NC State, Michigan, Poll Lunacy
1. NC State beat Michigan despite dressing only six scholarship players -- and playing only five for most of the game, as point guard Engin Atsur went out early with a hamstring injury -- so I won't pass judgment on them yet. They showed moxie coming back from down 10 when Atsur left and building as large a lead as they did, and they showed resolve in hanging on when Michigan made its run.
However, the Pack made three careless turnovers in the first four minutes -- before Atsur got hurt -- and Gavin Grant was very shaky handling the ball against full court pressure down the stretch. Redshirt freshman Brandon Costner made two terrible inbounds passes against the press. One resulted in a turnover; on the other, he was bailed out by a foul on a Brett Favre-esque deep throw into double coverage.
Especially if Atsur misses any time, NC State. will be extremely vulnerable to any sort of pressure defense. Regardless, new coach Sidney Lowe needs to find and develop a point guard, as Atsur will be gone next season.
2. Poor play by Michigan probably had more to do with NCSU's victory than anything the Wolfpack did. After a hot start, the Wolverines pretty much imploded.
This has been a popular topic in Ann Arbor for a while now, but I'm wondering just how long Tommy Amaker gets to live off of his reputation as a player at Duke and his letter of recommendation from Coach K. He won 22 games last year -- narrowly missing the NCAAs -- and with five key players returning, it seems that this is the season that Michigan finally goes dancing.
The Wolverine team I saw Monday night isn't going anywhere, however, unless they get their collective act together. They lack basic defensive fundamentals; NC State wasn't running anything special and consistently got easy buckets, even in crunch time when the defensive intensity should have been at it's highest. We're not talking getting beaten down the floor here, we're talking flat-out losing track of players on several occasions. Offensively, aside from the beginning of the game and the last few minutes, they were undisciplined, throwing careless lob passes; refusing to run an offense; and taking quick jump shots after one or two passes in the halfcourt.
The Wolverines failed to adhere to basic principles of winning basketball. With a veteran group like this one, that ultimately comes down to the coach. Unless things change quickly, Amaker could find himself out of a job.
3. Ohio State may be ranked number one in the coaches' poll, but they have yet to prove themselves against top-notch competition. Sure, they're winning by an average of 26 points, but do blowout wins over Kent State and San Francisco really compare to definitive victories over Kentucky and Georgia Tech, the teams that UCLA beat while winning the Maui championship? I don't think so, and neither do the writers, who have made the Bruins -- who made the national championship game last year, by the way -- tops in their poll.
The youg Buckeyes will, of course, have the opportunity to prove their chops, as they take on North Carolina Wednesday in Chapel Hill. If they beat the Heels, then we can talk. Until then, there's no way Ohio State is number one. At least not until Greg Oden debuts.
However, the Pack made three careless turnovers in the first four minutes -- before Atsur got hurt -- and Gavin Grant was very shaky handling the ball against full court pressure down the stretch. Redshirt freshman Brandon Costner made two terrible inbounds passes against the press. One resulted in a turnover; on the other, he was bailed out by a foul on a Brett Favre-esque deep throw into double coverage.
Especially if Atsur misses any time, NC State. will be extremely vulnerable to any sort of pressure defense. Regardless, new coach Sidney Lowe needs to find and develop a point guard, as Atsur will be gone next season.
2. Poor play by Michigan probably had more to do with NCSU's victory than anything the Wolfpack did. After a hot start, the Wolverines pretty much imploded.
This has been a popular topic in Ann Arbor for a while now, but I'm wondering just how long Tommy Amaker gets to live off of his reputation as a player at Duke and his letter of recommendation from Coach K. He won 22 games last year -- narrowly missing the NCAAs -- and with five key players returning, it seems that this is the season that Michigan finally goes dancing.
The Wolverine team I saw Monday night isn't going anywhere, however, unless they get their collective act together. They lack basic defensive fundamentals; NC State wasn't running anything special and consistently got easy buckets, even in crunch time when the defensive intensity should have been at it's highest. We're not talking getting beaten down the floor here, we're talking flat-out losing track of players on several occasions. Offensively, aside from the beginning of the game and the last few minutes, they were undisciplined, throwing careless lob passes; refusing to run an offense; and taking quick jump shots after one or two passes in the halfcourt.
The Wolverines failed to adhere to basic principles of winning basketball. With a veteran group like this one, that ultimately comes down to the coach. Unless things change quickly, Amaker could find himself out of a job.
3. Ohio State may be ranked number one in the coaches' poll, but they have yet to prove themselves against top-notch competition. Sure, they're winning by an average of 26 points, but do blowout wins over Kent State and San Francisco really compare to definitive victories over Kentucky and Georgia Tech, the teams that UCLA beat while winning the Maui championship? I don't think so, and neither do the writers, who have made the Bruins -- who made the national championship game last year, by the way -- tops in their poll.
The youg Buckeyes will, of course, have the opportunity to prove their chops, as they take on North Carolina Wednesday in Chapel Hill. If they beat the Heels, then we can talk. Until then, there's no way Ohio State is number one. At least not until Greg Oden debuts.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 11:59 PM
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