North Carolina State University Athletics
Pressing Pack Prepares for South Carolina
12/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 6, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-Like a great white shark roaming bloodstained waters, NC State's Cliff Crawford senses the moment. It's that defining time in a basketball game when opposing guards raise the white flag and simply get rid of the ball to a teammate rather than try to dribble the ball against Crawford's relentless ball-pressure. And as he has shown in the Wolfpack's first three basketball games this season, the lightning-quick 6-3 senior from Winston-Salem native is fully capable of intimidating and even dominating anyone who dares put the ball on floor against him.
"I smell blood when I'm out there," said Crawford, who will try to create more chaos when NC State hosts coach Dave Odom's South Carolina Gamecocks at the RBC Center on Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. "I just want to make it a nightmare each and every night for the point guard on the other team. I pride myself on not letting my man score and disrupting the other teams offense any way possible. Just being on the ball, being ferocious, and playing defense is a great thing."
Those who were trying to drive in the icy conditions that hit Raleigh last Wednesday night were no more miserable than the Northwestern Wildcats, who turned the ball over 21 times in a 74-49 loss to NC State (3-0) that same night. Alternating between their fullcourt man-to-man presses and a three-quarter-court zone press, Crawford and the Pack simply smothered the Cats all over the floor, turning every dribble, every pass and almost every shot into an adventure.
Having bought into a pressing style that coach Herb Sendek implemented last season, the Wolfpack players are now just beginning to understand how hard they must play and how well conditioned they must be in order to be successful. Both of those elements-effort and conditioning-were certainly on display against Northwestern.
"We go through a great conditioning program and it's really a mental thing for us," said junior forward Marcus Melvin, who had four steals to go along with a career-high 23 points on Wednesday. "For me, it's all mental. I'm on the front of the press and I have to guard smaller players and get them turned in a certain direction. You have to have a lot of focus to do something like that."
Without focus, intensity and athleticism, teams that press are doomed to failure. A passion for playing defense also helps. While many players celebrate big three-point shots and dunks, Crawford gets a great deal of satisfaction in knowing that his defense is just as important as anything that happens on the offensive end of the court.
"I really love coming in and shutting down an opponent," said Crawford, who had eight rebounds and four steals against Northwestern. "I love frustrating them; you can just see it in their eyes sometimes. Even when the point guard gets the ball, he just passes it before he gets it up the court. I just love that. That means he didn't want to bring the ball up on me."
In South Carolina (4-1), the Wolfpack will be facing a team that has had a proclivity for turning the ball over this season. The Gamecocks are averaging 17 turnovers per game, and had 20 in a 67-59 loss to Georgetown on Thursday. USC guard Chuck Eidson contributed eight turnovers by himself against the pressing Hoyas.
The Gamecocks have had a difficult time replacing the dynamic perimeter duo of Jamel Bradley and Aaron Lucas, who led South Carolina to the NIT finals last season. The Gamecocks are also missing a player that was expected to be one of the top centers in the Southeastern Conference. Tony Kitchings, a 6-10, 260 pound senior, will be out for an extended period of time after breaking his hand in a game against South Carolina State on November 29.
Odom, a Goldsboro native who always enjoys talking about his childhood trips to see NC State play at Reynolds Coliseum, had a successful 12-year run at Wake Forest before taking over in Columbia last season. His first South Carolina team finished 22-15.
The Wolfpack holds a 48-27 advantage over the Gamecocks in a series that was once quite heated before USC dropped out of the ACC in 1971. The two teams haven't met since NC State posted an 81-66 victory during the 1988-89 season.
