February 8, 2012
Its Rivalry Week folks and that means there’s only one thing anyone in the Triangle (and ESPN) is talking about…State/GT.
I just want to make sure Swofford and all his pals in the ACC office receive my gift:
Now on to today’s headlines.
NC STATE BASKETBALL
Akula Wolf (BackingthePack.com)
NC State Basketball At The Halfway Point Part I
The league is slowing down and it doesn’t really have anything to do with State except that it sucks a lot and I hate it, but in an amusing twist, it’s now the Wolfpack buoying the league’s tempo with a transition-inclined offense. Normally we’re the ballast. (Daytight compartments are made out of iron.)
Anyway, it’s easy enough to see how much more important it is to simply shoot the basketball well vs. shoot the basketball poorly and do some other stuff pretty well. Last year’s team was better at protecting the ball and generating second chance opportunities, but didn’t shoot nearly as well, particularly inside the arc.
PackPride.com
QUOTES: Mark Gottfried Radio Show
None of these guys have played in the NCAAs. How has it been keeping them focused?
Well, we’re a long way away from that, but what is important for us is to remain focused. Today’s practice was really a great practice. Concentrating on just today, it’s got to be the best hour and a half we’ve got. That’s how you get better. We’ve got to do it each day.
You have to have more commitment than you had in November and December in every facet you’re doing. Let’s concentrate on everything we can control.
Lorenzo Brown and Alex Johnson had 13 assists and just three turnovers against Wake Forest. You’ve also been playing them together.
We made that decision a while back. What we do with Alex is he’ll stay in through the rotation of Scott and C.J. Williams going out. It pushes Lorenzo to the off-guard for a few minutes, and that has been good.
I still think Alex can play a lot better. He had a great day today in practice, probably his best day in a while. We’ve got to get Alex’s energy, defensive intensity, and decision making a little bit better right now.
He maybe hasn’t played as well the last couple of weeks as he did earlier. That’s going to be a key for us over the next month.
Thoughts on Scott Wood’s presence offensively opening up the floor.
There is no question and you see it in different ways. When he runs the floor in the break really hard he usually draws a man out to the line with him.
Then in the halfcourt if you’re a post player on the same side as him you’re going to get very little help from his man.
What I liked about Scott the other day is his screening was better. He set screens better which allowed him to get open more because it’s hard to help when he is a screener, it’s hard to be a help defender.
He’s a tall, slender guy, and I thought at times earlier in the year he was setting the screens where he was erect, straight up and down. He’s light, guys were bumping and pushing him off his center of gravity to set a screen. He has his knees bent, he’s more fundamentally sound and it frees him up as well.
He affects the game in a lot of different ways.
Thoughts on offense:
We don’t run a lot of plays. Our offense is a read offense. We’ll do some certain things, but where the ball goes determines what we will do next.
That is where our players have improved. They are understanding quickly… we’re getting to where we can do it quicker, better.
LUKE DECOCK (N&O)
To make the NCAA, Wolfpack needs to do the unexpected
Caulton Tudor (N&O)
Pack faces a must-win game in Atlanta
ACC BASKETBALL
ACC Midseason Report: Duke leads the pack
The ACC is at the midpoint of the conference schedule and the surprises so far have been more on the negative side, with teams such as Virginia Tech and Clemson not having performed as well as expected.
Florida State and Miami have surged since league play began, but they’re pretty much what many observers envisioned before the season started.
As a whole, the ACC looks like a lock to get four teams into the NCAA tournament with six having a realistic chance. However, plenty of work must be done before that’s accomplished.
Here’s a quick look at how each ACC team stacks up moving forward, in relation to their Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
[snip]
No. 38 Miami (14-7, 5-3) – The Hurricanes have some work to do, as they’re only 3-7 vs. the top 100, but do have a win at Duke that can be built on. The ’Canes have also won four consecutive ACC games.
They finally notched a victory that will separate it from other teams vying for at-large bids to the NCAA tournament, but the Hurricanes have to get to at least 10 ACC wins to have a chance.
No. 42 Virginia (18-4, 5-3) – Virginia’s curiously low RPI has a lot to do with the fact that six of the Cavaliers’ victories have come over teams currently rated No. 282 or lower in the RPI. The Wahoos are 6-3 vs. the top 100 and have two top-50 wins, including one over No. 16 Michigan.
This is one team that may be affected less by its RPI than most other clubs because it welcomed playing on the road and overall has been competitive. The four losses have come by a total of 10 points, so don’t count them out of the ACC race just yet.
No. 57 N.C. State (17-7, 6-3) – Thanks to Miami’s win at Duke over the weekend, which catapulted the ’Canes into the No. 38 spot, the Wolfpack now has a win over a top 50 club. State is 4-6 vs. the top 100, but a disappointing 1-5 against the top 50.
N.C. State passes the eye test when it comes to being an obvious NCAA tournament team, but the Pack must get some quality wins on paper to impress the committee. With FSU, UNC and Duke coming up soon, they’ll definitely have that chance.
MULTIMEDIA/PODCASTS
GoPack.com
Pack Perspective with Mark Thomas
Mark Thomas speaks with Scott Wood about shooting and then challenges him to a game of Pig.
