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2/10/2009 10:42:18 AM
http://bustersports.com/accposts.aspx?id=2546&blogid=77I wrote a piece seven days ago about how the week N.C. State had just concluded – a win over Miami; a respectable loss to North Carolina - was progress.The intent was to illustrate something positive actually happened in the program instead of constantly penning the negatives that have poured from these fingertips for the last two seasons.But this week the tone has reverted back to the negative, and with good reason.With nearly three years of the Sidney Lowe experiment providing plenty of evidence, the take here is that it’s not working. Lowe is in his third year, and for every degree of progress shown, a more mesmerizing step backwards follows.The latest example came Sunday when the Wolfpack blew an 18-point, second-half lead at Virginia Tech and lost, 91-87, in overtime.This was worse than allowing UNC’s 25-0 run a year ago or falling at East Carolina last season. There were excuses within that team that lent itself to levels of wretchedness to which few ACC programs have plummeted.But the current NCSU club is experienced and has talent. It has proven on numerous occasions that it can play with very good teams for lengthy stretches, but it always finds a way to lose. And at some point one has to stop blaming the officials, a cavernous arena that is a Godsend to the program, a lack of a point guard, and the selfishness of certain players.At some point, one must blame the coach.This has nothing to do with Lowe being a nice man. It has to do with the state of N.C. State’s basketball program. The team isn’t good because it doesn’t beat quality opponents. The program is worse off because there appear to be no answers in the younger classes currently on campus, and the incoming recruits aren’t locks to turn around the program.And even if John Wall opts for the ’Pack, he’ll be gone as quickly as he arrived, and the program could be in an even deeper hole once he leaves.This is Lowe’s program, yet most of those who receive minutes were Herb Sendek recruits. That should mean something to all evaluators. If not for Sendek hands Ben McCauley, Brandon Costner, Dennis Horner and Courtney Fells, would the ’Pack even have one victory this season?That quartet, and in particular Costner and McCauley, are capable college players. In fact, there isn’t a program in the ACC that wouldn’t take them, and either would start for Duke and North Carolina.So how has the ’Pack been so downright pitiful late in games?It doesn’t believe it can win.State blew an 11-point second-half lead at Florida and lost. Florida State closed on a 19-2 run to win in Raleigh. Duke finished its win last month on a 27-5 run. UNC closed 13-4 at the RBC Center. And the Hokies outscored State 33-15 to close out regulation Sunday. (Even Miami overcame a 16-point deficit two weeks ago, but lost)One reason is that Lowe is constantly changing lineups to match opponents like they do in the NBA. Earth to Sid: This isn’t the NBA.In college, you develop a personality to match your system and make teams adjust to you. He doesn’t do that. There is little consistency in playing rotations, hence the team’s lack of cohesion most of the time.Sophomore power forward Tracy Smith played 22 minutes against Virginia Tech on Sunday, but just five earlier in the week against N.C. Central.Senior Simon Harris has played five minutes in the last seven ACC games – all in overtime against Miami two weeks ago. And so on.But the most egregious handling of minutes has come at point guard - Lowe’s role on the 1983 NCSU national championship team. He should be clued in to a point guard’s primary roles: get the rest of the team on the same page, and statistics go from there.Yet, how can that happen when Lowe is juggling three point guards like some kind of Las Vegas night act? Choose one and move on, Sid!Javie Gonzalez resurfaced Sunday and played 36 minutes in Blacksburg, Va. He had played only 16 minutes in three prior ACC appearances this season, having been banished to the end of the bench after the Duke game.But there he was Sunday, sporting a new headband and coughing up five turnovers. He played well against N.C. Central - one of the worst teams in the nation - earlier in the week, and somehow that inspired Lowe.The coach did the same thing last month with freshman Julius Mays, whose 13-point effort against Florida State earned him a starting spot. His time has dwindled since, and he has scored just 21 points in the seven games since facing FSU.Then there is Degand, who was singled out a couple of times in Sunday’s pregame notes. One item noted his 16 assists and only eight turnovers in State’s last four games, the other for his growing confidence. Yet, he wasn’t in the lineup because of some apparent academic issues and - and this is absolutely true, as mind-boggling as it is - he tweaked his surgically repaired knee running in a P.E. class earlier in the week.Yep, the starting point guard in his fourth year of college is taking P.E. during the season – not the summer like most athletes – and was injured, forcing Lowe to start Gonzalez.Who is running the show in Raleigh? How on earth can the staff allow a key player with a bad knee to take such a course, particularly during the season? Somebody didn’t do their job.This is how it has been all season, and really how it has been the last two seasons when Lowe has had options from which to choose.And finally, State is 2-14 in league play in the last 12 months, which doesn’t include an ACC Tournament loss last March. So naturally, no other ACC team comes close to posting State’s 11-29 conference mark since Lowe arrived.This isn’t a suggestion that Lowe be fired after the season. It is really just stating the obvious, and nearly three seasons into his tenure, it just isn’t working._______________________________________________________________now, dont get me wrong as i will state my stance as a lowe defender but unless something changeshe is losing me with his coaching style. i hate this faggot writer with a passion but i feel A.Jones is spot on with this piece.
2/10/2009 10:44:15 AM
^There are some obvious discrepancies in that article, but it still pretty spot-on as a whole.
2/10/2009 10:54:29 AM
what does that homo say that can't be explained by our inexperience and lack of talent at the point guard position? Its like the media writes this shit, and our fans buy into it. its getting old. I'm not saying he's wrong...he's just pointing out the obvious, and I'm saying what I've been saying for a year and a half now, give him his 4 to 5 years to turn it around, our program was not in as good of shape as people think when he took over. [Edited on February 10, 2009 at 11:00 AM. Reason : ]
2/10/2009 10:57:49 AM
2/10/2009 11:06:10 AM
hes not arguing about the academic issuehe is asking, and i am as well, why in the hell is Degand taking a PE class during season and not during the summer when most of the student athletes take itthat is a very valid point. why would you want someone as dinged up as FD taking this class right now?makes no sense at all
2/10/2009 11:14:31 AM
^that is a legit concern.Is it true? Is he really taking a p.e. class during the b-ball season that requires running? Immediately after recovering from a season-ending knee injury? That's kinda retarded.[Edited on February 10, 2009 at 11:32 AM. Reason : grammar]
2/10/2009 11:18:32 AM
very much true
2/10/2009 11:21:06 AM
2/10/2009 11:24:59 AM
I think it's a pretty dumb comparison...but we are arguably worse this year than we were last year after JJ Hickson did a one and done. There are definitely a lot of other factors to consider...but I think he's basically saying that a great player will come in for a year, the team will improve marginally, then after he's gone it will show our teams sucks a gone and that our poor coaching is the underlying factor.Just thinking that where he was going with it.
2/10/2009 11:27:41 AM
I'm thinking that Lowe has already landed a point guard and a big man for 2010, so John Wall for a year won't fucking matter because he's already planned for the 2010-2011 season without him. Thats what good recruiters do.
2/10/2009 11:31:26 AM
2/10/2009 11:36:25 AM
We'll see. I think its been discussed enough why some of the current players we have that Lowe recruited aren't up to the level we would expect. And I've been saying it for 3 years....if the recruits that he's had time to scout, build relationships with, and bring in turn out to be the same quality as the guys he scrambled to get just because we needed bodies, then I'll be questioning his abilities to scout talent.
2/10/2009 11:45:52 AM
2/10/2009 11:49:02 AM
2/10/2009 11:52:56 AM
2/10/2009 12:00:29 PM
^^I'm one arguing with you a lot, and I don't disagree with that statement...but do you ever consider that yes, we do have talent, but we don't have the right pieces to win right now? The point guard issue is minimized by that blurb, and I don't think its fair to do so. Blame coach for not bringing one in, blame him for not developing the ones he has even though they've been injured, but for gods sake, don't act like point guard isn't a HUGE problem for this team. [Edited on February 10, 2009 at 12:09 PM. Reason : ]
2/10/2009 12:08:21 PM
2/10/2009 12:18:00 PM
and what I don't get is how people can act like the Lowe supporters are retarded for thinking that way. that statement ^ is exactly how I feel about the situation, yet I come here and only post pro-Lowe stuff because the haters aren't looking at it from both sides. Its the reason this thread keeps going in circles and should be locked. If the Lowe haters were right, bring it back at the end of next season. I'll be on their bandwagon if things havent' started to get better by that point too.
2/10/2009 12:26:35 PM
2/10/2009 12:26:50 PM
But against Miami, we had a bad stretch where we missed some shots and miami got hot from 3....and on a couple of posessions we forced a loose ball only to have it roll right to an open 3 point shooter. Against VT, say what you will, but the refs made that a game. VT still had to execute down the stretch and we had to choke, but if you look at it like the refs gift them 8 points, we basically gave up a 10 point lead with 12 minutes left on the road in a hostile environment. Like I say, we still had to do a lot of stuff wrong to lose, but I'm just pointing out the other perspective.
2/10/2009 12:30:25 PM
^Shit like that happens in every game. Bottom line is that we're consistently blowing huge leads.
2/10/2009 12:46:16 PM
^and another bottom line is that can't all be chalked up to the coach.[Edited on February 10, 2009 at 1:11 PM. Reason : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCiVXigrjjQ]
2/10/2009 1:02:55 PM
2/10/2009 1:15:34 PM
2/10/2009 1:57:07 PM
2/10/2009 2:08:26 PM
^I agree with it...it just doesn't change my opinion of his coaching abilities.So all I have is to hope that my opinion is wrong. Because as a program, it would be better if I was wrong (and I'm wrong quite often...so I'm not hoping for one of those "I told you so" moments). But if I'm right, it would be better for us as a program to get him out as soon as possible. Although it would look bad for us to get rid of a guy so early...it will probably be just as bad to see our program get closer to the Les Robinson depths of over a decade ago.
2/10/2009 2:25:42 PM
I don't have ESPN Insider, but the word over on StateFans is that Sidney Lowe is being used as an example of a bad hire in the article Doug Gottlieb has up today and Tony Bennett as the opposite of a Sid Lowe.If someone can verify this, it would be interesting.[Edited on February 10, 2009 at 2:38 PM. Reason : name]
2/10/2009 2:38:32 PM
That's not so surprising. IIRC Doug Gottlieb had a major hardon for Herb and crucified State fans for running him off.
2/10/2009 2:52:55 PM
So if you were an unbiased reporter, who would you have replaced Lowe with?
2/10/2009 2:55:40 PM
2/10/2009 2:56:11 PM
its true, and DG is a fucking homo and has written numerous articles about how bad of a coach or how terrible of a fanbase we are.
2/10/2009 2:57:10 PM
2/10/2009 3:15:49 PM
ahahahahahhahaThe best part about all this is that I used the same shit to defend Herb Sendek.Better RecruitsCoach isn't playing the game, playersRefsNext Year.etcetcetc.Except at least with herb we did have 5 years of decent basketball.Maybe Lowe turns it around next year, I don't think so.
2/10/2009 3:20:40 PM
HahahahaMike: How did your mediocre basketball career prepare you for a mediocre broadcasting career?Doug Gottlieb: which one of us works for ESPN... hey and next time...when I you say 30 minutes or less....get here on time with my pizza.John (Notre Dame): Doug, I lost my credit card, where were you last night?Doug Gottlieb: Ask your MomJohns Mom (Notre Dame): GOTTLIEB I KNOW YOU STOLE MY SON'S CREDIT CARD!Doug Gottlieb: (4:34 PM ET ) Ten years ago I made a mistake...and payed for it...18 years ago YOU WERE your parents mistake and they are still paying for it.
2/10/2009 3:26:23 PM
^^I hate to keep repeating myself, but i feel like i need to remind people that it took herb SIX years to make the tournament for the first time. Plenty of time to get the recruits he needed to run his system. Not three. Not four. Six! And even after he started making the tournmanet, he quickly plateued. And Herb's offense was just plain boring. Remember? Were you there?[Edited on February 10, 2009 at 3:27 PM. Reason : ]
2/10/2009 3:27:37 PM
2/10/2009 3:27:48 PM
2/10/2009 3:31:09 PM
sd2nc, was that what you posted really in the comments section?
2/10/2009 3:33:20 PM
^^^^ And others are tired of repeating that we were supposed to build on what we had going. Not taking another 4+ years to get back to where we were.[Edited on February 10, 2009 at 3:34 PM. Reason : ^^]
2/10/2009 3:33:54 PM
^^, just some old IM he had from his SN chat. He's gotten ripped many times for being harsh.
2/10/2009 3:37:02 PM
2/10/2009 3:50:24 PM
^^^you do realize the two styles of play couldn't be more polar opposites, right.....It takes alot of effort to fit a square peg in a round hole.not to mention lowe essentially missed out on the first 2 years of recruiting and the players that decommitted after herb left.[Edited on February 10, 2009 at 3:52 PM. Reason : .]
2/10/2009 3:52:23 PM
2/10/2009 3:57:41 PM
i woke up this morningAND SIDNEY LOWE WAS STILL OUR COACH!! FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!
2/10/2009 4:00:07 PM
^^ That is fucking hilariousand
2/10/2009 5:16:12 PM
Well maybe if we had a coach who was winning games we wouldn't be so critical now would we?
2/10/2009 5:50:27 PM
there are not that many absolutes in life, but there are realties that have to be dealt with. in parallel, a few important things have become self-evident in the recent course of Wolfpack athletics:- FACT: noone coaches forever- Therefore: coaching searches will ensue sooner or later.- FACT: the AD is ultimately responsible for finding the right people for the jobs- Self-evident reality: This AD hasn't been that great at finding the right people for the jobs.- My suggestions: -- Its STILL to early to turn on Sid. I STILL think he needs more time. -- Before it becomes time to replace Sid, and while TOB is holding the fort down, it is imperative that we replace this AD with someone more capable. Replacing a coach in a last minute situation isn't easy, and replacing an AD hastily will also not be easy. My hope: the powers that be have already set this in motion.[Edited on February 10, 2009 at 5:52 PM. Reason : typoz]
2/10/2009 5:52:26 PM
Boring offense?I guess you're right. Wanting to throw my remote at the tv because our PG got a backcourt violation is a lot more entertaining then watching Evtimov practically pass in a 3pt bucket in a revenge rape of Wake Forrest in the ACCT.Got me there.
2/10/2009 5:53:35 PM
Re: Finding the right people for the jobs?Who has he been involved with hiring? O'BrienLoweChoboyOlsenSpringthorpeStubbs/ByrneJordanWho'd I miss? Anyone?
2/10/2009 5:57:18 PM