North Carolina State University Athletics
Behind The Scenes With Tony Haynes: The Land Of Oz
1/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
Jan. 24, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Now I know what Dorothy meant when she said, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
The retired jerseys and championship banners still hang from the rafters, the markings on the court are still baby blue and the ushers still wear light blue vests. There were times when you wondered if the water coming out of the faucets in the bathrooms would be light blue as well.
But when NC State traveled over to the Dean E. Smith Center to meet North Carolina on Wednesday, some things were quite different. To begin with, the team wearing the home uniforms was, well, human for a change. And instead of anticipating yet another miraculous comeback, the fans headed to the exits with the Tar Heels trailing by 13 points with six minutes remaining.
History tells us that Carolina always comes back and wins in the end. Ask Duke, which once watched the Heels overcome an eight-point deficit with 16 seconds to play. Or ask Wake Forest, which saw a 23-point advantage disappear into thin air over a 10-minute period. Herb Sendek's first team at NC State couldn't deal with the mystique in 1997. Trailing by nine with just over two minutes left, the Tar Heels made like a thief in the night and stole yet another one.
But on Wednesday, the Smith Center was like the Land of Oz, a place that no one really thought existed.
Only in their dreams could NC State fans have thought that thousands of those light blue seats would be occupied by red-clad Wolfpackers. Only in their dreams could they have imagined an easy 18-point win over the Heels in their house. Never, they thought, would UNC ever be 5-11 overall and 1-5 in the league.
NC State beat North Carolina by 18 points in Chapel Hill and it wasn't really big news. In a place made famous by the likes of Dean Smith, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter and Jerry Stackhouse (Jordan never played at the Smith Center), the stars on Wednesday were Anthony Grundy and Archie Miller.
Solid, poised and tough, the Wolfpack's two seniors decided that there would be no more misery for NC State in this rivalry. Seven straight bitter losses in this series were enough. As a result, Grundy, Miller and the rest of their teammates are closing in on their next goal: a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
With 15 wins now in the bank, that pot of gold is tantalizingly close. Yet, with a brutal February schedule still to come, nothing can be taken for granted.
"You can get fat and happy with yourself, but the minute you do that you can go into a skid and get in a bad situation," said Miller, who knocked in a season-high 20 points against Carolina. "The way this league is, anybody can beat you. Coach is really emphasizing that right now, you can't get fat and lazy and you can't get satisfied with yourself. I think the team is responding to that. We don't want to be satisfied. Everybody wants to kick your butt and they're not going to give you anything. We just need to keep approaching things that way and we'll be ok."
Miller and Grundy will try their best to make sure history doesn't repeat itself. NC State is currently 15-4, the same record it had just two years ago when things changed in the blink of an eye. Marshall Williams and Ron Kelley were injured. Damon Thornton was called for charging, picked up a technical foul and just like that, a game that should have been won at Maryland turned into a loss. Then came six more defeats.
Game, set, match.
But this is a different year, a different team and a different atmosphere. We're definitely not in Kansas anymore.
