cant blame this loss on javi...you'd just look like a fool if you did

12/1/2009 9:08:58 PM

Nothing other than time will make wood and mays better. CJ should have been out there more if those other guys are not hitting. Everyone except javi and tracy were tentative, which explains why they couldn't hit anything. Hesitation kills good play.

Horner is the biggest disappointment on the whole fucking team. He has responsibilities, he should know better.

12/1/2009 9:09:56 PM

they had 16 TOs, which i think tied their high for the year


so played decent on defense, its just that the fucking princeton is so god damn boring, you get lulled to sleep and they backdoor cut you

12/1/2009 9:09:58 PM

i blame this loss on northwestern. if they don't score more points than us, we win 9 times out of 10.

12/1/2009 9:10:08 PM

wood was 0 for 6 on three pointers. who was talking this guy up again?? ha.

12/1/2009 9:10:53 PM

lol

12/1/2009 9:11:08 PM

everyone missing their 3s besides javi is what killed us


well that and we came out flat in the first half

12/1/2009 9:11:19 PM

We're already a better team than we were last year and will continue to improve. This team also looks to play hard most the time which is a more than welcome change.

With the players coming in next year we will continue to get better. Javi is playing better. Smith is a very good player. Horner is a nice complementary piece. There are many things to like. We'll probably play close in more games than we really should.

12/1/2009 9:11:19 PM

Quote :

"^I'm starting to wonder if you people bitching about our defense actually watch the games. If a guy wants to pull up from 30 feet and knock down a 3 in your mouth, thats not bad defense. "

that is one possession. to a poor basketball team tonight we gave up 50% shooting, 43% shooting from three, 10 offensive rebounds when we were clearly more athletic. we did force 17 TOs which isn't terrible but those are bad numbers against a bad team. and a lot of that IMO was due to simple defensive positioning, our defense against screens, and poor rebounding fundamentals.

12/1/2009 9:12:02 PM

Quote :

"This team also looks to play hard most the time which is a more than welcome change."

agreed. i think last year, if we get down by 12 points in the second half, we hang it up and lose by 20. it's good to see a team fight all the way until the end.

12/1/2009 9:12:31 PM

^^NW doesnt turn the ball over very much

They had 16 against Butler in their only loss (which was their season high)


Also a good amount of their 3 pt attempts were contested, they just couldnt miss in the first half

along with those 30 ft bombs they hit

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 9:15 PM. Reason : asd]

12/1/2009 9:14:24 PM

November 15 at New Orleans W 65-59 1-0
November 22 High Point W 69-56 2-0
November 25 Winthrop W 74-48 3-0
November 30 UNC Greensboro W 79-52 4-0
December 6 at No. 24 Davidson L 72-67 4-1
December 13 Winston-Salem W 74-46 5-1
December 17 East Carolina W 87-76 6-1
December 20 Lipscomb W 78-58 7-1

That was last years start. Not sure if we're "better than last year" already... That Davidson game was very winnable, too... never got the idea we were going to win tonight.

12/1/2009 9:15:02 PM

I feel that this year we will play close to our potential even though that potential may not be very high. You can't really ask for more than that.

12/1/2009 9:16:48 PM

this team will surprise us a few games and let us down a bunch more. we will lose quite a few games because the other teams will simply have more talent.

if we win more than four acc games i will consider that a success for this team.

12/1/2009 9:16:50 PM

talent wise we're worse than last year. when horner is your 3rd best player its not good

effort is way better.

probably will end up with a similar overall result

12/1/2009 9:17:04 PM

Quote :

"and a lot of that IMO was due to simple defensive positioning, our defense against screens, and poor rebounding fundamentals."

DING DING DING!!! This is the same shit in year #4. Defense is atrocious and offense is subpar = real shitty team.

12/1/2009 9:17:58 PM

Quote :

"I feel that this year we will play close to our potential even though that potential may not be very high. You can't really ask for more than that. "

i hope this is the case. it looks like it will be; however, it is not as easy to keep playing hard every night come January and February if you are not winning many games.

12/1/2009 9:18:25 PM

^^^^ i don't consider losing to a team with more talent a disappointment necessarily.

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 9:18 PM. Reason : disappointment = let down]

12/1/2009 9:18:31 PM

^you would say northwestern has MORE talent than us? if anything perhaps equal, but not more.

I wasn't referring to tonight specifically when talking about a let down but I wouldn't say they had that much more talent than us.

12/1/2009 9:20:31 PM

no, i wouldn't. i thought that was a generalized comment you were making.

i thought you were saying we'd surprise in some games, but let you down in others... when we lose to teams with more talent than us. i was let down tonight because we lost to a team, i thought, had less talent than us. i wouldn't be let down to lose to a team with more necessarily.

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 9:23 PM. Reason : k]

12/1/2009 9:22:41 PM

ok cool, it was

my point was that in 12 to 13 of our ACC games the other team is going to have at least a slight to many times significant talent advantage this year. gonna be hard to win a lot of games when this is the case

12/1/2009 9:24:41 PM

At least Charita Stubbs got fired... FINALLY.

12/1/2009 9:25:53 PM

I wish Farnold would do his homework or something because I can't deal with Mays sharing point guard duties anymore. HE IS SO AWFUL!!! As a backup 2 he's fine but Javi should have demanded the ball more!

12/1/2009 9:25:55 PM

^IMO CJ Williams should have been playing the two; played fine when he was in there

i'm not at practice everyday but from what i saw tonight williams should have gotten some of Mays' minutes

12/1/2009 9:28:08 PM

People who think those 3s were contested have simply never played basketball. These guys practice shooting 3s with guys closing out. If a guy catches the ball when squared up and they enter their shooting motion without hesitation and alteration of their regular rhythm, the shot has a good chance of going in.

White boys playing pickup hit shots with guys closing out all day. Division I players will do the same. Then, you always have the ignoramus who chimes in about how the guys were on fire. If the other team seems to be on fire against every game, you are defending incorrectly.

You have to play defense before they square up. Make them catch the ball so that they are not squared, make them move to get the ball, disrupt the timing or shooting motion. That's good defense.

12/1/2009 9:29:56 PM

^^agreed. mays was pretty bad tonight.

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 9:30 PM. Reason : k]

12/1/2009 9:30:08 PM

Quote :

"People who think those 3s were contested have simply never played basketball. These guys practice shooting 3s with guys closing out. If a guy catches the ball when squared up and they enter their shooting motion without hesitation and alteration of their regular rhythm, the shot has a good chance of going in. White boys playing pickup hit shots with guys closing out all day. Division I players will do the same. Then, you always have the ignoramus who chimes in about how the guys were on fire. If the other team seems to be on fire against every game, you are defending incorrectly. You have to play defense before they square up. Make them catch the ball so that they are not squared, make them move to get the ball, disrupt the timing or shooting motion. That's good defense."

+1,000; anyone who thinks that we are anything resembling decent on defense is wrong.

12/1/2009 9:34:00 PM

This is just typical N.C. State shit. Tracy Smith doesn't go up strong or aggressive enough. Javi and Mays are turnover machines. Sharpshooters don't live up to expectations (Wood) We're fucking cursed by the ghost of Jim Valvano. *Solution*- Move back to Reynolds, call it the Jim Valvano Coliseum, practice there, get used to the rims and floor, and sacrifice a virgin to please the basketball gods.

Also.....those refs were so rigged. Northwestern +5 and paying +180, I wonder how much money they made tonite. http://deadspin.com/5392067/excerpts-from-the-book-the-nba-doesnt-want-you-to-read?skyline=true&s=x

12/1/2009 9:34:47 PM

12/1/2009 9:35:00 PM

Quote :

"so played decent on defense, its just that the fucking princeton is so god damn boring, you get lulled to sleep and they backdoor cut you"

i know you followed the bolded part w/ admitting they backdoor cut us, but if you think we played good D, i'm not sure what team you were watching. they had so many wide open 3's and easy layups. the only positive (that is still a negative) is that they were playing better in the 2nd half but were so tired that they were still getting blown by. expect this all year unless our frosh develop quickly.

Quote :

"I wish Farnold would do his homework or something because I can't deal with Mays sharing point guard duties anymore. HE IS SO AWFUL!!! As a backup 2 he's fine but Javi should have demanded the ball more!"

why the fuck are javi and mays playing at the same time anyway? has lowe completely given up on mays as a pg?

12/1/2009 9:37:19 PM

Quote :

"that is one possession. to a poor basketball team tonight we gave up 50% shooting, 43% shooting from three, 10 offensive rebounds when we were clearly more athletic. we did force 17 TOs which isn't terrible but those are bad numbers against a bad team. and a lot of that IMO was due to simple defensive positioning, our defense against screens, and poor rebounding fundamentals."

It happened 3 times, and we played significantly better on D tonight than we did at any point in the past 3 seasons. That was a decent team with an experienced point guard who had a great night shooting the ball. Sure, we got back doored a few times, but the assumption that Lowe isn't coaching D (idk if that was you) is absurd when we have clearly gotten better since last season.

12/1/2009 9:37:31 PM

Quote :

"CJ Williams should have been playing the two; played fine when he was in there"

You're right CJ should have gotten more minutes, but he was getting back cut to death out there!

12/1/2009 9:38:11 PM

^^plus most of those backdoor cuts happened in the first half

they tightened up but could never get over the hump score wise


V...which would coincide with lest back door baskets in the second. Less Painter and Williams



[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 9:40 PM. Reason : zadxc]

12/1/2009 9:38:47 PM

I thought Painter got back cut worse than CJ. I counted 3 on Painter, one leading to a thunderous dunk.



^Yeah I agree with that. We FORCED turnovers tonight in the second half, something we haven't done since Atsur was here.

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 9:40 PM. Reason : ]

12/1/2009 9:39:26 PM

Quote :

"why the fuck are javi and mays playing at the same time anyway?"

In theory, its suppose to alleviate the pressure off both of them as well as preserve some stamina while maintaining a fast tempo. Of course, that was not the case tonight.

Quote :

"has lowe completely given up on mays as a pg?"

Not at all...to my dismay.

Quote :

"^Yeah I agree with that. We FORCED turnovers tonight in the second half, something we haven't done since Atsur was here. "

Yeah, the effort was there hence all the turnovers. The defensive intensity is loads better compared to last year. If we can muster a consistent offensive flow, it could be an interesting season.

12/1/2009 9:46:07 PM

We're gonna need to start averaging more than 64 points a game.

12/1/2009 10:13:25 PM

I can say this ... this team plays hard as hell. I didn't expect to win much or score much, but I did want to see them bust their ass. Their doing that.

About the only good thing that came from tonight was the realization that Javi has turned into a damn good PG. He got people good looks all night, they've just got to start hitting them.

12/1/2009 10:42:30 PM

Quote :

"why the fuck are javi and mays playing at the same time anyway? has lowe completely given up on mays as a pg?"

Somebody has to play SG. Since Degand is MIA, Javi comes in when CJ comes off the floor. It's more of a necessity than strategy.

And I think Mays can contribute to this team, but not at PG. He can't dribble, create, or pass worth a damn (at this point), but he can score. Move him to SG and let CJ or Wood bring the ball up the court while Javi gets a break.

12/1/2009 10:46:38 PM

agreed


everyones shitastic shooting left off another 6 or 7 assists for javi

he's def playing with some confidence now. gotta make buckets though

12/1/2009 10:47:07 PM

i mean it is what it is this year..

the team showed some heart and hustle in the second half, attempting to come back numerous times, but the lack of talent and athleticism at the 2 and 3 killed us all night. Thankfully athleticism at the 2 and hopefully the 3 will be coming next year

That being said, move on to the next one, beat the teams we should beat, play hard in the others and steal a few and i'll be happy this year... next year is a different story however.

12/1/2009 11:07:30 PM

So why does everyone like Wood? He missed everything; I thought this person was supposed to have a great shot.

Also this team has HUGE offensive problems. Nobody can attack the hoop.

12/1/2009 11:10:28 PM

javi is the only one but he doesnt do it enough


that little rican needs to be driving and dishing to smiff everytime down the floor


I dont expect wood to go 0-fer like he did tonight


apparently he hit like 20 in a row during shootaround before the game

12/1/2009 11:16:07 PM

I miss the pump-fakes by Horner, but they're coming back. Let me show you how it will go down.

I'm gonna predict the end of this game:

We lead by 2 with a minute left. Other team has the ball.

Other team comes down and hits a 3. Other team by 1. State ball.

State comes down and goes inside to Smith. He misses. Other team gets the rebound.

We immediately foul. Other team hits both free throws. Other team by 3.

We bring the ball down, looking for Wood to hit the 3. He's guarded.

We look to Mays. He's guarded.

Halfway between the top of the key and the corner, Javi finds an open Dennis Horner.

8 seconds left.

Horner pump-fakes several times, with no one near him, until the clock expires.

12/1/2009 11:19:06 PM

i expect him to be bad until some time in January. Playing against his first major conference opponent really affected his confidence and rhythm. Gonna take time to realize that he can get a proper shot off.


Same goes for all the noobs -- it looked like they were trying to solve a rubiks cube rather than playing basketball.

12/1/2009 11:20:38 PM

Quote :

"So why does everyone like Wood? He missed everything; I thought this person was supposed to have a great shot."

In his debut, he hit 4-4 from long range. He's also a decent athlete if you go by his high school highlight videos. They were fan favorites over at Wolfpack Hoops Pack Insider. Also, ESPN mentioned before the season that he could be a sleeper among Lowe's 2009 recruits, so he had a bit of hype surrounding him before stepping foot on campus. All he needs is to find his touch and get some confidence and he will maybe live up to half of the hype.

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 11:24 PM. Reason : *half not have]

12/1/2009 11:23:24 PM

I'm just gonna say this. WHERE THE FUCK WAS EVERYBODY? so many empty seats... this is the FREAKIN BIG 10/ACC CHALLENGE. Even the student section wasn't filled. Yes I realize we suck but if you have season tickets and you don't even want to go see this matchup WHY DID YOU BUY THEM? Are there really going to be that many matchups that are going to be against quality out of conference opponents that we don't see that often?

12/1/2009 11:32:30 PM

Quote :

"So why does everyone like Wood? He missed everything; I thought this person was supposed to have a great shot"

wood is a freshman, it'll take a while for him to get in his groove. he had few good looks tonight but they just weren't dropping. i think he started to rush a few just so he could see the ball go through the net when he should've attacked the basket and try to get his stroke going at the free throw line. that's just something he'll have to learn as we move forward. i am glad he kept on shooting even though they weren't falling for him tonight because it show's he's not scared to keep firing even if he misses a few. hopefully he can get comfortable with it pretty soon cause we're gonna need him.

[Edited on December 1, 2009 at 11:36 PM. Reason : .]

12/1/2009 11:36:14 PM

Dude we fucking suck playing a historically shitty big ten team. What do you expect playing in a large pro hockey arena?

12/1/2009 11:36:17 PM

I expect people with season tickets to at least show up. What are they waiting for?

12/1/2009 11:37:01 PM

I don't know a decent team that acts like they know what to do on offense?

12/1/2009 11:40:00 PM