If you've read here for a while, you've seen our theory about despair being a
motivating factor in the ACC.
Turns out Dave Odom has a similar idea,according to Barry Jacobs,Â
though his is more elaborate, which is appropriate, since his neck is on the
line like any coaches is. He goes on to a very interesting analysis of the
State-UNC game under the Odom Situational principle. The most interesting quote
- Kris Lang saying "don't get me in trouble" when asked about the team
being soft. Apparently he has been spoken to about such comments.Â
Anyway, a column worth reading and then reading again.
Speaking of Dave Odom, he sounds like a relieved man after
his team beat Clemson. Good thing they were playing Clemson, because
their stats still weren't pretty. Here's
the angle from Clemson's perspective, and the frustration
is mounting. Clemson fans should focus on the excellent recruiting job Larry
Shyatt has done and the fact that he was willing to eat his Wyoming contract.
Give the guy a little time. He'll be ok.
As noted here, Brendan
Haywood is putting up some monster numbers lately and getting credit for
it. In a bit of bad UNC news, Nikki Teasely is taking leave for
undisclosed reasons.
Bob Molinaro picks up on what we said yesterday (not that he read it here but
he has the same idea) about
intensity of ACC fans. The ACC is a great league because it has great
coaches and players, but those coaches and players come here because the support
is here. It's worth mentioning, also, that the league is in a state of
transition. Long dominated by Dean Smith and UNC, the ACC now features
Coach K, Williams, Odom and Cremins as long-time coaches. Gillen, Sendek, Shyatt,
and Robinson are in the process of establishing themselves. Â
Guthridge follows his good friend Dean Smith to the UNC head post, of course,
and has done a nice job of maintaining standards while following a legend, which is profoundly difficult to do.
Of the five established coaches, K, Williams, and Guthridge are probably
locks for the tourney. Wake is struggling, but Odom is the best coach
they've had there since Bones McKinney. Of the newer coaches, Sendek and
Gillen are almost ready to break through. Robinson just needs some talent,
and Clemson...well, Clemson is Clemson. We'll see about them.
But still, it's fair to note that aside from the three power programs, the
conference otherwise is changing, with at least two rising powers. We'll
see, but the reports of the demise are greatly exaggerated.