feeling almost obliged to post a writeup on this game although not sure i have any insight to offer beyond the obvious. as would be expected from the season carolina is having, their road record had been abysmal, 1-7 s/u, 1-6 ats, with the lone win a blowout of a disinterested clemson squad. they did record a "neutral" court win over a depleted st joe squad in charlotte. state 13-4 at the esa this season, 7-5-1 ats.
today's game at the esa will be a rare sellout. since the opening a couple of years ago the level of play by the wolfpack has not drawn the faithful with the regularity of years' past. but today will be different with senior day and the renewed enthusiam that a long-missed winning attitude can bring. all three wolfpack seniors - anthony grundy, archie miller and brian keeter - are extremely popular players with the team and the fans. keeter is a seldom seen guard who is known for his ability to bang in a thee-pointer in the waning seconds of wolfpack blowouts, when fans will chant for his appearance. look for him to get the symbolic start today and a set play to open him up at the arc. grundy and miller's roles on this team are well known.
while having carolina for senior day will provide impetus enough, a state win today will carry many levels of ignificance. herb sendek has never beaten carolina in raleigh, which necessarily means state has never won over carolina on their new esa homecourt. a win would also give the wolfpack 20 for the season and guarantee state a winning acc season and as a consequence an ncaa tourney berth after a 10 year absence.
tarheel morale has dipped to another low after the loss to ohio in the dean dome. carolina's problems are no secret as a complete absence of dependable guard play has debilitated the heels both offensively and defensively. with the variety of offensive threats offered up by the wolfpack guards, in all likelihood today's game will feature more of the same. state three-point-shooting has stayed pretty consistently around the 40% level over the last 10 games, and carolina allows almost 40% of opponents' treys on the road. virtually the entire wolfpack team, even center marcus melvin, can shoot the trey and should do so with relative ease today.
there was an interesting article in yesterday's washington post that detailed the tarheel miseries. it included a recounting of the rift between coach doherty and dean smith, the first time i have seen that situation laid out in print. it goes back to when doherty was first hired and insisted on bringing his own staff and replacing guthridge's assistant, all former deam smith players. matt pushed this through with baddeur without consulting with dean and the damage was done. from my years as a sports reporter in raleigh i can safely assure you that smith has an ego as big as all outdoors. after the perceived snub, dean moved from his office among the coaching staff's to a remore recess in the basement of the smith center. there has been only minimal polite interaction between the two since.
i've read virtually every writeup and player interview of the tarheels after the ohio loss, and one thing just jumps out at me. every carolina player bemoaned the losing, the apparent lack of effort and answers, and committed to not giving up. but not once did i read or hear one of them say - hey! - we've got state coming up this weekend and a big opportunity for redemption. nary a mention of today's game. in years past in this rivalry, the motivational level of the underdog coming in has almost always been sky high as the game was always regarded as a way ro redeem an otherwise forgetable year. i haver not been able to detect any such sentiment among the tarheels. quite remarkable, really.
i'm waiting for the total on the game also, expecting something around the mid 140's. with carolina's lack of perimeter defense and the wolfpack's diverse three point threats, i would expect the pack to break 80. tarheels allow 84 ppg on the road.
final nc state 84, unc 67.
today's game at the esa will be a rare sellout. since the opening a couple of years ago the level of play by the wolfpack has not drawn the faithful with the regularity of years' past. but today will be different with senior day and the renewed enthusiam that a long-missed winning attitude can bring. all three wolfpack seniors - anthony grundy, archie miller and brian keeter - are extremely popular players with the team and the fans. keeter is a seldom seen guard who is known for his ability to bang in a thee-pointer in the waning seconds of wolfpack blowouts, when fans will chant for his appearance. look for him to get the symbolic start today and a set play to open him up at the arc. grundy and miller's roles on this team are well known.
while having carolina for senior day will provide impetus enough, a state win today will carry many levels of ignificance. herb sendek has never beaten carolina in raleigh, which necessarily means state has never won over carolina on their new esa homecourt. a win would also give the wolfpack 20 for the season and guarantee state a winning acc season and as a consequence an ncaa tourney berth after a 10 year absence.
tarheel morale has dipped to another low after the loss to ohio in the dean dome. carolina's problems are no secret as a complete absence of dependable guard play has debilitated the heels both offensively and defensively. with the variety of offensive threats offered up by the wolfpack guards, in all likelihood today's game will feature more of the same. state three-point-shooting has stayed pretty consistently around the 40% level over the last 10 games, and carolina allows almost 40% of opponents' treys on the road. virtually the entire wolfpack team, even center marcus melvin, can shoot the trey and should do so with relative ease today.
there was an interesting article in yesterday's washington post that detailed the tarheel miseries. it included a recounting of the rift between coach doherty and dean smith, the first time i have seen that situation laid out in print. it goes back to when doherty was first hired and insisted on bringing his own staff and replacing guthridge's assistant, all former deam smith players. matt pushed this through with baddeur without consulting with dean and the damage was done. from my years as a sports reporter in raleigh i can safely assure you that smith has an ego as big as all outdoors. after the perceived snub, dean moved from his office among the coaching staff's to a remore recess in the basement of the smith center. there has been only minimal polite interaction between the two since.
i've read virtually every writeup and player interview of the tarheels after the ohio loss, and one thing just jumps out at me. every carolina player bemoaned the losing, the apparent lack of effort and answers, and committed to not giving up. but not once did i read or hear one of them say - hey! - we've got state coming up this weekend and a big opportunity for redemption. nary a mention of today's game. in years past in this rivalry, the motivational level of the underdog coming in has almost always been sky high as the game was always regarded as a way ro redeem an otherwise forgetable year. i haver not been able to detect any such sentiment among the tarheels. quite remarkable, really.
i'm waiting for the total on the game also, expecting something around the mid 140's. with carolina's lack of perimeter defense and the wolfpack's diverse three point threats, i would expect the pack to break 80. tarheels allow 84 ppg on the road.
final nc state 84, unc 67.
