Winthrop men's basketball team hopes to stop the bleeding vs. N.C. State

By Gary McCann - gmccann@heraldonline.com

Winthrop men's basketball coach Randy Peele is a big believer that a championship team will have to go through some adversity in order to find out how good it is.

On Monday, he put it a slightly different way.

"Sometimes," he said, "you have to get your nose bloodied to find out who you are."

The Eagles, 1-3 and losers of three straight by margins of 23, 14 and 27 points, might be in need of a transfusion. Playing a brutal schedule, the Eagles have taken more than their share of early-season punches.

The last three opponents have been South Carolina out of the SEC, Akron from the Mid-American Conference and 21st-ranked Davidson out of the Southern Conference.

N.C. State (2-0) of the Atlantic Coast Conference gets to take a few swings at the Eagles tonight at 7 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

"They're good," Peele said. "It'll be a challenge, but that's good. The focal point is still about us."

The Eagles have struggled to score, struggled to stop the other team and struggled to find the right chemistry. But that's not to say every minute of every performance has been poor.

"There's no question," Peele said, "we've improved. The thing about the schedule we've played that's good is you become exposed. You're going to see things."

And if you're the coach, you have to adjust.

A couple of weeks ago, Peele said fans might see more different lineups this year that ever, because there was little separation in terms of talent at a couple of positions.

At Davidson, he inserted Byron Faison at two guard ahead of junior college transfer Raymond Davis, who started the first three games.

There could be a couple of changes tonight.

Andre Jones, a 6-2 freshman who has played well and practiced hard, may get the call at two guard. He's averaging 6.3 points and shooting 52 percent while playing just 14 minutes a game.

"He's coming," Peele said. "The thing I like is he's a confident kid and he can score. He's not in awe of the environment."

George Valentine, the 6-8, 240-pound sophomore, could start at center ahead of 6-7 sophomore Charles Corbin. Corbin, who has started every game, is shooting 39 percent and missed 16 of his last 23 shots. He's taken some questionable shots and hasn't defended well enough in the post.

"Corbin has got to play at a higher level." Peele said. "His biggest thing right now is shot selection. And when's he's defending the post, he's letting the catches be too easy."

Peele said he "had a conversation" with Valentine last week.

"I told him he's not competing hard enough and he's not on the glass enough," Peele said. The Davidson game, Peele said, was better.

The inside play tonight will have to be better against an N.C. State team that thinks throw the ball inside first and take the perimeter shot later. The Pack starts 6-9 senior Ben McCauley, 6-9 junior Brandon Costner and 6-6 Courtney Fells up front.

Fells is coming off a 23-point game against High Point. He's averaging 16 points, while McCauley (14.5) and Costner (14) have been just as effective.

The Pack is outrebounding teams by almost 10 per game, not a good sign for a Winthrop team that's getting beat on the glass by almost six per game and giving up 14 offensive rebounds per game.

"Two concerns are can we defend the post and can we rebound and stay out of foul trouble," Peele said.

At one point in the second half against Davidson, Peele subbed five players, a practice he might continue. He likens it to the old Blue Team Dean Smith employed at North Carolina.

"As hard as we want to play," Peele said, "I don't know if guys can play more than five to seven minutes in stretches. When we go to the bench, the dropoff isn't that great."

One of the best things about tonight will be the end to a rugged four games on the road start. The Eagles return home on Saturday to play East Carolina, their first home game since Nov. 14.