North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Opens ACC Slate at Miami
1/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2005
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - It seems that no one on the NC State basketball team is immune to the series of illnesses that have permeated the Wolfpack over the last 10 days, not even the head coach. Herb Sendek was feeling under the weather himself Friday as he took questions from the media about Sunday's 4:00 p.m. ACC opener at Miami (9-3, 0-1). For most of the players who have been either sick or injured, having a week between games may be what the doctor ordered. But not even a week off could be enough for starting guard Tony Bethel, who was diagnosed with colitis on Monday.
"I would say right now that he is doubtful," Sendek said of Bethel's playing status. "He has not practiced at all [this week]. At last check as of yesterday morning, he had lost 15 pounds. He had still not eaten. In retrospect, with more information now being provided, it really was amazing that that young man played in our last couple of games because not only has he lost a lot of weight and struggled through his illness, his energy level was really low."
In the three games since he started feeling ill, Bethel averaged 18 minutes on the court and was held scoreless in all three contests. NC State dropped two of the three games (to St. Johns and West Virginia back-to-back) to fall to 10-3 on the season.
Reigning ACC Player of the Year Julius Hodge has returned to practice after sitting out last Sunday's game against West Virginia with a sprained ankle. Guard Engin Atsur is also back to practicing after being held out earlier this week with spasms in his lower back, the result of a hard fall he took under the basket in the second half against Columbia back on December 28.
Sendek said the other players who had been sick have begun to get their legs back under them this week.
"In the early part of this week we still had a few guys out," said Sendek. "I think our health is coming around. Right now, everybody's back in one capacity or another except for Tony Bethel. We have 10 guys on scholarship and I think we have to expect all 10 guys to contribute and produce for us. That may come in different sizes and forms as we move through the next 16 games, but I think we have the kind of team that we would hope that different guys are able to step-up on different nights."
If Tony Bethel can't go on Sunday, his absence will certainly be felt against a Miami team that is very perimeter-oriented. The Hurricanes feature three backcourt performers who account for better than 60 percent of the team's offensive production. Junior Robert Hite has reached double figures in every game this season and is second in the ACC in scoring with an average of 19.4 points per game. Sophomore Guillermo Diaz is producing 16 points per contest, while Anthony Harris is accounting for 12.9 points and five assists per outing.
"Miami got everyone's attention earlier in the season when UMass beat UCONN and then Miami just really handled UMass (80-53)," Sendek said. "Then the exclamation point to their ability level was when they went up to Gainesville and beat Florida. They are blessed with three great guards who are blessed with incredible athletic ability. They put it on the floor and they shoot it. They're an athletic, tough-minded team. They clearly demonstrated that [Thursday night] when they went to Georgia Tech."
Down by as many as 15 points in Atlanta, the Hurricanes rallied to within one-point midway through the second half before eventually falling 80-69. It was Miami's first loss after an eight-game winning streak.
NC State, meanwhile, is trying to reverse a recent trend which has seen it lose three of its last five games. Earlier in the week, Sendek said the Pack's top two immediate priorities were to first get healthy and then work on getting better as a basketball team.
"I remain confident about our team," said Sendek. "I know we haven't played our best basketball here recently and certainly, it's difficult to isolate any one guy. I just think we've got to pull together, continue to work and hopefully play better than were able to the last two games."
This will be only the second meeting ever between Miami and NC State. In the first and only game between the two schools, NC State prevailed 46-35 in the 1939-40 season.
