North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Atsur's re-injured hamstring frustrates Pack
1/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Pack Athletics
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. – About 30 minutes into Sunday afternoon’s practice at the Dail Basketball Center, NC State’s basketball season changed.
Again.
That’s when senior Engin Atsur, who had already missed nine consecutive games with a hamstring injury, re-injured his left leg during a drill. It was a day after Atsur had returned to the Wolfpack lineup, playing a rusty 31 minutes in a 74-58 loss to the Eagles, and only a few days after Atsur’s parents, Renate and Cetin, had arrived from Istanbul for a three-week vacation to see their youngest son play.
Atsur’s return had give his Wolfpack teammates and head coach Sidney Lowe reason for optimism, as it gained not only an experienced scorer and ball handler, but it also benefited from the return of Gavin Grant to the small forward position. Grant responded with a team-high 22 points.
Tuesday, with Atsur in street clothes, unavailable for duty, the Wolfpack suffered an 87-76 loss to Clemson at the RBC Center, and frustration filled the lockerroom. The frustration didn’t come from the fact that the Wolfpack had just lost its third consecutive ACC game and fell to 10-6 on the season. It came from the fact that the players thought they could compete with the Tigers, the country’s lone remaining unbeaten team.
“It’s very tough, it really is,” Lowe said after the game. “I can tell you, from (the players’) point of view and from my point, it is frustrating for something like that to happen. I am sure it is frustrating for Engin as well.
“You think you have your floor leader back and he is ready to go into the ACC and play and then he re-injures it. The whole mindset of the guys, I think it bothered them. Gavin, in particular, was excited about Engin coming back. He’s been thrust back into a position that is not his position. He is doing the best job he can. It certainly took a lot out of us when Engin got hurt again.”
Lowe essentially used just one substitute -- 23 minutes from freshman Trevor Ferguson -- with a brief minute from senior Bryan Nieman. But redshirt freshman Brandon Costner played all 40 minutes of the game, while sophomore Ben McCauley played 39, Grant played 36 and sophomore Courtney Fells played 36. The Wolfpack already has four players in the top five of the ACC in minutes per game, with all logging nearly 35 minutes per game.
So it’s no wonder that Lowe suggested one of the biggest reasons for the Wolfpack’s 17 turnovers in Tuesday night’s game was heavy-legged fatigue.
“It’s something we are dealing with,” the coach said. “We are short on numbers right now. We are not pushing through it. We are tired. The only thing you can try to do is fight through it. Unfortunately, Clemson was able to run guys in and out of the lineup, something we couldn’t do.”
There’s some mental fatigue on the squad as well. Grant thought he was done with running the offense. He was ready to score in bunches from the wing, as he did against the Eagles. He added another 22 points against Clemson, but there was a telling difference in those two games: Against BC, Grant had no turnovers. Against Clemson, he had six of the team’s 17.
“I thought (Atsur’s return) was the end of me playing point,” Grant said. “But you have to do what the team needs. I am the next best ball-handler.
“We can’t worry about Engin not being here. He’s going to be all right. If we didn’t have Ben or if we didn’t have Brandon, we would still have to play the game. We thought we had him, but he re-injured his hamstring. In the meantime, we just have to wait it out again.”
The good thing for the Wolfpack is that it does have some time to allow Atsur to recuperate. Lowe and his team travel to Wake Forest for its second road game of the season on Saturday, then have a full week off before it plays again, at home on Jan. 20 against Duke.
“It’s a game-by-game thing, which is even more frustrating, because you just don’t know when he will be back,” Lowe said. “We need him to play. We have to get him healthy and back on the floor.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
