North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Welcomes U-Mass To ESA
11/30/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2001
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-If you believe the latest RPI rating for college basketball, then the team NC State will host on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. is one of the best teams in the nation. The University of Massachusetts, in fact, is ranked No. 1 in one of the RPI rankings. Of course, early season rankings, especially those that come out in November, are about as useful as preseason polls.
Nevertheless, U-Mass has gotten off to a quick start, winning three straight games to open the Steve Lappas era. Lappas, who had a fairly successful run at Villanova, became the schools 19th head coach last November. His club is coming off its most impressive win to date-a come-from-behind 62-58 victory over an Oregon team that routed Louisville last weekend.
"I think that got the nation's attention," NC State head coach Herb Sendek said of Massachusetts' triumph over the Ducks. "They're a big, strong, bruising team. I don't see them giving up a lot of easy baskets around the hoop. They challenge shots and they don't give up a lot of second shots. They're a team that really protects the basket well by mixing in a zone with their man-to-man."
With 6-11 forward Micah Brand (13.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg) and 6-10 center Kitwana Rhymer (9.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) roaming the paint area, the Minutemen will certainly be the biggest team the Wolfpack (5-1) has faced up to this point. Massachusetts also features the perimeter punch of 6-2 guard Shannon Crooks, who leads the team in scoring (14.3 ppg).
Speaking of scoring, NC State would like to do more of it in this game. In Tuesday night's 64-50 loss to Ohio State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the Pack shot an abysmal 27.3 percent from the field and 4-of-27 from the three-point arc.
"We have shot the ball well this year," Sendek said. "In the BCA Tournament, with the exception of the East Carolina game, we shot the ball well the first two nights. We shot the ball well in practice and in the shoot around before the Ohio State game, we were as sharp as we've been. We have better shooters on this team than we've had in the past. We have some young shooters on this team, but in terms of their ability to shoot the ball and their skill level, there's no question it's improved. We would help ourselves with better shot selection."
In reviewing the Ohio State game, Sendek cited questionable shot selection in some cases and a tendency for some to try to do some things that were outside the framework of the offense. He also stressed the importance of getting more easy baskets by looking for more transition opportunities.
"I didn't think we looked to go in transition nearly as much as we ought to," Sendek said. "I kidded our guys, 'don't be telling me you want to go fast and go uptempo, I'm telling you to get the ball and let's go.' When you recruit these guys they want to know if you're going to play uptempo. Ok, let's go. I didn't think we did a good job at all in that area. We didn't run the floor, we did not throw advance passes and look up the court like we needed to do."
Capitalizing on transition opportunities in Saturday's game could be crucial given the fact that Massachusetts has held it first three opponents to just 35 percent shooting. The 6-10 Rhymer already has 11 blocked shots in just three games.
This will mark just the second time NC State and U-Mass have met on the hardwood. The only other meeting occurred in the 1995 Rainbow Classic in Hawaii, where the then top ranked Minutemen defeated the Wolfpack, 87-68.
Wolfpack Radio Network coverage of Saturday's contest begins at 2:00 p.m. Scheduled guests on the pre-game show include NC State football coach Chuck Amato, Lappas and Sendek.
