Who You Got?

Here are my picks for this tonight's top 25 basketball matchups...

Wake Forest @ (#12) Boston College (-11) -- Wake Forest minus the points. The Deacs haven't won a road game in over 2 months...That streak ends tonight.

(#21) LSU @ South Carolina (-1.5) -- South Carolina plus the points. The Gamecocks need a win in the worst way if they have any hopes of avoiding the NIT, which looks like where they are headed. Desperate teams usually come up big.

(#10) Illinois @ Minnesota (+3) -- Illinois plus the points. The Gophers are tough at home and will prove to be a test for the Illini. However, look for Illinois to pull away at the end thanks to free throws.

Happy Birthday Dean...

Today is the 75th birthday of men's college basketball's all-time winningest coach, Dean Smith. I grew up a huge fan of his and the Tar Heels, but, have since become smarter. As a fan of the Wolfpack I must send a bug feliz cumpleanos to the Dean of college basketball. Thanks for help keeping the ACC in the limelight through the decades.

Embrace Herb!

It seems like it has been more than 10 years since NC State hired Herb Sendek to lead the Wolfpack basketball team. The fact is it has been 10 years, 10 tumultuous years at that. Sendek has posted record of 169-115 during his tenure to this point. Any outsider would assume his record was 77-207 due to the heat he receives from critics year in and year out.

The expectation placed upon the shoulders of Sendek is to be on the level of Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. However, the idea that a program of such caliber should be reachable in less than a decade is not a fair one for Herb. Herb has produced what will make 5 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

It takes time to build a national championship power. Just ask Jim Boeheim, head coach at Syracuse University. It took the now Hall of Fame coach 27 seasons and 879 games to win his first national championship in 2003. It took him 21 seasons to carry the Orange to its first Final Four in Boeheim's tenure in 1987. Another couple of coaches who took a while to take their programs to the promise land are Dean Smith, of UNC, and Jim Calhoun, of UConn.

Sendek is only in his 9th season at the helm of the Wolfpack basketball program and has lifted the program back into respectability. Not only respectability as a winning or capable program, but, as a clean, well-run program. NC State is a basketball program that has been burdened with several scandalous situations. The most recent being the recruiting practices of the late Jim Valvano.

When Sendek took over in 1996 he inherited a team that had suffered through six consecutive losing seasons. Then he posted consecutive 17-15 records and consecutive NIT appearances. In 8 previous seasons the Pack has appeared in the post-season (either NIT or NCAA) in 7 of the seasons. Only the great Everett Case was able to accomplish such a feat. Case was never able to lead the school to a national championship. It was head coach Norm Sloan, who played under Case at State, who would push the school over the hump in 1974.

It cannot be disputed that Sendek's team seems so set in their ways that they will not change anything, period. And that falls on the shoulders of the coach. This was especially evident this past Saturday against Boston College, comments from Jason Simon's blog. In each the end of regulation and both overtime the Pack had the chance to either tie or win, and in each situation they ran the offense as they had the whole game. An offense that takes several seconds of passing to get flowing. An offense that relies on the extra pass. An offense that led to 9 blocked shots by one BC player. An offense that BC claimed was extremely predictable.

That shows a lack of adaptation by Sendek. If the Wolfpack is to make any sort of run in the ACC and/or NCAA tournaments then Herb has to adapt as the game dictates. That doesn't mean get away from what you do, but change how you do it. Or, call me crazy, call a set play in those timeouts that are called in the waning moments of the game. To the naked eye, it appears Herb has the team run the offense it has ran the whole game coming out of timeouts. If that is what is going to happen, then why would you call a timeout? The players already know what is going to be ran.

Some think that Herb is not the guy to add a third banner to the rafters. Well, I think differently. He has built a solid base for the program to stand on. This is not a Villanova type programs that peaks and then plummets to the bottom for a few years. A perennial top-25 program has been built at NC State. And if Herb can adapt and change as the game dictates I think we'll see that change to perennial top-20 to top-10 to, hopefully, a top-5 program. If State fans, who I am amongst, want a Duke or Carolina level program, then they got to give it time. It took time for Coach K to build the top program in the nation just as it took time for Dean Smith to make Carolina one of the top programs in the nation. Give Herb time. He wants it, the players want it, David Thompson wants it and we in the 'Wolfpack Nation' want it. So, embrace Herb, and support him and the program. It's going to take time if it's going to happen. And it can happen if patience is adopted by the faithful and we all...Embrace Herb!


Sources:
gopack.com
http://www.peebs.org/2006/02/06/
http://simonsayshoops.blogspot.com/2006/02/good-stuff-from-acc-now.html
suathletics.com

pictures:
http://www.replayphotos.com/uimages/NCSMB00015_t.jpg
http://media.scout.com/Media/Image/19/198357.jpg
http://img.coxnewsweb.com/B/08/82/73/image_1173828.jpg

Ray's Top 25

1. Duke 26-1 -- Has shown weaknesses and is vulnerable, but deserving of the #1.
2. UConn 23-2 -- Was beaten by Villanova, but would beat 'Nova 8 out of 10 times.
3. Villanova 21-2 -- Jay Wright has done a great job... Beat UConn once more, and that #2 is theirs.
4. Gonzaga 22-3 -- Lack of competition takes away a #1 seed and possibly causes an early exit when they face adversity.
5. Texas 22-4 -- Has really bounced back from embarassing losses to Duke and Tennessee...Maybe gets a #1.
6. Memphis 24-2 -- Conference USA leads to an inflated record. 2nd round of tourney and out.
7. Tennessee 19-4 -- Bruce Pearl is coach of the year! He and his bright orange blazer have put Tennessee MEN'S basketball on the map.
8. Pittsburgh 20-4 -- 20-4 in the Big East! Hard to touch that. The Panthers will make some noise come March.
9. George Washington 22-1 -- Only loss came in Raleigh, and that was their stiffest competition that they have faced this year. But, are 'Sweet 16' good.
10. Ohio State 19-4 -- Sweet 16 good as well. Set up nicely for a Final Four run come next year with the addition of Lebron Jr., Greg Oden.
11. Kansas 19-6 -- Coming on strong, late.
12. Florida 22-5 --Great as long as they avoid the 'Vols and Gamecocks.
13. Boston College 21-5 -- Who knows which team you'll get.
14. North Carolina 18-6 --Roy, despite Duke's perfect ACC record, is conf. coach of the year.
15. UCLA 20-6 -- The best the PAC-10 has to offer.
16. NC STATE 21-6 -- Dissapointing showing against UNC. Hopefully they will bounce back strong.
17. Oklahoma 17-6 -- Got a feeling the Sooners are going to make some noise.
18. Iowa 20-7 -- Has the ability to win ugly. Will Steve Alford to Indiana talk derail their season, though?
19. Michigan State 19-7 -- Not Izzo's best team. Not going past the 2nd round.
20. Washington 20-5 -- Capable, but not as capable as last year.
21. Georgetown 17-7 -- Responsible for Duke's lone loss makes them scary.
22. LSU 18-7 -- Better than their 18-7 record.
23. Florida State 17-7 -- If they can find their way in they will cause headaches.
24. Kentucky 18-9 -- I think Tubby has righted the ship.
25. Northern Iowa 22-6 -- Wearing the slipper this year.

March Madness will be as wide open as it has ever been. There are handful of teams that have a chance to go to Indianapolis to the Final Four. I look forward to watching every moment. All it takes is one team getting hot and they could walk home with the banner.

Picture Source: http://media.gatewaync.com/wsj/photos/2004/wake/05bb/duke/coachk.jpg

We don't have to be the little brother...

The storied basketball rivalry between UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State is lopsided to say the least. The Tar Heels pushed their all-time recor against the Wolfpack to 134-74 last night with a 95-71 thrashing in Raleigh.

The loss put the Tar Heels,who were picked to finish at the bottom of the ACC, AT 9-4 in the conference and just a half-game back of the Wolfpack. NC State falls to 10-4 in the conference with UNC holding any tie-breaker. The loss also puts the Pack 60 games behind Carolina in the all-time series.

In most areas of the United States a school that holds two (1974 and '83) NCAA basketball championships would be the pride of that area. However, there are two other schools in this area, Duke and Carolina, that hold 3 and 4 national championships respectively. We should feel blessed, and I do, to live in an area and go to a school where 2 national titles isn't enough. In fact if it were not for the scandal ridden eras of the 1950's and late 1980's, then State would be right up there with the other two rival schools.

Why don't we all just face the fact that we are the little brother of Carolina and Duke when it comes to basketball? I mean we do own Wake Forest in basketball, right? I'm not willing to settle for waving our 2 national championship banners in the faces of the Demon Deacons. I want to say "We've caught Duke at 3 and headed for the Heels' 4!" But, it seems that the rest of 'Wolfpack Nation' doesn't agree.

We got beat by Carolina last night. Like Caulton Tudor of the N&O said, "North Carolina wanted it more than N.C. State, needed it more and took it without hesitation --with surprisingly little resistance from the Wolfpack." It was down right embarrassing. But, there was no one left there to feel the pain. I had to watch from home as the fans filed out with 6 minutes left in the game. What happened to the faithful who filled the Dean Dome when we reeled off 4 in a row against tea Tar Heels under Matt Doherty.

It's not the Carolina fans that deserve the title of the "Wine and Cheese" crowd. It's the Wolfpack fans that do. I dread to even turn on any local sports talk radio stations on my way home today, because I know the bandwagon will be unloading like the Titanic.

Carolina has lost to Duke 16 out of the last 19 times. Have they given up? No. All they have done is win a national championship. Have their fans given up (yes, under Matt Doherty they did)? No. They still sell out every home game following a Duke loss. However, I have a feeling that scalper tickets will be easy to come by on Saturday as the Pack plays host to Boston College on Senior Day.

They call it a season for a reason. It's not about 2 or 3 games within that season. It's about what happens at the end of the season. Just ask Chuck Amato, the Wolfpack football team had their backs against the wall and made something out of nothing. The basketball team still as the opportunity to make something out of something.

By winning their 2 remaining games, vs. #11 Boston College and @ Wake Forest, the Pack will head into the ACC Tournament inside the top-15 and a first round bye. With a strong showing in, or maybe even winning, the conference tournament they will lock down a seed of no worse than 4 in the NCAA Tournament.

And then who knows? Anything can happen in the NCAA tournament, just as it did in 1983 when Jim Valvano led the Wolfpack to the basketball promise land. If that scenario were to repeat itself no one would think about losing twice to Carolina until next season. All you got to do is have faith and cheer. No matter what. If the great 'Wolfpack Nation' would start doing that then we would win as much as we talk about winning, in both basketball and football.

Sources:
gopack.com
tarheelblue.com
wakeforestsports.com
goduke.com
newsandobserver.com

picture from: http://gopack.collegesports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/022206aaa.html

Skipping Town?

Why would the coach of an ACC team decide to leave for the Big East? I have no answer for that. Granted the Big East is a much deeper conference than the ACC this year; however, the Big East isn't a conference at all. The Big East is a conglomerate of schools spread across the eastern United States. The last time I checked Indiana, home to Notre Dame, was considered the Mid-West. Likewise for the Bearcats of Cincinnati, Ohio.

I guess the ACC could boost it's depth by adding the Hoosiers of Indiana, UCLA, Michigan State and Kentucky. That would defeat the purpose of the name Atlantic Coast Conference. The expansion of the ACC has definitely hit basketball pretty hard. But, give it a few years for the idea of and increased opportunity of playing in the ACC sinks into the heads of recruits across the nation and the ACC will be back on top.

I am one who favors expansion for the sake of football, but was ultimately opposed to it because it seriously hurt the pageantry that was ACC basketball. No return match between Duke and State or Wake and Carolina? That's ridiculous!

The Big East should have kept East Carolina and remained Conference USA. (Note:Conference USA still exists and never was the Big East)

Now, back to why I am writing this post. The rumors are swirling that as soon as the season is over for both Wake Forest and Cincinnati that WFU head coach, Skip Prosser, will be leaving for Cincy.

Cincinnati is currently coached by Andy Kennedy, a former assistant of former UC coach Bob Huggins, on an interim basis. The university will more than likely let go of Kennedy in order to separate itself from the Huggins regime.

Why Skip Prosser? Well, it makes sense. Prosser spent 15 years at Xavier in Cincinnati as an assistant coach and then as the head coach until departing for Winston-Salem. He had a lot of success there. That's the city where he met his wife. He seems like the perfect fit and Cincy will definitely be knocking on his door.

Pittsburgh unsuccessfully tried to lure Prosser away from Wake 3 years ago. And that's the city Skip was born in.

Prosser loved Cincinnati and Cincinnati loved him. The once hated Muskateer may be the next beloved Bearcat. All I can say is...I hope not. Wal-Mart...I mean the Big East doesn't deserve a coach of such ACC caliber, much less from a North Carolina school.

Will he stay? No one knows at this point. But, I can offer some advice to the Demon Deacon faithful. Don't let him "skip" town! There's not much I like about Duke and I know there's not much that "Tie-Dye Nation" likes about Duke either. However, they need to do as they did in K-ville when the Lakers came calling. The Deacs need to put on their obnoxious (had to say that too mess with my girlfriend) shirts and hold a vigil outside Skip's office until he decides to stay. That is to say, if they want Skip back. And, I hope that they do. One bad year shouldn't be enough to hate the man. If they want him bad enough then they should let him know it. Judging by what I have seen of the man, he would definitely stay if he is wanted.

Sources:
-CBSSportsline.com
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/9195597
Greg Doyle

JJ '06: A Season We'll All Remember

11 makes in 13 attempts. That sounds like someone’s free throws for an evening, right? Well not when you are talking about JJ Redick against Virginia this past Saturday (Jan. 28). It actually translates into 40 points. JJ made 8 of 10 3-pointers, 3 for 3 within the 3-point line and 10-11 at the free throw line, an amazing night for the superstar to say the least.

Saturday night marked the third time this season that Redick went for 40 points. His effort helped push Duke to 19-1 overall and 7-0 in ACC play.

This season is one to remember. No matter whom you pull for you have to be amazed at what JJ is doing this season. If you are fortunate enough to attend an ACC school, or better yet one of the Big Four schools (NC State, Duke, Wake and Carolina), then you have the pleasure of watching JJ night in and night out. If you go anywhere other than Duke then you discover yourself in agony at the sight of JJ one or two nights a year.

He may not pan out as an NBA player, but that doesn't discredit what he is doing at this level. I'm not saying that he is the best college player ever; however, he does rank right up there with the greats such as David Thompson (NC State), or Ralph Sampson (Virginia). In my life I can honestly say that I haven't seen anything like him.

I was lucky enough to see him play at Wake Forest earlier this season. It seemed like every time he put the ball up it went in the basket. He shines amidst hatred and boos that rain down on him from the opposing student sections when Duke plays away from home. He scored 32 points and by JJ standards he had an off shooting night by shooting just over 57% from the floor.
Coach K said after Duke's win against Virginia, "I've never really seen this here at Duke, where with 13 shots, you get 40 points. JJ was incredible." If Coach K hasn't seen it, then none of us have.

Dave Leitao said Saturday night, “I think what he is doing this season, I think all of us - players, coaches and media in particular should really savor. He’s having, not only a career, but particularly this season, a year for the ages. I’ve watched it, I’ve studied it on film and now I’ve seen it in person. He understands this game of basketball for what he is as a player more than anybody I’ve seen for a long time...we all need to sit back and admire it because it won’t happen for a long time after this.”

For the rest of the year, as JJ and the rest of the Blue Devils beat up on our schools, we should really take a look at what is going on in front of us. We can all be thankful that when we are telling our children about the history of the ACC we can say that we saw one of the greats play. I hope you all listen to coach Leitao's advice and sit back relax and enjoy the greatness.

Sources:
GoDuke.com

Duke University. (2006). Quotes: Duke 82, Virginia 63. Retrieved Feb. 2, 2006, from http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=22726&SPID=1845&DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=228181