The Sporting News‘ Mike DeCourcy talks NC State basketball in his blog. You gotta love the attention!
Here’s the thing: Atsur probably is out two weeks. The Pack’s next game is an early ACC game Sunday afternoon at Virginia, which features the league’s top point guard, Sean Singletary. Grant’s job will get tougher, immediately. He better be a quick study.
I was at the game on Monday night and noticed something in person that did not seem to translate as clearly on the replay of the game that I watched (so that I could hear Jimmy Dykes’ comments).
Did anyone else notice that with about eight minutes to the go in the game the entire NC State team was exhausted? The whole team hat hit a physical wall. But, more interestingly was that the team’s exhaustion happened almost simultaneously with a NOTICEABLE change in Gavin Grant’s demeanor on the court. I don’t know what happened but Grant, who had been noticeably crisp and ‘energetic’ (even when he was running the point), suddenly just turned off. Kind of shut down.
It was really odd. Grant started walking the ball up the court in a manner that just screamed strange. It was like his feelings were hurt. All crispness from Grant – and then the rest of the team – just disappeared. It was more than just playing conservatively with a lead; and I noticed it a good 5 (game minutes) prior to Grant’s ridiculous back-court violation.
Did anyone else notice this?