NC State concludes regular season with 89-76 loss at FSU

Which tedium shall we discuss today?

It was a routine matter of losing by 13—probably the most routine possible loss you could imagine. Along the way we had Terquavion Smith refusing to pass the ball but scoring a zillion points, as per usual, while Jericole Hellems argued with refs instead of getting back on defense, and the Ebe/Jaylon situation ... continued.

I suppose it goes without saying that shitty teams play shit brands of basketball, but in particular this one is awful, and what’s frustrating about what has happened this year is entirely wrapped up here: the leadership on this team is either rancid—see Jericole—or non-existent, and there’s nothing even approximating the vaguest sense that these guys enjoy playing together.

In fairness, and I am definitely not at an objective point right now, the bad luck for these guys have endured extends well beyond the injuries and into close losses early in the year—maybe they turn a few of those around, the perception and the energy is different, and they’re not just walking through the motions to close out a garbage regular season.

Those close games frittered away have led to games like this one, where there’s no belief whatsoever in a rally, where the conclusion is foregone. It’s a typical progression, but still it’s difficult not to feel a little depressed about it. Shit results are just confirmation for a bad team’s worst tendencies, since the end result is just assumed bad.

Anyway, today sucked.