Boston College 75, NC State 66
by Akula Wolf on Jan 12, 2011 1:44 AM EST
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PrintAfter a Tracy Smith layup put NC State up 60-57 with a little over four minutes to go, Boston College finished the game on an 18-6 run. Both the offense and the defense failed the Pack in those final minutes, and a pivotal, winnable road game amounted to nothing in Syracuse-like fashion.
You wouldn't have known it was so cold outside with the way Sid was sweating. State played reasonably well in the middle portion of the game but lost with a sputter at the start and a whimper at the end. It's those aimless periods that continue to plague this team, no less frustrating for their regularity. There we were without much focus to start the game, and that combined with a lot misses in close put the team in an early hole.
Just about everyone was guilty of forcing the issue in the first ten minutes, and... I get it and I don't. I understand why a deficit or a bad handful of possessions lead to guys trying to do too much. But they get so out of sorts it's like they haven't even practiced. This is the most balanced team we've had in a while and still it's a mess half the time. It's too bad. With Tracy in the paint and Wood and Brown and Harrow working the perimeter, points shouldn't be so hard to come by for so long. Certainly not against a defense like Boston College's. Stay within the offense and within your means and good things, or at least not totally disastrous things, tend to happen.
We are never going to get there, though. The RPI might as well be a doomsday clock.
| Four Factors | NC State | BC |
| eFG% | 48.4 | 51.6 |
| Turnover Rate | 15.2 |
12.1 |
| Off Reb Rate | 32.5 | 31.4 |
| FT Rate | 19.0 | 27.9 |
| Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF | |
| BC | 75 | 65.9 | 113.8 | 100.2 |
| NCSU | 66 | 65.9 | 100.2 | 113.8 |
Box Score (pdf)
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another Grevis Vasquez moment.
no one could ever stop Vasquez, no one could ever stop Jackson.
with 2-3 minutes to go and the game tied, Lowe makes a monumental error and puts Havi back in the game. Havi loses track of the shot clock and throws up a “more than a prayer” shot. Jackson cannot be stopped in that either he scores or sets up a wide open shot. Smith chokes on his short range shot. again Jackson. Smith gives up and throws a half-hearted pass which is intercepted. goob-by Lowe? i would like to write that we hardly knew you, but unfortunately we did. of course a win at Florida State would change things. stop laughing. after Florida State, isn’t Duke up? wow! a one and four start. that’s not good, not good at all.
the rantings of a State fan after another loss.
Completely agree, Steven
There’s no reason – NONE – that a competent coach can’t get that group of balanced talent to just execute effectively at the offensive end on a regular basis. Hell, I can deal with defensive lapses a bit more – but when you just don’t run a disciplined offense for 20 of the 40 minutes, the coach is squarely at fault. And it happens nearly every night.
That doomsday clock should be Sid’s, as well. This is the best team he has had and WILL have… and it’s obviously not good enough.
sbas – defensive effort would help on Jackson, but honestly, I don’t care that much. The offensive breakdowns are far easier to fix, and we can’t even fix those. If we keep scoring late, we win… we didn’t, and we didn’t. I just don’t expect anything other than bat-shit-hot shooting nights from opponents because we can’t effectively guard them – but that doesn’t necessarily mean a loss if you execute at the other end.
Do you know what doesn't help
get the offense to a good start? Not getting tracy the ball in the post until the 14th possession (by the play-by-play). He had 1 shot prior to that, but he received the ball about 15 feet from the basket. When the offense is moving through CJ Leslie at an extremely high percentage and not Smith, Brown, or Wood, that is a coaching problem and bad offensive execution is inevitable.
Don’t even get me started on the defensive execution.
Leslie's game is brutal to watch most of the time
Every time he catches the ball, I assume he’s going to drive and force up a contested shot against 2-3 defenders. To your point, he’d already missed three shots before Tracy attempted one. That I don’t ever need to see again.
Agree
We’ve said it for 2 years now… every offensive possession where Tracy doesn’t get it down low is a complete failure on the part of the players & coaches.
by wolfonthehill on Jan 13, 2011 5:52 AM EST up reply actions
Turned it off at the half
Like to see Zo, Leslie, Harrow, Wood, and Smith for most of the game. Give Painter’s minutes to Howell. Leave it up to Javi and Williams to be “scrappy” energizer player “du jour”. Unless they add 4 Minutes to each half than Sid should probably use a substitute pattern like they do in College.
by Sportin'L.A.Gear on Jan 12, 2011 9:55 AM EST reply actions
I think I'm dropping out the rest of the year
I’ll still watch the games, but I am refraining from the message boards, blogs, etc. I wasn’t happy that we lost last night, but I got really pissed when I read some of the stuff people were saying after the game. I am tired of seeing (1) everyone scapegoat Javi for everything that goes wrong, saying he sucks as a player, etc., and to a lesser extent (2) people calling for Lowe’s head after every loss.
Javi is not a great college basketball player, but he’s won games for us and he’s played hard for us for four years. What good does it do to throw him under the bus when he makes a bad play?
As for (2), maybe I’m getting old or don’t care as much, but I just don’t want to read the negativity for two more months. At the end of the year, our record will be whatever it is, and Yow will decide whether or not Lowe should come back. I just don’t want to read the anger for months and months.
This is basically the most sane place on the internet to read about NC State sports, so maybe I’ll pop in from time to time, but I am avoiding the other websites altogether.
Just remember it was Steven that gave you..
Backing The Pack – Cheering For Anyone Else Is For Quitters
And for those Pack fans savvy enough to know the beat, check out ACC Now or WRAL message boards only if your desire is establishing the LCD. In Math LCD’s truly make fractions your friends, but in real life LCD’s are just factions with no friends. Oh, and just to be fair, for those who unfortunately did not get to grow up on a farm and witness the awesomeness of a mass of chickens attacking another when a spot of blood appears-plz check out SFN.
by Sportin'L.A.Gear on Jan 12, 2011 11:17 AM EST up reply actions
Javi is not a great college basketball player, but he’s won games for us and he’s played hard for us for four years. What good does it do to throw him under the bus when he makes a bad play?
This is really starting to annoy the hell out of me as well.
i should add that people have gone into full-on selective memory mode
That’s the aggravating part. All the waiting for a Javi screw up to shout “you see?” Javi hasn’t been playing great basketball, but this stuff is getting out of hand.
true
Javi (Havi) is who he is. His shooting is down this year compared to last, but to expect him to be anything more than the fiery, erratic performer that he has been his whole career is not prudent. People can get mad at Lowe for not giving harrow and brown more time at the 1 at Javi’s expense, but there is no need to get mad at Javi for being a limited basketball player.
by PACKHOOLIGAN on Jan 12, 2011 2:07 PM EST up reply actions
Alright, I'll work on it
I will acknowledge that I have a mini-crush on Ryan – and particularly on his upside. He is able to make things happen at the offensive end that Havi, God bless him, simply can’t. In return, you get a dropoff defensively and less of an outside threat.
Both guys play a role for us… we need them both right now. Where I start to get frustrated is when we’re struggling mightily at the offensive end, with no penetration, no movement, no energy… and Ryan’s on the bench minute… after minute… after minute. That’s where we need him & his spark, and we seem to get it far too late at times.
The other thing to remember is that, when Tracy started getting all his minutes, he was a major liability at the defensive end… but nobody here really cared. We needed to put the damn ball in the bucket, and he gave us the best chance of doing that… we had to just figure the defensive part out separately, since we weren’t gonna win if we scored 47. It’s a bit the same with Ryan right now…
by wolfonthehill on Jan 13, 2011 6:03 AM EST up reply actions
This will be...
…the game we all point to as the straw that broke the camel’s back if we don’t turn things around in a hurry. The team shows flashes of greatness and then flashes of ineptitude. And they’ve been doing it all season! I’m not mad, I’m just tired of sucking.
really disheartening...
to see the talented guys on this roster not being put in position to be successful. The last 5 minutes of the game last night was sheer torture and a complete microcosm of the last four plus seasons. Especially given the total suckitude of this conference so far this season there is not a valid excuse for this team, given the parts seen thus far, to not be in the upper echelon of teams. I refuse to throw any player(s) under the bus but it
is painfully obvious to those of us who care(or tell ourselves we still care) who needs to play more and in critical situations. The fact the braintrust on the bench can’t figure that out is a dire testament to the leadership of this program and an even larger indictment of the leaders of this once great university that put them in this situation initially. End the madness and the quarter century of suckitude and give us back our basketball program !!
Just to add to this
How long have we been hearing about Lowe needing guys to fit into his “system”? Meanwhile, Donahue has taken guys who were recruited to run a tight flex with almost no focus on 3 point shooting, and already has them performing well in a spread system where the goal is to create open 3 pointers.
by PACKHOOLIGAN on Jan 12, 2011 1:44 PM EST up reply actions
we all love the men's basketball team at State, and we love the players,
but that is no reason why anyone of us can’t make critical points about the players and coaches.
take a look at this article if you haven’t read it already: http://www.wralsportsfan.com/voices/blogpost/8926567/
one reason i like posting here is that posters normally do not attack each other and a “nary a discouraging word” requirement is absent.
i will support the men’s and women’s basketball teams,but i hope to be allowed to continue to praise or be critical of a coach or player in a post.
you're always free to say whatever you want
I would never put restrictions on folks’ opinions, and I certainly don’t mean to suggest you shouldn’t criticize Javi or anyone else. I’ve done plenty of criticizing over the years.
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