North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Zoned Out
1/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2004
By Tony Haynes
The 203rd meeting between NC State and North Carolina was every bit as intense, intriguing and suspenseful as many of the other classic games that have made this tobacco road rivalry noteworthy over the years. In winning 68-66, the Tar Heels snapped a four-game losing streak to the Wolfpack while also avoiding a third consecutive home defeat to their Raleigh rivals. For strategy wonks, the games within the game were also entertaining and left a longing for the rematch at the RBC Center one month from now.
Tempo was a word that was bandied about in the days leading into Wednesday's contest at the Smith Center. Could NC State find a way to shorten the game, lower the number of possessions and hold the high-scoring Heels in check or would Carolina succeed in reaching its average of 95 points in ACC games? Those were just some of the questions fans and members of the media were asking earlier in the week.
As it turned out, the lower score was more to NC State's liking, but not due to the obvious reasons. When it had opportunities to strike in transition, the Wolfpack did so, especially in the first half when it shot 57 percent. The game ended up in the 60s not so much because NC State attempted to slow the game down on offense, but rather because both teams put together effective stretches on the defensive end of the floor. Ironically, much of that defensive success was achieved with zones rather than the man-to-man approaches the two clubs normally prefer to employ.
While most of the post-game banter on Wednesday night and Thursday morning centered on the 1-3-1 zone North Carolina used early in the second half to start its decisive 21-6 run, NC State also entered the game with a defensive surprise. A very good man-to-man team, the Wolfpack opened in a well-disguised match-up zone, a defense that so resembled a man-to-man that UNC often didn't know if it should run man-to-man plays or zone plays.
The goal of NC State's zone was three-fold: limit Raymond Felton's penetration, prevent Sean May from dominating down low and curing the match-up problems Rashad McCants creates for just about everyone. From that standpoint, the Pack couldn't have gotten much more out of its defense.
McCants, the ACC's leading scorer, was held to 13 points, well below his 18.8 average coming into the game. It was only when NC State was forced to abandon the zone late in the contest that the sophomore from Asheville was finally able to get loose off of screens. McCants' basket off of a set play against the man-to-man with 33.5 seconds left, a bucket that gave Carolina a 67-63 lead, proved to be the biggest field goal of the game.
After getting lost in the zone for much of the 40 minutes, the gifted McCants must have felt like a kid in a candy store when NC State was finally put into the position of having to match-up with him as it tried to rally down the stretch.
Of course, the North Carolina zone, a 1-3-1 halfcourt trap, was - and rightfully so - the talk of the town when this latest installment of the NC State - UNC rivalry was over. With his team unable to get a handle on the Wolfpack's dizzying array of back-cuts and 3-point shots off of flare screens in the first half, Carolina coach Roy Williams pulled the little used 1-3-1 out of his pocket early in the second half.
And while NC State's players looked surprise by the sudden defensive switch, they really shouldn't have been since they had spent some time working against the 1-3-1 in their practice sessions leading up to the game. As much as anything, the awkward looking zone got the Pack out of its offensive rhythm and allowed UNC to get some transition baskets, opportunities that had been in short supply up to that point.
For NC State, this road defeat took on a familiar refrain. There was a scoring drought of more than six minutes that featured too many possessions that produced no shots at the basket. It's really no secret why this Wolfpack team has come up short in most of its road games this season. In close losses to Michigan, South Carolina, Boston College and a blowout defeat at Duke, NC State has averaged 18.5 turnovers per game. In its only road win at Florida State, the Pack had just seven turnovers.
To make matters more difficult, NC State - the ACC's best free throw shooting team - has managed to get to the line an average of just under 11 times in those four road losses.
Simply by limiting its turnovers and finding a way to get to free throw line a little more often, NC State could become a more formidable challenger in its remaining road games. This is, after all, a team that stands 1-1 against Georgia Tech and North Carolina, two clubs that whipped Connecticut when it was ranked No. 1.
"When NC State is at its best they can beat anybody," Williams said before Wednesday night's game. "There's nobody in college basketball that they cannot beat when they're playing well."
Playing well means valuing the basketball, playing together and displaying the type of courage and toughness it takes to win high-level ACC games.
