A resilient Wolfpack is bouncing back
Feb 16, 2009
All season long, I kept thinking that N.C. State's basketball team should be and was better than what we were seeing. A week ago, though, after their losing the big lead at Virginia Tech, I was truthfully ready to bury them for the season. I thought the Pack would pack it in, a group of underachievers who just didn't get it.
Well, State is still a team with a lot of flaws, but as we found out this week, it's also a team that is going to fight to the end. A week ago, this was a team that looked demoralized and ready to just play out the string. Get it over with. Just like last season. That's what it looked like.
But, at a crossroads entering last week, the Pack decided they weren't going to be quitters. They would keep digging, keep fighting, see what happens – and what happened was they found something good within themselves, a resiliency that may well salvage their season.
The big home upset win against Wake Forest would have been nullified if State had gone to Atlanta on Saturday and lost to a Georgia Tech team in disarray, but State showed a poise and toughness that had so often been missing.
They took the sting out of the Jackets early, had a big lead, let Georgia Tech back in it and then threw all the repellent they had at the Yellow Jackets for the resounding 21-point road win.
State’s wins on the road have been as rare as finding a windfall in this economy. It certainly impressed Coach Sidney Lowe, who knew better than anyone how badly his team needed to win the Tech game.
"To come in here and keep our composure the way we did after they made their run is a great accomplishment for our team," Lowe said.
Sure, Georgia Tech is terrible. But it's just the kind of game that State could have easily not been ready to play. It wouldn't have been the first time.
But a week makes a difference. A team of veterans with an improving backcourt has decided to make a stand.
"Beating Wake Forest was huge, but winning this game on the road was big too," said freshman guard C.J. Williams, who chipped in with 11 points. "It definitely helps our confidence to play like this on the road."
Added improving point guard Javier Gonzalez, "It's not easy to win on the road in the ACC. This is big for us, with a game at North Carolina next, it gives us confidence going over there."
Ah, confidence. It means everything. When you feel it, good things can happen. And State seems to have regained some with six games left.
The Wolfpack is now 4-6 in the ACC and 14-9 over all. But I believe they have a shot to go 8-8 in the league. Think about it.
They have remaining games at home with Virginia, Maryland and Boston College – certainly three games that are winnable. Yeah, I would make State at home the favorite in each of those.
On the road, State travels to Carolina, Wake Forest and closes out the season at Miami.
I doubt State would win at Carolina, and probably not at Wake Forest. But if they win the three home games that would make the game at hot-and-cold Miami on March 7 huge. Then, 8-8 in the league would then be a real possibility.
Now, would that be good enough to get State into the NCAA Tournament? With their weak non-conference schedule, I don't know. Some wins in the ACC Tournament would be necessary as well as some faltering by others who would be on the bubble. But for this team, as down as they were, to go 8-8 in the ACC and on a roll, who knows?
But there is still basketball to be played, and State still has that nagging little problem of throwing the basketball around like it's a hand grenade, defensive lapses and a lack of poise at critical times. And I don't think they will they shoot 61 percent again like they did against Tech.
But State is big and can be physical. Tracy Smith is a beast inside. They should have gone with him sooner, and Ben McCauley, Brandon Costner and Courtney Fells are veterans who have seen it all, good and bad. And the point guards, while still no all-stars, are getting better.
The Wolfpack making a play for the postseason? I do think it's possible, just as I know there is also the possibility of a total relapse. That is the recent history of N.C. State basketball.
But the Pack making a run is certainly something to think about now. And that hasn't been the case most of this season or last.
Or, for that matter, even a week ago.
