Tuesday Tidbits

January 24, 2012

NC STATE BASKETBALL

Caulton Tudor (N&O)
Pack-Heels game seems special again

It’s been a long time – too long – since a North Carolina vs. N.C. State regular-season basketball felt as special as the one coming Thursday in Chapel Hill.

Sure, the ACC is down this season. Sure again, UNC was beaten by 33 points at Florida State and the Wolfpack got whipped soundly by Georgia Tech in Raleigh.

But when the Pack (15-5, 4-1 ACC) and Tar Heels (16-3, 3-1) meet at 7 p.m. (ESPN) in the Smith Center, there will be an electricity factor that has rarely surfaced in recent seasons.

Jack Daly (N&O)
Gottfried embracing rivalry with UNC

Mark Gottfried’s two predecessors took opposite tacks in their approaches to N.C. State’s grudge match against North Carolina.

Herb Sendek downplayed the significance of the game, stressing it was only 1/16th of the ACC schedule. Sidney Lowe, meanwhile, wore a red blazer to signify how important he thought it was.

Gottfried said Monday that he doesn’t own any red blazers, but he nonetheless embraced the implications of Thursday’s meeting between the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels at the Smith Center at 7 p.m. (ESPN).

“This is a proud basketball fanbase at N.C. State,” Gottfried said. “North Carolina has been terrific. Our people have hope that that’ll change at some point.”

JP GIGLIO (N&O)
Pack enjoys 4-1, but has ‘way to go’

N.C. State’s players gathered in front of the team bus outside the BankUnited Center on Sunday and celebrated the 78-73 win against Miami with their families.

With a 4-1 start in the ACC, the Wolfpack’s prospects appear as bright as the warm Florida sun.

“We haven’t been 4-1 in the conference since I’ve been here,” junior forward DeShawn Painter said.

In each of Painter’s first two seasons, State went 5-11 in the ACC. Coach Mark Gottfried wants to flip that to 11-5 in his first season.

N.C. State, which is tied for first place in the ACC with Florida State and Duke, hasn’t been 4-1 in the league in eight years. The Wolfpack began the 2003-04 season 4-1 and finished 11-5.

Gottfried said after Sunday’s game that the Wolfpack can’t lose sight of how it got to this point.

“With us, what’s important is, regardless of the standings, we have to keep our eye on the ball,” Gottfried said. “We have to be careful right now. We have to stay focused. Each game is one game, and we’ve got a lot of games left to play in this league.”

PackPride.com
Gottfried: This Is A Proud Basketball Fanbase

How long on the job did you realize how important this game, rivalry, is to your fanbase?
About five minutes. This is a proud basketball fanbase at NC State. North Carolina has been terrific [lately in the series], so our people want to and have hope that will change at some point.

By Thursday there should be a lot of hype around this game. Is that something you embrace?
I think our players will be excited. They’ve been excited to play every game, but this game is different. There is no question. It feels different to players, fans, students on campus.

Our players are well aware of that. For us, it is a great opportunity. I think our players view it like that.

On the way back from Miami was there more talk about UNC than Miami?
I would say yes. I think our guys, as soon as the Miami game was over, their minds shifted to North Carolina. I think they will be excited, there is no question.

Do you own any red blazers?
No, I don’t have a red blazer [Laughing].

Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
NC State Basketball RPI Update 1/23

So as it stands now, we have four opportunities for top 50 wins. We’ll just have to hope the Cavs can get themselves back over the threshold (after a loss this weekend, of course). It doesn’t strike me as likely that Miami or Virginia Tech will be able to crack the top 50 at this point, but I suppose anything is possible.

Austin Johnson (PackPride.com)
Observations From The Game: Miami

The Improving Perimeter Defense
For the third straight game the Pack locked down an opposing team’s perimeter shooting. The Hurricanes seemed to get plenty of open looks, but finished a woeful 2-of-20 from behind the arc. Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant, the Canes two biggest playmakers, finished 0-for-7 from deep and combined for just 13 points. The Pack’s last three opponents have shot a combined 19 percent from behind the arc.

So how has the Pack suddenly improved so drastically at perimeter defense? It’s probably a combination of luck, competition and some real defensive strides being made by guys like Scott Wood and Lorenzo Brown. The Pack won’t hold its opponents to 19 percent the rest of the season, but if it can keep teams around 30 percent or less it will still be a drastic improvement from earlier in the season.

ACC BASKETBALL

Joe Ovies (WRALSportfan.com)
Triangle ACCtion: Florida State runs this town

The same goes for NC State, which went on the road and secured a key win against Miami on Sunday. The Wolfpack are now 4-1 in conference play, which they haven’t done since 2004. Impressive considering NC State gets thin beyond the starting five and they continue to exhibit poor traits during important stretches. But unlike previous years, this team appears to be developing a certain level of confidence that allows them to snap back to attention.

Games against Indiana and Syracuse provided progress milestones for Mark Gottfried’s rewiring work on NC State. They lost those games, but improvement could be gleamed from the result. The Wolfpack will hit another one of those milestones on Thursday against North Carolina.

Andrew Carter (N&O)
UNC coach Roy Williams on loss of Dexter Strickland

–Though Williams acknowledged that the lack of a backup point guard is a problem – and a big one – he also pointed to history as evidence that it’s a problem a team can overcome. During the 2004-05 season, UNC didn’t have much at point guard behind starter Raymond Felton. The Tar Heels went on to win the national championship that season. “We knew that this could happen,” Williams said of being without a real backup at the point. “This has happened.”

–With the loss of Strickland, Williams said other players will have to emerge to fill between 25 and 30 minutes of playing time. Bullock is going into the starting lineup, it appears, but P.J. Hairston is likely to receive more playing time, too. Strickland’s loss could trickle down and lead to more time for James Michael McAdoo and Justin Watts, as well.

Andrew Carter (N&O)
UNC turns attention to N.C. State: the daily three

Three North Carolina-related things to consider on this gray Monday morning from Chapel Hill:
First …
Welcome to North Carolina vs. N.C. State week. The Tar Heels have beaten the Wolfpack nine consecutive times in the regular season and 10 overall, including the victory in the 2007 ACC Tournament championship game.

UNC and State will meet Thursday night at the Smith Center and, for the first time in a long time, this game will affect the top of the ACC standings. The Wolfpack will enter with a 4-1 conference record. To help put that into perspective I went back and searched College Basketball Reference for the last time an N.C. State team entered a game against UNC with as good of a conference record as the Wolfpack has now.

And I couldn’t find such a team. Now, granted, College Basketball Reference only contains year-by-year records for N.C. State going back to the 1979-80 season. And, obviously, the Wolfpack entered the first UNC game during the David Thompson years of the early-to-mid 70’s with a better record than they have now. But it has been a long time.
Entering its first game against the Tar Heels, State was 3-1 in the ACC in 1989, 1987 and 1982. But never 4-1.

Stephen Schramm (FayObserver.com)
ACC title race just got really watchable

And just like that, things get really, really interesting.

About a month ago, it wasn’t crazy to think that North Carolina could go through the ACC schedule undefeated. Florida State was slipping, Virginia was on the come up, and N.C. State was still a wait-and-see proposition.

But here we are. Six teams are currently within a game of first place. None of them look like aberrations. At the same time, none of them look like superpowers. The result should be a pretty watchable few weeks as this sorts itself out.

What a weekend: The easy choice for the team that had the best weekend would be Florida State. Michael Snaer’s shot ended Duke’s home winning streak and turned the Seminoles into very, very serious contenders in the ACC race. But I’m going to go in a different direction.

N.C. State’s win at Miami was far from the most remarkable game of the week. Sure, Scott Wood set the ACC’s record for consecutive free throws, but the Wolfpack’s 78-73 victory against a capable Hurricanes team on the road was hardly surprising.

But that’s the thing. The Wolfpack, with new coach Mark Gottfried, has been one of the more encouraging stories of the ACC this season. The fact that N.C. State handled its business on the road without drama or fanfare is yet another sign of its progress.

Consider this. In the last five seasons, the Wolfpack had just seven road wins in ACC play. This season, it already has two. Of course if it gets a third on Thursday night in Chapel Hill, look out.

Bret Strelow (FayObserver.com)
Bret Strelow’s ACC power rankings, with UNC reclaiming top spot and FSU climbing

1. North Carolina (16-3, 3-1)
Reggie Bullock, P.J. Hairston and Stilman White in spotlight given injury to Dexter Strickland

4. Virginia (15-3, 2-2)
Cavaliers could use more four-guard looks with injured 7-footer Assane Sene out until early March

5. N.C. State (15-5, 4-1)
Mark Gottfried 2-0 in ACC road games after Sidney Lowe went 7-33, although Lowe did start 2-1

Brett Friedlander (starnewsonline.com)
BEYOND THE ARC: Snaering down the competition

5 POSITIVES

2. Great Scott: By making the second of three free throws with 5:21 remaining, N.C. State marksman Scott Wood broke J.J. Redick’s ACC record of 54 consecutive made foul shots. Wood eventually extended his mark to 58 straight, including all 48 he’s taken this season. The junior forward can now set his sights on the national record of 85, set by Butler’s Darrell Archey from 2000-03

4. Promising start: Understanding that there’s still a long way to go and that the combined ACC record of its first five opponents is just 6-13, N.C. State’s 4-1 league start is still nonetheless encouraging. The last time the Wolfpack won four of its first five ACC games was 2003-04. State finished second in the league at 11-5 that season.

5 NEGATIVES

1. Heels hurt by bum knee: UNC’s national championship hopes took a severe blow Thursday when defensive stopper Dexter Strickland’s right knee buckled while driving to the basket against Virginia Tech. A day later, the Tar Heels’ worst fears were realized when an MRI showed Strickland had torn his ACL and will be sidelined for the rest of the season.

STAT OF THE WEEK
Since shooting 51 percent from the floor (25-49) and going a red-hot 9 of 15 from 3-point range in a win at N.C. State two weeks ago, Georgia Tech has shot just 38 percent (54 of 142) and made just 13 of 50 3-pointers in its three games since – all losses.

LOOKING AHEAD
By far the biggest, most anticipated game of the week is red hot N.C. State traveling to Chapel Hill to play UNC on Thursday in its first game without Dexter Strickland. Wonder if coach Roy Williams is going to bring his BB gun just in case some fans wearing red are sitting behind his bench. Other games of interest include Florida State’s trip to Winston Salem on Wednesday, Duke’s nonconference tilt with St. John’s on Saturday and another tough one for the Wolfpack, this time against Virginia, at home on Sunday.

Jim Young (accsports.com)
Three To Look Back At/Three To Look Forward To, Jan. 23

Looking Back

N.C. State 78, Miami 73

The “coaching matters” argument. Mark Gottfried has taken over for Sidney Lowe and pretty much every player has improved markedly since last season. Thus, the Wolfpack now sits at 4-1 after posting this impressive win in Coral Gables.

The “coaching matters less than you think” argument. Conventional wisdom held that Jim Larranaga – the guy who took George Mason to the Final Four – would come down to Miami and get more out of the talent on-hand than Frank Haith, who was always labeled as a recruiter first and an x and o guy a distant second. Instead, Haith has gone to Missouri and suddenly looks like John Wooden, coaching the most efficient offense in the nation. Meanwhile, Larranaga’s ‘Canes are sitting at 10-7 overall and 1-3 in the ACC and Larranaga has admitted that he may have overestimated the team he was inheriting.

“I’ve found that we have a lot more work to do than we originally thought,” Larranaga said after the game.
Which argument holds more weight? I’ll hedge and say that Gottfried is doing a fantastic job and that we’ve probably all overestimated the level of talent on Miami’s roster.

I See You: DeShawn Painter. Scott Wood grabbed the headlines by scoring 21 points and setting the ACC record for consecutive made free throws. But Painter played 33 huge minutes – thanks to foul trouble among State’s other bigs – and posted strong numbers: 18 points, 7 rebounds and a team-leading plus-minus of +12.

Looking Forward

N.C. State at North Carolina, Thursday, 7 p.m.

UNC has had a week to get ready for this game, but I’m not sure a month would be enough time for the Tar Heels to adjust to the loss of Dexter Strickland (out for the season with a knee injury). Strickland’s scoring can easily be replaced, but his defense-first attitude – a rarity on this UNC team – cannot.

The Wolfpack will need to get a big game on the perimeter – specifically from Lorenzo Brown – because the usual advantage it holds inside with Richard Howell and C.J. Leslie should be negated by UNC’s formidable front line.
Keep An Eye On: C.J. Williams. N.C. State, like UNC, isn’t exactly loaded with defensive stoppers. But Williams qualifies. If he can do a good job keeping Harrison Barnes in check – and that’s a big if – then the Wolfpack has enough offensive firepower to pull the upset.

Robbi Pickeral (espn.com)
Conference power rankings: ACC

3. North Carolina: The Tar Heels bounced back from the worst loss of the Roy Williams era, at FSU, by getting an intense win at Virginia Tech, fueled by 27 points from Harrison Barnes. But it still suffered another huge loss in that game, in the form of Dexter Strickland. The team’s best perimeter defender/starting shooting guard/fastest player/backup point guard is out for the season with a torn ACL. How will the Tar Heels rally?

4. NC State: After Sunday’s win over Miami, the Wolfpack is 4-1 in the ACC. One of the positives of the game: Guard C.J. Williams, who injured his shoulder against Boston College last week, started and played 31 minutes. The Wolfpack aren’t very deep, and the loss of any key player would be devastating.

5. Virginia: First, Assane Sene suffered an ankle injury last week that will keep him out for about six weeks. Then, the Cavs lost to Virginia Tech on Sunday for their second league defeat. Virginia will need to adjust without its center, and one thing that would help: more production from guard Sammy Zeglinski, who has made only 4 of his 23 shots over his past three games.

NC STATE FOOTBALL

Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
Audie Cole And T.J. Graham Off To Good Start At Senior Bowl

Scouts and NFL-associated persons of varied repute talked about their impressions of the first day of the Senior Bowl practices, and both Audie Cole and T.J. Graham made some positive impressions. (Though Graham did have his share of drops, according to this account from the Philadelphia Eagles website.)

MULTIMEDIA/PODCASTS

GoPack.com
Pack Men’s Basketball Goes All-Access With ESPNU

The NC State basketball program will be featured in a 30-minute All-Access program set to air on ESPNU this Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 6 p.m.

GoPack.com
Watch The Mark Gottfried TV Show

In this week’s episode, Head basketball coach Mark Gottfried discusses the Miami and Boston College games with host Tony Haynes. Mark Thomas visits with senior guard C.J. Williams.

Ryan Tice (TheWolfpacker.com)
The Wolfpacker Podcast: Basketball update

The staff of TheWolfpacker.com is back to update fans on the Pack basketball team’s progress. NC State has gotten off to a 4-1 start in the ACC on the hardwood and is currently tied for first in the league heading into their rivalry match-up with North Carolina. We also provide a quick recruiting update. This episode of The Wolfpacker Podcast runs 24:35.