North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State, Boston College Staying Busy
1/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2006
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. - One can only imagine how NC State men's basketball coach Herb Sendek and Boston College's Al Skinner reacted when they saw their early January ACC schedules. On the first full week of league action, the Wolfpack had road dates at North Carolina and B.C., with the two games only three days apart. It didn't look any more convenient for the Eagles, who would have only one day between a trip to Georgia Tech and their next game against the Pack. As it turns out, both nationally ranked teams will be trying to bounce back from losses when they meet Tuesday evening in Chestnut Hill. Tip time is set for 9:00 p.m.
NC State (12-2, 1-1) is coming off an 82-69 defeat to the Tar Heels, while Boston College is licking its wounds after being tripped up in Atlanta, 60-58.
The short preparation time will be a test for the teams since both clubs run offensive systems that are a little unorthodox. NC State has its hybrid of the principles associated with the "Princeton style," while B.C. (11-3, 0-2) counters with a tight flex, a system that allows the Eagles to take advantage of their big bodies inside.
"Obviously, the less time that you have, the quicker you have to move forward," Sendek said. "You can't dwell in the past with the next game coming so fast and the opponent being so good and difficult to prepare for. You have to move forward quickly. That's the good and the bad about basketball all wrapped up into one. You don't have a week in between games; sometimes that's good because you can get right back at it and move forward. But sometimes you would like a little more time to get some things ready."
After suffering its heartbreaking loss at Georgia Tech, Boston College returned home late Sunday night knowing that Monday would be dedicated to taking a crash course on NC State basketball 101.
"NC State is a difficult team to prepare for so it's going to take a lot of concentration on our part to get ready for them," Skinner said. "I don't make the schedule; we just play the games. I can't overly concern myself with that, to be honest. This is what the schedule is and this is what we have to play. You would like to think that over the course of the season there's going to be a time where it will be favorable to us. Right now, we're at a little disadvantage and we have to deal with it."
NC State has to deal with the bad taste left by the UNC game, a contest that was tied with just over three minutes to play before a handful of empty offensive possessions and a few missed free throws allowed the Tar Heels to score the last 13 points. It was an uncharacteristic stretch for a Wolfpack team that has its share of veterans. But then again, it's those same experienced players who will likely understand how important it is to forget about Saturday and move on.
"Whatever the outcome is, we have to put it behind us," said Pack senior Ilian Evtimov. "We have a great coach and even when we win, we take good lessons from the wins because you never play the perfect game. We're going to watch film, we're going to get better and we're going to get prepared for Boston College."
Another NC State senior, Cameron Bennerman, was even more direct: "You've just got to go play the next one. All the teams in our conference are good and they're trying to beat your brains out every night."
Boston College will try to beat the Wolfpack with a relentless inside attack that's led by All-American Craig Smith. A powerful 6-7 senior, Smith averages 17.1 points, 7.4 rebounds per game and shoots 60 percent from the floor. He had 26 in Sunday's loss at Tech.
"He's a consensus first-team All-American because he's really good," Sendek said. "He has awesome strength, terrific hands and balance; he's very agile on his feet and plays really hard."
Smith's running mate along the frontline is 6-7 forward Jared Dudley, who averages 16.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest. And because it goes inside so frequently, Boston College is shooting better than 50 percent from the field as a team.
The Wolfpack will have to handle the B.C. flex on the defensive end of the court, but as much as anything, it will have to make sure there is no trickle down affect from Saturday's game in Chapel Hill.
"Last year we would get a loss and the next thing you know we would lose the next three," Bennerman said. "We've got to immediately bounce back. We would have loved to have gone undefeated in the conference, but now that we have a loss, that's the reality. We've just got to keep truckin.'"
