Wake Forest vs. N.C. State Preview: Q&A w/ Backing The Pack
We preview tonight's Wake Forest-N.C. State game with Will Thompson of Backing The Pack.
By Robert Reinhard and thrillis4 Feb 3, 2015, 10:11am EST
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Were State fans expecting an NCAA Tournament berth at the beginning of the season? Are you expecting one now?
I think so, I mean, I did at least. To be honest, I think a lot of State fans, myself included, weren't really sure what to expect with this season, but I think the general consensus was on paper this team has enough talent to be an NCAA Tournament team. At times, this team has shown that brilliance, most notably in the win against Duke. But, the team has also been incredibly inconsistent, particularly since the Duke game. Those games have been all over the map, with several large leads evaporating, and also featuring an incredibly poor effort against Clemson at home. Hopefully the miracle shot it took to beat Georgia Tech will right the ship, so to speak. I still think this is a team that's going to make the tournament, but the margin for error is becoming much slimmer.
Who do you believe is State's best player and why?
Talent wise, unquestionably it's Trevor Lacey. He's hit some incredibly clutch shots so far this season. However, Cat Barber is the most important player on the team to me. He's the team's best on ball defender, and he needs to play well so Lacey doesn't have to split time at the point. Barber had by far his best offensive effort in a long time against Georgia Tech, so hopefully that's a sign of things to come.
Which Wake Forest player do you believe the State coaching staff is most concerned about?
I'm sure the staff would love for Devin Thomas to not have one of his hero efforts against State again, but it'd have to be between him and Codi Miller-McIntyre.
Who wins and why?
I think the miracle shot against GT will help inspire the Pack to play better, but I'd be lying to you if I said I didn't think this one would be close. State fans have seen the same movie the last several games with the Pack getting out to a large lead and then squandering it away, so why should that trend stop? I hope it doesn't take a prayer from Lacey to win it this time, but I think the Pack holds on, 73-70 against the Deacs.
Many thanks to Will for taking the time to answer my questions. You can follow him on Twitter @thrillis4. He's quite good at creating Vines. To see my answers to his questions, be sure to check out Backing The Pack.