I don't think you're crazy on this, actually, though I don't think it was quite that bad. I just don't think it means that much for tournament implications because we aren't too likely to have 20+ point leads past the first round (if that), and if we do, well, I'll be really really happy about it. Also, while he's a great talent, Quinn's still a sophomore who is playing his first full season at point, and effective slow pace against decent teams (as opposed to December non-conference cannon fodder) is a hard skill that I think takes some time to learn. My guess is Coach K will be a lot more frustrated at the second-half defense than the second-half offensive effectiveness.
Last edited by vick; 02-07-2013 at 11:49 PM. Reason: Not wanting to necessarily call it "stall-ball"
I was at the game. Didn't hear anything about grandmothers. Did hear the "Bilbo Baggins". I thought it was kinda funny. A lot of "Purv...is". Thought it was a cheap laugh.
Energy was lacking during the game from the fans. A lot - and I mean a lot - of that has to do with the fact that we came out guns blazing and, ironically, our team took the wind out of the Crazies. You need to be playing that well in order to have that happen.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
I thought State played very, very well in the second half. But, of course, that was after it was almost impossible for them to win.
Good win, team. State is a good team, of which we will hear much more before the end of the season.
The first half play was inspired.
Mason's play was inspired for both the first and second halves.
sagegrouse
Obviously, would have liked to have finished stronger, but I disagree with some in the in-game thread who seemed to think we were playing not to lose. But even if we were, guess what we DIDN'T lose. I think Howell may have missed 1 shot in the 2nd half (but I honestly can't recall it), plus Seth and Tyler had at least 3 wide open threes between them that rimmed out. It happens. I was really proud of the effort for most of the game.
My main beef was with all the dumb, unforced mental errors near the end of the game:
- Ten second violation? Check!
- Push off by Rasheed for an offensive foul? Check!
- Totally unforced walk by Tyler (I think)? Check!
I do think guys were tired though at the end after that tremendous first half effort. And, I suspect that the game pressure State put on us also caused some of those unforced errors mentioned above. But here's the thing - it's a win, in early February, with a thin team missing RK and JH. Anyone who has any sense had to know that State wasn't going to let us continue to light it up from 3 in the second half. I wish we'd hit at least ONE, but, whatever. Instead, they played a bit more physical style and we feasted at the FT line. Mason had a monster game that should put him squarely back into the POY discussion and Quinn scored a seemingly quiet 21. And oh yeah, we put 98 points on a very good (even without Brown) NC State team AND out-rebounded them.
I think there is a lot to be proud of here. One minor nitpick - I thought Rasheed was not very aggressive at all in the 2nd, but I'm sure that probably had something to do with State's D. In any case, I think there were lots of teachable moments near the end of the game and I'm quite sure K and staff will be all over that in subsequent film sessions. We're getting better in Ryan's absence and I, for one, couldn't be happier
We won!
Scored NINETY EIGHT points.
Was it a second half as good as the first? No.
But....
The glass is half full.
We won!
I have already stated that I am elated over our win.
Yes, State has had to deal with the injury of an important player in the past couple of games.
So have other teams, including Duke. But State has played way below its preseason expectations most of the year. They have been, quite frankly, underwhelming.
On top of losing 5 of 7 over the past two weeks, State was torched at Michigan when at full strength earlier in the year. The final score of that game is not indicative at all of the beating they took there. I just haven't been impressed. That is a lot of games to play so underwhelming.
Duke 98 -- NC State 85
Team FG% turned out about the same -- 53.8% for Duke and 53.0% for State
Duke had a slight edge in rebounding
Major edge to Duke in Free Throws and number of 3-pt shots made
Tyler Lewis in 39 minutes had 6 assists and 0 turnovers; Opie can play.
Duke scored 40 points on 33 or so possessions in a half in which they couldn't make an open 3. I think any concerns about Duke's offensive flow in the second half are probably misplaced.
My biggest wish for this team (other than Ryan Kelly's return to good health and good form) would be to have more scoring punch off the bench. The main guys play very well for much of the time, but can wear down, and so far we're just not getting much offense from the subs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ9O2KOwjOk
Trying to stay out of rumor mongering territory. Apparently, this is the video which shows the grandma chant. Posted by our "own" Shane Ryan. He says at the 35 second mark you can hear it. I don't hear it. He is also doing his best to throw us under the bus on twitter.
ETA: Nolan doing his best to do damage control on twitter. Pretty disgusting how this stuff starts and takes off without any evidence. Sadly, people hear what they want to hear and most people just saw it on twitter and have already made up their mind.
I cannot quite understand some of the doom and gloom, two halves, etc. The world's greatest coach does know what he is doing.
You take the game as it comes. We shot very well in the first half and led by 21. The only way to lose this game was to run with State in the second half (which is their strength. Instead, we managed the game in the second half and the game was never in question. State did shoot awfully well in the second half, particularly Howell. We used the shot clock, hit free throws, and won easily by 13. A little less hot shooting by State, along with eliminating a few blockhead turnovers, and the game stays at 20. 13 or 20, no difference. We controlled the game after halftime. That is smart basketball.
Nice hustle efforts from Amile and Alex tonight.
The big three were big. Rasheed turned it around from that first game.
Very pleased. (This is a real good team - a contender for the title. It is not 2001, with five NBA starters on the floor. We play to win games, not to win a half.)
I was in the grad section -->. For the love of cod (yes, cod) we were saying, "past your bedtime!". Some undergrads even wrote the chant on a whiteboard before the cheer!