North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: North Carolina
2/20/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
No. 5
DATE: Wednesday, February 20, 2008 @
TIME: Tip-off: 7:00 p.m. EST
RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network
AIRTIME: 6:30 p.m. EST
TELEVISION: ESPN
OPPONENTNot many teams can overcome multiple injuries and still turn in their best defensive performance of the season. But most teams aren’t as good as
The Tar Heels had to face Virginia Tech on Saturday in
No problem. UNC crushed the Hokies 92-53.
The tremendous mountain of adversity failed to stop the Tar Heels from holding the Hokies (14-11, 5-6) to 26 percent shooting in the worst loss for Virginia Tech under Coach Seth Greenberg. It didn’t slow the Tar Heels offense either.
It also helped that there wasn’t much wrong with UNC’s top scorers. An infected toe nail barely slowed Tyler Hansbrough. He recorded 23 points and 9 rebounds while Wayne Ellington added 19 points and 4 assists to help
The Heels shot 50 percent and held a 54-24 rebounding advantage. They were up by 20 at the break and led by as many as 47 points in the second half before emptying their bench with 4 1/2 minutes left to keep the horrendous injury situation from getting worse.
Thomas the third-team point guard behind Lawson and injured backup Bobby Frasor - finished with six points, six rebounds and seven assists. Even with his bad back, Thomas was amazingly able to throw down two dunks in the first half.
Coach Roy Williams, on Monday’s ACC teleconference, said that Lawson would not play against NC State. “He still has pain in the foot and doctors are being cautious, which is what we should be,” said Williams. He indicated it would be a mistake to rush Lawson back with important games remaining in the future.
Williams added that Thomas had a slight case of the flu on Sunday, but expects him to play against the Wolfpack.
Since Lawson sprained his left ankle in an 84-73 overtime win at
However, the Heels looked more like themselves on Saturday and that is a testimony to their incredible talent and depth. Not counting the end of the bench, eight players saw significant minutes against Virginia Tech.
In ACC games,
Williams would like to see his team defend better at times, but he can’t knock his team’s field goal percentage defense against ACC foes (.421). Over the last five games, opponents are shooting a combined .379 against
UNC is also holding ACC foes to .324 shooting from 3-point range.
Even with Lawson on the sidelines,
Against ACC opponents, the Heels have only 14 more assists than turnovers. Some of that can certainly be attributed to Lawson’s absence. Lawson had 20 assists and one turnover in back-to-back games against
Hansbrough is a leading candidate for ACC Player of the Year. He leads the league in scoring and rebounding and he’s obviously the cornerstone of UNC’s attack. In his last 5 games, Hansbrough has averaged 27.0 points and 13.6 rebounds.
The junior center gets to the foul line an average of 10.4 times a game and his ability to finish tough shots in the lane is exceptional. When Hansbrough consistently catches the ball in or near the paint,
Ellington has really elevated his performance; giving
The unsung hero of the team is junior wingman Danny Green. The Tar Heels top reserve does just about everything well. He’s a solid defender and rebounder who scores in double-figures, but he has struggled shooting from long-range in ACC games (.282).
Forward Marcus Ginyard is also very valuable. The 6-5 junior is a solid defender who can rebound and find the open man. He can also spell Thomas at point guard.
UNC has won 9 of the last 10 games of the series with NC State including a lopsided 93-62 victory in
PROBABLE UNC STARTERS
No. Name Pos. Ht. Class PPG RPG APG
02 Wayne Ellington G 6’4 So. 16.6 3.9 2.2
11 Quentin Thomas G 6’3 Sr. 2.9 1.6 2.9
50 Tyler Hansbrough C 6'9 Jr. 22.8 10.6 --
01 Marcus Ginyard F 6'5 Jr. 7.3 4.5 1.8
21 Deon Thompson F 6'8 So. 9.2 5.4 1.3*
TOP RESERVES:
14 Danny Green F/G 6'5 Jr. 11.7 5.1 2.2
32 Alex Stepheson F 6’9 So. 4.0 5.1 --
13 Will
05 Ty Lawson OUT 5’11 So. 13.6 2.7 5.7
* Blocked shots per game
A WIN--Would give State its first victory over a team ranked in the nation’s top-10 this season and the third over a top-25 opponent. The victory would snap State’s 3-game losing streak and improve the Wolfpack to 16-10 overall and 5-7 in the ACC with four regular season games remaining. The Pack would beat the Tar Heels for the second straight season at the
A LOSS--
in
ROOKIE RECORD J.J. Hickson set an ACC single game freshman record with 23 rebounds in a loss to Clemson on Feb 16. If he continues to rebound at his current pace (8.8) he will break the NC State single season freshman record for rebounding average set by Kenny Carr in 1975 (8.2).
ACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR?J.J. Hickson leads all ACC freshmen in scoring (15.3), rebounding (8.8) and double-doubles (9). The
NOT ENOUGH HELPDespite J.J. Hickson’s rebounding numbers, the Pack has outrebounded only 3-of-11 ACC opponents. In the last 4 games, State has been outscored 46-30 on second chance points.
WHERE’S THE BUCKET? Against ACC opponents, State is No.3 in the league in 3-point shooting (.388), but has cooled off recently. In its last 2 games, the Pack is a combined 7-of-33 from the bonusphere (.212). In 8 games prior to that stretch, the Pack has shot .421 from 3-point land (56-133).
MAGIC NUMBER IS 70 State is 3-1 against ACC opponents when holding them to 70 points or less, but only 1-6 when yielding 71 points or more.
TURNOVERS State is 3-2 in ACC games when recording as many or fewer turnovers than its opponents. The Pack is 1-5 when losing the turnover battle in conference play. Only 5 times has any opponent had more turnovers than the Wolfpack this season.
GOT TO FINISHState has won 3 ACC games this season after enjoying a halftime lead (
TOUGH FINAL 20-MINUTESDuring its 3-game losing streak, State has allowed opponents an average of 43.6 second-half points (131) as well as .588 shooting from the field (47-80) and .523 from 3-point range (11-21) in the final 20-minutes
TOUGH AGAINST THE LEAGUE Courtney Fells has scored in double-figures in 10-of-11 ACC games this season and is the team’s No.2 scorer in league games (14.4) while shooting .532 from the field and .500 from the 3-point arc. Fells scored 17 points in State’s loss to Clemson on Feb. 16. His clutch 3-pointer with 18-seconds to play in overtime was huge in State’s victory over
SENIOR SUCCESSGavin Grant is State’s top scorer in ACC games (15.0). In the last 9 games, the senior forward has averaged 16.2 points (146) while shooting 49 percent from the field (43-87). That includes a 26-point outing at Duke on Jan. 31. Three times this season, Grant’s heroics in the final seconds have won games for the Wolfpack. His steal and layup with 2.1 seconds left in overtime gave State a 79-77 victory over
NOTHING FOUL ABOUT THIS State is getting to the foul line an average of 21.3 times a game against ACC opponents and is shooting .701. The Pack has made 164 free throws in ACC games while its opponents have attempted only 186.
HERE’S THE POINT Freshman Javier Gonzalez and sophomore transfer Marques Johnson have been getting plenty of on the job training since a season-ending knee injury to starting point guard Farnold Degand on December 23rd. Both have made progress, but Gonzalez has stepped and is playing more minutes. In his last 9 games, Gonzalez has averaged 6.2 points (56), 2.7 rebounds (24), 3.3 assist (30) and 2.2 turnovers (20). Gonzalez recorded a career-high 11points & 5 rebounds against Va.Tech on 2/5/08.
ROLLERCOASTER RIDE
CUTTING IT CLOSE The Pack’s four ACC wins have been decided by an average of only 4.3 points.
RANKED RECORD State is 2-4 this season against foes ranked in the nation’s top-25. The UNC game will be State’s seventh against a ranked opponent. That’s more than any other ACC team.
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