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Home / NC State Basketball / ‘OUR TAKE’: The aftermath of the Maryland Loss

‘OUR TAKE’: The aftermath of the Maryland Loss

By on January 18, 2013
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Wow. I can honestly say that despite the statistics to back it up, I just didn’t see that coming. I just thought with this talent and with Gottfried on the sidelines that I wasn’t going to see State come out and lay an egg. But, hey, this is NC State basketball and such things should always be in the back of your mind.

With that said, here are a few notes we took when re-watching the game last night.

- Nervous energy. Out of the gate, this team played with more tension than I’ve seen them play with all season. They were rushing, forcing shots and really just not in their element. It started off with Leslie trying to go one on one with Len right off the bat. It was like he wanted to make a point early, which I like, however he wasn’t doing it within the offense. That was the cut that started the bleeding.

- NC State rarely ran an offensive set and were up and down and up and down, taking poor shot after poor shot. This team doesn’t have many guys who can do that. One guy who DOES thrive in that situation is Rodney Purvis, whose ‘get it and go’ style of play seemed to be working a bit in the first half.

- Maryland came ready to play. Sure, they are awful offensively, but they had energy and really wanted this win. They are a young team, but they are relentless on defense.

- State scored 16 points in the first half. The best offensive team in the nation only could score 16 points… you heard that right.  Scott Wood was 3-13, Purvis was 1-7 and TJ Warren was 0-6. How is this possible? We’ll get into that…

- I thought the pace of the game was MUCH too fast for NC State. I think this was because they were down most of the game and were trying desperately to get it going. I also think that when they did slow it down, Maryland was able to stop their bread and butter post game. Now, listen, the refs weren’t bias one way or the other in this one, but I have really never seen a more loosely called basketball game. The ACC needs to get it together. Their guys are either calling way too many fouls, or no fouls at all. It’s unbelievable  There was some massive contact on both sides of the floor that just went uncalled and then some touch fouls that they called going to the basket. Re watching it, I thought I’d see it differently. Maybe I was just caught in the moment or watching it too much as a State fan. Nope. Basically, if you were posting up, you weren’t getting a call. The only real calls came on drives to the bucket (and even some of them went uncalled).

- I haven’t really questioned Gottfried on anything since he’s been at State. I think he’s always on top of things and really leaves nothing for fans to complain about, but against  Maryland it was pretty strange why he didn’t go zone earlier. He kept telling his guys to slow down, be patient and a zone will certainly do that for a team, but State didn’t go zone until late in the 2nd half. It’s not like the Terps have many shooters, in fact they are a really poor shooting team for the most part. I do understand that it is hard to rebound out of the zone, but it just seemed like it was the right call for this game on this day.

- The only two real bright spots in this game for State was their hustle, their defense, Richard Howell on the boards and Lorenzo Brown. NC State needs help rebounding. Howell can’t do it all, so either Leslie and Warren need to take it up a  notch or big teams are going to beat the Pack. I thought Zo was really great in this one. I know it was a real up and down game and no one was hitting shots, but Brown stepped up and did knock down a few big ones down the stretch. Really, he was the only thing NC State had going. Now, I won’t say he played perfectly, because he can be blamed for the pace being a little out of control, but he can’t be blamed for his teammates poor shooting. I think Brown has been playing great basketball ever since the ACC season started.

- Down the stretch the Pack played well, but they really were searching out Wood a lot despite his poor shooting day. Sure he hit 2 big shots, so I do understand, but Brown seemed to have the killer instinct on this night and I wondered why he didn’t get the shot that could have put the game out of reach for the Terps.

- The final play summed up the Wolfpack’s day. They guarded their hearts out, had two guys in the face of the shooter and CJ Leslie went for a big block, but missed. The ball fell into Maryland’s hands and Len dumped it in for the win. Not a bad play by Leslie. If Howard makes that shot and Leslie doesn’t jump, everyone would be wondering why Leslie didn’t go for the block. He did, he tried to stop the winning shot and it backfired. Again, a microcosm of this game. State puts in the hustle, but the ball just rolls Maryland’s way.

- NC State is no longer has the best FG% in the nation. Shooting 31% will do that to you.

- Next up is Clemson, in a much needed home game that the Pack really must win. We’ll have a preview on that game tomorrow.

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  • good2bjking

    This team is definitely prone to laying an egg right now. Let’s hope that changes as the season wears on, but the ACC is loaded with teams that play physical, stingy D. State let one of those teams completely disrupt their offense and you can’t let that happen and win an ACC title or advance to the Final Four.

    • http://twitter.com/DaveSaysSo Dave Allen

      This was a good experience for the team as much as the loss might hurt. Learn and move on. Believe it or not I think the team gets better because of this game.

  • http://twitter.com/KyleWSeitz Kyle Seitz

    I’m surprised that State didn’t foul again in the closing seconds. You’re right to say MD doesn’t shoot the ball from the perimeter well. That’s basically what they would’ve been forced to do if they were fouled and forced to inbound the ball again with much less than 5 seconds on the clock. It also would’ve basically eliminated the possibility of a rebound putback b/c there simply wouldn’t have been enough time. Instead Howard had the time to make a dribble drive towards the basket and bad things happened.

    • http://twitter.com/DaveSaysSo Dave Allen

      While I would have loved to see us foul, you’ve got to be VERY careful in a situation like that – especially if the game is tied or you’re only up by a point. Too many times I’ve seen the whistle blow and someone suddenly go into a shooting motion and end up at the free throw line. It sure looked like we had a chance to foul Howard after a couple of ticks off the clock but it still would have been a dangerous move. I wonder what was communicated in the huddle.

  • http://twitter.com/DaveSaysSo Dave Allen

    Yes the team played nervous and understandably so after listening to everyone in the world tell them they were due for a “letdown” and past history showed that they were likely to lose. I had that same nervous energy in the hours leading up to the game as a fan. Give Maryland credit – they played with a sense of desperation and were stout on defense. You can not question State’s effort or heart in the second half. Despite the woeful shooting night – which we were due to have (yes – shot selection played a role, too), we really gave ourselves a chance and should have ended up winning that game. We really needed a score on our last possession and I agree I would have rather seen us go to someone other than Wood with an attack on the basket where we would have likely at least ended up at the free throw line. The team will learn and grow from this game. The bitter feeling at the end will be something they do not want to experience again this season. This game will have prepped us well for the Clemson game on Sunday because they too play that butt-ugly “style” that Maryland must employ to pull off a miracle one point win over a team that is STILL destined for great things. They never gave up in the game against Maryland and you’ve at least got to love that. That is one thing I expect to see for the rest of the season. This team has lofty goals and is determined to hit them!

    • hugh

      I like Scot Wood but he is inconsistent. He either hot or cold. He should not have taken the shot at the end which would have given state a 3 point lead. Brown should have taken it…. For the life of me state should have fouled as soon as the guy touched ball. They only had four fouls. I mean no cheap foul an all out steal ball foul.

      • http://twitter.com/DaveSaysSo Dave Allen

        I agree with this and was thinking the same thing right after the game. Reach around for the steal and foul the HELL out of him!

  • Jeremy

    I completely disagree on the final play. CJL is not a great, or even good, shot blocker. He goal tends nearly as much as he blocks. He does not have good shot-blocking “instincts.” He should have stayed home with his man, boxed out and rebounded. His tendency to go for the block has resulted in many easy points under the basket. If he stays home more regularly, their rebounding, an area where they need help, would improve as well.

    • Dan

      Completely agree with this comment. C.J. Leslie is such a Mega-talent. However, his attempt to block air ball at the last play were horrid move.

      I understand he is a problem solver when we can’t find way to score. His tendency to “I have to beat this NBA draft pick (Plumlee, Len)” move lead to incomprehensible shot and blocks. I regard such competitiveness highly, but competitiveness and rationale is different story. Although he is so talented to make 50% of those incomprehensible shots, it is frustrating to see it.

      I really want this kid to have successful career in NBA, but he needs to improve his mental strength.

  • Mike

    Look winning teams”Championship” always have a common denominator. Defense. The Louisville Cardinals are a great example. That team does not have the overall basketball talent that the Pack has but they are an aggressive and relentless defensive team. You will not see that type of team out of a game. There was a defensive break down due to the teams lack of communication. Leslie should have stayed under the basket to take away any offensive put backs.
    State players get beat off the dribble to often. They need to understand that if they are going to be the championship team that they want to be that it will only be if they commit to the defensive end!

    • http://twitter.com/DaveSaysSo Dave Allen

      Disagree on Louisville not having the overall basketball talent – simply not true. Bigger and deeper than us. Do not disagree that we need to stay committed on defense. We’re getting there – held Duke to 76 and Maryland to 51.

  • Sarl

    Unlike so many other rabid State fans, I don’t have a problem with State not fouling in the last 5 seconds. The problem that I have is that after watching the final play over and over again, the fault I have is with Brown. He did a really poor job of guarding Howard. When Howard started to drive, it appears as if Brown was very slow to react. As a result, Howard was in a position to shoot the air ball closer to the basket because Brown allowed penetration. Because of Howard’s poor outside shooting deficiencies, Brown should have taken away the drive to the basket. Had that happened, none of us would be having this conversation. Leslie was wrong for not staying with Lin. More games are won on offensive rebounds than on game winning shots. Remember State won a national championship on the same kind of play.