Ryan Craig
Ryan Craig is the sports web editor for WRALSportsFan.com.
By Ryan Craig
Nov 17, 2009
24 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and one win.
That was Nolan Smith’s stat line from Duke’s 101-59 victory over Charlotte Tuesday night, an evening that saw Smith notch his career-high in points, and Duke find its offensive rhythm.
As with any early-season game against an obviously out-manned opponent, the enthusiasm of coaches and fans should be tempered, but on this night, it’s easy to see why Blue Devils’ head coach Mike Krzyzewski was so eager to get his starting shooting guard back in the lineup.
After scoring 74 points all game against Coastal Carolina Monday night, the same short-handed Duke team that was supposed to be tired after playing on back-to-back nights tallied 57 in the first half alone.
Smith’s effect on the Duke offense was multi-faceted, as the former Oak Hill standout left his fingerprints on nearly every aspect of Coach K’s attack against the 49ers.
The transition baskets that starting point guard Jon Scheyer admitted were missing from Duke’s wins over UNC-Greensboro and Coastal Carolina, were easier to come by with Smith’s on-ball pressure creating turnovers at the three-point line and beyond.
The shots that Scheyer was forced to sacrifice in the name of running Duke’s half-court offense in the team’s first two games, were now his to be had with Smith capable of periodically running the show.
The result?
Scheyer made more shots
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Nov 10, 2009
As with any exhibition college basketball game, it’s imperative that you look beyond the final score when examining a team’s performance.
N.C. State beat up on an over-matched St. Paul’s squad Thursday night in Reynolds Coliseum, 84-42, in a showing that answered some questions but raised several more.
For starters, it’s obvious Tracy Smith is the cornerstone of the Pack’s offense and rightfully so. Smith finished the night with a game-high 21 points on 9-11 shooting, and seemingly scored at will on a variety of moves in the paint.
The junior forward had a tremendous size advantage over the defenders he was posting up, but his effort wasn’t a case of beating up under-sized competition – his solid footwork and vast array of moves in the low block make him a scoring force that will be hard for nearly everyone in the ACC to contend with.
Sporting a drop step, baby hooks over both shoulders, an up-and-under move and an ability to take contact and finish plays, Smith proved Thursday night that he should touch the ball at least once on nearly every offensive possession State has this upcoming season.
“Everybody saw that I had a mismatch just about every time,” Smith said. “I took advantage of that.”
Coach Sidney Lowe has preached about wanting to run his offense from the paint to the perimeter. Last night the Wolfpack obliged, and Smith did a nice job finishing.
“What
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Oct 30, 2009
Throughout the 2009 season, Carolina has been a one-dimensional team. Except for a high-quality offensive effort against ECU, the Heels have been mainly comprised of a game-changing defense, and a stagnant offense.
In North Carolina's previous seven games, the only recipe for success Butch Davis and Co. had found was to force turnovers, hand the offense a short field, and hope for the best.
On this Thursday night, during Carolina's 20-17 win over Virginia Tech, things changed.
For starters, T.J. Yates was not a liability against Bud Foster's defense.
The junior signal-caller was solid, if not spectacular, in Blacksburg, completing 18 of 28 passes for just 131 yards, but two key scores.
Yes, his late-game interception had the potential to serve as a game-breaker for the Heels, but his ability to find Greg Little and Zack Pianalto in key situations throughout the contest often saved drives during a game in which Carolina went 10-19 on third-down conversions.
Unlike a week ago against FSU, when North Carolina’s offense continually found itself leaving the field after three plays in the game’s second half, Shaun Draughn, Ryan Houston and the rest of the Heels were able to stay on the pitch long enough to give the defense a break.
Instead of constantly having to deal with third and long, Draughn, and especially Houston, were effective enough on first and second down to allow the Heels to expand their playbook, move the chains,
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Sep 23, 2009
Every year around this time we begin to discuss the candidacies of several Cy Young and MVP contenders, and this season is no different.
The NL MVP was wrapped up by Albert Pujols before Easter, and the engraver for the AL version should already be double-checking the spelling of the word “Mauer.”
As for the Cy Young awards, that’s a different story.
With guys like Tim Lincecum, Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter all on contending teams in the National League, the race is tighter than a Drew Brees spiral. In the AL, there is a guy on a non-contending team that in my opinion is lapping the field.
That man is Zack Greinke.
Greinke likely won’t end up with the league lead in wins and he most certainly won’t lead his team to the World Series, the playoffs, or even a .500 record.
Instead, he is putting together one of the best pitching seasons nobody will ever remember.
At 15-8, his win total seems modest - after all, 20 wins has been and will continue to be the benchmark for pitching greatness in any one year.
But when it comes to pitching, wins can actually be one of the game's most misleading statistics.
Pitchers that play for high powered offenses can often still win games even when they aren’t throwing their best simply because their team can outscore its opponent.
C.C. Sabathia of the Yankees – one of Greinke’s main competitors for this year award - for instance, has
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Sep 11, 2009
It wasn't that long ago that we were talking about the Raiders as one of the NFL's best teams.
With a rabid fan base, Rich Gannon at quarterback, and a berth in the Super Bowl, Oakland was one of the best teams in the league in 2002.
What a difference seven years makes.
Since the 48-21 embarrassment in Super Bowl XXXVII, in which Gannon threw five picks, including three pick-sixes, absolutely nothing has gone right for the Raiders.
Nothing.
Just one season after leading his team to the cusp of a championship, coach Bill Callahan was out of a job. After throwing for nearly 4,700 yards in '02, Gannon was out of the league after just ten more starts over two seasons.
The team's draft picks in recent years? Brutal.
Robert Gallery was supposed to be the next great can't-miss monster tackle out of the Big Ten. Instead, he's been almost as bad a second-overall pick as Ryan Leaf. Well, not that bad - but then again, nothing is.
In 2007, Oakland drafted JaMarcus Russell out of LSU. He had a cannon for an arm, but unfortunately no desire to show up to camp. We're now in the third year of the Russell experiment, and all he has to show for his efforts is $31.5 million in guaranteed debt, the potential for more than $30 million more, and a career QB rating of under 74.
Even when it seemed like the Raiders had pulled a rabbit out of a hat - when they finally made a move that you had to think twice about simply because knowing the team,
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Aug 26, 2009
We get it Jerry Jones - you’re rich.
Now move your scoreboard.
This past week, the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys played the first football game ever at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Tex.
Of course, given that nobody is actually talking about a single scoring play or tackle from the contest, you could be forgiven for forgetting that it was an actual NFL preseason game.
For that, we have Titans rookie punter A.J. Trapasso to thank.
That’s because Trapasso was the one that struck Jones’ $40 million HD scoreboard with a kick in the third quarter that brought the game to a halt, caused the NFL competition committee to convene for a special meeting, and exposed Jones for the egomaniac he is.
Apparently, $1.15 billion can’t get you a good architect these days.
Either that, or Jones spent too much time making sure he decked his incredibly posh stadium out with the world’s largest high definition screen and not enough figuring out how to keep it from interrupting play.
What’s worse is that now that the screen has become an issue, Jones has developed a case of alligator arms.
Like that annoying friend that doesn’t want to help pay the check after dinner, the billionaire owner of “America’s Team” would rather create more work for the players and the league than drop a few more bucks.
It is estimated that it will cost $2 million to move the giant screen
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Aug 20, 2009
I saw the news that John Calipari once again lost a Final Four from his resume because of some form of cheating and immediately thought of the phrase “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.”
Well, NCAA, shame on you.
This is a guy who just became the first head coach in college basketball history to vacate Final Fours with two different programs, and he’s still on the sidelines collecting a paycheck?
Forget a slap on the wrist – this guy hasn’t gotten so much as a wag of the finger from the game’s governing body.
Calipari apologists will try and make the (very poor) argument that he had no control over whether Derrick Rose had someone take his SATs for him before enrolling at Memphis.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you believe that all of this happened without Calipari’s knowledge - that the eligibility of his once-in-a-generation recruit was somehow not at the forefront of his mind each and every day leading up to the season – than in the words of Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg, “you’re certifiably insane.”
The NCAA calls it institutional control, and Calipari has proven to have none at two different schools.
Even for those Kentucky fans that would love to pretend they just hired an angel to direct their program, and that firmly believe with all of their Kentucky blue blood that somehow Calipari was just in the wrong place at the
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Aug 11, 2009
N.C. State's Jamelle Eugene rushes away from Miami defenders on November 29, 2008.
It’s fall in Raleigh, which means it must be time to talk about N.C. State’s depth at running back.
For the past several years, the Pack’s runners have looked every bit the part on paper – talent, varying levels of game experience, good combination of power and elusiveness, etc…
And yet, by the time the year is over, whether because of injury or ineffectiveness, we are talking about yet another underachieving Wolfpack running game.
Take a look at the Pack’s totals in 2006 – the last year that N.C. State cracked the top five in the ACC in rushing average per game. That year, Toney Baker, Andre Brown and Jamelle Eugene formed one of the best young, versatile trios around – giving State a high quality ground game and the fan base a lot to look forward to in the years to come.
2006 – 1436 total rushing yards (5th in the conference)
Baker – 12 games, 688 yards
Brown – 12 games, 658 yards
Eugene – 12 games, 60 yards
One year later, with the entire corps back, many foresaw a three-headed monster unlike any other in the conference. Injuries, however, would derail any thoughts of a dominant 1-2-3 punch, as Baker would undergo season-ending knee surgery and Brown dealt with several injuries that cost him time on the field.
Naturally, the teams’ production at the position slipped, and newcomer Curtis Underwood was forced
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Aug 5, 2009
You can add “Watch Lists” to the ever-growing list of idiotic things published before the college football season.
Voting on the preseason conference Player of the Year? All-ACC teams?
Apparently dozens of writers think they are smart enough to vote on who they think is the best left guard in the conference, even before a single 2009 snap is played - right.
It’s almost as bad as voting on preseason rankings – do you really know who is going to be the best team in the country before anyone laces them up in week one?
You know nothing about the freshman that have enrolled since last year, nothing about the impact of lost senior leadership or assistant coaching changes, and least of all, nothing about what a team’s injury or academic situation will look like.
And yet we have watch lists for awards that determine the country’s best quarterbacks, running backs, tight ends, etc…
Whether because of injury, academics, or poor play, several of the guys on these lists won’t even make it through the year as their team’s starter – guaranteed.
Other will succumb to the pressure of trying to carry their team, or the notoriety that come with being on the face of every magazine and website.
Still others will report to camp overweight, get caught out after curfew, or find themselves in court because of a late-night appearance on some camera phone.
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
By Ryan Craig
Jul 30, 2009
When David Cutcliffe arrived in Durham two years ago, Duke had only 11 North Carolina prep players on its roster and even fewer in-state inroads on which to try and build a program.
Since then, it’s been clear that the new regime has had one goal in mind – let people know there are three division one football schools in the Triangle, not two.
While it has been, and likely always will be, a struggle, it is clear that progress is being made – on and off the field.
Four wins in 2008, while a modest amount for most, represented a breakout year at Wallace Wade Stadium.
Winning battles for in-state recruits against Butch Davis at North Carolina and Tom O’Brien at N.C. State?
That’s more like a coup.
Davis and O’Brien are spectacular coaches that have their programs on the rise and both will one day have their teams in the nation’s top-10 - but neither had the reclamation project on their hands that Cutcliffe inherited upon his arrival in the Old North State.
So how has the soon to be 55-year old head coach managed to wedge Duke back into the Triangle football conversation? By having events like the one that took place Thursday night at the Tobacco Road Café in Raleigh.
For two hours, in one sports bar, Duke was king – right in the middle of N.C. State country.
Cutcliffe, a man who knows and speaks honestly about the magnitude of the challenge he has in front of
…
Click here to read the rest of the post
