This Week in the ACC - 1/13-1/19

[pfrduke]

Early returns in conference play (and looking only at conference play) look something like this - Syracuse and Pitt have made an impressive entry (although Syracuse's is schedule-aided, something that will continue until Saturday); Virginia, and to a lesser extent Florida State (to a lesser extent only because Virginia wiped the floor with them in Tallahassee), have been the best of the holdovers; Tobacco Road has yet to get its footing, with the teams sporting a collective 3-9 mark and North Carolina all by its lonesome in 15th place (ha!). Each of the top 5 teams in the conference standings is on the road in mid-week action, so there's a chance some may fall back to the pack (although those road games present varying degrees of difficulty).

Monday starts off with Virginia getting what should be its most competitive game in conference to date. Teams simply are not scoring on the Cavaliers in conference play. Wake's 51 is the highest opponent output, and all told Virginia has held opponents to 146 points in 196 possessions. Oh, and 2 of those 3 games have been on the road.* That's silly. Most of this performance has been built off of field goal defense - the Cavs' opponents are collectively 36-104 (34.6%) from 2 and 10-41 (24.4%) from 3 - but, somewhat unusually for a pack line team, Virginia has also been turning opponents over at a high rate, with 47 TOs forced, nearly 1 every 4 possessions. For good measure, opponents have gathered in only 27 of the 98 available rebounds. Virginia travels to face a Duke team that suddenly seems to be having issues on the offensive side of the ball. Duke's performance in Clemson was its worst offensive output of the season, the first time that Duke was more than a basket below a point per possession (and only the third time below 1.1 points per possession all season). Duke needs to get its confidence back on offense, and Virginia is not a team you want to see when your offense lacks in confidence. In other Monday action, Syracuse travels to BC. It's been a really easy opening stretch for the Orange, starting with Miami, Virginia Tech, UNC, and now BC (a collection of 4 teams that are winless in conference playing anyone other than each other).

*Oddly enough, assuming Virginia simply stayed in the Triangle after Saturday's game, Duke has had more travel to get back for its home game than the road team from another state.

[23]Duke hosts [16]Virginia (7, ESPN)
[156]Boston College hosts [3]Syracuse (9, ESPNU)

Tuesday puts Pitt on the road against a Georgia Tech team coming off of 3 good halves in its last 4 (the 4th was a drubbing). By all rights Pitt should be ranked by the time this game is played, but who really knows.

[123]Georgia Tech hosts [6]Pittsburgh (9, ESPNU)

Wednesday has a lot of activity, but it's a somewhat uninspiring slate. Clemson travels to Virginia Tech. Teams that want to contend in conference must win at Blacksburg - the Hokies are not a good team. Maryland hosts a Notre Dame team that's looked a lot more like what people expected without Jerian Grant over the past week. Florida State travels to Miami to see if it can continue its winning ways after being +39 for last week. And Wake hosts NC State, which means one of the Tobacco Road teams has to win!

[70]Maryland hosts [76]Notre Dame (7, ESPN2)
[153]Virginia Tech hosts [37]Clemson (7, ESPN3)
[69]Miami hosts [18]Florida State (9, ESPN3)
[84]Wake Forest hosts [94]NC State (9, ESPN3)

Thursday and Friday are dark.

Saturday is headlined by Syracuse-Pitt, and it's fitting the way this season has played out to date that the biggest conference game thus far is a matchup of former Big East teams. There's a very competitive undercard as well, with Virginia and Florida State already running back their earlier meeting (a 12-point UVA win), this time in Charlottesville. UNC takes the court at noon again, and should no longer be winless by 2, as they take on a 5-11 Boston College team whose sole conference win is by 3 over Virginia Tech. Duke hosts State - another guaranteed Tobacco Road win! - and you'd be lying if you said the thought of TJ Warren going against Duke's frontcourt defense didn't cause you concern. In other action, Miami goes to Georgia Tech and Clemson hosts Wake. The Tigers need to be 4-1 at the end of this week, because they have a brutal stretch following the Wake game (3 straight on the road, at Pitt, UNC, and FSU).

[16]Virginia hosts [18]Florida State (12, ESPN3)
[38]North Carolina hosts [156]Boston College (12, ESPN)
[23]Duke hosts [94]NC State (2, CBS)
[123]Georgia Tech hosts [69]Miami (2, ESPN3)
[3]Syracuse hosts [6]Pittsburgh (4, ESPN)
[37]Clemson hosts [84]Wake Forest (4, ESPN3)

Sunday Notre Dame hosts Virginia Tech. Yawn. One of these weeks there will be a good Sunday night matchup.

[76]Notre Dame hosts [153]Virginia Tech (6, ESPNU)

ACC Non-Conference Record: 138-53
ACC Record vs. BCS: 29-33

[Duvall]

Tuesday puts Pitt on the road against a Georgia Tech team coming off of 3 good halves in its last 4 (the 4th was a drubbing). By all rights Pitt should be ranked by the time this game is played, but who really knows.

[123]Georgia Tech hosts [6]Pittsburgh (9, ESPNU)

Man, Pitt basketball is pretty much just a thousand pounds of flesh slapping together for two hours, isn't it?

[Olympic Fan]

As noted on the front page, this is a huge Saturday in the ACC.

The headliner, of course, is Pitt at Syracuse (to the shame of the Big Four that this is clearly the biggest game). Surprised to learn that in the old Big East days that Pitt was the 'Cuse's biggest nemesis -- but the game's in the Dome and that's got to be a big deal.

Agree that the FSU at Virginia game is also pretty big. For over a month -- since before the ACC season started -- FSU has played great basketball ... with one exception. That was Virginia's visit to Tallahassee. And after struggling in the non-conference season, Virginia has played better than anybody inside the league -- at least until their loss at Duke Monday night and even that one was a strong showing in that they almost sole it.

For everybody else, it's about positioning. There are currently six teams at 1-3 in the league and a seventh at 0-3. It's crucial that teams start moving up. Ain't nobody in the ACC going to make the NCAA Tournament this season with a sub-.500 record in the ACC. Even 10-8 will be tough ... want a bid? Better start aiming at 11 wins in league.

The other interesting game to me (other than Duke's game) is Wake Forest at Clemson. The Deacs continue to look like a quality team at home ... but they remain hopeless on the road. And Clemson has a chance to get to 4-1 and tied for second in the ACC.

I expect UNC to get their first ACC win at home vs. BC ... if not, that would be epic (but I don't expect it). Miami at Georgia Tech is kind of the "who cares" game of the day, except that you have to admire the job Larranaga is doing with so little ...

As I said, big day.

[Trinity09]

18 combined first half turnovers for carolina and BC. This may be the ugliest game I've ever seen in which each team shot 50%+ in the first half. Can chapel hill win AND break 70 for the first time in 2014?

[Olympic Fan]

Some great (and some ugly) basketball today.

Syracuse holds off Pitt to take sole possession of first in the ACC. UNC gets its first league win. Wake loses on the road again (what is Bzdelik on the road in the ACC ... something like 1-25?).

Most interesting game to me was Virginia hammering FSU again. Since the first of December, the 'Noles have played GREAT ... except in the two games with Virginia. And since the start of the ACC season, Virginia has been dominant -- except against Duke.

Okay, Syracuse at 5-0 leads the standings ... Pitt, Virginia and CLEMSON (!) tied for second at 4-1. Duke, FSU and Maryland at 3-2.

[devildeac]

Some great (and some ugly) basketball today.

Syracuse holds off Pitt to take sole possession of first in the ACC. UNC gets its first league win. Wake loses on the road again (what is Bzdelik on the road in the ACC ... something like 1-25?).

Most interesting game to me was Virginia hammering FSU again. Since the first of December, the 'Noles have played GREAT ... except in the two games with Virginia. And since the start of the ACC season, Virginia has been dominant -- except against Duke.

Okay, Syracuse at 5-0 leads the standings ... Pitt, Virginia and CLEMSON (!) tied for second at 4-1. Duke, FSU and Maryland at 3-2.

And Pitt led, 52-49 with about 2 minutes to go, losing 59-54 with their last 2 points from the FT stripe. They were 13-23 FT for the game.

[FerryFor50]

Some great (and some ugly) basketball today.

Syracuse holds off Pitt to take sole possession of first in the ACC. UNC gets its first league win. Wake loses on the road again (what is Bzdelik on the road in the ACC ... something like 1-25?).

Most interesting game to me was Virginia hammering FSU again. Since the first of December, the 'Noles have played GREAT ... except in the two games with Virginia. And since the start of the ACC season, Virginia has been dominant -- except against Duke.

Okay, Syracuse at 5-0 leads the standings ... Pitt, Virginia and CLEMSON (!) tied for second at 4-1. Duke, FSU and Maryland at 3-2.

Refresh my memory... What game was that one road win for Bzdelik again? :)

[Olympic Fan]

Refresh my memory... What game was that one road win for Bzdelik again? :)

Okay, I'll look it up ...

Wake is 1-27 on the road in the ACC under Bzdelk:

That's 0-8 in 2011; 1-7 in 2012; 0-9 in 2013 (when the ACC went to 18 games) and 0-3 so far this year.

The one road win came Jan. 21, 2012 at Boston College

[FerryFor50]

Okay, I'll look it up ...

Wake is 1-27 on the road in the ACC under Bzdelk:

That's 0-8 in 2011; 1-7 in 2012; 0-9 in 2013 (when the ACC went to 18 games) and 0-3 so far this year.

The one road win came Jan. 21, 2012 at Boston College

Crap. Thought for some reason that the Wake win over UNC this year was at UNC. Wasn't trying to make you my Google mule...

[El_Diablo]

There's a thread over on Inside Carolina entitled "After today's game, I am confident we can make the NIT"

[pfrduke]

On the topic of short rotations, today's Syracuse-Pitt game featured a grand total of 3 bench points from both teams combined, all on free throws. The Orange starters played 181 of the 200 minutes, with Fair, Grant, and Cooney going the distance. Pitt was deep by comparison with a whopping 31 bench minutes.

[devildeac]

On the topic of short rotations, today's Syracuse-Pitt game featured a grand total of 3 bench points from both teams combined, all on free throws. The Orange starters played 181 of the 200 minutes, with Fair, Grant, and Cooney going the distance. Pitt was deep by comparison with a whopping 31 bench minutes.

Boeheim and Dixon should start reading DBR and following our advice like Coach K has been doing recently.;)

[FerryFor50]

On the topic of short rotations, today's Syracuse-Pitt game featured a grand total of 3 bench points from both teams combined, all on free throws. The Orange starters played 181 of the 200 minutes, with Fair, Grant, and Cooney going the distance. Pitt was deep by comparison with a whopping 31 bench minutes.

Michael Gbinijie got 8 minutes of PT.

That is possibly the amount of playing time Gbinijie would have gotten at Duke his sophomore season, provided he didn't transfer.

Didn't he leave to play more?

[Newton_14]

Michael Gbinijie got 8 minutes of PT.

That is possibly the amount of playing time Gbinijie would have gotten at Duke his sophomore season, provided he didn't transfer.

Didn't he leave to play more?
I think it is just the sad reality of marginal talented kids convincing themselves they are better than they actually are. Syracuse is woefully thin and the kid still can't garner many minutes in his third season on a college team. Kind of sad really. What they should do is either stick it out and hope to be a rotation player by their Jr or Sr season with their original school, or go the Olek route and transfer to a non-BCS school (or even a lesser BCS school) where they can actually get the 25 to 30 mpg they appear to want.

Maybe Silent G improves enough to play solid minutes his RS-Jr and RS-Sr years with the Orange, but as of right now there is no evidence present to suggest that will actually happen.

Duke could have certainly used him last season had he stuck it out and improved enough to warrant minutes.

[FerryFor50]

I think it is just the sad reality of marginal talented kids convincing themselves they are better than they actually are. Syracuse is woefully thin and the kid still can't garner many minutes in his third season on a college team. Kind of sad really. What they should do is either stick it out and hope to be a rotation player by their Jr or Sr season with their original school, or go the Olek route and transfer to a non-BCS school (or even a lesser BCS school) where they can actually get the 25 to 30 mpg they appear to want.

Maybe Silent G improves enough to play solid minutes his RS-Jr and RS-Sr years with the Orange, but as of right now there is no evidence present to suggest that will actually happen.

Duke could have certainly used him last season had he stuck it out and improved enough to warrant minutes.

I honestly think he'd have had a chance to be a rotation guy for Duke. His defense was better than Murphy's, and his offense wasn't terrible. He was never going to be a star. If he wanted to play more, he should have gone to a school that wasn't as good as the Cuse...

[timmy c]

I think it is just the sad reality of marginal talented kids convincing themselves they are better than they actually are. Syracuse is woefully thin and the kid still can't garner many minutes in his third season on a college team. Kind of sad really. What they should do is either stick it out and hope to be a rotation player by their Jr or Sr season with their original school, or go the Olek route and transfer to a non-BCS school (or even a lesser BCS school) where they can actually get the 25 to 30 mpg they appear to want.

Maybe Silent G improves enough to play solid minutes his RS-Jr and RS-Sr years with the Orange, but as of right now there is no evidence present to suggest that will actually happen.

Duke could have certainly used him last season had he stuck it out and improved enough to warrant minutes.

Seems a little disingenuous to bash G for not being talented enough to earn major minutes, while suggesting Duke could have used him last season. I look forward to seeing him steadily improve as his career proceeds.

Duke had a soft landing after G transfered. I doubt Duke lands Rodney Hood if G sticks around.

[Newton_14]

Seems a little disingenuous to bash G for not being talented enough to earn major minutes, while suggesting Duke could have used him last season. I look forward to seeing him steadily improve as his career proceeds.

Duke had a soft landing after G transfered. I doubt Duke lands Rodney Hood if G sticks around.

I was not bashing Silent G, at all. Saying he and hundreds of others like him are marginal talents is not bashing. Marginal relative to players that are good enough to start at the top BCS schools. Many stick it out and grow year over year, and become solid role players. Others bail after one year, and go to another top tier school thinking it is going to be different, yet end up in the same boat. I wish he had stayed, but he chose to leave. I think Hood comes anyway. Just saying that if Mike had stayed, last season would have been a decent chance for him to find a spot. This season would have been a much tougher go.

Either way, I was not bashing him. I just feel that he, like many others, is just not quite as good as he seems to think he is or he would be getting more burn at Syracuse. At his talent level, if you are only going to be satisfied by getting 25+ mpg night in and night out, going to a perennial Top 10 team is not the wisest choice. You could go to any number of other Div I schools across the country in good mid-major conferences and get the minutes you desire on a good mid-major team.

Olek is a great example. He played really well at Nevada. It is just all in what a kid wants really. Olek could have been a 15-18 mpg player by his Jr, Sr years if he would have listened to the staff and redshirted as a freshman, and stayed at Duke 5 years, but he wanted rotation minutes every year, so he transferred out at Christmas of his Soph year and went to a place where he could get those minutes. It worked out well for him. Mike chose to go to a school just like Duke so he has a much tougher road than Olek did.

Just does not seem wise. That said, I am not pulling against him. I wish him nothing but success at the Cuse.