Atsur’s Parting Quote

06-07 Basketball General Quotes of Note75

After four years, we all love and respect Engin Atsur very much. In this entry on the N&O’s Blog, he leaves us with quite a special statement.

It has been great. I’m proud of my university and my team, all my teammates and coaches. I had a great career. I enjoyed it very much. It has been an honor to play for the Wolfpack and N.C. State.

Thanks for the fearless leadership, inspired play, hard work and superior character with which you always represented NC State, Engin. Good luck in all of your future endeavors.

It is definitely worth elevating a one of the comments from our comments section to add a little more to this:

This is a wonderful quote from Engin and a microcosm of his career at NC State. Engin was the model student athelete, and really gave his other teammates something to look up to. He wasn’t the fastest, he wasn’t the most atheletic, but his demeanor made him one of the best leaders/difference makers I’ve ever seen. Engin, I personally wish that you had been able to win a championship on your way out, but thank you so much for all you’ve given to our program. I don’t remember being so sad to see a college career come to an end. Good luck, and I know NC State will always be here for you.

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06-07 Basketball General Quotes of Note

75 Responses to Atsur’s Parting Quote

  1. CedarGroveWolf 03/21/2007 at 9:06 AM #

    SFN: See above. Next step is deleting your user name. JUST STOP.

  2. PackGirl 03/21/2007 at 9:12 AM #

    If there was an ACC award for mental and physical “toughness” Atsur would win it this year for sure. And Kadijah Whittington would win it for women’s basketball. She had to receive IV fluids during the game last night.

  3. redfred2 03/21/2007 at 9:13 AM #

    Evroccck

    He is definitely not underrated in my book, but I know what you’re saying. If we had another sure handed guard to handle the ball, Atsur’s all around game would have been much more evident. Atsur is a leader, he’ll do well whatever he decides.

  4. beowolf 03/21/2007 at 9:20 AM #

    Wasn’t Atsur really a shooting guard when he came in? He was our PG this year, but wasn’t he playing out of position? He was a level-heading, calming influence on this team that helped them overachieve and — I’m hopeful on this — imparted some of that calming influence to the guys for next year.

  5. choppack1 03/21/2007 at 9:22 AM #

    BJD – That’s part of the pain of college basketball, only a couple of teams walk away happy.

    Atsur can at least smile knowing that his courage and toughness were key in turning an otherwise forgettable, strictly rebuilding year into a fairly satisfying one.

  6. VaWolf82 03/21/2007 at 9:24 AM #

    ISTR that Atsur was listed as a combo guard when he was signed.

  7. partialqualifier 03/21/2007 at 9:29 AM #

    Great post…and terrific comments! Physically the team will be better with a quicker point guard who can penetrate the interior of a zone and force teams to scramble a bit on defense, but I worry that no one we have coming back has the mental toughness and determination of Atsur. What a Warrior!! I agree with some that have said how sad they are to see him leave. I have not been this sad since I watched Googs leave us 14 years ago. Since I have been old enough to follow NC State(which began in 1982) there have been only 3 point guards in those 25 years that I would have taken into any battle….Lowe, Corchiani, and now Atsur! Congratulations Engin….and best of luck always!!!

  8. redfred2 03/21/2007 at 9:35 AM #

    Chop

    Not to be a smart a*s, but I think we went beyond phrases and adjectives like “fairly satisfying” a long time ago. Maybe not in the classical sense of the word, but for a long time WOLFPACK fan, this basketball season was just GREAT!!!

  9. Rick 03/21/2007 at 9:43 AM #

    BTW did anybody else hear the nickname the team gave Costner?
    The big Lazy

    That is a great name.

  10. RickJ 03/21/2007 at 9:52 AM #

    ^“Rick, a very excellent observation on the lack of injuries this year.”

    I certainly understand this sentiment when viewing this year in context of the previous few but I am having a difficult time feeling all that grateful. Our most important player was completely healthy for all of 4 games this year. He missed 12 games completely and was played in the remainder at less than 100%.

    UNC, Duke& Wake combined didn’t have 10 games missed because of injury.

    I deeply appreciate Astur’s willingness to play hurt the last half of the year.

  11. Rick 03/21/2007 at 9:55 AM #

    If you look at the reason for his injury (over use and no rest) and the fact we did not have any other injuries then I am mollified.

  12. Dan 03/21/2007 at 10:11 AM #

    I love some Engin Atsur. To me Engin was a lot like Julius Hodge in his importance to this program. Hodge basically saved Sendek’s job. (give credit to Herb for getting him to come here). And Engin came in at a time of two years of really poor recruiting that could have really undone all the progress. Engin Atsur was a big key in keeping NC State from a much bigger fall.

    And not trying to be a wet blanket at all here, but I think its more correct to say this basketball season ended great and had some great moments. I wouldnt call it a great season. FSU, Miami, and Cincinatti. I love this team as much as any team we’ve had, but I havent forgotten how I felt a couple of times.

    I do think we are on our way to great seasons though. I just dont want people to be expecting the world in the next two years. A few combinations of things occured when Sid took the job that led me to take the long term approach to expectations. Asking a freshman point guard to step in and take us to the promised land is a tall order. Even a guy like Crittendon had his troubles this year. In 2009, we could be dealing with some pretty big NBA defections. This is a process. The man we have leading the process is the right guy, but its still a process. I’ve seen a lot of people pointing to 2009 as a Final Four type season. It might be, but what happens if Hickson and Costner leave early.

    My only expectation for this last year was to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year. To improve throughout the season. Boy, was that ever met. Sidney is a great coach. And coming into this season that was not something that had been proved. This season proved it. In the light of all the criticism we took when Herb left, maybe just having Sidney prove what an outstanding coach he is makes this a great season on its own. In that context, maybe I’m wrong. Because, it sure feels like it was a great season.

    I am jacked up about NC State basketball now. That’s all I know. And without Engin Atsur and Sindey Lowe, I have no idea where we’d be.

  13. westwolf 03/21/2007 at 10:12 AM #

    I think Engin’s influence on the younger players on this year’s team will be felt for well into the future. Good kid, tough athlete, and an excellent representitive of the university.

  14. Redblogger 03/21/2007 at 10:22 AM #

    I have got to say I really liked what I saw in the last few weeks out of Dennis Horner, he finally looks comfortable and confident in the offense. He seemed willing to drive to the basket or put one up, rather than looking to dump the ball.

    A little time in the weight room over the summer will do him good.

  15. choppack1 03/21/2007 at 10:26 AM #

    redfred – I’ll be honest w/ you, as a wolfpack fan I know this much. Enjoy the moment – because heartbreak is usually just around the corner.

    2 Saturdays ago, I was walking in the clouds…I was considering the possibility of a quick trip to the Big Apple had we won.

    Regardless of expectations, any time you don’t go the NCAAs and advance some, you have some pain. When you get to the ACC title game and come up a little short, and you see your guys expect to win and don’t – pain. There were no titles this year – that should change to…When the titles come, it will be more to me than “fairly satisfying.”

    And so you know, fairly satisfying is a compliment. It’s not unsatisfying or miserable or forgettable.

    I’ve seen too many seasons that seem to announce to the world, “We’re back” or “We’re here” for me to smugly assume next begins a run of titles. I don’t think you’re asking me either to be satisfied w/ a victory or two over our rivals and an NIT final 8 appearance or a first round or second round NCAA exit.

    I want titles, until I see them, I ain’t moving past “fairly satisfied” into “GREAT”. Now, if you want me to rank this stuff, I guess the last time I was this happy w/ a basketball season was when we went to the NCAA in 2002.

    As it pertains to Atsur – I wanted him to be able to hold some type of trophy or cut down some nets as our senior and our undisputed leader. That he didn’t have that opportunity – ever – pains me a little. However, this year, he had some great moments – beating UNC and Duke in one year is never anything to sneeze at – and he played integral roles in both of those victories.

  16. KChill 03/21/2007 at 10:30 AM #

    I love the quote by Lowe, he’s already planting the seeds of next year’s success in the heads of the kids who will be returning. Engin, best of luck to you, son….you made us all proud. Looking good for next year, guys!

  17. BoKnowsNCS71 03/21/2007 at 10:34 AM #

    I’d go with “great” for a lot more reasons than play results. More excited about the return of confidence of the Pack fans, heightened expectations that we truly think we now have a chance to achieve, an injection of Pack Pride by a coach who is one of us and talks the talk and walks the walk.

    Folks can debate the great rating but I recall the song title “One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.” and think it fits.

  18. thebigwood 03/21/2007 at 10:42 AM #

    I know this has been said before…but one thing about last night’s game that I really liked was thinking we had a chance down by three at the end of the game. I know it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, but thinking we had a chance really made me feel good about basketball. Great end to the season.

  19. redfred2 03/21/2007 at 10:46 AM #

    “I am jacked up about NC State basketball now.”

    Basically Dan, that is what has made this a GREAT basketball season and one to remember.

    I agree totally with your “process” analogy and hinted at it earlier. This next season will be the season where we will be searching for a leader, without the glue and the one guy who offset all our inexperience with a calming confidence this season. We’re no where close to being out of the woods just yet, it is heavily lot dependant on our continued development in this upcoming off season. Hopefully Degand or Javi will step up and fit the bill allowing Lowe to further his offensive strategies. But we just need to keep playing smart and INSPIRED basketball like we did for the most part this season, and this runaway train will keep on gaining momentum.

  20. brown pelican 03/21/2007 at 10:47 AM #

    engin leaves with class and dignity that all too many in the college game fail to grasp—can’t help but believe that the character of this special team was a mirror of both his possession of these attributes and the similar characteristics possessed by coach lowe—in searching for a replacement i suggest that we consider the impact of these traits along with the requisite skills at pg—a look overseas might not be a bad idea—thanks coach lowe—thanks engin—most fun since 1983 in my book

  21. PapaJohn 03/21/2007 at 10:49 AM #

    I’d add three more to the list of pretty good State guards, and all three are on the staff right now – Quinton, Monte, and Justin. You’d think with four point guards on staff, we’d be a magnet for them. Maybe we will be once established in the recruiting world.

    I remember many posts much earlier in the season in which we suggested that as soon as Sid gets his recruits here, the current players would be benched. And with justification. I think we’d all agree that we saw Sid’s ability to teach manifested on the court late in the season.

    Ironic that an offense compared to Sendek’s ended our season.

    Next year I’d like to see:
    1) Someone step up and lead the offense. Clearly Sid’s style requires quality at the point. On the other hand, maybe he’ll adapt the offense to the players and we haven’t seen “his offense” fully yet. Herb didn’t do his thing until he hired that asst coach, whose name escapes me. (Hunter?) But obviously he likes to work the match ups similar to what they do in the pros.
    2) Consistancy – This year we played so poorly at times it could drive you nuts. (Miami, FSU, Cincy) I would hope that we can rely on Ben and Brandon to be our rocks next year. I think Brandon could really be a force next year assuming he gets more rest due to more butts on the bench, and that JJ adds a scoring / rebounding threat.

    Engin, you were a rock from the beginning. You seldom made mistakes even though you often were the ball handler when your resume said shooting guard. I can’t figure out how Sid will replace you.

  22. beowolf 03/21/2007 at 11:08 AM #

    PapaJohn, during those losses (especially), we talked about the need to change the culture here at NC State. By the culture, I mean the culture that accepts losing — maybe not overtly, and certainly not to say that it welcomes losing, but accepts it in a resigned, stoic fashion. We saw remnants of that culture in those games such as you mentioned, where the loss was accepted even while the game was going on.

    At its worst, that culture said there were some games that weren’t even winnable. The fact that those games were against our closest rivals made it even harder to stomach.

    Something seemed to snap in place this month counter to that culture. Ironically, it’s a loss that illustrated it best. Trailing by double-digits in the ACC Championship game in 2002, facing a team ranked in the top 10, NC State lost to Duke by 30. Trailing by double-digits in the ACC Championship game this year to a team ranked in the top 10, NC State on its fourth day of playing cut the lead to one and stayed within a shot of tying or taking the lead till the very last minute.

  23. RedTerror29 03/21/2007 at 11:15 AM #

    ^^PapaJohn you’re thinking of Larry Hunter, who left to become the head coach at Western Carolina.

  24. TNCSU 03/21/2007 at 11:28 AM #

    In case anyone is interested in a short article featuring our PG prospect for next year, Javi Gonzalez.

    http://www.hoop-rap.com/news/newsview.php?getstory=973

  25. BJD95 03/21/2007 at 11:30 AM #

    Beo is right – changing the culture is absolutely essesntial. We have taken the crucial first steps in that process. But as chop says, we haven’t come all the way yet, and it’s not a given that we will. But at this point, hope and cautious optimism are good things to have.

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