Pack gets another shot at Vasquez

There are two ways to look at N.C. State’s opener Thursday in the ACC Tournament.

On one hand, there’s nobody some Wolfpack fans would rather see than Greivis Vasquez. On the other hand, there’s nobody N.C. State might want to see less than Grevis Vasquez.
Confused?

Here’s the explanation. On March 1, Maryland point guard Greivis Vasquez showed poor sportsmanship when he fired and sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer in a 71-60 defeat of N.C. State at the RBC Center.

The honorable thing would have been to hold the ball and leave with an eight-point win. Instead, Vasquez was showered with boos by the N.C. State fans who hadn’t already streamed out the exits.

Vasquez apologized afterward, but judging from some of the e-mail I received, fans won’t easily forgive him. They will be eager for their team to get another shot at him.

But N.C. State, which is the No. 10 seed for the tournament, might not be so enthusiastic about another meeting with Vasquez and No. 7 seed Maryland. Vasquez scored 33 points against N.C. State. The Wolfpack will need to find a way to defend him and to score against the 3-2 zone Maryland used with success in the first meeting.

Revenge would be sweet if N.C. State could get it. But the Wolfpack will have to make a lot of adjustments to have a chance to win this game. – Ken Tysiac