i don't really care we lost. I mean, it would have been nice if we had won, however i did not expect it

1/24/2010 2:21:22 AM

I will say Lowe did a poor job preparing us defensively. We've got to quit with this pressure defense shit that keeps giving other teams wide open looks.

He also really let Maryland establish their gameplan by playing a lineup for the first TEN minutes of the game that was incapable of winning. For the first five minutes we got derailed by the Horner train on both ends. For the next five we were treated to a lineup of Mays, CJ, and Josh Davis. We'd spend 30 seconds swinging the ball around before we figured out "Shit, all three of us are terrible offensive options we might as well punt on 3rd down."


Horner had a triple double tonight. Bricks, rebounds allowed, points allowed. We are going to be much better next year by losing his "contributions". If he's going to start he needs to show leadership. We can't have him in there firing bricks and airballs that lead to fastbreaks and getting killed on the glass and rotations. I swear he has to lead the nation in catching balls out of the net after made baskets, he is 2nd in Wolfpack history behind Evtimov.

Degand played really well. Not only was he the only guy able to get penetration all night, he shut down Vazquez and kept us in the game in the first half.

Wood was flat out horrible. He never got comfortable on offense and Byron Mouton 2.0 really owned him on the other end. On top of that he picked up silly fouls. These are the types of games a freshman will occasionally have in a rowdy road venue.

Tracy Smith did a good job scoring and moving the basketball once Maryland made it apparent they weren't going to let him even think about scoring at will tonight. He did an awful job guarding that shooting big man (horrible mismatch for Tracy) but he played probably his best help defense of the season.

CJ Williams had his first positive play of the month with that tip-in. He was still terrible.

Howell gave us some great minutes again, having him and Tracy learn to play off each other is going to make us great next year.

Javi had a lot of poise out there and hit some big shots to keep us in the game in the first half.


It was a tough game. Maryland is a good team, it's a tough place to play, and we matchup horribly with them.


I'm still adamant we are a guaranteed NCAA tourney team next year.

1/24/2010 2:32:52 AM

It looked like Wood was hesistant to pull the trigger a lot tonight. Maybe that's on Lowe. I'd have that kid jacking them up automatically.

Horner needs to do the classy thing, a la Greg Paulus in his senior year. Thanks Dennis, you're a hustler, but give our starters a breather. That's your role.

1/24/2010 5:12:42 AM

The pressure D is what kept us in the game in the first half against Duke and we need something to force turnovers. What Wood needs (and this is gonna cause an uproar) is a pump fake. Not a Dennis Horner five minute stretch of pump fakes but a good solid one to get his defender in the air so he either gets fouled or can drive past him. Dennis Horner's minutes need to be decided by match ups. If Howell can lose a little weight and gain some speed expect to see less and less of horner.

1/24/2010 11:20:07 AM

Quote :

"The pressure D is what kept us in the game in the first half against Duke and we need something to force turnovers. "

So what? It wasn't working this game, and it took us way too long to get out of it. Just because something works in one game doesn't mean you can do it in every game. You make decisions based on what is actually happening on the court.

1/24/2010 1:18:57 PM

I agree it didn't work against Maryland but a lot of people argue you keep applying pressure in the hopes of wearing the other team down. We were also in need of some easy transition points because Maryland's half court D was pretty good. I just hope we don't scrap it for the UNC game because that could be a real weapon against their poor guard play.

1/24/2010 1:37:22 PM

our press isnt good enough to run out there against every team like clemson does

it should be a match up thing. using it against maryland was stupid. just like running a zone would be stupid against duke

1/24/2010 1:43:01 PM

Quote :

"I'm still adamant we are a guaranteed NCAA tourney team next year."

i agree with you 100%

[Edited on January 24, 2010 at 1:46 PM. Reason : if smith stays that is]

1/24/2010 1:44:07 PM

anyone else notice how our first 6 games have been against hte top 6 teams in the conference?
2-4 vs the top 6 is pretty good as long as we can go 4-2 vs the bottom 6.

1/24/2010 2:33:54 PM

^seriously stfu. and yes we all noticed it. we are laughing at your ass for being so slow now.


btw how is kobe? lol

1/24/2010 2:50:47 PM

Agreed that our press isn't good enough. Tall guards like the acne faced asshole can cause some havoc. However (just playing devil's advocate here) Clemson's press has been dissected twice now by Duke yet they had trouble with ours. I think the unpredictable way in which Lowe uses it is the reason why teams have had trouble with it. Officiating also has a big influence on how effective a press is going to be. Wood having foul trouble was huge for us because it took one of our smartest players out of the game.

1/24/2010 9:26:41 PM

eh, Wood is easy to take out of game if you put an athletic guard on him and hawk him...

Either way he is pulling a good defender and opening up the inside. We dont need him to score 30 to win we just need him to be an effective offensive player. Make shots when he gets them or draw the defense enough to let Tracy get good looks.

1/24/2010 11:09:33 PM

Wood picking up the fouls early derailed us because he's the glue to our offense. The difference between having him throw entry passes to Smith and Josh Davis is night and day. And the threat that he can hit the 3 is enough, even if he can't get his shot off against guys paying attention to him. He didn't score a whole lot vs Duke, but his presence was a big reason Smith went off (and Horner getting open shots)

His D wouldnt have helped much. Part of the reason he picked up those fouls so fast was because he got toasted by Mosley all night, who was an awful match up for him

1/24/2010 11:44:50 PM

You think we can get in the tourney at 20-11 and 8-8?

I think we can do it

Games I think we should win:
UNC
VT
BC
@MIA

Games I think we have a decent shot at winning:
@UNC
@VT
WF
MD
@UVA

That only leaves @GT as a game we definitely shouldn't win.

1/25/2010 1:15:46 PM

I would put Maryland on the will not beat list. They fuck us up everytime we play them

[Edited on January 25, 2010 at 1:21 PM. Reason : Jdhfh]

1/25/2010 1:20:25 PM

I think the game at home will be close. Maybe a 25% chance at a win though

1/25/2010 1:21:24 PM

^^ Yeah UMd owns our ass. Fucking Vazquez and his gay little actions are never even to fire up our team to show some emotion against those fuckers. I just wanted one of our guys to foul the fuck out of him and just take the flagrant foul. You can't let that faggot get away with that Steve Blake / Lonny Baxter mess without retailiation (IMO).




[Edited on January 25, 2010 at 2:07 PM. Reason : hj]

1/25/2010 2:07:15 PM

we're not making the tournament. we can win the next 2 games by 20 points and we still wont make it

also I would never bet on Sidney Lowe to beat Gary Williams. The teams styles just make it an awful match up. Same as Lowe vs Greenberg in the other direction. Maybe we fluke into a win one year, but that's about it

1/25/2010 2:44:05 PM

Quote :

"We are 8 days away from beating UNC, the prophet has spoken. 1/19/2010 6:03:23 PM"

DANCING ON YOUR FACE MOTHERFUCKERS

1/26/2010 6:17:29 PM

WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW

1/26/2010 11:55:39 PM

fluuuuuke. Worst part of this loss is that it has the potential to cripple our confidence for the rest of the season.


We fell the fuck apart at the end. Guys going 1 on 1, not even trying to run offense. No attempt at team defense. etc.

1/27/2010 12:05:54 AM

I agree with BigEgo. We will probably lose GT, maybe lose MD/WF/@UNC. Either way, I really can't see us making the tournament, probably NIT.

1/27/2010 12:11:19 AM

we wont even be making the nit, for the 3rd year in a row.

1/27/2010 12:29:41 AM

Quote :

"I'm still adamant we are a guaranteed NCAA tourney team next year."

i want to kiss you on the lips.

1/27/2010 12:31:31 AM

LOL at anything being guaranteed with NC State... We have no idea how the freshman will play. I would have bet my life that a five star recruit like Costner who was being recruited by the likes of Kansas and UCLA would have actually developed after his fantastic RS freshman year... and I would have lost that bet and been killed after last year.

I certainly think we have the MAKINGS of a NCAA Tournament team, but the ACC will be much, much better next year as a whole... Especially with some of the non-traditional types like Virginia and Ga Tech improving.

Our saving grace next year is the development of Javi will take some of the enormous pressure off of Ryan Harrow. It'll be nice to allow him to play off the bench at the start. I do believe 'Zo should step in and play the two from day one as a starter though given he is a bit older and more physically mature.

[Edited on January 27, 2010 at 7:55 AM. Reason : x]

1/27/2010 7:53:10 AM

Quote :

"I am ready to rally around Sidney. I do NOT think he is a good coach at this point in his career. What I am willing to bet on is his ability to recruit at a high level and put together a team that can make NC State a team with ACC and NCAA championship potential. Buy Lowe, sell high. This team isn't quite good enough to win tough games, yet. Sidney took this job in a HORRIBLE situation. Our program had consistent mild success and he took over a team that was losing talent, lost an entire top rated recruiting class, and he had no connections recruiting wise. Look at the kind of talent he has plucked... Tracy Smith is a big time baller. When it comes down to it, he's got NBA connections, a great program, great school support, a great venue.... he has a chance to produce year in year out classes that are elite. If we start combining a few one and dones like Hickson, Wall, or Favors with top notch 3-4 year players like Harrow, Brown, Cothron we will be a team with potential to beat anyone. I know it's not the slow, methodical, excrutiating process that Herb got you used to, but remember Valvano didn't win a title with slow white players. I am willing to flat out guarantee we will make the NCAA tournament next year. We have 2 stud freshman committed who don't even project as starters. When has that ever been the case? What evidence do you need? -Wood is looking like a potential sharpshooter -Howell is a complete beast who has yet to hone his skills -Vandenburg is a quality player -Javi Gonzalez went from a horrible PG to a guy whose Jr. year stats are comparable to Raymond Felton's. I will grant you he is not a natural or reliable PG like Felton was, but a no-name hispanic PG becoming an impact player in the ACC is not a frequent occurence. Harrow will disappoint next year, but will eventually become one of the best PG's the ACC has ever seen... -- Degand went from a washout end of the bench type player to an attack mode, break down the defense weapon."

I still believe

1/27/2010 8:46:01 AM

georgia tech losing favors and lawal will be so much better

Quote :

"recruit like Costner who was being recruited by the likes of Kansas and UCLA would have actually developed after his fantastic RS freshman year"

ya a season with 17ppg and 7rpg just doesn't cut it obviously when you run the offense through another guy it will effect him. last year his numbers were the same per minute as the big year


its always a lot more idiots on here after a loss

[Edited on January 27, 2010 at 8:56 AM. Reason : jeez]

1/27/2010 8:54:42 AM

I've seen mocks with Lawal not even in the Top 20 and one or two with him out of the first round entirely. I don't necessarily agree, but it is what it is. Not out of the realm of possibilities that he'll be back for his SR season. And I really like Shumpert and Udofia, both of whom should improve a lot for next year.

Costner did rebound a bit his senior year though his percentages were all significantly lower his last two seasons taken as a whole than the first. His second season was flat out awful, offense running through him or not. His FG% dropped 11% and 3PT% dropped 8% along with his PPS dropping nearly a third a point.

And lol at you calling me a moron... of all the people. If we asked people on here whose opinion on basketball they respect more I would virtually guarantee that 95% of the people would say me... not that it matters.

[Edited on January 27, 2010 at 9:04 AM. Reason : x]

1/27/2010 9:03:53 AM

^^ Did you even watch one game of Costner's senior season. Dude was complete garbage and did very little to help the team. Yeah maybe he got some stats, but he was like Zach Randolph. Put up some points and boards, but suck so bad a defense and getting other players involved that the rest of the team suffers.

As for last night, that shit was embarassing. What is it with fucking NC State going on ridiculous scoring droughts? Happened all the time during the Herb years and it still plagues us 4 years later. I don't think Sid was to blame last night because when a team misses 20 of their first 24 shots in the 2nd half, you are going to get your shit pushed in.




[Edited on January 27, 2010 at 9:15 AM. Reason : k]

1/27/2010 9:14:56 AM

sid took out the one guy that was making all the shots. no doubt to blame.

1/27/2010 10:16:44 AM

where are all you carpetbagging backtrackers at now?

2/3/2010 8:28:31 PM

Lowe better win a few more games or else he'll be on the chopping block. His adjustments are awful. Pass around the 3 point line until 5 seconds on the clock and scramble for an empty possesion. Rinse repeat, lose.

I'm a Lowe fan, but this game has made me extremely dissapointed in this team. This team doesn't have talent, but early on in the season they had fight... now they don't.

2/3/2010 8:56:52 PM

Quote :

"This team doesn't have talent"

Since everyone goes by stars and rankings, UVA has a much worse team than us and Bennett has them 5-2 in first place in his first year. Some people thought UVA might go winless in the ACC this year.

2/3/2010 9:05:43 PM

Simply put embarrassing.

2/3/2010 9:07:59 PM

I guess it would be easy to be negative after tonight. I mean hell it's another loss, right?

I truly don't understand where all this negativity is coming from now that things are finally looking up for the program.

Tracy/Howell looked terrific tonight. It's a shame they only get 1.5 seasons together. Howell is learning to get in position on offense and Smith is doing an excellent job working down low without a ton of space. His passing was on point tonight. He's become a presence down low whether you doubleteam him or not. He's still not a great defender by any means but he's no longer a huge liability like he used to be. His recent blocks are proof that his strength and athleticism have improved tremendously this year. If you take away two highly questionable turnovers assessed to Howell (offensive foul because his man fell down and travelling on a wrap move?!) he had a really nice offensive performance. He still gets lost a little on defense but it's tough to argue with 14 pts, 8 reb, 2 blk from a freshman on the road. UVA's defense had no answer for Howell he must have drawn 6-7 fouls tonight alone.

Javi- We dodged a bullet on what potentially looked like a horrible ankle sprain. Hopefully it doesn't swell too badly, it was encouraging that he was able to play in the 2nd half. I don't know if going with him was a great decision since he looked off when he came back in initially, but eh... All of his threes were in & out, so 1-5 is pretty misleading he could have easily been on fire like the UNC game with a few lucky rolls... I was impressed with how hard he went up to block that dunk even though it didn't work out for him. You have to love the way he's played this year.

Degand- He looks great when he penetrates it's a mistake that we dont utilize this more to break down the defense. He also had two incredible blocks on Landesburg who he gives up several inches to.

Wood- Poor kid seems like he hasn't hit a field goal since FSU. He still helps us by making great entry passes to Tracy every game but when our #2 scoring threat can't score it obviously makes us a much less potent offense. I'm not sure what you guys want Lowe to do, bench him? I don't see how that makes us better, sorry. He did a terrific job on Landesburg tonight, which would have been laughable if anyone had suggested he could guard him prior to the game.

Horner- I don't want to beat a dead horse but this guy needs to change his ipod or something. He's a notorious slow starter and finisher but we just can't afford for him to give up so many easy baskets in the early going. We had four guys come out looking good tonight and then Horner limping around looking 6 steps slow and lost on defense. I just don't get it. I've never seen a guy let his man beat him by 3 steps before on defense on the 3rd play of the game. The guy just doesn't have it, zero rebounds tonight? *cringe*. This is plain old addition by subtraction next year.

Josh Davis.... he just doesn't fit with what we do offensively this year. Lowe stuck him in early in the 2nd half when we were going through a drought and that was clearly a mistake. I can understand the frustration there if Lowe detractors are complaining about that decision.

Mays... ugh, he might never develop into an ACC caliber player but at least he didn't look like a deer in headlights out there tonight. I keep hoping he'll gain some confidence because shooting is really his only positive attribute.

CJ Williams... 8 painful minutes. Those have to stop. Enough is enough, he got destroyed on defense and he didn't pick up a single stat except for a foul. He looks stoned. Maybe that is the problem. He has regressed beyond belief after a strong freshman year. I can't believe how bad he was defensively. If you only play 8 minutes and I still can't get the taste out of my mouth hours later then you were really bad.

Overall, I can understand the frustration with losing... but this is a team that just destroyed UNC on the road and we came in and outplayed them in the first half. Landesburg is about as legit of a player as you will see at the college level and while he still had a good game we really disrupted his flow and kept him from destroying us like he did @UNC. 2-10 FG is outstanding preparation and implementation from Lowe. Make sure to at least acknowledge that when you are bashing him, it will make your argument look less biased.

Despite losing 90% of our scoring and rebounding from last year we are still a competitive team in a tough top to bottom ACC this year. Replace Horner's minutes with an improved Howell. Let Wood gain the confidence to to make a shot or two. Replace Mays, CJ's, and Davis minutes with impact players like Harrow and Brown. That's the recipe for success and it's all taking place next year. It's not going to be next week.

If this was a playstation game we'd just simulate the season and start next year already. Have a beer, look for the positives, and hope for an NIT run. Maybe we'll meet UNC in the finals.

[Edited on February 4, 2010 at 12:54 AM. Reason : a]

2/4/2010 12:47:57 AM

Lowe is too chickenshit to make good roster moves like benching cj and horner. Take a "risk." The last guy sucked for the same reason.
Is giving horner pity minutes worth putting your job on the hot seat? no. And if horner playes well in practice, who gives a shit. He sucks in games and howell is already better. Imagine is half of horners minutes had gone to howell -- howell might be better on defense.

2/4/2010 1:41:38 AM

The worst part about the Horner thing is that by playing him so much Lowe has destroyed what little value he has. Yes, he plays absolutely zero defense. And yes, he is absolutely useless as a rebounder considering his position

But, he could be a decent option off the bench for 10-15mpg as quick offense and a match up problem most teams won't gameplan for. I mean shit, Virginia plays that Will Sherrill faggot and they get by. And he's a walk on

2/4/2010 2:00:34 AM

In general, I like Lowe and generally think things are heading in the right direction, but his substitution patterns can be retarded sometimes.

Last year it took him until the end of the season before Tracy got any significant minutes even though he was clearly our best big man. This year, we are 20 games into the season before CJ isn't starting anymore? and Horner has been damn near invisible for weeks.

2/4/2010 9:31:26 AM

^ I don't get CJ because he looked like a player with a bunch of potential and still does he just seems to not have his head in the game at all. Tracy was a defensive liability. If he doesn't get help he still can't defend anyone 1 on 1 in the post. Horner vs. Howell, Howell is getting more and more minutes as his conditioning improves. I don't know the nature of his injury but with a knee injury I imagine Lowe is hesitant to give him bunches of minutes.

Quote :

"Since everyone goes by stars and rankings, UVA has a much worse team than us and Bennett has them 5-2 in first place in his first year. Some people thought UVA might go winless in the ACC this year."

Tony Bennet is the second coming of Sendek. He gets by by shortening games and playing TIGHT defense. We could still have that but state fans wanted a more traditional offense so that is what they are getting to run a traditional offense in the ACC you have to "out talent" the other teams.

[Edited on February 4, 2010 at 6:18 PM. Reason : adf]

2/4/2010 6:12:30 PM

^Is English you're second language?

Quote :

"We could still have that but state fans wanted a more traditional offense so that is what they are getting to run a traditional offense in the ACC you have to "out talent" the other teams."

What exactly does this mean? Bennett is a great coach playing to his team's strengths.

As for our offense, we've been waiting for four years and yet each year we still score less than Herb's "slow" teams did.

2/4/2010 11:47:42 PM

well, our teams are still pretty damn slow

2/5/2010 12:03:53 AM

rallydurham nice summary post loss. I agree with the majority of your rant. very well done. A+++++ would read from again

2/5/2010 12:39:52 AM

What an excellent first half gameplan from Lowe.

In a game where no one would think we'd have a chance we take a lead into the 2nd half.

Instead of sticking with the usual lineup and watching us get destroyed he put a "muck it up" lineup of Davis and Howell in the starting lineup. It worked, the game was sloppy but GT never got a great handle on it. Had we been shooting well, we would have jumped out to an early lead. GT got a couple of calls early (travel on javi?!, no call on horners 10 footer, no travel when GT player went to the floor, and no travel when Shumpert took extra steps on the pass).

We also overcame a horrible three point play allowed by Wood when he should have made the foul in the open court and a terrible turnover by Javi against the press.

We got Wood SEVEN open threes that half and he hit three of them. And he hit a contested one on his own.

Our offense typically starts with Tracy and its not really going to work that way this game since Tech doesn't have to double and his post moves are neutered by Tech's shot blocking.

I also liked the lineup he put out there briefly of Javi, Mays, Wood, Horner, Tracy when they were moving the ball around the perimeter and we ended with a nice 8 footer from Horner in the paint.

Great first half, hopefully we play strong in the 2nd as well.

2/6/2010 5:18:36 PM

Quote :

"What an excellent first half gameplan from Lowe."

stopped reading right there

2/6/2010 5:30:04 PM

i'm sure you did.

2/6/2010 5:30:30 PM

fuck you and your carpetbagging backtracketry

one half does not a basketball game make

2/6/2010 5:30:43 PM

Classy move, Sid!

[Edited on February 6, 2010 at 6:21 PM. Reason : w]

2/6/2010 6:20:45 PM

pretty sure he came back and shook Hewitt's hand

2/6/2010 6:32:08 PM

that was sweet of him

2/6/2010 6:34:35 PM

Well that was a F-You game for the Lowe haters. For once we were the team storming back instead of choking it away. That game was a complete reverse from the days of Herb Sendek.

In a game where we were outmatched at every position (including the bench, jesus who was that Peacock guy), missing a starter, firing up bricks at a torrid pace, turning the ball over, and getting no-called to death by the refs everytime GT travelled.... we almost pulled off a miraculous win.

We didn't shoot well enough or protect the ball well enough to win, but great effort nonetheless.

If you're scoring at home that's the 2nd straight defensive gameplan that Lowe has had that worked well. GT had shot 58% their last three games and we held them to 52% while forcing TWENTY TWO turnovers. This was impressive considering we have almost no post defense and they have three low post scoring threats.

GT is the 4th highest FG% defense in the country and they were swallowing Howell/Smith today. We missed an unbelievable amount of wide open looks from the perimeter that Lowe's offensive set got us in position for...




Something about Javi he stinks for the first 30 minutes then just turns on the jets. What a gritty effort to lead that comeback, unfortunate he got so passive at the end.

Horner... I don't know what to say... he played really horribly the entire game and then out of nowhere he starts creating turnovers on the press. He made his free throws too which was a total shock for anyone who's followed his career. If the kid could hit an open shot like he did his freshman year we would have won today. That stretch where he lost Peacock for an open three, then bricked a forced 20 footer was brutal. Also, the missed three that woulda cut it to 5 and the travel b/c he didnt set his feet on a shot...ew... c'mon dude get with it. I didn't even mention dropping the pass for a layup the instant he checked into the game. Good job on the press though

Mays my god, he didn't put up a close jumper all day. If he hits a single shot today we win.

Howell had what will hopefully be the worst game of his career. He was intimidated out there and he basically decided he didn't want to play anymore when he started intentionally fouling with 8 minutes to go.

Tracy Smith really played terrific on defense. He couldnt do anything offensively given the matchup but he definitely played hard and drew some fouls. He got rewarded with some easy baskets from our guards and ended up with a decent stat line given how ineffective he was. It's unfortunate but today showed why he's not going to be an NBA player...

Scott Wood. I'm scared, I really am. For such a good shooter he has shown to be a horrible clutch shooter so far. I pray he snaps out of this next year so we don't continue to get our hearts broken like today and the Clemson game when he comes up short. If he had a good shooting day we would have won. I think he's playing too many minutes and thats why he cant find a consistent stroke, maybe when we get more depth his %'s will improve.

Davis what a great game he played for us today. His defense was superb. Picking up loose balls, blocking shots, playing passing lanes and just generally being disruptive. He also did a great job on the other end by drawing fouls and somehow getting his broken free throw attempts to go in.

2/6/2010 6:41:45 PM