North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: No Easy Answers for Pack
1/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Normally ebullient, Julius Hodge wore a blank, emotionless expression as he took question after question from the media following NC State's 70-64 loss to Florida State on Wednesday night. "What must this team do to turn it around?" "Have you changed your free throw mechanics?" "Can you explain the inconsistency the Wolfpack (12-7, 2-4) has displayed?" The questions came one right after another, but there were no easy answers. Hodge, who has experienced many more wins than losses in his career, was often at a loss to explain the strange peaks and valleys that have taken his team on a wild roller coaster ride this season.
Everything was turning in the right direction at this time 12 months ago. Hodge was putting together a campaign that eventually led to him being named ACC Player of the Year. After leading the Wolfpack to 11 league wins and a strong second place finish in the ACC, Herb Sendek was named coach of the year. The Pack even set a new ACC mark by hitting 79.9 percent of its free throws, a figure that led the entire country.
Where did those guys go?
NC State's comeback from a 14-point deficit to the Seminoles on Wednesday was sabotaged, in part, by continued problems from the free throw line. Nothing from the 15-foot stripe is free anymore for the Wolfpack, which clanked seven of its last nine attempts, including one stretch during which five in a row were missed. Hodge, who shot 84 percent from the line last year, was 5-of-10.
"I'm actually getting in more repetitions than in previous years," Hodge responded when asked about his free throw shooting. "It's the same mechanics - they may even be a little bit better. The last few games it's been feeling good. Tonight, I just missed a couple. It happens sometimes, but it shouldn't have happened tonight. I want to make them more than anyone else and I want to win more than anyone else. Me, being the caliber of player I am, I have to make free shots. I'm frustrated about that. As a team we're going to continue to play with great defensive intensity for 40 minutes and we're going to make it happen."
But whether its intensity, technique or execution by its opponents, NC State has rarely been able to put together 40 minutes of solid halfcourt man-to-man defense this season. Ironically, however, the Wolfpack was probably about as aggressive and disruptive on the defensive end as it could be for the first 14 minutes of Wednesday's game.
At the 5:31 mark of the first half, Florida State had only 13 points and trailed by eight. But for the remainder of the half, FSU rarely had to face the Pack's halfcourt man-to-man, getting a series of open 3s in transition following missed shots and turnovers. It was a sequence in which the Seminoles outscored NC State 20-4 to grab an eight-point lead at the half.
Von Wafer was barely a few steps out of the Florida State locker room when he drained a pair of long 3-pointers over the first few minutes of the second half, shots that allowed the Seminoles to build a 14-point bulge with 17 minutes left. It was suggested in some circles that NC State could have tried playing a zone. Huh? Play zone when you're trailing by double digits? Play zone against an unconscious 3-point shooter like Wafer, who would have considered trying shots from the mezzanine if it were legal.
In the end, the Wolfpack got just enough stops to work itself back in the game, but down 14, it had very little margin for error. That's where the crucial misses at the free throw line came into play.
There seems to be a Murphy's Law component to NC State's season. One guy comes back from an injury, another guy goes down. One player starts feeling better after getting sick, then someone else starts feeling bad. Role players like Adam Waleskowski get caught five feet beyond the 3-point line with nowhere to go and throw in desperation 3s with the first half clock winding down.
But bad breaks aside, the Wolfpack simply hasn't played well enough or consistently enough to get anything positive going over a stretch of games. If the answers were easy, the problems would have been solved long ago.
There were long pauses between Julius Hodge's responses after each and every question. The wheels in his mind were obviously turning, but the words didn't come easily. With road games ahead at Clemson on Saturday and at North Carolina next Thursday, the Pack has placed itself in an unenviable position.
"This is really tough right now," Hodge said. "Losing isn't easy; that's why we have to stop it. We just have to turn it around as a team, as a unit. We have to win some games because if we don't do it now, it's not going to happen. I want to go out on a positive note. We have to win consistently."
