The Pack travels to Wake Forest tomorrow in a match-up of two extremely young squads who will battle to stay out of the ACC cellar all season. The game is at noon and will be televised on your local RLF (Raycom/Lincoln Financial affiliate).
I truly believe that State CAN win at Wake Forest tomorrow. If Engin Atsur was 100% healthy I would actually feel confident that State WOULD win at Wake Forest. Unfortunately for the Pack, the Deacons provide a legitimate and significant match-up challenge due to the number of bodies that Skip Prosser has at his disposal.
Wake doesn’t have many top flight studs on the roster, but they definitely have tenish guys that who are serviceable and can provide minutes. These guys played in waves against Boston College and – bad news for State – had enough horsepower to press the Eagles the entire second half while creating a lot of turnovers, havoc and easy baskets. This is the worst possible match-up for the Pack.
With this said, I expect Sidney Lowe to somewhat bite the bullet and play more guys off the Wolfpack’s bench. It wouldn’t surprise me to see a little more of Bryan Neiman, Trevor Ferguson, and even some of the football players that have joined the squad. I don’t expect much offensive impact from these guys…but, we desperately need some bodies to play good defense, rebound and provide some rest for the starters.
Similarly, Skip Prosser is expected to shake-up the Demon Deacons’ general routine as well. Prosser has hinted that Wake’s “tendency to sleepwalk through the first half might mean some changes in the starting lineup” after Boston College took at 23 point lead on the Deacons Tuesday night; Wake has trailed at halftime eight times this season.
That might mean Drum (6-foot-6), who has the experience to keep the Deacons focused early on, could replace 6-8 freshman Jamie Skeen (North Mecklenburg High), who hasn’t scored in two straight games.
As always, S6 has the statistical preview that we like to highlight and use to piggy-back our comments on. S6’s first set of comments echo my previous observation:
Probable Starters (Nine different Deacs have started a game this season, so bear with me
Not to bring up very many bad memories, but this link will take you to the last time that State and Wake squared off against each other. Just remember that no matter how bad it feels this year – we are only in year one. There is plenty of time to improve upon the following performance (that doesn’t even include State’s ACC Tournament loss to the Deacs last year).
Updated Saturday, 10am
We already knew that Engin Atsur would be out for today’s game, but there are a couple of other items out there that are worth connecting to this entry.
‘As the novelty of “Hey, N.C. State’s not as bad as we thought,” wears off’, the N&O’s ACCNow Blog highlights some points echo many of our comments in recent weeks.
In the past three games, UNCG, a team that normally makes 32 percent of its 3s, made 44 percent in an overtime loss; BC, last in the ACC at 33 percent from 3, made 40 percent; Clemson, normally a 34-percent team, hit 52 percent.
Obviously, playing only six players and chasing shots from the outside for 38 to 40 minutes per game is physically draining and major reason for both the defensive and rebounding deficiencies, but it’s not the only reason, Lowe said.
“Our initial defense hasn’t been that bad. But we have to control the boards. Second opportunities have hurt us. It’s not over until you rebound.”
I understand his point since many of the open three-point looks have come on second and third opportunities, but his comments that ‘initial defense hasn’t been THAT BAD’ isn’t a ringing endorsement that initial defense has been good.
* The Wilmington Star News lists the Pack as #11 in the ACC just in front of Miami (who is currently 2-1 in the conference).
