Friday frivolity: “GOOOOOOOOAL! ROD-NEEEEY! ROD-NEEEEY!” etc.

Alums General NCS Basketball40

I found this on YouTube, and it’s too hilarious not to pass along:

Longtime State fans will remember some of the wild shots Rodney Monroe made while at NC State, one of the best shooters the ACC has ever seen, and how he looked when he got in the zone.

Well, here he is making a buzzer beater to win a game (I think in the 2001-02 season) for his Italian team, Banca Marche Fabriano. And if you think Dick Vitale goes bonkers over Duke and Carolina, even he’s got nothing over the Italian announcer here.

Here’s what happens: Rodney hits a free throw, then the opposing team (is it Chris Corchiani’s team Tau Vitoria?) set up the finale drama by going down and hitting an off-balanced 3-pointer. I don’t know Italian, but it seems the announcer is screaming about that shot being impossible — he nears the agony of defeat until Monroe answers with the thrill of victory, and that makes announcer go completely out of his gourd. It’s hilarious.

Now, I remember “being there” when Monroe led the Wolfpack to a win over Virginia his senior year when the Pack trailed by 20, then he outscored Virginia in the second half; his 48-point performance in another comeback win over Georgia Tech; his 40 points and two buzzer-beaters in the double-OT win over Iowa in the NCAA tournament; his improbable rebound and putback at the buzzer en route to a 4-OT win over Wake Forest. I don’t know how this one compares with those memories, but that announcer sure makes it sound like it was big!

Update: Noah’s friend provides a translation.

Alums General NCS Basketball

40 Responses to Friday frivolity: “GOOOOOOOOAL! ROD-NEEEEY! ROD-NEEEEY!” etc.

  1. BJD95 04/13/2007 at 2:42 PM #

    Wasn’t he, at least at one time, the de facto backup PG (when Corch sat down for maybe 1-2 minutes a game)? Or am I remembering that poorly?

    Randolph Childress was a VERY similar player (probably not QUITE as consistent a shooter, with a little better handle). He didn’t make the NBA, either. Both were great college players.

  2. PapaJohn 04/13/2007 at 2:42 PM #

    RickJ – you’re right, I had forgotten about his ball handling

    If you could have combined Fire & Ice, what a player!

  3. branjawn 04/13/2007 at 2:42 PM #

    Forgot to leave this: Link to ESPN Poll with comments by Katz

  4. branjawn 04/13/2007 at 2:43 PM #

    Everyone knows that the girl from the Mercury commercials is from State right?? …wow.

  5. redfred2 04/13/2007 at 3:04 PM #

    From branjawn’s link:

    “expect the Wolfpack to be trouble from the start.”

    That can be interpreted on many levels, but uh, well, I guess it’s a compliment.

  6. RedTerror29 04/13/2007 at 3:53 PM #

    ^We’re were big trouble for opposing teams at the end of this year. At the beginning, not so much. I’m all for a strong start (e.g. ’83), but it’s nice to do well in the beginning and middle was well (.e.g ’74).

  7. gumbydammit 04/13/2007 at 5:17 PM #

    I have two questions about that video: who put the announcer’s nuts in a vise, and have they let him out yet? At a certain point, he doesn’t sound like he’s estatic – he sounds like he’s in pain.

  8. packpigskinfan23 04/13/2007 at 5:38 PM #

    bran-are you talking about Maria Menounos? if so… she whent to some school in boston. thats they only one I know from the mercury commercials….

    she is hot as hell though.
    greek…. yummy. lol

  9. packpigskinfan23 04/13/2007 at 5:42 PM #

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Wagner

    jill wager… also very hot

  10. branjawn 04/13/2007 at 6:07 PM #

    yeah, Jill Wagner is the Mercury girl, she went to business school at State. She’s in all the Mercury commercials.

  11. choppack1 04/13/2007 at 10:13 PM #

    Rodney Monroe is my favorite NC State player of all time. He was the man -I don’t know if any player in the history of the game ever had a cooler oncourt demeanor. The most emotion I ever saw him show was some very modest fist-pumps after he got fouled and made the layup against the Heels.

    As far as the pros – Rodney was too short and didn’t have a good enough handle…but a fantastic college player who made JJ look like a brick mason.

  12. TNCSU 04/13/2007 at 10:18 PM #

    I’ve never really thought about it before, but I’d have to say the other “half” was my favorite player. As much as I loved Rodney, I really loved Corch! I’m a fiery kind of guy, and I really loved the teams that Corch lead. I’ll also include Vinny and Chucky Brown in that list. So, I guess that tells you the years I was at State!

  13. bTHEredterror 04/13/2007 at 11:13 PM #

    Rodney was great. Corch was great. Vinny was great. Chucky was GREAT!

    But Spud is my favorite. He lit Reynolds up like nobody else but DT did. When he made play the place exploded.

  14. SuperStuff 04/14/2007 at 6:55 AM #

    Sometimes you just need a cerain amount of luck to make a roster and stay in the NBA. I’ve seen teams load up the roster with 7 footers that can’t play. Shorter players don’t get much love even if they’re scoring machines.

    Rodney was great! Loved it when he was in the stands during the ACC tournament.

  15. kool k 04/14/2007 at 4:35 PM #

    Jim Rome had Chucky Brown on yesterday…love that guy…RED LOBSTER!

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