Featured stories, N.C. State

Pack’s Lowe says Wood being grabbed by defenders

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N.C. State shooter Scott Wood has been up and down this season, exploding for points in some games and disappearing offensively in others. He had zero points against Duke, nine against Wake Forest, five against Clemson, 15 at Maryland and three against North Carolina.

Then in Saturday’s win over Georgia Tech, Wood erupted for 20 points and hitting seven of 10 shots.

That raises the obvious question of why Wood has been so erratic. On Monday, Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe had a pointed response on the ACC teleconference.

“One [reason] is that people are really paying attention to him and trying to do things to him to prevent him from getting shots,” Lowe said.

But Lowe couldn’t help but add a strong point about how Wood is being grabbed by defenses.

“I know he’s my player and I might be biased but the film doesn’t lie. He gets held more than anybody I have ever seen. They literally grab him, grab his jersey.

“People are just aware of him. The last ballgame he really moved well without the ball. That’s one of the things we’ve been trying to tell him – keep moving so they can’t grab you.”

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Duke reaches No. 1 despite Singler slump

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Duke ascended to the No. 1 spot in the polls again Monday, a move that reflects the carnage of the top at last week and the fact that the Blue Devils have steadied themselves after the loss of Kyrie Irving.

The Devils are continuing to win despite an odd shooting slump by senior star Kyle Singler. Coach Mike Krzyzewski continues to praise Singler for his defense, which you can take as a way of boosting Singler’s confidence, but there’s no doubt Singler’s shooting woes are puzzling.

Singler scored 24 at Wake Forest on Jan. 22, 14 against Boston College Jan. 27, 20 vs. St. John’s Jan. 30 and then 22 at Maryland on Feb. 2. So he was pretty much rolling along to a year worthy of national honors.

Then suddenly, he skidded. Here are his last five games, with shooting from the field and three-point range:

Feb. 5, N.C. State 5-13 (1-2) 14 points
Feb. 9, Carolina 3-17 (1-6) 10 points
Feb. 13, at Miami 6-12 (2-6) 14 points
Feb. 16, at Virginia 1-5 (0-2) 2 points
Feb. 20, Georgia Tech 5-14 (0-1) 15 points.

“I don’t know if there’s any one thing,” Krzyzewski said Monday. “Sometimes you just don’t shoot as well. Sometimes when you don’t shoot as well you don’t play as well. To me what’s remarkable about that kid is every other part of his game is terrific.

“At Virginia, he let that, for one of the few times in his career, affect how he played. And he can’t do that. He’s so important for us, whether he goes 2 for 12 or 8 for 12.
We won’t win a really important game unless Kyle plays with that spirit. And when he hits that shot, he’s a lot better.”

Krzyzewski compared Singler to a .320 hitter who is suddenly hitting .250.

“We think that he will hit .320 and balance out for the season. But I’m proud of him. He’s handling all his other responsibilities well.”

Featured stories, UNC

Heels hang on in low-scoring affair against BC

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I like low-scoring games, I promise. But I found myself surfing the Internet during the first half of North Carolina’s 48-46 victory at home over Boston College. (It was just 21-20 at the half.) BC certainly controlled the tempo and made for a ho-hum game for much of the time.

“We could have played a nice offense like we usually do and we would have lost by a lot,” said Boston College coach Steve Donahue.

Carolina looked really good offensively for five minutes in the second half but that was it. During that stretch, UNC outscored BC 15-3 and appeared to have the game in hand at 41-26. A long pass from Kendall Marshall to a streaking Tyler Zeller started the run which included a Harrison Barnes three and a pair of spinning, driving layups by Marshall and Barnes.

But then the Heels lost the ball on five straight possessions and BC, unlike the Heels, were able to hit some threes which got them back in it.

The Tar Heels did hold BC to just 27 percent shooting and outrebounded the Eagles 44-30.

Carolina’s defense is carrying the Heels right now but it’s just a matter of time before they lose one they oughta win unless they get their offensive woes figured out.

For more on the Boston College game, please click here.

Featured stories, N.C. State

Leslie’s poem is unwelcome tempest for N.C. State

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It has been that sort of season for N.C. State, hasn’t it? Thursday night was exactly what you wanted from the Wolfpack – an intense ACC win over a good Clemson team, solid defense and some real effort by the Wolfpack.

Not only that, but we saw something from C.J. Leslie we thought we’d never see – real hustle. Leslie actually dove for a loose ball, something that seemed abhorrent to him earlier in the season. One of the defining moments in State’s home loss to North Carolina was when Leslie barely reached for a loose ball while two Tar Heels dove for it.

But rather than relishing that 69-61 victory, the talk Friday morning is all about Leslie’s poem for an English class that made it to Deadspin. The poem essentially focuses on the poet’s efforts to hook up with a girl and his excitement when she sends a text saying, “sex.”

N.C. State hasn’t confirmed if that was really Leslie’s poem, and the fact is, no student should have his academic work splashed all over message boards. Would you want your freshman essays shared with the world? Uh, no.

Regardless of what you think of the poem, Leslie doesn’t deserve to have his private work shared with the world without his permission. The N.C. State Code of Student Conduct prohibits “willfully damaging the academic work or efforts of another student.”

Frankly, the school should find out who leaked the paper and punish them accordingly.

But all this doesn’t change the fact that State is being made fun of in the national and local press. This morning on 96 Rock radio, for example, the hosts made a big deal of making fun of Leslie’s poem.

Too bad, too. Leslie played great Thursday, with 18 points and 10 rebounds and a determined effort across the board. It’s what coach Sidney Lowe has been waiting for from his star freshman, and what this Wolfpack team needs. What should have been a big win wound up as fuel for talk show hosts, and that’s too bad.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Williams more comfortable with this UNC team

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North Carolina might be coming off a big win over Florida State and UNC may have found a solid point guard but now the Tar Heels have a week where they play at Duke and at Clemson, two teams that beat them by a combined 51 points on their home floors last year.

The Heels, who play at Cameron Indoor Stadium Wednesday night, were embarrassed 82-50 at Duke last year. While the Tar Heels weren’t playing with their full complement of players a year ago, they just weren’t very good. Carolina was 16-15 and 5-11 in the ACC after that game.

This time the Tar Heels are 17-5 and 7-1 in the ACC as the teams meet in Durham. Coach Roy Williams, during his weekly media teleconference today, said he was “scared to death” but feels more comfortable with the team he is taking over to Duke this year, especially considering the way they are playing.

He said it would be a “monumental task” to beat the Blue Devils but he is confident that his team will try extremely hard and will play together.

Some have marveled at how quickly the Tar Heels seem to have gotten over the loss of point guard Larry Drew II. Freshman Kendall Marshall, who had won the starting job from Drew four games earlier, had 16 assists in Carolina’s impressive 89-69 win over Florida State.

“Kids get over things so much easier and quicker,” Williams said adding that coaches have a harder time with adversity. “But it was a tough 48 hours for all of us.”

Earlier Dexter Strickland seemed to indicate that Drew along with the Wear twins and Will Graves – four players no longer on the team – were not “all in” when he came to being a part of the Carolina team.

For his part, Williams said that the team practiced really well the two days after learning that Drew had left the team. He said that team chemistry is built throughout the course of the entire season and that adversity, within reason, tends to bring a team together.

“I love coaching the guys we have left,” Williams said.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Harrison Barnes: UNC alumni game swung his thoughts to Carolina

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Duke was quietly confident it would sign Harrison Barnes. North Carolina didn’t come on until late, but once it did, the Heels made a huge impression. Barnes, now a UNC freshman, had a long one-on-one interview with Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer that was published this week, and in it, he told Wiederer that a trip to the Smith Center for the UNC alumni game changed his perception.

“I’ve never seen or felt anything like it,” Barnes said. “Not only to walk in as a recruit and see all the guys here, all the coaches, but to see how Carolina basketball came to be. Seeing Dean Smith talk to Roy Williams, that was the man he learned everything from. To see the 2005 championship team, to see the ’09 championship team. To have Michael Jordan come back. Vince Carter. Antawn Jamison. Rasheed Wallace. All of those guys are back.

“All of a sudden Carolina basketball and all of the history and legends that they talk about? It’s all literally right in front of you. I wouldn’t say it was an out-of-body experience. But there was definitely something surreal about that. It was like a live and in-person history lesson. The history of the program was playing right in front of me. …

“For any recruit that was there, I don’t know how you could say no after that. For me, it seemed like Carolina was the place to go.”

Duke had recruited Barnes hard, and he was close to Mike Krzyzewski and the staff. His final decision was closely guarded, and many were shocked when he went on Skype and told UNC he was headed to Chapel Hill.

Wiederer asked Barnes if he spoke with Duke after that announcement.

“We went our separate ways after that,” he said.

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

Lowe blames Leslie’s suspension on ‘youth,’ says Leslie will play Sunday at Wake Forest

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N.C. State doesn’t have a game until Sunday at Wake Forest, and perhaps it comes at a good time for the Wolfpack. Tracy Smith’s knee is ailing – again – and State is also looking to get freshman C.J. Leslie back on course after he was suspended from Saturday’s loss at Duke for violating team rules.

Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said Monday that he expects Leslie to practice Tuesday and play Sunday.

As for the suspension, Lowe said, “I characterize that just as youth, just not understanding the importance of things, little things. …

“It’s just youth. It’s just growth and maturity and understanding  there is structure, there is discipline, and it has to be done.”

Lowe also made a pointed remark about the club circuit and its impact on the elite players. Lowe suggested that some of the behavior seen at the college level has its roots in club basketball.

“Unfortunately sometimes kids today – and I hate to talk about the AAU circuit – but there is not a lot of structure and discipline there. And then we get the kid and we have to show them that.”

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Wake’s Desrosiers coming on, giving Deacons hope for the future

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This has felt like a lost season for Wake Forest, with one ACC win  and a new coaching learning the league and his personnel. But there may be more hope for the Deacons longterm than one believes.

The Deacons lost 91-70 at Maryland Saturday, dropping them to 8-15 overall. But the Deacons started two freshmen and two sophomores, and one of those freshman, center Carson Desrosiers, is starting to show potential. Desrosiers is a slender 7-footer but he is a decent shooter and should improve rapidly.

He scored 11 points and had five rebounds against the Terps. Those are hardly All-ACC numbers, and he is averaging only 4.4 points and 3.5 rebounds for the season. Tall players take time to mature, though, and Desrosiers may be a center Wake can build around.

“In a quiet way Carson is slowly becoming one of the the elite freshmen in this league,” Wake coach Jeff Bzdelik said Monday. “Down the road as he acquires the necessary strength to finish around the rim and be able to hold and contest his position around the rim, he will develop into one of the elite big men in the ACC in the future.”

Elite? That’s a strong word, and Bzdelik used it later in the ACC teleconference when referring to freshman point guard Tony Chennault. But the idea that Wake could have high-level players at those two critical positions is important.

Desrosiers, the first native of New Hampshire to play at Wake, had already committed to the Deacons before Bzdelik was hired.

“He could have reneged and gone somewhere else. But a the same time whwne we met, it took him abut 10 mintues to say coach, ‘I’m in.”

“I’m sure glad he did. He’s a cornerstone of our program.”

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

UNC’s Marshall now making opponents sick

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Kendall Marshall said he threw up at halftime of North Carolina’s 89-69 win over Florida State. If his first game without Larry Drew II sharing time is any indication, he’s going to be making a lot of opponents and their fans throw up.

Marshall dished out 16 assists, two shy of the all-time Carolina record held by Raymond Felton and breaking the record for a game against an ACC opponent.

He made some spectacular passes including a nifty driving underhand job to Tyler Zeller who dunked it and a long upcourt fastbreak assist to John Henson who dunked it.

Carolina might want to get a bodyguard for Marshall, who saw his minutes go from about 20 a game to 36 against Florida State. Without Drew, he’ll have to stay healthy for the Heels to have a chance at an ACC title and a long run in the NCAA tournament.

UNC coach Roy Williams said he’d like to get Marshall’s minutes down a bit but backup Dexter Strickland, a shooting guard, hasn’t had time to get up to speed at the point.

Williams said Marshall not only is smart but he has a good feel for the game and has good court vision. He can also score when he needs to. He drained a pair of threes against the Seminoles.

The team’s shooting percentage should improve as Marshall gets the ball inside for dunks. Carolina will miss Drew’s defense but there may be better chemistry now with Marshall playing more minutes.

Maybe the amount of playing time as much as his nerves led to Marshall throwing up. But it was Florida State that felt sick after this game.

For more on the Florida State game itself, please click here.

UNC

Drew departure comes as Carolina faces defining three games

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North Carolina faces a huge three-game stretch that could define its season, and the shocking loss of Larry Drew II means Roy Williams will have to adjust his rotations against difficult competition.

The Tar Heels are home to Florida State on Saturday, and anyone who has watched the Seminoles knows how ferocious their defense can be. Then come games at Duke and at Clemson, both of which could be losses under the best of circumstances.

You can’t help but feel there was a strong sense of spite in Drew’s decision to leave in midseason. It really makes no sense – why drop out of a semester’s worth of classes and have to make it up? I mean, what parent would really allow their child to do that?And quit basketball, too?

But here are some tough numbers. Carolina was 19-17 in games Drew started last season (he didn’t start senior night against Miami). And the Heels were 12-5 with him starting at point this year, a string that concluded with that miserable performance at Tech.

Not only has Kendall Marshall played well at point guard, but Drew had played well off the bench.

The hunch here is Carolina will get better because of this. If Drew’s attitude off the court was so sour he wanted to leave, that wasn’t going to change with the tournaments approaching. And the rapid improvement of Reggie Bullock means Carolina has another option on the wing.

You have to give Roy Williams credit for a sharp coaching job so far. If he made one mistake, it was staying with Drew too long before turning to Marshall.  We’ll find out over the next three games how much Drew will be missed, but based on Friday’s events, it probably will not be much.