January 26, 2012
NC STATE BASKETBALL
GoPack.com
Pack Travels to No. 7 North Carolina
NC State makes the short trek down I-40 Thursday to take on Triangle rival No. 7 North Carolina. Gametime is set for 7 p.m., and the game can be heard on the NC State Radio Network and seen on ESPN.
The Wolfpack will be seeking its fifth ACC victory and looking to snap a 10-game winless streak versus the Tar Heels. With a win Thursday, NC State can equal is conference victory total from a year ago. Beginning with a road win at Miami (78-73), State is in the midst of a stretch that will see it play five of its next seven on the road.Transition Points
• This is the 220th meeting between NC State and North Carolina.
• Thursday’s game is a matchup of two of the top scoring teams in the ACC. State is averaging 76.9 points per game (3rd – ACC) and UNC is scoring 85.1 per game (1st – ACC).
JP GIGLIO (N&O)
Wolfpack’s Leslie learning how to maximize Leslie
CAULTON TUDOR (N&O)
Pack vs. Heels, a rich past
ANDREW CARTER (N&O)
UNC-N.C. State rivalry never fades
News & Observer
No. 7 UNC vs. N.C. State
Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
UNC’s Williams explains his dislike for N.C. State
Speaking at a press conference on the eve of Thursday night’s UNC-State showdown in Chapel Hill, Williams said his bad feelings toward the Wolfpack date back to his formative years in the 1970s.
“I was a freshman in college and some old high school buddies that I had played baseball and basketball with were over at State and they gave me enough crap for the rest of my life,†Williams said. “I didn’t appreciate it and I didn’t like it. So I’ve always had the feeling that this is an important game. It’s North Carolina against North Carolina State.
“You know, every kid grows up and mom and dad plants seeds about who they’re going to cheer for and they have an influence. I didn’t have that influence. I had my high school coach who thought North Carolina was great and then some other people put us down any way they could to me and I took offense to that. It’s a childish way to react but it’s stuck with me.â€
It also didn’t help that State – led by David Thompson, Tom Burleson and coach Norm Sloan – beat Tar Heels eight straight times during that era, culminating in a national championship in 1974.
Jacey Zembal (TheWolfpacker.com)
Brown, Marshall battle once again at PG
“My whole goal is to keep a hand in his face,” Brown said. “He can’t see where his players are then. That’s what he does, he’s a great passer.”
Brown and Marshall have known each other for several years.
“He’s strong, and I’m pretty sure he’s 10 times stronger now,” Brown said. “We just have to come prepared. I love it because it gives me a challenge and I give them a challenge.”
Jacey Zembal (TheWolfpacker.com)
C.J. Williams squares off vs. UNC’s Harrison Barnes
NC State senior wing C.J. Williams is well-versed on every bit of the rivalry with North Carolina.
The Fayetteville, N.C., native grew up watching NC State and UNC battle, and is now going to be an integral member of this year’s games, starting Thursday at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. Williams grew up cheering for the Tar Heels and the Wolfpack to a certain extent, but bleeds red after four years in Raleigh.
“I grew up liking them [UNC], but I’ve grown to love NC State and I’m glad to be here,” Williams said. “Seeing both sides of the rivalry, it kind of prepares me for this game a little bit better. I know what the other side thinks.”
James Henderson (PackPride.com)
Defense Propelling Pack’s Success
State was 1-1 in league play and coming off a shocking home loss to Georgia Tech, a team that had struggled to shoot from the perimeter all season. Against the Wolfpack, the Yellow Jackets were on fire from the perimeter, and their top two playmakers, point guard Mfon Udofia and wing Glen Rice, led the way by shooting a combined 12-of-18 from the field and a blistering 6-of-9 from behind the 3-point line. Their play was the major factor in Tech’s double-digit victory.
Even in State’s win over Maryland the Terps received terrific play from star guard Terrell Stoglin (8-16 field goals, 6-12 3-point field goals) that pretty much kept them in the game.
Gottfried had seen enough. After the Tech loss he openly challenged his perimeter players to defend better… to accept the challenge and step up their play.
“When you look at our team right now, one area where we need to be greatly improved is on defense, especially from behind the line,” Gottfried said on January 13th. “So that’s a concern. Scott Wood, C.J. Williams and Lorenzo Brown have to be better than we’ve been on the perimeter.
PackPride.com
QUOTES: Mark Gottfried Radio Show
What is the current state of the Wolfpack?
I think that we are at a good place. Obviously we let one go against Georgia Tech, but outside of that game we’ve played pretty well. We also realize and when we watch the tape of the games we feel we can improve in so many areas.
We are excited about where we are but we know we have a long way to go to become the kind of team I think we can still become.Thoughts on facing full court pressure:
Our terminology with our players is to make them pay. We like to put shooters ahead, put Scott ahead of the ball so when we beat it he is down there waiting for it, usually in the corner. I always felt that if you don’t attack the basket when teams press you they will continue to press you until you make somebody pay. That’s what we like to do against pressure.
Austin Johnson (PackPride.com)
Scout By Numbers: NC State-UNC
The road to victory
Perimeter defense is Carolina’s biggest liability on the defensive end but that would require the Pack changing the way it plays offense which would probably be detrimental overall. The best approach is to just run the offense and avoid going directly at Henson whenever possible. He’s the best defensive player and the league and he got into the head of a few NC State players last year.Defensively the key is going to be limiting the Heels to one shot. They are a good shooting team but not great by any means – they live off second chance opportunities though. If you can hold them to one shot 75 percent of the time instead of 60 percent of the time, that’s a huge win.
Beating the Heels on the road might not be impossible, but it’s going to be a tall order for the Pack. The key for the Pack on both ends is going to be diversity. The Heels don’t have a ton of weaknesses that the Pack can exploit.
Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
The NC State-North Carolina Friendship Through The Years
Yes, folks, it’s about time for the first of two annual appointments between the two amicable neighbors otherwise known as North Carolina and NC State. I’m not sure how many smiles and high fives we can expect in Chapel Hill on Thursday, but I’d expect plenty. Certainly we will see the “GOOD TIDINGS” and “CAN I GET YOU SOME REFRESHMENTS?” signs from the Tar Heel students, as is the case each year. It’s wonderful that we’ve progressed to a point well beyond something as petty and trite as the notion of rivalry, no? Why, just the other day I got into a discussion with a man in a Tar Heels sweatshirt and commended him on graduating magna cum laude from Campbell. He smiled, genuinely touched, and shook my hand. You can’t buy memories like that.
AARON BEARD (AP)
No. 7 Tar Heels host improved Wolfpack
North Carolina State senior C.J. Williams has spent his career trying to reverse the Wolfpack’s struggles, so he couldn’t resist the temptation to take a quick peek at the Atlantic Coast Conference standings earlier this week.
There it was: N.C. State tied atop the league — not to mention ahead of No. 7 North Carolina heading into Thursday’s game.
“You look and you’re tied for first and you’re excited about that, but it comes down to playing basketball again,” Williams said. “It’s all basketball regardless of what the standings have to say.”
Maybe, but there’s no denying that the Wolfpack’s improvement under first-year coach Mark Gottfried has added some zip to the longtime rivalry. N.C. State (15-5, 4-1 ACC) is off to its best ACC start in six years and entered the week tied with Duke and Florida State for first, while the Tar Heels (16-3, 3-1) sat just behind.
Rishav Dey (TechnicianOnline.com)
Riding on a high, State takes on UNC
Junior center Richard Howell felt the team is looking to keep its focus going into the game.
“We just want to go in and play focused,” Howell said. “We don’t want to go in and have any let downs or any lack of focus.
“If we play hard as a team, five people on the court going hard, then we can come up with the win.”
Howell, who has six double-doubles in the last nine games and is tied second in the ACC for rebounds, gave credit to head coach Mark Gottfried for helping him become a better player.
“I am just doing what Coach wants me to do,” Howell said. “I am going out there and getting some rebounds and putting the ball in the basket when I need to.”
Sean Fairholm (TechnicianOnline.com)
Tommy Burleson: Red and white for life
Q: What was it like playing under someone like Coach Sloan?
Burleson: Coach [Norm] Sloan was exactly the type of coach that I needed. My father was in the military, and so was Coach Sloan. Practice was a very disciplined practice. He actually told me that I made him a better big man coach. He said I was the only big man who ever showed up 45 minutes before practice. I did my tipping drills, my jumping drills, and my hand-eye coordination drills. And then I was the only big man to stay after practice 45 minutes just shooting foul shots and playing one-on-one. He said most of his big men usually just walked on the court when he blew the whistle and walked off the court when he blew the whistle.Q: Do you have any stories from playing under Coach Sloan?
Burleson: My senior year, he yelled at me for lifting weights during the season, because back then that was a no-no. I was going to the back weight room there at Reynolds and fighting with him to lift weights. Now, everybody lifts weights during the season. Back then, he told me it would totally mess up my shot. Of course we know it didn’t – I had the third best shooting percentage at State shooting right at 55 percent. For my size, I was an excellent shooter. It wasn’t exactly long before he started using my routine with other big men.
Brian K. Anderson (TechnicianOnline.com)
On the first-season fast track
The Gist
The most important numbers Gottfried will be judged on are wins against North Carolina, NCAA tournament appearances and ACC titles.Against North Carolina, Sendek was 0-3 his first year and 5-17 in his career. Lowe won his first game against the Tar Heels at the RBC Center back in 2007 but then proceeded to lose the next 10 versus the Heels. Everett Case is the only N.C. State men’s basketball coach to achieve a career-winning record against Carolina, going 25-19.
Sendek failed to reach the NCAA tournament his first five years in Raleigh, but then guided the Wolfpack to five-straight tournament appearances from 2002-2006. A Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2005 was the highest finish by a Sendek-coached team. Lowe failed to reach the NCAA tournament during his five year run as head coach.
Neither Sendek nor Lowe won an ACC regular season or tournament title. However, both Sendek and Lowe enjoyed Cinderella runs to the ACC Tournament final in their first season. Both teams were the lowest seeds to reach the ACC final at the time each run occurred. North Carolina would go on to defeat the Wolfpack both times in the championship.
It remains to be seen if Gottfried can take this year’s Wolfpack team to the ACC tournament final and continue the trend. Sendek would field three Pack teams in the ACC championship game in the years 1997, 2002 and 2003. Lowe’s 2007 run would be his lone ACC title game appearance as head coach.
The Gottfried era has flown a smoother course than Sendek’s and Lowe’s first seasons, and Wolfpack fans hope that this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Bret Strelow (FayObserver.com)
N.C. State-UNC rivalry game finally relevant in ACC race
N.C. State senior C.J. Williams adheres to a strict routine, and now is not the time to stray from it.
That’s more easily said than done given all the commotion leading up to tonight’s highly anticipated game between the Wolfpack, which held a share of first place in the ACC heading into Wednesday’s games, and North Carolina, which sits a half-game behind N.C. State.
It’s a rivalry matchup that will impact the league race more than any Williams experienced in three lean years under a different regime, so pardon him for taking some deep breaths and sticking with what makes him comfortable, like playing his “FIFA Soccer” and “Call of Duty” video games after meals or shootarounds.
“I kind of have to mellow myself out a little bit,” Williams said. “I’m really excited for this game, but I just tell myself, ‘Relax, wait for Thursday, then let your emotions kind of start coming into play.’ Once the ball goes up, it’s all basketball again.”
Stephen Schramm (FayObserver.com)
New Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried embraces N.C. State-UNC rivalry’s intensity
Back in April, Mark Gottfried arrived on a private plane and was whisked to Vaughn Towers, the collection of luxury suites that rise above Carter-Finley Stadium. There, he had hours of discussion with N.C. State athletics director Debbie Yow.
The pair covered many subjects about the job he was about to take. But one thing that never really came up was the Wolfpack’s unique spot in one of college basketball’s hotbeds.
Yow said she didn’t have to explain just how ever-present the friction was between the Wolfpack and its neighbors Duke and North Carolina. She didn’t have to say what wins against those teams mean.
“I think he was aware of it more than people realize,” Yow said. “The thing that comes to my mind was his respect for, what we call now, our neighborhood. . I knew he got it.”
C. Michael (Tarheelfanblog.com)
Bad News for the Wolfpack
I would never be so brazen as to guarantee a win, but there are certainly some trends that point to a very positive outcome for the Heels on Thursday…
Personally, I am very interested to see what the Pack bring on Thursday. On paper, their 15-5 (4-1) record looks nice. But upon closer examination, one will see that they are 1-4 against teams in KenPom’s Top-75 and the ranks of their first 5 ACC opponents were: 159, 139, 188, 263, and 76, almost certainly (by rank, at least) the easiest opening schedule to ACC play, ever. So it is entirely possible that their record is more a reflection of schedule than it is of actual performance. But beyond even judging the Pack’s threat/worthiness as an opponent, here are some of the previously referred to trends that point to, perhaps, an even bigger edge for the Heels:
Eddy Landreth (TarheelIllustrated.com)
Wolfpack awaits on horizon
“I think Lorenzo Brown is doing a great job of distributing the basketball,” Williams said. “They are a much more balanced team than they have been in the past. I’ve always thought it was harder to guard a team when all five guys could score.”
There are many areas in which the Wolfpack has improved immensely from the past several years. N.C. State is second in the league in assists as a team at 17.4 per game compared to the Tar Heels’ lead at 18.4.
The Wolfpack is third in scoring at 76.9 points per game compared to the league-leading Tar Heels at 85.1.
The Tar Heels, on the other hand, are coming off their best performance of the season with their second half play in an 82-68 victory at Virginia Tech on Jan. 19. Unfortunately, Carolina also suffered its biggest loss of the season when starting shooting guard and backup point guard Dexter Strickland suffered a season-ending knee injury.
John Gwaltney, Jr. (TarheelIllustrated.com)
NCSU-UNC Capsule
Eddy Landreth (TarheelIllustrated.com)
Wolfffff…paaaack
N.C. State has earned immense respect from Carolina from the way the Wolfpack has improved throughout this season and the way it continues to perform.
“They have a first-year coach who has done a tremendous job of playing with his personnel,” UNC sophomore point guard Kendall Marshall said.
The new coach is Mark Gottfried. His influence has steered the Wolfpack from a losing team last season into a legitimate contender.
Greg Barnes (InsideCarolina.com)
Protecting the Point
N.C. State – UNC’s opponent on Thursday night – is tied atop the ACC standings with a 4-1 conference record, but the Wolfpack has amassed that mark against teams with a combined 9-16 league record and an average RPI ranking of 127.6. That’s not a knock against N.C. State, but rather a telling statement as to how bad the ACC actually is this season.
If the kumbaya moment that supposedly occurred within the UNC locker room at Cassell Coliseum during halftime of last Thursday’s victory takes seed, then the Tar Heels have an opportunity to post some sizeable wins in conference play that will buy Marshall valuable minutes on the bench.
That, of course, remains to be seen. Despite a 33-point dismantling at Florida State on Jan. 14, UNC still showed up flat against Virginia Tech and trailed by five at halftime before putting the game away with a 19-0 run in the second half.
The biggest concern for the Tar Heels comes in the form of injury or foul trouble for Marshall. A serious injury to Marshall has always been a season-breaker, even prior to Strickland’s ACL tear, but foul trouble becomes even more of a problem. Marshall fouled out against Florida State and has totaled three fouls in five other games.
ACC BASKETBALL
Andrew Skwara (accsports.com)
ACC Midweek Preview Part 3, Jan. 26
Will UNC-N.C. State Rivalry Come Alive Again?
N.C. State fans surely don’t want to admit this, but it’s tough to consider a North Carolina-N.C. State game much of a rivalry these days.
In recent years, North Carolina has completely dominated N.C. State, winning the last 10 meetings and 16 of the last 17. The games haven’t even been close, with the Tar Heels’ last 10 wins each coming by nine points or more.
A coaching change in Raleigh brings some hope of changing that trend. Under first-year coach Mark Gottfried, N.C. State is off to a 15-5 start heading into tonight’s matchup with the No. 7 Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. The Wolfpack has won three straight and four of its first five ACC games.
Will that momentum translate into an upset in the Dean Dome? We take a look at the N.C. State-North Carolina matchup, along with Virginia’s home game with Boston College below.
N.C. State (15-5, 4-1 ACC) at No. 7 North Carolina (16-3, 3-1)
When: 7 pm (EST)
**TV: ESPN
What’s at Stake?
For N.C. State, knocking off a top-10 UNC team represents more than a resume booster. Doing it with a new head coach – and in Chapel Hill – would not only validate State’s coaching hire, but ignite a new level of excitement in the ‘Pack’s fan base. It would also help Gottfried in recruiting and give the Wolfpack some much-needed local bragging rights . The Tar Heels are still looking to put that 33-point loss at Florida State two weeks ago behind them. Roy Williams’ club bounced back with a win at Virginia Tech in their next game, but had to rebound from a five-point halftime deficit. Facing a quality N.C. State team offers a good test as to whether they still belong among the nation’s elite teams.
Key for the Wolfpack
Limit second chance shots. The Tar Heels have more size and athleticism and often dominate opponents on the glass. The Wolfpack don’t need to win the rebounding battle, but they must keep it close.
Key for the Tar Heels
Work from the inside out. Getting the ball inside to Tyler Zeller and John Henson should be the main priority of the offensive game plan. Other than C.J. Leslie, the Wolfpack lacks a solid shot-blocking threat on the inside.
Numbers Game
UNC’s 10 straight wins in the series is tied for the longest streak in the series in the ACC era … N.C. State’s Scott Wood broke the ACC record for consecutive free throws without a miss in his last game and has now made 58 straight, which is the ninth-longest streak in Division I history (the NCAA record in Division-I is 85) … Zeller has posted a double-double in each of his last three games … N.C. State doesn’t have a player among the top 10 in the ACC in scoring, but is the only team in the league with five players averaging double figures … UNC’s Kendall Marshall ranks second in the nation in assists (9.5 per game) and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3-to-1).
Prediction
North Carolina 82, N.C. State 74 – The Wolfpack is a hot team playing with a new-found confidence under Gottfried. But they lack the size and quality interior players to match up with the Tar Heels in the post. Look for big games from Henson and Zeller to be the difference.
MULTIMEDIA/PODCASTS
GoPack.com
Inside Wolfpack Sports
In today’s episode, Don Shea visits with former State basketball player Kenny Inge.
WRALSportsfan.com
Web chat: Previewing UNC vs. NC State
