Wolfpack will look to tame Tigers with slower pace

09-10 Basketball13

After Tuesday night’s upset win against Florida State on the road, the argument could certainly be made that Saturday’s matchup with ranked Clemson is now infinitely more important.

NC State went to FSU, got below average performances from its top three players (Gonzalez, Smith and Horner), and still managed to pull out the victory over the Noles. That proves the point that this team can compete in the ACC. Make no mistake, Tuesday’s win does little to change the season outlook for the Pack, but it does show that the potential is there.

Here’s some key things to consider while watching the game Saturday. Tip is set for noon on Raycom by the way.

  • Turnovers – The Wolfpack cannot be turnover-prone and expect to win. Clemson feasted off turnovers against Carolina Wednesday night, forcing 26 on its way to a 19-point win over the Heels which looked much more dominant than that. NC State needs to keep the turnover number somewhere near 15 or below to have a good chance at winning.
  • Field goal percentage – On the season both the Wolfpack and the Tigers have shot the ball fairly well, with NC State shooting 46% and Clemson checking in at 48%. Whatever team can keep that number up, or conversely, keep the other team’s number down, should be in good shape to win. 
  • Trevor Booker – He’s been unstoppable at times this season for the Tigers and is most definitely one of the more dominant post players in the ACC. In Wednesday’s game against the Heels Booker scored 21 points and pulled down nine boards while also dishing out four assists. NC State has to slow him down, or at least make him make tough baskets. A combination of Tracy Smith, Richard Howell and Jordan Vandenberg should provide multiple options for defending Booker.

That being said, here’s some interesting links from Sidney Lowe’s press conference this morning.

Tony Haynes wrote up an interesting piece on the recruitment of Scott Wood, who was a hot topic for the first portion of the press conference.

NC State men’s basketball coach Sidney Lowe claims a little divine intervention may have been involved in the Wolfpack’s recruitment of Scott Wood. A few years ago, Lowe and assistant coach Monte Towe were on a flight back to Raleigh from a summer recruiting trip to Las Vegas. That’s when fate stepped in.

“It just so happens that there was this gentleman who was sitting next to coach Towe and recognized Monte because he’s from Indiana,” Lowe recalled. “He said, ‘you need to see my nephew; he’s won all kinds of 3-point shooting contests.’ The guy said the name and Monte knew the name. We started talking, went and saw him and that was it. That’s how it started.”

WRAL’s Tim Hall also wrote up something on Wood becoming a more consistent scorer for the Wolfpack.

N.C. State freshman shooting guard Scott Wood found the perfect way to burst onto the scene.  Drain seven three-pointers, score 31 points and propel your squad to a win against a ranked ACC team on the road.  It sounds so simple.

Wood theoretically found his shooting stroke a couple of weeks ago when the Pack suffered a slim loss at Arizona.  Since that game he’s averaging 3.5 made three-pointers per game.  But before that he went through a five game stretch without topping five points in a single game.  He was 2-18 from beyond the arc in that span.  Not promising for someone who was recruited to be lethal from that range.

But head coach Sidney Lowe and the rest of the coaching staff didn’t lose a shred of confidence in the shooter.  What surprised Lowe is how Wood himself never lost his confidence.

No Live Blog for Saturday’s game because of logistical issues As of now the plan is to have an open game post for you all to comment on during the game. Check back tomorrow for more and, as always, check the forums for updates.

09-10 Basketball

13 Responses to Wolfpack will look to tame Tigers with slower pace

  1. Wulfpack 01/15/2010 at 8:33 PM #

    If we can protect the ball, we can compete in this game. And even if we do turn it over (which we are bound to), it can’t be of the variety that lead to easy Clemson points. This game will be a huge test for our guards. I really look for Scott Wood to help them out to alleviate some of the pressure. He can handle it. And if you leave him open, he’s an assasin. The Tigers will be jumping out on him like crazy, so hopefully we’ll get some easy looks in the post out of it. We played an awesome game the other night at FSU. I think we’ll play well again. Clemson isn’t quite as strong on the road, so we have a chance.

  2. NJpack 01/15/2010 at 8:57 PM #

    I love what the Pack Pride site wrote, here is the best excerpt:

    Never Again Play the Horner/Mays/Degand/Davis/Vandenberg lineup:
    That combination of players just doesn’t work when the Pack has the ball. Playing them for five minutes straight is basically a self-imposed offensive drought. The problem isn’t the players individually but the roles they are thrust into while on the court together.

    This line-up is asking Horner to be its go-to scorer, only the senior forward isn’t at his best trying to drive or shot fake his way into good shots. This line-up only works if Horner is hot, or if the combination of Davis and Vandenberg is dominating the offensive boards in a manner we haven’t seen yet. While it can be good defensively, this combination of players isn’t saving enough points to make up for the offensive problems.

  3. 61Packer 01/15/2010 at 10:13 PM #

    Is there any reason that Smith and Vandenberg can’t play at the same time? Just wondering.

  4. D_Medlin 01/15/2010 at 10:49 PM #

    61Packer,

    Not sure if this is the case, but if I had to say it would be because neither one of them can really operate in the high post or outside the lane very well.

    Howell is a capable ball handler in the high post and outside the lane so having him in there with either Tracy or Vandenberg makes a little more sense.

    OTOH, I do think Smith and Vandenberg could play together simply for the fact that Vandenberg isn’t really a viable offensive option anyway. His value on the offensive end, at least right now, is on the glass and as a screen setter, not a scorer.

  5. choppack1 01/15/2010 at 10:50 PM #

    61 – aside from the rigid position system Sidney usually employs, part of the problem is Smith himself. He’s only effective in the low block right now – and I don’t yet think Vandenberg is effective at the 4 spot.

    Here’s my thoughts:
    *Look for the Pack to employ a gimmick D on Clemson. I’m thinking a triangle and 2, 1-3 and a chase or box and 1 – w/ someone always handling Booker. Maybe you use a triangle and 2 and put someone on Stitt.
    *I think the Pack needs to look for easy points against the press. With a lineup of Degand, Wood, Horner and Smith they should be able to get them. This lineup is much better equipped to handle the pressure than the lineups of Degand or Javi, Fells (or CJ Williams), Grant (or Fells), McCauley, and Costner/Hickson.
    *Javi or Mays will need to step up tomorrow.(Duh). Javi has more TOs than assists vs. decent competition. If we can improve in that area and on the foul line we’ll be in good shape.
    *Be interesting to watch if Howell continues to play key roles AND take the ball out inbounds. He’s a great rebounder and against an athletic, physical Tigers team, we’ll need him to be a positive factor.
    *If I see Karl Hess as one of the officials, I’ll need to be committed.

  6. Wolfy__79 01/15/2010 at 11:06 PM #

    tracy should take the time to get out to the high post and get it together. he badly needs to be more versatile simply b/c he needs to improve his game if not for anything else, his own personal benefit. this should be a pretty good matchup.. very winnable game for the Pack. i don’t see turns as much of a problems as i do offense in general. it would be good to see a third scoring option stepping up in this game..

  7. Wolfy__79 01/15/2010 at 11:26 PM #

    i watched bits and pieces of the game the other nite. unx gave the ball away alot. not to discredit clemson’s defense, b/c they’re sure to give us some problems.. but unx is highly overrated this year. i’m shocked they were in the top two five heading into that matchup after losing to college of charleston. i agree with choppack on tracy. i would like to see him be more effective farther out. he’d open up more oppurtunities for some of the other guys. he warrants attention ten or fifteen ft out. he’s certainly not a great passer like eptimov but could open things up a bit IMO. with wood continuing to improve, i expect to see our offense open up a little bit. knowing he’s not going to hit seven three’s all that often… his ability should be enough..

  8. theghost 01/15/2010 at 11:33 PM #

    I don’t see this one as very winnable. Anything can happen, of course, but I don’t believe our guard play is up to the task of the Clemson press. To me, a far tougher matchup than fsu. For the Pack to win, it’ll take Javi and Degand punishing their press D, and somebody or some scheme to step up and take Booker out of the game (could Davis just come in and pester him to death all game? Else, I think it’s got to be Horner or some zone). Don’t think they’ll fall asleep on Wood, either – wonder if somebody else (Howell?) is ready to break out on offense. Could use Clemson coming in flat off their win.

  9. NJpack 01/16/2010 at 9:42 AM #

    It will be interesting to watch the rotations today. Hopefully Degand plays 35+ minutes for ball handling ability alone, and thus hopefully CJ Williams plays 5 minutes or less. Dennis Horner has to get it in his head that he needs to go strong to the basket and not half-ass it expecting to get a touch foul. You are not Tyler Hansborough, Dennis. Go strong to the hole. Otherwise get used to Howell taking your minutes.

  10. Sw0rdf1sh 01/16/2010 at 9:48 AM #

    I’m feeling a little crazy and think we might pull this out today.

    Of course it could just be the splenda with fiber in my coffee, but I’m hopeful anyway.

  11. LRM 01/16/2010 at 11:51 AM #

    “That proves the point that this team can compete in the ACC. Make no mistake, Tuesday’s win does little to change the season outlook for the Pack, but it does show that the potential is there.”

    Derek, as much as it pains an eternal pessimist like myself, that’s a fair and accurate statement you make.

    I think the biggest obstacle for us remains consistency, and I don’t know how we’ll achieve any as long as Sid continues his baffling and arbitrary substitution patterns.

  12. Wolfy__79 01/16/2010 at 11:53 AM #

    this one is certainly winnable. although i doubt clemson is flat, they are a pretty blue collar team. they have been outplaying us in raleigh for a couple of years now. i think we’ve got a better chance of winning versus the last couple of years. i’m not so sure howell is ready to be a big scorer for us, but i’d like to see him get to double figures… that shouldn’t be too difficult. their press will cause some problems.. they may not go to it until five/ten minutes in… but that might break whatever early rhythm we may have… but i’m looking forward to a pretty even matchup, hopefully we have some fans in the seats today!!

  13. Rick 01/16/2010 at 12:56 PM #

    Smart putting Horner on Booker. Let’s se if it works.

Leave a Reply