Duke 92, NC State 78
by Akula Wolf on Jan 19, 2011 11:12 PM EST
Email
Print| Four Factors | NC State | Duke |
| eFG% | 40.4 | 52.9 |
| Turnover Rate | 12.5 |
15.3 |
| Off Reb Rate | 40.9 | 52.9 |
| FT Rate | 44.1 | 32.8 |
| Pts | Poss | OFF_EFF | DEF_EFF | |
| Duke | 92 | 71.9 | 128.0 | 108.6 |
| NCSU | 78 | 71.9 | 108.6 | 128.0 |
State managed to keep pace with Duke in the second half but it was too little too late after another weak first half put the Pack well behind at the break. State's defense could not muster up stops over any significant period of time and Duke kept them at arm's length through an early second-half run and ultimately made the entire exercise academic. When the Blue Devils needed a response, they got one. There just wasn't much for State to do with the Devils shooting well and grabbing a bunch of the shots they did miss.
Sidney Lowe finally found traction with the big lineup that started the second half. The Harrow-Wood-Leslie-Howell-Smith group fueled an 18-10 run that pulled NC State within six points in less than five minutes. An 11-4 Duke run from there sealed the Pack's fate.
Oddly enough, that big lineup proved terrible on the defensive glass, as the Blue Devils grabbed nearly 58% of their second-half misses. Duke's hot shooting continued, the second chances were many, and that made it all but impossible for the Wolfpack to close the gap. State was down 12 with 10 minutes to go and finished the game down 14. They never got closer than eight after that initial run. When you score 1.4 points per possession in a half and a comeback feels impossible despite that effort, well...
Duke is a hell of a lot better than we are. There isn't anything more to it.
13 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Why Javi Gonzalez didn’t play in the 2nd half: “We’re going to reward the guys that are doing what I want them to do.”
— PP
Really?
PT as a reward? Somewhere in Middle School I started noticing this positive correlation between who played for how long and winning games. Guessing that one of Lowe’s curriculum requirements at St. Paul’s had to do with some sort of data driven Sociology course.
by Sportin'L.A.Gear on Jan 20, 2011 12:17 PM EST up reply actions
Expect to see that effective lineup again..... in your dreams
On positive notes:
- We rebounded admirably… except down the stretch when we needed stops.
- We didn’t turn the ball over… which at least gave us a chance.
- We got to the line more than Dook – and we made our FT’s (I mean, CJL is only capable of hitting 1 of 2, and the rest of the team went 18-for-20. We pulled the bit that announcers like to rave about when unc-ch does it… we made more FT’s than Dook took. Strange – announcers don’t rave when we do it. Maybe it’s really NOT why unc-ch wins.
- 11 assists: 9 turnovers. I’ll take it. (Harrow: 5:1)
- Tracy had a great game. CJL had one when his head was extracted from his ass, which covers about 3 minutes in the 2nd half.
Other notes:
- I’m sad that the days of “Havi Time!” are likely over. Ryan filled that role quite nicely last night.
- Given that Lo Brown is our best player not nicknamed Macrowave, we simply can’t have him play the way he did last night. Complete non-factor.
Brown's been a non-factor for a couple of weeks now
Hasn’t scored in double figures since the San Diego game.
0-6 last night, 1-6 vs. FSU, 3-4 vs. BC, 3-9 vs. Wake. He’s got to be better than that.
i am really going to enjoy watching Harrow play for the next three and one half years.
in an article in the Observer, Lowe stated that he had been working in practice with the “big lineup” but hadn’t used it since Wood got into foul trouble. wonder what kept him from using it from the get go. i thought this line up had more chemistry than any other Lowe has used. Lowe seems to pigeon hole players designating certain players to play one position and subing them into this position or starting them in that position only-except for C.J. Williams who plays the 2 and 3 positions.
Wolf, i agree that Brown has exceptional physical abilities basketball wise, but right now i just see him as C.J. Williams with more talent. lately, he has not added much scoring and turns the ball over often. a plus side for Williams is he appears to play harder and with more passion than Brown, and he did have that big game against Wake. unfortunately Williams was unable to follow that up with another.
thought Big 5 would be an option vs FSU
A day or two prior to game days I spend about 5 minutes daydreaming about how we match-up against our next opponent. I then turn my focus from about 36-24 hrs thinking of the hilarity yet to unfold. Before the ‘Noles game I thought this same unit should have been started against Hamilton’s unit made up of Amazon women and Chris Singleton (I guess that makes Dull keys the anthropologist). Well, one game later…..which is actually a ginormous step for Lowe and Company- It usually takes 6-8 games to figure out the best 5 men unit AND how in the world to keep them on the court for extended periods of time.
by Sportin'L.A.Gear on Jan 20, 2011 12:01 PM EST up reply actions
Impressed
by the lack of turnovers. Harrow is really progressing offensively. He will need an offseason of strength training to improve defensively.
I am continually disappointed by our lack of ability to defend ball screens. The ball screen is a staple in the NBA, so you would think Lowe would have some idea how to handle it.
I would have liked to have seen some adjustment to Duke’s bigs being over agressive on shot blocking, but that would require skilled interior cutting and passing.
We miss more bunnies than a team full of Damien Wilkens.
Duke is good and they finally played an ACC game like they should.
If you want to be unreasonably optimistic...
you could argue that we’ve already played 3 of our 5-6 most difficult conference games (the others being @duke, @unc, and @md).
And yeah, there are some good signs. But at some point we need to start winning. As in, like Sunday.
In other news: Wake Forest, dear God.
I prefer
Wake Forest . . . hahahahahahahahaaaaa
by PACKHOOLIGAN on Jan 20, 2011 1:16 PM EST up reply actions
Again, Steven - please use your powers for good
This was not good.
by wolfonthehill on Jan 20, 2011 8:52 PM EST up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Backing The Pack
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
