North Carolina State University Athletics
Haynes' World: A Wild Ride Through the ACC
2/15/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Just seconds before NC State and Clemson tipped off their ACC game at the Entertainment and Sports Arena on Wednesday night, the shocking score appeared on the big scoreboard above the court: Virginia 91 Duke 89. About 30 minutes later, we found out that slumping Wake Forest had slowed down surging Georgia Tech in Winston-Salem. Then, just moments after the Wolfpack had polished off an 85-51 thrashing of the Tigers, the biggest stunner of them all came to our attention. Florida State had gone to College Park and beaten No. 17 Maryland 74-71.
Still, as I was heading towards the ESA parking lot, a gentleman approached me and asked, "how could NC State lose at Clemson by three a month ago and then come back and beat the same team by 34?"
Probably the same way Duke could lose to Virginia after beating the Cavaliers by 42 last month in Durham.
Welcome to ACC 2001, a place where what happened yesterday, last week or last month doesn't matter. A lot of times, it simply comes down to whom you play, and when you play them.
Or as Blue Devils' Coach Mike Krzyzewski said on our pregame radio show last Sunday, "teams change from week to week."
Just six weeks ago, Wake Forest was ranked 4th and looked unbeatable. Now, despite their national ranking, the 17-7 Deacons are fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives. And a Maryland team that was once ranked as high as sixth in the national polls is currently falling faster than most tech stocks. Since blowing a 10-point lead with a minute to play against Duke on January 27, the Terps have lost five of six.
It was only last week that Virginia looked terrible in road losses to NC State and Georgia Tech. Yet on Valentines Day, the Cavaliers came back to post one of the biggest wins in school history when they knocked off the mighty Devils.
Who knows what will happen next.
"Coaches say it all the time, and though the fans and media don't always believe us, there's no easy game," said Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek. "Kids are playing their hearts out throughout the country, including the nine teams in this league."
Preseason projections always create perceptions that are often tough to shake. For instance, following a 10-17 campaign last year, Georgia Tech wasn't given much of a chance to do well in Paul Hewitt's first season as head coach. The perception was that the Yellow Jackets didn't have enough talent to compete with the best teams in the league.
But if you take a dominant center and surround him with some very good three-point shooters, you'll have yourself a formula for success. Georgia Tech has that formula. Center Alvin Jones, who will certainly be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, is averaging a double-double in ACC games, while point guard Tony Akins and off-guard Shaun Fein are stellar from the perimeter.
Tech's players are in the best shape of their lives and coach Hewitt has introduced a system in which those players can excel. Hewitt has also helped Jones realize his tremendous potential.
With a 14-9 mark overall, the Yellow Jackets are already being touted as the surprise team in the ACC, yet their head coach hasn't been surprised by his team's success.
"I knew we had a chance when we first got here because we had guys who could shoot the ball," Hewitt said about a month ago.
The ACC is great this year because just about every team in the league is capable of doing exactly what Florida State did at Maryland or what Virginia did to Duke.
"It's a crazy league; we've been saying that since day one," said Wolfpack forward Damien Wilkins, who had 22 points, five rebounds and seven assists in Wednesday's win over Clemson. "Virginia just beat Duke, Florida State beats Maryland at Maryland. Crazy things are going to happen in a league like this. On any given night, any team can win and any team can lose."
And he's not just blowing smoke.
