From Doyel’s column (IF any of you are reading from the team, you better read this):
"Most likely upset: The seeds say otherwise, but trust us: When No. 10 North Carolina State beats No. 7 Charlotte, that will be no upset. "
Wow! It’s already started, and started bigtime. Those acc promoters will be doing this crap all week… but they will not be the ones playing the game. I’m a little surprised to see that from Doyel though. I can’t wait to see the Observer’s take on this tomorrow.
Trust us? Doyel is schizophrenic?
This week is going to be crazy, my head is already about to explode.
I don’t get Doyel - he’s been tooting our horn part of the season (aside from the Indy game) and now he just blasts us. I can understand we are in a slump/about to break out of one, but c’mon…just because NC State played well against Wake when their season was on the line…I dunno, maybe he is right.
As for our “boys”, if they are reading this, here’s what I want to tell them:
Mitch: Dunk that isht! When you get to the rack, DUNK IT! I’ve seen you jump 50-odd inches in the air, I know you can do it. Be aggressive!
BP: Lead this team. Get them excited. Call out defense/screens. Your a captain, act like it and get the rest in a groove. And keep shooting, we need it.
Eddie: You need to lead as well. You can take 99% of defenders off the dribble. Attack the glass, offensively and defensively.
CW: You’re a beast, keep going strong to the hoop and make your guards give you the ball inside. Demand it! Destory the Wolfpack and their weak frontcourt.
Iti: Fundamentals. No silly fouls. Rip down some rebounds, make some blocks and get yourself involved. Take a charge, play solid D and continue to make good low post passes. We need your defensive presence.
The bench/the rest: Attack attack attack! Lee and EJ can take it to the hoop, don’t settle for outside shots. Make them defend you! Nance, keep bringing the 'tude and playing solid D. Keep following other peoples shots - that tip in against Memphis is what we need from a team as a whole.
Doyel likes us, but let’s not forget that he writes (or used to write, not sure which) for the News and Observer in Raleigh. Of course he’s going to have a hard-on for NC State. This is just pandering, plain and simple.
[i]Originally posted by UNCCTF[/i]@Mar 14 2005, 10:11 AM [b] Doyel likes us, but let's not forget that he writes (or used to write, not sure which) for the News and Observer in Raleigh. Of course he's going to have a hard-on for NC State. This is just pandering, plain and simple. [/b]Nobody read the O all week... it aint good for us!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[i]Originally posted by jbpfeen[/i]@Mar 14 2005, 12:37 AM [b] From Doyel's column (IF any of you are reading from the team, you better read this):"Most likely upset: The seeds say otherwise, but trust us: When No. 10 North Carolina State beats No. 7 Charlotte, that will be no upset. " [/b]
I know it’s obvious “Bulletin Board” material for our guys…but really…the way we’ve played down the stretch, is the statement really that out of line?
I hope our guys get upset about it and take it personal but I think Doyle’s right on this one.
My thoughts and general pep talk.
If we get our confidence back, we can beat just about anybody.
We drew a tough schedule in the last three games:
- Louisville on the road on Senior Night for the Championship with a smoking hot O’Bannon, who has yet to cool down,
- South Florida on the road on Senior Night with no time to prepare against a peaking South Florida, and
- Memphis State on the road playing for their post-season lives.
Although they didn’t look it earlier in the season, Louisville is Final Four material. South Florida went on to beat Cincinnati. Memphis is an explosive but inconsistent team that spanked Louisville in Freedom Hall and had home court advantage.
I think South Florida watched the tapes from Rugers, ECU, etc. and deliberately hacked us to death as a viable winning strategy (destroy the tempo of the game, make the refs call a tight game, make us play tentatively, and let the free throw percentage bear down on us like a ton of bricks).
I’m not focused enough when watching a game on TV to notice who is where prior to rebounds but it looked to me like half of our trouble in the Memphis game was just luck on the midrange to long rebounds going straight to Memphis players. There is no excuse however for Memphis getting four tries before making a putback. We have shown that we have some monsters on the boards in Withers, Basden and Drayton. We need the monsters to show up.
With the possible exception of South Florida, where our talent should have overcome the circumstances, we have little to be ashamed of during our three game slide. In February, we might have swept all three games.
Dont forget that Kansas lost three in a row and five of their last eight.
On to the positives.
We have one of the best tandems of forwards in the nation in Basden and Withers.
We have a game changer in Plavich who can go unconsious and bury anybody.
We have a healthy Mitch Baldwin who can take care of the ball, penetrate and dish.
We have a great sixth man in E.J Drayton.
We have a capable backup PG in Goldwire who can also light it up from outside.
We have the Conference POY, Defensive POY, and candidate for National Defensive POY in Basden, who can lock down the best player on the opposing team and like Plavich, can also take control of the game.
We have one of the highest scoring offenses in the nation and need to play like it. We cannot be tentative in our shooting.
Coach said it one night on his show, basketball is a streaky game of ups and downs. Runs and surrendering big leads is part of the game. We have shown the resiliency and composure to overcome runs by opposing teams and do what it takes to win. We need to get back that feeling of invincibility.
We have shown that we can hit free throws at a decent rate.
NC State does not belong in the Dance and rode in on ACC coattails. UCONN is over seeded as a two. Louisville is a better team.
As far as NC State being hot and Charlotte not, its a streaky game. Louisville looked terrible for several games prior to beating us and then shifted into high gear on the shoulders of O’Bannon. We were invincible until that game and the switch was turned off just as easily. UCONN was nearly beaten by Georgetown and lost to Syracuse.
Friday is a new day, new game, new life. Turn the switch back on and play to our potential.
If nobody has a bad night (everybody plays a decent game) and at least two guys really step it up (Plavich gets hot, Eddie returns to form, Curtis plays like the possessed monster that he is capable of, or Drayton gets hot off the bench) we can roll over these two teams.
Likewise, if either NC State or UCONN has a bad night (we are due to catch somebody having a bad night) our job is that much easier.
Our guys will be pumped knowing that they can beat NC. State and would love nothing more than to prove themselves against UNC-Carborro.
Somebody attributed Worcester being sold out to UCONN fans snapping up the tickets and this being like a home game. This is probably not the case.
First of all, calling Worcester a home game for UCONN would be like calling Charlotte a home game for Duke. Yeah, they will have more than their share of fans but Worcester is two or more hours from their fan base, in the heart of BC country.
Secondly, there are huge ticket brokers up here who practice a legalized form of scalping in Massachusetts. They snap up huge blocks of tickets and sell them at outrageous prices by mail, phone and Internet. Anybody can get their hands on tickets for a price. Don’t attribute the sellout to UCONN fans.
Big East fans will be howling (no pun intended) for NC State to lose after the BCS blowup. Syracuse fans and BC fans who might have bought tickets in hopes of BC being protected in Worcester will be divided in a Charlotte/UCONN game.
If you have ever been to a regional (I’ve been to two), fans for all teams come out of the woodwork making it hard for fans of one team to dominate. It looked like half of Princeton’s alumni showed up in Hartford years ago. Students and alumni get a pack of tickets for a session (two Friday and two Sunday) and fans waiting for their team’s game or sticking around for the following game with no dog in the fight love the underdogs for many reasons (we had the crowd in Hartford solidly behind us when we took UNC-Carboro to OT).
Call me crazy but I say that we make the Sweet Sixteen.
This is the same guy that wrote an entire article on why Memphis should make the tournament.
I think there is one simple way to look at the game with state, we score 75 or more and we win, we let them slow us down and score less than 65 we lose, anything in between comes down to the last few possesions, hopefully our maturity will win it for us.
so if we score 68, we tie??? :wacko:
[b] so if we score 68, we tie????[/b]
No, like I said in the post, if the score is anything between 75 and 65 its coming down to the last possesion and who executes better, which should be us with 4 second year starters on our team.
Relax, just joking, trying to lighten things up on the board B)
[b] Relax, just joking, trying to lighten things up on the board[/b]
I don’t think things are going to be light on this board till 2:30 Friday after Charlotte breaks out a can of woop azz on the pack!!! 
palabra
“sweet sixteen?” I am calling you crazy!!
[i]Originally posted by moss2k[/i]@Mar 14 2005, 02:17 PM [b] palabra [/b]HAHAHAHAHa. Had a good friend in highschool who would always say "palabra". Hilarious! :lol: :D :)
Two games. That’s all it takes. Come on.
Before our slide we were 18th in the nation and UCONN was 16th. NCSU wasn’t even on the radar. There is not a wide gulf between these teams. It won’t be easy but we can beat them.
If a Byron Dinkins led team can almost beat Kentucky on their home floor and lose on a BS call, this team can take UCONN on a neutral court. A Johnson/Colson led team took #1 seed UNC-Carboro to overtime before losing and the refs swallowed their whistles in that one. Members of THIS team went into the Carrier Dome last year and beat the defending national champions in their home opener after they hung the banner in the rafters. We can beat last year’s national champion on a neutral court.
Take a close look at our one and done records and you will see that many of them were a forgone conclusion due to being hosed with continual 8/9 seeds which ran us up against #1 Illinois and #1 UNC-Carboro in the Second Rounds, and two of the First Round flameouts were due to the illness of key players against Oklahoma St.? and Notre Dame.
If the team had the mental state of some of the peole on this board, they might as well stay home. If they know they can win, play agressively and confidently, they can do this.
By Sunday night there will be only sixteen left standing. I think we will be there.
I don’t see how State can beat us with no inside presence whatsoever. We’ve got Nance, EJ, Withers, Basden, Iti, and Mitch. State will either get into foul trouble early or get spanked with dunks. I may be wrong but thats how I see it.
[i]Originally posted by HappyCamper49[/i]@Mar 14 2005, 03:12 PM [b] I don't see how State can beat us with no inside presence whatsoever. We've got Nance, EJ, Withers, Basden, Iti, and Mitch. State will either get into foul trouble early or get spanked with dunks. I may be wrong but thats how I see it. [/b]As Memphis showed us....Withers can beat you and we get beat...If State plays excellent perimeter defense, than who knows but if they played like they did against Duke and Plavich gets hot....it's on like a pot of neck bones