A box and one, in the jargon of basketball, is known as a junk defense in that it's a hybrid of a man-to-man and zone.
But one man's junk is another man's jewel, as N.C. State proved two weeks ago with an 82-76 home victory over Wake Forest. Deploying a box and one that had 6-6 Courtney Fells marking 6-2 Jeff Teague, the Wolfpack held Teague to three field-goal attempts and 11 points to pull off its biggest victory of the ACC season.
As well as it worked the first time, the Deacons know what to expect in tonight's game against the Wolfpack at 8 p.m. at Joel Coliseum. Wake Forest is ranked No. 13 at 20-5 and 7-5 in ACC play. N.C. State has won four of six to improve to 15-10 and 5-7.
"We expect to see the box," Coach Dino Gaudio said. "We've worked a lot against it. The same thing with the zone.
"It's more of a mind-set than anything. I think we're very well prepared and the guys will execute a little bit better."
Teague expressed disappointment in himself after the loss in Raleigh, acknowledging that he allowed the strategy to take him out of the game. He talked afterward with his father, Sean, a former standout at Boston University who coached him during his elementary and high-school days, as well as the Deacons' coaching staff.
The consensus was that Teague needed to be more aggressive in attacking the defense. But Gaudio and Teague both said that the Deacons, as a team, needed to better exploit the openings that the box and one presented.
"It was pretty effective last game," Teague said. "But I'm going to work hard and I'm going to move without the ball this game.
"We're going to play in transition and we're going to get the game going up and down."
As big a factor as the box and one proved to be in the first game, Gaudio said that, as a rule, he thinks that the strategy of basketball is overrated. It's important, but not as important as effort and intensity.
"I think there is such a fine line in all of these games," Gaudio said. "I told the guys yesterday that it's just the best league in the country. The best high-school players in America want to play in the ACC, so all of these teams have great players.
"It all ends up coming down to energy, effort and emotion. There's some other factors that might come into play, like maybe the ball bounces this way or that. But I'm telling you that's the difference. You have to bring emotion, energy and passion, because every team in this league has great players."
The Wolfpack stumbled into February, having lost six of its previous eight to fall to 12-8 and 2-6 in ACC play. Since then, N.C. State has beaten N.C. Central, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech and Virginia and lost to Virginia Tech (in overtime) and North Carolina.
Seniors Fells and Ben McCauley and junior Brandon Costner have been the nucleus all season. Costner is averaging 14.3 points and 6.2 rebounds, McCauley is averaging 12.4 points and 7.9 rebounds and Fells is averaging 11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds.
The difference in February, however, has been the improved play of the Wolfpack's complementary players -- in particular sophomore forward Tracy Smith and sophomore guard Javier Gonzalez. Gonzalez struggled to score six against the Deacons, but recovered to score 14 against Georgia Tech and 18 against North Carolina. And Smith, who had 12 rebounds against Wake Forest, has averaged 14.2 points and 7.8 rebounds
"Used to be when you talked about N.C. State earlier, you talked about the big three that dominated your conversation and preparation -- and that's Costner, Fells and McCauley," Gaudio said. "I really think, and it's evident from the tapes, that now with Smith coming on like he is and Gonzalez playing well and scoring the ball well -- you'd better not worry about just three guys. You'd better worry about all five of them."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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