Atlantic Coast Conference Notebook
At some point this season, Duke, North Carolina State, North Carolina, Maryland, Boston College and Wake Forest have been ranked. That’s six teams. With roughly a quarter of the conference schedule complete, only two figure to be locks for the NCAA Tournament. Let’s go through the four teams needing some work.
First, the team sliding the fastest right now is Wake Forest, possessors of a three-game losing streak. Like other ACC teams, the Demon Deacons don’t look terrible on paper because the five losses are against Florida, DePaul, Duke, Clemson and Maryland. But DePaul and Duke won in Winston-Salem and Clemson and DePaul may not finish in the top half of their conferences. The best wins are against Wisconsin, Texas Tech and George Mason. Texas Tech is down this year. George Mason doesn’t get enough respect as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. So the Demon Deacons entire NCAA Tournament résumé relies on a home win against Wisconsin in November. That’s a problem.
Next, we look at Boston College, another team drastically underperforming. Like Wake Forest, the losses don’t look that bad: Michigan State, Maryland, Georgia Tech and North Carolina State. All of those losses except the one to the Wolfpack came away from Boston. But searching for quality wins is even harder when perusing the Eagles’ season results. Boston College’s best wins are against Oklahoma State in Oklahoma City and Buffalo at home. That’s about it. Both wins came in November, and Buffalo has struggled in conference play. The Cowboys don’t appear to be a guaranteed NCAA Tournament team. That leaves zero wins against currently project tournament teams. Ouch.
North Carolina deserves credit for surging to the top of the ACC standings early in conference play. The Tar Heels lost more than other conference opponents, but coach Roy Williams has this team ready to play hard every night. But North Carolina has become a victim of others’ struggles. The Tar Heels best non-conference win is against Kentucky. North Carolina does have a great win against North Carolina State that looks like it’ll hold up as a quality win. But the win at Kentucky no longer looks great after the Wildcats lost at home to Vanderbilt and Alabama. The Tar Heels get a non-conference game at home against Arizona in a couple of weeks, but those Wildcats have also recently resembled house cats. North Carolina needs to win a lot of conference games to overcome what has become an average non-conference résumé. Good luck.
Finally, we come to Maryland. The Terrapins typically play a soft non-conference schedule, and this season is no different. Maryland’s losses aren’t bad: Gonzaga, George Washington, Miami and Duke. All of those are on the road. The best wins, though, are against Arkansas, Minnesota and Wake Forest. The win against the Razorbacks is the only one away from the Comcast Center. Minnesota did not have its star player, Vincent Grier, when the Terrapins won. The Wake Forest win doesn’t look great with the Demon Deacons struggling early in conference play. Maryland needs to prove it deserves its ranking in conference play or else the Terps will fall quickly. Sound familiar?
Kudos to North Carolina State and Duke. Both teams played tough non-conference schedules, and both racked up quality wins. The list of fallen foes includes Notre Dame, Alabama, George Washington, Memphis, Indiana and Texas. Duke claims the last three, which are obviously more impressive. But the Wolfpack’s wins are also strong, especially when you add in a road win at Boston College. These two teams are NCAA Tournament-bound. Who else wants to join them?
Player of the Week: Al Thornton, Florida State
Last week saw a bunch of outstanding individual performances. But Thornton edges his peers by scoring 59 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. He led the Seminoles in both games last week, including a win at Virginia and a near upset at Boston College. With Thornton leading the way, the Seminoles’ offense finally deserves respect.
Rookie of the Week: Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina
This award is seemingly too easy. With the Tar Heels giving its freshmen more playing time than other ACC teams are giving their youngsters, the North Carolina frosh have an advantage. But Hansbrough continues to earn it. He scored 45 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in two games against Virginia Tech and Miami.
ACC Coach Watch: Skip Prosser, Wake Forest
The Demon Deacons have played only three ACC games, but they are in the midst of a crisis after losing at Clemson and Maryland last week. Wake Forest plays Georgia Tech in Winston-Salem and then travels to Raleigh to play North Carolina State. The Demon Deacons will be hard pressed to finish anywhere north of fourth in the conference if they don’t win both games. And the defense continues to play poorly, allowing opponents to score at will.
Duke Blue Devils (16-0, 4-0)
Last week:
Win: Maryland 76-52
Win: at Clemson 87-77
Next two games:
Jan. 18: North Carolina State
Jan. 21: at Georgetown
Duke is on fire. The Blue Devils have handled the best shot its opponents can deliver. Last week, they dispatched Maryland and Clemson. Surprisingly, the latter provided more trouble for the No. 1 team in the country. Against Maryland, Duke exorcized some demons after losing two to the Terps last season. The Blue Devils smashed Maryland behind 27 points from senior guard J.J. Redick and a triple-double for senior forward Shelden Williams. He had a monster game with 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks.
At Clemson, Duke ran into a Tigers team that is playing far more competitively than they have in years. Despite the solid effort, Duke rode Redick to the victory. He dumped 34 points on the Tigers, the sixth time this season that Redick has scored more than 30 points. He clearly is chasing Duke’s all-time scoring leader and current assistant coach Johnny Dawkins. Most impressively, Redick scored 34 without lighting up the three-point line. He hit only two three-pointers. He scored 12 from the free-throw line, despite missing four free throws. If Duke has any concerns moving forward, it’s rebounding. Clemson is not especially strong on the glass, but the Tigers still grabbed five more rebounds than the Blue Devils did, including 17 offensive rebounds. Duke needs to give Williams some help in the paint and come to the ball or else that weakness will rear its ugly head sometime soon.
North Carolina State Wolfpack (14-2, 3-1)
Last week:
Win: at Boston College 78-60
Win: Georgia Tech 87-78
Next two games:
Jan. 18: at Duke
Jan. 21: Wake Forest
North Carolina State issued a statement to the rest of the ACC last week: The team’s loss at North Carolina was an aberration not an omen. The Wolfpack responded to the loss to the Tar Heels by traveling north to Boston and erasing the Eagles on their home court, even though they were desperate for an ACC win. North Carolina State torched the nets all week, shooting 63.4 percent from the field at Boston College and 53.8 percent against Georgia Tech. They shot better than 50 percent from three-point range for the week, draining 23 three-pointers.
The Wolfpack’s offensive balance is perhaps the most impressive element of their run through last week’s tough ACC foes. Six players scored between 13 and 16 points against Georgia Tech, and five scored between 12 and 17 against Boston College. Sophomore forward Andrew Brackman continues to be an important reserve for coach Herb Sendek, who can count on Brackman to play at least 20 effective minutes. Brackman scored 13 against the Eagles and 14 against the Yellow Jackets. He plays tough, scoring 14 of those points from the free-throw line. With Sendek opting to use only seven players regularly, he needs Brackman to do more than give his starters a breather.
North Carolina Tar Heels (10-3, 2-1)
Last week:
Win: at Virginia Tech 64-61
Loss: Miami 81-70
Next two games:
Jan. 19: at Virginia
Jan. 22: at Florida State
Although almost everyone agrees that this year’s Tar Heels are exceeding expectations, North Carolina has a few concerns that may bring this season to a disappointing end unless coach Roy Williams can find some answers. The primary concern is a rash of turnovers that seem to come at inopportune times. Despite winning at Virginia Tech last week, the Tar Heels committed 25 turnovers. Sophomore guard Quentin Thomas is an especially guilty culprit. Although he often features the title point guard, he plays nothing like an effective floor general. In nine minutes against the Hokies, Thomas committed seven turnovers. And he had no assists. That’s a downright embarrassing line for someone masquerading as a point guard at a national program in a major conference.
Although it’s not a trend, another disturbing statistic from last week’s action is the 20 offensive rebounds Miami collected in an upset win in Chapel Hill, the Hurricanes’ first win ever at the Tar Heels. In all fairness to the Tar Heels, however, Miami hasn’t exactly played many games in Chapel Hill. We’re not talking a streak of futility that rivals Clemson’s, which hasn’t won in Chapel Hill in two generations. But if the Tigers can pull down 20 offensive rebounds, they might break their streak, too. Five Hurricanes grabbed at least five rebounds in the game, and Gary Hamilton and Raymond Hicks each had at least five offensive boards. The Tar Heels need to rebound the ball as a team rather than hoping freshman stud Tyler Hansbrough magnetically attracts every loose ball.
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-5, 2-1)
Last week:
Win: at Centenary 85-69
Loss: at North Carolina State 87-78
Next two games:
Jan. 18: at Wake Forest
Jan. 21: Clemson
Senior forward Theodis Tarver had an emotional week. To start the week, coach Paul Hewitt announced that Tarver would sit the rest of the season because he was academically ineligible. He met NCAA standards, but he failed to meet Georgia Tech’s criteria, which are tougher than the NCAA’s. Because of the suspension, Tarver missed the teams game at Centenary, which is in near Tarver’s hometown of Monroe, La. Although he missed an opportunity to play in front of his family and friends, Tarver received good news at the end of the week. Hewitt reinstated Tarver, giving him an opportunity to play again.
Georgia Tech, meanwhile, continues to wade through ACC play looking for some quality wins. The Yellow Jackets picked up a great home victory against Boston College two weeks ago. But Georgia Tech needs to win some road games to make up for some bad losses early in the season. The team whiffed on an opportunity at North Carolina State last week. Sophomore forward Jeremis Smith had a solid game with 20 points and five rebounds. But Georgia Tech played uncharacteristically poor defense, allowing the Wolfpack to shoot nearly 54 percent from the field and 48 percent from three-point range. The inability to get stops on defense cost the Yellow Jackets the game despite an all-around outstanding offensive performance. Next week, Georgia Tech tries again to pick up a big road win at Wake Forest, which is equally desperate for some quality wins.
Miami Hurricanes (10-6, 2-1)
Last week:
Win: at North Carolina 81-70
Next two games:
Jan. 18: Clemson
Jan. 21: Boston College
After an average start, the Hurricanes are making some noise in conference play. Miami possesses a three-game winning streak for the first time this season and has two home games coming up this week against Clemson and Boston College. If the Hurricanes can take care of home court, Miami will move to 4-1 in conference play and into the ACC’s elite. The Hurricanes will also move closer to an NCAA Tournament bid with several quality wins.
Miami’s turnaround starts and ends with sound basketball. In a game in which both teams shot 40 percent or less from the field, Miami hustled to the loose ball more than North Carolina. The Hurricanes grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and 42 total. Senior forward Gary Hamilton was effective around the boards, grabbing nine rebounds. He is the quintessential role player for Miami, a guy who isn’t in the game to score 10 points. Instead, coach Frank Haith wants Hamilton to grab every loose ball and harass the opponents’ best post player. The scoring duties are left to guards Robert Hite and Guillermo Diaz. They responded with a big second half in Chapel Hill and finished with 24 points apiece.
Maryland Terrapins (12-4, 2-2)
Last week:
Loss: at Duke 76-52
Win: Wake Forest 90-86
Next game:
Jan. 21: Virginia Tech
Maryland played two equal and opposite games last week. Against Duke, the Terrapins did nothing right. They committed 29 turnovers, shot 30 percent from the field and scored only 52 points in a humbling loss. Senior guard Chris McCray was the only Terrapin who managed to reach double figures with a paltry 12 points. The only silver lining for Maryland is that the Terrapins out-rebounded Duke by 12. Every Terrapin not named Ekene Ibekwe who played more than five minutes turned the ball over at least twice against Duke.
Still hurting from the Duke massacre, Maryland received bad news when senior forward Travis Garrison turned himself in to police after a woman accused him of assault and a sex offense stemming from an incident at a bar in November. Coach Gary Williams suspended Garrison for violating a team rule – attending a bar.
In Garrison’s absence, the Terrapins responded with a critical win against Wake Forest in College Park. The loser gets three losses in the ACC. By virtue of winning, Maryland remains in the middle of the ACC’s pack and ends a two-game losing streak in the conference. Maryland dominated most of the game but let the Demon Deacons back in the game thanks to Justin Gray’s amazing performance. Minus Gray’s 38 points, Maryland shut down the rest of Wake Forest, holding the Demon Deacons to less than 40 percent from the field. On offense, the Terrapins shot better than 50 percent as five players reach double figures, led by junior guard Mike Jones’ 22 points off the bench. Maryland committed only 10 turnovers as junior point guard D.J. Strawberry proved he is more prepared for the challenge than Wake Forest’s trio of guards. As a team, Wake Forest committed 17 turnovers.
Florida State Seminoles (11-3, 2-2)
Last week:
Win: at Virginia 87-82
Loss: at Boston College 90-87
Next game:
Jan. 22: North Carolina
Last season, Florida State finished near the bottom of the ACC because the Seminoles couldn’t find consistent offensive production. With the team’s most gifted scorer, Von Wafer, gone, the Seminoles figured to have similar struggles this year. But no one seems to be talking about the suddenly offensively explosive Seminoles. Florida State has scored at least 70 points in all but two games this season. Last week, the team put up 87 twice.
Junior forward Al Thornton has been critical to resurgence of Florida State’s offense. He has nearly doubled his production compared with last season, averaging 16.9 points per game this season. He led the team with 22 points in the win against Virginia and had a career-high 37 in the loss to Boston College. Florida State is also finally getting production from the guards. Sophomore guard Isaiah Swann scored 31 points in two games last week, and at least one other guard reached double figures. Coach Leonard Hamilton has a full week to get his defense back in order before the Tar Heels come calling in Tallahassee.
Clemson Tigers (11-3, 2-2)
Last week:
Win: Wake Forest 74-73 (OT)
Loss: Duke 87-77
Next two games:
Jan. 18: at Miami
Jan. 21: at Georgia Tech
In his third year at Clemson, coach Oliver Purnell has demonstrated signs of life for a program mired in mediocrity. Under Purnell, the Tigers are playing tough against any opponent. Last week, Wake Forest and Duke discovered that a road trip at Clemson is no longer any easier than stopping by College Park or Chapel Hill. The Tigers upset the Demon Deacons thanks to 21 points apiece from junior guard Vernon Hamilton and sophomore guard Cliff Hammonds. The guard-oriented Tigers followed their formula for success against Wake Forest, launching 32 three-pointers and hitting eight. Despite losing the rebounding battle badly, the long shots more than made up for it.
Against Duke, however, Clemson was more judicious in its shot selection. Hamilton scored a career-high 31 points against Duke, which still wasn’t enough to knock off the No. 1 Blue Devils. Terrible free-throw shooting killed Clemson’s hopes for the upset of the year. The Tigers made only 6-of-21 free throws, which is inexcusable anywhere but especially at home. That 28.6 percent mark is less than the Tigers shot from three-point range (35.7 percent) and trifling in comparison with their field-goal percentage (54.1 percent). Despite the loss, Clemson reinforced the message sent to Wake Forest earlier in the week: the Tigers won’t go down without a fight.
Virginia Cavaliers (8-6, 2-2)
Last week:
Loss: Florida State 87-72
Win: at Virginia Tech 54-49
Next game:
Jan. 19: North Carolina
The Cavaliers have to be happy with new coach Dave Leitao, who is working hard to reverse a culture of losing in Charlottesville. One season won’t do it, but Virginia has had a solid start to conference play. The Cavs’ next two games are at home against North Carolina and Miami. Both are winnable. But if Virginia drops one or both, the team’s conference record could move south quickly with six of the final 10 ACC games on the road. Home games include Boston College, Wake Forest and Maryland.
Freshman forward Laurynas Mikalauskas is one of the newcomers that Leitao hopes will help resurrect the school’s winning tradition. But Mikalauskas hasn’t been initiating anything other than a lot of contact. In both games last week, he fouled out in about 20 minutes. He’s noteworthy because Leitao is using a slim rotation and he needs one of his few big reserves to stay on the court. Meanwhile, sophomore point guard Sean Singletary continues to play consistently solid basketball. He scored 43 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished 13 assists in two games last week. Singletary has a great opportunity to become an ACC player of the year at some point during the next two and a half years.
Boston College Eagles (12-4, 1-3)
Last week:
Loss: North Carolina State 78-60
Win: Florida State 90-87
Next two games:
Jan. 17: at Holy Cross
Jan. 21: at Miami
Boston College started last season with a long undefeated streak because the Eagles were one of the most efficient teams in college basketball on both offense and defense. Despite returning nearly the same team, the Eagles are struggling to play consistent defense against the quicker, more finesse-oriented ACC opponents. The Eagles dropped a third ACC game against the Wolfpack last week before beating Florida State by three to win its first conference game. But in both games, the Eagles let opponents shoot better than 55 percent from the field. And the Wolfpack and Seminoles shot better than 52 percent from three-point range.
Although the Eagles have more offensive balance in terms of inside-outside play, forwards Craig Smith and Jared Dudley continue to lead the team in production. Against North Carolina State, Dudley led the way with 16 points and Smith had 14. They flopped roles against Florida State, with Smith scoring 28 points and Dudley scoring 25. Until the guards – Louis Hinnant, Sean Marshall and Tyrese Rice – start to lead the team in scoring every now and then, the Eagles will continue to struggle. This team has a tough game at Miami next weekend that could make or break Boston College’s attempt to finish among the ACC’s elite.
Wake Forest Demon Deacons (11-5, 0-3)
Last week:
Loss: at Clemson 74-73 (OT)
Loss: at Maryland 90-86
Next two games:
Jan. 18: Georgia Tech
Jan. 21: at North Carolina State
Much like Boston College last week, the Demon Deacons are 0-3 in conference play and facing a must-win home game. Wake Forest hosts Georgia Tech this week in a game that could doom the team’s NCAA Tournament hopes if the Demon Deacons don’t figure out how to limit turnovers. In the ever-frustrating search for a Chris Paul replacement, coach Skip Prosser has tried every combination with senior guard Justin Gray and freshmen guards Harvey Hale and Shamaine Dukes. Dukes earned the start at the point last week but failed to impress. He played only 19 minutes in two games and had six turnovers and only two assists.
Although Wake Forest dropped road games at Clemson and Maryland, the team’s two stars had monster games. Senior center Eric Williams put up 22 points and 20 rebounds against the Tigers, who struggle to contend in the paint. Gray scored 27 against Clemson, then exploded for 38 points, including seven three-pointers, and six assists against Maryland. He needed a huge game because Wake Forest’s defense let Maryland build a double-digits lead in the second half. The Terrapins shot better than 50 percent from the field against Wake Forest while committing only 10 turnovers. The lack of defensive pressure hurts a team that cannot run its offense as effectively in the absence of a bona fide point guard.
Virginia Tech Hokies (10-7, 0-4)
Last week:
Loss: North Carolina 64-61
Loss: Virginia 54-59
Next game:
Jan. 21: at Maryland
After four games into ACC play, the Hokies are in a world of trouble at 0-4. All of Virginia Tech’s conference losses have been by six points or less. The most recent two came at home, which stings even more considering that road wins are few and far between in the ACC. Although Virginia Tech usually fails to hit big shots to win games, the real problem is more fundamental. The Hokies are not a good free-throw shooting team and invariably leave points at the line. This past week, the team missed eight free throws in a five-point loss to rival Virginia and nine free throws in a three-point loss to North Carolina.
This past week also started a negative trend for leading scorer junior forward Coleman Collins. The tougher ACC foes have successfully limited Collins. North Carolina kept him to seven points and three rebounds, while Virginia only let Collins score 14 points and grab five rebounds. With Collins playing less effectively, the Hokies are even more desperate for a reliable reserve to step forward. So far, only sophomore forward Wynton Witherspoon has been reliable, and he moved into the starting lineup this past week, replacing junior guard Markus Sailes.
