Pack vs PC: State Ugly Again, Advances to 10-3

“It is like going to the dentist without any novocaine.” – Gary Hahn describing NC State Basketball

State shot 1 of 11 from the three point line in the first half and 5 of 7 in the second half

PC

NC State takes the court today against a Presbyterian College team with a horrible record but who have been playing well of late. The “Hose” were tied at Wake Forest mid-way through the second half and lost at Georgia by only ten points. A full preview can be found here.

Despite a lot of speculation that Marques Johnson has supplanted Javi Gonzalez as the Wolfpack’s starting point guard, Coach Lowe says that Gonzalez will start today. Of course, it doesn’t matter who starts; it matters who plays the most and who is on the court when the game is on the line.

Gonzalez had 17 minutes of playing time in each of the last two games. He has hit 4 of 22 shots from the field this season (18.2 percent) and has nine assists and 14 turnovers.

Additionally, the N&O has featured Marques Johnson in an article today.

“My first game, I was extremely nervous,” Johnson said this week. “I hadn’t been in a competitive atmosphere like that in a year. Once the second half came along I started to feel better, and [against] Western Carolina I definitely felt a lot more comfortable.

“I think I bring a lot, with my size, at point guard. I know what type of team we have, so I don’t necessarily have to … score all the buckets. Whatever we need at the time, I’ll bring.”

Elsewhere, it is a big day for ACC Basketball as some of our mid-tier and lower tier teams have the opportunities to do well for themselves and the conference. For example, BC hosts Kansas and Maryland travels to UNC-Charlotte.

(Dear BC fans…in the ACC we pull FOR each other in these types of games.)

For open thread-like comments please use Friday’s Open Thread

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07-08 Basketball

148 Responses to Pack vs PC: State Ugly Again, Advances to 10-3

  1. redfred2 01/06/2008 at 10:07 PM #

    DAMNIT!!! I do not believe that!

    Wait, oh yes I do.

    Tough, tough loss for the Tigers, but Clemson may finally be for real this season.

  2. tvopack 01/06/2008 at 10:13 PM #

    Final: Villanova 64 – Pittsburgh 63. This is good for us.

  3. werncstate 01/06/2008 at 10:14 PM #

    I predict Clemson finishes with an 8-8 record in ACC play.

  4. Trip 01/06/2008 at 10:16 PM #

    Carolina played sloppy basketball and Clemson couldn’t shoot free throws… Man, I feel sorry for our boys, Roy is going to kick their asses for our game.

  5. redfred2 01/06/2008 at 10:19 PM #

    “It doesn’t mean they’re not trying.”

    Nobody said they weren’t “trying” on the defensive end. Trying, and doing it correctly, are two totally different things. Just like trying, but missing those three point shots you’re talking about. Trying, but missing them, doesn’t help break up a zone or put points on our side of the scoreboard.

  6. wufpup76 01/06/2008 at 10:21 PM #

    i *DIDN’T* think clemson would collapse again this season even if they lost this game …

    BUT – a loss like that really takes the wind out of your sails … interesting to see how the tigers respond

    reminds me of last season when they were beating virgina by 16 pts. with about 8 min. to play and managed to blow the game … after that they hardly won again … we’ll see what happens this year … if they want to be flat when we go down there in about a week and a half then that will be fine by us!

  7. redfred2 01/06/2008 at 10:26 PM #

    I didn’t catch but about the final four minutes + OT of the CU/UNC game. Clemson couldn’t hit a shot or a FT, but they were matching up and playing solid defense from what I saw anyway.

  8. redfred2 01/06/2008 at 10:39 PM #

    “I imagine that some of our players read this blog and can’t be helped by the negativity.”

    doug74, I haven’t called anyone fat or anything like that but I’d love for Fells to read what I’ve typed. He is a much better basketball player than he’s showing and he needs to wake up and start playing up to his God given abilities. Not wasting them.

  9. wolfonthehill 01/07/2008 at 7:21 AM #

    I saw nothing in the uncch game last night to give any indication that they will do anything other than name their score against us Saturday.

  10. GAWolf 01/07/2008 at 8:21 AM #

    The Presbykids played Tech tight too apparently. While it’s no consolation for sloppy play on our part, maybe they’re better than we are giving them credit for. Something to think about…

  11. Wulfpack 01/07/2008 at 8:31 AM #

    I think they are very good at holding true to their style of play, as it is really the only way they have any chance of staying in games against superior competition. They shorten the game with their offense and force teams to shoot from outside. That doesn’t mean that teams shouldn’t press the ever living crap out of them to tire them out and force the tempo.

    Above all, I am most disappointed that we are consciously playing a very slow style, deliberate, half court brand of basketball. We do have athletes. We do have players on the bench that can spell the starters for a few minutes. We’re about to see a full court brand of basketball against the Heels and Tigers. I will agree that in those games, yes it is to our advantage to try and slow the pace of play.

  12. zahadum 01/07/2008 at 8:53 AM #

    Apropos of nothing, why in the N & O box scores do they also have MacCauley listed last? I thought it was SOP to have players listed in the order that they appeared in the game.

  13. Rick 01/07/2008 at 8:56 AM #

    “So, shoosting, what you’re basically saying is that we have a #2 guard that is an inconsistent, streaky shooter who cannot distribute the ball or score off of penetration.

    Funny, but he never draws one iotta of criticism around here.”

    I wrote an article about how dependent we are on him. Because there is no backup for Fells we will only be as good as he allows us to be.

  14. oljdub 01/07/2008 at 11:03 AM #

    I took Papa to the game with my little girls. He took a picture of me and my girls sometime in the second half – we had all fallen asleep sitting up. Exciting times at the RBC Center.

  15. packgrad93 01/07/2008 at 11:08 AM #

    Trust in Sid & his staff. He sees our players in practice everyday. He watches more film on our opponets than anyone here. Like GG said, some act like we’re on a 6 game losing skid.

  16. redfred2 01/07/2008 at 12:48 PM #

    Rick, I would have agreed more earlier in the season, but we now have two developing point guards, the frontcourt is skilled and already has several options available. I would insert GG at the #2 spot in a heartbeat. He will fearlessly shoot the three, he will penetrate and open up the middle, and he also go inside and fight for rebounds as well. On top of that, he won’t disappear for any extended periods of time without at least trying to affect the play that’s going on all around him.

  17. pakfanistan 01/07/2008 at 12:53 PM #

    “Trust in Sid & his staff. He sees our players in practice everyday. He watches more film on our opponets than anyone here. Like GG said, some act like we’re on a 6 game losing skid.”

    SHUT UP YOU HERB APOLOGIST.

    Wait…nevermind, carry on.

  18. packgrad93 01/07/2008 at 2:31 PM #

    “I would insert GG at the #2 spot in a heartbeat.”

    Grant’s 3pt % isn’t much better than Fells’. Fells is our best non-post defender. Our line-up is at it’s best when Fells is in. We should still be able to win when he has an off night, just like any other player.

  19. pakfanistan 01/07/2008 at 4:01 PM #

    I think we’re best off to leave Grant where he is. He’s getting it done right now, so why mess with a good thing.

    And we can do fine with Fells having an off night. The problem is when nobody else steps up.

    On any given night, we can pretty much count on Grant getting his. We know we’re not going to get much from the PG spot, so whoever is at the 4 & 5 has got to produce or we’re going to lose.

  20. pakfanistan 01/07/2008 at 4:10 PM #

    To add to what I was saying before, look at Costner’s line from our three losses.

    NO: 7 pts, 4 rebounds, 4 TO
    MS: 9 pts, 4 rebounds, 2 TO
    ECU: 7 pts, 10 rebounds, *6* TO

    Not surprisingly, those were games where Fells also dissappeared.

    NO: 3 pts, 3 rebounds, 0 ast,
    MS: 0 pts, 2 rebounds, 0 ast, 1 TO
    ECU: 8 pts, 2 rebounds, 1 ast, 1 T0

    Can’t win playing 2.5 on 5.

  21. packbackr04 01/07/2008 at 5:01 PM #

    why does costner count for 1.5 guys? cuz hes overweight and out a shape? o wait. i get it. cuz we dont have a PG.

  22. redfred2 01/09/2008 at 5:29 PM #

    “Grant’s 3pt % isn’t much better than Fells’.”

    That’s a great way to argue a point about the only player on the team with the word “SHOOTING”, in his position title. Wait, or is Grant playing the shooting forward position?

    Again, I’ll mention the names of Neitzel and Giles. Even if you write those two games off and forget about them, in which other games has our defensive stopper’s skills shined so brighty this season?

  23. packgrad93 01/10/2008 at 9:45 AM #

    If you can’t see that our line-up is better with Fells in it then you know less about bball than I thought.

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