Syracuse Game Thread (Sunday AM Update)

This is a huge game and State can win it.

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SFN Sunday Update

This best sums up what we saw (WRAL):

“Not to say that we’re arrogant, but we’re No. 1 in the country for a reason,” the senior said. “Going into someone else’s home, it’s always going to be tough. Like I said, we held our composure — that’s what I took out of this game.”

The short version: State played hard and at times, extremely well, but wholly inconsistent.

State led 29-23 with 8:16 remaining in the first half before Syracuse turned into the nation’s top-ranked team and ended the half on a 24-4 run for a 47-33 halftime lead. State opened the second half on a 17-3 run and by the first TV timeout had tied the game at 50 and then kept it close until just before the under-eight TV timeout, when Syracuse capitalized on a string of about a half-dozen turnovers to push the lead to 10, and then extended it over the final minutes.

Box Score (ESPN)

State fell to 6-4 on the season, and will be at St. Bonaventure Tuesday, 7pm.

About Rick

1992 and 2002 graduate from NCSU. Born and raised an NCSU fan. I remember the good ol' days and they weren't in the last 20 years.

11-12 Basketball Editor's Picks General Mark Gottfried NC State NCS Basketball

224 Responses to Syracuse Game Thread (Sunday AM Update)

  1. randygupton 12/18/2011 at 1:28 AM #

    CALM …. DOWN.

    Take a deep breath. Count to 10. Whatever.

    Years of frustration. Nearly a Quarter Century of disappointment. I get it.

    We’re going to get there. I too want it immediately. I am old enough to remember the Jim Valvano coached teams.

    Gottfried will get it done. He IS GETTING it done. If Sidney were here, we lose that game by 40. Seriously. F-O-R-T-Y.

    There are flashes of a really good team. But ~ CUSE had two teams out there tonight. The starters were starters and the subs were starters.

    We just aren’t that deep. Our starters could hang. Look at the CJW breakout. But ~ the subs just can’t. Vandy is alright. But, just not the same caliber of player. Doesn’t help that he is just coming back from a shoulder injury. Harris? DeTheay? Could be good in time. But, Freshmen nonetheless.

    None of our losses have been embarrassing.

    And, we can take something and grow from each one. Don’t misunderstand me. A loss is a loss and never good.

    Still, I can’t help but believe the caliber of talent we’ve played thus far will bear its fruit for us in ACC play and March.

    Don’t expect a 25 win season and advancing to the Sweet 16. But, a .500 win season in the ACC and 20 win season is certainly attainable. I think anything less than that would be a disappointment.

    At the end of the day, we played the #1 team in the country. And … they deserve their ranking.

    So, sit back, take a deep breath and CALM DOWN.

    GOTT’s in charge. He’s at the helm. And everything is going to be alright.

  2. xphoenix87 12/18/2011 at 2:05 AM #

    “in defense of alex johnson, i think some of us are expecting too much of him. he contributes alot but is coming into game situations where not only is he unclear of what’s happening but also his teammates are unsure of what they need to do.”

    What, exactly, does he contribute? Not to bag on Johnson (he came from a small college, and even though he’s in over his head, he’s better than nothing, so I’m grateful he came), but he’s just not anywhere near an ACC-caliber player, even off the bench. He can’t shoot, he can’t beat people off the dribble, he’s a bad defender, we look confused on offense when he’s out there, and he’s got a 1.3:1 A:T ratio. At this point in the season, the only thing he contributes is a warm body to dribble the ball up the floor. Again, I’m grateful for that, because at least he can give a little rest, but the drop-off from Zo to him is astronomical.

    I’ve got to add, I’ve been really surprised by Tyler Harris, and I think he’s one to watch in the future. He’s not a very good offensive player yet, but he knows it, and he doesn’t try to do anything he can’t do. Defensively though, he might be our best defensive player already. He’s got great instincts, both on the ball and sliding into help position. Reminds me of Tayshaun Prince in the way he plays off guys and uses his length to his advantage. He’ll be a tremendous bench player if he bulks up and learns to finish, cause he can guard a lot of different positions.

  3. Wulfpack 12/18/2011 at 5:25 AM #

    The problem is, the ACC is down and there are now very few opportunities to post solid wins that would impress the committee. Duke and UNC are good, but that’s it. Now at 1-4 against good competition, we will have to win one of those and hope for at least 9 conference wins. ACC may only get 3 or 4 bids. I get it, that’s on the micro level. We’re playing better, but we desperately need something good to happen as a program. The door is wide open. We’ve GOTT to kick it down.

  4. tuckerdorm1983 12/18/2011 at 7:34 AM #

    in time we will have a solid team with a solid bench and guards that can take over a game. Fits and Spurts: we play well for a 10 min stretch and then not so well for 10 mins. I think we could win 10 plus games in the acc. My expectations for this year was that we go to NYC in the NIT. We might sneak in the NCAA, but it would be close and we would have to beat up on pretty much everyone in the ACC except Duke and UNC. Look guys, we played the number one team in the nation and held our own for a awhile, got down and then by God came back. We ran out of gas at the end and Calvin got cramps again. In my mind that is progress.

  5. Rick 12/18/2011 at 8:08 AM #

    I do not get State fans sometimes. All of the whining on this board because we lost to the number one team in the nation.

    If you did not see it was because of the lack of depth and quality players, you simply do not know anything about basketball. Both halves, around the 8 minute mark, our guys got tired and the subs are simply not good enough and SU took over.

    The game plan was good but they simply blew us away with their depth.

  6. tractor57 12/18/2011 at 8:12 AM #

    +1

  7. Rochester 12/18/2011 at 8:42 AM #

    Rick summed it up. Give Gott the roster Syracuse has and you’ll see a lot more W’s. We all want to see the team put 40 great minutes together, but you can’t expect 40 minutes out of the starters, which means at some point there will be a dropoff.

  8. TOBtime 12/18/2011 at 9:05 AM #

    What Rick said +1. The bench scoring was 46-4 in favor of Cuse. It was obvious when we would get tired.You could see it on the defensive end with not guarding the 3 pt line but how many passes got thrown out of bounds off one of our big guys because they weren’t ready?

    Can someone not get Leslie some Endurolytes? There isn’t an endurance athlete in the US who doesn’t know what they are and they will absolutely STOP cramps. Immediately.

    I feel for CJ Williams. He’s been here 4 years and finally has a coach who has figured out how to use him. All the guys look improved. Good game and we played tough.

  9. EasternWakeWolf 12/18/2011 at 9:14 AM #

    There’s a third CJ? Wilson?

  10. Texpack 12/18/2011 at 9:52 AM #

    ^I do not get State fans sometimes. All of the whining on this board because we lost to the number one team in the nation.

    Not true. My issues are with the lack of BASIC, dare I say VERY BASIC fundamentals. You can got meet the pass against an NBA team if you have been properly coached. You can learn to fake a pass and go back door after you’ve had two passes stolen by overplaying defenders, if you’ve been properly coached. Again, these are things you should be doing as a matter of habit if you are on scholarship at a Division 1 program.

  11. TOBtime 12/18/2011 at 9:53 AM #

    Sorry Easternwake! I meant Williams! Too early this morning.

  12. Wulfpack 12/18/2011 at 10:25 AM #

    This is the same way we’ve been losing these high profile games in the past. Obviously, we need more depth. But I do need to see some improvement with fundamentals as well. We gave Cuse an awful lot of easy points just off of our own boneheaded mistakes. We need to play a lot smarter against the top flight programs to have a chance.

  13. OldWuf 12/18/2011 at 10:29 AM #

    OK, I was at the game, up in the cheap(er) seats with all the damn yankee ‘cuse fans. Overall, the whole experience of Wolfpack BBall has improved. We played a good game against a legitimate top 8 team. Our stats were great- any other team and we take them. Comparatively our defense had lots of lapses, turnovers were maddening. CJL is needed but has to be kept under control. I am much happier with the direction of the program. It is going to suck having to put up with ‘cuse fans. They weren’t as bad as Twerp fans, but close. At least the ‘cuse fans have team spirit. Exams being over hurt our student attendance. Lots of them stayed, but not enough. At least we can kick their asses in football, and hopefully BBall in the future.

  14. tuckerdorm1983 12/18/2011 at 10:35 AM #

    as I said before “If nc state basketball were a stock, I would be buying it hand over fist”

  15. ldr of the pk 75 12/18/2011 at 11:55 AM #

    I have absolutely been a whiner for the past couple of decades. But I think I’m also a realist. Did anyone really think the program would just turn itself into a winner overnight?

    Gott has brought a new hope to Raleigh, and the fans can feel it. But, the talent is what it is. Does anyone think that Sid’s “talent” can stay on the floor with the #5,6,7…..10, 11…team in the country, let alone #1?

    We have a top 5 recruiting class coming in next year. We have a new attitude, new work ethic, conditioning etc. Give it a chance whiners. Not 5 years or 20 as we have in the past. But give it a chance. Gott is turning this thing around. We will be competetitive and have a winning program. We will go to the dance, if not this year, definitely next. Make book on that.

  16. Rick 12/18/2011 at 1:30 PM #

    “You can got meet the pass against an NBA team if you have been properly coached.”

    Can someone translate this into English?

  17. mak4dpak 12/18/2011 at 2:49 PM #

    So we play great for about 12 minutes each half, and collaspe the last 8, but it was because our bench did not contribute, and theirs did. Our guys were tired playing so many minutes, and when you get tired you make mistakes, and you are slow to come to the ball. When we have a bench that can contribute, as the Syracuse bench, we will excel. But still say Gott is doing a great job. And for those that don’t see the difference, over the Sid era, then you obviously have a problem accepting the new coach.

  18. ncsu_4_life 12/18/2011 at 3:06 PM #

    “You can got meet the pass against an NBA team if you have been properly coached.”

    Can someone translate this into English?

    Rick, i went through a cpl different translation sites…I got nothing. 🙂

  19. Wufpacker 12/18/2011 at 6:09 PM #

    “You can got meet the pass against an NBA team if you have been properly coached.”

    I think what he means is that on offense, our ball handlers are sometimes left out to dry on their own because their teammates don’t seem to realize they should go to them to give them an outlet. Because of this, when the defender(s) is playing tight defense and they’re forced to pick up their dribble (with no outlet) they get into trouble. It’s a basic fundamental that we aren’t yet very good at. I too find myself yelling “go to the ball” countless times.

    Overall, I think our fundamentals are better than in the past, but when things begin to unravel we seem to forget most of them.

  20. cusefan 12/18/2011 at 7:00 PM #

    NC State fans – Great game. You guys have a very good team and a bright future. Those kids came out swinging and almost knocked us out. The final score was not indicative of the actual game. If this is what it’s going to be like playing in the ACC I look forward to it. I love watching good basketball and that’s what I saw last night from both teams. Good luck and God Bless.

  21. triadwolf 12/18/2011 at 9:14 PM #

    Haven’t had time read all the posts so this could have been mentioned already. My basic observation is that we lost due to the lack of quality depth. Our bench could not provide enough quality minutes to keep our top 5/6 players fresh. At the end of each half the fatigue showed and SU took advantage. We are undoubtedly better, but it my not show itself in wins for a while. Fortunately the ACC is not that strong so we may be able get enough wins to get in the bubble conversation. I wish we won, but I can live with how we played.

  22. Wolfy__79 12/18/2011 at 9:47 PM #

    “You can got meet the pass against an NBA team if you have been properly coached.”

    meeting the pass is when it’s passed to you, you do not wait for it to get to you. instead, come to it.

    i guess you could call these fundamentals or just plain common sense. he/she is right, this was a problem last night. with this, it’s a 50/50 battle for me!.. sometimes it’s not that they aren’t coming to the ball but it’s a bad pass instead. it is/was obvious to any state fan with a brain in their head the SL didn’t address fundamentals and went straight to “nba sets?” in practice. i do not think that is the case here, there is plenty of coaching going on over there. there are a lot of bad habits to break, ntm teaching a no. 2 guard the point guard position. i’m ready for some of us to have an “ah ha moment.”

  23. mak4dpak 12/18/2011 at 11:48 PM #

    So even a cusefan realizes and admits that we have a good team, and the final score was in no wise indicative of the game. We both played Stanford, and they (Cuse) won by 6 points. So we clearly have a bright future ahead of us under Gott. We just have to hang in there. It is coming.

  24. wolfie91 12/19/2011 at 8:53 AM #

    Fans are so anxious for a winner, including me. But no way to discern the future after just a few games. The guys are still learning.

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