Let me start off by saying that I feel surprisingly upbeat given what transpired. You might expect the opposite, as I’m sure that’s how a lot of NC State fans feel the morning after when yet another game that’s right there for the taking slips through the NC State’s fingers.
But what I took away from that game isn’t dampened by the final result.
For one, I could not be more proud of how the team came out to start the game. I had cold sweats thinking about the game in Chapel Hill and how it was essentially over before the first TV timeout. We looked scared against UNC, but the team that took the court in Cameron was 180 degrees in attitude than the one that failed to show up against the Heels. Huge credit to the coaching staff for getting our guys mentally ready for the challenge.
To put a finer point on it, I thought our aggression level in the first half was incredible. Ask yourself when was the last time a NC State team not just lead a game at Duke, but actually displayed some swagger and dominance on the Cameron court? Not in my lifetime. They came after them and had the Blue Devils reeling on their own floor. Amazing.
Two, I encourage everyone to take a reasoned look at how the officiating transpired last night. Was it good? No, not at all. But it was bad both ways, and in lieu of good and fair officiating, you have to accept bad and fair officiating as the next best thing.
Did Duke get advantageous calls at times? Yes. But so did NC State. As my friend Chris said to me over the phone this morning, how many times will you see a NC State player dunk on a Duke player in Cameron and get the “and one,” not a charging call?
The officiating played a role in the outcome only in the sense that NC State’s seven-man rotation doesn’t allow them to absorb a lot of fouls. There’s no margin for error. Knowing that, NC State’s starting five has to play smarter, assuming that the officials will likely favor the home team. The two fouls that put Howell and Leslie to the bench for good were two of the worst I’ve seen them commit this year, and of course that’s saying a lot.
Don’t use fouling as a crutch to support your argument that NC State should’ve won. There are better reasons to explain why.
A huge reason is ball control. For those who can actually *see* the chart above (I’m working on it), you can see NC State actually bested Duke in three of the four factors, including the most critical, effective field goal percentage, 48.3% to 42.0%. But where Duke kept themselves in the game was protecting the ball, turning it over only 6.9%. That’s incredibly good, and when you compare it to State’s 20.8%, it meant more opportunities for Duke on the offensive end and limited NC State’s ability to score in transition.
This loss hurts because of blowing the large lead, not losing by five to Duke on their home court. As this team matures and gets more quality depth, it should be able to close out games like this.
Hopefully in 2014, the script will be far different and we can bring an end to this dubious streak in Cameron.
The big thing is making FSU, who barely eked out a win against Virginia Tech last night, pay for this loss. I think they will.
(P.S. I’m not a court fashion guy by any stretch, but…I really liked the black unis. Let’s keep ‘em!)
