Pack Wins In Lowe-vertime: NCSU 84 – Miami 81

08-09 Basketball General186

UPDATE: 850 The Buzz has put post-game interviews online.

Julius Mays sank a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.8 ticks left on the clock to give NC State a three point win in OT.  Sidney Lowe moved to 5-0 in overtime games, and he did so with a combination of solid coaching moves, tenacity by his team on the floor and some good luck at key moments down the stretch of the extra period.

1 2 OT T
Miami Hurricanes 25 45 11 81
NCSU Wolfpack 39 31 14 84

Courtney Fells had 24 points to lead the Wolfpack, who blew a 19-point lead early in the second half and a pair of leads late in regulation and in overtime before Mays shot sealed the win for the Pack. Brandon Costner added 21 points and Ben McCauley had 12.

Your post-game thoughts here.

ht: “russelbuzz” of 850 The Buzz’s Blog for “Lowe-vertime” phrase.  We like it.
08-09 Basketball General

186 Responses to Pack Wins In Lowe-vertime: NCSU 84 – Miami 81

  1. Daily Update 01/28/2009 at 2:53 PM #

    Tickets for the UNC and BC game are going for $50 at http://www.gopack.com in the first row of the upper level.

  2. wolfpackbball 01/28/2009 at 3:10 PM #

    I’m not saying we have to have gratitude for him being here, he’s not the messiah, no matter how many games he wins. I am saying he deserves the respect that we should automatically give one of our own in his situation.

  3. Packster 01/28/2009 at 3:11 PM #

    I wasn’t referring to anyone in particular as a “Lowe Hater”. But it seems that there are some here that will never be pleased regardless of what he does. If anyone was offended I apologize. But it is irritating that after such a big and good win some people still aren’t happy. I am certainly not a “Lowe Lover” but you cannot deny with a straight face that progress is being made. I wish our fan base wasn’t split. It looks like it is going to remain that way for quite a while to come. It can’t be denied that there are some here that wouldn’t be happy even if we started getting to the NCAA tournament reguarly if Lowe was the coach. This game was a time to be happy and at least for me it is hard to understand how anyone couldn’t be after last night’s peformance. This was a “survive and advance” type of game and that’s what we did.

  4. MP 01/28/2009 at 3:17 PM #

    >”We don’t owe him gratitude. He does get paid, after all. Being head basketball coach at NC State is a prestigious, well-compensated job, not a charity gig.”

    That is true. However, when I say gratitude, I am thinking specifically of how I felt when he was first hired. Whether appropriate or not he was the one willing to come in and attempt to make something good of what was turned into a crap situation by the “coaching search”.

    I don’t know what his salary was as an assistant coach in the NBA and I am sure this was a pay raise. However I can’t help but think that SL cares a whole helluva lot more about this job than pulling a sweet paycheck. I doubt that any financial security he gains while here will be satisfying to him if he leaves without completing the job he came to do. With that said I don’t know him personally so I could be wrong.

    If by the end of the ’10/’11 season he has turned in consecutive poor seasons then he should probably step aside and let someone else take on the challenge. But even if that occurs I will still always feel gratitude for him coming here. If in the end he is on too long of a learning curve to survive in the ACC, so be it – as has been mentioned before he didn’t hire himself.

  5. BJD95 01/28/2009 at 3:21 PM #

    It’s only progress if and when we build on this win. Otherwise, it’s just the 2nd ACC win in 6 tries (without playing UNC or Wake yet).

    The good thing is that we are now in position to have some REALISTIC HOPE to see some progress made.

    The ticket situation (which we’ve discussed many times) is basic supply and demand. There’s no sense trying to inject morality into it. Unless more demand is created, there will always be an excess supply in such a large arena.

  6. buttPACKer 01/28/2009 at 3:27 PM #

    I’m really happy with the win. . . It was a great win.

    but, it doesn’t change my overall perception of how our bb program–indeed, nearly the whole Athletic Dept., save football, baseball and a couple others–is being led. It is like a festering boil nearing abcess.

  7. Mike 01/28/2009 at 3:40 PM #

    If there were 15K there, I have some prime beach front property for sale for $5K.

  8. happypackdad 01/28/2009 at 4:04 PM #

    Future line-ups look nice:
    ’09-’10
    Degand/Mayes/Javy
    Brown/Fergie/Wood
    Williams/Thomas
    Costner/Horner
    Smith/Howell

    ’10-’11
    Harrow/Mayes/Javy
    Brown/Wood
    Williams/Thomas
    Leslie/Howell
    Smith/freshman?

  9. waxhaw 01/28/2009 at 4:10 PM #

    If there is no such thing as a moral victory, then there is no such thing as a bad win.

    You can not have it both ways. Either you are encouraged by playing better in a close loss and discouraged by playing like crap in a win.

    OR

    You only care about W’s and L’s.

    Take your pick but don’t be jumping on Sid in both situations. (or singing his praises in both)

  10. Wulfpack 01/28/2009 at 4:17 PM #

    It’s performances like last night and our first half play at Duke that really have me scratching my head when we play like we did against GT and at BC. I think this team has proven it DOES have the weapons to get it done. Costner, Fells and Mac were freaking awesome last night, Mays and Degand solid, and Horner and Fergie made two huge shots. I personally was disappointed in Smith’s play but it is a process to get a young player to play consistently at a high level. All I’m saying is I loved the way we played last night, I loved the fire, and I do expect more of that here as we head down the stretch. If we play like that, anything is possible. Great night for the Wolfpack.

  11. Wulfpack 01/28/2009 at 4:26 PM #

    “It’s only progress if and when we build on this win. Otherwise, it’s just the 2nd ACC win in 6 tries (without playing UNC or Wake yet).”

    I could not have said it better myself. We had an opportunity after the GT win and blew it at BC. Not just b/c it was a loss, but b/c of the we played. We played a very good basketball game last night. Now I don’t expect a win against UNC, but you can bet your ass I would expect us to compete and compete hard. UNC will likely win the game, but let’s build off this and create some real energy for the second half of the ACC season. We are going to need every win we can get to get this program moving in a positive direction. It matters, to me at least, how we play in wins AND losses.

  12. redfred2 01/28/2009 at 4:57 PM #

    So basically, what they are trying to say is this win MUST be backed up by a more spectacular win, and another, and another, no slipping or sliding in a backwards direction in between, or it’s ALL the coach’s fault.

    Funny but, I seem to remember us doing MUCH slipping and sliding backwards in between when we had the previous staff, and I also remember many of the really great games against Duke and unc back then as well.

  13. packalum44 01/28/2009 at 5:01 PM #

    I am happy we won this game but I fear we haven’t hit bottom yet. My joy for the season has been squashed. I have little faith. We are 2-4. Beat Carolina or fire Lee Fowler if you want to inject some life into me…

    I am freezing my donations to the WPC, accumulating them in my savings, and will disperse them (minus beer money I will deduct to get me through b-ball season) when Lee is gone.

  14. BJD95 01/28/2009 at 5:13 PM #

    For the record, I felt pretty good after the Duke loss and the Miami win. Not overjoyed, but pretty good. That’s the kind of basketball I expect to see NC State play most nights. We didn’t necessarily play well or smart the whole way, but did play hard, and at least put a respectable product on the floor (consistent with what I wanted to see from this team all along, since I never considered us an NCAAT contender).

    I was very dissatisfied with the play during the FSU and BC losses, and the GT win (just a horribly played game by both teams).

    The Clemson game was frustrating to watch, but my overall impression was pretty neutral.

  15. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 01/28/2009 at 5:22 PM #

    I didn’t think the wins and loses mattered to NC State. It is all graduation rates these days.

    Somehow over the last two decades a bunch of donors and fans felt it was their business as to what kind of grades these students-athletes made. Of course most of them sure as hell wouldn’t want anyone looking at their kid’s grades but a bball players grades are of the utmost importance. I’m not aware of anyone in the NC State administration over the last 20 years sending their children’s academic records or SAT scores to the N&O to be distributed to the masses.

  16. Wolf Dog 01/28/2009 at 5:25 PM #

    We beat a good team. Degand keeps playing like he has the last 2 games and Fells keeps playing well we could make some noise the rest of the season. I like the way this teams keeps improving. Costner should be an all ACC selection and if he is he may stick around another year and end up being drafted. Even though we lost I felt like the second half of the BC game was a bit of a turning point for our team. Now maybe they learning how to win.

    I think we got a real shot Saturday. We playing better and UNC still hasn’t got it all together. Go to Hell Carolina…. Go Pack!

  17. choppack1 01/28/2009 at 5:36 PM #

    BJD – I agree 100% w/ you here.

    There are some that want to see to this game as proof positive that Sidney Lowe is a great coach and that those who doubted him were foolish to do so. This is akin to wanting to fire a coach who was won 70% of his conference games after he loses.

    Here are my thoughts on the win:
    It was a big win for Lowe and the staff.
    *It was big because this is the first team w/ legit at-large NCAA bid hopes that we’ve beaten all year.
    *It was big because we had a lead, blew it, but came to where we’ve failed in similar spots.
    *It was huge because when you are coming to a point where it seems like the wheels may be falling off, but you avoided the short term meltdown.
    *It was huge because the team and staff reached down and found something to deliver, and we need that kind of confidence going into a game vs. UNC.

    With that said – if we play hard vs. UNC – regardless of the results – it really doesn’t make that big of a difference to me in how I view this staff. What I am looking for is a team that does the little things that are required to win – boxing out, running the floor when the other team is in transition, running our break right, proper defensive stances/positions, etc…I want to see us to GaTech, VaTech and Miami – and fight like we fought last night.

    I want us to blow UVA out of the gym – so they won’t think they have any business on the floor w/us.

    BJD – You mentioned it another post that this win had a “Les Robinsonesque” feel to it w/ all the 3s we made. I had been thinking the same thing. I DON’T WANT TO TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM THIS WIN. I have decided to view this differently in one key sense: we have been right there at the cusp for a lot of games against a lot of good teams this season and we fell apart in similar situations.

    My hope is that this win does represent the turning of the ship around – but we won’t know it until we go to play a few more teams we can beat or at least hang w/ if we put up a good fight this season.

  18. Wulfpack 01/28/2009 at 6:23 PM #

    “So basically, what they are trying to say is this win MUST be backed up by a more spectacular win, and another, and another, no slipping or sliding in a backwards direction in between, or it’s ALL the coach’s fault.”

    Actually, Red, I didn’t say anything of the sort.

  19. packalum44 01/28/2009 at 7:22 PM #

    I think I may go to Wal-Mart and try on a Duke jersey…just playing. But my future father-in-law did go there so that would make me a notch above regular fans eh…

    My biggest thing with Lowe is that his players lack confidence. They are so scared of screwing up that they under-perform. It is almost as if his pro sets are too complicated or something…No one wants to take the last shot (or first one for that matter). Did that change last game???? Maybe the wheels are in motion but it takes more than one game.

    Shooting is as much about rhythm and confidence than it is talent. We have decent shooters who have low(e) confidence. If our guys just had some confidence and played within themselves, we have a chance to be decent. The coach’s strategy and paradigm are vital! We shoot a high percentage but we shoot half the shots as the other team. Crash the boards! Create turnovers! Shoot more shots than the other team! Simple!!!

  20. JeremyH 01/28/2009 at 8:23 PM #

    if Fells feels up to it, he should drive more. i know he is not a confident dribbler and all, but just get by your man, pull up either for a 18 footer or if you drew some defense, dish it. This goes for the other guards to, the next step for Mays and Degand is to get penetration, consistently, you’d be amazed at how often you go to the foul line and those 7 minute droughts just seem to dry up like pixy dust.

  21. redfred2 01/28/2009 at 8:28 PM #

    Speaking of Sidney Lowe, I think I just had a flashback with that no-look, between the legs, backwards pass to a trailing big man, that a Wake player just abused Duke on.

    Wake is, uh, looking more than just a little legit, they look solid and very confident as well.

  22. Wulfpack 01/28/2009 at 8:34 PM #

    Dino Gaudio is one hell of a coach. I know he has some players, but he’s coached them up in no time and damn, he’s taking it to Coach K. Hell, he already took it to Roy. You may be witnessing a little changing of the guard, so to speak. This team is legit.

  23. wufpup76 01/28/2009 at 8:59 PM #

    WOW … James Johnson just stood there and didn’t go get that rebound … I don’t believe it

    I also don’t believe Wake Forest allowed Duke to close like this … Pretty bad decision making down the stretch combined with some awful free throw shooting

  24. wufpup76 01/28/2009 at 9:02 PM #

    I guess Johnson just made up for it …

    Gaudio just pulled K’s pants down … makes me want to laugh

  25. wufpup76 01/28/2009 at 9:08 PM #

    HOLY COW!!!!!

    An actual OVER THE BACK call on everybody’s all america … TWO FOULS on Hansbraughhh in 6 minutes

    That has to be it … no way they call him for another one for the rest of the game

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