The Wolfpacker

March 2013 - Signing Day Edition

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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during the offseason, unless you are playing pickup ball,��� Wood said. ���You get better during a game, but in the offseason you can develop those keys and get the confidence to use them.��� Junior point guard Lorenzo Brown noted he���s a better teammate and leader than he was in November, while Howell said his basketball IQ has improved, which has helped him avoid foul trouble as much this season. NC State was 19-8 through 27 games, including an 8-6 mark in the ACC. With the conference regular-season title out of reach, the ACC Tournament will be especially important to the Wolfpack���s NCAA chances. Playing the likes of Michigan, Oklahoma State, Miami and Duke (twice) during the regular season should make the Wolfpack battle tested. ���You try to be, and there are obviously times where you sit down and think about ���You always want your team to be playing its best basketball in February and March, and hopefully we can continue to improve and play well.��� ��� Head coach Mark Gottfried Head coach Mark Gottfried���s team will fall short of winning the ACC���s regular-season title, but it can still accomplish its ultimate goal of reaching the Final Four with a strong showing down the stetch. photo by larry blankenship fall were spent with the players working on their strength and conditioning and individual skills. With the demands of classes, homework, studying, games, practice and travel, it���s harder for the players to work on their individual games during the season. ���I think a big thing is to get your rest. After the Wake Forest game [Jan. 22], I felt a little weak, and right then and there you have to listen to your body,��� NC State senior wing Scott Wood said. ���I went and lifted weights with [strength and conditioning] coach Bob Alejo. If I don���t play well in a game, I like to get in the gym and get some shots up. It���s a long season.��� Wood said there is more opportunity during the offseason to improve as a player, especially with new NCAA rules that allow the coaches to work with the players. ���You can never simulate a game situation ���At the end of the day, I think it���s all about the mental part,��� Howell said. Gottfried said he always emphasizes player development during practices. ���There is a lot more time in the offseason to work on certain things,��� Gottfried said. ���You are limited during the year. There aren���t that many days, and your practices tend to get shorter and shorter as the year goes on just because you have to be fresh to play the games. We do put a lot of emphasis on it [during the season].��� NC State���s second part of the puzzle resulted in going 11-2 during the nonconference slate with key wins over Connecticut Dec.�� 4 in New York City, Massachusetts Nov.��16 in Puerto Rico and Stanford Dec.��18 in Raleigh. Michigan and Oklahoma State ��� which both entered the last week of February ranked in the top 15 of the Associated Press poll ��� were the lone nonconference losses. The ACC schedule determines the seed a team will receive for the league tournament March 14-17 in Greensboro, N.C. Then the nonconference, regular season and conference tournament performances are considered by the NCAA when it selects the tournament field. The focus is always on the task at hand each week, but Gottfried knows he has to think toward putting the best team on the floor in March. He might make decisions in January or February with the big picture in mind. ���You are always doing that even from the beginning of the year,��� Gottfried said. ���You are always trying to get your team in the best possible place at the end of the year. ���Obviously, while you are doing that, you are trying to win every game. I don���t think a coach will throw a game here and there to build something for later. You are always thinking, ���How are we going to be the best team possible?������ it,��� Wood said. ���At the same time, you have to really key in on the team you are playing next and the scout that you have. You like to look ahead, and I���m sure everybody does, and look into a crystal ball and see what the future holds. But you have to go one game at a time.��� The expectations during the offseason centered on winning some sort of hardware this season and eventually reaching the Final Four at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. For Atlanta-area natives such as Howell and Brown, the Final Four is the ultimate goal in what could be a storybook season. ���I really feel like we are starting to get over the hump with Lorenzo coming back [from his ankle injury], and everyone is starting to get healthy and buying into their roles,��� Howell said. ���That���s something we���ve had trouble with all season.��� Gottfried switched lineups for the Florida State game Feb. 19, resulting in freshman small forward T.J. Warren going off for 31 points and 13 rebounds in a 84-66 victory. Warren made the start in place of freshman shooting guard Rodney Purvis and paired with Wood on the two wing spots. Changing to a bigger, taller lineup with an aim of improving the team���s rebounding normally doesn���t take place in the 26th game of the season, but it verifies that perfecting the lineup can happen late in the season too. ���I felt our rebounding wasn���t where it should be,��� Gottfried said. ���I think that affects a lot of things we do. If we rebound really well, we run really well.��� Changing up the lineup and rotation, which also includes the February emergence of freshman point guard Tyler Lewis, occurred with enough games remaining leading up to the ACC Tournament. ���You always want your team to be playing its best basketball in February and March, and hopefully, we can continue to improve and play well,��� Gottfried said. ��� March 2013��� ������ 63 62-63.Men's BKB In March.indd 63 2/26/13 1:11 PM

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