Lorenzo Brown drives against Reggie Bullock
Some thoughts from tonight:
– Tonight reaffirmed something for me: I live in the greatest place in the world. For no more than the cost of gas money, I got to watch some of the best incoming freshmen in college basketball square off against one another in a tiny gym that holds barely 3,200 folks. There were so many folks trying to enter the building, the PA announcer had to repeatedly chastise folks for blocking the exits. At one point they actually had to stop the second game until the fire marshals were satisfied play could continue. Do you realize how freaking awesome that is? It’s like catching the Beatles back before they hit it big in some dive bar in Germany, right before the cops bust it up on account of disturbing the peace or such. Cherish living in the 919; I do.
More thoughts and photos after the jump.
On the game itself:
– Team Stackhouse played like a team tired of hearing about how great State’s incoming class is. They were the more focused team, more composed and were the ones finishing their shots. Reggie Bullock was very vocal, outwardly so toward State’s freshmen. Expect him to be your least-favorite of Carolina’s freshmen. CJ Leslie returned the talk in kind; expect Leslie to be the rest of the league’s pick for most hated State freshman.
– Harrow and Leslie did not have great games. Leslie scored 21 in the losing effort, but seemed to check out at times when he got frustrated. Harrow just seemed off. As a friend of mine said afterwards, Harrow has been the most vocal in embracing the State fans and State culture, and as such probably imposed the most pressure upon himself to perform at the highest level possible. I agree with that; it seemed like he was pushing a bit at times. Give the folks defending him credit, however; they made life difficult for him.
– Lorenzo Brown impressed me the most out of State’s three. I don’t know if the extra prep year had anything to do with it, but he seemed to handle everything in stride and never lost his cool. Reggie Bullock outperformed my expectations; Harrison Barnes did not meet the expectations I had for the #1 overall freshman in the country.
– I wished we’d seen more leadership from Tracy Smith. I worry that Smith, quiet by nature, will struggle filling that leadership role expected of your seniors. I didn’t see that tonight when the team seemed to lose focus and let Team Stack’s lead grow.
– Ultimately, though, a loss tonight suits me just fine. Had a win come easy, perhaps they might’ve gotten a false sense of what to expect during the regular season. This will give the players something to mull over for a while, hopefully spurring them on to higher heights on the court.
Here are some more images from tonight’s game:
