State @ Carolina Pre-Game Thread (Updated Wed 9am)

08-09 Basketball General175

Note: Originally posted by Alpha Wolf and amended on Wednesday by Jeff

State is obviously improving and has won back-to-back ACC wins for the first time this season. The Wolfpack also snapped a nine-game conference road game skid Saturday in Atlanta. For their part, UNC’s Tyler “Will.i.Am” Hansbrough loaned PG Ty Lawson some of his infamous determination last night.  Lawson put that to good use in the final minutes of the UNC-Miami game, as he led the Tar Heels win 69-65 in Coral Gables.

On paper this looks like a Tarheel romp, and all indications are that will be how it plays out. Yet Another has some nice general statistics. Speaking of statistics, Section Six will statistically show you Tracy Smith’s impact on our offense by clicking here. With that said, I fully expect Smith to be in foul trouble and on the bench within the first eight minutes of tonight’s visit to Chapel Hill.

Caulton Tudor has gone so far as to say that the Wolfpack’s goal in Chapel Hill tonight is simply to ‘compete’. Honestly, I can’t disagree with him. The talent differential between these two rosters is just too large and is only accentuated by the strength of Carolina’s backcourt compared to the struggles of the Wolfpack’s backcourt (which is definitely improving).

Tudor makes a legitimate point about the debacle in Chapel Hill last year…

For all practical purposes, State’s 2007-08 season ended on Jan. 12 with a 93-62 loss in the Smith Center. Sidney Lowe’s second team entered that game at 11-3 overall, on a seven-game win streak and with a resume that included respectable wins over Davidson, Cincinnati, Seton Hall, South Carolina and Villanova.

But after one of the most humiliating first halves in school history (UNC 43, Pack 13), the Wolfpack disintegrated. State won only four more games and lost all sense of team unity. That’s how fast you can slide from 11-3 to 15-16 and into oblivion.

…but he fails to mention that was one of the Wolfpack’s first games without injured starting point guard, Farnold Degand and with struggling freshman, Javi Gonzalez. Degand wouldn’t have meant a Wolfpack win; but his presence would have made a huge difference in the manner in which we were embarrassed.

Don’t forget, the Wolfpack went to the halftime locker room down only 41-40 in his Coach Lowe’s first trip to Chapel Hill before Coach was rushed to the hospital during halftime. So, I am not convinced that this program just ‘naturally’ gets clobbered in Chapel Hill.

If NC State can have their best game of the year – and our bigs get fair enough treatment from the officials to get to the free throw line for a number of shots proportional with the contact that they draw – then Pack could have fighter’s chance tonight because of the improved play of Farnold Degand in the backcourt and Courtney Fells on the wing. The team is surely aware that a win would be money on any regular season resume.  They’ll need a complete, forty minute effort against a Tar Heel squad starting to head towards its peak, and winning will be difficult.  Thing is, this is the ACC and anything can happen.

* WRAL has a lot of insightful comments from Coach Lowe regarding changes, substitution rotation, our post play and more that you can see by clicking here. This is interesting stuff.

Starting with the Virginia Tech loss, the largest number of players that have seen more than a minute of playing time in any one game is eight…

…”[We are] just looking at our team, being fair, giving everyone an opportunity and trying to narrow that thing down to eight players.”

* The N&O has recognized that for the second straight year that no players from North Carolina high schools will be starting in tonight’s Game. (Click here)

This is the second straight season that neither basketball team has had a starter from North Carolina. The 2007-08 season was the first time in at least 29 years that all five starters from each team came from outside North Carolina.

* ACCNow also has a video podcast that can be seen by clicking here. We’d love to embed their stuff, but their technical department obviously falls short of the talent of JP Giglio’s impressive administration of the site.

08-09 Basketball General

175 Responses to State @ Carolina Pre-Game Thread (Updated Wed 9am)

  1. wufpup76 02/16/2009 at 9:02 PM #

    UConn goes down at home to Pitt …

    Kinda funny, UConn was down 5 points when he went out with 4 fouls in the second half when Thabeet picked up his 4th foul … Thabeet goes out, UConn rallies over the next few minutes and takes a 5 point lead … Thabeet comes back in, Pitt wins by 8

    Blair > Thabeet tonight

  2. MrPlywood 02/16/2009 at 9:05 PM #

    “180, 360 – same difference!”

    220, 221… whatever it takes…

    My blue-sky scenario involves one ref permanently assigned to watch the magic of Cryler’s footwork. Just for this game I’d like to see an official man up and actually call The Great Listener for his array of shuffles, multiple pivots and bunny-hops. Just one game.

  3. redfred2 02/16/2009 at 9:07 PM #

    38-39 whatever it took

  4. GoldenChain 02/16/2009 at 9:09 PM #

    I have a feeling that unx is prime for a loss. Hasbro hasn’t been playing well since middle of January. Every game a new player has had to step up and they’ve had a couple close calls against teams that are no better than us (namely Miami, FSU). Their offense isn’t as strong as it had been earlier (2 of the last three were their lowest outputs all season).
    For us, we are definitely playing better than earlier in the season and better than the last time we played them.
    Besides, they expect to beat us. That’s why I think it could happen this time more so than the last time.

  5. redfred2 02/16/2009 at 9:14 PM #

    Tyler Hansbrough has hardly ever even been any serious trouble at all, and has NEVER fouled out of a ballgame while wearing powder blue.

    And THAT!!!, my friends, is more mind boggling and miraculous than any of the other silly wittle wecords that he may have broken during in his four year stay.

  6. redfred2 02/16/2009 at 9:20 PM #

    I don’t know if anyone noticed it or not, but I just did a 360 in my entire line of thinking around here.

  7. JayVee 02/16/2009 at 9:22 PM #

    Go Pack! But to make myself feel better (if the game gets carried away) I will be remembering some numbers: 41-10.

  8. CStanley 02/16/2009 at 9:27 PM #

    I have absolutely no reason to believe this game shouldn’t be a 30 point blowout. They are playing their best, it’s in Chapel Hell, etc. etc. etc.

    But for some reason I feel optimistic. Maybe it’s the law of averages. Maybe it’s because we seem to be playing a lot better as of late. Maybe it’s the fact that they’re due after that lucky break against Miami late. Hell, maybe it’s the enchiladas I ate tonight. I’ve just got a weird feeling about this game.

  9. highstick 02/16/2009 at 9:46 PM #

    I cannot, for the life of me, imagine the refs allowing the Tarholes to lose to us in the RoyDome! No way, no how, not gonna happen! Even if they have to repeat the call on TA McClendon!

    Wish it wasn’t so, but it ain’t, so just send your DVD’s of the game in to the league office en mass!

  10. GoldenChain 02/16/2009 at 9:47 PM #

    redfred, lets be fair, Blood did foul out…. twice…once his freshman year and once his sophemore year. http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/north-carolina/tyler-hansbrough
    He did get two early against Miami but the refs came to their senses! he finished with 2!LOL. And of course it was obvious that his feet were moving on that “charge” he took with 43 ticks left. If Big Ben moves in to take a charge against Blood like that who do you think will be called?

  11. Greywolf 02/16/2009 at 9:56 PM #

    redfred2
    February 16th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
    “I don’t know if anyone noticed it or not, but I just did a 360 in my entire line of thinking around here.’

    I noticed and commented on the other thread.

    I think we have positive confused with optimistic and negative confused with pessimism. I think BJD (when he’s not on the shit he takes for the stones, and then he’s off the charts optimistic) is mostly positive without being overly optimistic. It takes something when your team is getting its ass handed to it and you can stay positive and cheer for your team. If they cut the lead to 30, great! If they drain a trey, great! We don’t have to go into a “they suck, they are the worst, we gotta fire the coach” mode.
    I think good coaches know are in tune with the saying, “Children need love the most when they deserve it the least.” There are a lot of dads on this list and that adage will be a godsend to a child or teen who has “shit the bed” in life. If we, as coaches and parents, give our young people the room, they will assume responsibility for their actions — which is what we all really want for our kids. Pressing in with blame and guilt __ guilt, the gift that keeps on giving — can drive a young man into a shell in which he cannot see or bear being responsible.

    My apologies for such a preachy post. I just got carried away. Sorry.

  12. Greywolf 02/16/2009 at 9:58 PM #

    Where is the “edit” button when you need it.
    Go to hell, Carolina, go to hell!
    Go Pack!!

    Great. Got it here but not above. I want to delete a lot of that shit.

  13. 61Packer 02/16/2009 at 10:00 PM #

    Hey, we’re playing in Chapel Hill, Lowe is coaching, and Javi will be on the point. How can we possibly lose?

  14. Wulfpack 02/16/2009 at 10:02 PM #

    We’ll keep it close the first half, but we don’t have near the horses to hang with those guys for 40 minutes. Too many turnovers will lead to too many easy baskets and the small stretches of inadequacy will add up in the end. It will be another good effort (no reason it shouldn’t be), but expecting us to come out with a win over those guys in Chapel Hill is very wishful thinking indeed. They are better than us at every position, there is just no question about it. We lose by 15 and must re-charge for some sort of tourney run.

  15. JeremyH 02/16/2009 at 10:54 PM #

    We get one extra day of rest, but i don’t know if that’s going to make any difference when they have 3 days. It’s one thing to beat the worst team in the league, and its another to beat the best. On the one hand, it’s good that we are coming in riding a wave of confidence, but they need to not get carried away and play smart. Like Suiter says in that article, we don’t know what to expect. But there simply can’t be any mistakes. No turnovers, no easy outlets and transition buckets, ..no missing a barrage of close baskets. Sidney is also going to need his A-game. Who knows, we could be gelling about now and this is a true test of that. Are we really hot?

  16. turfpack 02/16/2009 at 11:11 PM #

    I will take a 15 pt lose in Chapel hellhole-rather have a win in the ACCT against them any day.Play your asses off guys and show them what your made of.SMACK THE BLUE TURD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  17. clarketime 02/17/2009 at 12:00 AM #

    Heels fan here…what happened with the refs in the NCSU/VT game? I just moved out to Los Angeles from NC, so I’m not able to catch many ACC games anymore.

  18. wufpup76 02/17/2009 at 12:41 AM #

    ^Hi, and welcome clarketime …

    In the State / VT game, State got a couple of bad calls in their favor in the first half and Greenburg exploded on the refs; by any reasonable standard he should have been tossed … He did get a technical and State led by 14 at the half … This sets the stage for how the game will be called in the second half

    In the second half, the refs swallowed their whistles a lot more and the game got really physical … State ran the lead up to 18 points w/ about 13:00 to play … VT stole the ball and one of our guys (Fells) chased the VT player down and blocked a layup attempt but did body the VT player … A foul should have been called on the body – but instead an Intentional foul was called … It was clearly not an intentional foul, and for objectivity’s sake even the TV guys calling the game were dumbfounded by the call

    This gave the Hokies 2 free throws and the ball … They make both free throws; Hokies inbound the ball and the player clearly walks with the ball with no call and then passes it over to an open man for a 3 pointer – swish … Directly after this, State brings the ball down and Horner (one of our guys) has the ball out front; Allen from VT has been playing his own personal wrestling match this half and decides to go for a steal … Apparently at this point it is ok to run through a ballhandler and knock his arm off the ball, because this is what happens when Allen goes for the steal on Horner

    Needless to say, the ball comes loose and no foul is called … Hokies run down and get a 3 in transition and they have now scored 8 points in 30 seconds on the backs of three consecutive blown/missed calls … The lead shrinks from 18 to 10 points inside of a minute of gameplay … The game continues to be physical and State does not respond well. In fact, State is held without a field goal for something like the last 9 minutes of regulation … The Hokies are able to complete the comeback and send the game into overtime after State misses several late free throws that could have sealed the game … In overtime, a demoralized Pack stands little chance

    So, to recap – there were blown calls on both sides, one coach should have clearly been ejected for temper tantrums and more than abusive language, and State did not respond to the challenge in the second half … Add to this that it was a horribly officiated game all the way around and it was a miserable day for all involved 🙁

    Hope you guys go down Wednesday night!

  19. wufpup76 02/17/2009 at 12:50 AM #

    Wulfpack, that is the exact same gravatar image that I’ve been trying to use but can’t get to work for some reason … I still suck

    Are you linking to that image from the web or did you link it from a saved image on your cpu? (If you don’t mind me asking, that is – thanks!)

  20. howlie 02/17/2009 at 7:47 AM #

    Of course we’ll have some turnovers–we just need all our turnovers to be those that come from agressive play, and not from lazy passes. We HAVE to take the game ‘to them’ and challenge them, while running our sets.

    I hope both Javi and Farnold get a Lawson bump-in-the-face in the first few minutes, so they will truly ‘man up’ and be unafraid to take it to the holes. I’d love to see some fierce, inspired, Javi-fury MERGED with lock-down D and caring for the ball on O… and unlikely, but essential mix for the W. I think in the last 1/3 of the game, we’ll have to have Courtney on Lawson… and I don’t know who that leaves to guard everyone else.

    I’m hoping the Ewes are content and overconfident with WFU/Duke losses; and extra wine & cheese will be being served among the crowd. It’s been long enough since doah!boy was there and “WOLF!” and “PACK!” were being screamed in delirium in the NostrilDome that they would have forgotten–now that they are well into the Roygasm, suit-buying era.

  21. 66pack 02/17/2009 at 7:53 AM #

    Irrational exuberance abounds again.

  22. LRM 02/17/2009 at 8:20 AM #

    At what point are we going to stop blaming the bad officiating for the VPI loss? We flat choked — putting that loss solely on the officials does a disservice to our guys who earned it through sheer sucktitude.

    Sure, there were some absolutely wretched calls. Did it contribute? Of course. But the fact remains that over the final 9:53 in regulation, we had seven turnovers and missed seven shots — including the game-winner, which was probably the most poorly-designed play I’ve seen all season — while allowing VPI to tie it on a 21-10 run where we played terrible defense and ran virtually no offense. During that span, just one more basket or even one of Horner’s free throws with 0:31 left essentially seals it, and now, after the Wake and GT wins, we’d be .500 in the conference with a very real shot at an NCAAT bid. Instead, we blew another monster lead and fell to 2-6 in the ACC.

    I can’t stand it when Duke fans say Carolina gets all the calls or when Carolina fans say Duke gets all the calls, but it especially irks me when State fans do it.

  23. Pack Leader 02/17/2009 at 8:34 AM #

    My bold prediction for the day…..

    We win tommaro = NCAA Tourney

    Lose by less than 15 = NIT

    Lose by more than 15 = starting of avalanche

    GO PACK

  24. wufpup76 02/17/2009 at 8:54 AM #

    “At what point are we going to stop blaming the bad officiating for the VPI loss? We flat choked — putting that loss solely on the officials does a disservice to our guys who earned it through sheer sucktitude. ”

    Please tell me in the following quotes where I am blaming the refs for the VT loss:

    “State does not respond well. In fact, State is held without a field goal for something like the last 9 minutes of regulation …”

    “State misses several late free throws that could have sealed the game … ”

    “So, to recap – there were blown calls on both sides …”

    “State did not respond to the challenge in the second half …”

    “it was a horribly officiated game all the way around …”

    ^The guy asked what happened. I thought I made it abundantly clear that State lost the game when not responding to VPI’s challenge. There were bad calls for both teams, the refs had a bad day. State had plenty of opportunities to win the game but did not capitalize. Not sure I can make any more clear than that.

  25. BSIE80 02/17/2009 at 8:57 AM #

    Roy is working the refs already.
    States Hansbourgh had a concusion in the Miami game.
    This is his way of making sure he gets all the calls in the NCSU game- what a dick.

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