good to hear

10/18/2008 3:06:18 PM

lol yeah everyone cheered for the players as well. even during warmups when they would dunk it.

10/18/2008 3:08:05 PM

Quote :

"After the scrimmages and everybody left the guys just started playing around, Costner made a half court bank shot throwing it over his head backwards"

first try, no less.

10/18/2008 3:28:29 PM

tracy smith is a beast.


he could send mccauley into another temper tantrum this season.

10/18/2008 3:59:54 PM

is it just me, or is tracy smith taller than he was last year? i remember him being a little short compared to our other forwards, but he was every bit as tall as mccauley today.

10/18/2008 4:19:44 PM

i thought tracy looked like he lost some weight... maybe that had something to do with it.

10/18/2008 4:24:54 PM

I thought Sidney has the Amato Complex (good recruiter, not so good coach)

10/18/2008 6:31:47 PM

where do you people get shit like that? He's been coaching here for 2 years. After year 1, people were talking like he was the next coming. After one bad season with point guard problems, he cant coach? ok.

10/18/2008 6:45:25 PM

everyone I talked to who went said wall really got into it.... thats better than nothing and good reason for hope

10/18/2008 8:41:28 PM

^^ That's what we call "NC State shit". National title or nothing.

10/18/2008 8:47:04 PM

is the "point guard problem" the hickson guy? isnt that guy good as fuck? how is that a "problem"

10/18/2008 8:59:56 PM

hickson is pretty good, too bad he doesn't play for state.

he's also a forward

[Edited on October 18, 2008 at 9:06 PM. Reason : .]

10/18/2008 9:06:19 PM

Quote :

"is the "point guard problem" the hickson guy? isnt that guy good as fuck? how is that a "problem""

god you're retarded...why do you even bother posting in Sports Talk if you don't know anything about sports? Hickson is a power forward and no longer plays for state.

10/18/2008 9:36:40 PM

Ask eric williams from wake how good big men are w/out someone to get them the ball.

10/18/2008 10:57:15 PM

a few pics from today. you "fans" can identify the recruits.

10/19/2008 1:45:47 AM

Quote :

"^^ That's what we call "NC State shit". National title or nothing. "

i mean, the tourney would be nice.

but a combination of crying players and poor coaching prevents even being one of the top 64 programs.

shit, not even top 90

10/19/2008 7:15:17 AM

if i could stab everyone who is bitching about the coaching after last season with an ice pick I would.

10/19/2008 8:20:14 AM

shut the fuck up.

I support ncsu. I just saw some poor coaching last year. coupled with him not being able to handle egos.

stab me plz.

[Edited on October 19, 2008 at 8:22 AM. Reason : wahh]

10/19/2008 8:22:10 AM

The freshman point guard who missed all of fall practice started his first game in the first conference game AT unc no less had nothing to do with our play last year.



Like I said before, ask Wake what happens when you play a couple of seasons w/out a true/good point guard. They had all americans (williams/gray) that sucked asshole without chris paul. You do not win in this league without good guard play, period. That was our problem last year. Losing led to the "chemistry" problems. I promise you that.

10/19/2008 8:31:50 AM

if i could stab everyone who is bitching about the coaching after last season with an ice pick I would.

10/19/2008 8:39:56 AM

YOU'RE RIGHT, HE IS AN ELITE COACH.

10/19/2008 9:09:16 AM

Nobody said that, I'm just not into throwing the coach under the bus after 1 bad season with and under manned team....ESPECIALLY while he's out trying to recruit some of the best THE BEST players in the country.

get the point?

[Edited on October 19, 2008 at 9:28 AM. Reason : [s]]

10/19/2008 9:25:49 AM

i didn't throw him under the bus.

I simply said I saw some instances of poor coaching last year, and the year before.

get the point?

10/19/2008 9:30:04 AM

Attention users with < 1000 posts..................

10/19/2008 9:30:17 AM

who is the dude directly to the left of CJ Leslie in those pics? The one on the far right I think was Bishop Daniels but i could be wrong.

10/19/2008 9:46:39 AM

Fuck you, I'm an anteater alias!

10/19/2008 9:57:41 AM

the recruit in the middle (when they're all sitting down) looks like "Stephan" off Family Matters

10/19/2008 10:10:11 AM

^that's Wall

10/19/2008 10:35:11 AM

FWIW - I though Javi was running shit yesterday. Degand is faster, but Javi's decision-making, passes, and defense have all improved and is the man to beat right now. Between the two of them, I think we can get some good guard play. Javi and Ben were working the inside-out game like it should be played.

Other thoughts..

Make no mistake, this is Ben's team now. I thought he played great yesterday. Granted, this was just practice.

Costner looks to have lost 20 pounds of chub.

Fells will always be the most athletic guy on the court.

Javi - see above. I'm a huge fan of this kid. Great upside, and his three-point shot looked much better. Scrappy as hell on defense, gets into passing lanes, and is just a pain in the ass to the opposing guards.

Horner - three pointers looked good, hope he can break out some this year. Lost some chub, and seems a little faster. I love this guy, but he may be the goofiest mofo to ever play for NCSU. Anybody see Sid's "WTF" reaction when Horner hit the scoreboard when he tried to throw the long ball?

Fergie - hit a couple of three's, didn't see much else. Still got hope for him.

Degand - still stupid fast. The brace doesn't seem to slow him down much if any. Javi and Degand will be on the court together some this year (Degand was the leading 3-pt shooter on the team before the ACL last year) http://www.gopack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=41959&SPID=3731&DB_OEM_ID=9200&ATCLID=1603667

Towe - still the shortest dude on the court. We gotta get that dude some lifts or something.

Lowe - he's going to run these boy's balls off this year.

10/19/2008 10:44:56 AM

I thought Javi improved a lot last year, and I would really have like to see him play the whole year w/out that injury he had during pre-season. He had a great shot in high school but he really struggled with it during the year. I think he only played the last 3 or 4 games w/out a wrap on that hand right?


The thing about Degand....he was just solid, poised, and played good D. I think he could have a great year as well if his knee isn't bothering him. We needed his defense last year. He's 6'4", and he shut down some pretty damn good point guards early in the year.

10/19/2008 11:01:07 AM

the recruits are probably obvious to some, but they weren't to me, so i tried to figure them out.

the 2 guys to the left of leslie i couldn't figure out.

10/19/2008 11:28:42 AM

Were Williams and Mays there?

10/19/2008 11:40:32 AM

i don't know, this rivals article says that in addition to favors, wall and leslie, junior reno mccarter and sophomore bishop daniels were also there. neither of those other 2 guys look like mccarter or daniels, from what i could tell from the internets.

10/19/2008 11:50:40 AM

Maybe those other two guys on the left are friends of theirs.

10/19/2008 11:55:46 AM

Here's a picture of Bishop Daniels
http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp55/jagsncsu/Bishop.jpg

10/19/2008 12:07:51 PM

Quote :

"Were Williams and Mays there?"

seriously??

they are on the damn team, dude

10/19/2008 12:25:11 PM

the guy sitting next to Leslie with the gray shirt on is Dezmine Wells. the one next to him is Nigel King a football recruit

10/19/2008 12:43:34 PM

Quote :

". I love this guy, but he may be the goofiest mofo to ever play for NCSU."

Adam Simons and Batosz care to differ.

10/19/2008 12:53:30 PM

^^ to further elaborate Nigel King is a WR in the 2011 class who plays at Wakefield HS. Dezmine Wells is a SF in the 2011 class who plays at Word of God.

10/19/2008 1:09:05 PM

few more

10/19/2008 1:30:32 PM

when will these guys start making decisions?

10/19/2008 2:08:20 PM

Wall said November. Favors said Spring.

10/19/2008 3:07:49 PM

Favors may decide during the Fall but not sign until the spring.

10/19/2008 4:39:44 PM

favors has also said a decision could be made in november if he is ready

10/19/2008 4:40:44 PM

from what i'm reading they both look likely to wait until the spring.

10/19/2008 4:48:55 PM

who is the cedric simmons looking boy with his tit out.

10/19/2008 5:11:36 PM

You mean C.J. Williams?

10/19/2008 5:18:19 PM

No the "tit" out is Julius Mays.

Just wanted to say I was there and was impressed by the number of folks that came out. It was awesome how were were cheering like it was a real game. The WOOOLF - PAAACK cheer was in full effect along with the: "DER-RICK FA-VORS, clap clap clapclapclap" and the same for John Wall and CJ Leslie. Even though they were probably just playing to the crowd, when John and CJ stood up and did the Wolfpack sign, the place went nuts.

Javi really looked great. Me and the folks sitting near me were talking about how his vision was a bajillion times better. He was taking some good looks and making great passes in there. Fells. Was Fells. Amazing athlete with a good shot and great speed. Julius Mays looked good... better than CJ Williams in my opinion. Degand is still fast as hell, even with the big brace he had on that knee. Horner was better, but still did that God-forsaken pump-fake 5 times too many, even when he had the open shot. Maybe it's just a confidence thing. Him hitting the scoreboard on that long pass was hilarious - especially when he looked at Coach Lowe and Lowe gave him the "wtf, mate?" look, pulled him aside and had him do some pushups by the bench.

All and all, it was a great time. It actually gave me confidence in our guys and the recruits. Dangerous - I know. I can't wait to get in those 2 games in Reynolds this year. Gonna be sick!

[Edited on October 19, 2008 at 10:13 PM. Reason : I stand corrected. :facepalm:]

10/19/2008 9:50:41 PM

I'm pretty sure that tit belongs to CJ Williams

10/19/2008 10:02:02 PM

Not to drum up an old issue, but where is the extra scholly coming from for next year? I count 12 players currently who I'm pretty sure are on scholarship. If 3 seniors graduate (Fells, McCauley, and Harris), that puts us at 9 players on scholarship with 4 to give. Assuming we were to take five players in this years' class, where is the extra scholarship going to come from? People were saying they thought Thomas was done for his career and that's where it would come from. After seeing him play yesterday, I'd say it's a safe bet he's not going anywhere. That would make us 1 scholarship short. The only thing I can think of is somebody (maybe Costner?) has told the coach that they'll be leaving after this season regardless. That, or Lowe has someone who has said they would be willing to give up their scholarship ala Wes Miller at UNC. Anybody know anything about this?

10/19/2008 10:21:34 PM