ACC Basketball Predictions

11-12 Basketball36

An evolving theme on our message forums over the last couple of weeks has been the notion that this NC State Basketball team may be better positioned for a Top 5 finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference and a position on the proverbial NCAA Tournament bubble than was previously thought.

Last Friday, we posted these interesting pre-season comments that we would encourage you to review (since you probably missed the entry). Today, we share this link to The ACC Sports Journal’s preseason ACC rankings where the expectations of NC State’s upcoming season have improved since last year.

Each year, it is easiest to discuss the ACC through the lens of different ‘tiers’, and this season is no different. The conference is separated with Tier One consisting of North Carolina, Duke and Florida State. One of the interesting things about this season is that the rest of the tiers appear to be somewhat of a jumbled mess. Other than consensus that Wake Forest and Boston College should be pulling up the rear, it is hard to separate the other seven teams in the league. ACCSJ is putting both Maryland and Georgia Tech in the bottom tier as teams with several holes to fill, but after twenty years of consistency from College Park, I have a very hard time ever writing off the Terps (new coach or old coach).

Ultimately, ACCSJ calls N.C. State, Virginia, Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech ‘NCAA Tournament Hopefuls’ with ‘enough pieces in place to have successful years.’

4) N.C. State
I know, I know. This seems like too high of a prediction for the Wolfpack. In part, my rationale for this prediction is the weakness of the ACC after the top three. Also, I think the Pack greatly underachieved under Sidney Lowe, and will make big strides under Mark Gottfried.

Gottfried is a proven college coach who Iwill have a big impact on the way this team plays. State has talented players, but they also have question marks. Can Gottfried motivate C.J. Leslie to become the dominate player he is capable of being. I think so. Can Lorenzo Brown be a solid point guard? Look for Richard Howell to have a breakout year.

One thing that I think most prognosticators have not recognized yet is that the Wolfpack’s depth goes a solid 8 or 9 deep this year. The additions of Alex Johnson and Thomas de Theay along with the obviously improvement of Deshawn Painter and Jordan Vandenberg may significantly change the dynamic of this team’s 2011-2012 prospects.

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11-12 Basketball

36 Responses to ACC Basketball Predictions

  1. Wufpacker 11/15/2011 at 4:19 PM #

    We’ll just have to agree to disagree on what (or perhaps even whom) was most responsible for attaining a top 15 ranking in ’02. I will say that after ’02, the swagger continued. The execution did not. Nor did rankings or even very many wins.

  2. TruthBKnown Returns 11/15/2011 at 4:42 PM #

    No one ever said swagger alone was enough.

  3. vapackfan 11/15/2011 at 4:52 PM #

    Count me as one of those who likes where B-Ball is headed. And heres why: When was the last time State sored 84 and 91 points in consecutive games? How many times haved we seen a State team struggle mightllly (and loose to) supposed inferior teams? Also, (yes it’s early) we seem to have found a way to avoid those 5-7 minute scoring droughts. Will there be some losses? Yes. Am I predicting 20-25 wins this season? No. But from what I have seen so afar these same players from last yaer appear to a better “TEAM” this year. And that , in my opinion, gives reason to believe that The Pack is in position to a better than average team this year and a great team in the years to come.

    I would like to here others thoughts.

  4. vapackfan 11/15/2011 at 5:00 PM #

    Also, I can tolerate some losses as long we are staying competitive the whole game. There were so many times over the last few years where the Pack would be leading or close near the end of games only to fade at the end.

  5. TruthBKnown Returns 11/15/2011 at 5:01 PM #

    It’s too early to judge based on only two opponents. The good news is that we haven’t had anything BAD happen. But beating these two teams is not proof of anything good just yet. We like the effort, we like the defense and rebounding, and lack of droughts in scoring. But it’s only the beginning. I’m a little excited because I think we finally have some talent AND a coaching staff that knows what to do with that talent. Let’s hope the first two games are a sign of good things to come, and that we’ll still be happy a month from now, two months from now, etc.

  6. PackMan97 11/15/2011 at 5:25 PM #

    TruthBKnown Returns,

    I would say CJL getting suspended for 3 games and TDT having to sit out an undetermined amount of time is something BAD. Think about it, take away one starter and a key bench guy off any team and see how they react. This is part of what has me so danged excited! The fact that both of them where expected to be in the top four frontcourt players just shows how far this team has come that we are still doing a great job in the paint!

    I’m judging and I find this team GUILTY of playing basketball with premeditation and malice against our opponents.

  7. tuckerdorm1983 11/15/2011 at 5:39 PM #

    wasn’t long ago I was on this exact message board where people were thinking the football team would go 9-3. Until we have a few good wins under our belts in basketball will I be willing to say we will finish 4th. I think a trip to the NIT and an 8-8 acc record is tremendous success compared to last year

  8. TruthBKnown Returns 11/15/2011 at 5:50 PM #

    I would say CJL getting suspended for 3 games and TDT having to sit out an undetermined amount of time is something BAD.

    I think you misunderstood what I meant by “bad”. I meant, it’s too early to tell if we’re going to have a bad team. It’s too early to tell if the coaches are clueless, or if our effort is generally going to be lackluster. I was saying we can’t really be excited about our first two wins because they don’t prove anything good about our team.

    Obviously, CJL sitting out is a bad thing. But he’s coming back after one more game. So that is over. Was it a bad thing? Sure. That wasn’t what I was talking about.

  9. Lunatic Fringe 11/15/2011 at 6:47 PM #

    I am cautiously optimistic, but will admit the play so far has made me feel better. I have promised myself not to put too many expectations on this year’s team, but I have to say that I like what I have seen so far even though they were games we should win. Let’s be honest, we have had trouble with games we should win in the past especially…

    Game 1 – Two savvy, veteran guards – We have had way too many games that we were basically owned by one or two guards who found ways to dice us up to pieces. We held Dickey & Primm in check for the most part with CJ Williams taking the role leader on D.

    Game 2a – Zone defense – The nemesis for NC State basketball for the last 15 years has been our inability to beat a zone defense. Our “sets” typically consisted of throwing the ball around the arc until someone jacks a three with zero chance for a rebound. My wife thought I was insane during this game since I was so excited about skip passes, motion, dribble penetration, and touch passes (the way you actually beat a zone).

    Game 2b – Beating a Press – NC State has perfected implosion against the press in the past 15 years. I will be honest, I did not think we handled it that great in the first game, but get this…it actually looked like we worked on it between games. The guys were prepared and other than Howell thinking he is a PG every once in a while we handled it without much trouble.

    BTW — Can we go ahead and schedule Morehead State for next year? Honestly, I don’t think you can practice enough against a zone and press especially when you have Syracuse coming in. It appears as though we had a bit of forethought in our scheduling.

    TBD: Game 3 – A test of patience – It will be interesting to see how we handle the Princeton style of play, but I like that we are scheduling this game. It is a game that will make us develop our half-court defense and offense. It will make us test our mental fortitude and our ability to control a game.

    It is almost like Gottfried said – OK – what has given us nightmares in the past and let’s go exercise those demons.

  10. GeneralNuisance 11/15/2011 at 7:58 PM #

    ^Well put lunatic . . . I could’nt agree more

  11. lawful 11/16/2011 at 11:00 AM #

    Interesting analysis, Lunatic. Here’s something else to think about. Two games into the season and we have a common opponent with the holes. Based on the score, I see quite a few similarities. Now, I’m not seeing we’re all that, but I can make a legitimate argument for at least top half in the league. At least as of today…..

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