So on to NCSU ...

[YlJacket]

Another chance to get back on track and back toward .500 in conference. Any slim hopes we have of getting through the eye of the needle to bubbly land pretty much require this win.

Jackets are playing "good" basketball and have shown they can play with the upper half of the league. Unfortunately they haven't shown they can close and win at this level. Jackets did beat NCSU earlier ( the signature win so far this season) but NCSU now has both Marquell Johnson and Funderburk back from injury. They are at full strength and have won 3 in a row including a win at UVA.

Going to be tough for the Jackets but IF they can limit TOs and IF they can run a decent offense to get open shots for DeVoe and IF Bubba/Usher come through then we should be good enough on D to be in it. Whether we can make the play(s) at the end to get over the hump .....

 

[Gold1]

probably gonna be another moral victory

 

[g0lftime]

Interviews with the NCSU players on TV in RTP have stated that they see this as a revenge game. They will be motivated and we better be ready. This is a winnable game for us but we better bring our A game.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

Another chance to get back on track and back toward .500 in conference. Any slim hopes we have of getting through the eye of the needle to bubbly land pretty much require this win.

Jackets are playing "good" basketball and have shown they can play with the upper half of the league. Unfortunately they haven't shown they can close and win at this level. Jackets did beat NCSU earlier ( the signature win so far this season) but NCSU now has both Marquell Johnson and Funderburk back from injury. They are at full strength and have won 3 in a row including a win at UVA.

Going to be tough for the Jackets but IF they can limit TOs and IF they can run a decent offense to get open shots for DeVoe and IF Bubba/Usher come through then we should be good enough on D to be in it. Whether we can make the play(s) at the end to get over the hump .....

11 of our final 12 opponents are unranked. KenPom rankings from 40 to 110...ish. No matter how good we're playing, we won't run the table. BUT, we have the talent and experience to go 8-4. I'd love 9-3. NC State is the 40 rating, and our most difficult opponent left outside of Louisville at home. If we go 9-3, it would stand to reason the 3 would be NC State, Louisville, and maybe Syracuse. If we can't get close to 8-9 wins down this homestretch, that will be unfortunate and bad news for Pastner.

 

[ESPNjacket]

11 of our final 12 opponents are unranked. KenPom rankings from 40 to 110...ish. No matter how good we're playing, we won't run the table. BUT, we have the talent and experience to go 8-4. I'd love 9-3. NC State is the 40 rating, and our most difficult opponent left outside of Louisville at home. If we go 9-3, it would stand to reason the 3 would be NC State, Louisville, and maybe Syracuse. If we can't get close to 8-9 wins down this homestretch, that will be unfortunate and bad news for Pastner.

We are 2-10 vs. the kenpom top 100. 2-11 if you toss in Ball State at 101. And that is counting #97 UNC who is likely to fall out soon. Uggh.

We have to start winning Saturday to salvage the season.

 

[dtm1997]

We are 2-10 vs. the kenpom top 100. 2-11 if you toss in Ball State at 101. And that is counting #97 UNC who is likely to fall out soon. Uggh.

We have to start winning Saturday to salvage the season.

So you're telling me Ball State isn't that bad a loss at 101?

 

[Deleted member 2897]

We are 2-10 vs. the kenpom top 100. 2-11 if you toss in Ball State at 101. And that is counting #97 UNC who is likely to fall out soon. Uggh.

We have to start winning Saturday to salvage the season.

We can't control what we did before Usher and Alvarado came back and we got rolling. All we can do is focus on what's left to make something out of the season. We are not the same team that got blown out of the gym against Syracuse and Ball State, or in the lucky wins folks like Arkansas had (#35 KenPom).

 

[ESPNjacket]

We can't control what we did before Usher and Alvarado came back and we got rolling. All we can do is focus on what's left to make something out of the season. We are not the same team that got blown out of the gym against Syracuse and Ball State, or in the lucky wins folks like Arkansas had (#35 KenPom).

We are 2-5 since Hawaii. Rolling? We need to start rolling Saturday to save the season. This team should be at least a bubble team. This season is going to be one soft bubble too.

 

[Peacone36]

Well here is some good news....

North Carolina State is 2-0 ATS as a road favorite this season and 4-2 straight up in true road games.

The actual good news is they are only averaging 60.3 ppg in their last three ACC road games.

Oh....and James Banks just loves to hit game-winners against the Pack.

 

[Connell62]

So you're telling me Ball State isn't that bad a loss at 101?

Love this..!!

 

[Connell62]

Interviews with the NCSU players on TV in RTP have stated that they see this as a revenge game. They will be motivated and we better be ready. This is a winnable game for us but we better bring our A game.

This is exactly my line of thinking as well. The Wolfpack will come into this one with a chip on their shoulder, and I suspect that we will get their best effort.

As others have mentioned. If we don't come in focused and ready to play, it could be a rough day. Lets go GT.. Get the freakin W!!

 

[Deleted member 2897]

We are 2-5 since Hawaii. Rolling? We need to start rolling Saturday to save the season. This team should be at least a bubble team. This season is going to be one soft bubble too.

Those 5 losses include 3 top-10 ranked teams, 2 of which we were tied with inside the last couple minutes. The other 2 unranked teams were a 12-6 and 11-7 team that we were also tied with at the end of the game. I didn't say we won the game, I said our quality of basketball was better. That is undeniable. And the point of bringing up the fact we're playing better basketball was why I was expecting us to win 8-9 of our remaining games...or else it would be a bad look for Pastner. We are absolutely not the same team who got blown out of the gym a few times before we had all our players.

 

[YlJacket]

We are playing better basketball for sure. But that is from a low base looking at SYR/Ball State timeframe. The question now is whether our "better" is really good enough to win games in the ACC - even against other middle of the mosh teams who generally are also getting better as the year progresses. Winning 8-9 of our remaining games even against the middle teams now is still a huge stretch.

But the journey for the rest of the season starts tomorrow. Let's see what happens.

 

[ESPNjacket]

We are playing better basketball for sure. But that is from a low base looking at SYR/Ball State timeframe. The question now is whether our "better" is really good enough to win games in the ACC - even against other middle of the mosh teams who generally are also getting better as the year progresses. Winning 8-9 of our remaining games even against the middle teams now is still a huge stretch.

But the journey for the rest of the season starts tomorrow. Let's see what happens.

I am looking forward to it. No more moral victories. Finish the game.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

I am looking forward to it. No more moral victories. Finish the game.

Our morals are undefeated this year. Just trying to help the humor stay pointed in the right direction and keep things clean on this Friday afternoon...don't forget to tip the waitress.

 

[jacketup]

We can't control what we did before Usher and Alvarado came back and we got rolling. All we can do is focus on what's left to make something out of the season. We are not the same team that got blown out of the gym against Syracuse and Ball State, or in the lucky wins folks like Arkansas had (#35 KenPom).

But we are the same team that lost at home to Notre Dame. Sagarin ranks ND as the number 9 team in the conference. I had hope until that game. Some teams just don't know how to win, and that is us. Cremins was no basketball genius, but somehow, his teams knew how to win. I can't explain it, I only know what I see.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

But we are the same team that lost at home to Notre Dame. Sagarin ranks ND as the number 9 team in the conference. I had hope until that game. Some teams just don't know how to win, and that is us. Cremins was no basketball genius, but somehow, his teams knew how to win. I can't explain it, I only know what I see.

Yep, we play a lot more Notre Dames down the stretch (40-100 KenPom). If we don’t win two-thirds of them, that will be a bad look.

 

[dtm1997]

 

[gte447f]

Hmmm... the last minute or so is interesting.

 

[CuseJacket]