November 28, 2006
1-0 ACC
One game down, a one game lead for the ACC. I didn't realize my TiVo was recording other stuff, so I only saw the last 12 mnutes, but I liked what I saw of NC State beating Michigan. Don't misunderstand, I wasn't terribly impressed by the basketball. NC State looked a bit unsure how to handle their 20-point lead and then they looked extremely tired while the Michigan was incredibly disorganized the whole time. But I did like the Wolfpack's attitude. They played with joy and moments of creativity, usually when Ben McCauley had the ball. A good team would have punished the Pack for being so dead and having no real point guard, but for now, that was a great win. Wins like that early in a season can do wonders for a team's confidence. I still don't think State has the horsepower to make too much noise in the ACC, but they won't be pushovers.
There should be some better-played games tonight and hopefully the outcomes will continue on the same track that the Wolfpack started on last night.
Comments
Several close games tonight, although none of the ones I saw were classics. Maryland played well at the beginning and end, but lost focus for a long period in between. Vasquez really stepped up tonight. That kid's a player.
Duke's offense is terrible, but fortunately Kelvin Sampson's never been much of an offensive coach either.
Miami had a shot to win, but took an unnecessary contested 25-footer instead of just driving to the rim. Ugly.
Still, the ACC heads into the final night with a 4-2 lead. They just need to win 2 of the 5 games to win the "challenge" yet again.
Duke's offense is terrible, but fortunately Kelvin Sampson's never been much of an offensive coach either.
Miami had a shot to win, but took an unnecessary contested 25-footer instead of just driving to the rim. Ugly.
Still, the ACC heads into the final night with a 4-2 lead. They just need to win 2 of the 5 games to win the "challenge" yet again.
Yea! ACC basketball season is back!!
A few observations:
When State came back from their early deficit and ran up a big lead, I had to ask myself "Could a Sendek-led Wolfpack have done that? Nah." McCauley was the difference in the game for NC State. Plenty of fire there. They may upset some teams this year if they continue to play with that kind of heart but they're also going to lose a lot of games to lesser teams because they simply don't have enough players.
At Maryland, Vasquez seems to be the ideal type player for Gary Williams. The team looks like they have what it takes to win a lot of ball games this year. Caner-Medley leaving may be a good thing.
Duke needs a point guard. Paulus looks like he hasn't been on a basketball court since their final game last season. Last night it looked at one point like he and Chris Collins would come to blows on the sidelines. Change his name to "Fido" because it looks like Paulus is setting up housekeeping in the Coach K doghouse.
Looking forward to the Clemson game tonight. I too like Pernell and I'd like to see them do well this year. If he can do well at Clemson, he could do great elsewhere.
It would be nice if Oden were playing tonight for Ohio State. I would love to see the Hansborough-Oden showdown.
A few observations:
When State came back from their early deficit and ran up a big lead, I had to ask myself "Could a Sendek-led Wolfpack have done that? Nah." McCauley was the difference in the game for NC State. Plenty of fire there. They may upset some teams this year if they continue to play with that kind of heart but they're also going to lose a lot of games to lesser teams because they simply don't have enough players.
At Maryland, Vasquez seems to be the ideal type player for Gary Williams. The team looks like they have what it takes to win a lot of ball games this year. Caner-Medley leaving may be a good thing.
Duke needs a point guard. Paulus looks like he hasn't been on a basketball court since their final game last season. Last night it looked at one point like he and Chris Collins would come to blows on the sidelines. Change his name to "Fido" because it looks like Paulus is setting up housekeeping in the Coach K doghouse.
Looking forward to the Clemson game tonight. I too like Pernell and I'd like to see them do well this year. If he can do well at Clemson, he could do great elsewhere.
It would be nice if Oden were playing tonight for Ohio State. I would love to see the Hansborough-Oden showdown.
| devilbythesea wrote: |
| Duke needs a point guard. Paulus looks like he hasn't been on a basketball court since their final game last season. Last night it looked at one point like he and Chris Collins would come to blows on the sidelines. Change his name to "Fido" because it looks like Paulus is setting up housekeeping in the Coach K doghouse. |
No doubt. Paulus was awful last night. And when he wasn't on the court, the Scheyer/Nelson/McRoberts three-headed point guard just wasn't very effective. They didn't turn the ball over a ton, but they created no offense. Dickie V actually made the same point last night that I made in a previous article - Josh McRoberts isn't nearlyaggressive enough. He seems content to just make a flashy play here and there when what he needs to do is step up and be the leader. Actually, you could say the same for Nelson. Stop waiting for the ball to come to you here and there and go get it. Make stuff happen! For a guy who scored over 3400 points in high school (think about that for a sec - that's incredible), he certainly is a passive scorer.
Here's a manula TrackBack of sorts, quoting you in the course of giving my opinion on the Maryland game. Vasquez looked great, though Illinois did obligingly throw up a bunch of bad 3's, and lob a few passes out there that were just begging to be picked off.
I only saw a tiny bit of the Duke game-- I haven't had a chance to build up any Vitale tolerance yet-- but it looked like they had it well in hand when I went to bed. I was surprised to see the close final margin.
The McCauly kid for NCSU was pretty impressive, for sheer enthusiasm if nothing else. It's great to see that kind of hustle.
I only saw a tiny bit of the Duke game-- I haven't had a chance to build up any Vitale tolerance yet-- but it looked like they had it well in hand when I went to bed. I was surprised to see the close final margin.
The McCauly kid for NCSU was pretty impressive, for sheer enthusiasm if nothing else. It's great to see that kind of hustle.
| Chad Orzel wrote: |
| Here's a manula TrackBack of sorts, quoting you in the course of giving my opinion on the Maryland game. Vasquez looked great, though Illinois did obligingly throw up a bunch of bad 3's, and lob a few passes out there that were just begging to be picked off. |
Just read your rehash of the Maryland game and thought you analysis was spot on. I was yelling at my TV last night for the Terps to freaking box out! I think Illinois offensive plan was just throw a shot up and then score on the rebound.
Gist was a particular disaster. He didn't box anyone out and it seemed like he turned the ball over every time he touched it in the second half. Also, what happened to Strawberry and Jones? Strawberry disappeared after throwing up a few terrible shots early and Jones vanished after his hot start. Both guys hit critical shots late though (Jones' three and DJ's steal and layup), but it would be nice if the experienced leaders stepped up instead of waiting for the freshmen.
All that said, it was a great win for Maryland. I don't care if Illinois isn't ranked. They are pretty good, well coached and have a hostile arena. Maryland appears to be a legit top-25 squad this year.
Jones has always been streaky as all hell, so his disappearance was no surprise.
Strawberry isn't really a big scorer from the set offense, so it didn't surprise me that he wasn't putting up a lot of points in what was mostly a half-court game. If anything, I give him credit for not trying to force shots.
Gist and Ibekwe both drive me nuts-- they're fantastic athletes, which lets them hide the fact that they have terrible basketball fundamentals. If Illinois had shot better than 9% from two feet away, the terps would've been in big trouble, but the Illini opted to pad their offensive rebounding stats by batting the ball around randomly near the rim, which gave Maryland time to recover.
Hansbrough will eat these guys for lunch.
It was definitely a good win, though. That's a tough place to play, as the Tar Heels found out a couple of years ago, with a much better team...
Posted by Dave at November 28, 2006 04:03 PM
| TrackBack
Strawberry isn't really a big scorer from the set offense, so it didn't surprise me that he wasn't putting up a lot of points in what was mostly a half-court game. If anything, I give him credit for not trying to force shots.
Gist and Ibekwe both drive me nuts-- they're fantastic athletes, which lets them hide the fact that they have terrible basketball fundamentals. If Illinois had shot better than 9% from two feet away, the terps would've been in big trouble, but the Illini opted to pad their offensive rebounding stats by batting the ball around randomly near the rim, which gave Maryland time to recover.
Hansbrough will eat these guys for lunch.
It was definitely a good win, though. That's a tough place to play, as the Tar Heels found out a couple of years ago, with a much better team...
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