-- SDSU is thankful to be playing Friday rather than Thursday; the Aztecs don't run much deeper than NC State, and they're coming off three games in three days just like the Pack.
An extra day is quietly a huge deal for a team that has just nine scholarship players and regularly uses eight, and is coming off three hard games in three days, and has a starting forward playing on one good knee, and essentially has been on the road for two straight weeks, and with the time change is facing a full day’s travel Wednesday to Columbus.
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"Any extra time I can get is better, especially after three games in a row," forward Tim Shelton said. "My knee is not feeling too great today. And in terms of preparation, and our coaches are so good with game planning, any extra time is just going to help us even more."
By the way, Mr. One Knee (Shelton) is solid role player but not a player who makes or breaks this team.
-- Few are picking San Diego State to win.
More slaps in the face In their first year under head coach Mark Gottfried, the Wolfpack went 0-6 against the RPI Top 25 and 4-8 total against the RPI Top 75.
And yet after pointing out that stat, hoopsworld.com picked North Carolina State
Yes, that is a silly argument considering the obvious shortcomings of RPI, and it's an inconsistent argument to boot. But "slap in the face"? I don't think the coaching staff needs any help placing a chip squarely on the shoulders of each player, Don Norcross.
Also, you ever notice how these random internet sites crop up in mainstream media pieces? It's my goal to someday be cited in one of these things. I could have buttressed that or any other of you points just as well, Norcross. Call me!
-- Jamaal Franklin apologizes for flying the bird.
"I let my emotions get the best of me. I didn’t give a finger to the ref. I would never give a finger to the ref … But I did give a finger out. I can’t deny that. I can’t lie about that."
Franklin says a New Mexico fan was shouting racial epithets at him during the SDSU-UNM Mountain West Tournament game this past weekend. He was reprimanded but never faced a suspension. (Which is as it should be.)
-- Steve Fisher had a lot of nice things to say about NC State:
"They’ve got size and strength a little like New Mexico. What I worry about is how we will guard them inside, and they go inside a lot."
Fisher praised Wolfpack forward C.J. Leslie, saying, "He had a not-so-good freshman year but is having an All-American type sophomore year."