Where: RBC Center, Raleigh, NC
When: Saturday, January 31st, 3:30 PM
TV: ABC…yeah freaking ABC…at 3:30
Liveblogging: No
Records: UNC 18-2, 4-2 ACC; NCSU 11-7, 2-4 ACC
“I’d rather beat State than eat”
Despite how badly NC State has played at points this season they also have shown up for the most part against some very good teams Marquette and Duke being two of them. This is also a rivarly game and the Heels are coming off an emotionally draining win at FSU. It would behoove them to approach this game with a fair amount of intensity. This will be one of those games NC State fans actually decide to fill all of the seats in the RBC Center making it a loud and tough environment.
On the basketball side it is a simple matter of Ty Lawson playing Farnold Degand in such a way Degand gives serious thought to quitting. There is no reason given the way Degand has played and the way Lawson is capable of playing defense the Wolfpack should be able to get any semblance of an offense going if proper pressure is applied. In fact I am not overly concerned about the defense save looking out for someone channeling Rodney Monroe. The issue, in my mind, will be shooting the ball. Tyler Hansbrough needs to get on track regardless of how the game is called. Same is true for Deon Thompson and having Wayne Ellington crank it up again is crucial to keeping the offense running smooth. UNC need to execute well on offense. That is one of the more important aspects of any road game since it takes the crowd out of it pretty quickly.
Let me also say that aside from this being a must win in terms of the ACC regular season, this also a must win in terms of my sanity. Wolfpack fans have been riding high on two straight wins in football and the footprint from 41-10 was still evident on some Tar Heel players’ uniforms during the Car Bowl. The time has come for a little return in kind on the basketball court. I would very much like to see a repeat of the game in Chapel Hill from last season. That is unlikely but given my kids are likely to wake up from their naps around 4:30 or so I would appreciate if the game was over for all intents and purposes then.
UNC 95 NCSU 70
![[Bloglines]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[del.icio.us]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[MySpace]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Technorati]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/technorati.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
I agree with Roy. I would rather beat State than eat. Dook is actually a good team (as much as I hate saying it) and if we lose to them at least we know they’re good. State…not so much.
the heels press has been effective in spots this season..I’d personally like to see Coach Williams press constantly against a team like state..if not, at least use the run and jump trap nearly every time down the court
I’m gonna go ahead and say it… “Georgia Tech gets their first ACC win today.”
Perfect setup for a trap… a very good, young team (Wake), coming off an intense win at at home in a Top-5 match-up, and going on the road to a team that most consider pathetic.
Wow. That would be amazing. The GT fan I know would be estatic.
Wake beats GT
UNC beats NC State
Maryland beats Miami
Virginia Tech beats Boston College
And the race for ACC bracketology goes nuts.
I like the sound of that!
could be a trap game. playing a rival on the road is never easy in the ACC. If UNC can get this game into an up tempo style, State won’t be able to keep up.
http://accsec.blogspot.com/search/label/North%20Carolina
This should be a very tough game. Coach Sendek has had his squad in the top twenty most of the year, so it is certainly no gimme, especially on the road.
GTech up 5 halfway through the second!
Edit: nevermind, GameTracker screwed up…
William,
Flashback???
Sendek is definitely an accomplished coach.
“Their fans are kind of crazy. A lot of country guys over there. They’re pretty harsh. They speak their mind – they say whatever comes to mind. They’ll try to hurt your feelings. It’s probably one of the toughest places to play. And you’ve got that wolf howling in the background, which is kind of annoying.” — UNC forward Danny Green on playing in Raleigh
Hehe. I love that.
The UNC guys say that the Duke fans at least try to be creative. State fans will say stuff about your digestive patterns.
Agreed. I bet that wolf howling in the background would be annoying. Usually all you hear at dook is the crowd. But State is a teensy bit more profane than dook.
uncgirl — Wolf stew today.
william — Coach Sendek looks like he’s gained a lot of weight.
C.Michael — I admire your brass. I haven’t looked in on the GT/Wake game, but I think the chances of GT winning are about the same as Coach K’s chances of being mistaken for Mother Theresa.
Rivalry and home court count for a lot. Talent counts for more.
I have an ornament with the whole wolf stew thing going on. Its a Rameses with a wolf in a pot over an open fire. The Ram is holding a sign tha says “Today’s Special: Wolf Stew. I love it.
Well, you still have to have a lot of respect for a coach who took the Wolfpack to four or five straight NCAA tournaments….
Final: GTech 76 – Wake 74.
Who’s tha man???
So…. Is Wake still the “class” of the ACC? Are they still in the “driver’s seat”, lol? Way to go, GIT!
Good call CM! Can you also give me lottery numbers?
C.Michael — Can I hire you as my stock broker?
By the way, I heard that Mother Theresa is the coach at Dook.
I really didn’t care who won this GT/Wake game. It bodes better for our chances at finishing atop the ACC if they lose. But I have to say, what vested interest did the officiating crew have in this game. Wake was getting called for fouls they weren’t in their previous games, and GT played tough d most of the game. But those fouls on McFarland and Aminu were just horrible at best. If those are fouls, then our inside guys go to the line every trip down the court.
Congrats to GT on playing a good game and having the fortitude to take and make a last second shot like that. Maybe it saves coaches job?
I think this officially give the Heels control of their own destiny so to speak at least in the ACC. Boy, the ACC loves to eat their young!
D,
Not yet. If UNC and Wake both win out, Wake still gets the the title.
william — Any team that beats us when we’re No. 3 and Dook when they’re No. 1 has a claim to be the class of the ACC. If we had beaten two ACC rivals that highly ranked, I would sure be claiming the label for us. As it is, we may yet earn it, Wake’s argument having been significantly weakened today, as you correctly note.
As I said, Wake is still a young team and the ability to bring it every night or even play at a high level every time out is a tough job even for an experienced team like UNC. I see a pattern with Wake. They tend to play at the level of their competition. And as CM said, this had trap game written all over it. Playing a inferior opponent on the road after winning against #1 is a sure fire game to trip a team up.
I am not saying that I am necessarily any different, but we go through this every year where people assume that whoever is 5-1, or 6-0 or whatever, is going to go undefeated or win out. Maybe the unbalanced schedule helps feed this frenzy since teams like Carolina only get a single shot at Wake. But then again, Carolina had another shot at Duke last year and we kept hearing that basically Duke had clinched the regular season crown when they were 8-0 and we were 6-2.
I have to say that to me, all along, a team like Wake that struggles to beat Richmond, Cal State Fullerton, and Texas Western, obviously has some issues.
as do we
Carolina has not struggled at all with teams of mediocre talent levels. Wake Forest has. That is a pretty good ticket for leaving the NCAA tourney early.
they’re young, we’re not
Yes! Go GT!
Wake beat Cal State Fullerton by seven, UTEP by three and had that close game with Richmond. Their youth is very evident in the sense they do get up for the Duke and UNC games but are flat for VT and GT. Assuming Dino keeps that team intact they will not struggle with that next season though does anyone believe Jeff Teague is coming back next season?
They are not actually all that young. People seem to be under the impression that Wake is the new fab five. Our team two years ago was younger. Hale is a senior. Smith, McFarland, and L.D. Williams are all juniors. Johnston and Teague are sophomores. Wake has several freshman big men, but I believe only one freshman starter. Their guards are all seasoned players, and are on average, past their junior season.
The Wake is young excuse is not going to wash that much longer and I doubt it carries a lot of weight with their fans now.
c michael, GREAT CALL!!! i’ve been telling anyone i know that wake is going to get their share of losses. they’re too young and they’ve not been consistent all season. i just didn’t expect it from GT.
no, we don’t control our own destiny but with wake’s inconsistency (not necessarily their youth), they won’t go undefeated here on out in the ACC. so, as long as we do, we should end up #1. and this most likely means that we don’t have to play wake or dook in the semis.
and i’d say at this point, that the “class” of the ACC consists of 3 teams in wake, unc and dook.
GO HEELS! DESTROY THE WUSSPACK!!!
Maybe it is more apt to talk about experience where Wake is concerned, especially in terms of being a winning team at this level. You also have Dino Gaudio who is still learning the ropes being a head coach in the ACC.
more to the point is, we are experienced. I make no apologies for expecting a lot more out of this team as we have one of the all-time greats at Carolina, choosing to come back for his senior year to hopefully finish the job, and 3 others who had a potentially valuable reality check. the inconsistencies we show are more disturbing when factoring in the experience difference is my point…but hopefully, that will begin to turn….turn, or burn.
There’s an inner Dean Smith in me somewhere, longing for home-and-away games with all the ACC, or at least the pre-expansion teams.
I guess that’s a fat chance, but wouldn’t it be great to get your cupcakes and rivalries too?