CHLT OBS: State will Start 1-5 in ACC

07-08 Basketball42

I would like to link to the Charlotte Observer piece on the blog…but, their crappy website isn’t loading very well this morning so they will have to go without our referal traffic today.

“NC State is an impossible team to figure out. The Wolfpack defeated Villanova on a neutral court and won at Seton Hall, but played miserably against Western Carolina and Presbyterian. Here’s an educated guess that NC State will start 1-5 in the ACC thanks to a difficult early schedule”

I’m not arguing with them. They may be right. I certainly hope that they are not right…but, after an early season schedule that has created some interesting comments, we open on the road at the #1 and #3 teams in the league. So…for once…it actually does get easier after that.

Then again, we played miserably against WCU and PC and still found a way to win, unlike Boston College last night against Robert Morris. When all is said and done with the out of conference schedule, I would only trade State’s performance for the performances of Carolina and Duke without argument. Clemson and Florida State and NC State’s performance each have unique merits that make the judgement of their performance pretty close.

State hosts NC Central on Wednesday night. I am going to predict that the Wolfpack finally has a game against a lesser opponent with a little more ‘clicking’ and a larger margin of victory that we have become accustomed.

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07-08 Basketball

42 Responses to CHLT OBS: State will Start 1-5 in ACC

  1. JeremyH 01/08/2008 at 5:49 PM #

    wufpaxno1: good points. I just found an entry on this site saying “his tendon popped” but it wasn’t considered a big deal. Hearing that Horner (easily my favorite player in a season that has somewhat lacked in effort and shooting touch) is injured and unavailable for the next game, I am concerned as to the seriousness of his injury.

  2. BillyVest 01/08/2008 at 5:56 PM #

    as we’ve seen recently, the Pack plays up OR down to the level of its competition, relatively speaking.

    The ghosts of Michigan State make me think otherwise.

  3. dbo2874 01/08/2008 at 6:44 PM #

    we play down alot better than we play up.

  4. highstick 01/08/2008 at 6:51 PM #

    I read the article later today. It was part of Tysiac’s column, which is basically worthless most of the time. It very well may turn out this way, but “why not just have the guts to predict it” versus classifying it as an “edjekated guess”?

  5. Primewolf 01/08/2008 at 8:13 PM #

    The Observer saw an opportunity to put something negative out on the Wolfpack. They didn’t need to research their opinion.

    I have no idea how we will do. However, I am not very optimistic at this point. I hope Sid has it figured out.

  6. choppack1 01/08/2008 at 8:44 PM #

    Not sure why his guess is “educated” – he doesn’t provide a reason why he thinks we’ll go 1-5. A quick perusal of the teams the Pack has played from Big conferences shows them w/ a 4-1 record. 2 of those games are on nuetral courts, 2 on the road and one at home. A 4-1 record vs. those teams doesn’t mean we’ll start 5-1, but I think an educated would guess would conclude that we’ll likely go 3-3 or 2-4.

  7. turnoffthetv 01/08/2008 at 9:01 PM #

    This team has me confused as everyone else. I’m gonna say 3-3. we either go 1-1 at home and 2-2 on the road, or 2-0 at home and 1-3 on the road. This team carries a high probability of getting blown-out at chapel hole (what team doesn’t?) but i think we’ll win 3 of the other five and we will be very competitive in those five other games.

    On the topic of predictions, I read last saturday in the FAY OBS Dan Wiederer’s “8 predictions for ACC HOOPS in 2008”.

    He predicted that “NC State will not defeat either Duke or UNC this season”

    I’m sure he never predicted at this same time last year that state would beat either of them although we eventually did (GOPACK). Heck Did anybody expect much of anything at all last year.

    Another one of his predictions was “JJ Hickson will set the ACC single-season record for field goal PCT.”

    Here’s the Link—- http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=282228

  8. LRM 01/08/2008 at 10:39 PM #

    We play 16 games against the best competition in the country over the next two months. I don’t think starting 1-5 is our main problem right now…

  9. newt 01/09/2008 at 1:50 AM #

    I really can’t come up with a good reason to read the sports page of a newspaper these days, unless I’m just totally bored.

    Much more information and analysis comes from internet fansites, combined with the unfiltered audio of post-game comments and coach’s shows provided by the official athletic sites.

    Best I can tell, the Section 6 blog has no access to the players and coaches but still provides far more sophisticated and interesting analysis than these newspapers could even dream of, in his spare time.

  10. wolfonthehill 01/09/2008 at 8:13 AM #

    ^ Agreed on Section 6. Dude’s a statistical machine, and he’s able to turn the stats into player-by-player analysis that’s both insightful and entertaining.

    Ever check out his liveblogs during a particularly ugly game for the Pack? If not, you should…

  11. BoKnowsNCS71 01/09/2008 at 8:32 AM #

    My WAG is 4-2 or better —- 3-3 at worst. Who would have thought last year that UNX would have lost twice to VT but could not grab a W against the Pack? Teams match up differently when they play for real versus there records.

  12. PacknSack 01/09/2008 at 10:38 AM #

    1-5 in the first 6 is not a leap of faith, either. This whole “shoot the messenger” philosophy is childish. Tough wins over the likes of Western Carolina and Presbyterian on our home court certainly trump a neutral-court win over Villanova in predicting future performance. If we can’t win at ECU, why think we can win in Chapel Hill (or any ACC venue)? And don’t give me “because this team plays up to the level of competition.” It’s played down more often that up.

    What analysis did you expect? Andrew Jones offers analysis weekly and, because it’s generally the same, he gets ripped. How many ways, or how many times, does someone have to say “backcourt is a problem, no chemistry, erratic defensive play and poor rebounding fundamentals?” It’s been said and it hasn’t changed.

    Seriously, name one thing this team has done consistently well throughout the season that fans or “experts” and hang their hats on and say “this is why State will be better than .500 in the league.”

  13. dbo2874 01/09/2008 at 11:16 AM #

    ^ agree 100% PacknSack

  14. packbackr04 01/09/2008 at 11:30 AM #

    packnsnak^ they have done all the things you mentioned consistently. they have just done them poorly consistently

  15. newt 01/09/2008 at 12:59 PM #

    To understand the difference between the ECU/NO debacles and the WC/Presb. efforts, all you have to do is look at Ben McCauley’s numbers. This team has come a long way since the ECU/NO stage. In the meantime, they’re also working with a new PG lineup. How many points a game is losing your starting PG worth?

    Two stories off the top of my head:

    “Ben McCauley finding his role”

    “How is change at PG affecting the Pack? What’s the long term outlook for Gonzales, Johnson?”

  16. packgrad93 01/09/2008 at 3:32 PM #

    “What’s the long term outlook for Gonzales, Johnson?”

    if I had to bet, back-ups behind Mayes & hopefully Wall or Brown. Maybe MJ will move to the 2 after Fells leaves.

  17. waxhaw 01/10/2008 at 9:47 AM #

    Our best performances this year have been on the road. We have shot terrible at home lately. Maybe starting out with so many tough ACC games on the road is just what we need.

    Road games where we will be heavy underdogs…..no expectations…..who knows?

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