News-Record.com

If so, then I'm guilty as charged. But when you attempt a windmill dunk and fail miserably - as KU's Julian Wright did recently - then you get the made fun of as a result. It's an immutable law of basketball.

The blog How We Cogitate mingled in the clip of Wright's snafu with the "Want to Get Away?" Southwest Airlines campaign.

Enjoy.

On Friday, espn.com unveils the forthcoming "This is SportsCenter" spot with Chris Paul and Stuart Scott. It's entitled "Rookie of the Year" and centers around differing interpretations of what that phrase means.

Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me, "Jim, what's King Rice up to these days?"

Well, I've found the answer: getting tossed out of Vanderbilt-Florida games.

Yep, apparently King is an assistant coach for the Commodores (to Bill Dauterive look-a-like Kevin Stallings) and was ejected in the second half of Wednesday night's game. According to The Tennessean, King's a bit mystified by the whole thing.

"I'm a 'cheerleader' coach. I didn't say one word to dude. I clapped and smiled."

Allegedly the man who got tossed out of a recent Arizona State game is the very same guy who used to stroll the sidelines in Raleigh.

It was the first ejection of Herb's career. And get this, he apparently got it for exhorting the crowd to cheer. No wonder he never got tossed in the ACC, where supporting your team during a game is not an illegal act.

Naturally, there's a Youtube video chronicling Herb's exit. But I think the photo below really captures the feel of the whole thing.

Ahhh, it's so nice when a rivalry gets back to living up to the hype.

So far that's been the case in the first 20 minutes here at the RBC, where it's 38-36 State.

Couple of quick notes before I run back out to the floor.

1) UNC - #1 in the nation in rebounding margin - has 9 (9!!!) rebounds. State has 17.

2) Courtney Fells has apparently found himself, for a half at least. 13 points and tons of previously hidden emotion being shown.

3) If UNC wins this game, it'll be because of the PG position. Atsur just can't stick with Lawson while playing D on one leg. Lawson has 12 points and 4 assists. Atsur picked up his 3rd foul just before the half. It's a conundrum for State. When Atsur's out, the offense falls apart. But when he's in, who's going to guard Lawson? Wonder if they'll use an old Valvano technique and have him guard a big man just to change things up.

4) Red jacket today for Sidney. Satellites are picking it up from space. Sweet.

Wednesday's UNC-Duke game was actually the second of the week.
On Tuesday night, the Duke basketball managers beat Carolina's managers 71-53 in an impromptu challenge issued only 48 hours earlier.
A tradition may have been started. Upon seeing the visitors walk into Cameron, 300 Duke students camping out for space in tonight's game were allowed into Cameron to watch the Managerial Match.
It remains to be seen if that's an omen or an aberration.

The Devils, who entered averaging 69 points a game, are on pace for 100. They can't count on that standing up, but they won't throw any of the points back, either.
Carolina, with a pregame average of 88, has found this to be an exercise in recovery. One defensive possession epitomized it. On three separate occasions, Duke appeared in position for open looks, but the Tar Heels regrouped and filled the gaps on each attempt.
The trip ended with a blocked shot.

Duke owns a 39-34 lead at halftime behind perfect (9-for-9) foul shooting and contributions from three surprise starters -- Brian Zoubek, Gerald Henderson and Jon Scheyer.
Zoubek, who had played only 41 minutes in nine previous ACC games, blocked two shots and claimed two rebounds in five minutes. Henderson hit an early 3-pointer and delivered eight points and Scheyer gave Duke 14 points in the first 16 minutes.
Carolina, averaging 88 points a game, is on pace for 20 fewer than that number.
Among Duke's keys has been the ability to halt Ty Lawson's dribble penetration.
Nobody will be shocked if it goes down the final minutes, as five of the past six contests between the two have.

It's pretty clear that Carolina intends to run at every opportunity -- even after Duke baskets. The Tar Heels tried after the first Blue Devil hoop and got one themselves, but the Devils have done a better job of recovering in the past three minutes.
DeMarcus Nelson's hustle play to deflect a pass on the break and disrupt a planned transition hoop is the sort of thing that may define and determine this one.
Duke 50-41 at the under-16-minute time out.

It's becoming a defensive challenge. Carolina has held the Devils scoreless for the past four minutes by overplaying wings, forcing everybody to pick up dribbles and challenging passes.
The Tar Heels' desire for an up-tempo game is now being manifested on both ends.
Duke up 50-45 and a missed free throw.

Josh McRoberts, who has helped hold UNC's Tyler Hansbrough in check after being benched for the start of the game, just picked up his fourth foul of the night on a block-out.
Brian Zoubek, who played only 41 total minutes in the first ACC games of the season, will now be asked to play the best post defense of his young career.

The importance of Josh McRobets' fourth foul was pretty obvious. In the Duke center spent on the bench, UNC's Tyler Hansbrough scored twice and assisted Wes Miller's 3-pointer as the Heels tied the game at 52.
McRoberts returned with 8:54 left and Ty Lawson has driven into the lane three times in hopes of getting the fifth foul. Expect him to keep trying.
Duke leads 57-54.

With suffocating half-court defense and excellent rebounding down the stretch, North Carolina has claimed a seven-point lead on Duke and is about to pull away for an intense victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

... you can still enjoy this week's Radio Free Sports podcast - taped Monday - even though it's already out-of-date. Listen in to hear us talk about Duke-UNC ahead of time (I think we all correctly picked a UNC win) and about Dave Leitao as ACC coach of the year (that one's still standing up.)

Just click on the screen below.

18:00):



Download | Archives| Comment

Apparently Mike Krzyzewski agrees with you about what happened to his record in 1995.

Remember how Krzyzewski was supposed to be a hypocrite becuase he allegedly lobbied to have all those losses that season pinned on his fall guy, Pete Gaudet? Remember how you felt that K should have had those blemishes added to his record? It turns out he feels the same you do.

Here's what he said in today's teleconference when asked about how the whole record change came about .

"To me, I think I should have been credited with all the losses."

K went on to say that he was told that in situations where a coach takes an extended leave, the record during his absence is not given to the coach - regardless of how good or bad it is.

Then he summed things up this way:

"Overall, the bottom line is I’m responsible, even though, I'm not there. That’s the way I looked at it. It doesn’t make any difference to me. I wouldn’t want the wins, let’s put it that way, but you can give me the losses."

So there you have it anti-K-ites. If you want to petition the NCAA about this, maybe you can have K write in a letter to bolster your argument. But could you stand to join forces with him, even if it would mean worsening his record? Oh, the ethical dilemnas!

The ACC announced its All-Academic football team this morning, and the leader in honorees may surprise you.
Not Boston College. Not Duke. Not Wake Forest.
It's Miami. After a season of turmoil and tragedy, perhaps the Canes deserved some good news. Here's the breakdown of the squad, which is determined by GPAs of 3.0 or better.

Miami 8
BC 6
Duke 6
FSU 4
Clemson 2
Georgia Tech 2
Maryland 2
Wake Forest 2
North Carolina 1
N.C. State 1
Virginia 1
Virginia Tech 1

Man the RBC was really, really sorta empty at the start tonight. Blame it on Valentine's Day, or maybe a three-car pileup on the inner beltline.

We're at the half here and the consensus in the press room is that it feels like this game hasn't started yet. Very little buzz in the building and it seems almost as if State is pacing itself. Given the way it's been flaming out in the second half, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've got a feeling that Maryland might regret the fact that it couldn't put some distance on the Wolfpack in the first 20 minutes. Somehow it's just a 39-37 Terrapins lead.

Maybe it's because Bambale Osby and Dave Neal have combined to play 16 minutes in the first half. What's up with that Gary?

Looks like somebody wishes he was back in Boise!

When Dan Hawkins left Boise State for the task of rebuilding Colorado (and a whole lot of cash) he was known as a different sort of cat, a mix of zen and football. Now? After listening to this audio clip, it looks like Dan's starting to feel the strain. A 2-10 season will do that to you, I guess.

Here's Dan going all Howard Dean at the Buffs' Signing Day press conference.

My favorite parts? Well, obviously when he goes from calm Dan to crazy Dan is at the top. But I also like when he drops a Hulk Hoganesque "Brother" in his rant.

And then there's the part when he makes the very relevant point that Division I football players still get more time off in the summer than members of the media get vacation all year.

Darn right. Preach on, Brother Dan.

... but you should know that Roy Williams just said that Brandan Wright hurt his right shoulder and will not practice today. Not sure if he'll even shoot around or do the dummy offense work.

As for tomorrow? Roy said he has no idea. He won't make that decision until pre-game warmups. So tune in and find out.

How's that for a little pre-game drama?

... where - I wish I was making this up - we had Little House on the Prairie on in the media room before someone finally had the good sense to switch over to the Daytona 500.

Gotta be honest, it's been hard to get up for this ACC game - Va Tech at N.C. State. With so much going on in the middle of the pack in the league, this is one of the few contests that pits a top-tier team against a bottom-tier team. Regardless of what happens, Va Tech is probably still going to finish the regular season in the ACC top four, which means getting an all-important first-day bye.

Meanwhile, State has something to play for ... staying out of the ACC basement and positioning itself for a .500 season and a probable NIT bid. But here's the thing, the last three games the Wolfpack has played have all had the same theme - State keeps running out of gas. Let's be honest folks, there are only so many ways I can keep writing that story.

Here's hoping that something different happens here. Don't worry though, I'll get my game face on before the opening tip.

... of why ACC basketball is go great and why sometimes I'm an idiot. After droning on in my pre-game blog entry about why this game just wasn't getting me energized, State goes out and delivers one of the highest levels of play you'll ever see for 20 minutes.

It's funny how much matchups and confidence can affect things. This same Virginia Tech squad that does well against UNC and looked so calm in the Dean Dome, doesn't faze the Wolfpack at all. State ran its offense like it was in practice and buried shots at a similar rate - 69.2 percent for the half. In a way, it waas even better than State's second half against UNC, because the Pack turned the ball over so rarely - just four times.

45-33 at the half. You can't expect State to keep up this pace, but hey, did anyone expect what they did in the first 20 minutes?

Here's the thing to keep an eye on the second half: State kept Atsur away from Dowdell and on Gordon in the first half, so naturally the Hokies got the ball to Gordon quite a bit. He responded with 11 points and 4 assists. Essentially, State's dealt with its defensive vulnerability by just outscoring the Hokies. Heck, Va Tech has shot 57 percent and only turned the ball over 4 times - yet the Hokies trail by 12. Go figure.

... all of you who were panicked by the absence of a link to the Radio Free Sports podcast last week. We're back (by we, I mean Rob Daniels, Jeff Carlton and I) with a Monday edition of RFS. We're playing the always fun Who's In/Who's Out game with the middle of the ACC pack. And we're talking about all those HUGE games from November and December that suddenly don't seem so HUGE anymore. Like Gonzaga's win over UNC, for example. Plus we throw in a little talk about the ACC women as well.

Download | Archives| Comment

... assistant coaches that can recruit never go hungry. Or something like that.

So it should come as no surprise that Curt Cignetti, the guy who reeled in most of N.C. State's top in-state talent, has landed a new job: as a wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at Alabama.

Saban's allegedly a notoriously hard coach to work for, but hey, Cig survived for seven years under Amato, so I think he'll be fine. Plus, as the story mentioned, Cignetti's father, Frank, is one of Saban's mentors.

So much has been written about the Wolfpack's lack of depth this season, but usually the players and Sidney Lowe have been hesitant to make a definite connection between having to play only six or seven guys and wearing down because of fatigue.

It's an understandable response, really. Acknowledge that fatigue is a problem and you become much more susceptible to it mentally the next game and the next, and so on. Better to just try to trick yourself into thinking that you're not wearing down from playing 38 minutes a night.

So, with a little bit of time on my hands this afternoon, I decided to check some numbers.

Taking only the Wolfpack's 13 ACC games - probably the truest barometer of competition - I totaled up State's first-half scoring and first-half points allowed and did the same for the second-half.

Here are the raw numbers.

In 13 league games, State has scored an average of 33.7 points in the first half and given up 34.5. The Wolfpack has scored an average of 35.2 in the second half and given up 40.

So there's at least some support for the fatigue theory. State goes from a - 0.8 scoring differential in the first half of ACC games, to -4.8 in the second half.

Still there is a little quirk in the numbers in that State actually scores more points in the second half, when it should be more tired. Maybe because the Wolfpack is scoring points while trying to play catch-up?

Then I broke the numbers down a bit more, taking a look at what's happened to State since it posted its upset win over UNC. To me, that next game - the loss at Georgia Tech - was the first time when I really started to see second-half weariness get to the Wolfpack.

The numbers here are decidely more striking.

In the five games since, State has actually outscored its opponents in the first half, by an average of 39 points to 36.2, a +2.8 point differential.

In the second half, things go very wrong for the Wolfpack. In the last five games, State's second-half scoring average has sunk to 31 points, while it's giving up 39.4. That's a whopping -8.4 point differential, in just 20 minutes.

And that includes the second half against Virginia Tech, when State outscored the Hokies, 36-23.

Not surprisingly, the Wolfpack is 1-4 in that stretch.

No real ground-breaking revelations, but it does pretty much confirm what we've suspected. The Wolfpack tends to run out of gas in the second half, and the problem has become much more pronounced in the second half of the ACC season.

... no not really. Rob Daniels and I urge the citizens of Tar Heel nation to calm down in this latest edition of Radio Free Sports. We also look (again) at the NCAA prospects, or lack thereof, of Georgia Tech, Florida State and Clemson. And we take a look at just how weird the RPI really is.

Download | Archives| Comment