Hodge Traded for Blake; No Punches Thrown

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Talk about sick irony!

It doesn’t getting any crazier than NC State’s Julius Hodge being traded for Maryland’s Steve Blake.

The Denver Nuggets need some breathing space from luxury-tax territory. The Milwaukee Bucks need backcourt scoring to counter their injury crisis.

That’s why the teams, according to NBA front-office sources, are combining on a trade featuring Earl Boykins that will be announced later Thursday.

Now 10 games into the Allen Iverson Era, Denver has agreed to send Boykins and little-used forward Julius Hodge to the Bucks for guard Steve Blake.

As you probably remember, Blake and Hodge engaged in some ‘legendary’ battles in the early part of the decade that included an incident where Hodge blatantly elbowed/punched Blake in the back of the head at the end of a fast break during a game in College Park during Hodge’s freshman season. Hodge was subsequently suspended for the next game by the ACC. Wolfpackers will also remember that Hodge’s actions were positioned as retribution for a “Chris Paul-esque” move that Blake pulled on earlier in the season in Raleigh.

There are A LOT of names that NC State CHOSE not to recruit/offer during Herb Sendek’s tenure that ultimately haunted Herb and the program – Josh Howard, PJ Tucker, Craig Dawson, Chris Wilcox, David West, the nudge of Ivan Wagner out the door, and others. But no name had such a large, direct – and ironic – impact as Steve Blake.

Blake ultimately participated in more victories at Maryland than any player who has ever worn the Terps’ uniform. This included his participation as the floor leader for two Final Four teams and a National Championship team when Terps defeated Indiana in 2002.

It didn’t have to end up that that way for NC State, Maryland or the ACC.

Early in Blake’s high school career he actually wanted to play at NC State. You see, Blake grew up near/in Miami, FL modeling his game after the former all-time assist leader in college basketball – NC State’s Chris Corchiani. (Didn’t Blake play for Gabe Corchiani down there in like Hilieah Falls or something?) NC State Head Coach, Herb Sendek, decided that Blake wasn’t NC State material (much like former ACC POY, Josh Howard at Wake Forest) and elected not to pursue the young point guard.

The rest…as they say…is history! Obviously, very big history for the Maryland Basketball Program and sickly ironic history for NC State’s in ight of the fact that Coach Sendek’s biggest struggle to elevate the Wolfpack’s program stemmed from Sendek’s annual inability to land a top notch point guard that he coveted. Who needed Steve Blake when you could get Cliff Crawford? It is a question that only a few still ponder today.

* Related entry from Dave Sez (Link)

* Randomly related entry (Link)

* What happens when Chris Paul is suspended (Link)

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Alums Flashback General NCS Basketball

78 Responses to Hodge Traded for Blake; No Punches Thrown

  1. xphoenix87 01/11/2007 at 4:48 PM #

    “I pray nightly that we have a team as great as the 72-74 era. ONE loss in two years.”

    I don’t think that kind of thing will ever happen in college basketball again. Thompson was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of player, and these days anyone that good would leave after one year anyway. On that subject, I recently saw the “Skywalker: The David Thompson Story” DVD, and I would highly recommend it. Stats don’t do the man justice, there will never be anyone like him again. I had to rewind and rewatch the play against Pitt where he hurt himself over and over because, horrific as it is, it’s one of the most astounding feats of athleticism I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t seen it, you should.

    In response to the comments about Blake being surrounded by superior talent, I think you’re selling him a bit short. I didn’t like him much either, but Blake was a heck of a point guard. When you look at a lot of those guys (Wilcox, Nichlas, Baxter), they’ve been highly ineffective in the NBA. A lot of that is that their games didn’t translate well to the NBA, but I think a lot of it can be attributed to Blake making everyone on that team better. He might’ve been a punk, but Blake was a heck of a ball player.

  2. smfrank 01/11/2007 at 4:59 PM #

    Blake may have helped make them better or he might have fit in nicely with the squad. A point guard’s role though is greatly helped when there are 4 other people on the court that are great players. Would Chris Corchiani have as many assists as he did if he were passing the ball to Scooter Sherril & Evtimov instead of Rodney Monroe & Gugs?

  3. packbackr04 01/11/2007 at 5:05 PM #

    no and would gugs and monroe have scored as many points if corch wasnt hitting them right between the numbers with his blazing passes… like i tell my fiancee…. its a 2 way street honey…

    funny thing about the game the other night, i dont remember ONE bounce pass. maybe sid needs to go back to basics with these guys.

  4. smfrank 01/11/2007 at 5:13 PM #

    That’s what I’m saying – its a team game. PG’s have the ability to make everyone’s game better, but likewise that person must have the ability to take advantage of it.

    I agree with you on the bounce pass. A CRSIP bounce pass from the point to the wing would help a lot.

  5. redfred2 01/11/2007 at 5:22 PM #

    “It sucked knowing you were never going to be better than good.”

    “Which for me was better than knowing we sucked and could lose to anybody, like UNC-G, Davidson, Florida Atlantic, etc., on any given day.”

    Gene, your last name isn’t Fowler, is it? 😉

    Patience my son. Circumstances back then were dictated by others. Right now there are smuddy, leftover fingerprints all over what we’re witnessing.

    I hate the fact that your reality of NC State is what it is. Mine is worlds apart. I KNOW for a FACT that it can be, and should ALWAYS have been, BETTER.

    This current administration, not by plan, was forced into making changes recently. By shear luck they have been very positive upgrades in both HC depts. Now, whether the administration can live up it’s employee’s standards, grow back bones of their own, become proactive, and start working with them and helping their OWN situations, is the only question left to be answered.

    They apparently haven’t given a hoot in hell about athletics UNTIL the big $$$’s started rolling in. Big changes to the facilities have been accomplished recently only because of the influx from athletics. Maybe it is starting to sink in and they’re finally starting to figure out that this isn’t as painful as they’ve made it out to be afterall. Maybe, after 15 years of total neglect, athletics at NC State University has taken on a whole new meaning.

    I doubt it, but if the $$$ aspect doesn’t make it happen with this crowd in Raleigh, I don’t know anything that will, and we’re all in for a long and aggravating, rest of our Wolfpack loving days.

  6. Lee Fowler 01/11/2007 at 5:36 PM #

    Add to your list of Herb passovers:

    David West (All American, National Defensive POY)
    Lonnie Baxter (1st Team All ACC)

    of course, these were players who liked to play with their backs to the basket, post down low, and occasionally crash the glass.

  7. Astral Rain 01/11/2007 at 6:09 PM #

    Well, we’ll leave he who shall not be named out of this for now. I do think we’ll be good in 2 years though- through the power of positive recruiting. I’ll suffer through this year- my concern right now is whether sid can teach defensive.

    For any of the NBA followers- how was Sid’s teams defensively in the NBA

  8. Woof Wolf 01/11/2007 at 9:28 PM #

    Some of the comments and names mentioned today have brought back memories from the glory basketball years. This has little to do with the topic but I just want to share the memories. First a nitpick correction to an earlier post.

    Case’s Final Four trip was in 1950. Ron Shavlik played from 54 to 56. We won the ACC Championship all three years. In 54 we lost in what is now the Sweet Sixteen. In 55 we beat Duke in the championship game but they went to the NCAA. I guess we were on probation.

    I actually remember 1956. I was a kid living in Virginia and found WPTF and The Dixie Classic on the new radio I had gotten for Christmas. After that I was hooked. I listened to ACC basketball every night I could find a game. Ron Shavlik was the star of the team and the ACC player of the year and I was a devoted N C State fan by the time we got to the tournament.

    Going into the ACC T we were ranked one or two in the polls. If I remember correctly Ron broke his wrist in the first game of the tournament and played all but one minute of the last two games in a cast. The next week still playing in the cast Ron led the team with 25 points as we lost 79 – 78 in four overtimes in the first round of the NCAA. With Shavlik at full speed that could have been our first national championship. And I won’t even mention who won it the next year.

    DT: I was there ten rows back from the basket where he landed in the regional final against Pitt, and the place was hyped. We were one game away from a rematch with UCLA and building a lead in the first half when David went airborne. The crowd was on their feet and screaming as he lifted off to block the shot. He swatted it away spectacularly and then his knees hit Spence in the shoulders and he was falling to the floor headfirst. The crowd got so quiet so quick that we heard his head hit the floor. He never moved for almost ten minutes until they were carrying him off on the stretcher. I’ve never been in a sold out arena that was so quiet for so long.

    As they carried him out, just before he disappeared from sight he tried to sit up and wave. They told us on the PA right after half time that he was awake and alert at the hospital. We held the lead but all of the energy was gone from the building until he came back in and walked to the bench with that big bandage on his head with about five minutes left in the game. The place went crazy.

    I was fortunate to see him do lot of spectacular stuff, but from a pure athletic feat that leap and block has to be number one. I wish the dunk had been legal when he was in school.

    From the Case years through the Valvano years we were right there at the top. UNC, Duke, Wake, Maryland and Virginia all were good at one time or the other but we were always there. For that forty-year period there were only a handful of times that we walked into ACC tournament without feeling we had a chance to win it all.

  9. c6by66 01/11/2007 at 10:08 PM #

    Funny how you remember things…When I attended NCSU during the late 60’s, BB was not that hot…Bidenbach was the only name I remember…then came 1970 and we beat South Carolina (Cremmins was playing)…SC got mad and left the ACC…GOOD RIDDANCE…

    Then came 1972. My son was 2 and we beat UNX for the first time in a LONG TIME…I was yelling and my little boy was yelling (he was excited because I was excited)…my pregnant wife was out playing bridge….she did NOT believe me when she came home.

    Then came the run of 73 – which has its own banner…Pity that Dean Smith and the UNX crowd reported us to the NCAA and we were on probation for a pick-up game where one of the assistants played against DT….BUT WE RAN THE TABLE.

    Then came 74. UCLA beat up in the MATCH-UP of the century. I bought us a new 17″ COLOR TV just to see the game…then DT took the fall…I saw it in color and my wife accused me of Jinxing them since we did NOT need a COLOR TV. Then we beat UCLA in a rerun of the MATCH-UP….Marquette was NOT even a challenge….

    BUT…I also remember the NCSU-MD ACC Tourney Title game….IT WAS EXCITING AS EVERYONE SAYS IT WAS….Felt sorry for Lefty…He was a GREAT coach and a GOOD GUY…sort of got the Jimmy V Bum’s rush right out of MD.

    THEN…along came this crazy Italian and brought back the dreams and the magic. I took my kids to Raleigh one late Saturday night to see the team come back. about 10 days later, I took them to Raleigh (kept them out of school) to Reynolds and welcomed the 1983 NCAA Champions…

    I have watched Sid and Towe during the warm-up’s…there is great chemistry and the dynasty will be brought back again….

    GO PACK…

    Sid & Monte….

    We’re glad you came home….I, too, hear V’s voice sometimes…he is watching over us and all will be well again….just a matter of time.

  10. tvp 01/11/2007 at 10:24 PM #

    This is off topic, but congrats to you guys – I noticed SFN was nominated for

    Best ACC Blog
    Best Community Interaction Award
    and sadly, The Job Award (for “The blog that has suffered through its chosen team’s dismal season with the most dignity.”)

    in the College Football Blogger Awards. See below:
    http://www.rockytoptalk.com/story/2007/1/10/75844/5463

  11. fluff 01/11/2007 at 10:41 PM #

    “There is no doubt that Blake is a solid point guard. But he had a LOT of help on that Maryland squad. ”

    It’s hard to ignore the FF’s and the championship rings. I pulled as hard as anyone for CC but on top of the college results Blake is in the NBA and cliff is not. Sendek really whiffed on that one no other way to slice it.

    It is really tough to look back at all the players that were not pursued by the pack and went elsewhere with big time results.

    off the top of my head:

    Josh Howard
    Steve Blake
    PJ Tucker
    David West
    Terrel McIntyre (Less)

    I’m sure there are more. And to my knowledge none of these guys were recruited by duke or unc-ch but N.C State can’t be expected to win big or be consistently nationally relevant because N.C. State cant recruit with the unc-ch’s of the world.

  12. redfred2 01/11/2007 at 10:53 PM #

    Woof

    I’m blurry but I remember some of the late sixties, Van Williford, Ed Leftwich, but all of the Thompson era. I remember the Phil Spence incident you spoke about very well. It was just as you described, a strange and sick feeling not knowing if he was unconscientious, paralyzed, or even dead, from a broken neck. I can see him lying there for what seemed like forever, remember the team picking it up and playing on, and can still plainly remember DT coming back in, with that big white bandage wrapped around his head.

    You guys that weren’t around back then, please look in the career stats in the game programs, and please keep in mind that you will not see David Thompson’s name in any minutes (they didn’t even keep a record) or games played categories. He did all of that with less games per season, and in only three years, as three years was all that was allowed to any player back then. Rodney Monroe, who I loved and who was the all-time scoring leader at NC State, played in 38 more games than DT did. Thats more than a season’s worth. As I’ve said before, he was just so far and above, and ahead of his time that his skill and athleticism was to hard fathom. And trust me, it would be just as unbelievable in this day and time also.

    Woof, on a personal note, I would have never guessed or anything even close to it, but it’s also good to know that other people’s memories on this site can reach way back, even further than mine. 😉

    Great post! Thank you.

  13. Woof Wolf 01/11/2007 at 11:03 PM #

    Thanks, about the only advantage of being old is the memories.

  14. Elrod 01/11/2007 at 11:37 PM #

    I was around in those days, too. c6by66, you recall EB, but how about Paul Coder and Bob Heuts? Al Heartly, one of my favorites. And the NOISE in the old barn.

  15. redfred2 01/11/2007 at 11:49 PM #

    While Woof’s post has me thinking about the good old NC State, let’s try to remember that we have a new head coach, who left a job as an assistant coach, in a whole different league, and just a few months back. There should be an easily acceptable learning curve allowed and understood in this, his first season back in the saddle as ranch foreman.

    That’s not saying that I, and all of us, can’t grumble and moan when we see areas in need of improvement. But let’s face it, the circumstances that brought him here and with what he had to go through just to be allowed, then the players he thought he had, then didn’t have, now has, or whatever, all of that is about is about as far from the norm as anyone will ever see in a coaching transition at this, a grade school level, or any level.

    Like I said before, grumbling is fine, and it’s been justified in some cases already, but comparisons to any other seasons, coaches, or teams, is just not fair. Hopefully no other university, group of players, or coaches, will ever have to suffer through a transition that was as outrageously ridiculous and sloppy as this one was.

    Let’s just grin and bear with it, keep the faith and our spirits up, and smile our way through. Because that is exactly what our new coach will be pleading and asking his group of young and experienced players to do for us, from here on out.

    Te ingredients are coming from a bear cupboard, no recipe and made from scratch, but it is just a beginning.

    Go Lowe! Go WOLFPACK!!!

  16. redfred2 01/12/2007 at 12:03 AM #

    Thanks Elrod, I was trying to think of Al Hardy’s name earlier. I’m trying to reach back into some of my earliest memory banks, but didn’t he play around ’67, with Ed Leftwich. The was a guard named Al(?) Green I think also. I do remember Coder and Heuts, what years were they there.

  17. jwrenn29 01/12/2007 at 12:14 AM #

    Choppack: When will we EVER (as a collective community) realize that losing Mike O’Donnell was not and never should have been a big deal? The dude did nothing and was worth nothing on the court! He may be a nice dude (probably is) but there’s NO WAY he should ever enter our conversation again of what “could have been”. Get over it!!! It’s like worrying that Archie Miller’s playing days are over and longing for them again…1 dimensional player that would NEVER set foot on the court and UNC/Duke and if we want to compete against UNC/Duke you’ve got to start realizing we must set our sites higher! UGH!

    With regard to the Hodge trade IMO, and I hope I’m wrong, this could be the beginning of the end for Jules. With Redd going down though, it could be just the beginning. I do hope he gets his chance and does something with it, but being traded two for one for Steve Blake…OUCH!

  18. Woof Wolf 01/12/2007 at 12:37 AM #

    rf2: Al Heartley was the name. I worked with him after he graduated. Vann Williford was the big guy on the team that took out usc.

  19. Andy 01/12/2007 at 12:53 AM #

    the move was as much about denver dumping boykins salary as it was about denver wanting blake

  20. redfred2 01/12/2007 at 1:33 AM #

    Woof, if you had done that, I would have said something like:

    Apparently you still can’t, Al Hardy???…Hardly…It’s Heartly you dumbass.

    Anyway, I realized that after I typed it but what the hay. Seriously though, wasn’t there a guard named Al Green, or something(???) last name Green? Somewhere around mid to late sixties?

  21. choppack1 01/12/2007 at 8:15 AM #

    “Choppack: When will we EVER (as a collective community) realize that losing Mike O’Donnell was not and never should have been a big deal? The dude did nothing and was worth nothing on the court! He may be a nice dude (probably is) but there’s NO WAY he should ever enter our conversation again of what “could have been”. Get over it!!!”

    JWrenn – You’re missing the point entirely. Each person you recruit who doesn’t stay is a person you’ve thrown away a scholarship on. When a kid transfers, it’s not alwaysa about losing the kid’s skills and prescence on a team, but about what you lost by making a poor decision in the first place. Because there’s a scholarship, you couldn’t recruit other kids – kids who may have contributed more to your team and added more depth.

  22. jwolf 01/12/2007 at 9:25 AM #

    Rick, check this out from the N&O:

    “A year ago, State finished second in the ACC in 3-point defense (31.0 percent) and field-goal defense (41.3 percent). Through 16 games this season, the Pack is 11th in 3-point defense (36.5 percent) and 10th in field-goal defense (42.1 percent).”

    Just shows you by the end of the year this year our numbers will be much worse since they seem to get worse for everybody through ACC play.
    Just responding to our debate earlier in the week.

  23. BoKnowsNCS71 01/12/2007 at 10:27 AM #

    Fred — Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Eddie Leftwich was a friend of mine — lived a floor above me In Mecalf (it was a men’s dorm briefly) and he also pledged the Pershing Rifles military fraternity (which if people recall State was a big ROTC campus back then). Unfortunately, he left the team the next year right after winter exams due to GPA problems. He was tall.

    Also met Paul Coder and Bob Heuts. They overcame a minor legal setback and suspension in 1971 and help us beat the Dean in an emotional game. I also think Al Heartley was the first African American player on the team.

    One important thing about Thompson was that you were not allowed to dunk back then so he had would get fed the “alley oop” from Monte or Phil and do a layup. If he only could have dunked — wow. That would have made him even more of a hero.

  24. redfred2 01/12/2007 at 10:41 AM #

    Bo, I’ve said this before, but I don’t know about the dunk with regards to Thompson. The alley oop wasn’t as demonstrative as a slam for sure, but it’s easier to pull off than just hanging in mid air…and still just hanging there…in mid air…then catching the ball…and just gently placing in the cylinder. He could have done some amazing in your face slams, but there was something magical about the way they pulled that off back then.

    BTW, check out the bottom of Valvano thread again.

  25. Elrod 01/12/2007 at 10:42 AM #

    I hear you, redfred2. Sid’s arrival means we can do this again! This year should be all about WE LOVE YOU SID! Next year should be more of ‘now, this is what I’m talking about!’ ’08-’09 should be the beginning of the return to the top. So, to me, this year and next year aren’t nearly so much about winning as they are about changing the culture. Heck, I’ll gladly sacrifice this year to move from where we were to where we are going to get! I have complete confidence that Sid and this staff will add to the memories!

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