North Carolina 77, NC State 63

about state lacking any decent point guard play will surface, even after Brown and Harrow are on the team. what if the issue is with a coach determined to run a system which cannot work-and especially cannot work with the players he has? for three halves this team played some of the most exciting basketball by aggressively trapping full court and playing up tempo. come the Maryland game and the UNC game it was back to slow ball. State tried to half heartedly trap a few times last night, but that was it. Lowe has said that his mentor Valvano said at the beginning of each season that the team was going to play faster, but in the end played slow ball. In Lowe’s press conference last night he said that at times State tried to play maybe too fast. Coach wants an inside out low tempo game no matter what else he says.
will Lowe play Mays over Brown and Harrow to run his low tempo system? at one point in the first half last night i was so infuriated with Mays (this was before it became apparent that Wood was not going to be able to hit the broad side of a barn last night) becasue he stood dribbling near the half court line trying to get everyone into the position he wanted while Wood stood wide open at the three point line begging for the ball.
in 2006 after UNC game to Raleigh with another beatable team and crushed State, support for Sendek was shot. i not longer support Lowe. to me, he could not afford his team losing to a very bad (and yes they are) UNC team.

on the boards. Part of that is unc’s ability to go over the back with impugnity, but a lot of it falls on state’s players and coaches. If Horner is not hitting shots, he offers no advantages over Howell. Howell is a much better rebounder and a much better inside scorer.

I also still do not understand why lowe would press duke, which has the best backcourt in the ACC, and not unc, who has shown a propensity for committing turnovers. I was disappointed that unc seemed to grab every loose ball, they just seemed to want the win more.

I do wish that our players were allowed to guard the rim like it is nba jam. I was getting so mad everytime an announcer would mention all of Henson’s great blocks. 2/3 were goaltends.

It seems like some of the players almost come out intimidated by unc. I think we learned in the liveblog last night that for ultimate success we need a team that has no respect for any other program’s tradition, that wants to smash that tradition to pieces, and establish greatness for themselves. In other words, be motherfuckers!

you are writing that those two shots by Tracy, which i thought from where i sat were goal tended, where indeed goal tended. certainly looked like blatant goal tending to me. not that this is a reason for State losing, but my sister- in- law and I wondered how much that balding ref got from Williams last night to call the game in favor of the TarHeels. that was pretty blatant. most of the time, whenever, he blew the whistle, it wan’t in favor of State.

I am super bored at work this week and need some entertainment. I am going to request 1 new post every 2 hours. They don’t even have to be about NC State, we could do favorite simpsons quotes, beer recommendations, best triangle restaurants, anything. I know you might be working and/or sick, but as a loyal reader of your blog, I don’t think I am asking too much. I am ready to be entertained. You’re on the clock.

Simpsons quote: “You don’t win friends with salad.”

Beer: Seeing Double IPA – Foothills Brewery

Restaurant – Penang, Chapel Hill – Thai/Malaysian

I’m am still holding out hope for a super Havi* type performance at the end of the day by Steven

*trademarked by sbas2

if Lowe would play Mays over Harrow and Brown so that he can create the slow tempo inside out game i think he desires. i was infuriated by the Tuesday night game which lead to me ask that question. i still think its valid until proven otherwise. :-)
two questions. first. why is C. J. Williams still getting playing time? second. does anyone know if Horner is able to practice? if Horner hasn’t been able to practice, it would give reason for his performance against Maryland and UNC.
playing an inside out slow tempo game is allowing teams to double and triple on Smith. after the Duke game, teams learned that they can’t leave Smith when Degand breaks down the defense, and teams are staying with Smith and betting that Degand can’t finish. Degand has not be able to effectively finish in the last two games.

another thing i am getting tired of is Lowe’s quizzical look whenever questionable call goes against State. i quote the following from a WRALSPORTS article: 9 – Teach Sidney Lowe how to undress Refs like Roy and K.
maybe Lowe should look at some film from State games in the late sixties to see how Sloan reacted to such calls?

i will get over it. :-)

I think we have empirical evidence that treating the refs with any modicum of respect gets NC State nowhere (see Sendek and Lowe). My only big issue with the officials this year is the lack of calls Tracy Smith gets. I guess I could go try to look at some FT rate numbers for him as compared to other high usage big men around the league, but it seems like he goes to the line a paltry amount for the defensive coverage he sees. You have to wonder if it stems back to the comments he made.

One idea is to hire Tommy Burleson as an assistant. I still remember him undressing an official from the sidelines during the sendek years. He was the only one standing up in the high rollers sideline section, he was pointing to the closest ref just laying into him. I almost peed myself I was so giddy. I think Tommy could get a referees full attention.

and this dosen’t just concern State. i am wondering how UNC is able to inbounds the ball after a made basket so quickly to initiate their runout. seems that the refs, especially when State is getting the ball after a made basket, hold the ball for an inordinate amount of time allowing the defense of the other team to set up. am i dreaming, or is this a fact?

handle the ball after a made basket. I imagine Roy Williams coaches his players to get the ball in as fast as possible. On the otherhand, many times you will see all but 1 (whoever is playing pg) state player run back up the court, not even realizing that one of them needs to throw it in.