State survives Virginia Tech, ACC officiating blunders

12-13 Basketball ACC Headscratchers SFN A/V131

NC State had to go to overtime because the Atlantic Coast Conference officials couldn’t monitor the free throw lane one of the most simple and basic rules of basketball.

In the end, the Wolfpack defeated Virginia Tech 90-86 to continue to fight to be positioned for an important #4 or #3 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. State continues to be ranked in the Top 20 of most computer systems, including the RPI where the Wolfpack also has played one of the ten toughest schedules in the country at this point of the season.

The following two videos were a couple of the more fun calls (or no calls) from the ACC officials today that have already hit the internet — the second of which is everyone’s favorite and a perfect example of how/why Richard Howell has been so foul plagued throughout his career.

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12-13 Basketball ACC Headscratchers SFN A/V

131 Responses to State survives Virginia Tech, ACC officiating blunders

  1. WeAreCured 02/16/2013 at 8:41 PM #

    Beat me to it vtpackfan. Don’t forget that Arkansas destroyed Florida by 20+.

  2. vtpackfan 02/16/2013 at 8:50 PM #

    Yes Fastbreak-yes! A kindred soul. Find a way to go 7 deep and press more. Even when there were no TOs the other team gets only one look and its usually not their desired option. More then once today VT pulled out some circus shot as the shot clock expired.

    Shelf the press vs a team like UNC and maybe Duke, but every other team should see more of this. We’ve just have to find a way work Purvis and Warren into the flow so we can put the pieces together. TJW showed a glimpse of turning the corner, but my man Purvis is reeling right now. If he could just take that initial burst past his man and jump stop for a mid range jumper he could right the ship pronto. This take it to the rack fiasco had got to stop. Once he proves he can make the mid range he will force the bigs to come to him instead of waiting for him at the tin.

  3. rough2thebone 02/16/2013 at 8:56 PM #

    Well as a state fan and alum i feel good about our future i think its very bright with our talent thats being bought in its hard to win with a small rotation and their no talent on the bench to lean on vand sucks

  4. graywolf 02/16/2013 at 8:57 PM #

    Got home from the game around 7 pm. I must say that the officiating was moronic. It was getting close to being dangerous for the refs but with the calls they made today its a wonder they are living right now.
    The over the back on Big Rich that was called on him sent me and the crown into orbit.
    Its a wonder we won.

  5. Alpha Wolf 02/16/2013 at 9:23 PM #

    I think we’ll do better than 9-7 in the ACC. I think we’ll win Tuesday and that’s the 8th win. I expect at least 10 wins and running table is NOT out of the equation. The only remaining game I have lightly penciled in as an L is UNC.

  6. ryebread 02/16/2013 at 9:42 PM #

    Poor free throw shooting almost cost us another game. Yes, there were some sorry calls, but there’s no way that the game should have been that close.

    I actually thought our defense was pretty solid most of the game. Va Tech hit some really tough shots.

    Great crowd support today. That was a nice home court advantage.

    We need one person on the court — like a Howell or Brown — who is allowed to talk to the refs. CJ was darn close to getting a second technical today.

    I loved how we kept the free throw parade going. If there’s one thing I love about this offense is that it generates looks in attack position, which leads to fouls.

    Howell played a great game considering he was down a wheel. Get better big guy!

    Lewis played well today, but seemingly at the expense of Purvis. There are 200 minutes to hand out. I’d think we could get 7 guys 20-30 a night.

    I love how we save our time outs for the end of the game. Our use of them then though seems highly questionable. I couldn’t understand the time out when VT got the ball with about 8 seconds left to go in regulation. They had no time outs and were going to have to scramble to get it up the court. I guess hindsight is 20/20, but that to me was a head scratcher.

    Oh well, it’s a win. I’ll take 6 more just like them in the regular season.

  7. Alpha Wolf 02/16/2013 at 9:51 PM #

    CJ was darn close to getting a second technical today.

    Yep, when he fell out of bounds and slapped the floor looking at Mike Eades, I was suprised he didn’t get a second T.

    Also, I just found out that Karl Hess is actually a psychologist practicing in Virginia. His number is retired at his alma mater, Liberty.

  8. state73 02/16/2013 at 10:04 PM #

    Just got home from the game. Team played hard. Lo was a little off in his passes, led to several turnovers. The refs were not partial, they were just terrible. What a joke!

  9. ILPackfan 02/16/2013 at 10:08 PM #

    Just my two cents. Given the post-Valvano state of NCSU basketball over the past couple of decades, I’ll gladly trade carping about the quality of wins over carping about finishing another ACC season near the bottom of the standings.

  10. mak4dpak 02/16/2013 at 10:10 PM #

    It was ugly, but a win, over the same team that took UNC to OT in Chapel Hill, before losing. Sure we can play much better, but I will take a win any day. And it was strange how after the technical, we finally found a spark, and a reason to play. Enjoyed hearing how UT handed it to UK, home of our former lowe loyalist, Ryan Harrow. Guess the grass ain’t always greener on the other side, huh?

  11. SaccoV 02/16/2013 at 10:16 PM #

    vtpackfan, you want a team with only 6 reliable players (as someone seems to go missing in each game) to press more often?

    Speaking of which, there seem to be at least two horribly unreasonable expectations among our brethren:

    1) That we’re 15 points better than every team we face (especially those at the bottom of the conference).

    2) That our coaches don’t teach fundamental basketball to our players.

    If you happen to subscribe to either of these flawed assumptions, then you are to blame for the feelings you have after the win today. Two key points that apparently need restating.

    1) This team is incapable of blowing other teams out because of its incredibly thin bench (which severely limits the ability to play Wisconsin or UVa-style defense).

    2) The coaching staff has had less than two full seasons with this team, which means they are working with some clear deficiencies (most notably SIZE). Howell and Leslie are the smallest and thinnest starting frontcourt in the league, and having only a lumbering 7-0 backup who severely limits the offensive production of a team that needs to score consistently to win.

  12. wolffpride 02/16/2013 at 10:37 PM #

    Okay. I still dont get what “WBS” means.

  13. ADVENTUROO 02/16/2013 at 10:53 PM #

    OK…

    Did anyone look at the stats. Lo had 6 TO’s and TL had ZILCH. I attribute ZO’s to fatigue. He is stll not 100%.

    I complained about the reffing….I don’t care if we lost or won (not really, but I do have a high degree of fair play in me)…..it SUCKED. When you call 40 fouls and 12 on the home team and 28 on the visitor, that is way outside the bell curve. Low 30’s is average with a 3 – 5 home court advantage.

    We went to the line 43 times and posted 31 points. VT only 7 and got 5 chalked up.

    The officiating totally screwed the tempo of each team. The inconsistency resulted in timidity in many players and some aggressive behavior in others.

    It was a MESS or a Mell of a HESS. As I postulated, it looked like a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial. KH was calling the GT-WF game and running up and down the court with his iPhone watching us. He had a NEW, secret BWW App and was in control of the BWW “game extender” console. But, due to bandwidth issues, his reactions and commands to our crew were often called on the wrong team or when NOTHING happened.

    As to our team. Yep, they are exciting. Yep, they are talented. Yep, we are NOT going to play on Thursday and I will have 6 tickets for FOUR games that I really do NOT want to watch. Yep, we will be going to the NCAAT and will be at minimum a 5, but most likely a 4 or even a 3 seed. Yep, our coaching staff does NOT have a clue…..they STILL wear blue shirts and blue ties…..they WILL learn.

    Now, look what happened to Cal and our “ex” woofies today….Look what happened to Mikey and the CC Idols…..MD now has TWO quality wins….US and Dook….not too bad company to be in. Look what KU did to Ricky Ticky Barnes. He got his insides ripped out today…..KU after 3 losses wanted BLOOD.

    Trivia fact of the day. Some UNC sites state that the Alma Mater was COMPOSED by a UNC Glee Club member in 1897. Funny, the same thing was said by the KU site, only in 1891. Seems that THEY and a host of universities and high schools used Annie Lesile or Amici, written in 1857, as the tune to THEIR alma mater. I wonder if old Dean and Roy got the words mixed up and when they heard the tune, WHICH school came to mind. I THOUGHT they were the same….I listened, as I was leaving, to the KU alma mater last spring in St. Louis and tonight when ESPN used it for filler, I started digging.

    Will look into Hess’ background and see where he hangs his shingle…..he probably has his own shrink….if I traveled (and I did) as much as he does, then I might be a bit on the “weird and unpredictable” side….

    Wonder if he copyrighted the designer shoes that were debuted n Atlanta….

  14. Wufpacker 02/16/2013 at 10:55 PM #

    ^^ Re: WBS…..see all the great things ya miss when you don’t check out the forums? 😀

    http://www.statefansnation.com/forums/forum/statefans-basketball/2534-wbs

  15. Wufpacker 02/16/2013 at 11:03 PM #

    “As I postulated, it looked like a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial. KH was calling the GT-WF game and running up and down the court with his iPhone watching us.”

    Probably had a light blue shirt on under his zebra skin too I bet!!!

  16. oceanman 02/16/2013 at 11:13 PM #

    What I saw today is Gott playing his two point guards at the same time and them and the rest of the team a little out of sorts in that lineup. Lewis deserves to play but Zo is not comfortable playing as a 2 guard, at least he did not seem so today. Another thing is that they did not attack like they have been. Again, perhaps because of the two point guard lineup with each looking at each other wondering what to do. VT was out of their mind from the 3 point line. If a team is going to beat you from the three point line, let em try. That strategy will win a few games for you but it is not as dependable as Gott’s taking it to the rim strategy or the high post offense, This team has a lot of heart. Its not the perfect team but they have adapted to a lot of different matchup situations and been successful. They consistently have 4 players in double figures, Howell is the second coming of Charles Barkley and they have 5 guys who can hit from anywhere Wood is incredible and we may have 2 of the best point guards in the country competing for playing time. Defensibly, I give them a 5 as a team and at times they shut teams down. Best of all, they are a heck of a lot of fun to watch. On any given day, they can beat any team in the country. Enjoy it while it last my friends!!!

  17. the_phisherman 02/17/2013 at 12:04 AM #

    “It seemed to me that we started playing better after CJ got his technical. Did anyone else notice this?”

    I’m pretty sure that this started the 14-0 run

  18. fullmoon1 02/17/2013 at 1:14 AM #

    It’s not so much te number of fouls called or violations as it is WHEN it is called. There were plenty of momentum killing fouls called and strategic no calls. I saw refs today that did not have control of the game. They looked lost, afraid and unsure and defiant. They seemed to be shrugging their shoulders as when VT delayed free throws with a timeout they didnt call. Twice.

  19. fullmoon1 02/17/2013 at 1:19 AM #

    I also didnt think CJ was overly demonstrative to have been whistled for a tech. For example I cite the duke team and coach. They whine, moan, curse, cuss, throw up their arms etc… I just want to see the same rules apply to all. I will say it did serve as motivation and made him seem more determined and aggressive.

  20. Wufpacker 02/17/2013 at 1:57 AM #

    ^ Maybe he “Crash Davis’ed” him. 😀

  21. PackerInRussia 02/17/2013 at 4:52 AM #

    That’s funny, tjfoose. Just watched Willy Wonka (the older one) the other night with the kids.
    “I want a win!”
    “OK, honey, I’ll get you a win.”
    “I want a blow-out win! And I want it right now!”
    “But Veruca, a win’s a win.”
    “I want a championship!”
    “We’re doing what we can. It’s still the regular season, Veruca, sweetheart.”
    “I don’t care! I want a championship now!”

  22. wolfmanmat 02/17/2013 at 7:04 AM #

    We got to quit blaming Gott for the poor defense. It has more to do with our players skill set than with coaching. Wood is a massive defensive liability, but he plays because he is SO important to our offense. You have to account for him and he has games like yesterday where his shooting is the reason we win. CJ and Richard are both HUGE mismatches on offense, but are equally HUGE mismatches on defense. Richard is 2-3 inches short and can’t jump to make up for height; CJ is 20-30 lbs light. Both are offensive mismatches for “true” centers/power forwards due to quickness, which is why the high low game works so well, but they are equally mismatched on defense. I’m not sure what to say about TJ Warren’s defense, but it’s not his strong point. Zo is the best defender on the team, but he gets tired too. Point is, Gott has decided that this team is going to win with offense(top tier in fast break points and field goal percentage). What makes our offense great is the mismatches of CJ, Howell and Brown and having to account for Wood. These mismatches work the other way on defense.

  23. tuckerdorm1983 02/17/2013 at 7:10 AM #

    check this technical foul out on coach k?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-cSZFgjZ84

    if you can read lips what is Ksaying to the ref at 1:59 and then again at 2:35??? He is doing more than waving his arms at him,

  24. vtpackfan 02/17/2013 at 7:25 AM #

    Wood, except for when he matched up against Saluiman, is just fine defensively. We don’t get enough rebounds or loose balls after the initial first or second or third shot doesn’t fall. All of Richs boards come from his teammates leaving him on his own to fight and claw for anything. When CJ gets defensive rebounds it happens when the ball just careens of the rim and into his hip pocket. Ever notice how he’s in so ready s position to run PG full court after a rebound? It’s because he stopped trying to box out and fight for defensive rebounds long ago.

    I don’t expect us to press all the time, just periodically. I”ll believe we are not a Thursday team at Greensboro when we can manage to have a 7 player team and not a 6. That’s just ridiculous. Seth Greenburg had a very talented 6 man team a few years back because of a freakish amount of preseason injuries. Their six were good-our six are good…. don’t know how they fared after the Thursday ACC play in round….about as decent as we will.

  25. BJD95 02/17/2013 at 7:53 AM #

    Remember, both Calvin and Talibeard are expected/needed to play 36+ minutes a game, against bigger opposing players, and NEVER get in foul trouble.

    So…uh…still wonder why we aren’t more aggressive defensively? Yeah, it would be great if one of our current/former big men (Vandy, TDT) could have at least given us 5-7 physical bench minutes per game. Didn’t work out that way, and I see what MG apparently sees when they are/were in the game.

    So it goes back to what MG said last year – “they have to guard us too, pal!” We will win by outscoring folks, and by being mentally tough in the last few minutes of the game. On that front, I think there’s real progress. If we make noise in March, that’s how it will happen.

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