Farewell, Lowe Years

While I still have some time before BILLY DONOVANAGGEDON (trademark pending) turns everything crazypants, I'm going to close the book on the Sidney Lowe era with one final look at what worked (not much) and what didn't (nearly everything).

Last week, Denny Kuiper offered his thoughts on what went wrong from Lowe, and among those criticisms:

I don’t think Lowe’s style of play was conducive to winning in college. I have stated many times that I thought Lowe ran some of the best sets and plays in the ACC. But it was overdone. The team stood around way too much. Too often the Wolfpack would have an opportunity on the fast break, only to come to a screeching halt by Lowe’s whistle, signaling a play to run. I think he over-coached his team on offense. Coaches have to trust their players to make winning plays outside of designated plays.

CJ Williams's dad said something similar shortly after Lowe was let go. I don't completely disagree, though the next time Lowe halts a fast break with a whistle will be the first time. It's also worth noting the team's shooting percentages in Lowe's first three seasons; had those teams simply taken better care of the basketball, over-managed or not, they would have been among the league's best offenses.

It's definitely true that there was too much standing around, and more often than not a lack of cohesion plagued the Wolfpack at the offensive end. But that gets back to some of the other things Kuiper talks about--the difficulty Lowe had in translating his passion into consistent effort on the floor, and the program's chemistry problems. It didn't help, either, that  Lowe had weak options at point guard most of the time.

The offense did evolve over the years, though maybe that isn't the best word for it, and that's most evident in the team's offensive rebounding percentages and 3FGA/FGA ratio. Both were predictable products of a more traditional offense featuring more traditional forwards. Unfortunately, none of those things translated into effectiveness on the court, because all of Lowe's offenses were deeply flawed in one way or another. The early teams were crippled by turnovers and non-existent offensive rebounding, and as those two areas improved, shooting accuracy disappeared.

Beyond "playing inside-out" (and the whistles, if you'd like), we never had the identity or foundation necessary for any sort of consistency. Lowe's underlying philosophy, such as it was, never really took hold, and so we had what was essentially a grab bag of errors.

NC State's next coach has an enormous challenge, a huge barrier to success that he has to overcome very quickly if he is going to succeed here, and that's all about a radical makeover defensively. It has little to do with style and a lot to do with mental approach, instilling work ethic, and finding the right motivational buttons to push with a group of players who have never bothered to give much thought to defense. It won't be easy. Not having the parts is one thing, but this goes much deeper than that. Is, say, Shaka Smart the sort of personality that can make it happen? I suspect not.