North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State and Vandy: Like Looking in a Mirror
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 20, 2004
By Tony Haynes
Orlando, Fla. - The Vanderbilt Commodores, who improved their record to 22-9 with an impressive first round NCAA Tournament win over Western Michigan on Friday, used the versatility of their frontline players to make a big splash in the Southeastern Conference this season. The Commodores even like to run parts of their offense through the high-post, with wing players looking for easy baskets off of backdoor cuts. Sound familiar? In order for NC State to make its first trip to the Sweet 16 in 15 years, it will have to knock off a Vandy team that, in some respects, is almost a carbon copy of the 15th ranked Wolfpack (21-9).
"I think both teams have similar personnel," said State forward Marcus Melvin, who put up 20 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 61-52 first round win over Louisiana-Lafayette. "Each team can put five guys out on the floor that can pass, shoot and do a lot of different things. It's going to be a test for both basketball teams."
Melvin's counterpart for Vanderbilt is senior Matt Freije, a highly-skilled 6-10 forward who led the SEC in scoring this season. Freije, who is averaging 18.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest, has the ability to score both inside and out. And like Melvin, he's effective in creating match-up problems for Vandy's opponents with his ability to step out and hit the 3-point shot.
"I think they're similar in their skills," Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said when asked to compare the playing styles of Freije and Melvin. "Marcus is blessed with a better body. They both have excellent shooting range; both can put the ball on the floor a little bit and get to a shot; both are probably pretty underrated. I would say that they're very similar, as a matter of fact. We just depend on Matt a little bit more than they depend on Marcus, I think."
But lately, that hasn't been the case quite as much. The hottest Commodore may very well be point guard Mario Moore, who nailed six 3-pointers in a career-high 26-point explosion in Friday's 71-58 win over Western Michigan. Moore, a 5-11 sophomore from Nashville, has been particularly productive in postseason play, averaging 17.5 points while shooting a blazing 48.9 percent (36-of-77) from the 3-point arc in six career postseason contests.
According to Stallings, Moore's emergence has come at a perfect time given the fact that Freije, who tallied 13 points on Friday, has been a little sluggish lately.
"Matt's issues right now and recently have had much more to do with the fact that he's been sick for some time," Stallings said. "We practiced Monday through Thursday in preparation for the game on Friday and I would say in those four days that he practiced a combined hour. He's not said a single word to me about being under the weather, but I know he's not been feeling well. He's lost a little bit of weight and I know that's affecting him. Typically, players will respond however they have to. If Matt is not going to score with the way we're accustomed to him scoring, then I think other guys are going to start scoring more. I think you saw it Friday with Mario."
Vanderbilt's most interesting player may very well be Dawid Przbyszewski, a 7-2 center from Poland, who has knocked down 45.2 percent (47-104) of his 3-point shots. Of course, NC State also features a 5-man who also shoots 3s effectively in redshirt sophomore Ilian Evtimov.
"We play a similar offense; not the same but similar," Evtimov said. "We both like to shoot the 3 and they're very versatile like us. They have a big man who is 7-2 and Freije who is about 6-10 and those guys can shoot the 3 and post up. It's going to be a very interesting game."
Said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek: "They have a great size advantage. Both guys can go away from the basket. It will be challenging to try and match-up against the physicality that Vanderbilt poses. I think that they're a very physical team."
In most cases, NC State usually figures to have a decided advantage when going up against a non-conference opponent that is given very little preparation time for the Wolfpack's modified version of the Princeton offense. But given the fact that Vanderbilt employs some similar actions into its offense, State's edge in that area may be diminished somewhat.
"They do some things that are similar to us," Freije said. "What we don't do as often, they do a lot more often. It helps in preparation because we understand what they're trying to do. But at the same time, they know what we're trying to do. I guess Sunday will be kind of a chess match between the two coaches to see who can get their stuff executed more efficiently."
The Wolfpack will certainly have to execute much better on Sunday than it did in its first round game. In beating Louisiana-Lafayette, NC State had to overcome 15 turnovers and 36.7 percent shooting from the field.
"That game was kind of ugly for us," said Melvin. "Our shots weren't falling the way we wanted them to, but we grinded the game out and still won. Now it's time for us to be focused as a team and as individuals and understand that we have to perform better on Sunday."
A stronger performance could lead to a trip to Phoenix for next week's regional semifinals. After going out in the second round two years ago and exiting in the first round last year, this is an NC State team that dearly wants to keep playing for awhile.
"The winner is going to move on to the 'Sweet 16,' said the Wolfpack's Julius Hodge. "It's just basically personal pride. We want to continue to play and continue marching into March."
Pack's Free Throw Shooting Goes to New Level: With Friday's 20-for-24 performance from the free throw line, NC State is now shooting a near unfathomable 80 percent from the stripe this season. After staying above 79 percent for most of the year, this marks the first time the Pack has pushed its accuracy rate up to 80 percent. The ACC record, set by Duke's 1978 Final Four team, is 79.1 percent. In Friday's first round win, NC State made its last 11 tosses from the stripe, including 8-of-8 over the last two minutes. Apparently impervious to pressure, the Wolfpack has hit 84 percent of its free throws in the last two minutes of its last 23 games.
