Duke, Fans, K, Purnell

Lots of thoughts, little time...

Congratulations Duke. What an awesome game. It wasn't perfect. Maybe not even as good a game as CBS and K would have us think, but Wow is Butler good, and amazing that this duke team won a national championship.

I was almost sure that Stall-Ball was going to undo Duke. I still think it was a mistake, but then again, I don't have any national championships, and K has 4. Great call to miss the free-throw. Despite the all too painful memory of Florida beating State this year in a similar situation because of the miss and a bomb, I am convinced it is the best call.

99% of Carolina fans SUCK, as do probably 75% of State fans for not pulling for Duke in this tournament. It only elevates our programs to have another triangle based championship. Not to mention it actually gets each ACC school a bigger check. Maybe it is just a sign of how society as a whole has changed, kind of like how Washington is broken and Republicans and Democrats have to hate each other and insult each other to further their own agendas, but I sure miss the days where we hated each other when we play, but we'd all pull for ACC when outside the league. Most Carolina fans I know now would pull for Iran over Duke. Even worse, most Duke fans would pull for Kentucky over UNC.

My 9 year old son (I think he's 9 now) has seen two championship games. My earliest basketball memory is David Thompson busting his head in the NCAA and returning from the hospital with his head wrapped as State continued on its way to the NCAA Championship. And I was hooked for life. My kids memories are of two ACC championships. I've trained him right, we can be State fans and Hate the arrogant Heels and rich Dukies during the season, but come tournament time, we pull for the ACC. I did have to pause and remind him firmly though that we are State fans when he wanted to paint his hair Blue for school today. I told him No, and reminded him that if somehow it came out light blue, we'd have to shave his head.

Have you noticed the kinder, gentler Coach K? He's making his best effort to be a nice guy with the press, and I think is understanding more that some of the Duke-hating has been his fault, and he's trying to fix it. I can't help but see similarities between this change and the softer, more fan friendly Tiger Woods we are going to see this year. Maybe K went to Alabama for asshole rehab? OK, cheap shot. But let's be honest, both have been the absolutely best at what they do, and while they both have done absolutely great things outside of their sport that don't get much attention, they've both also been abrupt, quick tempered, and abusive to fans and press at times. Let's hope they both continue to realize they can actually be nice and still succeed at the highest level.


Oliver Purnell to Depaul. I am shocked, but shouldn't be. This is very much like a non-firing similar to Herb's departure from state. If fans complain enough and there is a lateral move out there for a fresh start, why wouldn't a smart coach take it. I think Oliver is a great coach whose teams have really excited me and repeatedly disappointed me. Here's hoping Clemson can find a good one. The ACC needs a coaching upgrade similar to the UVA hire last year.

I love college basketball, and thank god it is over. Masters here I come.

Thank God for Duke

Love them, or love to hate them, thank goodness we have Duke this year to give the Final Four relevance on Tobacco Road. They survived 2 wars to make it to Indy, and I'm really glad they did. This team may not be great, but how can you not appreciate smart kids who work their butt's off and give it their best every time out.

Let me place a vote now for new policy to reseed the final four. This year reminds me a bit of the year that Duke beat UNLV in the semi's. While MSU/Butler may surprise us, it sure feels like Duke vs. WV is the championship game.

What's up with the ACC?

A lot has happened since the last post. Random thoughts below:

-State beats duke in one magical night then comes back down to earth. Hopefully that win and a couple of other bigs ones buys Sidney a couple of more years. He's on the right track.

-Has anyone else noticed how unlike Dean, Roy, and K that Sidney is when talking about what went wrong in a loss. He'll take his share of blame, but he doesn't quite protect his players like most college coaches do. When Javier and Horner are playing like crap, he'll publicly call them out on it. It is somewhat disconcerting after fans being trained to expect coaches to protect their guys at all cost. It isn't like Sidney is pulling a Doherty, I really think he loves the kids. But really, these guys are pretty much men, they can take it right? Maybe it is the NBA background that has him calling out guys that aren't getting it done. I'm not sure yet, but I think I like it.

-UVA is for real. They aren't great, but they are greatly improved. For all those UVA fans who were underwhelmed by the coaching choice, what you got to say now?

-UNC, Wow. That is about all I can say. Sure, you beat State. You are better than State. But you aren't better than many other teams right now. Such a shame Clemson doesn't get to play at the Dean Dome this year. I know the heels will be great again starting next year, but a little humbleness is attractive in the normally smug heel fans. Wait 'till last year ;)

-Duke looks terrible, Duke looks Great. Clemson is amazing, Clemson sucks. Who the hell can figure out Maryland. The ACC is down again. Is this a serious trend? Has expansion really hurt the league. Has Big East expansion really helped them? Is it a major leveling of the playing field everywhere? Or is it just a blip that is soon to be reversed? I'm pretty sure nobody knows.

-I HATE his writing style, but really interesting article from BobLeeSays about the point shaving era in ACC Basketball at
http://bobleesays.agilesite.com/archives/all/-Lefty-,--Ace-,-Doug-and--Dutch-.aspx

Wood on Fire - White Boy can SHOOT - Racism in Basketball Fandom

NC State freshman Scott Wood was on fire last night, and NC State rode it, and great free throw shooting to a big upset at #25 FSU last night.

Wood hit 7 3's and played an all-around great game. Much maligned Julius Mays hit a great string from the line to seal the victory, and Wolfpack Nation is happy.

State fans have been expecting this from Wood, but his early season shooting woes worried everyone, including his coach. But good shooters always come out of slumps.

I'm very excited about Wood and the future. But I also can't seem to shake the memory of Migjen Bakali. If my memory serves me correctly, I remember sitting in Reynolds watcing Bakali as a freshman light up Duke with 7 3's. He never quite lived up to what we expected after that.

All season I had been wondering how a white boy from Indiana ends up playing at NC State for a black coach. I now know that it was because he's from the same high school Julius Mays came from. But the bigger question is why was I wondering that at all? I think, because I'm a racist. I was going to say a reverse racist, but really a racist is a racist.

What do I mean by reverse racist? Since the days of Phil Ford, I've found myself pretty much assuming a black player was going to be better than a white one. I remember my shock sitting in Charmichael Auditorium the first time I saw Jeff Lebo. All the hype I had heard about him before he arrived in Chapel Hill had me assuming he had to be black. Despite freaks of nature like Wes Welker and Bobby Hurley, I always assume the black kid is going to be faster than the white one. Like Herb Sendek, I would have assumed there is no way Jeff Blake is going to be better than Cliff Crawford.

I know I'm not alone in seeing color as a fan of college basketball. Some Duke fans like Duke a little more because they are so white. I wouldn't even remember the name of 80's Clemson player Murray Jarman, were it not for the fact that as a white boy, he could really, really jump.

I'm not sure what it says about me, or US, but I couldn't help be struck by how much we notice these things. Good or bad, wrong or right, I couldn't help but at least notice last night when NC State had 3 white guys on the court at the same time. Should I feel bad that in 2010 I still make note of it? Am I a bit happier because the kid hitting 7 3-pointers is white? Do I give myself a pass because my favorite player is Puerto Rican, or my teams coach is black? Beats me.

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.

Upsets, Miracles, Curses

What a crazy couple of days. Bobby Cremmins gets an upset over UNC. Even Heel fans have to have a little appreciation for that one. If I were Cremmins, I'd retire today!

The NC State/Florida game still has me dazed. My brain still hasn't completely processed what I saw. To quickly summarize for those who were too distracted by the Panthers 3rd straight win:

Most people thought NC State didn't have the talent to stay with Florida. Florida isn't great, but they've got some talent. The Pack hung with them the entire game, I'd say probably even lead more than not. Trailing by 2 near the end, as we've seen so many times, Javier comes up with a huge play to tie the game, and we go into overtime.

Javier hits a 3, and State looks like they have the game won, up 6 in overtime. FL hits a 3, State starts misisng free throws. Lowe pulls a card from the Valvano deck and starts fouling to not give up a 3. They hit theirs, we miss ours.

Now here is where even the casual fan starts to think maybe NC State is cursed. This curse idea is common to all bottom dwellers, but anytime there is losing and guilt, the word curse is going to come up. Guilt? Oh yes, there is a lot of guilt in wolfpack nation. We feel a little guilt for all the luck we used up winning in '83. We feel guilt over the fact all standards were thrown out the door during the mid-to-late 80's. We feel guilt over firing Valvano. We feel guilt that V died, most of us assuming the firing somehow caused it. We feel guilt that we didn't appreciate Herb and ran him off. Guilty Losers soon conjur up curses.

How else do you explain it? With 3 seconds to go, down 2, Florida tries to miss a free throw. The kid tries to throw it off the back of the rim. Only, it goes in. Now, state up 2 with 2 seconds to go, we miss the free throw. That isn't so bad. I actually said moments before, "you are almost better off missing this one".

Obviously not. You could offer Chandler Parsons a million dollars and give him 20 tries, and he couldn't hit that 75 foot shot again.

How do you explain something like that? It has to be a curse ;)

Roy Williams as "the Fonz"

I was a big Happy Days fan. One thing that for whatever reason I remember most about that show was how Fonzie had trouble saying he was "Wrong". Just always makes me laugh when I see someone who can't say they are sorry, or can't say they were wrong. I just think about Fonzie trying to say it, and he couldn't quite get it out.

I'm sure you've heard/read a million stories now about Roy Williams having a opposing fan thrown out of a Carolina game because during a free throw when it was real quiet, the fan yelled at a carolina player that he was going to miss the free throw.

On the surface it is absurd. The real facts of what happens, we'll never know. I mostly ignored the story but finally saw an interview with Roy where he's trying to finally put this to bed.

Whatever the facts, and while the mistake is understandable, Roy Williams was wrong. He made a mistake, should admit it, and say he was sorry.

That's it. Period!

Unfortunately, men of power these days it seems have too much ego to ever do that. They've invented their own language these days. There must be a playbook, a little insiders guide to the English Language that they all get a copy of once they reach a certain level of success or notoriety. I haven't seen a copy for myself, but I'm slowly learning some of phrases it teaches. When your ego is too large to admit you blew it, what do you say? You say
"I regret it happened".

This is what Roy says about this issue. To really gain respect, all he has to say is "I love these kids, and in the heat of the moment I followed my instinct to protect one of them, and I was wrong". But alas, like the fonz, you wont' hear those words. Roy regrets that it happened, wishes it hadn't happened. He might even say he's "sorry it happened". That isn't the same thing.

Not to pick on just Roy, but I'm getting pretty tired of these non-apology, apologies all the way around.

I can't wait to see what phrases Tiger pulls out of the little handbook.

Clemson Blows...the Challenge

You wouldn't be alone if you assumed some things last night before the games were complete. I assumed the ACC would somehow pull out an 11th straight ACC-Big10 Challenge. I assumed that Duke would beat Wisconsin no matter where the game was played. And I assumed with a 23 point lead, that the Clemson game was over.

I guess that's why they play the games.

I love Clemson Basketball. I love the style of play, I generally love watching the kids Oliver brings in. As I watched the first half of the game last night, I couldn't help but drift out of the game a bit and think about what a great coach Oliver Pernell is, how lucky Clemson is to have him, how he is building a consistently strong team where one hasn't been historically. I couldn't help but think to myself, if only NC State had gotten him. Then my daydream went down the path of realizing that if we had Clemson's basketball team and their level of success at NC State, the fans wouldn't be happy, because Duke and Carolina would still kill us, because we wouldn't be going deep enough in the tourney, etc. But, I still thought how lucky Clemson is to have him, and how the fans probably really appreciate him there.

Then of course, the unthinkable happens. This loss isn't a tragedy. If it has a hangover effect, it might even be a positive one for this team. But wow, what a collapse. And somehow I have a feeling there isn't any Pernell Appreciation Day planned at Clemson anytime soon.
----
Something about the current instant gratification, 24hr news cycle culture we live in has led me to the habit of drawing conclusions too quickly. A week ago I said that Duke was the best team in the ACC, and Carolina will be good, but has a ways to go. I guess that is easy to do after seeing 'Cuse spank the heels and Duke easy over Uconn. After this week I'm convinced the Heels will take their 3rd title in the decade, and Duke isn't a top 20 team.

Of course neither extreme is true. I guess what I need to remember is, it is barely December, and that is why they play the games.

One other note though after watching Carolina beat MSU. I'm convinced you could take the 2nd 5 off carolina's roster and start a new team, and that team would finish 5th or higher in the ACC. Amazing the talent they have. I also think you could take any 2 of that 2nd 5, and give them to NC State, and State would become a tournament team. Parity in college sports is a myth. But, it always has been.

State vs. NorthWestern

Guess my mobile uploads need some work, what a bad picture.

State is young. Friend of mine just said, "Yeah, but they've been young for 5 years". Sure seems true. The last veteran player we had it seems was Atsur. Not really true, but sure feels that way.

Carolina friend I went to the game with said, "Where did the NorthWestern coach come from"? It only took as long as the first back door cut layup to remember his Princeton roots. They run it well. State fans know that offense well, and you couldn't help but just a little bit feel the tug of missing those days of beautiful back door cuts with Marcus Melvin or Ilian Evtimov making a sweet bounce pass to Jules for an easy layup. We hated that offense. We loved that offense.

After initial lapses, NC State 2009 actually defended it pretty well. I won't write a book on this game, but some things did jump out at me.

• Javier Gonzalez is the heart and fire of this team. He isn't there yet, but he's getting better, and he won't back down from any challenge, and he's got the Heart. And man was he tired at the end of the game.
  
• If Tracy Smith was 2 inches taller, he would be amazing. He's got amazing moves, just needs and inch or two to help him finish. BUT, he gives fantastic effort.
• Scott Wood is a shooter. He looks like a shooter, he moves like a shooter, he spots up and pulls the trigger like a shooter. Everyone says he's a shooter. The only problem is I haven't actually seen him hit a shot. He will, he's going to be great, but I'd sure like for some of them to start falling soon. I think one thing Lowe needs to do is get him more shooting time in the RBC center. I couldn't help but wonder last night whether statistically overall state shoots worse at home from 3 now than when they practiced and played in Reynolds. No way to do a comparison like that because the talent is different, but you'd have to think more practice time in the RBC Center would help our home 3-pt shooting %.
• Julius Mays is driving me crazy. He is quick with the ball. The problem is, he only showed that quickness once all night. The rest of the time, against that 1-3-1 trap, he looked very tentative, like he is afraid to make a turnover. Get over it, start moving, start making quicker passes, even if a few of them are to the other team.
• All of the freshmen we've seen to date have talent. But they aren't yet ready to make plays. They make a great move, or have a great opportunity, and they just spazz out a little. It will come, but they are young. It is different with the Carolina and Duke freshment, who have been playing in all star games for years now. Our guys just aren't ready to play with the cameras on yet.
• UNC and Duke are going to kill us this year.

Lowe and Towe

Great Andy Katz article on the State situation for Lowe and Towe. I think all intelligent state fans to some extent know the Sendek was a great coach for NC State. They also can admit that they played some role, small or large in running him off. And know we all know that from a success standpoint, we were in a great place a few years ago.

But, as I've talked about before, he didn't bleed red. He didn't speak to our feelings as State fans. He didn't understand, or at least didn't let us know he understood, what we go through living among heels and devils. He hadn't tasted what we tasted in the 70s and 80s. He wasn't one of us.

I'm the first to admit I constantly question the style of play and some decisions Lowe makes. What seemed like magic his 1st year run late in the year, is just outright irritating sometimes now. Maybe when he has the players he seems like he is on the verge of getting, it will all be wonderful. But at the moment it feels like he's trying to play a pro game with high school kids against college powers.

This article helps remind me again, these guys are family. I don't know yet if he can be a great college coach, but whatever time and support we'd be willing to give anyone else, we need to be willing to give Lowe twice that. Twice the patience, twice the attendance, twice the cheering, and twice the time we'd give anyone else. If we do that, we've got a great shot at having the kind of long lasting success year after year that we have craved forever. OR, it will turn out he couldn't get the job done, but we'll at least know as a fan base, we didn't screw it up this time like we did with the last guy.

The Rich keep getting Richer

News results for Harrison Barnes

ESPN

Harrison Barnes Signs With Tar Heels‎ - 1 hour ago CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina men's basketball program has signed Harrison Barnes, a 6-7 forward from Ames, Iowa, to a National Letter of ... TarHeelBlue.com - 381 related articles » Harrison Barnes‎ - Ganpati News (blog) - 2 related articles »

We know with a team on the rise like Kentucky, they will eventually implode. But is there anything imaginable that is going to stop UNC? I can't think of anything at this point that is going to stop them from being a top 5 team every year for the next 10. That isn't good news for those of us who have to live with and around already abnoxious heel fans.

That time again?

Maybe it is because I'm aging, maybe because having kids around 10 keeps you too busy, maybe because the wolfpack sucks, but it seems basketball season rolls around too soon every year now.

It wasn't that long ago that by mid-summer I was sick of baseball, maybe looking forward to a little college football, but really couldn't wait for hoops practice to start. Back in those days, the NFL was just something that got in the way of Sunday ACC games on TV.

I guess the world has changed since then, and so have I. I don't live and die with my team anymore. Who knows, when they are competitive again, maybe I will, but I guess Herb was right, there is no such thing as a Must Win Game.

Once upon a time, I couldn't wait to get to the newstand to grab the ACC Handbook, and maybe Street and Smith's national mag. I looked the other day, and neither seem to exist, at least where I was looking. There were others out there, but it no longer means anything to be on the cover, because on the cover of the same magazine, in Chapel Hill, UNC is on the cover. In Durham, Duke is on the cover. In Raleigh, ugh, yeah, UNC is on the cover.

Last year was a complete bust for me as far as basketball goes. I was bitter going into the season based on how NC State closed out the previous year. Just in case you don't remember, State went out in the first round of the ACC Tournament in a game where my favorite player, Sr. Gavin Grant was benched, and Sidney proceeded to put on a display of JJ Hickson's potential NBA skills to help him in his quest for the NBA. It is of course quite possible I don't know what I'm talking about, but that is sure what it looked like. And who knows, in the long run, maybe it helps NC State. I can remember a story of another NC State coach doing something similar. In this case, it was V benching Andy Kennedy for a game, because NC State prospect Rodney Monroe was at the game. That pissed me off then, but, in the long run, maybe it was better for NC State. If Andy had played and hit like 7 3's, would Fire and Ice ever happened?

OK, so I started last year irritated, then life in general got me completely distracted and I never really got into the season. I think I saw state play twice in person. I couldn't ever keep up with who was playing when. I of course saw plenty of Duke and UNC, and just enough Clemson to remind me why I love that team. But in general the season was a bust for me. To top it off, I missed my first ACC Tournament in maybe 20 years.

So, here we are. It all starts again, but this year I'm here and trying to be ready. I took my son to the Pack's opener on thursday. We have great seats this year for about half the games. Turns out a lot of people aren't too excited for NC State Basketball this year, so good seats will be pretty easy to come by for most games.

I knew very little coming in about what to expect. I know we are young. I know we don't have a center. I've heard that freshman Scott Wood can shoot the ball. I had heard that Sidney wants to play up-tempo this year. I had to laugh at that one. Every NC State coach since Sloan has started the year saying he wants to play more up-tempo, only to grind to a halt in the 1st close game.

As far as the actual game on thursday, no shame in having a close game with Geogia. Wait, what? That was Georgia State? OK, I'm kidding. State is very young and small. The good thing, and something we often forget, these kids do get better year over year. Javier can be a good ACC point guard I think. The freshmen look like they have potential. Scott Wood appears to be someone we will love to love. He knows how to play the game, and looks like he believes every shot is going in. But man is he skinny.

Time will tell. I don't believe State will finish last in the ACC. Expectations are that the NIT is a reasonable goal, but that State will start getting very good next year and beyond. For now, I'm just going to try to embrace ACC basketball again, and hope the ride can be fun again, even if it isn't quite the obsession it used to be.