Official “Hell, Yes!” Thread (NC State 79, UVA 71)

06-07 Basketball General92

Words can’t describe the elation. It was almost like the complete inverse of the Wisconsin Sweet Sixteen collapse. The team is confident, and played that way. And NC State is two wins away from its first ACCT title in 20 years. Here’s what I said Thursday morning:

My gut says that the Pack upsets UVA if it can get past Duke.

Here’s a few more random thoughts on the biggest win of Sidney Lowe’s young coaching career:

– Sidney Lowe said “We can’t come out and just jack up 3s. That’s not who we are.” I almost wept with joy.

– Lowe correctly said that Brian Nieman made the biggest plays of the night. He sure as hell did. The charge he took with a slender 68-66 lead completely changed the game. Raycom had already put 2 points on the board for Virginia, and the announcers said the Cavs would be shooting for the lead. As Lee Corso would say – “Not so fast!”

– In between ridiculously stupid plays, Grant scored 9 points in a row for us, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line. He stepped it up big time, though he still induced several heart attacks in Wolfpack Nation.

– We have now won 2 straight games against legitimate opponents, despite getting squat from Fells offensively. We didn’t do that once in the regular season. What happens if he gets hot?

– NC State is 5-2 against the other 4 teams still in the tournament. Craziness.

– NC State is 4-0 against possible semifinal opponents.

– Every 10 years, we are apparently pure magic in the ACCT.

– This is probably the best ACCT in league history, so far. Too bad so few are in the stands to see it (Note to ACC foofs – never south of Atlanta, never north of DC).

– I want Wake to lose. I could definitely see the NIT committee still viewing our semifinal as a virtual “play-in” game. Plus, VT could beat UNC in the final if we stumble tomorrow. Wake can’t.

– What did you do to change our mojo at the half? I changed every article of clothing, put a hat on (backwards), changed couches, and turned off the fireplace. Only have 1 HDTV, so couldn’t change that. Plus, I badmouthed Gavin until he started making me look like an uninformed jackass (not hard to do, I know)…

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

92 Responses to Official “Hell, Yes!” Thread (NC State 79, UVA 71)

  1. drewhuff 03/10/2007 at 9:47 AM #

    sportscenter anchor: “You know who’s buried in gavin grant’s tomb?…..virginia.” hahaha

  2. moomba78 03/10/2007 at 9:49 AM #

    whatever it takes. if this keeps up i will need detox by sunday nite.

  3. choppack1 03/10/2007 at 9:52 AM #

    “Tudor says that Atsur “tweaked” his hamstring in the closing minutes. That’s a huge concern right now.”

    You shouldn’t need Tudor to tell you that. It was obvious he was favoring it in the last few minutes of the game. His gait changed and he wasn’t moving nearly as fluidly as before.

    A hammie is the worst for a guard because you have to depend so much on explosiveness. It’s an awful basketball injury because in a tournament situation like this, if there’s any weakness at all, it will be revealed in short order. It had gotten gradually better, but last night he may have taken a step back. Today will tell us a lot about what kind of shape it’s in.

    Florida – I’m interested on some of the tourney info. Where’s the stadium in Tampa. Is it in St Pete or is it near Ybor City?

  4. old13 03/10/2007 at 9:54 AM #

    When this team is playing “their” game (at both ends of the floor), there is nothing more beautiful in basketball IMO! There’s no “I” in this team at all!

  5. choppack1 03/10/2007 at 9:54 AM #

    Gavin hits 2 huge shots…Glad to see him do that. If you’re going to be a successful athlete, you better have a short memory and no conscience – thank heavens he put some of his mistakes behind him.

    At this point in the tourney, I’d have to nominate Atsur and Costner as Co-MVPs…and of course, Sidney Lowe as COT.

  6. Mr O 03/10/2007 at 10:14 AM #

    That is unfortunate about Atsur. As much as I would like to believe we can win the ACC tourney, I just don’t see how we will have any shot against UNC in the finals. With the most realistic scenario being the NIT, I was really hoping for a shot at making it to NYC for this team. Atsur’s tweaking his hamstring puts any type of run in the NIT in serious jeopardy.

    We are probably going to need Trevor Ferguson to play minutes against Va Tech.

    The amazing thing about the job Sidney Lowe has done this year isn’t that he has made believers of NC State fans. The amazing part is how Sidney has made believers of the media and our rivals.

    Red Jackets are back in style. Thanks Coach Lowe!

  7. SixPack 03/10/2007 at 10:19 AM #

    Grant reminds me of a Pack player from back in the 80’s named
    Ernie Myers. My dad used to say the Ernie always kept both teams in the game with his erratic play…sometimes good…sometimes horrendous !!!!

  8. Mr O 03/10/2007 at 10:28 AM #

    Kenpom – 71
    Sagarin – 85
    Sagarin Elo Chess(no scoring margin included – 74
    Sagarin Pure Points(scoring margin included) – 96

    We were at 100 in the Sagarin without last night’s win included. Haven’t seen an update on the RPI yet.

    At this point, I would think the NIT would be a lock. I guess the question is whether we get to host 0,1, 2 or 3 games.

  9. redfred2 03/10/2007 at 10:45 AM #

    I like Grant’s attitude, there is consistency, right or wrong, you know what he’s going to do, and he’s not afraid to take the heat or put himself on the line when it really matters. For those reasons I don’t really like people to hear talking badly about him when he’s trying hard, but maybe not getting it quiet done. Besides, I can think of another NCSU player who has been much more inconsistent all the way around, and all season long.

  10. wufpaxno1 03/10/2007 at 10:47 AM #

    Forget this NIT talk, we are two wins away from the big dance which is two wins closer then we were on THursday Morning. This is doable! If we don’t win the NIT is a lock and we will accept it, but for now our eyes need to be set squarely on the task at hand and the goal of the NCAA Tourney. If both UNX and State win today, A friend of mine and I are planning an all night drive to Tampa. That leaves room for two more, any takers?

  11. Mr O 03/10/2007 at 10:50 AM #

    Four small conference tourney finals tody with #1 seeds in the finals. Any losses by these teams and they automatically get an NIT bid. We might not be a lock afterall.

    Grant ended up with 20, 4 rebs, 4 assists, 5 TOs. He just has bad hands, but he has hit some big shots for us this year. I really hope he comes back next year. If he could just cut out the bonehead unforced TOs, he could be all-ACC next year.

  12. Astral Rain 03/10/2007 at 11:01 AM #

    Well, NITology before the VA game had State as last team in, beating UVA had to shoot up that stock some. Odds are a road game against some middling Big 12 team as a 6 seed.

    Just hope Atsur’s alright and can gut out two more wins in a row…

  13. redfred2 03/10/2007 at 11:15 AM #

    O

    Sometimes it looks like Grant could use a Bobby Knight style chin slap to get him to focus in on the moment more clearly. On many occasions it appears that his brain is slamming it through the hoop even before he catches it out beyond the arc. He goes, the ball stays. Grant has a lot of great assets, but they all need to be further refined. I don’t see a particularly bright future anywhere in basketball if he doesn’t have patience to stick around and try to put it together on this level first. I’m pretty sure Sidney can convince him of that.

  14. brown pelican 03/10/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    i’m in idaho in a cabin in the woods standing and staring at the screen intently each of the last two nights—dancing when the three pointers drop—screaming when ben or bc use somebody inside—and—howling into the north idaho sky after the games—singing the alma mater as the wolves howl back—thank you coach lowe—and thank you to the most enjoyable team that we have fielded since coach lowe wore # 35—we need fells to be special today—bc on thursday—gg on friday—it’s courtney’s turn today—go pack!

  15. floridawolf 03/10/2007 at 11:57 AM #

    choppack – the stadium is in downtown Tampa near Ybor City, in the Channelside district. It and the RBC Center were built around the same time and are very similar.

    If you check out this website it has information about the arena and the activities that are going on. In the opening picture the arena is on the lower far right w/ the glass front and arc top. Then if you click on St Pete Times Forum there is other info about the arena and pictures.

    http://www.acctampabay.com

    Also check out NCSU alumni page for info about events

    http://www.alumni.ncsu.edu/news/article.php?id=237

    Anyone who wants to come down for tomorrow’s final should check out Southwest Airlines – 3 daily direct flights from Raleigh to Tampa, and last minute fares not usually more expensive. Tampa Int’l is 10 minutes from the stadium, if that.

  16. moomba78 03/10/2007 at 1:00 PM #

    the sidney lowe nba style of calling offensive players with two man game matchups has got to help recruiting of the big names down the line.

  17. MikeS1986 03/10/2007 at 10:32 PM #

    As a Pack alum now living in the Great Upper Midwest, I am bummed that this year’s ACCT is drawing such poor attendance (at least by ACCT standards). Hell, I could have actually gone again this year (haven’t been since — well — 1983, as a student. You are right — the ACCT does not belong in Florida or in Boston.

    That said, I am just blown away by the job Sid has done this year. especially since many readers of SFN harshly criticized his hiring (I know — I was one of them). Of course, many Duke fans harshly criticized the hiring of Coach K (in fact, he was almost fired early in his tenure) — and, yes, there were many Pack fans who questioned the hiring of V. Both those guys worked out OK.

    Win or lose on Sunday — it has been a good year. A win Sunday would make it magical. Go Wolfpack! Beat UNC — again!

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