Oh, Billy Crystal...if there were only some magic turd pill you could give this Wolfpack team heading into the tournament, then maybe we'd stand a chance.
Alas, this ain't Hollywood and Cary Elwes ain't walking through that door.
It's been a while, but State is back in some familiar territory heading to Charlotte: The Les Robinson invitational.
State wrapped up the 12th seed by ending the season on a strong eight-game losing streak, with especially painful losses at Maryland, at Boston College, at Virginia and at Wake Forest.
The Wake loss might have been the most painful of them all, as the team had shown what looked like some life in giving Duke everything it could handle. I felt like State would stand a decent shot against Wake Forest and build some momentum heading into the tournament.
Opening the game as poorly as they did, however, it was clear that the same team that lost the six games prior to Duke was not gone, nor forgotten. True, they did make a game of it a couple of times, closing large gaps with some impressive defensive stretches. But the same bugaboos that have done the Pack in all year long--getting out-rebounded and committing a high number of turnovers--did the Pack in again this final game of the year.
Good on Gavin Grant for closing out his regular season on a high note with 16 points, and Brandon Costner cracked double figures with 10.
But we're definitely limping into the ACC Tournament this year, much less confident at the guard position than last year. Making it to the finals this year would surpass last season's miracle run, or even Herb's run in 1997, in improbability.
“Why Not Us?”
8 months ago
State is fortunate with the match up for the first two rounds. that said, I just don't see this team mounting any kind of run. Both Miami and V Tech need wins to secure their NCAA bids and State has nothing to play for except pride. And I haven't seen much pride on this team this year.
ReplyDeleteCall me crazy, but I think Miami's 8-8 and 21-9 overall record RIGHT NOW are good enough to get them in the NCAA tournament.
ReplyDeleteBut if they lose to us in the first round of the ACCs, that would give them two bad losses against the worst team in the league, and may actually keep them from getting a bid.
I hope we win Thursday, and Miami still gets in despite that fact. I like Haith (I thought he should've gotten the head coaching job after Barnes turned us down) and think McClinton is a special player.
I think we're looking at 3 ACC teams, maybe 4 this year in the big dance... it's a down year. V Tech should probably make it (no 10-6 ACC team has ever been left out). Miami, they have to win 2 games in the tournament to make it, I believe.
ReplyDeleteHaith and Greenberg have had amazing seasons. I'd pick either of them for coach of the year.
bugaboo is a word that should be more widely used.
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