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Watched the last 2 innings of today’s game with my brother. After the failure to cover third base in the bottom of the 8th with runners on 2nd and 1st was bad enough, but then the throw from the outfield to 3rd base instead of to 2nd to hold the runner at first was classic lack of fundamentals. My brother asked me if this team had a coach. I told him “barely”.
With runners on 2nd and first, how is the 3rd baseman going to get someone out when he leaves his bag and the pitcher has nowhere to throw to? The first baseman made a good play to keep the pitcher’s throw there from going past the bag. One thing we always preached to the outfielders in softball was to bring the ball to 2nd base on a base hit with runners on base; you’re not going to throw out the guy going to third. Had that throw gone to 2nd instead of toward 3rd, the next base hit wouldn’t have scored 2 runs and for all practical purposes ended the game.
I also don’t like this format. Looks more like soccer than baseball. The 3rd game is often meaningless, which to me should never happen in a tournament. I wish they’d go back to the old format of double elimination. If not, do what Adam Gold suggested and have 3 4-team pods, with the 3 winners advancing and the other semifinal slot filled by the team outside the top 3 that has the best record in pool play.
Pool play sucks.
Any major program that is trying to not only achieve a fairly high level in basketball (and especially football) but maintain it as well likely won’t do it with transfers being the main piece of the pie. This seems to be where we are in basketball right now. I get what’s going on almost everywhere with transfers, but I don’t like the long-term implications.
There are probably many reasons for a player to transfer, but the main one to me is simple- they simply aren’t very good players in the first place, and a close second would be that they either have little loyalty to their school or don’t like the coach.
I will renew my LTR b-ball tickets this season, but I agree with whiteshoes in that we’ll probably not be any better than a mid-ACC finisher, even if we get all these new players. There could be problems getting the big guy, whose eligibility situation has already scared off other schools. We lost our best player from last season, who I thought was the MVP in the ACC, considering how much help he didn’t have. We also lost lost 2 more players from what was mainly a 6-player rotation and a 5-13 ACC finisher.
I would like to see less talented and more committed players brought in, ones who would put NC State first instead of themselves. I’d like to see players who could be counted on to stick around for 3 or 4 seasons. Right now we seem to have only 2 levels of players- either those who are marginal NBA wannabees who are ready to leave before they even get started good, or bench players who never get to play. As bad as we were last season, what could it have possibly hurt to have played #13 and some of our other “bench players” a little more?
The most significant game last season to me was the opening game vs William & Mary, who used mainly seniors to thoroughly embarrass us in spite of our superior talent. If we could have more skilled players like that to mix with the one-and-done supposedly talented players who can’t be counted on to stay 2 seasons if even that long, it would help immensely, instead of having to assemble a completely new team every season.
A significant recent change in college basketball is the success that the smaller schools are having against larger schools, especially when you consider that the larger schools are almost always the home team. The smaller but more skilled and experienced players from smaller schools are as good if not better than many of the freshmen on the larger teams.
And until our coaches start to recruit accordingly, we’ll likely remain in the deepening rut that has become NC State basketball.
Judging from the number of transfers we have, it seems to me that nobody wants to play for NC State anymore.
WOW!
What’s next? An overall winning season? A winning season in ACC play?
Makes me dizzy just to think about it.
For the State fan who wants the Wolfpack to become relevant again in its 3 main sports (football, men’s basketball and baseball), I can’t think of anything any scarier than keeping the head coaches in those 3 sports, along with the current AD, for another 5 years or longer.
It’s a long, uphill climb to the bottom, but by gum, we’re gonna make it.
I plan to renew my LTR b-ball seats for the 21st time this season, but it’ll likely be the last if something doesn’t change pretty soon.
Until the current AD is gone, NOTHING is going to change in the major NCSU sports.
This is probably the only bright spot a State fan has had this season. I just wish the winning shot had come from Chandler Parsons distance, but we’ll take it nevertheless. Thank God (and Villanova) that another championship banner won’t be hung in the Dean Dome this season.
And for those who are expecting the hammer, it ain’t gonna happen. The NCAA can’t keep their cash cows from losing occasionally on the court, but you can bet that there will be no SMU’s wearing blue in any NCAA crosshairs.
It’s sad that the only happiness Wolfpack fans have nowadays is someone else’s misery, but as long as we have the same AD and the same three coaches of our three major sports, nothing will ever change.
Just wait until next year!
So now there are 2 ACC teams in the Sweet 16, and after the games at the PNC are over tonight or early tomorrow morning, there will be 4 ACC teams in the Sweet 16.
UVA has won its last SEVEN games here, and UNC seemingly NEVER loses here.
Ever the gracious host, NC State.
Wait until next season.
The only reason Syracuse made it is because Jim Boeheim is their coach. Period.
The Bonnies and Aztecs did get shafted.
The tv ratings determined many of the pairings. As usual.
The big shots can talk Cinderella all they want, but the truth is, they don’t WANT Cinderella to hang around at the Dance. Not good for tv ratings.
That’s the Holy Grail. And if they want to make sure Cinderella is an even more infrequent guest in the years to come, just move the shot clock down to 24 seconds. The 30-second clock put a major hurt on many teams this season, including our own Wolfpack.
I don’t know if Manning is on the hot seat yet, but after watching Wake since he took over there, it’s way beyond obvious that he’s in over his head. You can’t teach somebody to coach any more than you can teach them to dunk.
The Wake-UVA game pretty much sums up what Wake has as long as they keep Manning. I think he can recruit better than Gott, but Gott is the better coach.
So is it better to be Gott than Manning now? Probably, unless Manning’s first name is Peyton.
He’ll likely need a passport to play professionally, but I sure wouldn’t blame him for not returning next season to this ongoing shi*storm called Wolfpack basketball.
Tomorrow will likely be Barber’s last game for NC State. I think Wake Forest has better personnel than the Pack, but the Deacons to me have gotten less out of this team than anyone in the league. Barber may not be named the ACC POY this season, but no one has done more for his team this season than Cat. No one.
God knows this State fan is dreading next season.
The new and improved ACC makes every game except one a long trip for the visiting team. Of course, the Blues continue to get the advantage of not having to travel that weekend before the ACCT, as always.
The Wolfpack should be playing WF the final game of the season, but instead has to go to the Chicago area, and then turn around 3 days later and play in DC. Since the WF game was removed as the season finale, the Pack has had a lot of long trips just before the ACCT. This lack of concern for travel, especially with the move to get the ACCT as far from Tobacco Road as possible, is not going to help the league in the NCAAT. I was hoping for only 5 teams in, but fear that Syracuse will probably make it.
But for those who insist the ACC is so great this season, I believe all but maybe UVA will be bounced early from the NCAAT.
The ACC to me isn’t the ACC anymore. It’s a new Big East, with its ugly and dirty brand of basketball minus the local rivalries we used to have that have been replaced by ESPN. Our local teams have way too many long trips, with Monday games, and their fans couldn’t care any less about these matchups. If you think DC will be an expensive location for the ACCT, just wait until it goes to NYC.
I guess .500 is now considered an “average” season per this thread. Expectations run high; why, we could even finish above .500 overall with a few upsets before this miserable season has mercifully ended.
I was among the hundreds who headed for the exits last night long before the final seconds ticked off. There were Carolina fans decked out in blue all over the lower bowl, but even they became quiet as the final minutes played out.
This isn’t a rivalry anymore, folks. What we have is two programs that are poles apart, and ours is moving rapidly away from relevance to just plain substandard. It is unimaginable how much worse State would be if Cat Barber’s offense suddenly went south the way Marcus Paige’s has this season. The Heels, even without Paige, are still double-digits better than we are. It may be even worse next year.
I did renew my WPC membership this week, and will for now continue to get basketball season tickets. My football attendance ended last season because I see Wolfpack football as hopeless even in the long run. And there is no logical reason to think that basketball will get any better anytime soon. We have mostly marginally talented players who lack skill sets in the areas of shooting the ball from the 10 to 15-foot range, team defense (especially forcing turnovers), and most basic fundamentals like blocking out and setting screens.
Those who say that things won’t change under this Wolfpack coaching staff and administration are probably right. We have an AD who will likely stick with the status quo for the long haul. It is unimaginable to me why we keep the same people in charge of athletics and coaching, given that we are absolutely among the three worst programs in the ACC in both football and basketball.
The hell of it is, we’re getting worse.
My fondest wish right now is for the ACC to get only 5 teams in the NCAAT. We have two chances to help this cause (vs Clemson and Syracuse). I like our chances to win Saturday and to beat BC, but I see little hope of us winning those other 3.
I thought we were in bad shape after several years of Lowe, but the only ceiling I see for this program, given its current direction, is MEDIOCRITY.
20 points in the second half. They certainly fell short of last Saturday’s second half vs Wake Forest.
But to be fair, UVA is probably the best team in the ACC. They have everything State doesn’t: great coaching, great defense, great team play, and great shooting. State isn’t even good in any of those categories, and are awful in at least two of ’em.
So now it’s back to .500 and a likely 15-16 finish entering the ACCT, if they beat Clemson Saturday, which they might.
The only thing that I truly don’t understand about this team is this- why do the bench players NEVER seem to get any playing time? Looks to me like a 6-man rotation would welcome a breather once in a while.
A Top 25 program? Hell, if the ACC keeps expanding, we won’t even be a Top 25 team in our own conference the way we’re going.
I heard Vitale’s dribble, and it’s definitely time for this motor mouth to go back to Bradenton and disappear somewhere along the Manatee. He and ESPN are all things Blue. His criticism of the way Louisville supposedly is punishing these kids makes me sick. Punishing? These kids are getting a FREE education that won’t incur them one penny of debt. And like Swofford, these kids KNEW that they were gravitating toward a turd pile when they signed on to come to the ‘Ville.
Worse yet, Dickie V’s pick of Brice Johnson as ACC POY convinces me that he knows (and cares) little about this league outside of the Blues, Syracuse and Louisville. Players who don’t wear Blue or show up on ESPN/ESPN2 regularly don’t count. If Barber isn’t the ACC POY, I can’t imagine who would be at this point. What else could Barber have done this season? And to say that Barber would be be better off to remain at State another season is simply idiotic. What possible good would riding this train wreck another season be for Barber? Mark my words, if you think this season has been awful for Wolfpack football and men’s basketball, just wait until next season!
My days as a WPC member are winding down rapidly. It is way past time for NCSU to do what it should have done almost two years ago, and that is to clean out the coaching staffs of football and men’s basketball as well as the AD and staff, and start over. But that won’t happen, not with all the money rolling in. There will be contract extensions and higher pay, but the losing will go on and on and on.
Truly we are in the Dark Ages of Wolfpack Sports! And it may get even darker before someone with clout will be able to do anything about it. Trust me, it’s going to get worse before it gets better, if it ever does.
John Swofford’s “New And Improved ACC” rolls on!
Well, looks like the Pack will move up a notch in the ACC standings! Who knows, this just might get them out of having to play on ACCT Tuesday!
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy than Pitino.
In today’s paper I read the assessment of the 2016 commits to State, Duke and UNC. What struck me most was that State didn’t have any 4 or 5-stars, and Duke had more 4-stars than UNC.
It’s doubtful that Wolfpack football will improve much if any next season. It takes massive talent influx to get to the level most of us would like to see. I have no doubts that these kids are hard workers and committed to bringing glory to NCSU, but this isn’t basketball, where maybe only one or two really good players are all you need to get to the next level or beyond.
Look at college football over recent years, and it’s the same ole same ole almost every season. The Alabamas, the Oklahomas, the Florida States, the Ohio States and the LSUs among others have historically dominated because they all have had outstanding coaching which attracts much of the talent. Watch Michigan move up now that they have a coach who can get it done, and watch Texas, another program that should move up, stay mired in mediocrity because they apparently are determined to make their coach what he isn’t. What’s going on in Austin is to me the same thing that’s going on in Raleigh.
I sincerely hope Wolfpack football makes a move upward in 2016, but logically I don’t see how that’s going to happen when we can’t even bring in recruiting classes equal to or better than over half our league, probably the weakest conference of the five power conferences.
The thing that’s killing State this season is that they haven’t been able to adjust to the shorter shot clock. I have watched this all season from my PNC seat and on tv when they play away games. Last night they had several shot clock violations in the first few minutes. The real problem all season hasn’t been as much about not getting off a shot within 30 seconds as it’s been about having to take so many BAD shots at the shot clock is expiring.
When Barber has the ball, our players tend to stand around and move about as frequently as constipated bowels. Maybe they need to drink more prune juice.
K is out of the Tech game tonight. Looks like we’re getting set up good for Saturday.
Syracuse and Clemson should probably move up one level. Whether Clemson makes it to the Dance is unclear, but I think Syracuse will make the NCAAT.
The Wolfpack will likely be playing on Tuesday in the ACCT, and Wednesday is their likely ceiling.
We know BC is in a rebuilding year with a new coach, but I’ve not heard anyone say that the Pack is in a rebuilding year. More like a wrecking ball.
I don’t think Gott is going anywhere, either. Just like the Wolfpack.
The best thing about last night’s game was the meal we had in the PNC Arena Club Restaurant. Great vittles! However, game night could be an even more pleasant experience if the restaurant would switch its operating hours from 2 hours prior to gametime to the 2 hours during the game.
Might help business.
Again, the UNC-State game is stuck at the end of the schedule, on a Friday no less, when the students are away on Thanksgiving break. Apparently this is the way it’ll be from now on. Never mind that state high school football playoffs are on Fridays during November. A televised local rivalry football game will have a negative impact on the NC high school football playoffs, even if it’s a day game. Have they said yet if it’ll be a day or night game? Hopefully, it’ll be at night and will be played in a sleet storm.
The State-Carolina football rivalry is slipping away, thanks to the new and improved ACC. No longer will this game be played when it should be played- on a fine fall afternoon in mid-October, but now it has become an outdoor winter event, set aside and yanked around, apparently for the “greater good” of the league’s overall scheduling. It’s important, after all, that Wolfpack football be forced to play BC, Syracuse and Wake EVERY season, while Duke, GT, Miami and UVA remain a once-a-decade home event, and a State-Virginia Tech rivalry is never allowed to develop. How much longer will it be before the ACC pressures Wolfpack officials to quit playing the Heels every season in football? I have no doubt whatsoever that if this happens, our AD will cave.
What NC State sports needs in an AD who will at least stand up to the league and television networks, for both our teams AND for our fans. Thanks partially to our AD’s public encouragement that our financial supporters, many without power, stay home and watch the Duke game on tv, the game went on as scheduled. The game was sold out, so NCSU officials didn’t give a damn if the ticket holders for this event could get there. With state DOT officials also telling us to stay home, I ate my tickets and sat home and watched, lucky that my power came back on just an hour before the game started. The Hurricanes at least offered a ticket exchange to their fans who couldn’t get there the night before. And for Pack fans with tickets? Tough. At the very least those 70 dollars down the drain ought to be credited toward my WPC standing, or perhaps redeemed for a baseball game this spring.
As for the 2016 upcoming football schedule, the media’s low expectations will help Wolfpack officials to overlook this impending disaster. They’ll EXPECT not just a mediocre season, but a BAD one. They will overlook 2016 and instead focus on 2017. As long as we beat ODU, W&M, BC and Wake, this coaching staff will be back for a 5th season.
It’s going to be another season of WUNY, starring the same sorry cast that has brought you 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Will anything related to NCSU sports EVER change?
I have no problem with the team’s effort most of the time. And I don’t think lack of depth is necessarily their Achilles Heel.
What we’ve got is a team that cannot play defense, especially on the interior, and a team that for the most part can’t shoot the ball. The poor free throw shooting and the inability to find anyone besides Barber who can hit the pull-up 10 to 15-footer is clear evidence.
What I hate so much about Wolfpack sports right now is that no matter how bad our recruits turn out or how bad our coaching hires, almost ALL of them will have way too many years here before they either quit or finally get moved out. Extensions seem to be routine nowadays, regardless of the degree of mediocrity. We had a volleyball coach who was allowed to stay long enough to amass a 6-170 record. Football and basketball coaches, no matter how poorly they perform, will never be gone within 5 years. Sendek got 10 and left on his own; I think he would have been allowed at least a few more years before he would have been fired. Worst of all, ADs get much longer.
Until there is a total housecleaning, expect what we’ve got right now- a football program mired in the lower echelon of the ACC Atlantic, and a basketball program that’s sinking deeper into a big pond. Pretty soon, we won’t be able to see them below the surface except for the bubbles.
