North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Wolfpack Downsizes Cougars
1/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 8, 2004
By Tony Haynes
For one night anyway, we found out that NC State can deal with a team that has tremendous size along its frontline. Anchored by a human mountain named Rafael Araujo, Brigham Young is capable of fielding a frontcourt that rises as high as the Mormon Tabernacle itself. But as we've seen time and time again since NC State started using some of its open post offensive looks three years ago, many big post players are exposed on the defensive end of the floor when asked to guard skilled players away from the basket. Such was the case on Wednesday night when the Wolfpack gave a clinic on the art of playing a true team oriented style of basketball.
In pounding the Cougars 89-62, NC State (8-2) won what was essentially a basketball version of tug-of-war. Going in, the question was which style of play would win out? Would it be BYU's size and strength on the inside or the Wolfpack's versatility and skill on the outside?
Though subtle, the answer to that question actually came within the first few minutes of the game when NC State forward Marcus Melvin, guarded reluctantly by the massive Araujo, found himself wide open for two 3-point shots. Although neither shot went in, the writing was on the wall: Brigham Young's bigger players - Araujo included - looked like fish out of water when asked to play defense in space against either Melvin or Ilian Evtimov.
"People were saying 'how are you going to match-up with them, they're so big?'" said Evtimov, who finished with 13 points, five assists and zero turnovers. "I wanted to know how they were going to match-up against us. We've got some good players, too. We've got some guys who can play on the inside and the outside. At the beginning of the game, the big guy was on Marcus. All we did was to set screens for Marcus. They didn't know how to guard us."
As a result, BYU was forced to go away from the customary combinations that had served it well during a 10-2 start. The Cougars, who prefer to start the 6-11 Araujo and 6-9 bruiser Jared Jenson, were forced to downsize most of the night in an effort to match-up with NC State's more versatile frontline players.
"They did try to play around with different combinations to match-up with us, so that see-saw ended up tilting in our favor," said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek. "On another night it may not go in that same direction. We were able to force them to change some things in their rotation. They tried different match-ups...some a little bit unconventional to take us out of what we were doing."
But the Cougars didn't take the Pack out of anything. In perhaps one of the most efficient offensive performances by any team in college basketball this season, NC State shot 58.6 percent from the floor, and was credited with assists on 26 of its 34 baskets. In the first half alone, the Wolfpack had 15 assists compared to only turnover, a miscue that took place 19 minutes into the opening period.
"When we play as a team and everybody shares the ball, everybody is going to shoot well because we're going to get some open looks," Evtimov said. "We got some backdoor layups and we got some open 3s. Those shots are easy for us."
Said Brigham Young coach Steve Cleveland: "They exposed us in every way possible."
Now the question is can NC State expose some of the ACC competition it will face for the next two months the same way. It all comes down to match-ups. Some teams will be better equipped to deal with the Wolfpack's overall versatility than others. When it travels to Tallahassee this Sunday for a game against 12-2 Florida State, State will run into a much improved team that features a handful of tall, athletic big men who will probably have a better chance of defending the likes of Melvin and Evtimov away from the basket.
"Florida State is really out of the gates, playing terrific basketball," Sendek said. "Their talent quotient ranks right up there with just about anybody in the country. They're deep, they're quick, they're athletic, they have good shooters and they have a good inside game. We'll really have to be at our best in Tallahassee."
They'll have to be at their best just as they were on Wednesday night against Brigham Young.
