Hola!
No, I'm not dead. I did not perish in a horrible Christmas-lights stringing accident, nor did I choke on a chunk of 130-year-old re-gifted fruit cake. Work has been, well, work. Need I say more?
In any event, to my loyal readers I apologize, to both of you. I can't promise I'll be here any more than I have been of late, but I will try to not leave you wandering through the vast N.C. State sports blog wilderness--cold, naked and hungry--again.
Moving on...
I attended the Winthrop game last night. Following the box scores I'll share some thoughts:
No, I'm not dead. I did not perish in a horrible Christmas-lights stringing accident, nor did I choke on a chunk of 130-year-old re-gifted fruit cake. Work has been, well, work. Need I say more?
In any event, to my loyal readers I apologize, to both of you. I can't promise I'll be here any more than I have been of late, but I will try to not leave you wandering through the vast N.C. State sports blog wilderness--cold, naked and hungry--again.
Moving on...
I attended the Winthrop game last night. Following the box scores I'll share some thoughts:
| Stat | Game | |
|---|---|---|
 |  | |
| Points | 52 | 68 |
| FG Att | 63 | 53 |
| FG Made | 20 | 26 |
| FG Pct | 31.7 | 49.1 |
| FT Att | 17 | 15 |
| FT Made | 9 | 6 |
| FT Pct | 52.9 | 40.0 |
| 3pt FG Att | 18 | 21 |
| 3pt FG Made | 3 | 10 |
| 3pt FG Pct | 16.7 | 47.6 |
| Rebounds | 40 | 42 |
| Off Rebs | 14 | 8 |
| Def Rebs | 26 | 34 |
| Team Rebs | 4 | 3 |
| Assists | 9 | 21 |
| Steals | 8 | 3 |
| Blocks | 3 | 5 |
| Turnovers | 7 | 14 |
| Fouls | 17 | 16 |
- I thought the team looked great to start the game, but as we have seen lately, they tend to either lose focus or take their foot off the gas once they build a big lead. That can lead to playing down to a team's level, which then leads to having a team like a Winthrop sneak up and beat you. Thankfully that wasn't the case last night, but there were times where I felt the Eagles might make a push.
- State shot the ball really well at times, especially in the first half. It was great to see Scott Wood knock down three 3s in a row. Boy, if his confidence gets back to where it needs to be, look the hell out. My only beef regarding Scott Wood last night was not seeing him enough in the second half. If he starts a game that hot, he should stay in and keep shooting. He plays well enough on defense to justify his presence on the court even if he cools off a bit. It doesn't surprise me that Scott sat the bench most of the second half--Sidney's substitution pattern seems to be that he has no pattern--but I wasn't thrilled by it. Tough to complain about it after a double-digit win, though.
- Tracy Smith had a merely average game, which is remarkable given the opponent. It was good to see Richard Howell step up, however, and provide some more scoring and rebounding from the froncourt.
- Javier Gonzalez continues to grow as a point guard. Julius Mays continues to disappoint. The offensive flow with Javy in the game versus Mays is like night and day. I say let Mays get locked in at the two and spell Javy with Degand at the point, but only sparingly. In my mind, Javy should be playing 30+ minutes a night at the point and spelled only when needed.
- Just three more tune-ups remain before the ACC season starts in earnest. The Pack faces UNC-G tomorrow night in a New Year's Eve affair, then Florida and Holy Cross come to town once the new year arrives. I can't say we know enough about the team now to reasonably predict how they will fare against the league competition, but I have a strong feeling State won't finish last. An NIT bid should be considered a good finish for a team picked 12th preseason, and is well within reach.
i listened to last night's game via the radio. i have seen one way or another almost all of state's other games. absent the games against wake, maraquette, arizona and elon (state wasn't ready to play that game), the games have a similar pattern. the starters build a good lead, the coach plays alot of substitues, and momentum and continuity are lost as is a big lead. there is a need to get young players playing time, so this sub pattern is acceptable at this time (?), and maybe it will continue and work out in the future. hope so.
ReplyDeleteas to Mays, Havi was pretty bad his first two years. Havi is a solid point guard in his third year. Mays may also make this transition, but most likely he will not have the chance with Harrow coming in.
as to Havi, he may surprisingly to me, hold Harrow off next year due to his improvement. sbas2
If Harrow is half as good as what I hear, he starts from Day One.
ReplyDeletei think the sub patterns had a lot to do with having 2 more games in the stretch of six days. he wanted to rest people as much as possible. Lowe is experimenting right now and as the ACC season starts, you'll see the line up dwindle to 8 with 1 or 2 more sprinkled it only when needed. I see the heavy minutes from Javi, Wood/Williams (i think Wood might move to 2 as Howell develops), Horner, Howell, Smith, Mays, and Degand with Davis getting the most minutes of the rest, and Painter and Vandenburg getting spotty minutes based on foul troubles.
ReplyDeleteand i actually see Mays' minutes get less and less (i hope so anyways). I hate that he's the 1st choice for PG when Javi goes out. It seems like Degand would be more suited to take over at PG and let Mays play 2 guard. although, if degand can hit the 3 pointer like he did against Winthrop, i could change my mind (i just don't see that happening)
ReplyDeleteJamie said-
ReplyDeleteDid I miss something here? What happened to Johnny Thomas?
i don't think Johnny Thomas has fully recovered from his knee injury ... he hasn't seen the floor but a couple times this season ...
ReplyDelete