.

    Missed FTS.

    Sigh

    #66162
    Rick
    Keymaster

    This game is an example of why college basketball sucks.

    #66163
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    Over. No call on the pushoff. Made 3. Ballgame

    #66164
    Wulfpack
    Participant

    Same crap different day. Just stupid basketball.

    #66165
    bill.onthebeach
    Participant

    Our bench appears to have their thumbs in the wrong places…

    We’re gonna need a little LUTZ to win this one..

    #NCSU-North Carolina's #1 FOOTBALL school!
    #66166
    Rick
    Keymaster

    I think I have watched two college basketball games all year because if this.

    Screwv the NCAA

    #66167
    Texpack
    Participant

    Put two hands on the rebound!

    #66168
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    Someone – anyone – want to explain why Paige hasn’t fouled out of this game? It’s inexplicable.

    #66169
    Rick
    Keymaster

    Over. No call on the pushoff. Made 3. Ballgame

    That push off could be called every time they shoot

    #66170
    Rick
    Keymaster

    Someone – anyone – want to explain why Paige hasn’t fouled out of this game? It’s inexplicable.

    Heck their entire starting five should have been gone before the half

    #66171
    MrPlywood
    Participant

    OK, I’m watching a stream so clarity is an issue, but didn’t Paige have his hand on Cat’s arm when he was dribbling on the perimeter? For a few seconds it looked like…

    #66172
    Rick
    Keymaster

    And listen to the announcers, the talk about the free their discrepancy.
    Ruining college basketball.

    #66173
    MrPlywood
    Participant

    It took 38 minutes to get Paige bounced.

    #66174
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    Bye Page. May I never see your hacking contempt again. “Basketball player”. Right.

    #66175
    coach13
    Participant

    But coach…we’ve been fouling them all game…they are just now calling it.

    #66176
    wufpup76
    Keymaster

    FT’s once again our demise

    #66177
    Rick
    Keymaster

    Bye Page. May I never see your hacking contempt again. “Basketball player”. Right.

    He had dinner nothing but back.

    More missed FTS

Viewing 25 posts - 301 through 325 (of 346 total)
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