Category Archives: Featured stories

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

Gottfried said he and his Wolfpack are crushed but proud of how far they’ve come

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After NC State’s defeat at the hands of Kansas, Coach Mark Gottfried said he and the team was crushed but he said he hopes the team focuses on where the team started compared to where they ended up. The first year coach took the Wolfpack to the Sweet 16 for the first time in nearly a decade and to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years.

“I’m extremely proud. One thing I said to our guys was the entire Wolfpack nation, whether alumni, the city of Raleigh, our community, these guys helped generate some excitement for our school. And I said thank you for that. We were disappointed today but we’ll step back and look at what was accomplished.”

– Mark Gottfried, NC State head coach

“Much of the talk leading into the Midwest Region semifinal between No. 3 seed Kansas and No. 11 seed North Carolina centered around the Wolfpack’s late-season resurgence, a run that had conjured up memories of Jim Valvano and the school’s glory days. But what became apparent Friday night after Kansas held on late for a 60-57 victory is that the Jayhawks are in the midst of their own resurrection – progressing from a team many felt would be Coach Bill Self’s least talented since coming to Lawrence, Kan., in 2003 into a squad that suddenly finds itself on the cusp of the Final Four.”

– Mark Giannotto, The Washington Post

“N.C. State (24-13) went from one of the last at-large teams in the NCAA tournament field to the Sweet 16 but could not get back to its first Final Eight appearance since 1986. N.C. State, riding a rocket of confidence, led by 10 points early and 33-32 at the half, with 12 first-half points from sophomore forward C.J. Leslie. Foul trouble early in the second half for Leslie, in perhaps his last college game, derailed the Pack’s upset hopes. Kansas started the second half with a 12-2 run to take control of the game.”

– J.P. Giglio, The News & Observer

“We knew we could be a really dangerous team and we started to click near the end of the year. We ended up making it to the Sweet 16 but especially from the guys we are not satisfied. We have some good talent coming in and some good talent returning so hopefully next year we can build on this.”

– Scott Wood, NC State player

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

How can a game go to overtime when one outrebounds the other by 33?

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Has there ever been a game that goes into overtime where one team outrebounded the other by 33? North Carolina outrebounded Ohio 63-30. It was the most rebounds by a UNC team in an NCAA Tournament game.

But UNC’s 24 turnovers – none of which were committed by Kendall Marshall’s replacement Stilman White – along with Ohio’s 12 three pointers made the game close.

However, North Carolina, playing without point guard Kendall Marshall, overcame those turnovers with timely outside shooting by Reggie Bullock and inside play by Tyler Zeller to knock Cinderella Ohio out of the NCAA Tournament 73-65 in overtime.

It was the first time Carolina has played an overtime game this season but the Tar Heels seemed much more comfortable during the extra five minutes than did Ohio.

D.J. Cooper, Ohio’s star point guard, played particularly poorly in the overtime as he put up two wild, extra long three-point shots (one of which that was maybe between 35-40 feet away). Cooper, who was guarded well by White and others, hit only three of 20 shots.

Barnes similarly struggled for the Tar Heels as he hit only three of 16 shots.

Zeller was the big man with 20 points and 22 rebounds becoming the first player to get more than 20 points and 20 rebounds in an NCAA Tournament game since Wake’s Tim Duncan in 1997. He’s the first Tar Heel to ever do it.

He won’t have any other small teams he can dominate so the Tar Heels have to have more production from Barnes and many fewer turnovers to go any further without Kendall Marshall.

It’s possible but unlikely that Marshall plays in the Elite 8 game Sunday. If he can go, it would at least provide some stability, even playing with one hand. If he can’t go, it’s unlikely that the Tar Heels will make it to the Final Four.

On the other hand, if the Tar Heels were to upset Kansas or N.C. State, I think Marshall would be back for the Final Four, where anything could happen.

For more on the game, please click here.

Canes, Featured stories, The skinny

Hurricanes fourth straight win gives them hope

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The Carolina Hurricanes won their season-high fourth game in a row Wednesday, snapping the Florida Panthers’ five-game winning streak. Getting an early jump against a team that played last night, Eric Staal scored just 46 seconds into the game, and the team never looked back. “You just take it one game at a time, and it was another strong effort on our part tonight against another tough team,” said Cam Ward, who equaled his jersey number (30) in saves.

Florida was down just a goal at 2-1 late in the second and into the third, but the Canes were able to put them away for their first victory over the Cats this season.

After netting two goals (and recording an assist) in Winnipeg on Sunday, Staal continued to dominate in the offensive zone for the Hurricanes tonight. He had two goals, the second coming in the third period on the power play. He’s got 23 goals on the season and 7 points (4g, 3a) in his last five games. “I really think he knows where he is with this organization: he’s our leader,” head coach Kirk Muller said. “He leads by example. I think he’s having fun. I think he loves playing.”

In his first game back from injury since Dec. 6, Joni Pitkanen scored the game-winning goal, assisted on another, got a delay of game penalty for sending the puck over the glass in his own zone and logged ice time on the power play. In all, he played nearly 19 minutes and was noticeable at all ends of the rink. Ward called Pitkanen’s goal in the second period a “momentum boost.” For his part, Pitkanen admitted to being nervous before the game. “That’s not easy to miss that much time and step into a game this late in the year and that big of a game. It looks like he never missed a game,” Muller said. “A really strong game for his first game back, and he made us a better team tonight.”

Jeff Skinner returned to game-action after serving a two-game suspension. He logged six penalty minutes tonight, four of which occurred during post-whistle mix-ups. Those penalties, however, were also canceled out by matching minors to Florida. “You want to make sure you have guys sticking up for each other,” Staal said. “At the same time, [you want to be] smart and disciplined.” Skinner recorded an assist, the secondary marker on Pitkanen’s goal.

The conclusion of the game got very interesting when Bryan Allen and Ed Jovanovski were battling in the neutral zone. A lineseman separated them, and the teams ended up coming together at center ice in what was a stand-off. Ultimately, cooler heads prevailed, though Tim Gleason was fired up and looking to drop the gloves with someone. “For me, that’s a moment where we need everybody on our team,” Staal said. “Once it started getting a little dicey, I was making sure I was yelling at our guys that we need everybody.”

A brief return home, the Canes will fly out to Columbus on Thursday for a Friday night tilt with the Blue Jackets. The team’s fourth back-to-back set of the month will conclude Saturday night in Detroit against a Red Wings team that’s 28-5-2 this season at Joe Louis Arena. The three-game road trip will end in Toronto on Tuesday before the Canes come back home for another weekend back-to-back set with Winnipeg and New Jersey. With the team playing like it is now, who knows what the standings situation will be when they return next week? They’re keeping it interesting. “They’re battling and not going away,” Muller said. “We’ll give it all we’ve got every game, take care of our games and see where we end of at the end of the year.”

– Release

Featured stories, The skinny

Study says productivity at work diminished greatly during tournament

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While March Madness won’t throw the country into a recession, it does mark the beginning of several weeks of diminished productivity at work. How exactly does March Madness impact the economy? Workers will spend 8.4 million hours watching NCAA Tournament games. An estimated $175 million was lost during the first two days.

The Economics of March Madness
Created by: Online Colleges Resource

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

McDermott says Creighton not a dirty team

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In an article published on a pro-Creighton athletics website, basketball player Greg McDermott says he contacted UNC coach Roy Williams to let him know that his team wasn’t out to get North Carolina and certainly didn’t want to jeopardize the Tar Heels run to an NCAA title by hurting guard Kendall Marshall.

“We feel awful that Kendall Marshall got hurt,” McDermott said Monday. “There was not any malicious intent on Ethan’s part. (Ethan Wragge) It was just a basketball play and, unfortunately, Kendall landed on his wrist wrong. I wanted to make sure Roy knew how we felt. We have tremendous respect for each other. He’s a good friend of mine, and I wanted to make sure he knew that we felt bad that it happened.”

While it was a hard foul and one that the slow-footed, less athletic big man should have known better than to attempt it (in part because he was out of position on the play and because his team was down by 18 points at the time).

Despite replays showing Grant Gibbs slapping at John Henson’s bad wrist and Gregory Echenique clobbering Tyler Zeller about the head and neck, McDermott said Creighton is not a dirty team.

“Anyone that watched us play 35 games would know that we’re the farthest thing from being a physical, rough-housing team,” he said. “If anything, we’ve lacked physicality, but now we’re being made out to be the team that tried to bully North Carolina. The thing we feel bad about is the injury, because I would like to see North Carolina make a great run in this tournament.”

The one part of McDermott’s explanations that seems suspect is his characterization that Gibbs’ wink to the bench after slapping Henson’s wrist was simply to acknowledge to the team that he had gotten under Henson’s skin as the Carolina player was called for a technical after confronting Gibbs.

Even if that is true, how did Gibbs get under Henson’s skin? By slapping at his highly publicized bad wrist. McDermott, nor Gibbs, nor the Creighton coach are going to convince me that Gibbs wasn’t trying to hurt Henson. In football, it is common for guys to go after players who aren’t 100 percent. In basketball, while players will certainly be tested as to what they can and can’t do, it is not appropriate to intentionally go after an injury, especially with little protection available. Some would argue that it’s not appropriate in football either but football is supposed to be a physical game. Basketball, unfortunately, has evolved into more of a physical game but that’s not the history nor intention of basketball as opposed to football.

While excusing Gibbs’ physical play, to his credit McDermott did call out his other teammate Echenique, saying that he should have been called for an intentional flagrant foul for his decking of Zeller.

To read the original article, please click here.

Featured stories, The skinny

Sports-related videos

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Bulls open with win

Corchiani, Gugliotta ejected

Marshall’s broken wrist

Creighton’s rough play against Carolina

Slapping at Henson’s wrist
Henson fouled

The wink after fouling Henson
Grant Gibbs winks after fouling Henson with a slap to the wrist

Rich Brenner dead at age 65

Frustrated State player turns question on reporter

UNC coach explains end of game

Butch Davis defends himself

Joe Gibbs hosts Redskins reunion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AHpm355m1c

Featured stories, N.C. State, The skinny

What they’re saying about N.C. State making the Sweet 16

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“Sunday’s win against third-seeded Georgetown proved that this program doesn’t have to wait until the arrival of its heralded Class of 2012 to return to national relevance. N.C. State earned its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2005.”

– Jeff Goodman, CBSSports.com

“Eleven months ago, N.C. State was a program without a coach, ridiculed by the national media as the little brother to national powers North Carolina and Duke and as a job no one wanted, except Mark Gottfried. Gottfried, the first N.C. State coach since Jim Valvano to win 24 games in a season, beamed as he walked off the court at Nationwide Arena arm-and-arm with Brown. He took a team that went 15-16 a year ago into the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005 and only the second time since 1989.”

– J.P. Giglio, Raleigh News & Observer

“John Wooden once told me, ‘Coach, don’t give them too much too fast, they might start expecting that every year.’ Well, we failed in that category already.”

– Mark Gottfried, NC State head coach

“One of the first things I said to Coach Gottfried when I met him was, ‘I don’t want this to be a rebuilding year. I don’t want to just play to get better. I think we’ve got talent and the pieces that we could be a dominant team.'”

– Scott Wood, NC State player

“After five miserable seasons away from the tournament, the Wolfpack is making the most of this trip. First, it dispatched of an overmatched San Diego State team. Then it excelled inside and out against a tough Georgetown group that entered the tournament as the nation’s No. 15 team.”

– Clark Leonard, The Shelby Star

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

Hard fouls may end Marshall’s and Carolina’s season

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North Carolina, playing with John Henson for the first time since the first game of the ACC Tournament, got fired up against a physical Creighton team and rolled to an 87-73 to reach the NCAA Sweet 16.

The win may be costly as Kendall Marshall has a broken bone in his right wrist following a hard foul. Creighton is a good team but not good enough to hang with a team of Carolina’s caliber and, judging by the physical nature of the Bluejays’ play, they knew it as well.

The only legitimate way the Bluejays could beat Carolina would be if they were raining in threes and the Tar Heels were shooting poorly. With that not happening, the only recourse they had was to play rough and get Carolina out of its rhythm and/or in foul trouble.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say Creighton was a dirty team but did you notice the wink from Grant Gibbs after he slapped at Henson’s wrist, igniting Henson’s fuse? Gibbs got the foul but Henson got a technical as a result of his response.

Gibbs, who played tough all day, didn’t get his second foul until midway through the second half when he roughed up P.J. Hairston, who also took exception.

This is why, in part, I blame the officials for Marshall’s injury. Creighton was called for 18 fouls compared to eight for UNC but it was the hardness of the fouls and the obvious slapping motion of the fouls that officials should have warned the Bluejays about.

Ethan Wragge, who committed the hard foul on Marshall, was turned all around and the slow-footed big man had no chance of stopping Marshall from scoring – unless he bashed him, which he did. Marshall hit one of the two free throws so instead of Carolina having an 18-point lead at that time, the Heels took a 17-point lead. Not sure the hard foul that may have ended Marshall’s season was worth one point.

In addition to Marshall’s injury, Henson says his wrist did not feel good during or after the game as it felt weak and he still has trouble gripping the ball.

Again, Creighton is a good team and should be proud of its season but it will be a shame if the Tar Heels’ road to the Final Four is shortened by an inferior team committing hard fouls.

Duke, Featured stories, The skinny

Renfree stars in Duke football scrimmage

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Quarterback Sean Renfree completed 15-of-19 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns while wideout Blair Holliday caught eight passes for 84 yards to highlight Duke’s 60-play scrimmage Saturday morning at Wallace Wade Stadium.

“We really got what we wanted out of it,” said Duke head coach David Cutcliffe. “We wanted to extend play. We’ve done a lot of fundamental work. This is practice nine. Probably more fundamental work and less team work than we’ve had in any time since we’ve been here. But we’ve worked on some of the ‘how’ before we were doing the ‘what’. I think it’s paid off. It’s paid off with players like Blair Holliday, who you can just see has jumped leaps and bounds from where he was. It’s paid off in a lot of our offensive and defensive linemen – first team and second team.”

Renfree’s two scoring throws covered eight and 15 yards, respectively, to Jamison Crowder and Holliday. Crowder finished the day with six grabs for 67 yards. Running back Josh Snead spearheaded the ground attack with 61 yards on eight attempts, including a one-yard touchdown plunge, while quarterback Brandon Connette rushed five times for 29 yards with a nine-yard touchdown.

“The coaches have shown great trust in all our receivers,” Holliday said. “We changed our offense around a bit where every receiver needs to know the positions; every receiver needs to come up and make big plays. It really just shows how much trust they have in us to put us out there and make plays.”

The final scoring play of the morning came on a 40-yard strike from Connette to tight end Issac Blakeney.

“Issac Blakeney and David Reeves are two very young tight ends that I can see now all of the work they’ve put in,” Cutcliffe noted. “If I had to probably pick one thing that the naked eye caught was Sean Renfree. He was a senior quarterback today. He was really sharp, and not just in the scrimmaging parts. From the first part of practice on — I watched him through seven-on-seven — everything was at a very high level. A lot of encouragement today.”

Safety Walt Canty registered the lone turnover of the day with an interception. Kicker Will Monday booted a 26-yard field goal along with a pair of PATs.

Duke will host the annual Spring Game presented by PNC Bank on Saturday, March 31 in Wallace Wade Stadium. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m. and admission is free of charge.

– News release

Featured stories, The skinny, UNC

If the Heels shoot poorly, get outrebounded again they’ll be home with Blue Devils

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North Carolina, behind a career-high 17 points from James Michael McAdoo, overcame a sluggish start to defeat Vermont 77-58 in the Tar Heels’ first game of the NCAA Tournament.

UNC, which hit just six of its first 27 shots and finished 41 percent from the field, got plenty of good shot opportunities in the first half but the Tar Heels just weren’t hitting them. McAdoo, subbing for injured John Henson, missed four straight good looks in the first half before a one-handed power dunk follow awakened the Greensboro crowd to make it 15-9 midway through the first half.

Carolina shot only 41 percent for the game with birthday boy Reggie Bullock having the worst shooting day as he managed only two of 10 field goals.

The Tar Heels, in dire need of Henson, were actually outrebounded by the shorter, less-talented Vermont Catamounts, 42-37.

But during a couple of game-determining runs, Carolina controlled the boards and got numerous follow baskets. In that regard, the stat is misleading, but if the Tar Heels lose another rebounding battle, they’ll probably lose the NCAA Tournament war.

For more on the game, please click here.