yeah, I left the student section today yelling let's go N.C. State Basketball. Nobody got the joke though. Or maybe they did, and our O-Line allowed Clemson to sack their sense of humor as well.

9/22/2007 11:56:03 PM

that's not much of a joke to "get".

9/22/2007 11:57:30 PM

fucking Clemson .. their fans were surprisingly pretty nice at least in our section.

9/23/2007 12:01:17 AM

^^ Yeah, that's why I meant nobody clapped, cheered/jeered, or even acknowledged that I said anything.

lines read lines

[Edited on September 23, 2007 at 12:01 AM. Reason : adf]

9/23/2007 12:01:38 AM

Ok time for my serious and somewhat optimistic predictions.

William & Mary - W
New Orleans - W
Rider - W
Penn State or South Carolina - W
TBA - W (Old Spice Classic Champions) (I think it may be a toss up considering who we draw, but I give us a good chance no matter who we play)
@ Michigan State - L
@ East Carolina - W
South Carolina State - W
Davidson - W
Cincinnati - W
@ Seton Hall - W
Western Carolina - W
Presbyterian - W
North Carolina Central - W
@ North Carolina - L
@ Clemson - L
Miami - W
Georgia Tech - W
@ Florida State - W
@ Duke - L (we haven't won there since 1995)
Wake Forest - W
Virginia Tech - W
@ Maryland - L
@ Boston College - W
Clemson - W
North Carolina - L (I hope I'm wrong on this)
@ Virginia - W
Florida State - W
Duke - W
Wake Forest - W

(24-6, 11-5) Regular Season

ACC Tournament
Bye
Friday - W
Saturday - W
Sunday - L (Charlotte is a big Tar Hole town, but hopefully I can go down to the Bobcats Arena the Thursday afternoon after work and buy tickets from fans of losing teams for the remainder of the ACCT. I'd love to be wrong and see us win our first ACC Tournament Championship since 1987.)

NCAA Tournament
1st Round - W
2nd Round - W
Sweet Sixteen - L

(28-8) Overall Record

An 8 point increase in win total isn't all that far fetched considering how a lot of teams in the ACC are losing a lot of talent either to graduation or the draft, and what we are gaining. Also we have a pretty easy OOC schedule. Expect that trend to change in the future as we have a series with Arizona coming up, and may have games against Florida, Kentucky, and UMass (I know not a power, but it's better than going to ECU).


I'll be happy though if we can get 25 wins, be in the top 4 of the ACC (that way we get a bye in the ACCT), and get back to the NCAA Tournament.

[Edited on September 23, 2007 at 12:13 AM. Reason : ]

9/23/2007 12:11:03 AM

^ you think we lose at clemson? fuck that we need some intra sports revenge after today.

9/23/2007 12:12:50 AM

It's my WTF? loss for the season. You know we'll have some NC State shit happen at least once this basketball season. Plus Clemson looks to be one of the top 4 teams in the league.

9/23/2007 12:14:11 AM

actually i heard you. and it wasnt funny at all. and when basketball season comes, you will be the guy that when we lose a game we suppose to win will be like "yey! football season is soon".

9/23/2007 12:15:22 AM

4 weeks till Ballin' at the Old Barn. 5 weeks till the Red & White game. 6 weeks till our first scrimmage against Barton College. And 8 weeks till our first real game against William & Mary. I think I need to carjack that DeLorean time machine from Michael J. Fox.

9/23/2007 12:41:33 PM

So what exactly are they going to do at "ballin at the old barn"?

is it like a midnight madness type deal, except not at midnight?

9/23/2007 12:57:58 PM

Yes. They wanted to have a real midnight madness, but the students Fall Break coincided with the date in which they could start playing, so they moved the event back a week. I imagine there will be a dunk contest and some other things.

9/23/2007 1:01:30 PM

http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/2/682867.html

don't know why i didn't see this coming.

9/23/2007 1:48:07 PM

uh oh

Quote :

" Gonzalez Undergoes Surgery By NC State Media Relations Posted Sep 23, 2007 NC State head men's basketball coach Sidney Lowe has announced that point guard Javier Gonzales underwent surgery on Saturday to repair a ligament in his right (shooting) thumb. NC State head men's basketball coach Sidney Lowe has announced that point guard Javier Gonzalez underwent surgery on Saturday to repair a ligament in his right (shooting) thumb. Gonzales suffered the injury on Friday during a skill workout when he dove for a loose ball. Gonzalez, a 6-0 freshman from Carolina, Puerto Rico, will be in a cast for six weeks and will be out of action for a total of 10-12 weeks. "This is a tough thing for Javi to have to go through so early in his career," said Lowe. "But we will look forward to his return early in the season and know that he will be able to contribute to our team this year." "

[Edited on September 23, 2007 at 1:50 PM. Reason : and i'm too slow for ^]

9/23/2007 1:50:11 PM

The wheels are falling off. We are okay but if this trend continues I don't wanna know what happens.

9/23/2007 2:07:02 PM

there goes our depth at pg

javi out until December, and johnson can't play until after fall semester

does anyone know if clayton beard plays ponit, or if he's more of a 2 guard?

[Edited on September 23, 2007 at 2:15 PM. Reason : .]

9/23/2007 2:12:54 PM

This really sucks. I thought we could get through the first few games without Johnson helping us out at point, but now I'm really unsure. I mean we should be able to take care of the cupcakes no problem, but we really needed Gonzalez to be able to play in the Old Spice Classic and the MSU game. Perhaps even the Seton Hall, Cincinnati, and Davidson games as well. First Thomas, now Degand. If any of our four returning starters go down I may just have a heart attack. Never do I remember us having so many injuries like this in both football and basketball.

9/23/2007 5:08:28 PM

Was Javi #1 or was Degand #1. I know nothing about javi pretty confident degand is adequate since he's been with the team for a year. Fells backing him up until december will be fine. And also its not like a leg injury where the player loses all physical abilities so Javi should still be able to do most off ball workouts and stay in good shape for his return. I'd only be worried about him losing his shooting touch (if he was a shooter at all anyway?)

9/23/2007 5:57:58 PM

no big deal

we can just use grant at the point

9/23/2007 6:04:44 PM

I think that you guys are seriously under estimating the probability of at least two more players being injured and out for the season, before the season ever starts.

I think that Sidney may end up enrolling and suiting up for a couple of games this year. That or more walk ons.

9/23/2007 6:57:58 PM

Which college basketball programs are the greatest of all time?

1) Kentucky - No. 1 in all time wins and winning percentage. 7 NCAA Titles (1948, 1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998). Most NCAA Tournament wins. 2 NIT Championships (1946, 1976). Made the Final Four 6 other times (1942, 1966, 1975, 1984, 1993, 1997) so 13 Final Fours in all. To show how dominant they have been over the years in the SEC, Kentucky has 43 SEC Regular Season Championships (second place is LSU and Tennessee with 8 each), and 25 SEC Tournament Championships (second place is Alabama with 6) .

2) North Carolina - No. 2 in all time wins. 4 NCAA Titles (1957, 1982, 1993, 2005). 16 Final Fours in all (1946, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005). 16 Conference Tournament Titles (1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2007). 25 Regular Season Conference Titles (1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2005, 2007). 39 NCAA appearances.

3) UCLA - 11 NCAA Titles (1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995). 17 Final Fours (1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1995, 2006, 2007). 28 Conference Regular Season Titles (1945, 1950, 1952, 1956, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2006, 2007). 2 Conference Tournament Titles (1987, 2006). 41 NCAA Tournament appearances.

4) Indiana - 5 NCAA Titles (1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987). 7th all time with 8 Final Fours (1940, 1953, 1973, 1976, 1981, 1987, 1992, 2002). 34 NCAA appearances (5th all time). 20 Conference Regular Season Titles (1926, 1928, 1935, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 2002).

5) Duke - 3 NCAA Titles (1991, 1992, 2001). 14 Final Fours (1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001, 2004). 15 Conference Tournament Titles (1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006). 18 Conference Regular Season Titles (1954, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1979, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006). 31 NCAA Tournament Appearances.

6) Kansas - 2 NCAA Titles (1952, 1988). 12 Final Fours (1940, 1952, 1953, 1957, 1971, 1974, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1993, 2002, 2003). No. 3 in all time wins. 50 conference titles (1 ahead of Kentucky) in 100 years of basketball (7 regular season and 5 tournament titles in the 10 years of the Big XII). 36 NCAA Tournament Appearances.

7) Louisville - 2 NCAA Titles (1980, 1986). 8 Final Fours (1959, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1986, 2005). Also won the 1948 NAIB and 1956 NIT titles. 15 Conference Tournament Titles (1928, 1929, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2003, 2005). 33 NCAA Tournament appearances.

8) Michigan State - 2 NCAA Titles (1979, 2000). 6 Final Fours (1957, 1979, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005). 11 Conference Regular Season Titles (1957, 1959, 1967, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001). 21 NCAA Tournament Appearances.

9) North Carolina State - 2 NCAA Titles (1974, 1983). 3 Final Fours (1950, 1974, 1983). 10 Conference Tournament Titles (1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1983, 1987), I guess you could include the 7 SoCon Tournament Titles as well (1929,1947,1948,1949,1950,1951,1952). 7 Conference Regular Season Titles (1955, 1956, 1959, 1973, 1974, 1985, 1989). 22 NCAA Tournament Appearances.

10) Connecticut - 2 NCAA Title (1999, 2004). 2 Final Fours (1999, 2004). 1 NIT Title (1988). 10 Big East Regular Season Titles (1990, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006). 6 Big East Tournament Titles (1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004). 27 NCAA Tournament Appearances.

11) Oklahoma State - 2 NCAA Titles (1945, 1946). 6 Final Fours (1945, 1946, 1949, 1951, 1995, 2004). 22 NCAA Tournament appearances.

12) Cinncinnati - 2 NCAA Titles (1961 1962). 6 Final Fours (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1992). 24 NCAA Tournament appearances.

13) Ohio State - 1 NCAA Title (1960). 10 Final Fours (1939, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1999*, 2007). 19 Conference Regular Season Titles (1925, 1933, 1939, 1944, 1946, 1950, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1968, 1971, 1991, 1992, 2000*, 2002*, 2006, 2007). 2 Conference Tournament Titles (2002*, 2007). *later vacated due to cheating. 24 NCAA Tournament appearances.

14) Syracuse - 1 NCAA Title (2003). 4 Final Fours (1975, 1987, 1996, 2003). 5 Conference Tournament Titles (1981, 1988, 1992, 2005, 2006). 7 Conference Regular Season Titles (1980, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991, 2000, 2003). 31 NCAA Tournament appearances.

15) Georgetown - 1 NCAA Title (1984). 5 Final Fours (1943, 1982, 1984, 1985, 2007). 10 Conference Tournament Titles (1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2007). 3 Conference Regular Season Titles (1984, 1989, 2007). 24 NCAA Tournament appearances.

16) Florida - 2 NCAA Titles (2006, 2007). 4 Final Fours (1994, 2000, 2006, 2007). 3 Conference Tournament Titles (2005, 2006, 2007). 4 Conference Regular Season Titles (1989, 2000, 2001, 2007). 14 NCAA Tournament appearances (first one was in 1987 so they are kind of like the new kids on the block, but will most certainly move up in the rankings if Donovan stays there and becomes the next Coach K like figure.)

17) Arizona - 1 NCAA Title (1997). 4 Final Fours (1988, 1994, 1997, 2001). 4 Conference Tournament Titles (1988, 1989, 1990, 2002). 22 Conference Regular Season Titles in all (1932, 1933, 1936, 1940, 1943, 1947, 1948, 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951 (BIAA)
1976 (WAC)
1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005 (Pac-10)). 26 NCAA Tournament appearances.

18) Michigan - 1 NCAA Title (1989). 6 Final Fours (1964, 1965, 1976, 1989, 1992* and 1993*) 12 Regular Season Conference Titles (1921, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1948, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1974, 1977, 1985, 1986). 1 Conference Tournament Title (1998*) *later vacated due to cheating. 20 NCAA Tournament appearances although 1992, 1993, 1996, and 1998 were vacated by the NCAA.

19) Maryland - 1 NCAA Title (2002). 2 Final Fours (2001, 2002). 3 Conference Tournament Titles (1958, 1984, 2004). 4 Conference Regular Season Titles (1975, 1980, 1995, 2002). 22 NCAA Tournament Appearances.

20) Marquette - 1 NCAA Title (1977). 3 Final Fours (1974, 1977, 2003). 1 NIT Title (1970). 25 NCAA Tournament appearances.

eh, I don't know who would go in spots 21-25.

My rankings are more as a historical perspective and not as a what have you done for me lately sort of thing, which is why Florida is so low. I'll probably move them up in the next few years. So I look at NCAA Tournament wins, NCAA Tournament championships, conference championships, overall wins, innovations, famous players, historical moments involving the program, and a little bit of program prestige. Based on these statistics how would you rank the top 25 programs of all time. I hope the season gets here soon so we have more to talk about.

[Edited on September 23, 2007 at 9:24 PM. Reason : ]

9/23/2007 9:20:50 PM

might move UCLA up a spot or two...that kind of dominance will never be seen again in college basketball. Also, they have more conference titles, NCAA appearances and final fours than Carowhina

[Edited on September 23, 2007 at 10:11 PM. Reason : df]

9/23/2007 10:10:28 PM

Switch UCLA and UNC

And then switch Duke and Kansas. Kansas has always been good. Duke was a nobody until Coach K.

9/23/2007 10:16:40 PM

Duke wasn't exactly a nobody. Before K they went to 4 Final Fours, 5 ACCT titles, and 7 ACC Regular Season titles. A couple of those Final Fours had them reach the title game. In 1964 they lost to UCLA, their first of 7 straight, and in 1978 they lost to Kentucky. Also the Pac 10 has been around longer than the ACC and UCLA has been a part of the Pac 10 (which was once known as the Pacific Coast Conference) since 1928, so I'd hope they would have more conference championships. I could recount the number of SoCon championships for North Carolina if you want, which I didn't put in the original post.

North Carolina won 8 Southern Conference Tournament Championships (1922, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1935, 1936, 1940, 1945) and 7 Southern Conference Regular Season Championships (1923, 1925, 1935, 1938, 1941, 1944, 1946).

For history purposes I'll include the other tobacco road teams Southern Conference Championships, since not many people know about them.

State won 7 Southern Conference Tournament Championships (1929, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952) and 6 Southern Conference Regular Season Championships (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953).

Duke won 4 Southern Conference Tournament Championships (1941, 1942, 1944, 1946) and 3 Southern Conference Regular Season Championships (1940, 1942, 1943).

Wake won 1 Southern Conference Tournament Championships (1939) and 1 Southern Conference Regular Season Championships (1953).

[Edited on September 23, 2007 at 11:17 PM. Reason : ]

9/23/2007 10:54:18 PM

gotta put ucla at 1 or 2, imo.

9/23/2007 10:56:28 PM

I think UCLAs dominance may have been challenged had they allowed non-conference champions to be in the NCAA Tournament. The ACC was far and away the best conference even back then. There were a lot of good teams in the ACC that could have won it all, but they didn't win the ACC Tournament and couldn't go on to the NCAA Tournament. No doubt though that UCLAs dominance was impressive and will be never duplicated.

9/23/2007 11:37:50 PM

^ for real

The regionals were true regionals back then, which meant UCLA wouldn't have to play anyone worth a crap until the Final Four. They pretty much had to get up for those two games all season and they had the championship won. I'm sure someone will try to argue they still had to beat the other Final Four teams to win the championship, but nevertheless, their chances of losing early in the tournament were greatly diminished because of the set up and thus were better than Kentucky's, UNC's, State's, Maryland's, etc.

9/23/2007 11:55:49 PM

Quote :

"The ACC was far and away the best conference even back then"

you say that as if its great right now. its a shitty conference right now.

9/24/2007 12:46:02 AM

What conferences do you have that are better than the ACC this year then? I'll concede that the Pac-10 looks to be scary good and is probably by far and away the best conference this year. I'm reserving judgment on the Big East. The SEC won't be shit. The SEC West is a cakewalk with maybe Mississippi State getting into the Top 25 this year (I don't understand why people think Arkansas will be any good). Kentucky is probably still a year away before getting back to their usual strong self. Tennessee is the only team you can really count on this year to be good. Big Ten? Don't make me laugh. We smack their bitch asses around every year, even in the ACC's supposed down years. The Big XII has Kansas and a bunch of pretenders. Texas could be good, but we'll see how they do now that Durant is gone. I'll say that this looks to be a down year for the ACC as a whole, but it looks to be a down year for nearly every conference, save the Pac-10.

9/24/2007 4:47:03 PM

The Pac-10 is only going to get better, with SC and UCLA getting top 5 recruits for 07 and 08.
I wouldn't be surprised if each of those schools put out a lottery pick every year for the next three, AZ has lottery caliber players too.

9/24/2007 5:06:14 PM

^ ^Speaking of Texas, I saw their star guard D.J. Augustin walking around campus yesterday and nobody seemed to even recognize him.

Whereas at State, pretty much any basketball player walking through the brickyard garners some attention.

Yes, this is Austin and down here football completely floods the market, but they still have a top-25 program.

9/24/2007 5:43:33 PM

A Texas fan told me that down there if you want good seats for football then you have to buy season tickets for basketball as well.

9/24/2007 6:04:28 PM

I'm beginning to rethink the positioning of North Carolina and UCLA. North Carolina has 56 Conference Titles in all, and UCLA has 30 in all. But the Pac 10 hasn't always had a tournament like the ACC. The Pac 10 Tournament was started on a trial basis from 1987 to 1990, but was dropped due to poor attendance and opposition from coaches. It was started up again in 2002. So UCLA may have had more total titles if their conference would have had a tournament early on. Another thing though is would UCLA have had 7 national titles in a row if there had been a conference tournament? I tend to think not. Conference tournaments bring out the best in a lot of teams. We can just look at State in 1983 & 1987 when State beat the #1 ACC team, and even in 2007 when we pushed UNC to the limit. Before the pre-expansion NCAA tournament, the Pac 10 was always fielding their best team, UCLA, while the ACC wasn't.

9/24/2007 7:01:31 PM

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=1146&CID=717950

Rivals has State at #18 in their top 64.

9/24/2007 7:47:25 PM

Quote :

"you say that as if its great right now. its a shitty conference right now."

The ACC is easily the best conference in this decade, I don't see how you could say it's bad.

So basically, if you are talking any sort of long term dominance you are completely stupid.

If you are talking extremely short term (last year) then you are, well still stupid. We may not have been the best last year, but we were still good.

9/24/2007 7:59:08 PM

man, this is ridiculous. i love it.

before last season began i said we would make the NIT last year and the NCAA this year. but i didn't expect us to start off the season ranked (by a lot of publications).

So do you guys think the AP will have us ranked preseason top 25? That sure would be exciting.

9/24/2007 8:51:25 PM

Yeah, I think we will be. The ACC tourney run gave us a ton of national exposure.

Preseason rankings are completely meaningless, though. We need Degand to step up for at least two months, and then to have a real point guard emerge from either him or our other two.

9/24/2007 8:59:48 PM

^indeed. of course being a lifelong wolfpack fan, i know how our luck usually goes, like many have said here already.

so i'm attempting to be cautious with my expectations this year. but hype like this aint helpin.

9/24/2007 9:32:05 PM

Ok I think I may know who will go in the spots 21-25, I just don't know what order to put them in.

Villanova - 1 NCAA Title (1985). 3 Final Fours (1939, 1971, 1985). 1 NIT Title (1994). 7 Conference Regular Season Titles (1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1997, 2006). 3 Conference Tournament Titles (1978, 1980, 1995). 28 NCAA appearances.

Arkansas - 1 NCAA Title (1994). 6 Final Fours (1941, 1945, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1995). 24 Conference Regular Season Titles (1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1944, 1949, 1950, 1958, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994) 7 Conference Tournament Titles (1977, 1979, 1982, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2000). *Arkansas became part of the SEC in 1992 and was previously in the SWC. 28 NCAA appearances.

Oklahoma - 4 Final Fours (1939, 1947, 1988, 2002). 11 Conference Regular Season Titles (1928, 1929, 1939, 1940, 1942, 1944, 1947, 1949, 1979, 1984, 2005). 7 Conference Tournament Titles (1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 2001, 2002, 2003). 24 NCAA appearances.

Utah - 1 NCAA Title (1944). 4 Final Fours (1944, 1961, 1966, 1998). 35 Conference Regular Season Titles (1910, 1913, 1916, 1919, 1920, 1921, 1923, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1937, 1938, 1945, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005). 4 Conference Tournament Titles (1995, 1997, 1999, 2004). 26 NCAA appearances.

Illinois - 5 Final Fours (1949, 1951, 1952, 1989, 2005). 17 Conference Regular Season Titles (1915, 1917, 1924, 1935, 1937, 1942, 1943, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1963, 1984, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005). 2 Conference Tournament Titles (2003, 2005). 27 NCAA appearances.


Others that could be included in the discussion include Houston, UNLV, Texas, St. John's, Memphis, Wisconsin, and Purdue.

9/24/2007 10:25:24 PM

From Andy Katz on ESPN.com

Quote :

"NC State loses two backup guards posted: Monday, September 24, 2007 | Print Entry NC State's backcourt took another hit last weekend when likely point guard backup Javier Gonzalez had surgery to repair his right thumb (his shooting hand) that he injured in workouts last week. The injury will require surgery and will keep the freshman out for the next three months. Earlier in the preseason, the Wolfpack lost 6-foot-5 forward/guard Johnny Thomas for the season to knee surgery. The easy thing after hearing about Gonzalez's injury would be to start panicking. But losing two perimeter players, even at a position that is considered the least proven on the team, does not necessarily mean high anxiety for the Wolfpack. "We can be good, we just need to stop getting hurt," said assistant coach Monte Towe, a former playmaker for the school. If the Wolfpack had lost Iowa State transfer guard Farnold Degand, then there would be some cause for alarm. Degand is going to be the starting point guard. He will be the most scrutinized player on a team that is supposed to be an ACC contender and a legit NCAA Tournament team. "Farnold is fast with the ball, he can really push it," said Towe, who added that Farnold, who sat out last season, still needs to figure out when to pull it back and when to surge. Still, Farnold will be the reason the Wolfpack can run this season, much more than a year ago when they were led by steady guard Engin Atsur. Towe said the plan is to use Tennessee transfer Marques Johnson at the point, too, once he's eligible in mid-December. Gavin Grant and Courtney Fells, according to Towe, may also take a turn handling the ball. But clearly, this staff isn't fretting the frontcourt. The Wolfpack have some of the more unheralded returnees in the ACC. Still, Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley, let alone the aforementioned Fells and Grant, have the finesse game to score plenty facing the basket. The addition of 6-9 freshman J.J. Hickson gives the Wolfpack a power player to complement Costner and McCauley. "He has an impressive work ethic," Towe said of the heralded Hickson. "It's going to be hard to keep him off the glass. He's a great rebounder." So far, in individual workouts and the limited team practices this past week (two hours a week beginning Sept. 15), the Wolfpack are showing much more competitive fire than a year ago. The reason is that they have the bodies to do so in Sidney Lowe's second season. And the fact that there is depth means the Wolfpack aren't decimated by a few injuries, at least as long as its not to a few key players. "

9/25/2007 12:23:55 AM

When is the ballin at the old barn thing, i cant find the website.

9/25/2007 8:14:10 AM

Quote :

"Yeah, that's why I meant nobody clapped, cheered/jeered, or even acknowledged that I said anything."

I'd have cheered, actually I was saying the same thing where I was...

9/25/2007 8:15:38 AM

Reynolds Coliseum on Friday, October 19 at 9:00 p.m.

[Edited on September 25, 2007 at 9:25 AM. Reason : ^^]

9/25/2007 9:24:51 AM

Quote :

"Hickson. Ranked the No. 10 prospect in the class of 2007, Hickson will make the leap to the NBA sooner rather than later. The freshman has a big frame and plenty of athleticism. He will be in the running for ACC Rookie of the Year."

9/25/2007 10:42:29 AM

I don't worry about losing legit prospects early to the pros. That usually means they did enough while they were here to earn a high pick.

9/25/2007 10:47:21 AM

jesus basketball can't get here soon enough....this basketball team has the chance to do some magical things...just like last season's team. They put us back in the national spotlight. That and the fact we beat UNC, DUCK, and finished the season strong. As well as the red jacket.

9/25/2007 11:31:16 AM

Quote :

"A Texas fan told me that down there if you want good seats for football then you have to buy season tickets for basketball as well. "

I think that's right. Also, I think just to get season tickets students (or at least I needed to) fork up $100.

Football is the reason why Austin has no pro teams. It is themarket, despite having a good bball team as well.

9/25/2007 11:44:19 AM

haha UCLA is the opposite. If you want ANY basketball seats, you've gotta purchase GOOD football seats. The only FB game that sells out is the SC game, and it's at SC this year. There are still seats available for the Notre Dame game. Granted, the Rose Bowl is 30 miles from campus.

9/25/2007 12:41:33 PM

Quote :

"jesus basketball can't get here soon enough....this basketball team has the chance to do some magical things...just like last season's team. They put us back in the national spotlight. That and the fact we beat UNC, DUCK, and finished the season strong. As well as the red jacket."

just reading that made me but im trying to remain somewhat neutral (which is quite hard)

9/25/2007 12:49:50 PM

Are we going to have any solid shooters (excluding post players) next season?

9/25/2007 2:14:38 PM

Hopefully Fells can be more consistent, and one of the point guards needs to step up and make some shots.

9/25/2007 4:04:01 PM