Wolfpack Basketball Diaries No. 10 - The Bogus and the Bummed

February, 21, 2008 , by Vince

Boston College

Can’t say much about this one. Rice, Sanders and Oates had good nights. When all three of those guys have a good night, then you’re pretty much guaranteed to have your work cut out for you. I imagine that the trip to Boston is a hard one. BC had consistent halves, scoring 41 points in each. State could not muster up a second-half comeback after being down by 9 at the half. Oh, where’s the love this Valentine’s day? Where!? I was hoping the Pack could pull this road win off. Get us back into even territory in conference play. Alas, it was not to be.
NC State is (15-9, 4-6).

Clemson

So, I spent a good part of the morning worrying about Radiohead tickets than State’s big day. Maybe my day’s focus was not where it should’ve been. It was State’s first conference rematch and it was against Clemson. State had done better since their first meeting, but has only been able to win two games back to back before losing again. We had already lost two coming into this game. Losing a third was something State did not want. What can I say? No Focus?!? How can you be down 11 at the half, come back and take a two point lead and blow the lead? Was it the missed free throws? Poor ball handling? Who is to say. The frustration of the fans was apparent. I even got “the look” by a middle-aged man with his kid. I said to my crew as we were leaving… “If we beat Carolina, it would be a victory of biblical proportions… walking on water, raising lazarus-type of affair…you know, a miracle, with the way we’re playing now.” My crew agreed, however, a couple of people who overheard the remark shot me a look that labeled me a heathen. Um, its a joke, people. Relax. And my focus had nothing to do with it. I was not playing the game.

“Not much I can say because our effort was there,” coach Sidney Lowe said of Saturday’s 71-64 set-back to visiting Clemson. “We just have to finish the game down the stretch. We need to be strong enough physically and mentally.”

Yes, Coach, that has been apparent since losing to ECU. Also I’d like to point out that the one two punch of losing to Clemson and UNC in January. Its now a month later and think most fans don’t want this to happen again. State did perform well this time. I guess they could’ve used another day’s rest or more practice to prepare. I mean, coming back from Boston to play a hot ACC team in less than 2 days is not ideal. But the effort they gave showed more than enough to let State fans know that they shouldn’t write off the season. Yet. I’ve said it before…it is tough to be a State fan in this area.

“We’ve got to move forward,” Courtney Fells said. “We can’t let this get to us.”

Oh, you know that’s right.
The highlight of this game was during halftime, when they honored the ‘83 team. Yes, State fans still love that team. Its a shame the fans watching at home didn’t get to see it. (Did you?) It was an inspiring sight to see. I met Lorenzo Charles in the hallway! What a nice dude. Lowe wasn’t out there with his teammates, probably because he was in the locker room giving his players an earful. Probably something about the NCAA or something. By the way, State dropped to 60 in the RPI ratings if anyone is interested.
NC State is (15-10, 4-7).

UNC

After learning Wake defeated Duke by 13, I was hoping for the same kind of magic for the underdogs that are currently known as NC State. The other 3 teams on Tobacco Road are doing better than us. Wake Forest, who were picked to be at the bottom in ACC pre-season polls, are resting comfortable with their 16-8 record. That’s good for Dino and his boys, but State is now past the looking hoop. They got to win this and every game afterwards if they want a berth in the NCAA (unless they take the ACC championship…hey, we got the Old Spice Classic…it could happen).

“It’s time. It’s been time now where guys have to step up,” Coach Lowe said. “They have to step up and play. We need everybody. We can’t have J.J. Hickson the only guy rebounding for us. We need Gavin, Courtney and Javi and Brandon and Ben and Dennis and whoever’s playing, we need guys to step up.”

Well, if he’s addressing players by their first name only, he must be serious. I guess the players didn’t take their coach seriously. No matter what the numbers say….if we had made all free throws, and let the half end at 31-28 in our favor…well, we still would’ve lost. Well, it must’ve been the eclipse or something. Now we can only play for an neutral conference record. Effin’ bogus, bro. Now our record from last year at this time (12-14, 4-8) is starting to catch up with us guys. Let’s not clemson* this up.

Its funny…with this also happening last night, I guess I’ll leave this day thinking that the wrong Hansbrough lost.
NC State is (15-11, 4-8)

* = refer to this recent post from Jared’s current blog entry that says “We have no time to get even more disparaged. We have to avoid Clemson-ing this one up again.” I believe to “clemson” something means to mess it up without explination. Confirm with Jared.