Personally, I was not surprised that we had little chance to compete with Duke @Cameron on Saturday. But, that is not where I have ever had a problem with the present coaching staff/team. The game Wednesday night @PNC is more important - based on where we are presently and the last 4 years...
While studawg makes a point about Mississippi State vs. NC State versus Tier 1/2 or Tier 3/4 teams - the truth is: A team that beats the teams they are supposed to beat and competes well with the top teams has a better chance at the postseason than a team that upsets a top Tier team but has bad losses to teams lower than them.
This brings us to an intriguing match from my perspective vs. Virginia Tech. When NC State got it's first conference win @VT several weeks ago - JZ listed Virginia Tech with pretty favorable rankings... much better than NCSU. VT almost beat rival Virginia recently and then this past weekend finally got their first conference win versus Notre Dame who was 4-1 in the conference at the time.
So, now after the Duke blowout - NCSU comes back home and has to face a team they recently beat who LIKELY wants some kind of REVENGE for us beating them at their place. Plus, as I watched Virginia Tech gain confidence the last 5 minutes of the game to beat Notre Dame - they will be coming into Raleigh with more confidence than earlier in the season.
So how does NCSU respond to this challenge? This is the kind of game that bothers me more than losing to a roster full of NBA players @Duke.
I hope that we will respond to the loss Saturday by playing better ball - since I read the message thread vs. Duke and saw all the comments about how "improved" certain players were playing. Our players and staff certainly know the aura surrounding Duke - but let's see if they can "get fired up" to play Virginia Tech. This will be a confident VT team coming in, regardless of their record.
Finally, as jholland and others have been saying - listening to Coach KK in interviews it is crystal clear that he will be the Coach for at least several more years. When you are so confident that you "experiment" with Gibson, when you have other options - this is not a coach remotely close to the proverbial "hot seat" - which brings me back to the reason for this post. Show me some growth Wednesday night, both Coaching Staff and team, by beating a team that is about the same as us. Similar to Clemson in my perspective. Find a way to beat VT, whether by playing zone, or trying a different lineup, or whatever.
While studawg makes a point about Mississippi State vs. NC State versus Tier 1/2 or Tier 3/4 teams - the truth is: A team that beats the teams they are supposed to beat and competes well with the top teams has a better chance at the postseason than a team that upsets a top Tier team but has bad losses to teams lower than them.
This brings us to an intriguing match from my perspective vs. Virginia Tech. When NC State got it's first conference win @VT several weeks ago - JZ listed Virginia Tech with pretty favorable rankings... much better than NCSU. VT almost beat rival Virginia recently and then this past weekend finally got their first conference win versus Notre Dame who was 4-1 in the conference at the time.
So, now after the Duke blowout - NCSU comes back home and has to face a team they recently beat who LIKELY wants some kind of REVENGE for us beating them at their place. Plus, as I watched Virginia Tech gain confidence the last 5 minutes of the game to beat Notre Dame - they will be coming into Raleigh with more confidence than earlier in the season.
So how does NCSU respond to this challenge? This is the kind of game that bothers me more than losing to a roster full of NBA players @Duke.
I hope that we will respond to the loss Saturday by playing better ball - since I read the message thread vs. Duke and saw all the comments about how "improved" certain players were playing. Our players and staff certainly know the aura surrounding Duke - but let's see if they can "get fired up" to play Virginia Tech. This will be a confident VT team coming in, regardless of their record.
Finally, as jholland and others have been saying - listening to Coach KK in interviews it is crystal clear that he will be the Coach for at least several more years. When you are so confident that you "experiment" with Gibson, when you have other options - this is not a coach remotely close to the proverbial "hot seat" - which brings me back to the reason for this post. Show me some growth Wednesday night, both Coaching Staff and team, by beating a team that is about the same as us. Similar to Clemson in my perspective. Find a way to beat VT, whether by playing zone, or trying a different lineup, or whatever.
