Sitting under the basket at the RBC Center, you can best appreciate the
skill of this NC State team. You see the quick passes that lead to open
looks. You see players make sharp moves to elude on-rushing defenders. Most
of all, you see the three point shots. Against Florida State, the Wolfpack
not only shot a shocking 57% from beyond the line, but scored artistic
points as well. Every three ball seemed to have the perfect arc and spin. As
I write this, I can remember just one of State's 13 three pointers that even
touched the rim.
Normally 35% is considered quite good from the three point
area-mathematically that equates to a little better than 50% on shots that
count two. NC State has five players shooting 35% or better from beyond the
arc. How do you defend a team like that?
Georgia Tech and Florida State have tried to force more turnovers-and have
succeded. The Pack suffered more than 20 turnovers in each of the two games.
Against Florida State, NC State went six minutes between field goals. Of the
12 possessions in that span, 7 ended in turnovers. Of course, by then the
home team had already built a commanding lead.
Ilian Evtimov missed the second half with an injury. He means a great deal
to every aspect of NC State's play-including passing and handling the ball
against the press. State has not been turnover prone this season, but
clearly needs to fix this unhappy late season surprise.
I asked Coach Herb Sendek if this is his best shooting team. He didn't seem
to want to single this group out yet at this point of the season. But the
numbers don't lie. The Wolfpack made 28 of 44 against FSU-63.6%. That's the
highest percentage by NC State in the Herb Sendek era.
Bob Holliday
