NC State Basketball Outlook Pre ACC
January 6, 2009 by admin
Filed under NC State Basketball Blog
The State of NC State Basketball — 01/06/09
Well, what can we say. 12 games into the season, 3 of them coming as losses with less than 10 points combined. In other words, any of those games could have gone either way. What did we learn out of those 3 losses? NC State needs solid point guard play to take advantage of its veteran front court players. Think about it, NC State has 4 players shooting over 50 percent with Ben McCauley at 57.5%. As the Wolfpack gain more experience in the guard position, they should be more efficient on offense and commit less turnovers.
Florida Results
The loss to Florida last Saturday was devastating, NC State led by as much as 11 points in the second half and pretty much let one man, Nick Calathes, beat them. They fell apart in the second half with costly turnovers and some inexperienced play by point guards Farnold Degan and Julius Mays.
Clemson Outlook
Clemson is one of the hottest teams in the league right now, with an outstanding 14-0 record. They are the top spot in the ACC and number 12 in the country. With all of that said, the Wolfpack should be one of best teams they have played so far and there first real competition. The two teams will be well matched up in the front court, but look to the backcourt once again to control the games conclusion. That game will be at Clemson this Saturday January 10th at 12pm.
Roster Outlook
Photo Courtesy of Flickr, outlandk
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Pack_Attack_3000 on Wed, 7th Jan 2009 9:49 am
Nice write up. I would have to agree with pretty much everything that was said. However, after watching the Clemson/Bama and GT/Geogia games last night, I think that if State can get at best, marginal play from the guard positions including sound defense and limit their turnovers, there is a possibility that State should be able to steal one from Clemp’son in Little John next weekend. State will have a full week to prepare and Clemson looked rough against inferior competition last night.
Matchups: Look for Costner to muscle up against Booker, Ben and Smith to abuse whoever is playing center, and Degand to keep improving in all aspects of the game. We will really need Fells to step up in this game, because that matchup against Oglesvy (sp?) should be one we could exploit all game long. It will require whoever is playing the SG spot to stay on him, because he is dangerous from range, but from what I saw last night, that is definitely do-able.
State must: contain their guards at all cost and not turn the ball over on their traps. Florida, Marquette, and Davidson have given opponents the playbook to slowing down states offensive weapons of smith, ben, and brandon, and its the TRAP. Degand, Mays, and possibly even Javi will need to control the tempo, remain calm, and when the door opens to push tempo, run. Clemson will most certainly be trapping every time out, its time we start using that to our advantage.
Go Pack.
state_fan on Sun, 11th Jan 2009 11:15 am
NC State falls to Clemson 63-51, in a disappointing performance from the Wolfpack.