Good to see a lot of minutes for Horner today. TFerg doesn’t play. Did Grant play in the second half? MORE TO COME
Recent Comments
- Greywolf
on What A Great Guy: BC AD Defilippo Says He’ll Fire Jagodzinski If He Interviews w/ Jets (Updated 9am) - MrPlywood
on Pat Knight Brings 12-Year Old Boy Into Huddle To Teach Layups to Team - redfred2
on Wiederer: ‘State Doesn’t Need Wall’ - wufpup76
on Wiederer: ‘State Doesn’t Need Wall’ - redfred2 on Wiederer: ‘State Doesn’t Need Wall’
- sautz
on Pat Knight Brings 12-Year Old Boy Into Huddle To Teach Layups to Team - Ed89
on Wiederer: ‘State Doesn’t Need Wall’ - Ed89 on Wiederer: ‘State Doesn’t Need Wall’
I was just wondering the same about Grant. Anyone know?
The only place Fergie should be playing is on my IPOD
Someone please post any tidbits from the post-game show. I’m out of radio range and not willing to go sit in the car for XM feed!
highonlowe: Fergie definitely should NOT be playing on your iPod.
sloppy game, but we won, We need to learn to win the close ones while we are still learning to play together. Will only help in the long run. South Carolina is going to be a pretty good team this year, as well as rider. They are growing as a team. We got killed on the offensive glass. 23 to 6, got to get that fixed. Degand played a damn good game
they had 30 more shots at the basket than we did, and we still came out on top of a pretty good team. Finding a way to win
they had 30 more shots (76 to 46) BUT they only made 3 more (25 to 22)
we do need to work on rebounding but SC was going over the back or fouling on everyone miss
and the refs just stood there
What the hell is going on with all the team “issues”? First, Grant alludes to it after the UNO loss, then Fells mentions it after the Rider game:
Lots of nice dribble penetration from Degand.
Lots of wierd low contact fouls called on both sides.
I know they got a lot of off rebounds, but for most of the game it didn’t look like we were getting outhustled for rebounds. Part of the issue may be that we try to block every shot, but several were blocked, and many more altered. I wonder what they are being coached to do there.
Most of our outside shots are very tentative. Everyone seems to do a catch and jab step/pump fake and then maybe shoot. We seem to be looking for driving oportunities first, but then the shot comes off as tentative. Costner had some nice looks in the 2nd half.
We played a good all around game today. We need to rebound better. Good chemistry today on offense. Horner had a lot of productive PT. Degand played superbly including at the free throw line. If it weren’t for SC being red hot from 3 for a spell (including the junk shot at the end of the half) we would have won handily. I think Lowe is figuring out the best way to use Hickson. Hickson was as big of a factor on defense today as on offense. He caused SC to alter almost all their inside shots when he was in resulting in a lot of misses. Next game is Sunday evening…anyone know if game time is 6:30 or 7pm?
i can’t help but think that Lowe is doing what V did and that is experiement and try diffierent defensess for first couple of games. He even has said he knows what Horner and McCauley can do and that makes me think he is trying to give the other guys time to see what they can do. In a few games I think you wlll see the lineup to be pretty much set for the rest of the year. And think about it, wasn’t it a smart move for Lowe for Lowe to let Hickson know he is not going to go 12-12 in every game?
Yes….it is good to have Hickson reigned in a little.
Good teams have their frosh reigned in. NCSU just welcomes them into their underbelly world of frustrating underachievement. Glad you could make it JJ, we were worried you wouldn’t figure out how to fit in.
It wasn’t a well played game for sure, but after being down 9 or 10 State made a run and won the game. However, they killed us on the offensive boards and that was very frustrating. Almost every time they missed it seemed USC got their own board. When we’re playing that other Carolina and they get an extra 30 shots as a result of the offensive boards, we’re going to be in deeper trouble than we were today.
How good is South Carolina supposed to be this year anyways? Another NIT Final Four for them?
George Mason I think is supposed to be a tourney team, so while Nova would have been a better test, Mason’s a test as well.
South Carolina exposed a MAJOR weakness for Hickson: double team him and he becomes a human turnover.
I think the rebounding edge was due in part to how badly the Chickens were missing shots as well. Horner was great today, and it was surprising Grant was on the bench at the end, and basically half the game.
Good game for chemistry if no one’s feelings are hurt, guys were making plays for each other and defending fairly well. Hickson struggled early and came on strong when we needed him to. Degand was surprisingly solid, I think he and Ben are meshing well.
Defense was the focus, which is probably why Horner was on the floor instead of Grant, and why Gonzalez only got in a few minutes. Ferguson was given an opportunity against Rider and did nothing with it, and deserved to watch. He may get to play against EZU and other winnable games, but he would have been eaten alive against the USC style of drive and dish, and I would be shocked if we see him against Nova/Mason. Horner earned minutes and Gonzalez is going to have to get minutes with how Degand shoots FT’s, its like Clifford revisited.
Would have liked to see if T Smith could have helped the defensive glass. He looked active, though not effective against UNO, and nobody else was getting it done. Maybe destined for a RS?
Hickson will need to learn to relocate out of the double team or he is going to turn it over 5 times a game.
I liked the team play today. Seemed we passed well and fed it to the open man when the double team came. Still seems we need to be able to drive to the basket more. Grant tried some but it looked forced. We needed to get out and defend the threes more. They killed us there. Ben at the top of the key gives us a lot of ability to move the ball. He had a nice assist or two. BC was awsome from the FT line and had some nice threes as well. Things are starting to improve but we still looked rough. For a while, all we could do was pass it around the permeter to see who would take the open shot. Looked a bit like hot potato with know one really wanting to take it. Looks like some practice at the three line would help build the confidence level. Horner lived up to expectations. Hope he keeps getting minutes at the expense of TF (until he proves otherwise.) Had way to many turnovers and fouls that really put us in a hole. Good thing SCs was missing a lot of shots. Survived and advanced with a W. Contrats again to the team - they are making progress. Go Pack.
All Hickson needs to do better is learn to kick the ball out/pass when double teamed. He will pick that up with little problem
ESPN said that Hickson didn’t start because he broke a team rule. Can anyone enlighten me?
I thought Javy played good D again. He gets his hands on the ball a lot.
He’s not the threat to drive that Degand is, but I think he’s a better passer and shooter. Degand is a man right now - and is physically ready for the ACC wars. Javy needs a little more time and experience - but I think eventually we won’t lose much putting him in.
The first time for me to actually see the guys play today. Degand looked like a streak of lightning in the open court. Hickson plain and simple changes everything that gets close to him on defense. I agree with SFN, time will improve his offensive savvy. He may never pass the ball like Ben M. but if he can just pick up the double coming it will be huge for our offense.
Nova beat G. Mason, so we get the ‘Cats. Hickson did break a team rule, it was reported in my newspaper this morning. Don’t know anything more than that. Glad that Sid is trying to get through to this guy and make him earn his time on the court. Great win for the Pack today. We haven’t been quite as impressive as I think most expected us to be. But maybe it will come in time. All in all a great win.
LRM Says:
November 23rd, 2007 at 6:20 pm
South Carolina exposed a MAJOR weakness for Hickson: double team him and he becomes a human turnover.
Coaching will fix that, and Ben can help JJ with his passing skills just by showing them in practice when they go head to head.
Not to be overly harsh on Hickson, the speed of the double affected some I think, going from a mid major to SEC opponent. He will improve from experience that comes with the upcoming schedule.
Hooray for Horner. Sound player, poised and even a little more polished then I expected. Maybe too soon to say this, but could he press Sid’s hand on the three position sometime in the near future.
Degand played better at times. He is still giving up the lane on defense more often the his blazing speed is occupying on the opposite end. It is a major factor in the offensive rebound disparity so far, with us not stoping the dribble drive penetration. The Cats od Nova will be relentless in this area, and their bigs just go after tips and boards since they don’t run much throught the post. Should be a true test for perimeter D.
JJ late for team bus
Only watched the first half. Taped the second, and will look at it later. (got a deathwatch at the hospital for a friend who’s on her last legs). But I looked Degand in the first half. He seemed to pick his spots to drive, as opposed to running willy nilly into the lane. He also hit his free throws.
Hickson looked lost in the first half, but McCauley had some nice passes. And when Costner goes inside first (opening game dunk, nice spin move) he seems to shoot better from the outside.
Still sick at the defensive rebounding. I swear a few times I saw people jump over Hickson while he stood there. That ain’t the refs’ problem.
Hickson will be fine. This is JUST his 4th college game ever…Not sure why people need to make definitive statements with so little info so early, but…
Degand really showed some improvement today. If he can become consistently average-ACC or better, we will be in business.
Glad Sid has quit playing around with minutes and lineups–at least in focusing on winning this tournament—and simply gone to the 8 man rotation I spoke of previously. Rotate JJ-Ben-BC at 4 & 5. Rotate Gavin-Fells-Dhorn on the wing. Rotate 2 best pg’s at the 1 now and when MJ joins us. Leave Fergie and the other guys for mop up or major foul trouble moments.
We have won riding JJ’s 12for12. We have won with JJ starting. We have won with Ben starting. We have won with JJ finishing. We have won with Ben finishing. We have won with Gavin finishing. We have won with DHorn finishing. We have won with JJ starring, Fells starring, & BC starring. We have won with Farnold & Javy splitting time. We have won with Farnold closing it out all of a half.
NOW, if the TEAM will just realize that that is what TEAM is all about, we will be in business. Some will start, some will finish. Some will star, some will play a role. It will be different all the time. That is a TEAM.
“NOW, if the TEAM will just realize that that is what TEAM is all about, we will be in business. Some will start, some will finish. Some will star, some will play a role. It will be different all the time. That is a TEAM.”
Good point, and the preseason tournament is an excellent way to teach that lesson in a hurry. Three games in four days, and Sid has used interesting subbing patterns. An effort kid like Horner was even more effective today against players who ran yesterday. Sunday will be interesting, ‘Nova is kind of UNO plus a step and some bounce.
Anybody have any info about the series history between state and south carolina? I know that ncsu leads but I know the two have clashed a lot with so. car. and their history in the acc plus the home and home we had a few years back. I was just curious and I couldn’t find any information on the web.
I was disappointed with ESPN’s preview (or lack there of before the game). We were in the winner’s bracket for crying out loud. All they wanted to do prior to our game was talk about the later games and games in other tournaments. Dare I think that had it been Dook or UNX playing in the next game they would have talked about them? Naaaah surely I’m sipping the Kook-Aid.
I watched the second half of the So Cal vs Ariz State football game tonight (my wife went to SC), and they mentioned JJ as one of the top scoring freshman in the country. It was nice to see NCSU basketball mentioned on a national broadcast in a game we were not even playing in.
Man! that was a BIG crowd in the bleachers
I think it is off to a good start, jitters here and there but getting closer and closer.
Is it me or is the N&O trying to generate controversy? Someone told me that had a whole article on why Horner did not play more. Why is Sid having to justify playing time to them?
^Well if Horner’s PT has been an issue on this very blog, being discussed over and over, then it’s probably worthy of a story in the N&O.
Javi has incredibly quick hands. Between he and Degand, I think we’re going to have 2 very good defensive point guards on our hands. Holding Downey to 5-17 was a great job.
Good to see Ben getting minutes and looking like his old self again.
The rebounding is obviously a huge problem. Hickson is going to give up some rebounds because he’s agressive changing shots, that’s ok. What’s not ok is the complete lack of boxing out that was going on. You absolutely cannot allow multiple tips on the same possession, you have to put a body on someone, and a lot of the long rebounds were lost because our guards were just chasing the ball instead of bumping their man then pursuing. It wasn’t that we weren’t giving the effort, the rebounding technique was just really bad.
I know he only played half the game yesterday, but I’ve liked a lot of what I’ve seen from Gavin early in the season. He’s still turnover-prone, but he does seem to be forcing things less, and it’s clear that he’s the guy we’re going to with the shotclock winding down. He’s still not my favorite player, but it looks like he’s more willing to step into a complimentary role than I thought he would be.
He is still giving up the lane on defense more often the his blazing speed is occupying on the opposite end.
What I saw of the SC game, it seemed like our perimeter defense wasn’t stopping dribble penetration by the ‘Cocks, so our big guys were sliding over to stop the penetration, which left them out of position for rebounding.
^ and that pretty much sums it up. We have got to do a better job on the dribble penetration. (probably why you saw us play more zone in the 2nd half)