been a state fan all my life.......

NEVER have I seen a worse 2nd half team. Coaching? Ability?


1st half is adrenaline and 2nd half is..............

Coaching.

2/21/2008 3:11:17 AM

they threw in the towel



and... WE SUCK

2/21/2008 8:22:45 AM

adjustments??

2/21/2008 8:28:41 AM

adjustments: we benched our big guy.

2/21/2008 8:46:07 AM

second half was all coaching. just because they have 2 fouls, you can't pull them out of a game that long. sid's rotation is mystifying.

2/21/2008 8:55:37 AM

we benched hickson, fells, and grant for awhile....

attn:sidney

fuck foul trouble, we are playing UNC, playing our starters is the only way to win

2/21/2008 8:56:35 AM

attn: team

play hard or sit the bench.

2/21/2008 9:01:06 AM

if expectations are pretty low and we're basically already denied a ticket to the dance this season

fuck it. teach the unmotivated players a lesson

2/21/2008 9:07:06 AM

if sid plays them all and they get 3-4 fouls before the 10 minute mark in the second half, then everyone's calling for his head for not benching them. did any of you watch the clemson/unc game? i'm thinking sid did, and that's why he did that.

the real problem is that our guys just throw in the towel when they get down by more than 10. this isn't a team that will fight back from down a lot. once unc got that 10 point lead, you can see our guys were just like "oh ok this is where they take over" and just let it happen.

2/21/2008 9:07:41 AM

Sidney said he benched JJ because he wasn't playing defense, and it appeared to me that no one was playing defense inside the way Hansblow was getting to the basket.

And yeah I think the reason we had success last year was because Sid didn't do much subbing, I'm not a big fan of Sidney's ability to sub players. I mean when you have some solid momentum in the first half and a 5-6 point lead you don't take your players who are on fire out for the likes of Fergy and Horner.

2/21/2008 9:09:34 AM

i liked the way we played in the first half though. everyone's intensity was way up and sid kept that going subbing in more and more guys. the only one i was really worried about was MJ. tracy even came in and gave us good minutes. it allowed everyone to go all out and play tough defense and even commit a couple fouls, so i actually liked that rotation.

it was actually in the 2nd half when the rotation settled down and we left guys in longer that the intensity went away and then we just didn't have anything for them anymore.

so i don't think sid should be questioned for the weird subbing he did in the first half. if anything, he should be asked why he didn't stick with what worked for him in the first half.

2/21/2008 9:14:27 AM

Quote :

"Sidney said he benched JJ because he wasn't playing defense, and it appeared to me that no one was playing defense inside the way Hansblow was getting to the basket."

exactly what should have been done. if you aren't playing 100%, you don't deserve to be on the court, no matter who we are playing.

good for sid for sitting jj. maybe this will light a fire under his ass.

2/21/2008 9:26:15 AM

I'm not pissed about him benching Hickson. JJ came out flat and unmotivated in the 2nd half and Tracy Smith played better than Hickson would have at the time.

It was the rest of the substitutions that were just retarded. Its almost like we were a hockey team going through line changes at times. Seriously Sid...wtf??

2/21/2008 9:26:45 AM

maybe sid was benching Hickson in effort to decrease his PT, and stats so maybe he wont go pro

2/21/2008 9:27:24 AM

Hickson SHOULD NOT go pro. Anyone who whispers in his ear is absolutely retarded. No way he's ready for the next level.

2/22/2008 8:50:35 AM

^agreed

2/22/2008 9:25:11 AM

Though I hate how he talks like he's got a mouth full of lips. Sounds like an idiot.

2/22/2008 9:29:14 AM

An optimist will tell you the glass is half-full; the pessimist, half-empty. An engineer will tell you the glass is twice the size it needs to be. NC State basketball will tell you the glass played well in the first half, and just didn't reach its potential in the second half.

2/22/2008 9:33:42 AM

Quote :

"Hickson SHOULD NOT go pro. Anyone who whispers in his ear is absolutely retarded. No way he's ready for the next level."

that sounds more like wishful thoughts by a wolfpack fan than it does true career advice for the big guy.

last i heard, nba recruits on talent and potential, not whether someone is "ready."


look i hope he stays too, but lets not kid ourselves into thinking nba teams won't be scrapping over him.

2/22/2008 9:46:46 AM

^^lol

2/22/2008 9:50:49 AM

I think our team forgot that basketball game are 40 minutes NOT 20 minutes

2/22/2008 9:54:20 AM

^ I submit to you the theory that they are playing half of all games this year so they'll be twice as fresh and therefore twice as good as everyone else in the ACCT.

...or maybe not.

2/22/2008 9:57:04 AM

Quote :

"Hickson SHOULD NOT go pro. Anyone who whispers in his ear is absolutely retarded. No way he's ready for the next level."

yeah that's what everybody said about Ced Simmons too, it very well may have been true but that didn't stop him, and you guys can keep telling yourselves that about Hickson, but Hickson is a much better prospect than Simmons was when he decided to leave...

2/22/2008 10:07:52 AM

Quote :

"I think our team forgot that basketball game are 40 minutes NOT 20 15 minutes"

I don't know why everyone is acting like they only played shitty in the 2nd . . . the collapse had started with plenty of time left in the 1st, or are you forgetting that almost 5 minute scoring drought before halftime.

[Edited on February 22, 2008 at 10:15 AM. Reason : ]

2/22/2008 10:13:00 AM

If Hickson continues his play and leaves at the end of this year...I think he gets drafted lower than Simmons did. Simmons probably had more "potential" than Hickson would if he came out this year. Simmons was little taller, longer, and athletic.

Hickson is a little undersized and has zero perimeter game. Right now I would say he's a late first round to early second round pick.

2/22/2008 10:24:36 AM

I dont think Simmons was more athletic than Hickson

2/22/2008 10:28:47 AM

and let's remind everyone of cedric simmon's nba career stats thus far:

Quote :

"Season Team G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF RPG APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG 07-08 CHI 7 0 9.7 0.333 0.000 0.000 0.7 1.4 2.1 0.0 0.3 0.7 0.57 1.00 0.6 Career 50 4 12.0 0.413 0.000 0.390 1.0 1.5 2.4 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.52 1.60 2.6"

eh. just look at the link:
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/cedric_simmons/index.html

[Edited on February 22, 2008 at 10:34 AM. Reason : .]

2/22/2008 10:33:33 AM

Quote :

"and it appeared to me that no one was playing defense inside the way Hansblow was getting to the basket."

yeah...

2/22/2008 10:34:21 AM

Quote :

"I dont think Simmons was more athletic than Hickson"

I guess its debatable...but I definitely think Simmons has a little more in his vertical and is probably a little faster/quicker. Hickson is definitely stronger...but that also slows him down a little bit (at least compared to Simmons).

2/22/2008 10:45:31 AM

^^^ just traded to the bulls with company for ben wallace and company... maybe he'll see some more time.

[Edited on February 22, 2008 at 10:50 AM. Reason : damn fast posters]

2/22/2008 10:50:19 AM

if hickson going pro means sidney's going to have to come up with an offense that actually works instead of attempting to force feed the offense through one guy then i'm all for hickson going pro.

but hopefully if hickson does come back, sidney won't go herb on us and will actually learn from his mistakes and scrap his crappy offense. then i'd be all for hickson staying.

it's just that we're almost through an entire season and sidney still hasn't figured it out. so i have my doubts.

oh and...

Quote :

"I mean when you have some solid momentum in the first half and a 5-6 point lead you don't take your players who are on fire out for the likes of Fergy and Horner."

and if sid is pulling hickson or mccauley or whoever for not playing defense, that's awesome and all, but i'm not too sure brandon costner hustles or plays defense more than them. playing tracy smith was a good idea (one that sid should have figured out a long time ago), but keeping costner in while unc stretches the lead to 15 was a terrible one. it sort of shatters sid's whole spiel about how he plays people who hustle and play defense.

[Edited on February 22, 2008 at 10:56 AM. Reason : ]

2/22/2008 10:51:45 AM

i'm more and more convinced that our major problem is conditioning. hopefully that has been clear to sidney as well.

2/22/2008 10:53:56 AM

grant and fells should be playing the same minutes they played last season. we didn't get any replacements for them yet. hell we even lost nieman who could hi tthe open 3 most of the time.

hickson is only what 6'9 he is an nba powerforward and can't shoot or handle at all. so he is nowehre near guys like tyrus thomas josh mcroberts amore staudamire, brandon wright or any other guys that come out early and dont end up straight in the dl or bottom of the bench ala josh powell.

his game doesn't even work against college teams with size. he only does well when we are playing teams that lack good big men ala mount saint marys.

2/22/2008 11:07:15 AM

Quote :

"josh mcroberts "

2/22/2008 11:13:26 AM

Simmons went pro because 2006 was an especially weak draft class and was his best shot at being an early first round pick. 2007 he would have slipped into late first round and possibly second round. For Hickson, it's the exact opposite. This years draft class is going to absolutely loaded with all the freshman and outgoing upperclassmen. He'd be lucky to sniff the first round at this point. Again, this is all wishful thinking, but it would be best for him to stay another year.

Quote :

"he only does well when we are playing teams that lack good big men ala mount saint marys."

I think you're undervaluing him a bit. He did pretty damn well against Clemson, who has a nasty front court.

[Edited on February 22, 2008 at 11:21 AM. Reason : :]

2/22/2008 11:19:44 AM

2nd Half

let me show you it



[Edited on February 22, 2008 at 11:29 AM. Reason : fail]

2/22/2008 11:28:52 AM

I didn't know this:

Quote :

"N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe chose a peculiar time to send a message to freshman forward J.J. Hickson on Wednesday night. Hickson, who set an ACC record for rebounds by a freshman (23) in State's previous game, was banished to the bench following a quick sequence in which Hansbrough rebounded his own missed 15-foot jumper. Hickson was there, but simply didn't box out. He left the game on the next dead ball with 15:25 remaining and didn't return until 5:51 remained. Carolina led 48-38 when Hickson took a seat. It was 78-58 when he returned. "It was a defensive issue yes, yes," Lowe said. "It wasn't the scoring; it was defense that we needed. And I just didn't think he was defending." Hickson finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes."

2/22/2008 11:30:49 AM

please tell me who on clemsons frontcourt is going to play in the nba? booker is 6'8 abd mays is 6'9 and not very skilled. they makeup a good college frtontcourt but be real. he also didn't dominate them offensively he just got a bunch of defensive rebounds. even then he gets stripped by guards everytime he gets the ball and has almost 0 passing ability. use his games vs tyler and osby. He gets absolutly shitted on on each end of the court. we haven't played against many teams with either nba height or talent at center/pf but when we have its been ugly for hickson. rider is another game.

look at ceds games against real big men. the game vs duke where he had like 30 on shewill was the game that put him in the nba.

mcroberts isnt good but his handling ability was just an example of what scouts like. every guy thats a lot less than 7 feet tall going into the nba either has a decent midrange game, handling, passing or is a great defender. hickson is just great at dunking on guys his size or smaller and making short shots over smaller guys. he would be the most 1 dimensional first round pick in nba history.

2/22/2008 11:40:18 AM

what's a 2nd half?

2/22/2008 12:00:56 PM

Uh, Shelden Williams, Hansbrough, and Osby are all 6'8" - 6'9" and none of them have the skills you mentioned, what makes them any better than Clemson's front court? He played well against Paul Allen from Virginia Tech as well and I disagree he played poorly against Osby. He just collapsed along with the rest our team in the second half. In the first half he outplayed him pretty thoroughly. The kid gets double teamed every time he's in the post because the rest of our team is garbage and has still managed to average close to a double double, what more do you want?

2/22/2008 12:03:41 PM

critics?

2/22/2008 12:16:35 PM

Correct me if I am wrong....and I have been before, but What the FUck did Costner do to deserve any playing time? There were several times that Costner's job was to give help to Hickson under the basket, but he sat there looking like a god damn retarted kid playing in his first special olympics. I don't care if he can shoot a 3 once in a blue moon...its time to find a perminate place on the bench for that dissapointment.

2/22/2008 12:57:02 PM

we scored

31 points in the first half

and

39 points in the second half

it's the defense that fucked up

2/22/2008 7:23:44 PM

^ yeah.

they scored 34 and 50. obviously we had some defensive problems.

2/22/2008 7:25:43 PM

still we scored a lot less against them than we did this year. so defense and offense were problems. just not as horrible as it was during the first game with them this year

2/23/2008 12:51:51 AM

To make it even more confusing, at the beginning of the year this team was a terrible 1st half team and finally turned on the intensity with about 5 minutes left in the game. Now they play a good 1st half and fall apart about 5 minutes into the 2nd...they are great at losing a game in a span of a 5-minute scoring drought and run by the other team. Then they think they have lost the game since they're down by 10 so they just give up.

2/23/2008 11:20:36 AM

^yep. that's the way it goes. they get down at one point or another and then stop fighting for it. if by some fluke they manage to get back within 10 they may pick it back up a little, but for the most part once they get down big it's over.

2/23/2008 11:47:37 AM

2nd half?

we're supposed to play those?

you mean the game's not over at halftime?

2/23/2008 2:43:43 PM

well today we didnt even play a first half

2/24/2008 9:16:06 PM

this team has no heart. it's a shame what a waste of an RBC center and carter finley have been for the past 3 years.

2/24/2008 10:29:04 PM