Virginia just gave UNC a victory after leading by 7 at the half. We are all ACC homers around here but this UVA team couldn't win in the Southern Conference, they have nobody that can get to the rim, zero post players that have any offense and nobody that can finish. They are just awful folks, and sadly they've won some games.
I didn't see the game, but looking at the play-by-play, 14 of UNC's last 16 points were from the free throw line. And 17 of their 32 for the entire half were free throws! Wow...I mean, maybe UVa was intentionally fouling by that point, I don't know.
UVa shot 12 FTs for the game, by the way. Doesn't sound like either team was very impressive. UNC shot 37% for the game, and 27% from 3. The outrebounded UVa by 7, forced 4 more turnovers, and scored 11 more points from the free throw stripe.
After watching Georgetown and WVU, the ACC seems like a joke. Georgetown is 1-3 in the Big East and would probably be second best in the ACC at this point.
Virginia played tough all game. They just couldn't put the ball in the basket. It's hard to win scoring 19 points in the second half.
It's nice to see someone knows what they're talking about. Mike Scott is indeed UVa's best player and he sat out. Ziggy is still recovering from knee surgery and Sherill has a serious leg injury too. A pretty decent effort overall, against a team that according to some, is the second best in the ACC.
I tuned in with about 2 and half minutes left and the game tied. There were three or four very ambiguous calls in a row that went against UVA, and that was that. The last couple FT's were the usual end of game fouls.
UVA though hung in there with two drives right down the lane that brought out the best in matador defense and actually had it back down to 1 or 2 with enough time to win, but too many foul shots went UNC's way.
Michigan State just lost to Penn State and K-State is down by 10 with 2 to go against OK state. Preseason #2 and #3 probably won't be ranked next week (or at least they'll be in the 20s). That's just turrible.
The broken tibula is a very common sports injury. Slightly more common than the dreaded broken fibia. Of course, more often than not these days, athletes simplify things by being out with a leg. Or, as we know at Duke all to well, out with a toe...
NC State finally played 20 solid minutes of basketball. In the first half they did what we've become used to seeing State do: patches of good basketball mixed with patches of sloppy basketball. They surged right before halftime to go into the intermission up 10 but looked disjointed against an obviously weaker Wake Forest team for the majority of the first 20 minutes. In the second half they really took charge and played smart offense and solid defense for the full 20 minutes. At about the 10 minute mark they got sloppy and Lowe called a quick timeout to refocus them, and State never let Wake back in the game.
Smith back in the lineup and healthy makes a world of difference for State. He's a guy that can produce points for them when the streakier freshmen are struggling. He draws enough attention to help open up the perimeter for Wood. He's a beast on the offensive boards.
Harrow and Leslie both took big steps forward today. State has a tough 3 game stretch coming up - road games against FSU and Miami before returning to Raleigh to face Duke. If they can manage to get wins in those road games look out, because they'll be very confident welcoming us to Raleigh. With the amount they depend on Harrow, Brown, and Leslie, confidence is incredibly important to State.
Wake, meanwhile, is going to be overmatched all year long. They might be able to scrape together a few wins against the bottom tier of the conference, but the Pomeroy 2-14 prediction looked about right today.
Yeah...there were 2 calls on 2 consecutive possessions that were very questionable and I believe the same zebra whistled both of them. The one that put Knox at the line was a play-on type foul and the one that put Drew on the line was just a bad call. Drew was out of control.
Anyway, both teams did not look good, at all...UVA at least had an excuse without their best player. It seemed to me like UVA got tight in the second half. Nobody was confident in their ability or knew how to score the ball. They also shot the lights out in the first half, a regression of some sort was inevitable.
One thing that really stuck out to me was how well UVA defended Zeller. They doubled him very quickly every time he got the ball in the low post. Zeller was very slow to react and was therefore limited offensively. He did most of his damage on the offensive boards.
State has a world of potential. I would not want to play them towards the end of the year or in the tourney when Harrow, Leslie and Brown will essentially be sophomores. There is nothing they really don't have. At some point, you have to bench Gonzalez and let Harrow start. Harrow/Brown/Wood/Leslie/Smith is a very, very good starting 5. The sky is the limit.
No pressure, Sid.
Sounds like someone is trying to set ol Sid up to be fired.
I love the guy, but the general consensus around State-land is that he needs to make the NCAAT, especially with Debbie Yow in charge. Frankly, as talented as his 3 frosh are, it's still a tough job, especially with Tracy Smith's injury, to guide that team to a 10-6 ACC season, which is what I think they need to make the NCAAT. They've got the talent, but it's so young. Consistency is going to be an issue all season.
Right. That coincides with everything I hear as well. However, with the ACC down this year so far, I expect them to make the NCAAT. Smith's injury threw a wrench in expectations, but he is back and looked very strong today. That excuse just reached extinction, unless there is a reinjury...
It is time to produce.