at this point i would much rather see mays than farnold

2/22/2009 11:48:55 AM

97.2 pages of credibility



Mays must being going through a freshman slump or something. Javi is by far and away our best PG right now and that is when you think about it.

I didnt even realize he had a 0:7 A:TO ratio and we still won

2/22/2009 11:55:52 AM

Quote :

"at this point i would much rather see mays than farnold"

based on yesterday's game i would agree, but you know as well as i do that that could COMPLETELY change pretty easily...all 3 of our PG's have had stretches during the year where they individually looked like far and away the best PG on our team...like Javi the last few games before yesterday...like Farnold earlier in the year...like Mays when he hit that game winning 3-pointer...we just need for at least one of them to ball out on any given day

2/22/2009 4:09:12 PM

Quote :

"97.2 pages of credibility"

97.02

2/22/2009 4:12:30 PM

The PG situation has obviously not settled. Farnold had a good game a few games ago, which is amazing since he can only dribble with one hand and has crap court vision.

Javi is showing now what he showed at the end of last year and what we expected earlier. I think some of his TOs yesterday were due to guys not rolling to the basket hard, and some were just fuckups.

In any case, the competition is obviously healthy for us. As TOB would say, we should be a performance-based organization.

2/22/2009 4:32:10 PM

Quote :

"97.02"

97.04. if you're going to be picky about it.

2/23/2009 11:19:42 AM

I think Mays isnt playing because he is a freshman and Javi is playing well of late. Remember when we threw Javi out there last year at this time of the ACC season when he was in Mays shoes?

Mays seems like more of a 1.5 guard - hes a shooter and provides solid ball control help when we are seeing tough presses and D. But, he is still a freshman....

2/23/2009 11:40:00 AM

I don't know how many TO's Javi had, but you have to remember that I believe 5 of those were in the first several minutes. He did settle down as the game went on, but he just needs to learn as a guard to stay out of foul trouble. Also, I do remember several good passes that should have turned into assists, but the post guy was fouled. He does a great job pushing the floor and keeping the defender on his back as he runs the court. He is and should remain our started for the rest of the year.

Degand, who knows? This guy has flashes of great play, but consistently dribbles (to the right) into trouble.

Mays has been looking good, but as mentioned he is a freshman. Hopefully he stays hot and I'd like to see him getting more and more minutes each game if he continues his play.

2/23/2009 11:45:56 AM

^You cant really say that Mays is hot. He hasnt played in a while. But i agree that he needs to see some more playing time because degand seems to be a liability at times.

2/23/2009 2:49:40 PM

Quote :

"degand seems to be a liability at times."

agreed, more harm than good most often. He is quicker, but i don't think at this point that matters as much.

2/23/2009 2:55:45 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/ncsu/mens_basketball/story/1419629.html

Lowe's tinkering pays off for Pack
State turns it around after 2-6 ACC start



RALEIGH -- In year three of Sidney Lowe's tenure at N.C. State, his coaching philosophy is just starting to emerge.

His ACC rivals in the Triangle have well-established stamps on their systems, while Lowe, the relative newcomer, continues to evolve. North Carolina's Roy Williams is steadfast in a fast-breaking philosophy that he implements and sells to recruits. Duke always will play pressure defense under Mike Krzyzewski but changes lineups and strategies on offense based on the skills of its best players.

Lowe's style now features elements from both of those programs' strategies. Even if his team doesn't move nearly as fast as North Carolina, Lowe has the Wolfpack speeding up its pace and stepping away from the slow-paced, Princeton style of offense favored by his predecessor, Herb Sendek.



Like Krzyzewski, Lowe also has tinkered with his roster to create a game plan that best fits his team, and the faster pace and roster changes have been rewarded in a recent Wolfpack surge.

"We're just a better ballclub now than we were, say, a month ago," Lowe said Monday.

N.C. State is 3-1 in its past four ACC games, just the Wolfpack's second 3-1 streak in league play during Lowe's tenure. With the Wolfpack (15-10, 5-7) on the road facing No. 13 Wake Forest (20-5, 7-5) tonight, the streak has raised hopes that the team is heading in the right direction under Lowe.

It seemed extremely unlikely when N.C. State started 2-6 in ACC play, but a .500 record in the conference may now be within reach. Improving underclassmen such as Tracy Smith and C.J. Williams have helped alter a once-gloomy outlook, and Lowe has helped fuel the resurgence with four major adjustments:

* Switching to a bigger lineup. In search of improved rebounding in late January, Lowe inserted 6-foot-7 Smith into the starting lineup along with 6-9 Brandon Costner and 6-9 Ben McCauley.

The change essentially gave N.C. State three post players on the floor. Most college teams use two post players, but Costner is versatile enough to play on the perimeter despite his size.

Courtney Fells, 6-6, moved from small forward to shooting guard in the new lineup, giving N.C. State a size advantage in the backcourt, too.

"I think it makes them a strong rebounding team and in some ways provides a lot of matchup problems for you," North Carolina's Williams said. "... Courtney provides matchup problems for you because he's a big guard, and Costner being able to step out on the floor causes matchup problems as well."

* Switching defenses. Jim Valvano, who coached Lowe and N.C. State to the 1983 NCAA title, was famous for using gimmick defenses to frustrate opponents.

Lowe began the season running mostly man-to-man defenses, but he dusted off some tricks shortly after going to the big lineup. N.C. State mixes in a 2-3 zone on occasion, but it also used a box-and-one and a "1-3 and a chaser" to hold high-scoring Wake Forest guard Jeff Teague to 11 points in a Feb. 11 Wolfpack win at the RBC Center. Saturday, N.C. State used a triangle-and-two at times against Virginia's Sylven Landesberg and Jeff Jones.

Switching defenses and using zones also helps with matchup challenges, such as when Costner goes up against a much smaller, quicker wing player.

"It's so hard to play some of these teams strictly man-to-man all the time," Lowe said. "Even some of the great teams, they'll go to zone sometimes, or come up and trap you, just to keep you off balance. Sometimes it really gets us going."

* Shortening the rotation. When Lowe went to the big lineup, he trimmed his rotation to eight players.

2/26/2009 9:18:56 AM

SETUP.

2/26/2009 9:27:19 AM

someone really needs to photoshop a head into his hand

2/26/2009 9:29:30 AM

He has such good posture like Pavorati or however the heck you spell it.

2/26/2009 9:30:36 AM

of course the UNC biased N&O writers chose THAT picture for Lowe's article

2/26/2009 9:31:48 AM

2/26/2009 9:41:45 AM

... and now page 2 of the article

Quote :

" Fells, Costner, McCauley, Smith and Javi Gonzalez are starting. Farnold Degand, C.J. Williams and Dennis Horner are playing the majority of the minutes off the bench. Lowe started the season with a 10-man rotation, often subbing out all five players at once for long stretches. That meant some of N.C. State's best players spent a lot of time on the bench. Lowe decided that had to change. * Accelerating the pace. Lowe was adamant in the preseason that the Wolfpack would play an up-tempo game, but that didn't happen early. N.C. State scored 80 points or more in regulation in just two of the first 19 games. Four times in the past six games, however, the Wolfpack has scored 80 or more in regulation. "I think the guards are more comfortable at pushing it," Lowe said. "Our wings are running a little better. Our bigs are running the floor. "We're able to get down there and get some shots up pretty quick. Not bad shots, but we're able to get fast break or early post-ups, early action." N.C. State's faster pace is the direction of the future, too. Lowe won't have to train the veterans all over again how to push the ball up the floor, and incoming recruits Lorenzo Brown at guard and Richard Howell at forward are comfortable playing at a quick pace. And playing at that quicker pace will be a crowd-pleasing improvement over one constant source of dissatisfaction during Sendek's 10-season tenure. Sendek's teams used a monotonous motion offense to lull opponents to sleep for backdoors and 3-point shooting opportunities, and, despite five straight NCAA Tournament appearances, many fans didn't embrace it. In the past few weeks, N.C. State has provided a glimpse of Lowe's new direction for the team. Getting to the NIT seems a strong possibility after the Wolfpack missed the postseason in 2008 with a 15-16 record. Players even are talking about the possibility of making a late push into the NCAA Tournament, although that will be difficult because N.C. State lacks a marquee nonconference win. "It's something that certainly I know that's there, that guys would love to achieve," Lowe said. "They talk about trying to win games and put ourselves in position. Right now, I think we've been playing pretty good basketball.""

2/26/2009 12:49:34 PM

Credible for now.

I thought we played pretty well against Wake overall.

2/26/2009 9:59:32 PM

that loss was not due to coaching, if you ask me.

2/26/2009 10:00:38 PM

He is still really credible. Sidney kept the guys from giving up and they continued to fight throughout the entire game. Good games by Johnson and Smith really caused us to lose this game.

2/26/2009 10:04:13 PM

shit best game of his fucking life for johnson

fucker couldnt miss and had 17! fucking 17 rebounds

thats probably more than our whole team


still credible

2/26/2009 10:07:16 PM

I really wish we had this team/rotation/defense/coaching from the beginning of the year.

2/26/2009 10:09:02 PM

There was pleny of opportunity to lay down and die in this game.

2/26/2009 10:10:13 PM

this game was lost due to players...not coaching

2/26/2009 10:28:18 PM

In hindsight, I wish Lowe would have played some zone in the first half when they were dominating the paint.

v They weren't dominating the offensive boards. They actually didn't miss many shots in the first half.

[Edited on February 26, 2009 at 10:37 PM. Reason : v]

2/26/2009 10:30:45 PM

^Yeah but the zone hurts our rebounding and we were already getting dominated on the boards.

2/26/2009 10:31:40 PM

still credible

how many layups and banks off the glass did we miss, how many times did somebody pussyfoot weak to the hole and get stuffed, how many awkward off balance pull up jumpers did we clang

they were not being patient enough and waiting/creating a good shot

for a while there we were forcing everything up and then getting blown by on defense, I swear I saw waaay too many alley oops and easy putback offensive rebounds this game

2/26/2009 11:20:21 PM

Smith missed at least 3 bunnies. I suspect he will be making those Sophomore year on up though. We're getting there .. I think.

2/27/2009 12:24:47 AM

er, smith IS a sophomore now.

2/27/2009 12:27:43 AM

Quote :

"how many layups and banks off the glass did we miss"

Tracy Smith really does seem to go through 'shooter slump' at times where nothing goes in. Problem is, his shots are from 2 feet away.


That said, he's going to be a great player for NC State and will have to carry this team next year

2/27/2009 8:35:05 AM

Quote :

"Smith missed at least 3 bunnies"

i counted 5 (at least)

those missed layups plus Costner missing that dunk would have won us the game (point wise).

i give all the credit to Wake though for playing smothering defense the entire game. hardly any of our guys had consistent good looks.

Degand played pretty good last night / better than Javi.

2/27/2009 9:02:38 AM

We are definitely getting better. We need a well-adjusted PG to really compete in the ACC. Javi and Degand and doing their best, but it's not enough.

2/27/2009 9:14:26 AM

Quote :

"We are definitely getting better. We need a well-adjusted PG John Wall to really compete in the ACC. Javi and Degand and doing their best, but it's not enough."

fixed

2/27/2009 9:15:37 AM

Wake missed their layups too...as well as a good number of open 3-pointers. We've been missing "bunnies" all year...so you can't say "well if we had made our gimmes, then..."

We had 8 turnovers...but holy shit some of them were extremely boneheaded.

And we got destroyed on the boards. With our big lineup, I don't care who we're facing, we should not be getting out rebounded by 16.

I don't feel bad after the loss...but I'm not seeing the moral win that some of ya'll are seeing. This was definitely a winnable game. Wake didn't play exceptionally well (except for Johnson), and as a whole, our guys played pretty well. This could have given us a chance at starting a run for a tourney bid...but alas, I give that about a 5% chance now.

2/27/2009 9:29:48 AM

Smith misses some layups, but alot of the ones he misses (not just in this game... in general), he usually has 2 guys draped all over him and he doesn't get the calls.

2/27/2009 9:41:20 AM

what does our front court next year look like?

Smith, Horner, some Freshman?

2/27/2009 10:31:09 AM

probably Johnny Thomas... or Derrick Cousins

2/27/2009 10:35:27 AM

I heard Blake Griffin and Jeff Pendergraph were transferring to State to replace Costner and McCauley and that the NCAA was getting rid of their "wait one year to play after transferring" rule.

[Edited on February 27, 2009 at 10:39 AM. Reason : .]

2/27/2009 10:38:40 AM

Quote :

"I don't feel bad after the loss...but I'm not seeing the moral win that some of ya'll are seeing. This was definitely a winnable game. Wake didn't play exceptionally well (except for Johnson), and as a whole, our guys played pretty well. This could have given us a chance at starting a run for a tourney bid...but alas, I give that about a 5% chance now."

ish smith had a season high too....those two 3's he hit were backbreakers espeically since they were in the face of defenders...nothing you can do about that

I still think we're in about the same boat tourney wise....we had to win 3 of our last 4, and we still have to win 3 of our last 4...only now we need 3 in a row. 2 of the 3 are at home so it's very much doable.

2/27/2009 11:28:22 AM

^^ sorry, Jeff graduated in December and will exhaust his eligibility in April

2/27/2009 11:32:10 AM

Quote :

"I really wish we had this team/rotation/defense/coaching from the beginning of the year."

Yeah at this point it looks pretty bad the start of the season. Everyone was clamoring oh but we don't have any talent. Now that has been proven wrong. We were not starting Smith and giving guys like Simon Harris and Trevor Ferguson way too much time.

If we had been doing this all along, we would probably be around 17-9 and .500 ACC

2/27/2009 12:00:39 PM

Quote :

"If we had been doing this all along, we would probably be around 17-9 and .500 ACC complaining about something else."

2/27/2009 12:15:01 PM

^^ It's not like everyone was calling for that lineup. In fact, the few times I (and others like NyM and rallydurham) brought it up at the beginning of the season, a vast majority of the tools in here called me an idiot and said it wouldn't work because Costner can't play the three and Fells can't play the two. In fact, there is probably evidence of that in this very thread although I am too lazy to bring it up

[/tooting my own horn]

2/27/2009 12:22:46 PM

^^^

we still have a shitty backcourt, we're just squeezing as much lemonade as humanly possible out of it.

2/27/2009 12:31:50 PM

I was one of those who said it wouldn't work. The couple times it was tried with Hickson it didn't work but I am happy to say I was wrong.

2/27/2009 12:42:57 PM

i wanna know why I was fired, and why Lowes thread has more pages than mine did

2/27/2009 12:58:16 PM

affirmative action.

2/27/2009 1:00:03 PM

i'm worried that by the time our guards come of age, our front court will be less relaible than it is now.

2/27/2009 1:00:20 PM

^^^ If you knew anything about yourself, you would know you didn't get fired at all.


What's the matter, heat stroke from the Arizona sun giving you memory loss?

[Edited on February 27, 2009 at 1:07 PM. Reason : ]

2/27/2009 1:06:58 PM

you guys ran me out of town and threatened my kids, in a sense, I was fired


yes it is hot here

[Edited on February 27, 2009 at 1:27 PM. Reason : .]

2/27/2009 1:26:34 PM