Exhausting. The absence of a strong backcourt bites NC State again as the Wolfpack fails to handle the ball appropriately throughout the day and has nobody who can play defense against opposing guards – like Nick Calathus.
If only John Wall is watching and can recognize the solid balance comprised in the Wolfpack’s roster before the strategic additions of Top 50 high school recruits Lorenzo Brown, Scott Wood and Richard Howell. The missing piece is an obvious stud at point guard.
I didn’t dislike the call on the last play of the game as Farnold Degand had played a good one and had success driving to the basket. Without injured Trevor Ferguson to spread the court and be available for a kick out, you had to put the ball in Degand’s hands expecting Florida to deny Brandon Costner and hoping Degand could make something happen or the rest of the team could get an offensive rebound for a tip.
It has been a long time since I can remember back-to-back important games that we as well officiated as the Marquette and Florida games. Nothing is perfect, but these two games were about as consistent as you can hope for. I wonder how the lack of a ‘superstar’ needing protection from the officials helped with the quality of the officiating.
It felt as though the Wolfpack’s free throw shooting was worse than the numbers indicated. State finished a respectable 15-21 for almost 72%. Can’t complain much about that.
It appears Coach Lowe is settling into his substitution pattern – neither CJ Williams nor Johnny Thomas played today.
NC State has played three good teams this year – Davidson, Marquette and Florida – and it can be argued that State has controlled the bulk of the game against each opponent. The Wolfpack has painfully lost in the last minute of each game.
As we stated in an earlier entry, this loss clearly defines the trajectory of the State’s season as fighting for an NIT berth. If State can manage a 4-4 record in the first half of the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule then perhaps we will have a reason to re-analyze the Wolfpack’s chances for an NCAA Tournament berth.
What in the world does Gus Johnson have against NC State? He was generally enthusiastic for calls for both teams but his vision and perspective of how he was viewing the game was absurd. I’m still looking for Brandon Costner’s ‘elbow’ of Dan Werner in the first half. Riiiiiight.
So much for my fears about Dan Werner killing us today. Werner looks like nothing more than a system player who definitely needed to pick the right system for his skills. Good for him for recognizing his limitations.
Speaking of recruits paying attention — Georgia Tech is only 8-5 and lost to Alabama today by eleven after trailing by around twenty for the entire afternoon. One can only hope that someone is selling Derrick Favors on how much closer the Wolfpack are to success in comparison to what is left of Georgia Tech’s program.
Out coached there at the end I’m afraid. Should not have called a timeout until we crossed half court. I don’t know what it is with this team but it just seems no matter what we do we can’t come up with a play when it matters. Terrible defense at the end. No execution on offense. Same old story for the Wolfpack. Kiss our tournament hopes goodbye…
You guys have fun trashing the coach. The bottom line is that if Degand, a guy who has about ten starts makes the play in the last few seconds, we would win that game. We just don’t have a killer backcourt. That’s what lost this game. Not Sid, not the refs, not Fells.
SFN: I deleted some of the coach-trashing comments as they didn’t offer anything of value
Another year of WTNY for Pack basketball. Geez guys – I’m not getting any younger you know. I’d like to see another championship of some sort before I die.
So down 1 with 11.3 to go, did Sid say “F’n arnold, dribble into trouble and give the f’n ball away?” What the f was that? God damn. Ball game.
Brandon Costner played his ass off. He was awesome. We should have gotten him a touch every time down the floor. He is head and shoulders above everyone else on the team.
As for Fells, yes he makes many bonehead plays, but he is coming back from an injury and I thought he played okay, given that. Blocking two shots on one play was awesome. Too bad we didn’t stop Calathes any other time the whole game. We got burned switching off on him over and over and over and over, and you get the picture. Get someone to fight through a screen and stick with him so McCauley doesn’t have to guard him.
Didn’t see the smirk, but Mays didn’t play all that well today. Hit a couple of big shots, but had a few costly turnovers. He pulled the Javi a couple times, getting across the line, then getting trapped. Sometimes he didn’t even make it that far. Degand looked better for the first 39:48 of the game.
When we come up a couple games short of the Dance we’ll know why. That’s assuming the team doesn’t meltdown. Another frustrating loss. Didn’t have to happen. We haven’t learned much from the Davidson and MU games. Costner needs more touches. Wait, #33 just scored again.
We are getting better in some areas, but still lacking in others. Fundamentals, MIA. Werner on the wrong team, but winning team today. UGH!!!
KNOWING we don’t have a PG capable of running this offense effectively, why the HELL are people bashing the coaching already? WHEN we get an ACC caliber PG and play poorly, THEN the coach bashing can begin, and will be deserved…..until then, shut it.
Tough loss as we could have and should have won. Some quick observations.
– We’ve had some tough losses and are not a great team, but we are worlds ahead of last year.
- Fells should never be allowed to put the ball on the floor again unless he his driving to the basket. I’m tempted to say he should never see the floor again.
- Say what you want about Degand, but we lose big without him bringing the ball up. Also, he is getting his confidence and speed back – he needs to play in control, but he is coming along.
- Mays will end up being alright; inexperience is his enemy right now.
- We really miss Trevor on defense – really, really miss him!
It may not result in a much better record this year, but we are a better team playing with much more intensity and purpose than last year. This team took a year off last year and now I think they are finding it hard to turn it back on and win the close games. Hopefully we can pull out enough wins for some post season play – we’ll see.
I think in terms of preparation, we did some things well and still have A LOT to work on.
One thing that baffles me is that last minute or so. Why we didn’t bring the ball up to the half court, call a time out and then set the play is beyond me. And then when we set the play, I have no idea what they we’re trying to run. I think this may have been a lapse on Degands part but a lot of this lies on the coaches shoulders too as it come down to preparation and getting your team fundamentally ready.
I hope this one hurts on the long trip back so that they work twice as hard in preparation for Clemson.
Sid or Monte should be able to coach one of our few guards to bring the ball up the court and get it to one of our big guys. We do have coaching problems as well as poor guard play. Im tired of making excuses for him. We cant win in the last minute.
At the end, Florida was able to take advantage of their guardplay advantage more than we took advantage of our size advantage. We handled the press much better in the first half, but when they tuned up their intensity, we feel to pieces, leading to several turnovers by Fells and Mays. Our deficient at guard get magnified at the end of ball games because no one is good at leading the team at point. Obviously our losses taking the same pattern points directly at that position. Lowe did make a in strategy at the end with a timeout, but there was a whole lot going on before that even happened, so I’m not ready to hang the loss on him really.
If I may suffer some end game amnesia, Degand did play much better this game. He (and he wasn’t alone) had some mental lapses and melt downs at the end but I still think he’s starting to look good. This would be true for anyone who’s playing in his first game of the season. Granted, I know he’s played in other games but I personally think that this was his first actual true game back and believe that we will see exponential improvement from here on out. I think (in terms of improvement) the same can be said for Mays. He’s going to struggle but once mid to late January comes around, I believe this team will be rolling in a much better direction because of the improved play of both Degand and Mays.
I still think that the mental lapses were granted (do to some lack of guard play game time experience) but the load of the blame goes to the coaching staff on this one.
This program seems to have psychological issues. Possibly believing that they are not deserving of true success. So close, yet so far. N.C. State, a eutopia for masochists.
Alpha- WHAT TEAM HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING? In addition to the coaching, the players looked like they were playing a pick up game in the 2nd half. Just another bottom feeding ACC team.
^ I watched a team that has known back court issues that somehow managed to hold a lead with less than a minute to go lose the game because its relatively inexperienced point guard made a bad play.
You seem to be forgetting just how awful this team was last year. They lost today but there is improvement and reason yet to have some hope.
That’s a lot easier than stomping and yelling and blaming the coaching staff. I sure didn’t hear you doing that in the first half when the team played well enough to lead by ten.
You guys are nuts. Lowe played for Valvano…therefore, he has permanent absolution for any and all transgressions. You gotta give him thirteen or fourteen more years before you can even START to evaluate whether or not he’s a complete waste.
Out coached there at the end I’m afraid. Should not have called a timeout until we crossed half court. I don’t know what it is with this team but it just seems no matter what we do we can’t come up with a play when it matters. Terrible defense at the end. No execution on offense. Same old story for the Wolfpack. Kiss our tournament hopes goodbye…
You guys have fun trashing the coach. The bottom line is that if Degand, a guy who has about ten starts makes the play in the last few seconds, we would win that game. We just don’t have a killer backcourt. That’s what lost this game. Not Sid, not the refs, not Fells.
SFN: I deleted some of the coach-trashing comments as they didn’t offer anything of value
Hopefully, we win a few of these games in the ACC season because this is painful right now.
Another year of WTNY for Pack basketball. Geez guys – I’m not getting any younger you know. I’d like to see another championship of some sort before I die.
Every time I watch NC State play, I get a little closer to enlightenment.
So down 1 with 11.3 to go, did Sid say “F’n arnold, dribble into trouble and give the f’n ball away?” What the f was that? God damn. Ball game.
Brandon Costner played his ass off. He was awesome. We should have gotten him a touch every time down the floor. He is head and shoulders above everyone else on the team.
As for Fells, yes he makes many bonehead plays, but he is coming back from an injury and I thought he played okay, given that. Blocking two shots on one play was awesome. Too bad we didn’t stop Calathes any other time the whole game. We got burned switching off on him over and over and over and over, and you get the picture. Get someone to fight through a screen and stick with him so McCauley doesn’t have to guard him.
Does anyone else see the smirk on Mays face when he turns the ball over? I want to scream!
Those announcers were the worst.
Things I learned from them:
1. Fells is our glue guy.
2. Horner is our overall best defensive player.
Curry, James and now Calathes scorch us. Who’s going to have a career game against us next? Take your pick.
Didn’t see the smirk, but Mays didn’t play all that well today. Hit a couple of big shots, but had a few costly turnovers. He pulled the Javi a couple times, getting across the line, then getting trapped. Sometimes he didn’t even make it that far. Degand looked better for the first 39:48 of the game.
When we come up a couple games short of the Dance we’ll know why. That’s assuming the team doesn’t meltdown. Another frustrating loss. Didn’t have to happen. We haven’t learned much from the Davidson and MU games. Costner needs more touches. Wait, #33 just scored again.
We are getting better in some areas, but still lacking in others. Fundamentals, MIA. Werner on the wrong team, but winning team today. UGH!!!
KNOWING we don’t have a PG capable of running this offense effectively, why the HELL are people bashing the coaching already? WHEN we get an ACC caliber PG and play poorly, THEN the coach bashing can begin, and will be deserved…..until then, shut it.
Horner is our overall best defensive player.
Yeah, I call BS on that one. Our defense sucks, but it’s not so bad that Horner is the best defender.
Tough loss as we could have and should have won. Some quick observations.
– We’ve had some tough losses and are not a great team, but we are worlds ahead of last year.
- Fells should never be allowed to put the ball on the floor again unless he his driving to the basket. I’m tempted to say he should never see the floor again.
- Say what you want about Degand, but we lose big without him bringing the ball up. Also, he is getting his confidence and speed back – he needs to play in control, but he is coming along.
- Mays will end up being alright; inexperience is his enemy right now.
- We really miss Trevor on defense – really, really miss him!
It may not result in a much better record this year, but we are a better team playing with much more intensity and purpose than last year. This team took a year off last year and now I think they are finding it hard to turn it back on and win the close games. Hopefully we can pull out enough wins for some post season play – we’ll see.
“KNOWING we don’t have a PG capable of running this offense effectively, why the HELL are people bashing the coaching already?”
The coach recruited these guys. It’s his job to deal with it…
I think in terms of preparation, we did some things well and still have A LOT to work on.
One thing that baffles me is that last minute or so. Why we didn’t bring the ball up to the half court, call a time out and then set the play is beyond me. And then when we set the play, I have no idea what they we’re trying to run. I think this may have been a lapse on Degands part but a lot of this lies on the coaches shoulders too as it come down to preparation and getting your team fundamentally ready.
I hope this one hurts on the long trip back so that they work twice as hard in preparation for Clemson.
Sid or Monte should be able to coach one of our few guards to bring the ball up the court and get it to one of our big guys. We do have coaching problems as well as poor guard play. Im tired of making excuses for him. We cant win in the last minute.
At the end, Florida was able to take advantage of their guardplay advantage more than we took advantage of our size advantage. We handled the press much better in the first half, but when they tuned up their intensity, we feel to pieces, leading to several turnovers by Fells and Mays. Our deficient at guard get magnified at the end of ball games because no one is good at leading the team at point. Obviously our losses taking the same pattern points directly at that position. Lowe did make a in strategy at the end with a timeout, but there was a whole lot going on before that even happened, so I’m not ready to hang the loss on him really.
HELLO, anyone know how to guard the pick and roll?? man over and over just kept getting killed.
If I may suffer some end game amnesia, Degand did play much better this game. He (and he wasn’t alone) had some mental lapses and melt downs at the end but I still think he’s starting to look good. This would be true for anyone who’s playing in his first game of the season. Granted, I know he’s played in other games but I personally think that this was his first actual true game back and believe that we will see exponential improvement from here on out. I think (in terms of improvement) the same can be said for Mays. He’s going to struggle but once mid to late January comes around, I believe this team will be rolling in a much better direction because of the improved play of both Degand and Mays.
I still think that the mental lapses were granted (do to some lack of guard play game time experience) but the load of the blame goes to the coaching staff on this one.
This program seems to have psychological issues. Possibly believing that they are not deserving of true success. So close, yet so far. N.C. State, a eutopia for masochists.
Alpha- WHAT TEAM HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING? In addition to the coaching, the players looked like they were playing a pick up game in the 2nd half. Just another bottom feeding ACC team.
Sidney Lowe really is an amazing coach. He just doesn’t want anyone to know that until we develop a good PG. In 5 years…..
^ I watched a team that has known back court issues that somehow managed to hold a lead with less than a minute to go lose the game because its relatively inexperienced point guard made a bad play.
You seem to be forgetting just how awful this team was last year. They lost today but there is improvement and reason yet to have some hope.
That’s a lot easier than stomping and yelling and blaming the coaching staff. I sure didn’t hear you doing that in the first half when the team played well enough to lead by ten.
You guys are nuts. Lowe played for Valvano…therefore, he has permanent absolution for any and all transgressions. You gotta give him thirteen or fourteen more years before you can even START to evaluate whether or not he’s a complete waste.