Backing The Pack

Talking South Florida With Voodoo 5

2010-03-16T06:56:12Z

You wanted another one of these, right?

My thanks to Voodoo 5 for answering some questions, and for pointing out this article from the first time NC State and South Florida met on the basketball court (Dec. 1972):

The Brahmans from Tampa were mauled by North Carolina State University 125-88, but in losing by only 37 points, USF won a moral victory.

That is one hilarious, mind-blowing sentence. Tommy Burleson scored 29 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, while 'Dave' Thompson scored 30.

I answered some of V5's questions right here.

1.) South Florida was probably one of the biggest surprises among major-conference teams this season, finishing at 9-9 in Big East play after going 4-14 last year. What are the Bulls doing better this year? Is it just a case of a more mature Dominique Jones carrying the team?

I think its a combination of Jones having a great season, and USF finally having a roster with Big East quality athletes. When Coach Heath arrived on campus 3 years ago, all Heath had to work with was an injured Chris Howard, Dominique Jones, a decent big guy in Kentrell Gransberry, and a whole lot of nothing.

Heath has had to build up the program through some pretty risky transfers (Anthony Crater, Mike Mercer) and the JUCO route (Jarrid Famous), but the risks paid off this season. If Jones comes back next year and we find a quality three point shooter, we could be going to our first NCAA Tournament in 19 years.

2.) Aside from Jones, who should we expect to have a big impact on Tuesday?

Gus Gilchrist has slowly been getting back to form after missing two months with a high ankle sprian, but he has slowly played himself back into form since coming back. At 6'10, he has some decent post moves, but can hit from 20 feet when feeling it. Another option might be Shaun Noriega. He can shoot from anywhere on the court, and with Mike Mercer limited in practice this week Noriega should get some extended minutes out there.

3.) Stan Heath had a rough couple of years prior to this one. Do you think he can sustain this sort of success going forward?

I hope he does. We will need to find someone to replace Jones sooner or later, so I'm sure that's the main concern for Heath and the staff. If we can find someone that can replace most of his stats, we should be good to go. Another reason for optimism is the under construction Muma Basketball Center. Once the Muma Center is completed, Heath should have the resources needed to go head to head with other major programs.

4.) NC State runs its offense through forward Tracy Smith, who is an outstanding low-post scorer. How's USF's interior defense? Might we see some zone from the Bulls?

We could be a little bit better defensively down low, but we've held our own against guys like Greg Monroe and Luke Harangody. You'll probably see Freshman Toarlyn Fitzpatrick on Smith to begin with, with Gilchrist and Jarrid Famous taking on Smith every once in a while.

Heath likes to run man predominately on defense, but he will switch it up and run a couple of different zone defenses to switch things up.

5.) What are the keys to a USF victory tomorrow?

If the Bulls can get to the line about 15-20 times tomorrow that would be a great start. It would also help to make a basket out of the paint as well. If anyone can hit a three pointer or two, it should open up the lane for Jones to attack.

Wolfpack Women Earn A Nine-Seed, Will Play UCLA On Sunday

2010-03-16T04:15:42Z

Wolfpack Women Earn A Nine-Seed, Will Play UCLA On Sunday

They managed to dodge UConn.

Previewing South Florida

2010-03-16T04:06:12Z

2009 Scouting Report / 2009 Game Plan / 2010 Scouting Report / 2010 Game Plan
2010 Stats (pdf)
2010 Roster
2010 Schedule

South Florida Offense 08-09
Four Factors	Percent	Nat'l Rank
eFG%	44.7	318
Turnover Rate	19.6	121
Off Reb Rate	34.5	105
FTA/FGA	34.9	206

South Florida Offense 09-10
Four Factors	Percent	Nat'l Rank
eFG%	48.0	203
Turnover Rate	19.3	108
Off Reb Rate	35.3	80
FTA/FGA	44.6	41

(Common opponents: 66-49 win vs. UVA, lost @ Marquette 63-52.)

If Stan Heath's team isn't the biggest surprise among power-conference schools this season, it's close. Thanks largely to an atrocious offense, the Bulls were 4-14 in Big East play a year ago. They improved all the way to .500 in 2010, earned nice wins over Pittsburgh and Georgetown, and had themselves in the NCAA tournament discussion for a time.

Last year's USF team couldn't hit anything anywhere: 321st in 3FG%, 280th in 2FG%, 341st in FT%. They're no better from outside now than they were then, but they've made significant strides in the other two areas, and they're taking advantage of their improved FT shooting by getting to the line quite a bit more often.

They're led by a trio of experienced guards, most notably Dominique Jones, who is as involved in his team's offense as Greivis Vasquez or Malcolm Delaney are in theirs, and every bit as efficient. The problem for USF is that those three guys don't shoot well from outside. Jones is by far the most frequent outside shooter and also the only one shooting above 30%. As a team, they've hit just 28.4% of their threes this season. They hit just 24.9% in Big East play.

But at least they don't fire up a lot of threes; the guards prefer to do most of their work closer to the basket. Jones in particular will be very aggressive in taking the ball to the rim (dig that free throw rate). Ideally, NC State will be able to force the Bulls into taking more jump shots than they like. It's not going to be easy. These guys understand where their bread is buttered (all three guards have hit 52+% of their twos), and I'm guessing they'll have an edge in quickness.

Starters:

Dominique Jones (6-4, 205) -- Hit more than half of his twos in Big East play, which is pretty good work by a 6-4 guard, not to mention a 6-4 guard that takes as many shots as he does. He also benefited by increasing both his free throw rate and his free throw percentage.

Chris Howard (6-3, 200) -- Howard did not have so much success finishing in the paint against Big East teams, but he's not a large chunk of the offense, and he does an excellent job of getting to the line.

Mike Mercer (6-5, 195) --Mercer is the only starter aside from Jones taking more than 20% of the shots when he is on the floor. He probably should cut threes out of his game entirely.

Toarlyn Fitzpatrick (6-8, 230) --Doesn't shoot often, which is good since he's shooting sub-40% in the paint. Good shot blocker, but he turns the ball over too often and needs to be stronger on the defensive glass.

Jarrid Famous (6-11, 240) -- Excellent offensive rebounder, reasonably efficient low-post scorer. Like Fitzpatrick, his defensive rebounding isn't where it needs to be, he's a bit turnover prone, and he's a liability at the free throw line.

Bench:

Anthony Crater (6-1, 170), Augustus Gilchrist (6-10, 245). Crater shouldn't be much of a factor; Gilchrist was hurt and missed a bunch of games in the middle of the season, but now that he's back, he'll likely get a lot of minutes. Gilchrist is a decent if occasional outside shooter, and he's improved his efficiency inside this season.

South Florida Defense 08-09
Four Factors	Percent	Nat'l Rank
eFG%	47.2	83
Turnover Rate	17.6	318
Off Reb Rate	34.9	263
FTA/FGA	37.7	208

South Florida Defense 09-10
Four Factors	Percent	Nat'l Rank
eFG%	47.5	107
Turnover Rate	18.0	296
Off Reb Rate	34.4	248
FTA/FGA	33.3	87

South Florida's defense offers a respite after a tough weekend against a few very good defenses. They couldn't turn anybody over in Big East play, their interior D was mediocre at best, and their defensive rebounding left a lot to be desired.

Pomeroy Predictor likes USF by two. They've been off since last Wednesday, while we finished up on Saturday. I'm worried that will be a significant edge in their favor.

Brilliant.

2010-03-15T04:57:36Z

Brilliant.

South Florida Prepares To Meet Its Boom...Er, Doom

2010-03-15T04:40:54Z

More photos » Wesley Broome - AP

Waaaaazzzuuuup!

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Finally South Florida can avenge that football game they lost that they forgot they lost.

After winning five of the last seven games and reaching the ACC Tournament semifinals, the NC State men’s basketball team was selected to play in the 2010 NIT. The Pack will be traveling to Tampa, Fla., and face South Florida of the Big East on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. on ESPNU.

"We are very excited to keep our season going," said head coach Sidney Lowe. "This is a great reward for our team for their play at the end of the season. We have been playing some of our best basketball of the season, and we look forward to continuing to work hard and keep our season alive."

State will take on the Bulls on Tuesday in front of tens of people. Remember the name Dominique Jones. You are going to hear it a lot.

Full preview on the way. Some quick notes:

-- The Bulls are very one-dimensional. They don't take a lot of threes and they rank 338th in 3FG%. Their primary outside shooters are hitting 32.1% and 28.4%, respectively, from beyond the arc.

-- They have no bench.

-- They don't force turnovers and their defensive rebounding is not good. On the whole, this is not a good defensive ball club.

-- I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited about making the NIT. We get more booms.

NIT Selection Show, 9 PM, ESPNU

2010-03-14T21:29:54Z

NIT Selection Show, 9 PM, ESPNU

It's gonna be close...

Georgia Tech 57, NC State 54

2010-03-14T01:55:17Z

More photos » Wesley Broome - AP

WTF. (AP Photo/Wesley Broome)

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Four Factors	NC State	Ga Tech
eFG%	35.5	46.3
Turnover Rate	9.3	24.8
Off Reb Rate	27.1	23.3
FT Rate	30.6	78.0

	Pts	Poss	OFF_EFF	DEF_EFF
GT	57	64.6	88.2	83.6
NCSU	54	64.6	83.6	88.2

Box Score

When Javi hit a three to pull us even with 14:44 to go, after such a terrible first half, it felt like our day. "In control" would be the wrong phrase, but from then on, it seemed at least manageable, which was a refreshing change from the first half. They never did seize it, and that's the story.

God, the opportunities. All those missed, wide open three-pointers. The occasions where we'd force a turnover with the press and then give it right back with a dumb shot or a rushed play that resulted in a reciprocal turnover. It was there. It was so, so there.

The main thing we needed to do today, we did: Tech finished -10 in the turnover category. We also rebounded the ball a lot better in the second half. The damned shots just did not fall.

NC State 58, Florida State 52

2010-03-13T16:21:57Z

More photos » Chuck Burton - AP

3 days ago: Florida State's Chris Singleton (31) reacts after an NCAA college basketball game against the North Carolina State in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Friday, March 12, 2010. North Carolina State won 58-52. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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Four Factors	NC State	Florida St.
eFG%	52.3	41.4
Turnover Rate	25.4	31.7
Off Reb Rate	20.7	50.0
FT Rate	46.5	32.7

	Pts	Poss	OFF_EFF	DEF_EFF
FSU	52	63	82.5	92.0
NCSU	58	63	92.0	82.5

Box Score

I figured our run would end here, because with the way FSU defends the paint, I thought we'd need a repeat three-point explosion from Scott Wood...and what were the odds of that happening again? Not bad, apparently. Florida State must be wondering what it is about them that Wood likes so much. He's made 13 threes against the Noles and 22 against the rest of the ACC.

NC State made just 42.9% of its twos against the Noles' tough interior defense, and FSU controlled the glass at both ends. Florida State couldn't hit anything from outside, though, and they turned the ball over in bunches, which is typical of them but maybe a bit surprising coming as it did against a relatively weak defense.

Javi led the defensive charge with five steals, none bigger than the one that came with about 2 minutes to go and led to a Macrowave slam that pushed the lead to six. Great effort by Javi on a bum ankle.

NC State 59, Clemson 57

2010-03-12T15:46:46Z

More photos » Chuck Burton - AP

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

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Four Factors	NC State	Clemson
eFG%	55.7	46.1
Turnover Rate	30.7	24.3
Off Reb Rate	41.7	31.4
FT Rate	34.1	35.3

	Pts	Poss	OFF_EFF	DEF_EFF
BC	57	62	92.2	95.4
NCSU	59	62	95.4	92.2

Box Score

NC State shot 67% and grabbed two-thirds of its missed shots in the second half, two things that proved just enough to overcome a bunch of turnovers and some interesting officiating.

Still livin'!

Let The Madness Begin

2010-03-11T15:31:43Z

Here's how the Predict-O-Meter sees Thursday:

BC 64, Virginia 63

Wake 72, Miami 67

Georgia Tech 75, UNC 70

Clemson 70, NC State 63

No Landesberg for UVA, probably no Dwayne Collins for Miami. Boston College and Wake Forest are probably the safest bets today, but who the hell knows.

Beer Summit I: Talking ACC Tournament

2010-03-11T14:56:57Z

More photos » Gerry Broome - AP

5 days ago: Georgia Tech's Gani Lawal prepares to shoot a free-throw during NCAA college basketball practice at the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in Greensboro, N.C., Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Georgia Tech plays North Carolina on Thursday. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

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Wolfpack Beer Summit from James Curle on Vimeo.

James, Derek, and I got together at Players' Retreat last night to talk about the ACC tournament. Then we were viciously attacked by territorial dart leaguers. Just kidding. But seriously, we're joining that league and we are going to crush those guys.

It's Tourney Time

2010-03-11T03:07:49Z

Offensively, there's not a lot that separates Clemson and NC State. Both rely on an outstanding interior scorer, both just kind of hope for the best from the guys that surround them. Clemson gets slightly better guard play on the whole, and they're more balanced.

The difference is defense; Clemson plays it, while we you know it's whatever. There are a couple of drawbacks to Clemson's pressure D, drawbacks that persist year-to-year: opponents make plenty of twos and get to the line often.

Notes:

-- Clemson got off to a quick start in the first meeting and scored 1.4 points per possession in the first half. They averaged less than a point per trip against ACC teams this season, so that's slightly aberrant. Clemson managed to be that successful because they made 68% of their twos and only turned the ball over a handful of times. I kinda doubt that's repeatable.

-- If there's something positive to take away from the first meeting, it's that State only turned the ball over 16.8% of the time. The Pack took great care of the ball in the second half, which was a big part of their rally. We've been routinely baffled by the Clemson press, but that was an exception. It's also consistent with what we've seen from the Wolfpack all year--they're far less careless with the basketball.

-- Keys: (1) don't let the Tigers make 60+% of their twos (duh). (2) Don't take so many threes. Twenty-one of State's 54 field goal attempts were threes, a Princeton-esque proportion. Again, there is nothing special about Clemson's interior D. (3) Turnovers. If you take care of the ball against Clemson, you open up all sorts of opportunities. In addition to their blah interior defense, they foul a lot, and their defensive rebounding is average. While they've managed to diversify a bit, Purnell's teams still make a living on turnovers.

Doctors have cleared him to join the team for spring practice, which starts today. But even eight...

2010-03-09T22:14:24Z

Doctors have cleared him to join the team for spring practice, which starts today. But even eight months after the crash, he plans to take his return to the field cautiously, seeing how much his body will allow him to do.

Irving's plan ("Lord willing," he said) is to be at full strength by the beginning of the season. He still faces many unknowns on the football field, though.

He's not as strong or fast as he was before the crash, but he hopes to exceed his previous physical benchmarks by the time the season starts.

Irving is refocused, rested and ready

Final Adjusted Conference Standings

2010-03-09T18:59:04Z

Expanding on this a bit...

In-Conf	OFF_EFF (rk)	DEF_EFF (rk)	Eff_Margin	ExpW	ActualW
Duke	111.6 (1)	94.0 (1)	17.6	14	13
Maryland	111.3 (2)	100.6 (6)	10.7	12	13
Clemson	99.1 (7)	95.9 (3)	3.2	9	9
FSU	97.8 (10)	95.4 (2)	2.4	9	10
Va Tech	101.0 (3)	99.0 (5)	2.0	9	10
Wake	98.6 (8)	98.8 (4)	-0.2	8	9
Ga Tech	100.2 (6)	101.4 (7)	-1.2	7	7
BC	100.7 (4)	105.6 (11)	-4.9	6	6
NC State	98.1 (9)	105.0 (10)	-6.9	5	5
Virginia	96.6 (11)	103.9 (8)	-7.3	5	5
Miami	100.5 (5)	108.2 (12)	-7.7	5	4
UNC	95.9 (12)	103.9 (9)	-8.0	5	5

Yep, Carolina's dismantling at the hands of Duke last Saturday pushed their efficiency margin all the way to the bottom. But there is very little difference between the Heels and the three teams ahead of them. Not much difference between teams 3-7, either. Could be a really chaotic weekend in Greensboro, and I'm all for that.

As far as expected wins vs. actual wins goes, there are no surprises. Nobody over/underachieved by more than a game. Considering how little separation there is between a lot of teams, I thought we might see some significantly lucky or unlucky results. Didn't work out that way. Pretty much, they are who we thought they were.

Pomeroy's predictions for Thursday's games are available here. No team is expected to win by more than seven points; if it works out that way, it's going to be a fun (if ugly) day.

Football Team Prepares For Spring Practice; Org Chart Released

2010-03-08T20:27:43Z

Football Team Prepares For Spring Practice; Org Chart Released

Also: good stuff from Derek on Mike Glennon.

Baseball (10-1) Sweeps Quinnipiac

2010-03-08T20:24:09Z

Baseball (10-1) Sweeps Quinnipiac

Russell Wilson hit a triple and an inside-the-park HR. He's hitting .313/.421/.875 in limited action. Dallas Poulk is killing the ball right now: .512/.596/.902. Nine XBH already, including three homers.

Tracy Smith Earns Second-Team All-ACC Honors

2010-03-08T19:39:17Z

Congrats to Tracy. The teams:

First team:
Greivis Vasquez, Maryland (159)*
Jon Scheyer, Duke (159)*
Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech (159)*
Trevor Booker, Clemson (137)
Kyle Singler, Duke (134)

Second team

Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest (126)
Nolan Smith, Duke (104)
Sylven Landesberg, Virginia (95)
Tracy Smith, N.C. State (82)
Ishmael Smith, Wake Forest (76)

Third team

Gani Lawal, Georgia Tech (73)
Dorenzo Hudson, Virginia Tech (51)
Chris Singleton, Florida State (50)
Joe Trapani, Boston College (38)
Solomon Alabi, Florida State (30)

They got the first team right. Based on their production in conference play, I don't think Nolan Smith or Al-Farouq Aminu have much of a case against those other five guys. As for the second team, one quibble.

Conf-only.	ORtg	%Poss	%Shots	eFG%	2FG%	3FG%	FT%	FTR	Ast%	TO%
Player A	109.6	26.9	25.3	49.0	51.9	28.8	81.8	34.8	36.8	20.4
Player B	94.4	24.0	25.7	40.6	42.7	16.0	55.1	21.2	35.1	19.2

A pair of guards with comparable workloads. One of these players made the second team, while the other didn't even make the third team. Player A holds an edge in every category except turnover percentage--he must have been the one to make the second team. Actually, no.

Player A is Reggie Jackson. Player B is Ish Smith.

In a span of nine possessions late in the game, BC (15-15, 6-10 ACC) allowed the Wolfpack to score...

2010-03-08T18:39:08Z

In a span of nine possessions late in the game, BC (15-15, 6-10 ACC) allowed the Wolfpack to score 22 points, a whopping 2.44 points per trip down the court. This against a team that finished 11th in the league and whose season has been marked by long scoring droughts.

A tempo-free nugget from the Boston Globe.

Remembering Julius

2010-03-08T06:36:13Z

With Julius Hodge back in town today, I couldn't help but reminisce.

Winter 2002. I don't remember the score, but it was bad; we'd been crushed by Duke in Cameron. Back then, the bus always dropped the team off at Reynolds Coliseum following a road game. A group of students would always greet the players there. When we won, the crowds were big. When we lost, well, you can imagine. On this night, I think there were about 15 of us.

I shook Julius's hand after he walked off the bus. "What's up, man," he said, sounding like both his parents had just died. That exemplified what I loved about him. He always wore his emotions on his sleeve, and that made it easy to relate to him. With Julius, you never worried that he might not care as much as you do. Anyway, after he said that to me, I froze up, offering a weak "sorry about the game." To this day, I feel a tinge of embarrassment about it. I couldn't find the appropriate words. I don't think there were any.

(Hodge is my favorite player ever; he's the defining player of the last 15 years. Anthony Grundy is a close second. When Grundy walked off the bus that night, he dropped his CD player, and it shattered on the bricks outside Reynolds. I don't remember what he said, just that he cracked a joke, like, man, it's just one of those days, and everyone laughed. I was impressed by his ability to keep things in perspective and move on. Quite the contrast to Julius, but totally understandable considering Grundy had seen it all before while Hodge was in his first season.)

The memories aren't all bad, though, not even close. I happened to be sitting/standing in the first row of the SWPC section behind the State bench during the crotch punch game, and I'll never forget Hodge turning to the Wake bench as he walked back towards us and saying, "I will FUCK you up!" That was directed at Chris Paul, I'm assuming. A great, purely Hodge moment on a heartbreaking night. I endured countless depressing soccer and volleyball games for that kind of moment.

Then, of course, there was the play that sent NC State to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in a long time. That was something I'd never experienced. There were hundreds of students waiting to meet the players at Weisiger-Brown after that win. It was so cool to be able to savor everything over the next week. The Final Four felt so close. Hard to explain, but you know what I mean. That year made the last five extra tough, but it reminds me why I put myself through this, why I keep the faith. We're going to get there again, and to check out now--or at any point in the future--would be to cheat myself of that feeling.

NC State 66, Boston College 54

2010-03-08T05:53:19Z

More photos » Ethan Hyman - AP

8 days ago: North Carolina State's C.J. Williams, right, blocks the shot of Boston College's Rakim Sanders, second from right, as N.C. State's Johnny Thomas (30) also provides pressure during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, March 7, 2010, in Raleigh, N.C. North Carolina State won 66-54. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Ethan Hyman)

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Four Factors	NC State	Boston College
eFG%	55.4	48.0
Turnover Rate	16.4	18.0
Off Reb Rate	15.4	16.7
FT Rate	45.7	22.4

	Pts	Poss	OFF_EFF	DEF_EFF
BC	54	61.1	88.4	108.0
NCSU	66	61.1	108.0	88.4

Box Score

A brilliant second-half offensive performance, outstanding defensive rebounding, and gutsy play by Dennis Horner in his final home game. That's a Wolfpack winner.

The second half appeared to be following the same course as the first, at least for the first nine minutes. But NC State scored 32 points in the final 11 minutes, nearly doubling what it had produced in the previous 29. Dennis Horner came back from a scary fall to score 11 of his 14 points. The Pack collected zero offensive boards in the second half but shot 65.9% and did not commit a turnover. The result was a half in which State averaged 1.4 points per possession, which is some out-of-this-world production. Sometimes offensive rebounds are irrelevant.

Thank you, Dennis. Thanks for sticking with the program in uncertain times. Thanks for handling the difficult position in which you were placed this season as best you could. I'll miss your tattoo power, and I mean that sincerely. "Flame" became a term of endearment a long time ago.

Thanks to you too, Farnold. I'm sorry that that fucking ROUS Mick Cronin and his pathetic brute squad derailed your career here.