February 21st Preview

Clemson at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m. (RSN/ESPN3)

Storyline: Don’t let Clemson’s 5-7 conference record fool you. Five of those seven losses have come by four points or fewer. The Tigers are a dangerous team that vastly underachieved in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Over the next few weeks, they have a chance to be a major spoiler if they can embrace that role. Tonight’s trip to Georgia Tech is a game they should win, especially considering the Yellow Jackets are without suspended star Glen Rice, Jr.

Player to watch: Milton Jennings is the most enigmatic player in the ACC. The brash Clemson forward has steadily improved as the season has progressed, with the exception of a two-game suspension at the end of January (the Tigers lost both game by a combined six points). He’s shooting better than 42 percent from three-point range in conference play. Combine his length with a quick step and such a sweet stroke from deep, and Jennings is a nightmare matchup for most teams. He’s averaging 10.8 points per game since returning from suspension. There’s not a player on Georgia Tech’s roster who matches up well with Jennings. As is the case on many nights, Jennings’ focus tonight may be the difference between a Clemson win or loss.

Prediction: Georgia Tech is going nowhere fast, whereas Clemson hasn’t quit on coach Brad Brownell despite such an awful start to the season. The Rice suspension wasn’t exactly what the last-place Yellow Jackets needed with five (now four) games left. The winner tonight will break a 60-60 tie in the all-time series between the two programs.

CLEMSON 65, GEORGIA TECH 54

North Carolina at NC State, 8 p.m. (ACC Network split/ESPN3)

Storyline: I went into great detail yesterday on NC State’s woes since halftime of last Thursday’s loss at Duke. For North Carolina, the opportunity remains for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament (even it is in the West, which is inevitable). The Tar Heels have won three straight games by an average of 16.3 points since falling to Duke, but they’ve done so while shooting just 28 percent from three-point range.

The Heels absolutely smother teams on the boards (plus-12 margin on the season), and it’s their dominance in the frontcourt that makes it almost impossible for most teams to stand a chance.

Player to watch: In the games that Carolina has struggled this season, it’s been because its opponent has been lights out from long range. Scott Wood has the ability to fill that role tonight. He leads the ACC, shooting 42 percent from three on the season. If he can get hot early and energize the home crowd, the Wolfpack can absolutely pull off the upset. He’ll have to reverse recent fortunes, however. Wood is just 5-of-27 from the field in his last three games entering tonight.

The Tar Heels have shown a propensity for getting flustered when they fall behind early on the road. If North Carolina jumps out to an early lead and Wood isn’t knocking down outside shots, well, there’s very little chance for State in this game.

Prediction: The Heels won the first match-up 74-55, thanks to the aforementioned dominance on the glass. Carolina outrebounded State 48-26 in that contest. The tallest player in the Wolfpack’s main rotation is 6-foot-9 DeShawn Painter. John Henson and Tyler Zeller should have their way in the paint per usual, and NC State will continue to fall apart at the seams, letting an at-large bid slip through its grasp in the process.

NORTH CAROLINA 79, NC STATE 62

Miami at Maryland, 8 p.m. (ACC Network Split/ESPN3)

Storyline: The Hurricanes continue to claw their way back into the at-large discussion with a trip to Maryland tonight. The importance of this contest for Jimmy Larranaga’s club cannot be understated. Miami simply cannot afford a loss tonight if it hopes to attract the attention of the selection committee. Maryland is in complete disarray following a 27-point loss to Virginia.

With Pe’Shon Howard lost for the season, the Terps have lost a significant piece of their backcourt, one that would have been invaluable matching up with Miami’s trio of Durand Scott, Shane Larkin and Malcolm Grant.

Players to watch: Kenny Kadji has quietly assembled a spectacular season in his first year of eligibility with Miami. The former Florida transfer is averaging nearly 13 points and six rebounds per game while shooting 54 percent from the field. His length at 6-foot-11 makes him an extreme mismatch on the offensive end against anyone not named John Henson. Maryland’s inexperienced frontcourt will have trouble matching the physicality of Kadji and Reggie Johnson inside.

Prediction:The Terrapins nearly stole a win in Miami when the teams last met on February 1^st, instead falling in double overtime 90-86. It’s been a bumpy road for Mark Turgeon and company since then, losing three of five, including having the bottom fall out against the Cavaliers. Miami has much more to play for tonight, and that should be enough to carry them to an important victory on the road.

MIAMI 66, MARYLAND 60

Virginia at Virginia Tech, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)

Storyline: Seth Greenberg once famously said the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee would be “certifiably insane” if it left his Hokies out of the big dance. Well, Greenberg himself might have earned that moniker Monday when he told reporters he was focused on building the Hokies’ tournament resume, despite a 4-8 record in ACC play and absolutely no shot whatsoever at earning an at-large bid. That said, the Hokies have played much better of late, splitting their last six games after a 1-5 start in league play. Virginia, meanwhile, has lost three of five and is in danger of falling out of at-large consideration if the swoon continues. Exacting revenge on the Hokies, who stole a one-point win in Charlottesville last month, is step number one in avoiding such a catastrophe.

Players to watch: It’s no secret that Mike Scott is the key to everything for the Cavaliers, but he’ll no doubt step on the court tonight with a chip on his shoulder. The Hokies held Scott to 10 points in the last match-up, his lowest output for any game in which he’s played at least 30 minutes this season. Tech will be without starting center Victor Davila tonight, placing the burden of containing Scott on the less experienced shoulders of Cadarian Raines and C.J. Barksdale. To make an educated guess, Scott won’t quite be kept in check like last time.

Prediction:  A Virginia loss would raise some serious red flags for Tony Bennett’s club heading into a difficult final stretch of the season. The blowout win over Maryland seemed to cure many ills, at least temporarily. Virginia Tech is anything but an offensive juggernaut, but Greenberg’s recent strategy of playing the guys with the highest effort in practice has kept them competitive in recent games. Contrary to what the Hokies’ head coach may say, there is much more on the line in this game for the Cavaliers.

VIRGINIA 55, VIRGINIA TECH 50

Virginia Tech Basketball: What is the standard?

Why don’t you take a ride with me inside this fancy time machine of mine. We’re going all the way back to 2002, the year before Virginia Tech fired Ricky Stokes and hired Seth Greenberg as its head coach.

Tech finished the season 11-18 overall, 4-12 in the Big East; both records were good enough for the worst in the conference. It marked the third straight season since joining the league that the Hokies failed to make it to Madison Square Garden for the conference tournament.

In those three seasons, the Hokies were 9-38 against conference opponents. The women’s team drew larger home crowds. It wasn’t even close.

Then Greenberg arrived as a fairly unrecognizable name from South Florida. He led the Bulls to five winning records in seven seasons, including two NIT appearances. Nothing earth-shattering, but he was a respectable hire for a Tech program in shambles.

In his first season, the Hokies finished 15-14, 7-9 in the Big East – picking up nearly as many conference wins as the last three years combined. As the conference’s eighth seed, the Hokies faced Rutgers in an opening-round game at the Garden, which they won 61-58. Never mind that they lost to top-seeded Pittsburgh the following afternoon. The progress was remarkable.

As we arrive back in 2012, Greenberg is in his ninth season at the helm of a Hokies’ club that is 11-4, 0-1 in the ACC. Since joining the ACC in Greenberg’s second season, the Hokies have posted a .508 winning percentage in conference play (entering 2011). That’s the sixth best mark in the league in that time span, ahead of more traditionally basketball programs like Wake Forest, NC State and Virginia.

For the first six years of his tenure, Greenberg was playing with an extremely short stack when it came to facilities. In August 2009, Tech unveiled a new $21 million practice facility specifically for basketball. Up until then, the Hokies practiced in a cramped back gym inside Cassell Coliseum with no air conditioning. Blacksburg Middle School had nicer practice gyms than Tech.

Since the facility opened, the program’s recruiting has noticeably improved. The current freshman class was widely regarded as one of the 20 best in the country. It was easily the best haul of prospects ever to come to Tech. Next year’s class already includes four-star forward Montrezl Harrell, who committed the Hokies just as Duke was turning up the heat on its recruitment of him.

This marks the fifth season since the Hokies last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2007. Before then, Tech had made the dance once in 20 years. The Hokies have made the postseason six times in the last eight years. Before Greenberg, you would have to go back 20 years to include an equal amount of berths.

Greenberg didn’t raise the standard at Tech – he created one.

Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon led a renaissance of the Virginia Tech program under Greenberg's guidance

It’s a standard that he now has to inevitably live up to. But what’s happened in Blacksburg among the Hokies’ fan base is shocking. Each of the last four years, the Hokies were dangerously close to earning an NCAA Tournament bid. In fact, in several of those years (including 2011), there were outcries among the experts at their exclusion.

Far too many Tech fans have naively confused the gut-wrenching feeling of having their bubble burst year after year with thinking that being snubbed is a failure to live up to expectations.

On Saturday, the Hokies opened conference play with a disappointing loss at Wake Forest. Several pundits already believe it’s going to be another year on the bubble for Greenberg’s incredibly young team. Some even say that an NCAA snub would have him on the “hot seat.” That’s absurd.

The Hokies were picked to finish seventh in the conference this season. With six players in the rotation with either little or no experience playing college basketball, this was supposed to be a rebuilding year in Blacksburg. Yet it’s January, and Hokies still look like a borderline NCAA Tournament team. Does that really justify the “hot seat” these days?

Remember the Hokies’ upset of No. 1 Duke last February in Blacksburg? It would have been a landmark victory for the program if the Hokies hadn’t already beaten Duke twice already under Greenberg (would have been three if not for Sean Dockery).

It can be argued that nights like the one last season would not have been possible if not for nights like February 17, 2005. That’s when a no-name Tech program knocked off a JJ Redick-led Duke squad in front of the loudest Cassell Colisuem crowd ever. It was only possible through Greenberg.

Evaluating his job status should only go back to 2010 – in other words, after his first recruiting class with competitive facilities. Everything he accomplished prior to that was a near miracle.

If we jump back in my time machine and travel to 2014 and the Hokies are still trying to break their NCAA Tournament drought, only then can we even discuss the hot seat.

They may not know it, but the Hokies’ current freshmen have a lot of pressure on their shoulders. They are the first large recruiting class since the facility upgrade. If this group can’t get the job done in the next three or four years, then it may spell the end of the line for Greenberg. Making the NIT only became the standard for Tech basketball about two years ago.

As of now, the annual expectation of this program should be to make the NIT at bare minimum. Two NCAA appearances every four years should be commended, but not demanded, from this point forward.

If the Hokies’ fan base can’t handle watching their team fall short of the NCAA Tournament most years, I hear there’s some room on the bandwagon in Lexington.

The Four Tiers of the ACC

Opportunity has passed the ACC by once again. With league play starting up Saturday, there have been more debilitating losses than eye-opening wins so far. One-third of the conference is ranked outsides the RPI’s top 100, and just four teams are in the top 50 (meanwhile, the Big East has four schools in the top six).

Why is a league that once prided itself on being basketball royalty suddenly on the brink of battling the CAA and Atlantic 10 for NCAA Tournament bids? Coaching turnover for one. Virginia’s Tony Bennett is the fifth-longest tenured coach in the ACC — in just his third year. The mass exodus of head coaches following the past two seasons has placed several former prominent programs such as Maryland, Georgia Tech, NC State and Wake Forest in rebuilding mode.

Times are hard, even at the top. Duke hit the road on Wednesday to face Temple, and the Owls led virtually the entire game in a 78-73 upset. North Carolina is 13-2, but is just 2-2 against the RPI top 50. While nobody doubts the Tar Heels’ talent, there hasn’t been a true marquee win by anyone in the ACC this season.

If you’ve watched any of ESPN’s broadcasts of ACC games this year, you’ve noticed they typically include whichever analyst’s breakdown of the league into three “tiers.” I don’t think I’ve seen one that I’ve agreed with yet. So, as a primer for ACC play, I’ll give my own groupings that hopefully make sense to all. Following my tier rankings, I project every team’s conference record, so make sure to check that out as well.

(League power ranking in parentheses)

Tier 1: NCAA Tournament Locks

(1) North Carolina, (2) Duke

Surprise, surprise. The Tar Heels and Blue Devils are on a crash course to meet in the ACC Championship Game yet again. The biggest point of separation between these two and the rest of the league is frontcourt play.

For North Carolina, no team in America boasts an interior as long and athletic as John Henson and Tyler Zeller. Opponents take the ball into the paint at their own risk against the Heels. North Carolina has defended 376 three-pointers this season, the third highest total in the country. Nobody takes it inside against the Tar Heels. John Henson leads the ACC with 3.2 blocks per game.

Duke’s front line of Mason and Miles Plumlee, along with Ryan Kelly, is a formidable group in its own right. The Plumlees have been inconsistent at times, but have played well of late. They combined for 33 points and 17 rebounds in Duke’s loss to Temple.

Both UNC and Duke should sleep their way through eight or nine games in ACC play. They’ll need to barely rise from their slumber in another three or four. They’ll get everyone’s best shot as always, but the bottom third of the league is so miserable that it won’t be much of a challenge for either team.

NCAA Tournament Hopefuls

(3) Virginia, (4) Virginia Tech, (5) NC State, (6) Miami, (7) Florida State

The Cavaliers are off to their best start in recent memory and are in the driver’s seat for the ACC’s third NCAA bid. Even the ‘Hoos success hasn’t come without turmoil, though. Once-prized recruit KT Harrell transferred in mid-December, as did the seldom used James Johnson. Among their last four games, the Cavaliers squeaked by winless Towson and lowly Seattle to prove their vulnerability. They are the still best defensive team in the league, allowing only 50.4 points per game (second nationally).

Virginia Tech seems destined for a fifth straight season on the bubble. The Hokies have failed to win any of its games against RPI-top 50 opponents, which will undoubtedly hurt them come Selection Sunday. Erick Green has been steady at point guard, but it’s an influx of youth is what has kept Virginia Tech afloat in the aftermath of Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen’s departure. Highly Dorian Finney-Smithh has struggled offensively but leads the team with 8.2 rebounds per game. Robert Brown has been a lightning rod on the wing, mainly because of his outside shooting and highly active defense. Marquis Rankin has been a solid backup for Green, while CJ Barksdale provides quality depth in the post that Tech has not been accustomed to in a long time.

NC State has shown flashes of promise in the early season under first-year coach Mark Gottfried. The Wolfpack have five players averaging double-figure points, but a lack of depth will test this team through the grind of the conference schedule. C.J. Leslie is enjoying a strong sophomore season after a disappointing rookie campaign. He’s scoring 13 points and hauling in more than six rebounds per game. The ‘Pack only played one true road game through their 11-4 start, so they may struggle in some of the tougher ACC road environments in the early going.

Nobody is paying attention to Miami, but the Hurricanes are finally at full strength and are a dynamic club that matches up better with Duke and North Carolina than anyone else in the league. DeQuan Jones regained his eligibility mid-season in the wake of the Nevin Shapiro schedule, and seems caught up to speed in new coach Jim Larranaga’s system. Dominant big man Reggie Johnson returned from an off-season knee injury, and the ‘Canes have averaged 88 points during their four-game win streak since his return. Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant form one of the toughest backcourts in the country, giving Miami a balanced offensive attack.

In a season drenched in disappointment, Florida State is the league’s posterchild of it all. Fresh off a Sweet 16 appearance last March, the Seminoles had high hopes for a similarly strong season. Instead, the Seminoles might want to put out an APB for any semblance of offensive prowess. They are 10th in the ACC in offensive efficiency, 11th in three-point shooting and fifth in scoring. That’s not going to get it done against Carolina and Duke, which is who Florida State compared itself to in the preseason. Leonard Hamilton has been around the block a time or two, though, and my bet is Florida State will finish the season stronger than it started it.

Tier 3: NCAA Longshots

(8) Wake Forest, (9) Maryland, (10) Clemson

After last season’s debacle, the Demon Deacons have already won more games than they did all of last season. Travis McKie is one of the best players America’s never heard of. He’s averaging a shade under 18 points and six rebounds per game. C.J. Harris has also been a focal point of the Deacs’ mild resurgence with 19 points per game on 54 percent shooting. Depth is a major issue here, as Jeff Bzdelik was left with a mangled roster last year following Dino Gaudio’s surprising ouster. Can Wake Forest make the dance? Probably not, but I like the pieces on this team and they are hungry to erase the memory of of 2010-11 from everyone’s minds.

Don’t let Maryland’s seven-game win streak fool you. The average RPI of the Terps’ foes in that stretch is 212. Their average margin of victory during the streak was a mere 7.14, and that includes an 11-point overtime win against Albany at home. Terrell Stoglin has been terrific thus far and he leads the ACC with 21.1 points per game. Sean Mosley is second on the team with 10.2 points per game, as he hits the home stretch of what has been a disappointing career. Part of me wants to call off the dogs on Maryland, but a 10-win ACC season — albeit a miraculous one — is not entirely impossible. There are too many question marks on the teams ahead of them on this list to give the Terps no shot.

I have no rational explanation for why Clemson is so bad. I thought this team would take a step forward in Brad Brownell’s second season, but their inability to score and extended lapses of focus on the defensive end make me wonder if Brownell has completely lost this team. There’s more than enough talent to contend for an NCAA bid, but it’s not showing on the court this season. The best thing Clemson fans can hope for is the Tigers treat the ACC slate as an entirely new season and finally live up to their potential. A win at home on Saturday against Florida State is almost a must at this point.

Tier 4: No chance

(11) Georgia Tech, (12) Boston College

The odds these two clubs combine for more than five ACC wins is roughly equivalent to the chances either one of these teams offers me a scholarship. Boston College is downright pathetic. The Eagles have lost to Holy Cross, UMass, St. Louis, Penn State, Boston, Harvard (for the fourth straight year, but not a bad loss this time around for once), and Rhode Island. They are 262nd in the RPI, which is about three times as high as the typical ACC cellar-dwellers reside. It’s an extremely young collection of players that will take a beating against virtually every other team in the league.

Except for Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets enter league play on a three-game losing streak, which consisted of defeats to Mercer, Fordham and a 25-point blowout to Alabama. Their leading scorer, Glen Rice, Jr. averages only 12 points per game. They are 11th in the league in offensive efficiency despite facing an extremely weak out-of-conference schedule. New coach Brian Gregory also has a whale of a job in front of him to clean up the mess that Paul Hewitt left behind. Gregory will be much more meticulous in his job building the program than Hewitt ever was. Thenear future is extremely dim for Tech, but if the fan base can be patient, there is a light at the end of this long tunnel.

PROJECTED RECORDS

1. North Carolina 14-2*

2. Duke 13-3*

3. Virginia 11-5*

T-4. Miami 10-6*

T-4. Virginia Tech 10-6^

T-6. NC State 9-7^

T-6. Florida State 9-7^

8. Wake Forest 6-10

T-8. Clemson 6-10

10. Maryland 5-11

11. Georgia Tech 2-14

12. Boston College 1-15

*NCAA at-large

^Will need strong ACC Tournament showing for at-large bid

ACC not much of a challenge for Big 10

Aaron Craft gave the Buckeyes a major lift in their rout of Duke Tuesday night

After 10 years of dominance, the ACC’s reign over the Big 10 has come to a screeching halt. For the third straight season, the Big 10 took home the ACC/Big 10 Challenge. This year it was in most emphatic fashion.

The last two seasons (when there were just 11 matchups), the Big 10 won both series by a slim 6-5 margin. This year, the league won eight of 12 games.

The Big 10′s average margin of victory in those eight games was 12 points. The ACC’s was just 8.25, and that was ballooned with a 16-point win for Clemson over Iowa.

So what did we really learn from the two-night showcase?

First and foremost, Ohio State is for real. The Buckeyes throttled Duke on their home floor from start to finish. Jared Sullinger may get all the hype for Thad Matta’s club, but it’s Aaron Craft, Deshaun Thomas and William Buford who stepped up in supporting roles and will determine how far this team can go in March. Craft sliced apart Duke’s defense with eight assists (along with 17 points). Buford and Thomas hit a pair of treys each en route to combining for 38 of the Buckeyes’ 83 points.

That said, it’s no time for Duke to push the panic button. The Blue Devils played the most grueling schedule in the first two weeks of the season with road trips to New York before going all the way to Hawaii, all while facing a handful of ranked foes in the process. Even Duke’s easier games – Belmont and Davidson – were by no means pushovers.

Is Austin Rivers a good fit in Duke’s system? Not necessarily, but that’s no reason to lose hope. He’s quickly earning a reputation as somewhat of a ball hog, but how quickly we forget that Rivers’ coach has won more games than anyone else in the history of the sport. Mike Krzyzewski will probably do a little work with his young star and teach him how to work within the flow of the Blue Devils’ offense, rather than creating everything himself and seemingly forgetting he has four teammates on the floor with him. That’s the biggest concern coming out of Duke camp right now, but it’s a long season, and Rivers will only get better.

Virginia Tech’s game against Minnesota was always a game they probably shouldn’t lose. When Gophers’ star Trevor Mbakwe went down with a torn ACL on Sunday and Ralph Sampson III was hobbled with an ankle injury, it became a game the Hokies couldn’t afford to lose. Yet that’s exactly what the Hokies did on Wednesday, falling 58-55 after Erick Green’s last-second three-pointer swirled around the rim and out.

The Hokies are a young group that will certainly have its ups and downs as the season moves along. But the aim of the game is to make the NCAA Tournament, which is something Seth Greenberg so desperately wants to do. This is a team that is certainly capable of making it to the dance. Minnesota was already a middle-of-the-road team in the Big 10, and likely won’t be very competitive in its league without Mbakwe. This loss will almost definitely be a stain on the Hokies’ resume when Selection Sunday comes around.

A couple other tidbits from the disappointing performance for the ACC…

• NC State had a chance to pick up another quality win over a very good but definitely beatable Indiana team at home. The Wolfpack have to respond well on Sunday in a trip to Stanford. The loss wasn’t Scott Wood’s fault. The junior forward was 3-for-4 from three-point range Wednesday and is shooting 60 percent on the season.
• Virginia looks like the third-best team in the league. The Cavaliers played terrific defense against Michigan in a 70-58 win. Mike Scott is the best player in the league that doesn’t play for UNC or Duke. He led the way Tuesday with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
• Florida State just needs to hit the reset button. The ‘Noles played for the fourth time in seven days Wednesday. They lost three times, including to Michigan State 65-49 in a game that was competitive until midway through the second half. Said forward Bernard James, “we just lost our focus.”

The ACC took it to the chin again this year. It can only hope Virginia builds off the momentum it’s created with the Michigan win, and a couple other teams can catch their balance and start making real progress as we get into the meat of the season. There’s still hope, but this week will largely be one to forget.

Hoops thoughts — FSU’s turnaround, Duke’s vulnerability, VT’s unexpected star, and UNC’s turning point

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton didn’t panic when his team lost to Auburn. He shrugged off a loss at Virginia Tech that was his team’s third in four games.

“We’re going to shoot the ball better than we have lately…we’ve had games where we’ve made 12 or 13 three’s…we are not as bad of a shooting team as we’ve showed the last few games,” Hamilton said following the Seminoles’ 71-59 loss to the Hokies – a game in which the ‘Noles shot just 35 percent from the field.

Four days later, the Seminoles heated up in its biggest game to date, turning their season around in the process.

In shocking previously unbeaten and top-ranked Duke 66-61, Florida State shot 46 percent from three-point range while holding Duke to an unprecedented 31 percent from the field. The Devils’ previous season low was 40.3 percent.

“Their defense just dominated our offense for about 25 minutes in the ballgame,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said following the game.

While the Seminoles offense has struggled much of the season (they are 10^th in the ACC in field goal percentage), the defense has been rock solid. Led by preseason all-conference pick Chris Singleton, one of the best defenders in the country, the Seminoles lead the nation in field goal percentage defense at 35 percent.

“They’re very fundamentally sound. They play outstanding defense and they’re committed to it,” Krzyzewski said.

Riding the momentum of the biggest win maybe ever under Hamilton, Florida State returned home to beat NC State 84-71. It was an even better offensive display than in Durham, as five Seminoles scored in double figures while shooting 54.5 percent from the field as a team.

“That was the most impressive stat tonight that we had five guys in double figures,” Hamilton said. “We also had some come off the bench and give us productivity. You need all of the sum of your parts working to have success in the ACC.”

NC State is only 11-6, but recently saw the return of senior forward Tracy Smith to the lineup. Smith’s absence early in the season left the Wolfpack without an identity, not to mention much experience. His presence was supposed to push NC State to the head of the line in the ACC.

Instead, Florida State shut down everyone around Smith, whose 19 points led all scorers. The youth around him was out-muscled by the big and physical Seminole defense.

As of Tuesday, the Seminoles sit tied atop the ACC standings at 3-1, along with Duke and Boston College. As long as Hamilton continues to get offensive support from players other than Singleton (Derwin Kitchen has averaged 16.5 ppg since the Virginia Tech loss), Florida State is a viable candidate to challenge the Blue Devils for the conference championship.

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That said, Duke will win the regular season crown. The Blue Devils are far too consistent amidst a league that’s full of up-and-down teams to relinquish the title.

For the first time since Kyrie Irving went down with a toe injury in early December, the Blue Devils have looked like they miss him.

In three conference games, the Blue Devils have turned the ball over an average of 15.6 times per contest. Nolan Smith is not a point guard, and the Blue Devils’ offense has been as smooth as a jar of chunky peanut butter lately because of it. He has 13 turnovers in the past three games to go with 19 assists. Of course, it’s easy to rack up high assist numbers when you play on one of the best jump-shooting teams in the country.

Plain and simple, the Blue Devils are much more talented than anyone else in the ACC, but it’s obvious the bigger, stronger teams that play hard-nosed defense are going to give them trouble. Maryland’s Jordan Williams scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Terps’ 71-64 loss at Duke on Jan. 9, and if it weren’t for early foul trouble, he may have carried Maryland to a win.

Without Irving, Duke is the third best team in the country at best. Pittsburgh and Ohio State have all the tools to beat the Blue Devils on a neutral court. There is no timetable whatsoever for Irving’s return, though it sounds like it will be a while if he ever does come back this season. What was a foregone conclusion a week ago – that Duke was a final four lock and national championship favorite – is an uncertainty today.

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Seth Greenberg won’t admit it, but he wishes he had guys like J.T. Thompson, Allan Chaney, Dorenzo Hudson and Cadarian Raines healthy and suiting up for his team.

Since mid-December, the Hokies have known they’ll be without all five players for the rest of the season, leaving them with eight healthy scholarship players.

Starting with a dicey overtime win at St. Bonaventure, the Hokies have played very well, going 5-1 including two ACC wins to level their conference record to 2-2.

Erick Green has emerged as a viable ACC point guard, and it’s completely revolutionized the Hokies’ offense.

In eight starts, he’s turned the ball over just eight times to go with 27 assists and 21 steals. He’s averaging 12.8 points per game during that span as well.

“He’s playing with great poise. He’s taking shots when they’re available. He’s making good decisions on penetration. He’s doing a great job of getting in the lane, coming to a top and making a play – or pump-faking and getting fouled. He’s another guy that’s just gaining confidence, and he’s getting us in the offense,” Greenberg said.

The biggest impact of Green’s steady play on his team has been that it’s allowed Malcolm Delaney to move freely in the offense as the shooting guard.

Since Green’s insertion to the line-up, Delaney’s turnover rate has dropped from to 5.25 per game to just two. He’s still shooting about the same rate and his scoring has dipped slightly, but the rest of the team has become much more involved with Green at the helm.

Against Wake Forest, six Hokies scored in double figures, and Delaney was not one of them. The unexpected boost in playing time for reserves like Jarrell Eddie, who scored 16 points against the Demon Deacons, is rapidly improving their confidence.

“It’s crucial. It’s really big for me just to be on the floor and get that game experience. It builds my confidence when I knock some shots down, make some plays. It’s big for me. I love it. I love being out there. When I’m on the floor, I’m happy,” Eddie said.

Nevertheless, outside of the Florida State win, none of the Hokies’ victories have been impressive. Four of their next five league games are on the road against Maryland, Georgia Tech, NC State and Boston College. That is a very difficult stretch that will define the Hokies’ season. A 2-2 record coming out of that stretch would be a successful run, while winning at least one game is a must. If the Hokies are 2-7 or 3-6 on Feb. 5, there is no chance they’ll make the NCAA Tournament.

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In North Carolina’s forgettable 2009-10 season, the start of the Tar Heels’ downfall could be pointed at a 82-79 overtime loss at College of Charleson on Jan. 4. I have a funny feeling their 78-58 point loss at Georgia Tech on Sunday could be a turning point this season in a similar manner.

The Tar Heels were lucky to win their two previous games against Virginia and Virginia Tech in which they overcame double-digit deficits in both.

Most people want to point the Heels’ struggles to the shaky point guard play by Larry Drew II, but another issue of equal impact has been Tyler Zeller’s regression since a sensational game against Kentucky. He scored 27 points with 11 rebounds and was instrumental in holding off the Wildcats late in the game by making 11 of 12 free throws.

Since that point, he’s been unable to dominate the interior offensively. The best measure of this is his average of just 5.3 trips to the foul line per game and his 12.4 points per game (down from 14.8 prior to playing Kentucky). For comparison, Tyler Hansbrough averaged 9.7 free throw attempts and 20.7 points per game during the 08-09 season.

Obviously, Zeller is not expected to be Hansbrough, but Zeller’s timidity inside has been as much of a glaring difference from the Tar Heels of old as the disparity between Ty Lawson and Drew II.

Head coach Roy Williams was as frustrated as he’s been all season following the loss to the Yellow Jackets.

“I’ve got to do a better job of getting my kids to act like it means something to them,” Williams said.

That was the exact problem that plagued the Tar Heels a year ago, and while it’s improved this year, it’s been clear this team still lacks a killer instinct that typically defines this program.

The fact that Williams came out and admitted it’s a problem might indicate it’s growing worse, and a line must be drawn in the sand. This team lacks a clear leader, which is scary for team facing a situation as adverse as this one.

Thankfully (or perhaps not), the Heels turn around quickly and play Clemson tonight at home. The Tigers are a much worse team away from home, so the Heels have an opportunity to wash the sour taste of the Georgia Tech loss from their mouths and improve to 3-1 in the ACC.

Saturday Wrap-Up for January 8th, 2010

The first Saturday of the ACC season is in the books, and there were several important lessons to take away from the five games that took place. It was an eventful day across the country with some massive upsets, but it’s hard to say anything that happened in the ACC caught anyone by great surprise.

Here’s what I took away from yesterday’s games:

Friendly confines

If Virginia hadn’t relinquished an 11-point second half lead to North Carolina, home teams would have gone a perfect 5-for-5 on Saturday. Clemson and Virginia Tech both won impressively as home underdogs, beating Miami and Florida State, respectively.

“Anybody can beat anybody in this league on any given night…well, except for one team, maybe,” Hokies’ coach Seth Greenberg said after his team knocked off Florida State 71-59. The “one” team Greenberg was alluding to was of course Duke, and it was a bit surprising to hear a coach be so blunt about a future opponent, but he’s right. Besides the Blue Devils, the ACC is a jumbled mess from teams two through nine. Georgia Tech, Virginia and Wake Forest are not going to the NCAA Tournament, period. But everyone else still has a realistic hope of making such a run.

With so many teams so close in talent and so well coached, the teams that hold serve at home will finish at the top of the board come March. Case and point in Clemson’s 79-72 win over Miami. The Tigers are an extremely tough team to beat at Littlejohn Coliseum, and they proved it by beating Miami, a noticeably weak road team. The Hurricanes had more talent, but they haven’t figured out how to succeed away from home yet – a sign of a team that’s not ready to contend in the postseason. I picked Miami at the beginning of the season to be the surprise team in the league this year, but if I could change my mind now, I think the Hurricanes could be poised for a sloppy second half of the season.

A healthy Tracy Smith and more of Ryan Harrow make NC State a contender.

NC State proved that with a healthy Tracy Smith, the Wolfpack are an NCAA Tournament-caliber team. The Wolfpack shot 58 percent from the floor in the second half to rout Wake Forest 90-69 at home. They dominated the Deacs on the glass by a 47-22 margin. The lowly Demon Deacons are hardly a barometer for how the ‘Pack stacks up with teams like Duke and North Carolina, but they are only going to get better the longer Smith is back in the lineup.

Also, Ryan Harrow played 25 minutes at the point, while Javier Gonzalez was held scoreless in just 15 minutes of action. Head coach Sidney Lowe has praised Harrow’s recent improvements on the defensive end, and it’s what’s earned Harrow the nod as State’s feature point guard.

Judging the Hokies

Seth Greenberg’s comes to the table now with a short stack, but he’s going to hold out as long as he can.  It’s well known now that the Hokies have just eight scholarship players, and are without third-team All-ACC guard Dorenzo Hudson for the rest of the season.

For the first time in his career, Greenberg played zone defense for an entire game against Florida State, and it worked to perfection. The Hokies worked back from a soft 1-2-2 three-quarter court look to a 2-3 half-court zone. They didn’t trap, but they forced Florida State to make far too many long, high-arching passes that Tech was able to deflect if not intercept. The Seminoles are already a poor shooting team, and they’ve been colder than usual lately. Coach Leonard Hamilton was disappointed in his team’s lack of ball control against a zone, and he admitted that Greenberg just unveiled the blueprint on how to beat his team until they shoot better.

Greenberg used the same basic defensive scheme the entire game, but admitted he has another couple of looks he’s ready to use when the opportunity presents itself. With virtually no bench (Tech’s starters played 87.5% of the total floor minutes Saturday), the Hokies can’t play man-to-man for long stretches of time. They ran into a perfect match-up Saturday against a poorly shooting Seminole team, but to the Hokies’ credit, they were very active defensively and didn’t seem to wear down. Tech made 34-of-37 free throws, and it was their precision from the line down the stretch that kept Florida State behind by a safe margin.

Tech’s not a typically good free throw shooting team, but if they can come close to reproducing Saturday’s effort, it will win them a ball game or two that they shouldn’t have won. There aren’t a lot of great jump shooting teams in the ACC this year, which means the Hokies should be in a lot of close games. Finally, playing exclusively zone dramatically lowers the risk of Jeff Allen getting into foul trouble. Allen has been playing the best basketball of his career over the last month, and had his best game of the year Saturday with 24 points and 11 rebounds; despite being primarily guarded by future NBA lottery pick Chris Singleton.

Tar Heel flashback

For an eight or nine-minute stretch during UNC’s 62-56 win over Virginia, the Tar Heels played their worst basketball of the year. They were held without a point for a six-minute, 55-second period that spanned both halves. Virginia was keeping the Heels from doing what they wanted to do, which was pound the ball inside. The Cavaliers’ post defenders muscled Carolina’s bigs out of the lane before they could receive the ball. That led to a barrage of jump hooks and ugly turn-around jumpers, none of which were converted.

Finally, North Carolina re-asserted itself when its outlook was bleak, and ended the game on a 30-13 run. Virginia is an incredibly streaky team, and it lived up to that billing once again on Saturday. The Cavs went on a 16-2 run to finish the first half, but went cold in the second half. They had the perfect chance to put the Tar Heels away when they were completely out of sync on offense, but the ‘Hoos only scored eight points in the first nine and a half minutes after halftime. That kept the game within reach for Tyler Zeller to lead a Carolina comeback. Zeller was the only UNC player to finish with double-figure scoring with 12 points.

Boston College rebounds

The Eagles lost a shocker at home on Wednesday to Harvard (the third straight year they’ve done so at home), but responded with their second ACC win of the year. They used a 16-4 run in the second half to separate from Georgia Tech en route to a 86-75 win.

The Eagles are a very good offensive team with tremendous balance. Reggie Jackson scored 25 points to continue his bid for first-team all-conference. He was 8-for-9 from the field in just 26 minutes. That’s efficient basketball. Corey Raji added 22 points and nine rebounds as well.

Boston College has a solid eight-man rotation that is clicking on all cylinders right now. The Harvard loss proved to be an anomaly, and the Eagles seem firmly entrenched as a top-five team in the ACC.

 

Depleted Hokies exposed in OT win at St. Bonnies

Virginia Tech escaped Rochester with a win Thursday night, but there might not be much more where that came from.

Just hours after the school announced guard Dorenzo Hudson and center Cadarian Raines would miss the rest of the season with foot injuries, the Hokies squeaked by St. Bonaventure 76-68 in overtime.

The most recent depletion to the roster left the Hokies with eight scholarship players, and the effect of the thin roster were prevalent quickly.

On paper, the Bonnies were an inferior opponent, with losses to Canisius and Niagra already to their name.

Tech led by as many as 18 points in the first half before heading to the locker room leading 41-28.

Early in the second half, three Tech starters found themselves in foul trouble. Jeff Allen, Terrell Bell and Victor Davila all had three fouls most of the second half, forcing coach Seth Greenberg to play mostly zone defense the rest of the game.

The Bonnies closed the gap to 43-38 early in the second half and kept it close the rest of the game.

Their bench entered the game averaging a paltry 4.6 points per game, leaving them with a similar lack of depth to the Hokies. Tech’s bench contributed 10 points on Thursday, which is sadly better than its 8.6 average thus far this season.

Tech surprisingly dominated the overtime period without Jeff Allen, who fouled out late in regulation.

Many of the problems expected to plague the new-look Hokies were exposed in the win, however.

First, the Hokies are going to have to do some serious soul-searching in the second half of games, digging deep to overcome exhaustion. They recovered nicely in overtime, but relinquishing a 13-point halftime lead to a mediocre Atlantic-10 squad is very discouraging.

Also, Tech has to avoid foul trouble at all costs, something that will prove difficult for Allen and Davila. Allen averages a ridiculous 4.1 fouls per game this season. That makes Davila’s three foul per-game mark seem harmless.

In fact, only two players in the country commit fouls more frequently than Allen. That’s not a recipe for success with an eight-man rotation.

The Hokies have one post player on the roster now, and that’s Davila. Potential foul trouble aside, he’s not playing more than 30 minutes a night once ACC play comes around and Tech’s playing two or three games a week.

Greenberg said at the beginning of the season that the loss of J.T. Thompson and Allan Chaney would force the Hokies to use a lot of “junk defense”. It’s going to be interesting what he does now whenever Davila is on the pine.

Jordan Williams and Tyler Zeller are licking their lips already.

Erick Green’s surprising emergence continued Thursday, which is paramount to the Hokies being competitive down the road. In three straight starts at point guard, he’s yet to commit a turnover. His 15 points and five steals was key in the win.

But can Green shoulder the load for 30-35 minutes a game in the ACC? His surprising success of late his been promising, but it’s going to hit a completely different level by mid-January. It’s one thing to play well against average (at best) teams with five or six days’ rest in between, it’s another to face even a watered-down ACC at a much more demanding rate.

Just because the league as a whole isn’t up to the standard of years’ past, doesn’t mean it’s not a grind. Just ask Malcolm Delaney, who went from averaging 24 points in non-conference play last year to just over 17 in league play last season.

Deeper teams will run the Hokies’ ragged from now on. Greenberg still has one of the best starting units in the conference, if not the country. Unfortunately, he’s got virtually nothing to offer beyond that.

Post-exam week games give mixed results for ACC

Six ACC teams took the floor on Saturday; five engaged in marquee non-conference matchups.

It was a tough week for college basketball teams across the country, most of which just finished final exams and were anything but fresh on Saturday. It made for some interesting results to say the least.

Georgia Tech stuns Richmond

Let’s start with the good. Georgia Tech pulled off a much-needed 67-54 win over Richmond from the Bahamas.

Iman Shumpert paved the way for the Yellow Jackets with 21 points and six rebounds, but it was Tech’s defense that was the key to the victory.

The Spiders shot just 39 percent from the field, and star point guard Kevin Anderson scored just 12 points.

The win showed there just might be a little life in Jackets (6-4), who had lost three of four coming into Saturday’s game. The Spiders are one of the best teams in the Atlantic 10. They’ve already beaten Purdue, Arizona State and Virginia Commonwealth this season.

“I thought today was the first time we played like a Georgia Tech team,” Paul Hewitt (pictured) said.

North Carolina falls in heartbreaking fashion

Cory Joseph pushed the ball to the top of the key, planted hard, spun around and struck North Carolina with the dagger that sent 20,000+ Tar Heel fans home unhappy.

Joseph’s (pictured) unlikely bucket with 1.4 seconds left Saturday broke a 76-76 tie and handed UNC its toughest defeat of the season.

The Tar Heels lead for all but 40 seconds in the second half, including a six-point advantage with six minutes to go but they couldn’t hold on to win.

The Heels (7-4) got career games from backup point guard Kendall Marshall and starting shooting guard Dexter Strickland.

Marshall played well in key minutes during the second half as starter Larry Drew II was strapped to the bench in foul trouble. Marshall scored seven points with three rebounds and assists apiece.

“He does that stuff all the time in practice,” fellow freshman Harrison Barnes said.

“That’s the most aggressive I’ve seen him maybe since I’ve ever known him.”

Drew II had played well of late, but Saturday showed a relapse into the turnover-prone, offensive liability that had many Carolina faithful calling for Marshall to start earlier in the year.

Drew finished with two points, three assists and four turnovers.

Strickland was instrumental in the Tar Heels’ strong offensive performance with a career-high 18 points. His three-pointer with 6:26 left gave the Heels the six-point lead that was squandered.

The game was played in Greensboro, but it was clearly a home game for the Heels, so this is a tough loss to swallow for Roy Williams’ club.

Texas, like UNC, is inconsistent and very young. The Longhorns’ two leading scorers were the freshman Joseph (21 points) and sophomore Jordan Hamilton (24).

A win would have been another step in the right direction for UNC, who has seen a turnaround in energy starting with a 75-73 win over Kentucky two weeks ago. Instead, they’ll need to regroup with three should-win games before traveling to Virginia on Jan. 8 to open up ACC play.

Miami can’t finish the deal against UCF

The Hurricanes let UCF score 51 second-half points, squelching a 12-point lead to let the Knights retain their unbeaten season.

The ‘Canes had won five in a row until Saturday, but Marcus Jordan was too much to handle. Michael Jordan’s son scored 23 points before leaving the game with 1:24 left with an ankle injury.

This would have been a quality win for Miami (7-3). The Knights already beat Florida earlier in the year at home.

The ‘Canes got a subpar performance from 6-foot-10, 300-pound center Reggie Johnson. The normally dominant big man scored just six points but more importantly grabbed just seven rebounds. Miami was outrebounded 36-28.

There were 55 fouls in this game, including 29 on the Hurricanes. Central Florida could have won by even more. The Knights made just 21-of-43 free throws.

Miami will be a streaky team all season. The ‘Canes have one of the more talented rosters in the league, but a lack of depth in the backcourt puts a heavy burden on Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant to bring their best effort every night. When they do that but get little help from the frontcourt, there will be more results like this one.

Virginia Tech picks up fraudulent win over Mississippi State, 88-57

A Hokie basketball team that can’t catch a break this season finally did on Saturday, beating up on a worn-down Bulldogs’ squad by 31 points.

Mississippi State was playing for the sixth time in eight days as part of a unique scheduling ploy that allowed heralded center Renardo Sidney to become eligible as soon as possible.

It was the first regular season game away from home for the Bulldogs, as the game took place in the Bahamas following the Georgia Tech-Richmond tussle.

The Hokies (6-4, 0-1 ACC) scorched the Bulldogs’ zone defense, especially in the first half when they made six of their nine total three-pointers for the game.

When the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee reads over the Hokies’ resume in March, this win will likely look more impressive than it actually was.

Not only were the Bulldogs miserably fatigued from the opening tip-off, but also were without suspended point guard Dee Bost. Once he returns, this figures to be a much different team as SEC play soon begins.

Hokies’ coach Seth Greenberg can and will ultimately use this as a confidence booster to his team that was sorely in need of it.

Greenberg caught lightning in a bottle when Erick Green moved into the starting lineup last week to replace the injured and struggling veteran Dorenzo Hudson.

Green’s presence at point guard has freed up All-ACC performer Malcolm Delaney to shoot 50 percent from the field in his past two games while playing his natural shooting guard position.

Hudson came off the bench Saturday to play his best game of the season with 17 points in 23 minutes.

Delaney and Hudson, both seniors, were the highest scoring tandem in the ACC last year. It seems like the week and half stretch of rest for Hudson was just what he needed to rejuvenate his season.

It remains to be seen what Greenberg decides to do with his lineup now that Hudson appears fit to play again. He’d be wise to ride out this experiment with Green in the starting five and Hudson providing a spark on a paper-thin bench.

You don’t often hear of a three-year starter being replaced mid-season for a scarcely tested sophomore, but it might be the best decision for all parties involved.

In fact, it just might be the gutsy move Greenberg has to make to save his team from another disappointing NCAA Tournament snub.

Wake Forest hangs tough with Xavier on the road, falling 83-75

The “Baby Deacs” fell by eight points on the road to a good Musketeer team, and it might have been the most impressive game on paper that Wake Forest has played all season.

It’s been a rough start to Jeff Bzdelik’s tenure in Winston-Salem, but this season is all about growing pains for his extremely young ball club.

Freshmen J.T. Terrell (pictured) scored 27 points and Travis McKie had 11 rebounds to keep Wake alive, but it was inconsistency on the defensive end the spelled the Deacons’ doom.

Xavier point guard Terrell Holloway had a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. Five Musketeers were in double figures.

Wake Forest couldn’t do the little things to help their case, a shear sign of youth.

The tandem of McKie, Terrell and Ari Stewart, along with injured point guard Tony Chennault, will mature rapidly once ACC play begins. However, with games like this where all the young guys on the roster show promise against a quality opponent in a tough environment, it must be taken as a positive sign for the program.

ACC Basketball at an early crossroads

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the ACC doesn’t look so hot early on.

Following football’s cue, the ACC has flopped in just about every important game to start the season.

The league is 0-5 against ranked opponents, while also incurring losses to teams like Stetson, Kennesaw State and Yale.

Not quite what you’d expect from the supposed lifeblood of college basketball.

Larry Drew II is in danger of losing his starting job as point guard at UNC.

North Carolina, ranked eighth to start the season, is 2-2 after back-to-back losses against Minnesota and Vanderbilt. The Tar Heels have a serious lack of leadership, and Roy Williams is still trying to find a rotation in his lineup that works best.

Kendall Marshall is slowly gouging minutes from Larry Drew II at point guard, and rightfully so. Drew hasn’t improved since last season, when his lack of decision-making and quickness made him a square peg in a round hole.

Marshall isn’t much better on the quickness front, but he looks to advance the ball much quicker in transition than does Drew. Drew’s 3:2 assist-to-turnover ratio in 24 minutes per game is a red flag, compared to Marshall’s 4.5:1.8 ratio in 15 minutes per game.

While Marshall isn’t the ideal Carolina point guard (see: Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson), he’s proven already he’s a better option than Drew. Williams seems ready to go with Marshall from now on, realizing he’s the best option going forward.

As for leadership, there are really only two candidates. Tyler Zeller is the veteran presence on this team, and let’s face it, was an understudy to the best leader Carolina has maybe ever had in Tyler Hansbrough. Zeller has played too soft through four games, but for a guy who’s missed more than 30 games in two years with injuries, you can understand why.

He goes through spurts where he plays like a fire has been lit underneath him, and he just needs to let loose and do that at all times.

The other option is Harrison Barnes. He’s averaging 12.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. It’s easy to see he’s the most gifted player on the team, but some of those gifts are operating as flaws right now.

He easily has the best court vision on the team, and too often he will pass up a chance to make a play to score by finding a teammate who can’t finish it off.

He’s had an insurmountable amount of pressure put on him by the national media, and there’s no way he doesn’t feel it.

“One of my goals this season is to be on the postseason (All-America) list,” Barnes said, admitting that being named preseason All-America was a humbling honor.

Outside of Barnes, and only sometimes Zeller, there is nobody on the Heels’ squad that is a “go-to” guy. The Puerto Rico experience was invaluable for him, and the “adjustment period” that many have allowed him should be coming to a close.

It’s time for Barnes to step up and seize control of the games when the opportunity presents itself. He needs to play with a much more candid demeanor. His robotic persona and lack of killer instinct are the two biggest indicators of his youth.

He has said on numerous occasions that he’s not a leader on this team, deferring to Zeller and Drew out of respect for their accomplishments. Once he realizes that he must assume that role, his game could explode.

I believe he’s too worried about overshadowing his teammates on the court when he already does off of it. He just has to understand that he’s going to be the reason Carolina has whatever measure of success it does this season.

Virginia Tech was physically dominated in a road loss to third-ranked Kansas State

Virginia Tech was exposed on Tuesday at Kansas State in a 73-57 loss. The Hokies’ depleted frontcourt was dominated on the boards, being outrebounded 42-33.

Three players were in foul trouble, including key forwards Terrell Bell and Jeff Allen, which forced coach Seth Greenberg to use primarily zone and other junk defenses in the second half.

Until Cadarian Raines is healthy, Tech simply cannot afford foul trouble whatsoever. The starting five is going to log a lot of minutes this season, and they are going to fall apart in the second half of some important games because of it. The Wildcats outscored Tech 43-28 in the second half after leading by just one point at halftime.

The night before, Miami couldn’t get over the hump in Memphis against the 19^th-ranked Tigers. Memphis never led by more than nine, and it was a one-possession game the final three and a half minutes.

Even though the ‘Canes fell short, they looked like the second best team in the ACC on that night. They looked like they belonged to be on the floor in a tough road environment against a top-20 team. Durand Scott scored 20 points, while Reggie Johnson finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

On that night, Miami looked like the most balanced team in the league besides Duke.

Miami looked strong in a road loss to Memphis, but sleepwalked through a road loss to Rutgers.

However, a putrid effort from Scott and backcourt mate Malcolm Grant on Sunday led to a 61-45 loss at Rutgers. Scott and Grant scored a combined eight points and Miami shot 14-of-48 (29%) from the field.

It proved the ‘Canes aren’t that good…yet. Don’t expect a worse offensive showing from coach Frank Haith’s team again this season. They are going to be a tough out in league play.

Wake Forest is going to have a hard time winning 10 games this season. That’s right, 10. The Deacons lost by 21 to Virginia Commonwealth at home on Tuesday. Now, the Rams should be an NCAA Tournament team, but that’s no excuse for Wake to get whipped so badly at home.

Their two wins have come against Hampton by seven and Elon by 19. Non-conference games against Iowa, Xavier, Richmond and Gonzaga await. The Deacons will be lucky to be within 20 against those teams…by halftime.

Freshman point guard Tony Chennault is out for up to two months, leaving Jeff Bzdelik with no real other option at the position. The rest of the league should be able to look at Wake on their schedule and pencil it in as a W.

N.C. State was a man down this weekend at the Charleston Classic, and it caught up to them in the finals against Georgetown. Without its leader, Tracy Smith, State was borderline clueless on the offensive end when it had to score.

The Hoyas used a 15-0 run in the second half to help beat the ‘Pack 82-67. Coach Sidney Lowe used nine players, all of which played at least 16 minutes. He has decent depth, but like North Carolina with Drew, Lowe has point guard issues.

Javier Gonzalez played just 19 minutes on Sunday, and the Wolfpack had just eight assists as a team. He’s got to be average at worst for the ‘Pack to challenge at the top of the ACC, and right now he’s just not there. Once Smith returns, though, it will be a tremendous help to a very young squad.

For most of the league’s teams struggling early, it’s hardly time to panic. It’s a long season, and its up to their coaches to figure out how to fit the pieces together just right. But unless they start winning at least some prominent games, it will be up to Duke to uphold the league’s reputation by itself.