- Exhausting. The absence of a strong backcourt bites NC State again as the Wolfpack fails to handle the ball appropriately throughout the day and has nobody who can play defense against opposing guards – like Nick Calathus.
- If only John Wall is watching and can recognize the solid balance comprised in the Wolfpack’s roster before the strategic additions of Top 50 high school recruits Lorenzo Brown, Scott Wood and Richard Howell. The missing piece is an obvious stud at point guard.
- I didn’t dislike the call on the last play of the game as Farnold Degand had played a good one and had success driving to the basket. Without injured Trevor Ferguson to spread the court and be available for a kick out, you had to put the ball in Degand’s hands expecting Florida to deny Brandon Costner and hoping Degand could make something happen or the rest of the team could get an offensive rebound for a tip.
- It has been a long time since I can remember back-to-back important games that we as well officiated as the Marquette and Florida games. Nothing is perfect, but these two games were about as consistent as you can hope for. I wonder how the lack of a ‘superstar’ needing protection from the officials helped with the quality of the officiating.
- It felt as though the Wolfpack’s free throw shooting was worse than the numbers indicated. State finished a respectable 15-21 for almost 72%. Can’t complain much about that.
- It appears Coach Lowe is settling into his substitution pattern – neither CJ Williams nor Johnny Thomas played today.
- NC State has played three good teams this year – Davidson, Marquette and Florida – and it can be argued that State has controlled the bulk of the game against each opponent. The Wolfpack has painfully lost in the last minute of each game.
- As we stated in an earlier entry, this loss clearly defines the trajectory of the State’s season as fighting for an NIT berth. If State can manage a 4-4 record in the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule then perhaps we will have a reason to re-analyze the Wolfpack’s chances for an NCAA Tournament berth.
- What in the world does Gus Johnson have against NC State? He was generally enthusiastic for calls for both teams but his vision and perspective of how he was viewing the game was absurd. I’m still looking for Brandon Costner’s ‘elbow’ of Dan Werner in the first half. Riiiiiight.
- So much for my fears about Dan Werner killing us today. Werner looks like nothing more than a system player who definitely needed to pick the right system for his skills. Good for him for recognizing his limitations.
- Speaking of recruits paying attention — Georgia Tech is only 8-5 and lost to Alabama today by eleven after trailing by around twenty for the entire afternoon. One can only hope that someone is selling Derrick Favors on how much closer the Wolfpack are to success in comparison to what is left of Georgia Tech’s program.
