NC State 87 Georgia Tech 78

General NCS Basketball25

State used a very balanced attack to hold off a very spirited Georgia Tech today in Raleigh (boxscore).

Feel free to discuss today’s game in the comments section of the this entry.

Some quick hits:

===> The same two keys that we have highlighted for every game thusfar continue to be the primary two things upon which you need to focus to track the performance of the Wolfpack – Cedric Simmons’ presence on the court and the Wolfpack’s three point shooting.

Today, Simmons battled some bullshit foul trouble to be available long enough to lead the Pack to victory with the complement of 48% shooting from behind the three-point line. That is a recipe for a lot of victories.

===> The Yellow Jackets impressed me with their perseverance today. After some bad losses earlier in the season, this team should continue to improve under Paul Hewitt and may scare some folks at the end of the season. Unfortunately for them, those bad early-season losses and the weaker-than-normal ACC will keep them out of the NCAA Tournament unless they continue to over-achieve at a rate greater than I currently foresee.

===> As impressive as Georgia Tech was, the Wolfpack deserves tons of credit for perseverance today. Despite some shaky officiating, the Pack responded to every GT run with poise and production. Very, very nice!!

===> The officiating in Raleigh today was atrocious. Absolutely inexcusable. Georgia Tech got the better end of the inconsistent officiating for most of the first 33 minutes and then the Wolfpack enjoyed the benefits of some of the officials incompetence. (I am not going to let this die and will be sharing more on this in future entries).

===> State needs to shoot better free throws in future ACC games if we expect to win a close one or two. 66.7% AT HOME should be better.

===> Oh yeah…congratulations to Frank Haith and Miami for their big win in Chapel Hill today. The win helps State vaunt into second place in the ACC with a 3-1 record before traveling to Durham this Wednesday for our only game against Duke.

===> Herb Sendek extended his decade-long win streak over Georgia Tech (10-0) and improves to 16-5 against the Yellow Jackets all-time.

===> The N&O conducted a “Live Blog” during the game. The comments can be found here.

General NCS Basketball

25 Responses to NC State 87 Georgia Tech 78

  1. TVP 01/14/2006 at 2:49 PM #

    According to my brother (who is a freshman) during the second half Hewitt turned, extended one of his abnormally long fingers at the student section, and cursed them out Gary Williams style. Maybe the streak of losses to us is getting to him.

    Bethel is 16-24 from three in conference play. We have some ridiculous shooters this year.

  2. Jeff 01/14/2006 at 2:52 PM #

    ^ WOW!! Thanks for the live update.

  3. Trout 01/14/2006 at 3:21 PM #

    Just got back from the game.

    Agree with Jeff on the officiating. The “Kid ‘N Play” referee didnt make a call in NC State’s favor all day. He was terrible.

    If you’ve never gotten a chance to meet Dr Jerry Punch, you are missing out. This guy is ALL class and loves NC State. He was recognized at halftime, and gave a talk at the Chancellor’s pregame event that was outstanding.

  4. Jim 01/14/2006 at 3:37 PM #

    TVP — we were at the game and close enough to read Hewitt’s lips the second time he turned around to the students. He was telling them to show some class. Any word from your brother as to what was being directed his way from the students?

  5. Rick Jernigan 01/14/2006 at 4:08 PM #

    Back from the game and glad to see I wasn’t imagining the officiating. Maybe they are trying to help us by not letting Ced blow up into a first round pick. The game was nothing like the defensive struggle I expected. It felt like GT hit 12 or 13 of their first 15 shots. Lewis Clinch is a big time freshman for GT that was hurt early in the year and has struggled. Naturally, he goes off on us. If he can give them another scorer, they are a different team.

    GT’s team is very athletic and they play outstanding defense. It looked like we put them in a Vegamatic for most of the game. Very impressive. Jeff – you are so right about it starting with Ced. He did a phenomenal job today of making difficult catches & passing.

    Shout out to Ben McCauley for giving us a solid 3 minutes in the first half.

  6. choppack 01/14/2006 at 4:32 PM #

    The officiating this year against Ced has been a horrid joke.

    I can’t decide whether officials are like dogs – who need to be beaten and embarassed into behaving – or if they are like the UN – a force which instead of protecting those who needs it most – does almost the exact opposite.

  7. JeremyHyatt 01/14/2006 at 4:40 PM #

    just tuned in espn a couple hours later, an announcer saying something along the lines of “Wolfpack has a very well-balanced team, and will be very dangerous end of Feb and March. Herb Sendek has proven himself time and time again, a really great coach”. He also said State is the only contender for Duke at the top. Very nice compliments.

    The Herb comment just made me smile– after reading some of the contentious debates on this site in the last couple months. : }

    What can be done to cut down on Ced’s re-occuring foul trouble. We cannot afford this mess at Cameron on Wed. And it still seems like the team does not have an identity or plan when Ced is off the court. Also, did anyone notice that scary stretch where Iian and Engin stepped off the court for 2 game minutes and there was an immediate 7 point swing? Holy biting-wolfpack hand thingies!

    What I liked about the last ten minutes is it seems like State just decided “you know what GT, we’re just going to out-shoot you here”. Kind of like the way Matt Damon decides to out-play the mad Russian at the end of “Rounders”.

    I also can’t belive HOW GOOD Simmons is down low. The last time we had a real presence down low, was it Damon Thornton (who after getting rookie of the year in the ACC, dealt with injuries and was just ineffective after).

    Sheldon William should be quite the test.

    Carolina losing at home to Miami was a nice little bonus, doncha think? Woohoo!

  8. choppack 01/14/2006 at 4:43 PM #

    As for what to expect at Cameron…the famous Bobby Knight quote about rape comes to mind.

  9. Astral Rain 01/14/2006 at 4:53 PM #

    The bad foul shooting was mostly Cedric, and I’m wondering if some of that was due to conditioning- he looked to be working pretty hard out there, and he didn’t get a blow for entire second half…

    Simmons is better then Thorton, and a lot less likely to get suspended for doing something dumb- how many times was Thornton in trouble with Sendek or the law?

    GT looks like they’ll be scary next year though.

  10. Jeff 01/14/2006 at 6:15 PM #

    I guess if the announcer said it…it HAS to be true!! 🙂

    “I think that it is unfortunate because I do think Pete Gillen is a really good coach… He has six years left on his contract and I do think that he should be allowed to finish that out.“
    – Jay Bilas, January 29, 2005

    Just having some fun.

    Jay Bilas gave us some great mentions prior to the game on ESPN.

  11. BJD95 01/14/2006 at 6:24 PM #

    Amen, Jeff. Sendek is showing real signs of maturation and improvement as a coach this year. He could turn out to be a very good coach.

    But he sure as hell hasn’t proven that yet. Proven pretty good? Yes.

  12. JeremyHyatt 01/14/2006 at 6:39 PM #

    it just feels good to have the talking heads complimenting NC State basketball, rather than hating on their style of offense or ignoring them altogether.

    Whatever Clemson did today, Herb should watch the tape and take pointers, they actually competed with Duke today. Also see what Miami did right at UNC-CH and make notes…

  13. VaWolf82 01/14/2006 at 8:12 PM #

    From the N&O blog:

    When you’ve got a guy on a roll such as Tyler Hansbrough — who recorded his fourth consecutive game with 20 points or more Saturday — you’ve got to get the ball to him. Right?

    Problem is, North Carolina couldn’t manage it against Miami’s zone defense down the stretch. The No. 20 Tar Heels, who lost 81-70 at the Smith Center, turned the ball over three times on entry passes to their freshman center over the final five minutes.

    I wish both of State’s revenue coaches would mix up the defenses more. Changing defenses often disrupts the offensive game plan and would make State harder to prepare for….in both sports.

  14. blpack 01/14/2006 at 9:36 PM #

    Nice win again today vs. GT. Can we play them more often? I am still not confident about the game on Wednesday, but at least all the ACC talk this week will be about that game and they have to mention NCSU. We should finish 2nd or at worst 3rd in the league. We have a veteran team, the league is not great, and as long as we can keep Ced on the floor to rebound and protect the paint we will be in good shape. Has his passing improved, or what? Oh yeah, go Canes!

  15. class of '74 01/15/2006 at 11:25 AM #

    Apparently the crowd behind GT’s bench was giving Tarver greif over the recent academic problems and that may have set Hewitt off. Unusual for a usually classy guy.

  16. class of '74 01/15/2006 at 11:28 AM #

    Totally agree on the free throw issue. Duke game coming up free throws will be a big part of that game and anything under 75% will be deadly.

  17. Jeff 01/15/2006 at 11:33 AM #

    Taunting discussed

    http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/gatech/stories/0115techmen.html

    N.C. State’s 3-point barrage gripped the Jackets. And the crowd helped finish them off. In the game’s last minute, coach Paul Hewitt found himself in a brief, heated exchange with the students seated directly behind the bench after they directed one too many insults toward senior Theodis Tarver, who had his academic eligibility restored Friday.

    Earlier in the game, security had removed a poster from that same section berating Tarver.

    “I reacted poorly,” Hewitt said. “Theo has been going through a very tough time. I thought there were some things said that didn’t need to be said. I apologize for my behavior out there.”

  18. HeelsFan 01/15/2006 at 12:28 PM #

    “The loudest cheer of the entire afternoon came late, and not when the Pack (14-2, 3-1) finally was pulling away. It was when the arena scoreboard showed State fans that Carolina was a goner against underdog Miami in Chapel Hill.” Caulton Tudor N&O.

    I would think the loudest cheers would be for the Wolfpack?

  19. Rick Jernigan 01/15/2006 at 12:35 PM #

    I couldn’t help but think about Avie Lester when reading about Tarver’s situation. Of everything that went on during that dark period, screwing a kid out of senior season showed me that a “scorched earth” strategy was in full mode.

    At least GT rectified the situation although Tarver has suffered plenty. For those that don’t know the story, Tarver is a senior (5th year, I think) that is fully eligible for the second semester by NCAA rules. GT has some sort of additional requirement that he must not have met and they suspended him for the second semester. The appeal was successful and he will be able to play the rest of the year. The one game he missed was against Centenary in Louisiana, his home state. The game was scheduled for Tarver and he had 50 friends & family with tickets to the game and he wasn’t even allowed to travel with the team. Hewitt was plenty steamed over the issue. I like the fact that Hewitt went off on this matter. Nothing to apologize for by me.

  20. TVP 01/15/2006 at 12:58 PM #

    ^^They were. Tudor is senile.

  21. choppack 01/15/2006 at 1:34 PM #

    Regarding Hewitt – it’s also worth noting that he gave our team a lot of credit. He didn’t go on and on about what his team did wrong – but rather credited a lot of his team’s shortcomings to stuff done by State.

    I don’t have a problem w/ him getting into w/ our students.

  22. VaWolf82 01/15/2006 at 2:53 PM #

    I don’t have a problem w/ him getting into w/ our students.

    I don’t have any problem with it in theory…but I would like a few more facts. What was said…and how does it compare with the taunting that occurs in CH or Duke? What got the one student (?) removed? Finally, what was said that specifically made Hewitt lose his cool?

    Back in the day, several of us had seats directly behind the MD bench and called Lefty Driesell everything that we could dream up. He never acknowledged that he ever heard anything that we said….though he had to.

  23. class of '74 01/16/2006 at 6:06 AM #

    ^That’s because whatever you said or did to Lefty was probably mild in comparison to what went on at Cole Field House. He probably felt relieved if not immune.

  24. Mr. O 01/16/2006 at 8:58 AM #

    Herb was essentially left for dead after year 5. Personally, I think coming back from an almost impossible situation to get the program to where it is now shows that he is a very good coach. He has overcome obstacle after obstacle. Still, we all want better than what he has produced so far, so there is still some progress that needs to be made.

    I was really impressed with GT. They looked like an upper half ACC team and an NCAA tournament bid. The ACC isn’t that weak. We are still the #2 rated conference overall, so that shouldn’t hurt any team in terms of getting an NCAA bid.

    We are playing great basketball. Our offense statistics are unbelievable so far. Our players seem so commited to what we are doing and they are very unselfish. I don’t think I have ever seen a group of NC State players play this together since I became a fan. This is probably our biggest strength.

  25. class of '74 01/16/2006 at 9:34 AM #

    ^Agree on our balance it is the best I can remember. You know in a very strange way losing out on guys like J. Gilchrist and Chris Paul have actually benefitted Herb.

    Also, GT is very young and improving as the season progresses at least that’s what I’ve seen so far.

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