The future looks bright...The Present Sucks

Hubert Davis just said "Don't overlook NC State".
http://www.wralsportsfan.com/ncsu/story/6782340/

I think he's right, State will beat some people this year. They should. There are some bright spots. Unfortunately all of the sentences talking about positives about NC State are two-parters. They all state a positive despite a negative.

Even though he isn't quite tall enough to play center in the ACC, Tracy Smith has some amazing moves around the basket.

While not as tall or as strong as Kyle Singler, Scott wood can really shoot the ball.

What Javier Gonzalez lacks in raw talent, he makes up for in effort and a never back down attitude.

This is what this year is going to be like. This team is a painful joy to watch. When on, they can flat out shoot the 3. But no lead is ever safe, because they can't shoot free throws. Their perimeter defense can be very Duke-like at times, but can just as quickly be exposed by a well run scheme.

Sidney Lowe I believe is a master at identifying a weakness and designing some pretty complex and involved plays to get exactly the shot he wants. When it works, it is a thing of beauty. But the team may not be disciplined or talented enough to pull it off most of the time.

I'm about 90% convinced at this point that NC State is going the right direction and within a year or two we will once again regularly be making the tournament. But man is it going to be an up-and-down journey until then.

One other thing of note I came across recently that gives Pack fans something to hang their pride on. In the 2009 Academic Progress Rate put out by the NCAA, the NC State basketball team scored 995 out of possible 1000.

This reporting system is designed to grade teams on academic performance, and punish those (by taking away scholarships) who aren't making the grade. NC State ranks #1 in the ACC. (For those of you in CH and Durham who may not be real quick at drawing conclusions, this means they ranked above UNC and Duke).

Congratulations to coach Lowe and the team on this accomplishment.