North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Wolfpack Get's Batteries Recharged
2/9/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Raleigh, N.C. – As mandated by the NCAA, college basketball coaches are required to give their teams one day off each week. In NC State’s case, the scheduled mandatory off day this week was Wednesday. But after watching his team wilt in the second half of Tuesday night’s game at Georgia Tech, Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe says he wouldn’t have asked his players to practice on Wednesday either way.
The minutes have been mounting for an NC State team that has sometimes been called the ‘six-pack,’ a reference to the Wolfpack’s playing rotation that has featured only six players at times. Since the return of point guard Engin Atsur three games ago, Lowe has been going with primarily a seven-man rotation that produced surprising victories over Virginia Tech and North Carolina.
The wave of momentum carried over into the first half of Wednesday’s game at Tech as NC State built an eight-point halftime lead after shooting 59 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
After intermission, however, the Wolfpack ran into the proverbial wall, collapsing against a deep Georgia Tech team that was energized by an aggressive press that produced 16 second half points off of 11 Pack turnovers.
Both mentally and physically, NC State (13-9, 3-6) had finally reached the point of exhaustion in the 74-65 loss to the Jackets. Following Wednesday’s off day and a shorter workout on Thursday, Lowe hopes the Wolfpack will be better prepared to go hard for the entire 40 minutes when it travels to Miami (9-15, 2-8) on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m. tip).
“We came out of the gates with great energy, but I think it finally hit us in that second half,” Lowe said, reflecting on the Georgia Tech game. “A lot of the mistakes we made were mental mistakes because we couldn’t fight through the fatigue factor. We got tired and so we weren’t strong with the basketball. I definitely think it finally caught up with us. That entire week with Virginia Tech, Carolina and then going into that game, I think the second half we couldn’t pull it out the way we normally do. Our guys have done a good job all year of being tired and really fighting to the end. That was the first time in a long time where you could actually see that we were pretty much dead.”
Four Wolfpack players – Gavin Grant, Ben McCauley, Brandon Costner, and Courtney Fells – rank in the top six of the ACC’s statistical category for minutes played, and each is averaging more than 34 minutes per game. Since returning from the hamstring pull that forced him to miss 12 games, Atsur has averaged 37 minutes over the last three games. Even when the Wolfpack was playing well in the first half against the Yellow Jackets, it turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions when Lowe tried to give his senior point guard a brief blow.
“We need a couple of guys to be able to come off the bench and give us some quality minutes,” said Lowe. “We can’t have a drop off when we go to the bench. We can’t take Engin out and as soon as he’s out of the game, we turn it over two or three times. That kills you because now you have to put him back in the game just to stay in it. We need to have some guys be able to come in and do a nice job for us.”
Lowe mentioned the names of guards Trevor Ferguson and Braxton Albritton as potential options at the point guard spot when Atsur goes to the bench.
“When we go to the bench and put Gavin at the point or Courtney at the point, it takes away from what we have going on at the wings,” Lowe said. “We’ve got to keep those guys at their natural positions as much as possible so that we can be effective.”
Since he played 23 and 12 minutes, respectively, against Clemson and Wake Forest in January, Ferguson has seen his playing time dwindle. Following a three-minute stint at Virginia Tech nine days ago, Ferguson did not play against either North Carolina or Georgia Tech. Albritton, a former walk-on from Raleigh, has played a grand total of five minutes combined in the Pack’s nine ACC games.
On Thursday, NC State practiced for only 90 minutes and probably won’t go much longer than that before leaving for Miami later in the day on Friday.
“Younger teams breakdown mentally,” Lowe said. “I say mentally because when you’re mentally strong you usually get through the physical part. Young ball clubs usually can’t do that. Our guys have done it all year long playing the minutes they have. We try to shorten practice a little bit and make it sharp and intense with not as much running to try and save the legs. We’re coming down the homestretch and we need to try to be fresh.”
Miami, which has dropped seven games in a row heading into Saturday’s match-up, can certainly empathize with the Pack’s plight. With injuries suffered by center Anthony King (wrist) and forwards Adrian Thomas (abdominal), and Fabio Nass (knee), plus the recent suspension of forward Raymond Hicks, the Hurricanes dressed only seven scholarship players for their 75-68 loss to Boston College on Wednesday.
It’s frontcourt depleted, Miami relies heavily on guards Jack McClinton, Denis Clemente, and Anthony Harris to provide most of its scoring punch. McClinton, who got off to a blazing start this season, is averaging 16 points to lead the Canes.
NC State forward Dennis Horner will likely wear a protective mask during Saturday’s game after taking an inadvertent forearm to the side of his nose in the first half against Georgia Tech. Lowe said the nose is severely bruised but not broken.
“He had the mask on [Thursday] and he doesn’t like it,” Lowe said. “I’m not going to promise you that if he gets in the game that he doesn’t throw it off.”
