It's officially called the 2007 ACC Tournament practice day but it's really just a shoot around for the schools that choose to participate. 10 of the 12 ACC schools spent their 55 minutes on the court. Only Duke and North Carolina were absent. Maybe it's an excused absence since either the Blue Devils or Tar Heels have won 9 of the last 10 ACC tournament titles. In 2004 Maryland interrupted Duke's run of 5 straight. You have to go back to the 1996 tournament in Greensboro to find someone other than Duke or Carolina in the finals. In 96, Wake beat Georgia Tech 75-74.
It was a pretty thin crowd on practice day. The most we heard from the fans was when NC State took the court. Afterward, Head Coach Sidney Lowe gave us a memorable quote from the day. When asked about the importance of the ACC tournament he told his team to play each game in the tournament "...not like it's the last game of the season. Play it like it's the last game of your life." That's good, juicy stuff man! Now you know a driving force for Lowe and the 83 Wolfpack and how Sid the senior earned the 1983 ACC tournament MVP.
The NC State/Duke match-up should be interesting. Both teams are different than the one's that played on January 20th. The Devils dominated a Wolfpack team that didn't have their point guard, Engin Atsur. In Thursday's opening round game, Duke will miss not having the suspended Gerald Henderson. He is their most explosive player. Coach K has a history of having his teams ready for the ACC tournament. His feeling about the ACC tourney is they are playing to win the whole thing...not just have a good showing and move on to the NCAA's. For some odd reason I just think the NC State/Duke game could be the best one of the first 2 days.
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