Mayor of Punxatawney, Pa., men's basketball coach at N.C. State? Mayor of Punxatawney, coach of N.C. State?
These days its getting tough to tell the difference. Mayor of Puxatawney: in early February he rouses a sleeping groundhog that has done little or nothing all winter, and it determines the outcome of the season. N.C. State basketball coach: In early February he rouses a sleeping team that has done little to nothing all winter and determines the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference season.
It has almost become a ritual over the past two years of coach Herb Sendek's career for his Wolfpack to stumble through the first half of the season only to catch fire after the turn.
Over the past two seasons, the Pack is the owner of the ACC's worst conference record, with only nine wins, but you'd never know it judging by second half performances, where seven of their nine wins came. It's a safe bet that Mike Krzyzewski didn't consider NC State the league's worst team after the No. 8 seeded Wolfpack knocked off regular season champion Duke in the first round of the ACC tournament.
Neither did anyone else in the tournament as the Pack just kept on winning becoming the first nine seed to appear in the finals, and winning 8 of its final 11 games including a first round NIT matchup.
The last two years the Wolfpack has had a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome. Of course, the Pack's Mr. Hyde is little more than a mildly-displeased Easter bunny. Comparatively, 1998 regular season champion Duke posted more wins in the second portion of the conference this year than the Wolfpack did in two second halves.
The story of NC State is not one of resignation though, but rather perseverance. Despite having only 4 of the 12 scholarship players dressing for every game, the Wolfpack has managed to find a way to win. And they've found a way to win big. Just ask jilted-No.1 North Carolina after the Pack embarrassed them on their home court.
Maybe it's all just fate. Second half comebacks have always been a State tradition. The very first year of Wolfpack basketball featured a perfect second half of the season as Piggy Hargrove rallied his team to a 19-18 victory over Wake Forest, evening the Pack's two game season record at 1-1. Even under Jimmy Valvano, the Pack could never get it together early, failing to finish first in the conference, despite winning a pair of tournament crowns, one after a 6-8 record.
Probably more so than even fate, the biggest reason for the Wolfpack's second half success has been the coaching ability of Herb Sendek. Like Jim Valvano before him, Sendek has developed a gift for getting the most from the least. Working sometimes with only eight scholarship players, Sendek has found a way to win. He has simply out-maneuvered many other prominent coaches in the ACC.
Sendek has instilled in his team a never-say-die attitude generally only found in the nations elite, and rarely in a team that has yet to break the top 25. Sendek has emphasized improvement rather than winning. If he hasn't turned water into wine, Sendek has at least turned tap water into Evian.
Of course, Sendek hasn't done it alone. The key element down the stretch last year was the play of freshman Justin Gainey. He stepped up to a level higher than he has even this year, committing only 8 turnovers in his final 10 games last year, and being named to the All-ACC Tournament first team.
This year, the story is the same but the name, or rather names, have changed. Both Cornelius Williams and Ron Kelley have produced results in the clutch that mimic Gainey's success last year. Though Kenny Inge is undoubtedly the Wolfpack's top freshman, these two have provided the unexpected boost that Gainey did last year.
Williams, who entered this year as a "project", has shed 20 pounds and turned himself into a legitimate defensive stopper, the Pack's best in the paint. Though still a liability on offense, with little dribbling or shooting skills, Williams development has helped fortify a Wolfpack interior highly vulnerable in the absence of Damon Thornton.
The added scoring threat comes from Kelley, who averages 8.3 points per game. His mere presence has been its own factor in the Pack's success. When Kelley went down in mid-January, N.C. State sputtered to a 2-4 conference mark, but on Kelley's return the Wolfpack notched a three game win streak, including their tremendous win over Carolina.
Even with the unexpected contributions of Kelley and Williams, this is still a team with too few threats to be a serious contender for the ACC title. Too many injuries have caused too many problems for the Pack, and their performance as a team has suffered, as their last two losses have displayed. A repeat of last year's tournament run looks doubtful, and a NCAA at-large bid is all but forgotten.
Of course, in 1983, in another two team race for the ACC title, there was a N.C. State squad that was in a similar situation. Then, nine games, an ACC title and a NCAA championship later, no one would ever forget the Cardiac Pack, destiny's darlings. Though this team is not the '83 squad, there is one thing that all basketball fans learned from that team about the Wolfpack then and now, they never ever give up.
Ray Holloman is a Trinity freshman.
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