Pack vs PC: State Ugly Again, Advances to 10-3

“It is like going to the dentist without any novocaine.” – Gary Hahn describing NC State Basketball

State shot 1 of 11 from the three point line in the first half and 5 of 7 in the second half

PC

NC State takes the court today against a Presbyterian College team with a horrible record but who have been playing well of late. The “Hose” were tied at Wake Forest mid-way through the second half and lost at Georgia by only ten points. A full preview can be found here.

Despite a lot of speculation that Marques Johnson has supplanted Javi Gonzalez as the Wolfpack’s starting point guard, Coach Lowe says that Gonzalez will start today. Of course, it doesn’t matter who starts; it matters who plays the most and who is on the court when the game is on the line.

Gonzalez had 17 minutes of playing time in each of the last two games. He has hit 4 of 22 shots from the field this season (18.2 percent) and has nine assists and 14 turnovers.

Additionally, the N&O has featured Marques Johnson in an article today.

“My first game, I was extremely nervous,” Johnson said this week. “I hadn’t been in a competitive atmosphere like that in a year. Once the second half came along I started to feel better, and [against] Western Carolina I definitely felt a lot more comfortable.

“I think I bring a lot, with my size, at point guard. I know what type of team we have, so I don’t necessarily have to … score all the buckets. Whatever we need at the time, I’ll bring.”

Elsewhere, it is a big day for ACC Basketball as some of our mid-tier and lower tier teams have the opportunities to do well for themselves and the conference. For example, BC hosts Kansas and Maryland travels to UNC-Charlotte.

(Dear BC fans…in the ACC we pull FOR each other in these types of games.)

For open thread-like comments please use Friday’s Open Thread

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07-08 Basketball

148 Responses to Pack vs PC: State Ugly Again, Advances to 10-3

  1. CarnifeX 01/05/2008 at 11:34 AM #

    Are they really the Hose? The Presbyterian Hose? Please clarify this for me. Its too good to be true.

  2. highonlowe 01/05/2008 at 11:50 AM #

    Iirc, they are the Blue Hose of Presbyterian College.

  3. burnbarn 01/05/2008 at 11:52 AM #

    In Lowe’s presser yesterday he kept saying he wanted finishers on this team and was not so interested in starters. He specifically mentioned how JJ was a finisher in the last game and in the prior 3-4 games he was on the bench in the final 3-4 minutes.

    I think we see a good game start to finish tomorrow. I expect about a 18-20 pt win.

    Yes, the Blue Hose… with the e!

  4. McPete 01/05/2008 at 12:01 PM #

    are they nappy-headed?

  5. Trip 01/05/2008 at 12:25 PM #

    Good article on Johnson, he knows his game and he seems extremely competitive and hates to be in 2nd place, something that he’s going to face all the time in ACC play. I see a lot of Atsur in him, except for a little bit more quickness and a couple of extra pounds. I think his size will help out a lot come ACC time. He says all the right things just like Sidney it seems.

    Anyway, if this team buys into Lowe’s philosophy of “Start hard, finish hard” then it’s not out of the question that we could have our first blow out in a long time. This team outscored WCU by 21 in one half, they would have outscored them by the same in the first half because WCU would have never have a chance to throw up 10 bombs. We’ve seen flashes of what this team can do, now, lets see them do it for a whole 40 minutes.

    Things to look for:
    Javi/MJ shooting a little bit more, they don’t have to score 20 points (Although if they did it would ease our minds I bet), but if both of them hit a few jumpers I’d be pleased.

    Continued rebounding excellence, especially against a midget team.

    Less than 10 turnovers. It’s a lofty goal, but the hose don’t force a lot of turnovers and seems they turn it over all the time.

    Force more than 20 turnovers. Another lofty goal, but as stated before and as sectionsix put it, if we don’t make this happen this game, it’s never going to happen.

    Costner finding out where he left his shooting touch. Horner/Javi as well.

    40 minutes of hard basketball. This shouldn’t be a foul fest as the Hose have a pretty low free throw rate allowed, so it’s going to be a good benchmark for our offensive/defense flow. However, since they have that low FTR, I can see Hickson just walking all over them because that means that they aren’t fouling bigger post men. Which leads to…

    Another career night for Hickson. 25 pts/10 rbds. I’m going to call it.

    Holding the hose to <30% FG. This isn’t a lofty goal considering we’re #1 in the nation for height (and probably length) and they’re #330 or something. Add in the Defense pep talk… and barring the whole team of Hose shooting like Reddick, and theres no reason we can’t do that.

    I’m feeling good after the defense pep talk Sid gave, 82-56 NC state.

  6. Trip 01/05/2008 at 12:48 PM #

    Oh, and I feel like I’m at a club or something but… Bring on those hose!

  7. Trip 01/05/2008 at 1:27 PM #

    Oh, and in other ACC news… Boston College is currently getting DE-stroyed by Kansas. 59-40 with 12 minutes to play. They’re fighting hard to get back in the game though.

  8. redfred2 01/05/2008 at 1:49 PM #

    Well, sure sounds like the table is set for a major blowout, but I wouldn’t be too suprised if Coach Lowe doesn’t allow it to happen. I don’t think anyone really needs to see JJ with 40 points against PC to know that kid is going to play hard every game. Costner and McCauley, each need some work, but I wouldn’t expect to see them out there for a major portion of the game.

    This should be the type of game to mix in Trevor Ferguson early on, just to see if he is showing signs of gaining confidence. I’d really like to see the bulk of the minutes going to Horner, Smith, Harris, Gonzales/Johnson, with Courtney Fells forced into shouldering the responsibilty of being the “go to guy” for the entire 40 minutes.

    That’ll never happen, but I hope Lowe doesn’t hesitate to quickly pull anyone who is not playing hard.

  9. rky 01/05/2008 at 1:51 PM #

    in case anyone else is curious about the Hose:

    http://www.presby.edu/bluehose/history.htm

    GO PACK!!!

  10. tooyoungtoremember 01/05/2008 at 2:53 PM #

    Audio: http://www.wifmradio.com/

    Click on “listen live” in the top right corner.

  11. StateFans 01/05/2008 at 2:55 PM #

    Guys, we aren’t going to blow ANYBODY out without a point guard to push the tempo,; with the kind of defense we play; and with the set offense that we play.

  12. PapaJohn 01/05/2008 at 3:03 PM #

    Thank you tooyoungtoremember!
    Living in the UK I don’t get an opportunity to hear them often but 100.9 is coming in loud and clear. I had hoped 101.5 would stream the audio for all the games, but they aren’t. I haven’t had much luck with the Pack Pass thing.
    Now if we could only shoot …

  13. PapaJohn 01/05/2008 at 3:09 PM #

    “the Blue Hose are leading at the break????????????????????”
    AAARRRGGGGHHHHH!

  14. McLovin 01/05/2008 at 3:10 PM #

    We are losing to Presbyterian College (1-17) by 3 at halftime…

    What the hell is the mindset of this team?! They have lost to ECU and New Orleans. They CANNOT assume that they will win ANY game EVER.

  15. BJD95 01/05/2008 at 3:14 PM #

    I am in the arena. There were boos at the halftime horn. We have SEVENTEEN f-ing points at the half. We are actually defending pretty well, but the offense has gotten even worse. I didn’t think it was possible, but it is. Javi is showing why he usually never shoots, Costner has bricked two of those wing threes he sucks at.

    The green team is dominating the halftime Special Olympics game.

  16. wesley 01/05/2008 at 3:17 PM #

    uhm… this is retarted. what the heck is going on with this team? Im confident they will end up pulling off the win, but 17 in the first half againt PC? We are an ACC team right?

  17. dbo2874 01/05/2008 at 3:18 PM #

    i hate our team right now

  18. MrPlywood 01/05/2008 at 3:21 PM #

    I’m usually the last one to crack on the team, but this is pitiful. With all their (supposed) talent – point guard or not – they should be able to put up 80 on the Hose without batting an eye. At this rate the ACC is going to eat them alive.

  19. DAMangum 01/05/2008 at 3:22 PM #

    Why are we never prepared? It all falls upon the coaching staff!

    At least Mike Glennon looks awesome and it seems we might have found a starting QB.

  20. lush 01/05/2008 at 3:24 PM #

    I also hate our team. im at the game and would rather be anywhere else. they deserve to be booed. we have herbs garbage offense and no defense. we walk the ball up the court every time and let them set up in their zone, which we can’t do anything against. a three year old could figure that when we push the tempo were getting better shots and yet clowe is not changing anything

  21. PackerInRussia 01/05/2008 at 3:24 PM #

    i’ve only kept up with stats first half (thanks for the audio link; i’ll try to listen to the second half); it looked shave-your-dog’s-butt-and-teach-him-to-walk-backwards ugly. 17 points. Wow. A new low (no pun intended; seriously).

  22. MrPlywood 01/05/2008 at 3:31 PM #

    Run Forrest!

  23. DAMangum 01/05/2008 at 3:35 PM #

    Yeah, taking it a lil’ bit too far with the Forrest Gump crap!

  24. Dr. BadgerPack 01/05/2008 at 3:37 PM #

    I don’t hate my team… ever.

    Dissappointed at times, yes. Hate- no. I wouldn’t put this performance all on coaching either. Unless you are prepared to put every win square on the coaches shoulders. The players have to do their jobs as well.

    The good thing is 20 minutes are left, and the cream usually will rise to the top. Let’s hope the cliche applies today. GO PACK!!

  25. Stoner 01/05/2008 at 3:44 PM #

    Well we’ll be well tested in close game situations…

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