The Pack’s return to Reynolds Coliseum for an NIT matchup with Marist was met with glee by rabid Wolfpackers … to the point where it sold out in like two hours, and myself and some friends were faced with the prospect of watching it on ESPN-Unavailable in some sports bar with a waitress who shows up every half an hour or so. So you can imagine my delight when Pack Pride contacted me to gauge my interest in covering the game for them as their intrepid reporter. So I went from spending $25 on a ticket to getting a courtside ducat and food — and getting paid for it! Giddyup.
Anyway, some random observations …
*** Sidney Lowe is a by-god rock star. Since seating was first-come, first-serve, Reynolds was packed to the rafters a good hour-plus before the game. Fashionably late, Lowe sauntered in—wearing his trademark red jacket—a couple of minutes before tipoff, and it sounded as if the roof of the building was going to come off. He’s got an impeccable sense of timing, style, history and what it takes to be the face of a program. Afterward, he had some emotional words about being back in Reynolds and referred to the place as the “Red Barn.” That’s going to stick.
*** The pep band, the smell of popcorn, the deafening cheers, the wave, Mr. and Mrs. Wuf … brought back a lot of memories from my student days. Of course, missing was Les Robinson on the sideline clapping at Donnie Seale as we lost to Florida Atlantic, but hey … they were still great times.
*** On a game-related note, I like Gavin Grant and think he is a versatile player who impacts the game in a lot of ways. Sure, he occasionally gets in trouble when he thinks too much, but beyond that, he has leadership qualities, an ability to get to wherever he wants to go off the dribble, is a strong rebounder for his size and is a terrific passer when he wants to be. That being said, he should never, ever in-bounds the ball again for the rest of his career at NC State. As a decision-maker, he makes Britney Spears look like Claire Huxtable. I have never seen a player with less awareness of the entire court and the five-second count while in-bounding, yet he continues to get lead responsibilities there. Ugh.
*** In my capacity writing for The Wolfpacker and, before that, the Technician, I have covered a lot of basketball games. I’ve sat courtside for more than four full NC State seasons, plus four ACC Tournaments. I can say that this Marist contest was quite possibly the worst-officiated game that I have ever attended.
One of the refs was straight out of Central Casting, but he had this perpetual smile on his face even as he blew call after call. Another guy looked like Neidermeyer from “Animal House” (Mark Metcalf, also “The Maestro” from Seinfeld and the father from Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” video). The third guy looked like Webster’s older brother. Together, they called 43 fouls and ensured that the game had no flow, consistency or pace. It was like they had marginal comprehension of the rules and violations that govern the game, and beyond that, it was as if they had never worked together before. Maybe that was the case, I’m not sure; all I know was that there were more head-scratchers in this one than I could ever recall. If the ACC compiled an All-Dildo officiating team comprised of “Cheatin’” Larry Rose, Dick “Smear” Paparo and Teddy Valentine (with Mike Kitts on the scorer’s table in case one of the above-mentioned trio injured himself solely as a result of pure-tee sucking), it would give this crew a run as the worst officiating threesome on the planet. It was shocking to the point where anger turned into near-bemusement; security had to walk the officials off the court at the end of the game to preserve their safety. In an NIT game. In a game in which NC State won. That should give you an idea of just how horrific they were. I even heard a rumor that these guys have officiated middle-school games in the area. Seriously.
So wherever you are, Don Daily, Lamont Simpson and Kevin Mathis, rest assured you helped put a damper on a return to Reynolds Coliseum and take away from a great evening of Wolfpack basketball. You give the three blind mice a bad name.
*** Coming out of a timeout midway through the first half, I was speaking to the reporter on my left, and when I turned back around, I noticed new football coach Tom O'Brien sitting in the seat right next to me. He seems a little uncomfortable being out in public and dealing with the attention, but he was tapping along with the fight song at every opportunity and was definitely into the game. It was very cool to see him enter the arena and quietly take a seat on press row, almost like he didn't want to take any of the attention off the hoops team. He seems to be enjoying Tobacco Road and forging a strong relationship with all the sports, which is always good to see.
*** Dennis Horner is going to be a really good player for the Pack. He’s obviously lacking muscle right now, but he is still growing into his frame and he continues to get taller. He could potentially be a 6-10 kid who can handle, pass and knock it down from the perimeter. I challenge anyone to find a sweeter-looking shooting stroke than Horner has right now, and he has shown a willingness to mix it up on the interior and talk the occasional smack with the other team. It’s looking more and more like the Wolfpack landed the right guy of the three incoming freshmen after Larry Davis (Seton Hall) and Dan Werner (Florida) jumped ship.
*** It took people 45 minutes or more to get out of the Reynolds Coliseum parking garage following the game. I love having an on-campus basketball building and miss that aspect of State hoops a lot, but say what you want about the RBC Center, they get people in and out of that joint with a quickness.
*** Big ups to the Reynolds Rowdies. Marist seemed amazed at the volume and intensity of the crowd, and afterward Grant suggested that State should play UNC and Dook in Reynolds every year. He realized that it would cost the program a lot of money to do so, but you just can’t come near the Reynolds atmosphere in the RBC Center. I’d be in favor of making the annual Heritage Game a more significant matchup than Stetson or Prairie View A&M, and I think it would be terrific to make it a conference game if the right wheels could be greased.
*** Cool move by the players to hang around at midcourt after the game and applaud the Pack fans. It's the last home game of the year for State and the players wanted the Wolfpack faithful to know how much they appreciated the support, on Friday night and all year long.
*** Posting 20 wins is a huge accomplishment for this particular Pack team. Before the year, I optimistically picked us to finish around 15-15 and be at least in the mix for an NIT bid—and that was before Engin Atsur got hurt. To go 15-14 in the regular season and then win five of six games in postseason play (and still going!) is a credit to Lowe and his staff, as well as the Wolfpack players who have logged so many minutes this year. Kudos!
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