N&O: Hickson To Test NBA Waters

07-08 Basketball131

As we indicated just a couple of days ago…

RALEIGH — N.C. State freshman J.J. Hickson will enter his name in the NBA Draft but he will go through the process without hiring an agent, Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe said Monday, leaving the door open for a possible return.”He’ll test the waters,” Lowe said. “He’ll get all the information he can and decide what’s the best thing. It may depend on where he’s going in the draft.”

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07-08 Basketball

131 Responses to N&O: Hickson To Test NBA Waters

  1. Primewolf 03/18/2008 at 9:08 PM #

    Thanks SFN. I have made some guesses in my previous posts and your intel confirm some of my personal observations.

    Every way I think about it results in one or more assitants having to leave this year. In fact, I believe a BB assistant coach must leave this year, before next season. Logic dictates this must happen and even Lee Fowler would have to see this. How can this be? There are many possibilities and here are two of them. Either,

    (1) Our assistants (as a collective group) are as clueless as Sid regarding how to run a college program,or

    (2) Our assistants are not clueless, but were ineffective at trying/implementing needed changes in the training, practices, fundamental drills, and needed coaching leadership by them as a group.

    If (1) is true, even Sid must realize that his assistants, who have worked at the college level for many years and coached many a game, are dolts. I think that in a normal world, with a normal, not great AD, that between the AD and the HC, it would be obvious that they must replace some staff. Hence, one or more staff would leave the program under Scenario 1. In fact, at most schools this would happen with 90% probability, given an AD’s assessment that the staff is clueless.

    Premise 2 implies a really clueless HC that didn’t listen to good advice from his assistants. If so, the assistant would most likely leave on his own as he truely sees how truely hopeless the situation is. In this case, again, one or more staff would leave the program, in a normal world.

    The world is likely not normal at NCSU, so the chances of one or more staff leaving is less than 25%, IMO. I hate to say it, but if one or more assistants don’t leave the program, from either one of those scenarios, I don’t think it is possible for this staff to all of a sudden get it and reinvent themselves. They would need to go visit MSU, TT, and other coaching havens from smart seasoned college coaches. They would need to spend all summer developing a whole new program for timed practice sesssions, drills, situational awareness. They would need consultants, leadership training themselves.

    One thing that will happen with 100% probability, LF will say some totally stupid things about he BB program.

  2. choppack1 03/18/2008 at 9:09 PM #

    The good news is that football practice started today.

  3. highstick 03/18/2008 at 9:15 PM #

    Also good news…the Orange is gone!!!

  4. Afterglow 03/19/2008 at 7:41 AM #

    Bartonpackfan09-Any notion that we are better without Hickson is crazy! He was pretty good in my opinion as a freshman and will only get better after testing the waters and getting tips on what to work on when he finally does decide to go. This thought is nuts to me! It makes me think that some people would be just as happy to have no new recruits, stick with what we have sans Hickson and hope that not having someone to “showcase talents” will make our situation better than last year or the year prior. Our situation is what it is because of factors beyond Hickson. Things may not change for the better with him and they may not change for the better without him; but staking claims on any notion that Hickson was the cause of our turmoil is ridiculous. Like I said before, we may as well just ask everyone to leave, have a walk on practice, and tell everyone in the 09 class, no thanks. Entertain for a moment that Hickson was never here this year; that he was coming in with next years’ class-you’re telling me that we would all say, no, we don’t want no stinken 5 star recruit who will be so good that teams will have to put multiple players on him which would cause penitration trouble for our “guards”? It’s called adaptation!

  5. packgrad93 03/19/2008 at 8:02 AM #

    Let’s wait & see what Sid staff can do when they get a PG. They’ve rarely had one in 2 years. Sid himself has said the PG is the most important player in his system.
    Hope no recruits visit this site.

  6. Noah 03/19/2008 at 8:32 AM #

    Yeah, that’s the most important thing. We had a losing season, the players hate each other and are fighting publicly, the coaches are somewhere between disinterested and clueles…but the most important thing is that the recruits don’t read a message board.

    Way to keep your head in the game.

  7. GAWolf 03/19/2008 at 8:36 AM #

    Hickson still needs to learn to play facing the basket. The backdown is NBA stuff… college players more often need to catch the ball, make a move (typically but not always facing the basket at some point) and go up quickly before the double team… or God-forbid triple team… clamps down.

    He has a lot to learn from that perspective in my opinion, but maybe I’m all sorts of wrong. Just a thought…

    He can definitely improve several aspects of his game and if we goes as a first rounder at this point it’s 100% on his unpolished athletic “upside”. I hate that word… “upside.”

  8. GAWolf 03/19/2008 at 8:39 AM #

    Also would like to discredit a rumor I saw somewhere regarding Hickson. I talked to a group of State students just last night and a girl said JJ was in her English class. He IS still going to class everyday. Why in the world would someone post that when such a rumor (correct or incorrect) could cause all sorts of problems for our ENTIRE PROGRAM… a program that needs no more problems mind you.

    Is it a good indicator of a guy who has turned his back on college? Sure. Is it necessary to discuss it for the world to see… NOPE.

  9. GAWolf 03/19/2008 at 8:40 AM #

    I spoke at State, by the way. I didn’t just run into this group on the street. I’m talking a class of 30. It seems a credible thing as it was said in front of 30 classmates.

  10. kyjelly 03/19/2008 at 9:03 AM #

    At 6’9 jj is a project at best nba wise. He would be a small forward without any small forward skills,heck some guards are his size in the pros. Take kids like beasley who at his size plays like an nba small forward as well as the alexander kid from west virginia.
    I was suprised at how unpolished jj was this year. He has great raw talent but needs a heck of a lot of work in every aspect of his game except his 2 to 3 ft game around the basket.
    As far as him and classes are concerned spin it as you will,but this kid and others like him

  11. blackdom 03/19/2008 at 9:06 AM #

    I have a solution for us….send sid or one of his boy’s to europe get us a big man!

  12. packgrad93 03/19/2008 at 9:14 AM #

    “the players hate each other and are fighting publicly, the coaches are somewhere between disinterested and clueles”

    kind of blowing things out of porportion don’t ‘cha think?

  13. packgrad93 03/19/2008 at 9:16 AM #

    “At 6′9 jj is a project at best nba wise. He would be a small forward ”

    Power forward.

  14. packgrad93 03/19/2008 at 9:21 AM #

    PG: Javi, Farnold
    SG: Fergie, Mayes (Fells)
    SF: Fells, Thomas, Horner, CJ Williams
    PF: Costner, Smith
    C: Ben

  15. McPete 03/19/2008 at 9:38 AM #

    i think that ‘jj not going to class’ rumor was started by some retard tarheel/psuedo pack fan on packpride and took off a bit from there. it was also mentioned on the 850 the buzz blog by some flaming tarheel fan.

    but i’d like to know who started a rumor about sleeping with players girlfriend drama. someone mentioned adam harrington, but that was before my time so i’m uninformed.

  16. blackdom 03/19/2008 at 9:43 AM #

    packgrad93: and what is the ? Our squad for next year? If so, lets get a coach in now because Sid does not have a shot with that crew. Or will it be just give him 5 more years.

  17. packgrad93 03/19/2008 at 9:47 AM #

    “If so, lets get a coach in now because Sid does not have a shot with that crew”

    that “crew” is it for next season.

  18. blackdom 03/19/2008 at 9:53 AM #

    packgrad93: either way jj as a 4 or 3 he can’t go with that type of talent.
    Also see on your dream team post you have javi and farnold as pt guards and above that in a post you say you want to see what Sid will do with a point guard? Askur was a very good point guard he was hurt yes ,but if sid says how important a pt guard is why are we stuck with moe,larry and curly at the pt? I believe they were brought here by whom?Oh yes Sid who says how important a pt guard is so what you are saying is let sid stay until he gets around to recruiting a decent pt guard.

  19. packgrad93 03/19/2008 at 10:04 AM #

    “either way jj as a 4 or 3 he can’t go with that type of talent.”

    he can be a good PF with his talent.

    Farnold & Javi will be good PGs. Maybe Sid was counting on Wright, who knows. Mayes can play point & ’09 should bring in a stud (Wall or Brown) Our PG situation should improve each season. Next yr PGs will be better than this past year.

  20. Ed89 03/19/2008 at 10:07 AM #

    1. Javi/Degand/MJ/Mays/Fergie
    2. Fells/Fergie/Thomas/Williams/Mays
    3. Fells/Thomas/Williams/Horner
    4. Horner/Smith/Costner/McCauley
    4. Smith/Costner/McCauley

    If you look, just about every player can play multiple positions. What I notice about next year – and in the years to come is that Sid likes athletic, multi-positional guys. You are starting to see that with Thomas(2/3), Williams(2/3), and Mays(1/2). Truthfully, as I’ve said before, the good thing I see about the off-season is that EVERY position is up for grabs — barring JJ returning, and I don’t think he’ll lose his starting spot. All the other positions are open which will create alot of competition. Last year, I think we had 4 guys (Fells, Costner, McCauley, Grant) enter the off-season thinking we had 4 returning starters and had their starting spots locked up. That lulled the team into thinking they were alot better than they actually were, and believing the media hype. I think this off-season we will see some marked improvement from the players, and definitely ALOT LESS preseason media hype.

  21. Ed89 03/19/2008 at 10:08 AM #

    As most know, that second 4 is supposed to be a 5!!

  22. packbackr04 03/19/2008 at 10:54 AM #

    can sid not bring in terrel holloway? the kid who just decommited from Indiana? he is a top 100 pt guard.

    Fells needs to play the 3 spot next yr, he is a ball handling, perimeter passing nightmare.

    Horner is finished playing unless he really steps his game up, and develops a move other than the pump fake.

    Hopefully CJ Williams and Mays will add shooting to our team, but neither of them is supposed to be a game changer/instant impact player.

    Ben McCauley wouldnt start for any other team in the ACC. he is a 6th man, hes just too unathletic. period.

    Costner needs to commit himself to the weightroom… errr uhhh i mean the track this offseason.

    MJ… thanks for showing up, try the roast beef. Ill be here all weekend. enough said

    fergie showed flashes this yr, but he isnt good enough to play big minutes in the acc.

    Degand is NOT, i repeat, NOT the answer at pt. we saw him play this yr. he was certainly better than Javi, but he is no Lawson, or Singletary, or Rice, or Paulus, or Mclinton, or any other acc pt guard. We will again have the weakest pt guard in the acc next yr.

    did i leave anyone out? surely the coaching was horrific this yr, but this team is just not very good. not very good at all. to think we can compete with Duke and UNC with the level of talent we have is ridiculous. which is why i for one cant wait to hear about transfers… hopefully several players will leave.

  23. Ed89 03/19/2008 at 11:21 AM #

    We are looking at Wall for ’09. No need to bring in Holloway for ’08. PG is not our only problem. Javi and Degand will battle for the PG spot next year.

  24. kyjelly 03/19/2008 at 12:09 PM #

    Look overseas for players !
    ed89: some battle javi and degand? if thats the case time to move on .
    Sid likes those multi positional players? I would be happy if we had a few who could play one position.

  25. beer03 03/19/2008 at 1:29 PM #

    This is sort of tangential so ignore it if you wish, but are there any signs/information that the football staff recognizes administrative incompetence when they see it…I would hate for that to be the case based on what I have seen of that staff so far.

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