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Lacy will play the 2G and Cat will start at PG. DezLee probably shifts to the wing if TJ Warren goes pro.
I was SO hoping that this situation was going to work itself out and Tyler was going to be the perfect reserve off the bench and develop into the kind of contributor that differentiates between a 25+ win team and a 20 win team in his junior and senior seasons. Unfortunately, I agree with y’alls observations that this looks to be an inevitable situation.
What I was concerned about this year was that TL would deliver a solid year but still transfer because his projected playing time when Trevor Lacey becomes eligible next year looks limited. That would have sucked for us. But, what has actually happened is that the kid is playing so poorly and is so disengaged that its going to be hard for most fans to miss him very much. Hell, go recruit a JUCO with that scholarship that provides something that we need (3 point shooting? more height in the backcourt? whatever it is).
Lewis’ attitude and performance certainly isn’t doing himself any favors. I really hope he turns it around!! He could be such a difference maker for us if we could get the TL that delivered when called upon last year.
I was at the game with a business associate. Sometimes that is bad for me to be able to pay particular attention to trends, etc.
But, it felt like State actually played a little smoother/better on Saturday when Anya was on the court in replacement of Vandenberg. Am I missing that or was that the case?
I might be the most engaged in the NFL this year than I have ever been. A large part of that is because of the strength and depth of our NC State alums in the league…but that isn’t all of it.
Attendance for last 3 @PackWomensBball games: Elon 1276 LSU 2025 Syracuse 3485 This trend needs to continue. PACK Reynolds GO STATE #GoPack
— Chris Hathcock (@NCSUMicMan) January 6, 2014
Earl Wolff’s Eagles was the only primary NFL-Wolfpack connection that took a big hit this weekend.
Philip Rivers win was particularly sweet since Giovani Bernard’s fumble played a big part in helping the Chargers advance to a game against Nate Irving’s Broncos.
Obviously Russell Wilson, JR Sweezy and Stephen Haushka are still kicking it in Seattle.
Should be a fun weekend of NFL football
Young Deacs provide tangible sign
The reason given by Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman when he announced his decision to retain basketball coach Jeff Bzdelik last spring was that the Deacons had shown enough progress for the embattled coach to earn another season at the helm of the struggling program.
It’s an assessment that was greeted with the obligatory skepticism from a certain segment of the school’s fan base – the one that resorted to putting up billboards on the interstate to voice their displeasure with the Deacons’ leadership.
In their defense, the progress of which Wellman spoke wasn’t the kind that hit you over the head like a stray elbow while battling for a loose ball under the basket. Wake’s 13-18 record last season was exactly the same as it was the year before. And the two extra ACC wins the Deacons recorded could easily be chalked up to the fact that the league schedule was increased by the same number of games.
But the progress that comes with a team dominated by seven first-year players was there.
Sunday night, with a national television audience watching, it finally manifested itself with a tangible result when Bzdelik’s young team gritted out a 73-67 victory against rival North Carolina at Joel Coliseum.
The upset of the 19th-ranked Tar Heels wasn’t as newsworthy from a national perspective as last year’s win against then-No. 2 Miami, especially since UNC has already lost to the likes of Belmont and UAB this season.
And yet, it’s hard to argue that slaying the big, bad (Carolina) blue giant isn’t exponentially more important because of the statement the victory provides to both Bzdelik’s players and their sometimes lukewarm fans.
[snip]
It’s said that the best thing about freshmen is that they eventually become sophomores and that the greatest improvement in a college player comes between his first and second year.
Those adages would seem to be right on the money from watching the young Deacons play.
There are still plenty of rough edges to be smoothed, to be sure, but the seven freshmen that were so inconsistent and at times timid a year ago, have clearly grown more confident and assertive.
Some of that aggressiveness Sunday could possibly be attributed to the foul situation that had five Tar Heels – including starters James Michael McAdoo and J.P. Tokoto – in trouble for most of the game.
But to Wake’s credit, it was able to recognize the situation and take advantage of it.
Sophomores Codi Miller-McIntyre, Devin Thomas, Arnaud William Adala Moto and Madison Jones were all especially instrumental in sparking a 15-2 run early in the second half that turned a two-point Deacon advantage into a 53-40 lead with 10:06 remaining.
As impressive as Wake was in building the surprising advantage, the way it handled itself after the spurt ended – and the Tar Heels began the rally everyone in Joel Coliseum knew was coming – was even more significant.
UNC (10-4, 0-1) got as close as 64-61 with just under two minutes remaining. But instead of wilting and falling just short, as many underdogs do under such circumstances, Wake kept its composure.
Funny that you should mention the fouling/free throw shooting as I was going to say the same thing. (But, of course, we’re all crazy and biased and the UNC fans and the media are not).
I didn’t even watch the game, but on Twitter saw that Carolina was in mild foul trouble in the first half. That is all I needed. All I needed to know that there was a chance for Wake since they were getting officiating that wasn’t taking them out of the game before they even got going.
I guess the primary risks here are that the guy:
(1) is too big/slow to get to his spot fast enough
(2) can’t catch very well
(3) can’t get off the line of scrimmage and gets knocked down
Doesn’t seem to be too big of a set of risks to give it a try
This article that re-sets/re-ranks the ACC heading into conference play from the Fayetteville Observer is a perfect fit right here.
1. Syracuse (13-0, second in preseason poll) – As one of seven teams to make it into the new year unbeaten, the second-ranked Orange enter league play as the clear favorite.
2. Duke (11-2, first in preseason poll) – Duke may have some faults, but with freshman Jabari Parker living up to his billing as a future superstar, the Blue Devils are still very dangerous.
3. North Carolina (10-3, third in preseason poll) – With troubling losses and impressive wins, the Tar Heels are college basketball’s most perplexing team.
4. Pitt (12-1, sixth in preseason poll) – Sure, the Panthers have a nice record, but it’s worth noting that they’ve faced a fairly easy schedule and have yet to play a true road game.
5. Florida State (9-3, ninth in preseason poll) – At this point, it shouldn’t be a surprise that Leonard Hamilton has his Seminoles playing better than anyone expected.
6. Virginia (9-4, fourth in preseason poll) – Losses to Tennessee and Green Bay raise questions about what should be a solid Cavaliers squad.
7. Notre Dame (9-4, fifth in preseason poll) – The loss of leading scorer Jerian Grant deals the Fighting Irish a major blow.
8. N.C. State (10-3, 10th in preseason poll) – With a roster overhaul, the Wolfpack faced several questions heading into the season. It appears to have found at least a few good answers.
9. Wake Forest (10-3, 13th in preseason poll) – The young Demon Deacons haven’t had any terrible losses yet. But with a soft schedule, there haven’t been much in the way of signature wins either.
10. Clemson (9-3, 14th in preseason poll) – The Tigers are off to their best start under Brad Brownell. But is that a result of a favorable schedule or actual improvement?
11. Maryland (9-5, seventh in preseason poll) – Losing to Patriot League teams – like Boston University – at home is never a good look.
12. Georgia Tech (9-4, 11th in preseason poll) – The addition of transfer guard Trae Golden has given the Yellow Jackets a boost, but will it be enough to make a move in the ACC? Robert Carter Jr. being sidelined by a torn meniscus doesn’t help.
13. Miami (8-5, 12th in preseason poll) – After losing nearly everyone from last year’s ACC title team, the Hurricanes have understandably struggled.
14. Virginia Tech (8-5, picked 15th in preseason poll) – The Hokies have lost to both USC-Upstate and UNC-Greensboro at home.
15. Boston College (4-10, eighth in preseason poll) – The Eagles entered the season with realistic NCAA tournament hopes but saw them vanish before the end of November.
This year’s offense doesn’t have the firepower to cover up the team’s defensive lapses.
Neither did last year’s offense. I’ve been quite pleased with our improved defensive effort.
I never thought about it like that. Couldn’t agree more.
* It’s a great move by Texas.
* There are whispers that Louisville may hire Bobby Petrino. As much as you may not like the guy, it is hard to argue with his success.
* I’ve said it a million times — if you aren’t cheating big-time at Miami then you can’t win. In fact, NO COACH has EVER won at Miami without big time cheating. Golden is smart to get out of there. That job is so much more of a ‘stepping stone’ than people admit.
Those numbers further support my bias for recruiting a couple of JUCO transfers – particularly on the OL and at LB.
Gee…I feel like I have to say that every year.
Sounds like he is considering places like Elon, Richmond and James Madison.
Sucks for the kid (and for NC State) because everyone expected him to be in the red & white. IIRC, Paul Johnson told Lee during recruiting that GT would tailor their offense more for him and then they told him if he didn’t commit to them that he’d lose his offer.
He has two years of eligibility remaining.
I think the loss of Gray and Fordham bother me the most.
We definitely don’t need to lose ANY offensive linemen. That stinks.
We knew that we were going to see a youth movement anyway, but the loss of Gray further insures that some of the talented new recruits on the defensive line will have chances to play early.
It is SHOCKING there are no female head football coaches in men’s college football!! Just SHOCKING!!! I think they say it is “unacceptable”!!
A new study by the University of Central Florida’s Diversity and Ethics in Sport released Thursday shows that the top leadership positions at Football Bowl Subdivision schools and conferences remain mostly white and male.
The study examined the race and gender of conference commissioners and campus leaders, including college and university presidents, athletic directors and faculty athletic representatives for all 125 FBS institutions. It also included head football coaches, assistant coaches and student-athletes for football teams.
Looking at numbers for the 2013-14 academic year, the study found that 88.8 percent of university presidents, 84.8 percent of athletic directors and 100 percent of conference commissioners are white. White males accounted for 75.2 percent, 78.4 percent and 100 percent of those positions, respectively,
I think 2 things:
(1) Bama has been the beneficiary of a weaker schedule than you may think over the last few years. Go back and look at who they have actually played since 2010 and you’ll be a little surprised. LSU is always tough, but they haven’t had a monstrous offense in recent years. Teams with high octane offenses have been able to score vs Bama (UGA in SEC title game last year; Auburn this year and the year they had Cam Newtown; etc). I think there is a more little to this than people think.
(2) I can’t imagine those kids cared as much about last night’s game as they needed to put in their top performance. They are down in New Orleans with a chance to party and playing for nothing.
@Miller_Dave it's a shame Lee didn't know what offense that GT ran before he went to school there. Oh wait…
— statefansnation (@statefansnation) January 3, 2014
You have to be consistent enough and luck enough to ‘time’ a ‘special season’ at the same time that some of the powerhouses are struggling (like Wake did in 2008).
Sadly, as things stand now, Duke may have a small structural advantage on us in this because they are in the significantly weaker Coastal Division. Now that FSU and Clemson are the clear class of the league NC State is going to always have a much tougher road of timing a ‘breakthrough’ than our friends in the Coastal Division.
Similar to this topic, here is a look at how the current conference shapes up based on NCAAGameSim.com as of today.
Pitt is a surprisingly second in the league ahead of Syracuse. Another huge opportunity for State at home this weekend.
1 12 Duke 127.4 91.6
2 17 Pittsburgh 120.7 88.6
3 18 Syracuse 123.1 90.6
4 28 Clemson 108.2 82.3
5 34 FSU 109.9 85.2
6 35 UNC 112.5 88.1
7 58 Virginia 105.8 86.2
8 71 Notre Dame 115.4 97.4
9 73 Wake Forest 106.1 90.6
10 75 Maryland 110.6 94.8
11 81 NC State 113.2 97.8
12 122 Miami 102.3 94.2
13 126 Virginia Tech 104.3 96.3
14 141 Georgia Tech 102.6 95.8
15 201 Boston College 111.0 110.1Teddy Bridgewater announces he is leaving for the NFL.
I’m not at all sold on Louisville as a long term program.
I’m looking to jump now if I am Charlie Strong.
^ C’mon? Really?
In the middle of the holidays? With a team that is generally considered “Top 100” in the country? Playing against UNC-G?
If State was playing a real inter-sectional game in Greensboro then I would agree. But, a Monday night game vs UNC-G in between Christmas and New Year’s is nothing to use a barometer (imho).
