N.C. State’s guards have taken a lot of flak this season.
But in Wednesday night’s 82-76 victory over No. 7 ranked Wake Forest, the Pack backcourt quieted the critics.
Farnold Degand enjoyed perhaps his finest night of the season, coming off the bench to score 14 points, hand out four assists, make three steals and block an Ish Smith fast break layup, all in 26 minutes. Degand also committed just two turnovers.
Starter Javier Gonzalez turned it over four times in 19 minutes, but he also scored six points that included two pressure free throws with 17 seconds left and finished with two assists.
On the wing, Courtney Fells added 12 points and tenaciously defended Wake's high-scoring Jeff Teague. Together, Fells, Degand and Gonzalez outscored Wake's heralded backcourt trio of Teague, L.D. Williams and Ish Smith, 32-24.
Coach Sidney Lowe prudently blended several defenses, including an effective box-and-one that shut down Teague. That stirred memories of former Wolfpack coach Jim Valvano, who used to tame hot-shot opponents with similar schemes.
McCauley ill, but Wolfpack subs step up: Wake has considerable depth, but State's bench matched the Deacons' reserves in points with 24. That included 10 from C.J. Williams.
Ben McCauley wasn’t his usual Big Mac self but deserves plaudits for plucking five rebounds and scoring five points. He was sick on Wednesday, but still gutted through 29 minutes on the court.
State solves Deacs' defense: Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio was disturbed that his Deacons gave up several back-door baskets.
Unlike Duke and North Carolina's man-to-man defenses that extend and clog passing lanes, Wake pressures the ball handler hard while the other four players pack it in to stop penetration inside.
"It's rare we give up back-door baskets," Gaudio said.
Comments
Words matter.
Fri, 02/13/2009 - 15:26 — JPDOhioFor example, UNC should win the national championship. There was a time when some thought they might go undefeated. However, they lost a couple because some of their players didn't show up for some of their games and refused to play defense. If they can stay focused and give maximum effort the rest of the year, they may cut down the nets in Detroit.
So, add "may" to the word list.
Ready to take flak over this
Thu, 02/12/2009 - 14:17 — JPDOhioLost in the angst of the recent meltdowns are the following:
1. The point guard situation is not as bad as many think. Degand is playing great and there is no reason it should not continue. Javi has a turnover problem, but he is active on defense and got a key rebound at the end of the game. He also hit two clutch free throws when it counted. And we still have Julius Mays, who has a solid upside.
2. Sid can, in fact, coach. His game plan for Wake was terrific and he still has his team playing hard when it would have been easy for them to give up. He has learned from last year (when his team, led by Gavin "What a Waste" Grant) quit on him and made the appropriate adjustments to his coaching style.
3. The Pack has some very nice, athletic young players that should fit the style of play that Sid likes better than some of Herb's holdovers have. CJ Williams showed serious promise against Wake.
4. If this team can avoid the mental lapses that have been the root cause of their melt-downs, they can be very dangerous for the rest of the year. A run in the ACC tournament similar to two years ago is not out of the question.
The preceding comments are the opinion of the poster and certainly do not reflect the views of the N&O or the majority of Pack fans (or any Duke or UNC fan for that matter).
Agree
Fri, 02/13/2009 - 14:46 — SurferAgree with your assessment. Nice choice of words though:
1. should
2. was
3. some
4. If