By this time in the season a few things are becoming clear. “In January, that’s when you start to know which type of team you are,” said Duke freshman Dame Sarr, 19, with wisdom that belies his years.
You learn which teams are able to successfully take their show on the road. Which teams have starting lineups that are essentially set and those which are still tinkering. Which teams rely on defense to set a tone for their games and which defend so they can get the ball back as soon as possible.
Which
teams so bedazzle TV commentators they’ve already dubbed “tournament teams” with six weeks remaining in the regular season.
We’re intrigued at the moment by which teams are consistent, sufficiently tough — and tough-minded – to take prosperity or adversity in stride, either within a game or across weeks.
Case in point, NC State.
Will Wade swaggered into Raleigh declaring his first Wolfpack squad, the usual modern amalgam of newcomers and a few holdovers, destined for NCAA tournament participation.
Maybe.
NC State has proven it can score. Wade’s squad led the ACC in 3-point accuracy (.401) and assist:turnover ratio (1.69:1) through 17 games. It was fourth in scoring, fifth in scoring margin among ACC teams.
But the Pack already has lost a third of its first 18 games, including two of five within the ACC. The ACC defeats came at home, a decidedly bad sign. Winning on the road is tough enough; surrendering a home edge is somewhere between dangerous and deadly for a squad with NCAA aspirations.
There’s also been a lot of chatter about how much the ACC is improved compared to last season, with measures like NET rankings cited as proof.
But NC State’s standing at 29th casts that rating into question. Clemson, clearly a superior team with a 3-2 record against Quad 1 opponents compared to the Pack’s 0-5, ranks a single notch ahead of Wade’s Wonders. UNC is listed as 30th and Virginia, winner of 11 of its last 12 games and ranked in the AP top 20, stands 31st.
Other than Duke at No.6 and UVa at 14, KenPom’s ratings similarly cluster ACC teams around the top 30. NC State comes in 29th there too, sixth in the league.
But it’s not just losing at home that points to NC State’s flaws. The Pac went down to Tallahassee and crushed Florida State, winning 113-69, proudly proclaimed as the most decisive road win in program history. This after a preceding win at Boston College.
“Very rarely in the past have I called timeouts,” Wade said after his team subdued BC. “I’ve used more timeouts in the first half with this team than I probably used in all my other years combined, just because when things start going poorly we cannot stop it.”
Which speaks to the Pack’s oncourt leadership and especially its poise, one of the least-measurable but most evident qualities in sports, reflected in consistent performance, taking in stride whatever comes a team’s way.
So how did NC State respond after savaging lowly FSU, a team with just two wins since Nov. 25, a group that suffered the four most decisive defeats incurred by any ACC team this season?
A week after the Tallahassee meeting, Florida State rebounded and came within a point of winning at Wake. And a gritty Georgia Tech squad struggling to escape the league’s bottom echelon came to the Lenovo Center following a 23-point home loss to Pitt and registered a 78-74 win over the Wolfpack.
The defense-minded Jackets, 15th in the ACC in field goal accuracy, hit .519 from the floor at Raleigh and .455 on threes. The Pack made 12 of 33 from the bonusphere, .364, and .371 overall.
“We can’t ever get into any sort of rhythm, or get any momentum, which has just been a major issue,” Wade lamented after the Quad 4 loss against Tech. He added, “Our resume wasn’t great, but it was clean. No bad losses. Now it’s blemished. We’re going to have to punch above our weight class a couple of times to get back where we need to be.”
With 13 league games ahead including trips to Clemson, SMU, Louisville, and Virginia, and visits from Duke, UNC, and Miami, there’s still time for glib announcers to arguably anoint the Wolfpack a tournament team. But will it be the NCAA or the NIT?
| WRONG END OF THE RAINBOW Largest Point Deficit By ACC Team In Loss (Through Games Of Jan. 17) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Margin | Loser | Winner |
| -44 | FSU | NCS |
| -41 | Pitt | Louisville |
| -36 | FSU | Texas A&M |
| -34 | FSU | Georgia |
| -31 | Wake | Vanderbilt |
| -31 | Syracuse | Iowa St. |
| -30 | Stanford | Duke |
| -28 | FSU | Dayton |
| -24 | BC | Clemson |
| -24 | Cal | UVa |
| -23 | Ga. Tech | Pitt |
