Lowe’s Love of Leslie Leads to Loss

State loses 60-50 in LittleJohn Coliseum tonight after a pitiful and embarrassing performance. After leading by 19 points, 31-12, with 6:10 remaining in the first half (and 34-29 at the half), Clemson outscored State 48-19 the rest of the game.

How ugly was it? Well, it was apparently the largest comeback in Clemson’s history.

How did it happen? Well, State had field goal droughts of 4:08, 6:03, 5:30 and then watched as Clemson ended the game on a 17-2 run over the final 7:59, with State’s final points of the game at the 2:20 mark. State had a total of 16 points in the second half, with six of them in the first three minutes of the half off Scott Wood three pointers.

State falls to 2-4 in conference play with a trip to Chapel Hill looming.

It took new Clemson Head Coach, Brad Brownell, all of a half of a year to take the lead over Coach Lowe. I don’t know a soul in college basketball who would/could argue that Clemson has more talent than NC State. So, spotting a team with more talent a 19 point lead equates to a COLOSSAL implosion.

This one is basically the point of no return for the Wolfpack Basketball program under Coach Sidney Lowe. Based on the weakness of our schedule and the lack of quality of our losses, the Wolfpack projects to need to win eight of our last ten regular season games to earn an NCAA Tournament berth. What are the odds of that happening?

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10-11 Basketball

97 Responses to Lowe’s Love of Leslie Leads to Loss

  1. wolfpackattack89 01/25/2011 at 9:17 PM #

    Leslie looks pathetic. I thought he was a McDonald’s All-American. Some of the shots he takes are questionable. Sometimes it looks like he’s playing for himself out there.

  2. StateFans 01/25/2011 at 9:18 PM #

    State imploding in front of our very eyes.

  3. StateFans 01/25/2011 at 9:19 PM #

    Been having real time commentary on our Twitter page.

    http://twitter.com/#!/statefansnation

  4. Lunatic Fringe 01/25/2011 at 9:29 PM #

    You can only laugh to keep from crying.

    It is the obvious crap that really drives me crazy:
    For instance, someone needs to explain to me why we play Leslie and Painter at the same time. Our offense goes to complete crap when we don’t have Smith or Howell in the game.

  5. nycfan 01/25/2011 at 9:30 PM #

    One thing that is really striking to me is that State’s big men look really out of shape.

    You could see the team quit when Clemson went up two baskets. Terrible body language.

    Clemson leaving the door open though. But State seems determined ti throw the game away with both hands.

  6. Thompson44 01/25/2011 at 9:32 PM #

    Well I have defended Lowe but this is absolutely pitiful. First you blow a 15 point lead to Miami and by the Grace of God you pull it out. Tonight you are up 17 in the first half and slowly let it fade away. While I know the Coach is not on the court playing, good lord, do something. Leslie, where is the McDonald’s All American?????????????

    WHat happened to Howell? Why is he out? This is killing me. I love the Wolfpack but this is starting to look like a lost cause to the season. I just hope that if Yow does fire Lowe the freshman stick around as do the incoming recruits. I actually think Lowe has one more year but at some point and time he needs to actually learn how to Coach this team…..

    Completely frustrated…..

  7. RabidWolf 01/25/2011 at 9:34 PM #

    I M P L O S I O N

  8. formerwinner 01/25/2011 at 9:35 PM #

    Sid’s give up…looks like to me.

  9. hammerpack 01/25/2011 at 9:35 PM #

    Attention Pack nation: Time for a change in Raleigh. What an embarrassing result of an awesome start.

    Sid looks to be asleep at the wheel.

  10. Avid109 01/25/2011 at 9:35 PM #

    One more nail.

  11. RabidWolf 01/25/2011 at 9:36 PM #

    1. There is NO floor leadership on this team

    2. There is no killer instinct on this team.

    3. This team cannot finish.

    That about sums it all up.

  12. wolf pack 01/25/2011 at 9:37 PM #

    Sid Lowe is a good offensive coach? Please no one post that again ever

  13. BureauOfMines 01/25/2011 at 9:38 PM #

    This was yet another opportunity squandered. We blew another big lead got our asses handed to us. There’s definitely a pattern to this. It’s like we’re following a script.

  14. hammerpack 01/25/2011 at 9:38 PM #

    I won’t be watching any more NCSU games this season.

    I’ll only watch teams that really work hard.

    Tracy Smith can never seem to get back on defense, he watches the other team make layups from the top of the key.

  15. Lunatic Fringe 01/25/2011 at 9:40 PM #

    I was all for Lowe finishing out the season, what’s the point in firing him mid-season, but I am not sure I can stomach much more of this crap.

    The team has ZERO confidence and has no clue how to play a full 40 minutes as a cohesive team. I am leaning toward Monte as interim just so I can officially move on from the Lowe era at NC State.

    Thompson – No way in hell Lowe is back next year.

  16. primacyone 01/25/2011 at 9:41 PM #

    16 points in the second half!

    That’s the same amount of points my son’s 7and 8 years old rec team scored tonight in a 16 minute game.

  17. hammerpack 01/25/2011 at 9:41 PM #

    Ms. Yow:

    We are depending on you for a short list of high-quality coaching candidates willing to right our ship.

  18. WolftownVA81 01/25/2011 at 9:41 PM #

    Historic implosion. What a complete shame considering the great start to the game. How can we have so much talent and be so bad. In a word – coaching. That’s the only thing I can figure. Did anyone catch that we were up by 19. I think the announcers should have made that point a couple of dozen more times in case anyone missed it. What a joke NCSU basketball has become.

  19. wolfman1959 01/25/2011 at 9:43 PM #

    An absolutely embarrassing, disgusting ,disgraceful COLLAPSE !! I can NOT watch any more of this Sidney Lowe coached basketball………I am DONE !!!! Somebody please phone me when the season is over….nevermind,…….. IT IS OVER !!!!!!!!

    The only coaching adjustment Sidney has learned is to keep Vandenberg on the bench….other than that….PATHETIC !!!

  20. Lunatic Fringe 01/25/2011 at 9:44 PM #

    It’s funny – I was fuming when CJ Leslie threw that ball back under the Clemson basket (basic fundamentals). I went from fuming to livid when I realized that the coaches did not seem to be as upset as me.

    Leslie (after a couple HORRID shots and that dumbass play) should have been a spectator the rest of the night.

  21. packbackr04 01/25/2011 at 9:46 PM #

    what happened to howell and harrow for that 10 minute stretch in the 2nd half?

  22. Wolfy__79 01/25/2011 at 9:46 PM #

    yes, one more nail. saturday is not going to be pleasant i’m afraid. one of my many questions is what type of low post offense exactly are tracy & co. trying play? not one of them is playing with their back to the basket. howell, i love the kid… he goes up way to soft! you cannot go up againts 2-3 forwards face up w/in 5ft of the basket without dunking it. it’s not a good place on the floor for a jumpshot. cjleslie should have never entered the game. he made absolutely no contribution! this lineup tampering is killing this team. they actually looked prepared and we were up 19. clemson couldn’t adjust.. wait for it, here comes a massive substitution and there goes the lead. i’m tired of seeing constant leaners and off balance shots. terrible shot selection in the second half. 29pt swing? seriously? how do you manage that????? wth!?

  23. wolfonthehill 01/25/2011 at 9:47 PM #

    This one’s simple.

    The 2nd-half substitution patterns were illogical, indefensible, and unforgivable.

    Ryan sat for pretty much the entire stretch when Clemson took control and put the game away. FAR too much time on the bench. He & CJ Williams made us tick tonight, and they just didn’t get enough 2nd half PT.

    On the flip side, CJ Leslie should have gotten 2 minutes of PT tonight, and he shouldn’t have seen the floor in the 2nd half. He got FAR too much time, took FAR too many ill-advised shots, and almost single-handedly took away any chance we had of holding the lead.

    16 points in a half? 48-19 run to end it? 31 points in 15 minutes, then 19 in 25 minutes?

    It’s beyond explanation that a team can look so good for the first 1/3 of the game, and so bad for the last 2/3.

    No fundamentals. No consistency.

    Debbie’s on the phone tonight… she has a plan.

  24. wolfman1959 01/25/2011 at 9:47 PM #

    Glad you noticed that as well Lunatic, NEVER throw the ball blindly back in bounds and GIVE your opponent a layup !!!! SAD ….and a coachable moment…….if we had a COACH out of the 4 losers who draw paychecks on the bench !!!!

  25. BureauOfMines 01/25/2011 at 9:47 PM #

    Stick a fork in this season. AD Yow will be tested.

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