Insane GT Game Thread

06-07 Basketball General178

That Crittenden shot damn near killed me. Good thing I am only 33 – I would be blogging from the sky if I were much older. Will that turn the tide, or will the Pack withstand yet another Yellow Jacket run? Anyway, this is a great game. Dicuss.

8:16 – Well, this doesn’t look good. Tech in synch offensively for the first time maybe ever this ACC season. We could easily run out of steam.

8:21 – Grant has such balance when he drives the lane and keeps his cool. He has been outstanding tonight. Not sure he’s committed a turnover yet, either.

8:30 – OK, there’s the return of out-of-control Grant. Still, what heart we are showing. We keep taking punches and getting right back up. One note of caution – I think our entire rotation has either 2 or 3 fouls. That could get dicey.

8:34 – I would be highly remiss not to give huge props to Fells for his defense on Crittenden.

8:37 – Tech lands a huge flurry of punches.

8:41 – This time, we aren’t getting back up. Our legs are completely gone, and Hewitt is wisely pressing hard. I don’t see how we pull this one out. Damn it.

8:45 – Hell, Tech might even cover at this rate. Game over.

8:52 – Hewitt showing how you beat NC State – press, press, then press some more. We can’t hold up for 40 minutes. Not this year.

9:00 – Crittenden with the dagger, defying laws of physics.

9:03 – Too tired to block out. It helps to have a stud PG to break down the defense and still bleed clock. We are out of options.

9:05 – Gambling wolves howl – stop fouling!!!

9:08 – Pack beats spread, loses 74-65. Very ugly finish – we MUST wipe the slate clean and take care of Miami. A respectable finish and easy NIT bid is still within our grasp if we keep our composure. Remember, everything is gravy this year. And you got plenty of gravy on Saturday.

More from Jeff:
The Pack was up as much as 15 points in the first half but succombs to an 18-0 run (and some say horrible officiating) in the second half. State only scored 22 points in the second half.

Georgia Tech used nine players on the evening and the Pack primarily went with five plus some time from Bryan Nieman. It showed as the press killed State.

The Pack was beaten by the deficiencies that we all know exist on this team – lack of depth, a healthy ballhandler and a ‘go to’ guy for sure points when the offense dries up.

Honestly, I fully expected State to lose this game. I was actually very pleased that we got a road match-up against a good team as the follow-up to our Carolina win so that any let down would be to a good team. Had we played at Miami or Wake or somewhere very winnable after Saturday then the would have hurt a lot.

But, I expected to lay an egg; not play as well as we did for 30 minutes and then lose.

In the end, many of the major items that

IMHO, Saturday’s game at Miami is more important to the Wolfpack’s post season hopes than tonight’s game because a loss at Miami is SO BAD that it would crush any hope for an NCAA Tournament berth (if the Pack finds a way to get to 8-8 in the ACC) and would also take away one of the ‘hopeful/expected’ five wins that we need for an NIT bid.

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.

06-07 Basketball General

178 Responses to Insane GT Game Thread

  1. BJD95 02/07/2007 at 9:20 AM #

    Nieman was very ineffective last night. The constant pressing also made it harder for Ferguson to steal a few minutes, b/c his passing is so suspect. It was a trouble spot that we could not counter if the opposing coachn were to see it – and Hewitt did.

    Also, don’t discount how hugely important this game was to GT. It was basically an elimination game for their NCAAT hopes. they have some talent, and were hungry as hell. The fact that we handled them so well for 30 minutes really speaks very well for our coaches and players.

    Jeff and I traded e-mails about this game earlier in the wek, and we both expected State to get absolutely throttled. So did Vegas. We did NOT come out with a UNC hangover, which was very impressive.

  2. highonlowe 02/07/2007 at 9:21 AM #

    I chalk this on up to lack of depth. We just fought a huge battle on Saturday; to turn around 2 days later, using the same 5-6 guys for 40 minutes, and have the legs to shoot consistently is a lot to ask. I’m still impressed with this team.

  3. RickJ 02/07/2007 at 9:44 AM #

    Lowe tried to steal a couple of minutes rest for Astur in the first half of the UNC and Ga. Tech games. In the UNC game this came after Astur picked up a second foul when we were leading 29 – 20. In the Ga. Tech game I believe he went to the bench with 12:10 left in the half in an attempt to sandwich this with the under 12 minute timeout. In both games we did not score and barely got a shot off during his absence. In the UNC game we made two straight turnovers that led to dunks on the other end and Lowe was forced to put Engin back in the game. In the Tech game we immediately stepped out-of-bounds in the backcourt.

    Bottom line from my view is that we have 5 players that are ACC ready on a talent, experience & skill level. In fact, they are pretty darn good. Unfortunately, Astur is at about 80% and we cannot play without him. We’ve known this the entire year – In the first exhibition game against Division II Northern State, Astur came out during the first half and Northern went on a 10 – 0 run in less than 2 minutes. We barely beat ECU (RPI -312) at home without Astur.

    We have a personnel problem, not a coaching problem.

  4. TNCSU 02/07/2007 at 9:51 AM #

    I’m impressed overall, too. I do think the players got a little winded. I think Coach Lowe probably realizes he needs to get some minutes from the bench, but he doesn’t have alot of options. Up by 10-12, I’m worried that he doesn’t have enough confidence in Ferguson to put him in. I’m sure he will not play much next year, but just to spell for a minute or two would help. Neiman and Horner did not look to shoot at all. I don’t mind that with Neiman, but I’d like Horner to throw up a few – even if he misses, because he needs to know that he’s a shooter, and that’s what we’ll need from him in future years. With the athleticism of GT, I’m sure Neiman, Horner, and Ferguson would not be Coach Lowe’s number one choices, but again you’ve got Davis as a walk-on.

    Next year, a completely different story — I can actually envision Coach using Fells and Grant at the PG again (with Johnson) so that we’ll have Hickson starting with our 4 that average 34+ minutes a game now. I don’t see knocking any of them out of the starting line-up for MJ (the transfer).
    Overall, I did see alot of great play and heart for the first 30 minutes – we just flat got tired, but we’ve got alot to look forward to. We’ll basically lose Atsur, but see 5-6 new players with a chance to see significant playing time. With the way these guys have been playing, I can still see us upsetting a few folks in the ACC tourney, but next year, I can see great things happening for us! GO PACK!

  5. BJD95 02/07/2007 at 10:00 AM #

    Next year – Degand/Johnson and McCauley will ALWAYS start. I expect the other 4 guys (Fells, Grant, Hickson, Costner) to rotate based on how they play/practice, or maybe it will turn out that somebody is more comfortable coming in off the bench.

    What perplexes me about Grant – he has no middle setting. He’s really good or he’s awful.

  6. Rick 02/07/2007 at 10:01 AM #

    There is no doubt the players were exhausted especially Atsur.

    I am impressed with how smart we play on defense. Very few stupid fouls and yet we play pretty hard.

    I still cannot imagine what a coach was thinking in recruiting this team.

  7. GAWolf 02/07/2007 at 10:08 AM #

    The end of the first half miracle bucket was our fault. We had the ball with I believe 10 seconds or so and we failed to secure the last shot. Instead of pushing up the court and taking the last shot we heaved one of our now signature hail-marry passes up court and out-of-bounds. They get the ball and hit “the shot.” That’s potentially a 6 or 5 point swing. With just a couple of minutes to go we were down by 5. Go figure….

  8. TNCSU 02/07/2007 at 10:12 AM #

    ^^^Degand/Johnson and McCauley will ALWAYS start.

    I agree with McCauley, but it’s hard for me to believe Degand or Johnson has the PG position locked up. Neither was a 5-star prospect, and although I think both will be good players, experience does matter in college hoops. Fells, Grant, and Costner will have that experience. Either way, we’ll have options, which we don’t have now.

  9. newt 02/07/2007 at 10:18 AM #

    I pretty much agree with SFN’s post on this. We just ran out of gas. In hindsight, Sid might could have gotten some guys a blow early in the game when we had a working margin, but that strategy could have backfired if Tech got back into it against our significantly less capable bench. When both teams were fresh, Tech didn’t know what to do with our pick and roll offense.

    When Grant drove the basket and heaved up a shot to get fouled in the second half, clearly exhausted, I thought he showed a heck of a lot of heart. Like everybody else, I’ve criticized him for his decision making at times, but kudos to him for that gutsy play that kept us in striking distance for a few more minutes.

  10. BJD95 02/07/2007 at 10:19 AM #

    I just can’t imagine starting ANY game without a real PG on the floor, when we have 2 solid options available. Fells, Grant, Costner, and Hickson will at still get at least 25-30 minutes, regardless of who starts.

  11. newt 02/07/2007 at 10:34 AM #

    Our starting lineup next year will be the same as this year, except Atsur will be replaced by Johnson or Degand.

    It is our bench rotation that will change with Hickson, Johnson/Degand, and possibly Smith getting quality minutes, in addition to Horner. Also interested to see if Lewandowski ever gets into the game.

    I expect the minutes to go to:

    Starters:
    Johnson
    Fells
    Grant
    Costner
    McCauley

    Regular rotation:
    Hickson
    Horner
    Degand

    Worked in occasionally:
    Smith
    Neiman
    Ferguson
    Thomas
    Lewandowski

    Looking at that, we’re at least a couple of years away from a to-tier team, and we could really use a 2 guard with a consistent shot from 3-point range.

  12. TNCSU 02/07/2007 at 10:48 AM #

    I think you’ll have a hard time keeping the number 3 PF/C in the country out of the starting line-up, and I definitely think Smith will get alot of PT. Neiman is a Senior, so he’s not in the equation. I do hope that Johnson is the starting PG, but he’s 6-5, so he’s not your prototype PG that will guard a Ty Lawson type PG. Fells can – especially with another year under his belt. It just depends on what type of offense Sid would like to run. If we limit turnovers, there is no reason we can’t have Fells and Johnson playing the point. I think Ferguson will see VERY little time, but Horner, Smith, and Thomas will see time. Big Lew, I don’t see playing very much unless he really bulks up.

  13. noah 02/07/2007 at 11:29 AM #

    I think Degand is going to start over Johnson. Degand is a terrific athlete with great speed. The knock on him is that he’s not a good shooter or scorer.

    Johnson’s problem (from those who’ve seen him) is that he’s got great size, but lacks the quicks/foot speed to break people down off the dribble.

    In the ACC, unless you have extraordinary reflexes and amazingly fast hands (see: Engin Atsur), you’re going to be in trouble if you aren’t a terrific athlete.

    We’re going to have four legit scoring options next year, provided everyone actually comes back who is scheduled to return, so Degand’s offense won’t be a liability. We’ll need him to run the offense, beat the press, avoid the 10 unforced turnovers we seem to make every game, and play solid defense.

    If Johnson can give us 10-15 minutes a game of solid play and five fouls and, most importantly, if he allows Degand to play at a very high level and not have to pace himself, he’ll be a GREAT pickup.

    Valvano always had someone like Terry Gannon, Vinny Del Negro (early in his career before he switched to two-guard), Kelsey Weems, and Quinton Jackson, who could come in and STEAL minutes. When they came in, there wasn’t a big drop-off. They didn’t have to worry about foul trouble, so if they got beat, they could reach in or grab, and they would buy you time for the stretch run.

    I think Johnny Thomas is going to be the guy at the end of the bench for at least one year. But I think Hickson and Smith and Johnson and Dennis Horner can give us a nice rotation with the starters. If someone turns an ankle or is having a terrible night or gets in foul trouble, it won’t be a huge problem.

    Plus, if by some some horrible, awful curse, both Brendan Wright and Tyler Hansborough return to school, we’ll have the fouls and the depth to play them aggressively.

  14. c6by66 02/07/2007 at 11:57 AM #

    UGHH…but, at least we played with intensity until we ran out of gas…got tired…

    OK PACK FANS…how about a LITTLE UNX stirring…

    Tyler Hansbrough made a statement that his PICK-UP TRUCK had been vandalized…someone put a DUKE sticker on it…

    Now Tyler and his family (names on the GO HEELS site) moved to UNX area to follow his exploits…the camera flashes on the family…Dad (DR) works at UNX hospital and Mom is dating several local guys…

    Did a PROPERTY TAX RECORD search for both parents in ORANGE, DURHAM and CHATHAM…NO RECORDS….maybe they live further OUT…Just wondering if the Hansbrough clan has REGISTERED all their vehicles as required…WOULD BE A SHAME IF THEY GOT REPORTED FOR VIOLATING NC GENERAL STATUTES…WILL POST SOMETHING LATER AS I CONTINUE TO DIG>>>>BUT IF YOU GUYS/GALS WANT TO SEARCH FOR POPLAR BLUFF – BUTLER COUNTY – MISSOURI RECORDS>>>HAVE AT IT…

  15. TNCSU 02/07/2007 at 12:04 PM #

    Noah, you could be right about Degand. My point was that Johnson seems closer to Fells than a pure PG, and I doubt he’ll beat out Fells. Also with our returning players, we would not need Degand to be a scorer, but more of a Floor General. Sort of in the mold of the Freshman PG at Wake (Smith) – not a good shooter, but can make things happen…

  16. xphoenix87 02/07/2007 at 1:14 PM #

    I’d love to see a starting lineup of Johnson/Degand, Fells, Costner, McCauley, Hickson. That is, at least, if Hickson is as good as his hype. I wouldn’t have said this earlier, but I think that from what I’ve seen, Costner could handle the small forward position. He would be an absolute defensive nightmare for the opposing team. Unless Gavin can cut down on his turnovers, I think he’s better as a scorer off the bench. Regardless, it’s fun to think that we’ll have an excess of quality players next year.

  17. newt 02/07/2007 at 1:37 PM #

    People always like to think incoming freshman are better than experienced players.

  18. TNCSU 02/07/2007 at 1:44 PM #

    Sometimes, they are, but all things being equal, experience does count. Engin was a heck of a player as a Freshman! Hickson should be able to contribute right away – as should Smith to a degree.

  19. burnbarn 02/07/2007 at 1:48 PM #

    I was very pleased with how we came out last night.. we looked really confident and were mentally very sharp. I thought up until the 10 min mark, it was our best game of the season.. then everyone just gave out of gas and had no legs.

    My only critcism for Lowe would have been to sub a little more in the first half especially for Atsur. (maybe ferg could have gotten a few minutes while we were up big). I think Horner having to go to the locker room for so long really hurt the team in the end. The front line guys had to play on as a result.

    I worried about the long three to end the half, but our guys came out swinging in the ceond half and even extended the lead and controlled the game for the first 10 mins of the half.

    We just fell victim to our biggest weakness.. depth.

    I could not be happier about where Sid has this team. This team had Hewitt literally scratching his head. Great to see googs and Vinnie at the game. Lousy GT crown last night.

  20. choppack1 02/07/2007 at 1:50 PM #

    I don’t see how Grant doesn’t start next year. I think our starting lineup next year is Degand/Johnson, Fells, Grant, Costner and McCauley. We’ll be able to play at a much faster pace and will be able to play much more aggressively.

    I’ve got to hand it to Hewitt – he absolutely wore our guys down as he should have. He was relentless too – continuing the pressure even in the waning minutes of the game. So far, of any ACC team I’ve seen, he did the best job of wearing us down.

  21. TNCSU 02/07/2007 at 2:16 PM #

    I think we’ll have a small luxury in changing our line-up depending upon our opponent. That is something that Sid will work with, changing line-ups, defenses, etc. depending on circumstances. All in all, a good ability to have – which we do not have this year. I think Sid made very good adjustments last night – it was definitely a case when we could have used 2 or 3 more bodies. GT does not shoot well from the outside, so they kept pounding it inside. Beyond that, the turnovers just kill you. I would prefer we shoot the ball with 25 seconds left on the shot clock than turn it over, but those things will come with experience, etc. The addition of Hickson, Smith, Degand, Thomas, and Johnson will bode well for next year — and beyond!

  22. RedTerror29 02/07/2007 at 2:25 PM #

    It was very good to see Googs. As a young’un suffering through the Les Robinson years – he was THE guy!

  23. RickJ 02/07/2007 at 2:41 PM #

    This is probably delusional but I am getting more and more excited about Courtney Fells. He really looks like an elite athlete that just may be able to develop all the other skills that are needed to be a great basketball player. His reach and quickness give him a chance to be a defensive stopper. Courtney is the only guard and player under 6’ 8” that is in the top ten in the ACC in blocked shots with over 1 per game.

    Let’s assume Johnson is the best option to run the point on next year’s team. Further assuming that Johnson is not quick enough to guard the really fast point guards in the league, I’m starting to think Fells could guard the opposition point guard and let Johnson guard the two. Johnson definitely has the size to guard the opponents two guard.

  24. TNCSU 02/07/2007 at 2:57 PM #

    I stand by my original post about from right after the Red/White game. Courtney, if he continues to improve, will be an All-ACC caliber player. Anyone who saw the game on Saturday realizes how good he can be. Without his defense and 3 point shooting, we don’t win — that being said, it was a total team effort, and our core players are something to reckon with!

  25. redfred2 02/07/2007 at 6:02 PM #

    I read so far down…and then skipped, so I’m hopefully repeating what someone has already said.

    How much sleep do you think these kids have had since the win over UNC, and who are all of these people skipping way ahead to talk about NIT and NCAA bids? Is it the same bunch that was predicting an ACC championship in FB right after the wins over FSU and BC? In FB we actually had some experience, some depth, and some established talent (running backs) coming into the season. We were just undisciplined, had some uninspired coaching in areas, and we basically beat ourselves.

    That is not at all the case with this basketball team. Going up against teams with twice, and three times the depth, and playing them hard night after night. I hope they make a tournament somehow, but I’ll be damned if going to let it spoil what they’re doing right now or at anytime during this season. Just being competitive in these last three ballgames was unbelievable, to win two of them…was F’N UNREAL!

    You guys really need to think back, there isn’t any rollercoaster ride happening on the court, it’s just that some of you folks are creating it in your own minds. This team isn’t tournament bound anywhere yet, they’re learning under fire, and they are going to have ups and downs in every game for the rest of this season. Just enjoy the spirit and great play when it happens, and remember where they were when we started this season. If that isn’t enough to make you happy and give hope for the future, then choose one of the two teams playing tonight, and stick with them.

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