Just got back, good game against a respectable opponent.

1) J.J. Hickson was an absolute monster on the glass. In the postgame interview the W&M said "We couldn't stop him." Damn right you couldn't. Hickson scored at least twice while triple-teamed. 1 on 1 he was unstoppable. He was a force grabbing rebounds. Simlpy put, there was no question as to who was the best player on the court.

2) Costner was solid. Not a great shooting night, but as usual he hit a couple of clutch 3's that sparked good runs for the Pack. Nothing fancy, just good play all the way around.

3) Running the point - Degand was easily our best option at the point. Early in the game we got a little stagnant, but it picked up a little in the 2nd half. We still had several dry spells, especially when Hickson was out of the game. Gonzalez was timid, which was expected being that he's a freshman and is coming off an injury. Not great play at the point, but we did enough to get it inside to the big guys and also kicking it out for the 3.

4) Fells, Grant - Not a good night offensively. Both seemed a little sluggish at times, and neither shot the ball especially well. When the Pack went on a run though these guys were usually more active on the wings. As the season goes on look for the offense to run more smoothly with Fells/Grant on the wings and the frontcourt doing what it does best.

5) Ferguson, Horner - Not much in the way of contributions. The offense was noticeably worse when they were on the floor, and their D wasn't much better. If they're looking for more playing time then they certainly didn't earn it tonight.

6) McCauley - I had a hunch there was a reason he didn't start. Looks like it was a combination of J.J. being the real deal and Ben being sick earlier in the week. He picked it up in the 2nd half, where he showed flashes of what we saw last year. He should be fine, honestly his only problem is the fact he's going to lose minutes to Hickson.


It's going to take time for the PG situation to sort itself out. Much like the football team's QB play, we should expect some growing pains along the way. The tempo definitely needed improvement. We're still not getting hardly any penetration from the guards to setup our big guys. That's going to be very key if the Pack are going to make a run this year.

Still, W&M was no slouch of a team. Their zone was very tough, and they ran their offense well except for a few key stretches. Despite their name, this was not a pushover win like you might expect. A good early test for the Pack IMO.

11/15/2007 10:25:50 PM

well to be honest, zone always gives us some troubles.


Man to man we cant be stopped though



I just think that Lowe is tryin different things and getting everyone used to playing with everyone and getting a feel for what certain lineups can and cannot do. should come in handy later down the road.

Offense should be fine in a few weeks with some real competition

11/15/2007 10:31:32 PM

yea their coach was slurping all over us post game

11/15/2007 10:33:19 PM

just had the highlights on FSN...all 20 seconds of them

11/15/2007 10:57:59 PM

where was tracy smith?

everybody else shot awful. costner had alot of points but he took alot of shots and missed 3/4ths of them.

this zone killed our offense. its obvious we need to run and improve our outside shooting as well.

11/15/2007 11:08:42 PM

^see pg 8 for smith conjecture

11/15/2007 11:18:05 PM

who you gonna sit to play tracy?? our frontcourt is loaded.

We need the guards to step it up. Farnold needs to be able to knock down the open 3, Fells has to become a top notch 2 guard at some point

11/15/2007 11:22:05 PM

i think gonzalez has real potential to be a pretty potent stealer if he can work at it....he's compact and quick, just needs to hone his pick-pocketing skills


I think the key to this game was that everyone saw that we didn't have to have Costner, McCauley, and Fells have knock-out games to solidly handle opponents...while we were def sluggish on defense at numerous points, at no point was Lowe forced to keep Hickson and Costner on the floor for extended minutes...

....contrast that with carolina, who, playing against a respectable team that had a shitty game (awful FG % compared to WM's pretty solid shooting all around) had to keep Hansborough on the court nearly at all points (save for when he was in foul trouble)

...We can finally afford to have a deflated tire in the form of 1-2 guys have poor shooting nights, and still manage to have an explosive, solid-scoring offense along with a very capable defense

11/15/2007 11:26:03 PM

^ you just say that b/c he's 'rican.

and you know w&m shot like 29% tonight, right?

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:28 PM. Reason : ]

11/15/2007 11:27:23 PM

WM shot 29%

^dammit

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:29 PM. Reason : beat me to it]

11/15/2007 11:28:53 PM

hahah also I dunno why everyone is so worried about us becoming too reliant on JJ

....how quickly we forget how dominant Costner is when he's on his game....I was relieved to see that when he has a game like tonight, we can still play well

and I still argue that even if both were having a bad night, I seriously doubt that Fells, McCauley, Gonzalez, and Degand, and Smith (if getting minutes) would all have absolutely shitty nights as well...somebody would step up to the damn plate

....now if this were a game with the team from last year, I think we would've seen an end to the game like carolina's...coming down to the wire and ending on some foul shots.....but we've got a wonderful ally in the form of decent, reliable depth now, and that can go a long way

11/15/2007 11:32:29 PM

^^ ok I didn't realize they shot that poorly overall (it was definitely the 2nd half that resulted in that stat, because they were shooting lights out in the 1st)....fairly certain that that drop in the stat corresponded to Lowe getting them fired up to ratchet up the intensity on defense coming into the 2nd half

...I still stick to my point...there was never a solid run of more than 4 minutes where Davidson looked brilliant and hit everything they put up, yet they still led for most of the game (even with Handsjob and a couple others having respectable games, stat-wise)

11/15/2007 11:35:22 PM

not really. they were 30% in the first half. They hit a few 3's early but then couldn't hit shit.

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:42 PM. Reason : ]

11/15/2007 11:40:50 PM

Quote :

"they were shooting lights out in the 1st"

they missed something like 18 FGs in a row in the 1st half

[Edited on November 15, 2007 at 11:44 PM. Reason : seriously, no sarcasm]

11/15/2007 11:44:14 PM

ok ok, my point still stands though although we need to get our shit together on defense and start firing up the intensity on offense...whoever said that a few guys need to get in the gym and work their asses off is about right

...I hope it'll be Lowe's words after the game and not a close scare or a loss in the next few games that gets everybody's attention to buckle down and work on playing as a unit rather than a bunch of players relying on 1 or 2 others having a big night (then we'd just be carolina )

11/15/2007 11:47:49 PM

Quote :

"ok ok, my point still stands though"

not really, though.

11/15/2007 11:53:01 PM

Quote :

"we need to get our shit together on defense"

they didn't even score 50 points

we need to get our shit together on offense

11/16/2007 12:00:05 AM

yeah i dont think this guy knows anything about basketball

11/16/2007 12:05:20 AM

Hickson is a joke

11/16/2007 12:06:13 AM

Boondock St is a joke

11/16/2007 12:07:49 AM

^ hey, i'm just trying to show a little positive outlook for a game that was by no means outstanding or perfect but was a 19 point win against a solid opponent that gave a top 10 team a much bigger scare than they gave us just a week ago

...we've got a lot of work to do if we're gonna live up to the expectations that have been set, but we stepped off on at least a decently good foot

I concede the point that I was incorrect about FG %, but WM still didn't play terrible - we let them stay in it way longer than we should've given the hype surrounding the team and game, but i'd much rather us have a dose of modesty at this point in the season, than a bunch of worthless confidence builders that lead to a disappointment come the heart of the ACC schedule

if you wanna be a damn naysayer and focus on only negative shit day in and day out, go register at a carolina or duke board and have your self a fucking ball

On the other hand, you could realize that we are in fact cheering for the same team, and as such you could take a turn from Negative Town and engage in a meaningful conversation that doesn't seek to illuminate this all-important message board with your vast knowledge and wit

Go Pack, that's all that really matters

11/16/2007 12:08:13 AM

The Godfather is a horrible movie

11/16/2007 12:08:28 AM

hahaha

11/16/2007 12:09:48 AM

i'm not focusing on the negative aspects of the game, just the negative aspects of your knowledge of the game

11/16/2007 12:10:03 AM

he is right about them staying close for a decent amount of the game.

but that has more to do with our inability on offense to pull away from them, than it does their offensive prowess and our defensive intensity

defense was good tonight. offense, other than j.j. obviously, was lacking a bit

[Edited on November 16, 2007 at 12:12 AM. Reason : ,]

11/16/2007 12:11:16 AM

i was alright w/ the outcome of the game. clearly we need better shooting, but w/e.

i do wish we'd see more mccauley though , he was too important last year to get lost in a depth chart this year.

11/16/2007 12:11:42 AM

and for the record, I don't claim to be all-knowledgeable about the sport, but I'm not trying to talk out of my ass without conceding that I'm wrong on certain points

I'm more than happy to yield to every one of you with the full page of stats and breakdown of the game pulled up in front of you...I'm just trying to make a couple points about how we're in a much better spot, even with Hickson carrying a bulk of the offensive load tonight

it's funny how a thread about a team who we're all pulling for can quickly turn into a pissing contest....I'll reiterate my point, Go Pack, and that's all that matters...I could care less about getting into any shit talking contest with people who pull for the same damn team

11/16/2007 12:13:52 AM

Quote :

"it's funny how a thread about a team who we're all pulling for can quickly turn into a pissing contest"

just don't come in here and say stuff that's downright wrong, and it won't.

11/16/2007 12:15:22 AM

^^^ hopefully the playing time incentive will get him and everybody else to work their asses off even more (I think somebody mentioned earlier McCauley was sick at the beginning of the week though..)


as for saying something completely wrong, you're right, but not being a douche about correcting shit goes a long way

[Edited on November 16, 2007 at 12:17 AM. Reason : .]

11/16/2007 12:15:36 AM

McCauley has absolutely nothing to worry about

he's been sick and thats why he hasnt been playing

11/16/2007 12:20:04 AM

i do think despite the score that our defense did look shaky

[Edited on November 16, 2007 at 12:27 AM. Reason : maybe just watching the game is seemed like that, i don't know what it is]

11/16/2007 12:26:43 AM

I wonder if any of the players read TWW.

11/16/2007 12:32:26 AM

lets hope not

11/16/2007 12:33:55 AM

We gave them a lot of open looks on the outside but W&M just couldn't take advantage. And ffs can stop jacking up so many 3's. Costner was 3-12 fg and 3-9 3pt. I'll give him a pass though since he has a big 3 in the end and a dozen rebounds. Team was 5-24 from 3.

11/16/2007 12:36:00 AM

^def not gonna cut it. Degand had some wide open threes that he needs to drain.

11/16/2007 12:40:08 AM

Boondock St may be more irritating than Earl. Give it up dude, defending yourself makes you look even dumber. It's just a message board, just go read some other threads and chill.

That being said, JJ is a nice asset to have, tonight showed that when some other players are having off nights we can still be dominant. For those worried about the offensive production--we took 24 3 pointers tonight. We only made something like 5. That's a shitload of 3pt attempts for a team with Hickson, Costner, and McCauley up front. I think Sid will bring that down a bit and encourage the team to get the ball inside even more when they are blowing it up in the paint. Hopefully that will fix our shooting pct problems.

11/16/2007 12:42:13 AM

Quote :

"McCauley has absolutely nothing to worry about he's been sick and thats why he hasnt been playing "

Sorry, but that's not really true. This is from WRAL.com:

Quote :

"According to Lowe, he feels there are “six starters” on his team and that each will dictate their own playing time by their performance and intensity. Hickson started the contest in place of forward Ben McCauley, who played only 14 minutes compared to Hickson’s 30 minutes. After McCauley picked up two early fouls, and Hickson began dominating, Low felt the need to stay with the player that was most effective. “I think each game is going to dictate something different,” Lowe said. “I don’t think that tonight’s game was any indication of minutes or anything like that. It was called for for J.J. to play a little more tonight. And I know what Ben is capable of doing.” Lowe said he hopes Hickson’s performance will continue in future games, and he enjoys the idea of knowing he has more than one big man who can take control of a game. “We’re trying to win the game and J.J. was playing well and we had to ride with J.J. There’s going to be games where Ben is playing well and we’re going to have to ride with Ben. And we’re going to play those guys together.” "

Just sayin' is all. I hope we can use them well in rotation throughout the season.

11/16/2007 3:36:06 AM

someone please shop this into something even better

[Edited on November 16, 2007 at 7:59 AM. Reason : annnd that failed]

11/16/2007 7:57:58 AM

^

11/16/2007 8:09:12 AM

^^^

Quote :

"Low"

[Edited on November 16, 2007 at 8:17 AM. Reason : -]

11/16/2007 8:17:21 AM

^hahah yes, thank you

11/16/2007 8:47:31 AM

Wral also says J.J. "Hicks" under the caption of his picture.

http://wral.com/sports/basketball/ncaa/story/2051857/

11/16/2007 8:59:15 AM

hahaha poor poor BoondockSt

he's having a bad day

honestly i think this board is taking it pretty easy on you considering you come in here and make some arguments based on pretty much false statements and then try to say that your argument built on false propositions still stands

And yes of course you're right we're better this year because we have depth but that's not really contributing anything because everyone knows that

we are all pack fans, and nobody is calling you out because we don't like the pack. in all honesty we didn't look all that great for a lot of the game offensively and that's just a fact...

nobody's being overly negative at all, especially not because we're anti-pack, it's just that is what real sports talk is about. This isn't the board for YAY YAY GO STATE fanboyism, actually if you want that kind of blind, stupid loyalty to the point of being delusional just take a look at the IC boards sometime, especially when they are trying to rationalize a loss or a very close win in Davidson's case...

[Edited on November 16, 2007 at 9:18 AM. Reason : ]

11/16/2007 9:17:39 AM

^ I agree wholeheartedly, and I aim to be more careful in the future, and don't get me wrong, I'm not for people pulling for the team to the point of being ok with shitty performances and looking past flaws (otherwise we'd still have Chuck holding the reigns of fb)

Part of being a solid fan is getting upset when you have so much potential yet you still fall short...I recognize that, and you won't hear me waving the state flag blindly when criticism is well-deserved

Quote :

"he is right about them staying close for a decent amount of the game. but that has more to do with our inability on offense to pull away from them, than it does their offensive prowess and our defensive intensity"

That hit the nail on the head, and I got it wrong

11/16/2007 9:53:00 AM

Quote :

"ben was sick last night"

not nearly as sick as jj

11/16/2007 10:00:10 AM

I wouldn't read much into the score. We obviously exposed some areas we need to work on, but my sense from watching the game was that Sidney was using the game as an opportunity to try out a lot of different rotations he hadn't been able to before, rather than seeing how many points we could beat William and Mary by. We have so many new guys, he is getting a sense for what guys can do in games, how many minutes they should play, and what lineups work well together. Our minute distribution will look radically different in January.

11/16/2007 10:00:52 AM

markgoal for the win

thats what these games are all about. the coach knows what our starting 5 can do. he needs to see the rest of our guys in "in game" situations. coach needs time to get rotations and line ups tweaked. this is a test, only a test.

11/16/2007 10:16:41 AM

yeah they kept it close for awhile, but don't forget that they were within a point of Georgetown with 10 minutes to go in that game. I'm sure that's been mentioned already, but if it has it's apparently gone overlooked based on some of these comments.

STARTERS            MIN    FGM-A  FTM-A   OFF  REB  AST	 PF   PTS
R. Hibbert, C       28     9-11	  5-8     2    8    1    2    23
J.J. Hickson, F-C   30	   12-12  7-10    5    7    1	 1    31

11/16/2007 11:20:01 AM

jesus

check out http://www.kenpom.com/rate.php

It's only one game, and the rankings are going to go through huge shifts over the coming few months, but I don't think I've ever seen us ranked that highly by his system.

11/16/2007 4:29:22 PM

thats dumb. boston is 1-1 #4. it takes a while to work.

11/16/2007 4:31:57 PM