Thoughts on the Seminole Beatdown

General NCS Basketball59

Sorry for the late post – I went to bed as soon as I got home from the game last night. Late in the first half, I was getting nervous. After about 15 minutes of play, the Pack was shooting nearly 70% (inside and behind the arc) – and only winning by TWO. Then, the defensive intensity kicked in, and State closed the half on a very impressive 16-0 run. That was the kind of basketball we’ve been waiting to see.

A big key was getting Big Ced back into the flow of the offense. The 3s are nice, but I really like to see at least 3-4 monster jams from Ced per game. There’s no higher percentage shot than that – and it never leads to a transition opportunity for the opponent.

I think our crowd might like Courtney Fells more than the freshman/sophomore version of Scooter Sherrill. Without question, he does bring needed energy whenever he’s in the game. His slashing ability reminds me of Cam, and he might be even more athletic.

After seeing a happy update earlier (50-32 GT), the crowd’s collective groan when the scoreboard flashed the 61-61 tie was quite audible. But that makes it even more confusing as to why nobody shouts the “Go to hell, Carolina” verse of our fight song anymore. What’s with you people?

Ilian Evtimov was playing his best, most controlled basketball of the year. So it sucks for him to get injured. That said, if he’s going to be back at full strength for tournament play (as all indications are that he will be) – it could end up being a blessing in disguise. We need Fells and McCauley to gain more experience and confidence. We don’t want to go into ACCT and NCAAT play only going 7 deep. Not that he’s asking, but my advice to Sendek would be to rest Evtimov until he’s fully recovered. We need him at 100% – not 80% or 90% – for tournament play. A setback, then subsequently playing him 30+ minutes at 80% in the NCAAT would be the surest route to an early exit.

Interesting Note – the games of consequence that I’ve attended in person are George Washington and Florida State. Luck does tend to come in threes – and just so you know, I have tickets for the UNC game next week…

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.

General NCS Basketball

59 Responses to Thoughts on the Seminole Beatdown

  1. class of '74 02/16/2006 at 10:10 AM #

    Hey rabbit’s foot don’t get sick and miss that game ok!
    Could not agree more on Fells and McCauley they need experience and if last nights game isn’t the perfect opportunity then when is?

  2. Upper Deck Chevy 02/16/2006 at 10:18 AM #

    Is it me or do they just simply not play “The Red and White from State” as much as they used to, in favor of the traditional fight song? I only remember it being played once or twice during the game.

  3. VaWolf82 02/16/2006 at 10:22 AM #

    What are they teaching kids these days?

    http://www.statefansnation.com/images/PoliticallyCorrect.jpg

  4. Rick 02/16/2006 at 10:44 AM #

    Va,
    They taught those words back in my freshmen year in 86. It is the PC version.

    As for IE, I agree this could be a blessing in disguise. I really want the freshment to get more minutes than they have this year. It is really confusing as to why they are not.

  5. Trout 02/16/2006 at 10:50 AM #

    ^ I see no way that Ilian’s injury is a “blessing in disguise. “

  6. BJD95 02/16/2006 at 10:56 AM #

    Trout – if he’s 100% healthy for the tourneys, and we can then use both Fells and McCauley for 5-10 minutes a game (or more if there’s an injury or foul trouble), how does that not make us a better team?

    Obviously, if he’s not 100% for the tourneys, it’s a huge blow. Otherwise, I’d trade maybe 1 extra regular season loss (it’s hard to see the injury having more impact than that) for having a better team come tournament time.

  7. Jim 02/16/2006 at 10:58 AM #

    Would we have won in ’83 without DW’s injury?

  8. Trout 02/16/2006 at 11:05 AM #

    BJD:

    We need him to beat UNC. It is important to beat UNC THIS year. (well, ANY year, but this year especially)

    I’m hearing he will be out for 1-3 weeks with an foot sprain.

  9. BJD95 02/16/2006 at 11:10 AM #

    Trout – we do really need to beat UNC. If we don’t, Sendek’s “0-for-Roy” streak could extend to 8, since next year’s UNC team looks to be a real juggernaut.

    But I think we still have the athletes to beat UNC without him. I also think our gameplan MUST be predicated on getting the ball inside and getting Hansbrough in foul trouble. Thus, I think the lineup with Brack and Cam in the game at the same time is the way to go, in any event. Grant also gives UNC some matchup problems.

  10. Trout 02/16/2006 at 11:13 AM #

    DW’s injury is alot different than IE’s injury. When DW got hurt, we were just starting the ACC season. I think he missed 10-11 games. IE is getting hurt in the stretch run.

    This is eerily like Scooter – 2 years ago we started 6-0 at home in the ACC and had 2 teams left to play – UNC (who we had lost to in Chapel Hill – but by a close game) and MD (who we had beaten by double digits on their court. If we won both games we would have finished tied for 1st in the conference – Scooter goes down (1st half of UNC game) and we lose a senior starter who played almost 40 minutes a game for the whole rest of the season (including the two dissapointing home losses, the loss to MD in the ACC tournament when we blew a 20 point half time lead and the loss in the NCAA’s to Vandy. Scooter could have been a big difference maker in all those games.

    Now as we are 6-0 at home (ACC), games left against UNC (who we played well against but lost in Chapel Hill) and BC (who we beat by nearly 20 at their place) and ACC and NCAA’s coming up. Now a senior starter who plays over 30 minutes a game is hurt – deja vu of the worst kind!!!

  11. Trout 02/16/2006 at 11:24 AM #

    “Wolfpack senior forward Ilian Evtimov has been diagnosed with a sprain of the Lisfranc ligament in his foot. His status is undetermined at this time and he will continue to be evaluated. X-rays and an MRI showed no fractures and the ligament does not appear to be torn.”

  12. BJD95 02/16/2006 at 11:50 AM #

    Lisfranc? That doesn’t sound good to be 100% at ANY point this season, if he comes back at all. Isn’t that the injury that takes NFL RBs out for long periods of time (even as a sprain), usually for the season?

    This team still can come together and overcome the adversity. It’s happened before.

  13. choppack 02/16/2006 at 11:54 AM #

    I’m filing this injury in the Tony Bethel and Scooter Sherril folder. It’s really depressing as heck to think about what those injuries cost and what this one will.

  14. packbackers 02/16/2006 at 12:32 PM #

    “If the clinical evaluation indicates the probability of a mild or moderate lisfranc ligament sprain and the radiograph shows no diastasis, immobilization is suggested. Treatment with a short-leg walking cast, a removable short-leg orthotic or a non­weight-bearing cast is continued for four to six weeks or until symptoms have resolved”

  15. JeremyHyatt 02/16/2006 at 12:44 PM #

    I sprained my right ankle last Friday, rolling my ankle coming down for a rebound. It swelled the size of a baseball and I couldn’t put any weight on it. On a air cast and crunches now. I don’t think I’ll be playing full-court bball come March, but I bet after 3-4 weeks I will be able to jog around and start rehab. It may be sooner depending on my progress.

    I hope Ilian’s injury isn’t as bad as mine. Hopefully he is just RICE-ing it now and gradually see how much weight he can put on it after a few days or a week. But I’d be damned if this 5th-year redshirt senior is anything more than a cortisone shot away from starting in the round of 64.

    This is not good, but if there is a silver lining, it would be to see Fells getting more playing time and see what this next-year-probable starter can do. It will also give the team a more athletic look and feel, still with 3 three-point shooters on the floor. It can envigiorate the defense, and also it may allow Brackman to get into the flow of things, and get Tournment ready with the increased PT. We didn’t lose Julius Hodge; call back up the moniker of “interchangable parts’ and finish the regular season strong.

    Oh and nice to see the Pack finding its stride again in a GW-game-like performance. Its amazing what a little D-fence can do.

  16. choppack 02/16/2006 at 1:20 PM #

    I’ve got to say, I’m sick of these silver linings. 2 years ago, there was a silver lining. Last year, there was a silver lining. However, there are no silver linings for a kid like Ilian, who has busted his butt for the last 5 years here – and has worked hard to improve his game and his body. More than anything – I hate it for him.

    Who knows, anything is possible, they didn’t mention the degree of the strain. Maybe he can be back, but he’ll have lost valuable conditioning time and rhythm. Trying real hard to suppress my bitterness right now.

  17. BJD95 02/16/2006 at 1:31 PM #

    Yeah, you have to feel terrible for Ilian as a person. He certainly deserved better than to possibly have to watch the end of his senior season from the bench, just when he was really starting to hit his stride and play very well.

  18. Rick 02/16/2006 at 2:02 PM #

    If he is out that long then no there is no silver lining.

  19. JeremyHyatt 02/16/2006 at 2:10 PM #

    “Who knows, anything is possible,” “they didn’t mention the degree of the strain”

    exactly, don’t pick out his plot just yet.

  20. choppack 02/16/2006 at 2:38 PM #

    Hyatt – If we hadn’t been in virtually the same exact situation the last 2 years w/ Scooter and Bethel, I’d be more optimistic.

  21. BJD95 02/16/2006 at 2:41 PM #

    I was under the impression that ANY degree of Lisfranc is bad. We do still have plenty of shooters – but it certainly means that Atsur has to step up even more, leadership-wise.

  22. BJD95 02/16/2006 at 2:43 PM #

    I don’t really want to go down this road just yet, but this demonstrates why you simply can’t skate by with a 7-man rotation. Injuries are part of the game, and you simply can’t count on every player being healthy all year.

    We are lucky this happened as early as it did – we still have several games to get players used to their increased roles. Had this happened, say, in our last ACCT game, we would have been completely screwed.

  23. VaWolf82 02/16/2006 at 2:53 PM #

    The opening round of the NCAAT is March 16th in G’boro. 😉 That gives IE a solid month to recover and rehab.

    Hopefully this will be enough time….and hopefully State can win enough games to be seeded higher than 8-9. Depending on the exact regional make-up, there are many scenarios where I would rather see State as a 6-7 seed than a 4-5 seed. No need to panic just yet.

  24. BJD95 02/16/2006 at 3:04 PM #

    VaWolf – one of your old RPI posts got a shout out from the general ACC blog davesez.com. Go over there and revel in your glory properly!

  25. choppack 02/16/2006 at 3:27 PM #

    “I don’t really want to go down this road just yet, but this demonstrates why you simply can’t skate by with a 7-man rotation. Injuries are part of the game, and you simply can’t count on every player being healthy all year.”

    Well, let’s face it. The last 4 years we’ve essentially had this 7-8 man rotation – and these kind of injuries have happened – and we’ve been able to endure these injuries. Have the results been spectalur – no. But I would also note that if he can’t come back from this injury – it will be the 3rd time in 4 years that we’ve lost a starter/an assumed starter – for our home stretch.
    2003- Ilian
    2004- Scooter
    2005 – Bethel

    Has this happened to Duke or UNC-Ch w/ such regularity?

    I’m confident someone will step up – they always have. But it’s these little things that can make the difference. Cam did a great job these last 2 years. Now Brack, Fells and McCauley will have to step up.

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