Maryland visits RBC for huge ACC opener (& game conversation entry)

Fans that like to explore ways to criticize The News & Observer don’t have anything to complain about today as the local newspaper gave the Wolfpack front page praise for improvement after a day of games where we didn’t even take the court and followed that up with more discussion about the season inside the paper.

Lorenzo Brown is starting to look more like a point guard. C.J. Leslie has figured out the difference between a good shot and a bad shot. Richard Howell’s game is blossoming. C.J. Williams is scoring.

As N.C. State heads into ACC play, the Wolfpack keep getting better. From where these players were last season, from where they were in October, the improvement up and down the roster is readily apparent – to fans, coaches and players.

“Everyone’s always been good,” Brown said. “We just needed an extra push to bring it out of us. I agree everyone’s gotten a lot better. And the new offense we’re running, it works for us.”

As a team, there are many markers of State’s in-season improvement: Just as one example, after late-game situations tripped the Wolfpack up against Indiana and Stanford, the Wolfpack won on a last-second shot against St. Bonaventure and held off a relentless challenge from Campbell.

Still, it’s the individual improvement that stands out, whether it’s Brown or Leslie or Williams or Howell or anyone else. They’re better players than they were a year ago. As N.C. State opens ACC play against Maryland today, they’re better players than they were a month ago.

“We’re getting there,” N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. “Each individual part has gotten better, and hopefully we can keep getting better as a team.”

Don’t misunderstand, tonight’s game with Maryland is HUGE for NC State across many fronts…not the least of which is that we get three of our first four conference games in Raleigh. (Great discussion on this topic available here.)

Home: Maryland, GT, BC, UVa, WF, FSU, UNC, Miami
Road: WF, Miami, UNC, BC, GT, Duke, Clemson, VT

I’ve been thinking on and discussing this for a while.
1) Our home schedule is easier than our road schedule, even discounting the fact that they are away.
2) At the least, we need a 10-6 conference record to be in the NCAAT discussion.
3) We prob won’t beat UNC this year, and will likely lose at Duke

We should/could go 7-1 at home this year. We have 6 winnable road games. We take 3.
That puts us at 10-6 without necessarily upsetting anyone.

Winning home games is of utmost importance this year. the schedule is heavily in our favor to make a push for the postseason.

Backing the Pack previews Maryland here.

The Maryland Terrapins are arguably the biggest x-factor heading into league play, as they’ve recently added the services of Pe’Shon Howard, who’d been recovering from injury, and Alex Len, who’d been suspended for 10 games because the NCAA got bored or something. The Terps are probably a couple of years away from really making noise in the ACC, and the same could be said about NC State, but depending on how they adapt to the reinforcements from this point on, they could surprise some people in league play.

That said, this is a deeply flawed basketball team that is way too dependent on one player for offensive production, and their defensive play has left a lot to be desired. There’s only so much that one seven-footer can change in 20 games.

Offensively, this team is not as accurate as it was a year ago from anywhere on the floor. The Terps are also turning the ball over more often. But they’ve done a much better job of getting to the free throw line and they’re rebounding well at the offensive end, and that was before they added Len’s talents in that area (which are impressive). So they’ve been pretty good in the two least important factors.

Given that this is an average shooting club, and that the Pack doesn’t force turnovers but rather merely stumbles upon them, it’s more crucial than it might otherwise be to take care of the defensive glass. Limit Maryland’s second chance points and they’re likely to have a modest day offensively. Likely. I said likely. I make no promises, and this is not a jinx in any way shape or form. Not a jinx.

In case you missed the highlights from State’s last trip on the court then you can click here for three minutes of enjoyment.

Please use this entry for the conversation and sharing during tonight’s game. As always, we would very much welcome your participation in our message forums any time!