My very first thought when NC State trotted out onto the court last night was, "Man these guys are long everywhere." Much later my thought was, "I can see why these guys just rumbled through the ACC tournament."
I don't know why they lost so many games this season, but things happen. A season usually consists of ups and downs, I guess for whatever reason the Wolfpack were in a long down period, but they are now definitely in an up period and they are going to be a tough out.
It's not just that big ballerina, who apparently is a really good passer but none of that was needed last night. They also have Diarra who is longer still and also quick as a cat, and they have that big power forward who had a career night last night.
Career nights happen in the tourney all the time so I don't lament it too much that it happened against Texas Tech. The tourney does that.
Texas Tech got handled. They could do nothing notable inside, they could hardly get off a decent shot, they made untimely fouls, and generally did not put up much resistance defensively. At no point did I feel as if Tech was in a position to do anything that could win them the game.
I say I'm mixed on my feelings, that it was a small miracle that Texas Tech was even in the tourney - and I think that's true, it was a small miracle. It took a lot of salty play against some bad circumstances for the Raiders to get where they were. While this is all true, still Tech was there and I wanted more than to go out with a whimper. I take some solace in that if Texas Tech played those guys 10 times I don't know if Tech would win even one game.
I acknowledge that Williams wasn't himself last night, I'm glad he could give it a go but he could not cut at all. Washington looked like a guy who has missed 9 games and a ton of practice time, he looked like November. Those things greatly hindered the team but that's how it goes in sports, injuries are the bane of every team.
It will be interesting to see how the recruiting goes, and I use that word to mean high school and portal because it is all recruiting. It's been known all season that Tech was thin inside, and that was very apparent last night. Clearly need some Big 12 starter quality players along the front line. I think it's pretty clear that Isaacs is a good off guard, but he needs someone to play off of to make him his best...probably a bigger primary ball handler type that can get to the rim to compliment Isaacs. I suspect next year's version of the Red Raiders will look significantly different than last night's version.
Time to rest and recover for next season, watch the rest of the tourney with no favorite, and get my mind clear for football.
I don't know why they lost so many games this season, but things happen. A season usually consists of ups and downs, I guess for whatever reason the Wolfpack were in a long down period, but they are now definitely in an up period and they are going to be a tough out.
It's not just that big ballerina, who apparently is a really good passer but none of that was needed last night. They also have Diarra who is longer still and also quick as a cat, and they have that big power forward who had a career night last night.
Career nights happen in the tourney all the time so I don't lament it too much that it happened against Texas Tech. The tourney does that.
Texas Tech got handled. They could do nothing notable inside, they could hardly get off a decent shot, they made untimely fouls, and generally did not put up much resistance defensively. At no point did I feel as if Tech was in a position to do anything that could win them the game.
I say I'm mixed on my feelings, that it was a small miracle that Texas Tech was even in the tourney - and I think that's true, it was a small miracle. It took a lot of salty play against some bad circumstances for the Raiders to get where they were. While this is all true, still Tech was there and I wanted more than to go out with a whimper. I take some solace in that if Texas Tech played those guys 10 times I don't know if Tech would win even one game.
I acknowledge that Williams wasn't himself last night, I'm glad he could give it a go but he could not cut at all. Washington looked like a guy who has missed 9 games and a ton of practice time, he looked like November. Those things greatly hindered the team but that's how it goes in sports, injuries are the bane of every team.
It will be interesting to see how the recruiting goes, and I use that word to mean high school and portal because it is all recruiting. It's been known all season that Tech was thin inside, and that was very apparent last night. Clearly need some Big 12 starter quality players along the front line. I think it's pretty clear that Isaacs is a good off guard, but he needs someone to play off of to make him his best...probably a bigger primary ball handler type that can get to the rim to compliment Isaacs. I suspect next year's version of the Red Raiders will look significantly different than last night's version.
Time to rest and recover for next season, watch the rest of the tourney with no favorite, and get my mind clear for football.
