NC State 63, South Carolina 61

07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball39

Good to see a lot of minutes for Horner today. TFerg doesn’t play. Did Grant play in the second half? MORE TO COME

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07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball

39 Responses to NC State 63, South Carolina 61

  1. McLovin 11/23/2007 at 4:33 PM #

    I was just wondering the same about Grant. Anyone know?

  2. highonlowe 11/23/2007 at 4:37 PM #

    The only place Fergie should be playing is on my IPOD

  3. BJD95 11/23/2007 at 4:39 PM #

    Someone please post any tidbits from the post-game show. I’m out of radio range and not willing to go sit in the car for XM feed!

  4. tvp1 11/23/2007 at 4:48 PM #

    highonlowe: Fergie definitely should NOT be playing on your iPod.

  5. cpwolfpackfan 11/23/2007 at 4:53 PM #

    sloppy game, but we won, We need to learn to win the close ones while we are still learning to play together. Will only help in the long run. South Carolina is going to be a pretty good team this year, as well as rider. They are growing as a team. We got killed on the offensive glass. 23 to 6, got to get that fixed. Degand played a damn good game

  6. cpwolfpackfan 11/23/2007 at 4:53 PM #

    they had 30 more shots at the basket than we did, and we still came out on top of a pretty good team. Finding a way to win

  7. McLovin 11/23/2007 at 4:58 PM #

    they had 30 more shots (76 to 46) BUT they only made 3 more (25 to 22)

    we do need to work on rebounding but SC was going over the back or fouling on everyone miss

  8. McLovin 11/23/2007 at 4:59 PM #

    and the refs just stood there

  9. geojim1990 11/23/2007 at 5:02 PM #

    What the hell is going on with all the team “issues”? First, Grant alludes to it after the UNO loss, then Fells mentions it after the Rider game:

    Q: Courtney, there was talk before of playing time, chemistry issues, etc. Has this game helped to solve some of that?

    A: Definitely. I think we put those little things behind us and focus on the big picture – and that’s winning this tournament. And we’re not going to be able to win this tournament with team issues that we had in the last game. So, we’re just going to put the little things behind us and keep pushing forward.

  10. MatSci94 11/23/2007 at 5:03 PM #

    Lots of nice dribble penetration from Degand.

    Lots of wierd low contact fouls called on both sides.

    I know they got a lot of off rebounds, but for most of the game it didn’t look like we were getting outhustled for rebounds. Part of the issue may be that we try to block every shot, but several were blocked, and many more altered. I wonder what they are being coached to do there.

    Most of our outside shots are very tentative. Everyone seems to do a catch and jab step/pump fake and then maybe shoot. We seem to be looking for driving oportunities first, but then the shot comes off as tentative. Costner had some nice looks in the 2nd half.

  11. Packster 11/23/2007 at 5:05 PM #

    We played a good all around game today. We need to rebound better. Good chemistry today on offense. Horner had a lot of productive PT. Degand played superbly including at the free throw line. If it weren’t for SC being red hot from 3 for a spell (including the junk shot at the end of the half) we would have won handily. I think Lowe is figuring out the best way to use Hickson. Hickson was as big of a factor on defense today as on offense. He caused SC to alter almost all their inside shots when he was in resulting in a lot of misses. Next game is Sunday evening…anyone know if game time is 6:30 or 7pm?

  12. stejen 11/23/2007 at 5:27 PM #

    i can’t help but think that Lowe is doing what V did and that is experiement and try diffierent defensess for first couple of games. He even has said he knows what Horner and McCauley can do and that makes me think he is trying to give the other guys time to see what they can do. In a few games I think you wlll see the lineup to be pretty much set for the rest of the year. And think about it, wasn’t it a smart move for Lowe for Lowe to let Hickson know he is not going to go 12-12 in every game?

  13. Packster 11/23/2007 at 5:33 PM #

    Yes….it is good to have Hickson reigned in a little.

  14. vtpackfan 11/23/2007 at 5:42 PM #

    Good teams have their frosh reigned in. NCSU just welcomes them into their underbelly world of frustrating underachievement. Glad you could make it JJ, we were worried you wouldn’t figure out how to fit in.

  15. WestCoast 11/23/2007 at 5:52 PM #

    It wasn’t a well played game for sure, but after being down 9 or 10 State made a run and won the game. However, they killed us on the offensive boards and that was very frustrating. Almost every time they missed it seemed USC got their own board. When we’re playing that other Carolina and they get an extra 30 shots as a result of the offensive boards, we’re going to be in deeper trouble than we were today.

  16. Astral Rain2 11/23/2007 at 6:13 PM #

    How good is South Carolina supposed to be this year anyways? Another NIT Final Four for them?

    George Mason I think is supposed to be a tourney team, so while Nova would have been a better test, Mason’s a test as well.

  17. LRM 11/23/2007 at 6:20 PM #

    South Carolina exposed a MAJOR weakness for Hickson: double team him and he becomes a human turnover.

  18. bTHEredterror 11/23/2007 at 6:29 PM #

    I think the rebounding edge was due in part to how badly the Chickens were missing shots as well. Horner was great today, and it was surprising Grant was on the bench at the end, and basically half the game.

    Good game for chemistry if no one’s feelings are hurt, guys were making plays for each other and defending fairly well. Hickson struggled early and came on strong when we needed him to. Degand was surprisingly solid, I think he and Ben are meshing well.

    Defense was the focus, which is probably why Horner was on the floor instead of Grant, and why Gonzalez only got in a few minutes. Ferguson was given an opportunity against Rider and did nothing with it, and deserved to watch. He may get to play against EZU and other winnable games, but he would have been eaten alive against the USC style of drive and dish, and I would be shocked if we see him against Nova/Mason. Horner earned minutes and Gonzalez is going to have to get minutes with how Degand shoots FT’s, its like Clifford revisited.

    Would have liked to see if T Smith could have helped the defensive glass. He looked active, though not effective against UNO, and nobody else was getting it done. Maybe destined for a RS?

  19. dbo2874 11/23/2007 at 7:03 PM #

    Hickson will need to learn to relocate out of the double team or he is going to turn it over 5 times a game.

  20. WolftownVA81 11/23/2007 at 7:15 PM #

    I liked the team play today. Seemed we passed well and fed it to the open man when the double team came. Still seems we need to be able to drive to the basket more. Grant tried some but it looked forced. We needed to get out and defend the threes more. They killed us there. Ben at the top of the key gives us a lot of ability to move the ball. He had a nice assist or two. BC was awsome from the FT line and had some nice threes as well. Things are starting to improve but we still looked rough. For a while, all we could do was pass it around the permeter to see who would take the open shot. Looked a bit like hot potato with know one really wanting to take it. Looks like some practice at the three line would help build the confidence level. Horner lived up to expectations. Hope he keeps getting minutes at the expense of TF (until he proves otherwise.) Had way to many turnovers and fouls that really put us in a hole. Good thing SCs was missing a lot of shots. Survived and advanced with a W. Contrats again to the team – they are making progress. Go Pack.

  21. StateFans 11/23/2007 at 7:22 PM #

    All Hickson needs to do better is learn to kick the ball out/pass when double teamed. He will pick that up with little problem

  22. MrPlywood 11/23/2007 at 8:07 PM #

    ESPN said that Hickson didn’t start because he broke a team rule. Can anyone enlighten me?

  23. choppack1 11/23/2007 at 8:53 PM #

    I thought Javy played good D again. He gets his hands on the ball a lot.

    He’s not the threat to drive that Degand is, but I think he’s a better passer and shooter. Degand is a man right now – and is physically ready for the ACC wars. Javy needs a little more time and experience – but I think eventually we won’t lose much putting him in.

  24. Pack92 11/23/2007 at 9:22 PM #

    The first time for me to actually see the guys play today. Degand looked like a streak of lightning in the open court. Hickson plain and simple changes everything that gets close to him on defense. I agree with SFN, time will improve his offensive savvy. He may never pass the ball like Ben M. but if he can just pick up the double coming it will be huge for our offense.

  25. Wulfpack 11/23/2007 at 9:42 PM #

    Nova beat G. Mason, so we get the ‘Cats. Hickson did break a team rule, it was reported in my newspaper this morning. Don’t know anything more than that. Glad that Sid is trying to get through to this guy and make him earn his time on the court. Great win for the Pack today. We haven’t been quite as impressive as I think most expected us to be. But maybe it will come in time. All in all a great win.

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