North Carolina State University Athletics
Behind The Scenes With Tony Haynes: Chemistry 101
2/7/2002 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
Feb. 7, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.-Admittedly, I know very little about chemistry. As a mediocre (at best) student majoring in Speech Communication at NC State many, many, many, many years ago, I was usually able to keep most chemistry courses off of my class schedules. Needless to say, I know nothing about dissolubility, thermal capacity and molecular weight. I'm also proud to say that back screens, ball-screen blitzes and underneath out of bounds plays are much more interesting to me than the solid Praseodymium (better known as Pr).
Once, after mistakenly venturing into the building that houses the Chemistry Department at State, I radiated the appearance of someone who was as misplaced as the Beverly Hillbillies.
This year, however, I have learned more about chemistry than I ever thought possible. The NC State basketball team, with its curious collection of youngsters and upperclassmen, has given a whole new meaning to the word "Chemistry."
These guys are together, they're unselfish and they're heck-bent on doing whatever it takes to get the Wolfpack back into the NCAA Tournament. Playing a hunch, I said on a local sports talk show earlier in the week that NC State might just play its best game of the year against Virginia, even in the absence of Julius Hodge. Something told me that the chemistry on this team would make it happen.
Perhaps the ACC had no other choice than to suspend Hodge. Certainly, no one would condone what he did at Maryland, throwing a deliberate elbow at someone's head is unacceptable behavior on any level. But why did it take the league 41 years to suspend a player for such an action? Why now? And why Julius Hodge all of a sudden? Let's face it, this league has had more than its share of unscrupulous characters over the years. In just the last decade, I've witnessed more intentional elbows, taunting throat slashes and cheap shots than you would see at a Mike Tyson press conference. Hodge himself was on the receiving end of a similar shot back in December when he was decked by a forearm shiver delivered by Preston Shumpert of Syracuse. Standing just five feet away from the vicious blow, one of the officials working the game just shook his head, as if to say, "I'm not going to call that."
But in the end, the suspension of Hodge only created a bonding effect. And heading into the Virginia game, "Team Togetherness" became closer than ever before. Getting his first start in nearly a month, Marcus Melvin looked like someone who had been given a confidence makeover. Aggressive and authoritative, the 6-8 sophomore got his team headed in the right direction by drilling a couple of threes early. Just a few nights before, after NC State had returned from its road trip to Maryland, Melvin trudged up the Reynolds Coliseum stairs for a late-night shooting session. It was an unprovoked action that was not requested by anyone on the coaching staff.
Melvin's roommate and fellow sophomore, Scooter Sherrill, also delivered the goods by putting up a career-high 20 points in just 21 minutes of playing time.
"That's what it takes to have an outstanding season," said Pack coach Herb Sendek. "Everybody can't play as much as they would like, you're only allowed to have five out on the court. I've never had a team or a player on a team where all 12 guys played the exact number of minutes that they desired. What it takes is guys accepting their roles, staying with the team and when they're called upon, they step up and deliver."
It was a great chemistry lesson: Melvin and Sherrill stuck with the team, even when things weren't always going their way. I may not know the difference between Gadolinium and Dysprosium, but my expertise in chemistry is expanding every time this team takes the court.
It's like Chemistry 101.
