I hear tell that we play basketball today. I’m picking my kids up at the airport at 3:00, so I probably won’t watch or listen to very much of it. Wake is worse than most of the sub-200 RPI cupcake teams we’ve played the last few weeks, so today is really just an exercise in “disaster avoidance.” We can’t shit the bed at home like we did against Virginia in last year’s conference opener. I’m not optimistic at all about this Wolfpack team, but still expect we will beat the Deacs by 15+. And our RPI will probably drop as a result. Welcome to 2011 college basketball – tis a strange, wide open world this time around.
Have at it in the comments, mes amis.
Random Game Comments:
Tim Brando with Mike Gminski announcing. We can expect some thorough conditioning on understanding our place in the Big Four pecking order.
Starters:
Wake – Harris, Clark, Stewart, McKie, Desrosiers
State – Gonzalez, Brown, Wood, Leslie, Smith
Once again, Raycom’s HD feed is atrocious. I’m starting to think their HD cameras just don’t work well with red.
1st Half
18:46 – State 6-0; Bzdelik calls an early TO.
14:53 – State leads 11-7 on 4-of-8 FG (50%); Leslie and Smith each have four points, Wood with three.
Harrow checks in and reminds us immediately that shot selection is still not one of his priorities…although somehow he is still tied with Tracy as our leading scorer (11.3 ppg).
11:10 – State 19-16 on 7-of-17 FG (41%); Smith leads all scorers with eight points. So far, we’re not playing particularly well, but not particularly bad, either. Turnovers not an issue for either team, one apiece.
After a missed shot and an outlet pass by Walker to Clark, Wood is charged with a boneheaded intentional foul, an easy call.
7:57 – State 28-20. Until this point, Wake had kept par with State after the initial 6-0 run to begin the game. Going to commercial, with video of Wood’s intentional foul, Brando says: “Richard Howell decided to play huggie-bear and draw the intentional, but on the other end hits the trey…”
Gminski says that Yow is a win for State because she knows the culture. Doesn’t that go against everything we’re supposed to believe about our rightful place in the ACC?
They just showed highlights from the ’89 regular season finale in Greensboro, a 4 OT State victory to clinch the regular season title. For those that don’t remember (or tried to forget), that was back when we inexplicably sported blue trim on on unis. I was only 10 then, and I remember that, but I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a convincing argument as to why.
3:48 – State 28-27; Wake has taken advantage of five State turnovers over the past 4:17 to cut the lead to one. State is shooting 10-of-25 FG (40%) while Wake is shooting 11-of-26 (42%).
Half – State 40-30. Around the eight-minute mark State looked like it might pull away at 28-20, but Wake countered with a 7-0 run over the next 4:45. State took advantage of some defensive miscues by Wake and responded with its own 8-0 run over the final 2:05. Smith leads all scorers with 10 while Leslie has nine; for Wake, Stewart has eight while Clark has six. State shot 13-of-30 (43%) with six turnovers while Wake shot 12-of-33 (36%) with only two turnovers. State hit 11-of-12 (92%) FT.
Glaring stat of the half: 0; remarkably, the number of times Lowe’s predecessor was mentioned.
If there’s a chance you’ll be craving French Toast next week, you may want to get over to the grocery store soon, because Greg is calling for snow — and possibly the apocalypse (freezing rain) — Monday and Tuesday, and that means no bread, milk or eggs within 100 miles of Raleigh. Just be careful out there on this “blustery, snowy day.”
2nd Half
Brando’s poignant comment on Lowe’s tenure: “…Sometimes electrifying, and then pockets in the game where they just absolutely become invisible and allow leads to be blown.” This was during Wake’s 6-0 run to begin the half, and truer words have never been spoken.
15:36 – State 47-36. After Wake opened the half with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to four, State quickly responded once again with its own 7-0 run to push the lead to 11.
Wake’s big men overmatched down low and in foul trouble (Mescheriakov, 4; Desrosiers and Tabb, 3). State 14-of-16 FT (88%).
11:35 – State 57-42. The second half has been the Tracy and CJL show. Admittedly, this is a different team with Tracy in the lineup, apparently one that can score freely on Wake, because we’ve done a great job exploiting Wake’s weakness down low. We’re all thinking it, so I’m just going to say it: Wake is awful.
Brando, on State: “Must pundits believe this is an NCAA Tournament team this year, and one that can do some damage.” I don’t necessarily disagree that this *should* be the case, and would have been one I’d have agreed with back in November. But based on our 0-4 record against quality opponents out of conference, and no quality wins to date, this comment just doesn’t hold any merit.
6:01 – State 74-57. This is all State. Wake is doing a lot of things wrong, and we’re taking advantage.
2:03 – State 90-61. Pack piling it on now. CJW has 14 second-half points (16 total). This team is playing with enthusiasm and looks like its having fun.
Final – State 90-69 (ESPN.com Box Score)
This wasn’t a *great* win by any stretch, because Wake is clearly the conference’s worst team. However, it was a game at home we *should* have won, and *had* to win if we have any hopes of playing in the NCAAT, and we won; and winning is a lot more fun than losing, so I’ll take it. Let’s build on this win and take care of business on the road in Chestnut Hill Tuesday night.
