No lead is safe against Lowe’s Wolfpack

Granted, the ACC season hasn’t started yet, and granted NC State does have four losses, although none of the “embarrassing” kind against an outmatched opponent. So don’t think this is a starry-eyed rah-rah post that’s blind to the Pack’s record. Instead, it’s a trend-spotting assessment of a very thin but very young Wolfpack team with an eye toward the future.

It’s an old saying, but it is that way because it has the ring of truth: a team reflects the character of its coach. That’s good news when your coach is the scrappy, resourceful and cool-headed Sidney Lowe. Going back to their first game under the new head coach, Lowe’s Wolfpack has shown a never-say-die resiliency, repeatedly charging back from deficits and frequently winning.

The following are the deficits that Lowe’s short-handed squad have overcome so far in their 10-4 pre-ACC campaign:

Wofford: 9 points (54-45) at half (winning 92-88)
Michigan: 12 points (16-4) in the first half (winning 74-67)
East Carolina: 15 points (34-19) in the first half (winning 64-57)
UNC-Greensboro: 11 points (58-47) in the second half (winning 95-93 in OT)

Of course, there was also the insufficient comeback against No. 9 Alabama, when the Wolfpack trailed by 23 in the second half but closed to within six and forced a turnover late in the game before losing by 7, 82-75. (The Pack also trailed at halftime to Gardner-Webb by three, winning 88-76.)

The lesson here is: Don’t count Sidney Lowe’s team out when they’re trailing. This team believes it can come back, and most of the time, they’re right.

General NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe

96 Responses to No lead is safe against Lowe’s Wolfpack

  1. red-enough 01/02/2007 at 10:42 PM #

    it’s the “beacon of optimism”….

    I’m telling ya.

    He’s a motivator…. and he keeps them believing in themselves…. never hangs his head and maintains a strong and positive posture.

    He’s a leader gentlemen.

  2. Delete-Me 01/02/2007 at 11:30 PM #

    Even my mom has “come back” to watch the Pack. She couldn’t stand Herb and it was hard-pressed to get her to attend a bball game with my dad.

    She’s gone to the past three games and is happier.

  3. OwenDorm83 01/02/2007 at 11:59 PM #

    This is fun already. But, when Sid gets some ammunition, it’s going to be REALLY FUN

  4. the_phisherman 01/03/2007 at 12:22 AM #

    The only troubling thing going into ACC play is our lack of fire coming out of the gate. This teams plays with great heart but does not seem able to get anything going for the first 5 – 10 minutes of the game. However, we are an excellent second half team. How many times have we faced a team that shot “lights out” from 3 point land in the first half then slowed down in the second half. It also seems like we don’t shoot very well in the first half, but turn it up in the second half. Maybe it has something to do with the basket closest to our bench and/or the teams ability to hear the coach.

  5. BJD95 01/03/2007 at 12:32 AM #

    I’m not sure that it’s “fire”, or just that our perimeter defense is just really, really bad. Atsur will help that, but only ifhe’s at least at 80-90%.

  6. bTHEredterror 01/03/2007 at 12:36 AM #

    Ever the realist, I must point out the other head of that wonderful trend….falling behind. But the point is, I too see that old Valvano spirit in this young team, and they are fun to watch.

  7. the_phisherman 01/03/2007 at 12:43 AM #

    Yes falling behind is definitely my concern.

    from:
    http://www.gopack.com/downloads1/14701.HTM?
    ATCLID=691431&SPID=3731&DB_OEM_ID=9200&SPSID=41963

    SCORE BY PERIODS: 1st 2nd OT Total
    —————————— —- —- —- —-
    NC State…………………. 482 548 18 – 1048
    Opponents………………… 459 482 16 – 957

  8. redfred2 01/03/2007 at 1:29 AM #

    Like I said before, I’m not a fan of sputtering at any time, but I can tolerate it early much better than I can, AND DID, late in games.

  9. ShootingGuard 01/03/2007 at 1:59 AM #

    “The only troubling thing going into ACC play is our lack of fire coming out of the gate. This teams plays with great heart but does not seem able to get anything going for the first 5 – 10 minutes of the game.”

    There is no lack of fire on the part of this team. Unfortunately, subconsciously and otherwise, these guys seem to be just trying to get through the first half and then go for broke and give it their all in the second half—hence the recent comebacks versus Bama, ECU, and now UNCG as well as the dismantling of UNCW in the second half. They may be trying to find a balance in their energy output because earlier in the season, in games vs UVA and WVU for example, they played pretty hard for most of the game and then simply died at crunch time, worn out.

    This may be hard for some people to understand if you have never played organized ball on a team that was outmanned over the course of a season, but these guys are really fighting with how to balance their energy / minutes vs playing tough defense vs conserving fouls, etc. It is not easy and will be a real fight all season long. When you see Brandon Costner come out for the second half and sit on the bench while the guards and walk-ons and football players do warm-up drills as was the case vs ECU, you should understand how difficult this fight is. And it is not about conditioning, it is about numbers. Several of the scrub teams have made it their game plan to try to run us and beat on us and foul us to wear us down, and that will be a strategy we will see all season from better teams than we have seen so far. If it was a 5 on 5 game for 40 minutes, we could win a lot of games, but it’s not. Hansborough and Wright will work on Brandon and Ben, and then their top 100 subs will come in and work some more while Brandon and Ben get no rest—then they will switch back to a fresh Hansborough and Wright. GT, Maryland, even LOWF and others with double the number of scholarship players will try to do the same thing to the 40 minute club. Hopefully, we will get a number of wins at home—where the “6th man” fans provide some extra energy—but, as UVA / WVU / Cincy have shown us, don’t expect a lot of success on the road where we have zero fan energy to bolster us…

  10. StateFans 01/03/2007 at 7:47 AM #

    ^ As usual, absolutely fantastic stuff.

    I can only pray that our bad defense – and average rebounding efforts – result exclusively from our thin roster.

  11. PackPride83 01/03/2007 at 7:55 AM #

    Question for those that have been to more games: it seems that teams are lighting it up in the first half, and we don’t play as agressively, however, could it be a result of a more relaxed defensive scheme in order to avoid early foul problems (given the depth issues)? I have followed most of the games via the internet and have been very surprised (okay… shocked) at the unbelievably low number of fouls we have had in the first half (and overall, really). It would seem to me to be a logical explanation for the discrepency between the first and second halves. This is not something you can tell from following the box scores, or following on the the internet. Was just curious……

    SFN: There is NO DOUBT that the Pack hasn’t fouled very much in games this year. There is also no doubt that our defense has been much less intense and aggressive than in past years. The two definitely are correllated. The HOPE is that there are logical reasons (like depth) to explain the poor defense.

  12. Rick 01/03/2007 at 8:16 AM #

    “He’s a motivator…. and he keeps them believing in themselves…. never hangs his head and maintains a strong and positive posture”

    This is such an overlooked trait. Sidney gives his teams confidence in his manner and the way he coaches. This is not something we have seen in a while.

    I agree that the falling behind is troubling but I think shooting guard makes sense. Great post btw.

  13. Pack92 01/03/2007 at 8:22 AM #

    ShootingGuard nails it. When you are for the most part out-manned you have to play smart. Playing smart involves knowing what your guys can and cannot do as well as when to do it. How many times (last night during the Orange Bowl?) have we all heard the underdog wants to “keep it close” till the end of the game then turn it on? Team chemistry becomes one of the single most important aspects of your game and you have to know how to manage it. Sid is doing an excellent job of that as evidenced by the “let them get in front but don’t let them get away” style of play. I have also been amazed at our low foul count compared to our lack of depth. Those 2 do not normally correlate together! The potential for a team that plays with brains AND brawn is unlimited.

  14. PackGirl 01/03/2007 at 8:41 AM #

    McCauley embodies the brains + brawn concept, plus you need to add in his determination and hard work. When they interviewed him at the end of the game and asked if he could have gone another 5 minutes (ie, another OT) in addition to the 45 he already played, his response was “I could play another game.” I think he meant it. Didn’t have a single foul thorugh regulation and no TOs at all.

  15. RAWFS 01/03/2007 at 8:43 AM #

    Saw Lee Fowler last night as we were leaving 109…he’s got a scraggly beard growing in and looked really tired…but happy.

    I was going to say hi to him, but some older lady (not his wife) glommed onto him and wouldn’t let anyone else get a word in edgewise.

  16. Texpack 01/03/2007 at 8:44 AM #

    I think that in addition to the effort being made to conserve energy early in games, that we are a half step slow on the perimeter. Fells is the only rotation player we have that I would describe as quick. McAuley looks quicker than he really is because his brain is two moves ahead of everybody else. I do like the fact that we seem to be able to make adjustments. In recent years it seemed like teams would figure us out after awhile and once they did we had no plan B. I would still prefer to go up by 7, adjust, and then win by 25.

  17. TampaPack 01/03/2007 at 8:44 AM #

    I am fortunate enough to have ESPN-U down here in Tampa, so its been nice catching some of these games, since they aren’t played locally on the radio or even on TV that often. Anyway, I may have missed it, but these announcers couldn’t stop talking about how great Sidney is, and all that he has brought to the team, and our incredible coaching staff, recruiting, etc. It was really a refreshing change. In fact, unless I missed it again, I think the only time they even said the words “Herb Sendek” was when they were listing all of the great coaches that NC State has had. I didn’t hear a single bashing of the fans, the school, anything – what a change. Not sure who called the game, but it must have been someone fairly local, as they said they had seen each of the teams a few times previously this year in action themselves. It was just a nice change to watch a game and not hear the commentators continously trashing the univeristy and its fans.

    GO Pack – keep up the awesome effort and the wins will follow. You really have to believe watching these kids and these coaches that the future is nothing but up. Not to bash Sendek but if he had this team, I don’t think our record would be anywhere near this good. His style of play wouldn’t allow the comebacks we have seen. I think it is the confidence given to these kids by the new staff. They’ve been here and done this before – its much easier to teach when you’ve lived it.

  18. Red_Terrors 01/03/2007 at 8:53 AM #

    TampaPack, I too watched the game on ESPNU up here in Virginia and was suprised at the Sidney praise and lack of fan bashing by the commentators. I don’t remember our last coach ever being brought up. They praised Lowe and especially McCauley, and never once ragged on the fans. For the games I’ve seen, this was the best announced game by far.

    Bring on BC!!!

  19. StateFans 01/03/2007 at 8:58 AM #

    I had to post the following quote from today’s N&O:

    http://www.newsobserver.com/734/story/528122.html

    “In reality, it took clutch plays and all the heart, hustle and guts the Pack had to wrest this gut-check game from a spirited Spartans team that made a school-record 16 3-pointers.”

  20. Wulfpack 01/03/2007 at 9:02 AM #

    I’ve been a SFN “no-show” for a while as life is as busy as ever, but it hasn’t stopped me from pulling hard for the Pack! All I can say is, whatever the ACC season brings, I am super impressed with Lowe and this team. It’s all about the “can do” attitude and the willingness to do whatever it takes. Keep up the good work!

  21. highonlowe 01/03/2007 at 9:09 AM #

    27 fouls on UNCG during regulation, geez. Anyone have any insight into this stats for those who couldn’t see that game?

  22. partialqualifier 01/03/2007 at 9:19 AM #

    First….as to the number of fouls called on UNC-G:

    State was pounding it inside and UNC-G was bombing up threes all night. Usually there is a much higher chance for a foul in the paint than there is on guys shooting threes. Not too mention that it is extremely hard to foul a guy when he is three feet away from you….which is about how open their shooters were all night.

  23. RickJ 01/03/2007 at 9:20 AM #

    ^We attack the basket with some highly skilled players. UNCG tried to defend us and ended up fouling a lot.

  24. BoKnowsNCS71 01/03/2007 at 9:21 AM #

    I sense the same optimism and elation that we all had after the win over Boston College and FSU in football.

    There is a lot of season left and big expectations bring big let downs. We should be proud of Sid and the Pack but the real season starts on Saturday.

  25. Rochester 01/03/2007 at 9:22 AM #

    Bucky Waters was one of the announcers last night. I don’t remember the other guy’s name, but it wasn’t someone I’d heard of before. He was good, especially compared to the chumps they’ve given us in the past week.

    I’d attribute much of the foul disparity to UNCG launching a lot of 3’s, while we worked inside quite a bit. We made most of ours, too, which was huge. Fells is almost automatic at the line.

    As for UNCG, that Hines kid was impressive. He really could play in the ACC. He was almost unstoppable.

Leave a Reply