NC State 88 Wake Forest 74 (Updated 11:30am Sunday)

06-07 Basketball General129

Joel Coliseum was half empty Saturday afternoon when the chant came echoing out of the upper deck. At the free throw line with 1:46 to play, Wake Forest freshman L.D. Williams had to double-take to make sure he was still playing in the Demon Deacons’ home arena. “For as long as I’ve been a basketball player, never have I heard another team’s chant on my home court,” Williams said. “That just sent me over the edge.”

Sidney Lowe gets his first ACC win as the Wolfpack take down rival, Wake Forest!!

I don’t care how bad Wake is this season – this win means a lot. In the history of NC State Basketball, ONLY Les Robinson and Herb Sendek had losing records against Wake Forest. It is imperative that NC State exercises its dominance over the Demon Deacons again. So on Saturday – despite Skip Prosser’s FIVE YEAR head start on Sidney Lowe – the Pack’s new coach starts on the right foot in this important intra-state rivalry.

* Take a quick look at some of these statistics about the history of sweeps in this series and note the discrepency in the long term history of the rivalry compared to the recent performance of the last 16 years.

On Saturday the Wolfpack didn’t waste another great shooting night by playing good defense and improving our performance on the boards. The Pack shot a blistering 60% from the floor, 45% from three point territory and 79% from the free throw line!! Unreal shooting and kudos should go out to most of the usual suspects with extra credit to Dennis Horner!

Boxscore | S6’s Analysis < = is always super!

Great comments in our comments section of the blog. Thanks to all! I thought that we would elevat the following:

I was thrilled to see Sidney go to the bench so much. Stealing minutes as I call it. We created so much offense with the 1-3-1 that it really took some pressure off of our half court game. Lengthening the bench sends a message to our guys to play hard, because you can take a seat for a while to catch your breath. The effort on our part was so much better today. We can be competitive when we work like this, although I don’t expect Mr. Fells to shoot like that every game. Dennis Horner is going to be a nice player. I don’t think a superstar, but a nice solid player for us.

I even got my wish for the new year that I posted earlier – 5 scrubs on the floor for the conclusion of an ACC road victory. Sidney Lowe – I think this guy can coach.

Some more Sunday morning comments:

* I don’t care how

* You can click here for some video highlights from WRAL-TV that includes Brandon Costner’s dunk. Surely someone will get this and Courtney Fells’ slam on YouTube in the coming days!

* Don’t ignore this entry on Sidney Lowe’s inclusion of David Thompson yesterday.

* Don’t miss GoPack’s hard work and great coverage. (Link here)

Some of our ‘live blog’ comments from the first 10 minutes of the game follow. We LOVE THE recognition of State’s recent inability / unwillingness to draw charges right before the Pack turned it around and had its best defensive half of the year in drawing at least three or four charges in the second half!

Additionally, the Trevor Ferguson comments foretold the playing time that Darrell Davis inherited as the game evolved. I think Coach Lowe may have altered his strategy for the rest of the year as the lack of offensive firepower that Davis, Neiman and Ferguson provide is outweighed by the other positive impacts of their presence on the court.

1st Half comments —

Not an all out liveblog. Just some comments during the game.

* Watching us just dribble can be awfully painful. Grant and Fells are just scary with their dribbles and the lack of fundamentals of some of their initial passes.

* When was the last time NC State took a charge? I just watched Gavin Grant literally RUN away from the opportunity to stop penetration and help Dennis Horner by taking a charge. The result? Two free points for the Deacs. You won’t see that in the boxscore.

* Nice to see Fells shooting so well and asserting himself offensively. Four three pointers in the first 16 minutes of the game. Wow! A shooting guard that can shoot (and slash the way that Fells can slash) will do wonders to free up everyone else on the court.

* Nice to see Grant slashing a little more and generally making better decisions than in recent games.

* Wake has generally worked hard to keep Costner somewhat quiet. Nice to see everyone else stepping up.

* Give State credit for significant improvement on our defensive boards.

* Ben McCauley hasn’t been as active as State needs; but the Pack has been able to build an 11 point lead with four minutes to play in the first half. This is good news. We have to hope that the Pack doesn’t completely forget Ben in the second half when/if Wake starts to make runs. Sure points (let’s call them “highly efficient offensive possessions”) that arise from getting the ball in McCauley’s hands will be key to the Pack maintaining the lead.

* Trevor Ferguson will not get many minutes if he doesn’t do more with them.

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06-07 Basketball General

129 Responses to NC State 88 Wake Forest 74 (Updated 11:30am Sunday)

  1. Sw0rdf1sh 01/14/2007 at 8:04 AM #

    ^Glen you hit it on the head with Davis’ D. He did play a little rough, but you know what, I think his initial excitement, the press D that was being shown (inconsistently) from Wake, and the all around feeling he wanted to hit someone football style took over him a little.

    At least no one ran him over in the post and he proved he had some ups when he almost slammed that rebound over Wake’ back.

    I’m happy we have him and Clark (even though we have yet to see clark in action) and I’m even MORE happy that Sid used his bench.

    Damn I’m stoked for our bench boys.

  2. PackGirl 01/14/2007 at 10:39 AM #

    From today’s Fayetteville Observer:
    WINSTON-SALEM — Joel Coliseum was half empty Saturday afternoon when the chant came echoing out of the upper deck.

    At the free throw line with 1:46 to play, Wake Forest freshman L.D. Williams had to double-take to make sure he was still playing in the Demon Deacons’ home arena.

    “For as long as I’ve been a basketball player, never have I heard another team’s chant on my home court,” Williams said. “That just sent me over the edge.”

    Much thanks to Wolfpack fans who showed up in Winston yesterday – whoever you are!

    SFN: Thanks for sharing. We’ve elevated into the entry!

  3. Elrod 01/14/2007 at 11:30 AM #

    Thanks, Sid. It’s coming back!

  4. wolfonthehill 01/14/2007 at 11:50 AM #

    Let’s just hope that yesterday was a sign of things to come, both in terms of player rotations and effort/energy. THAT team can win 6-8 games in the league, although dropping the first three makes that a tall order.

    Keep the fresh legs & the enthusiasm coming, boys – the rest will take care of itself.

    And one final note that I’ve heard no one mention: Has anyone really watched us run a fast break lately? In just a few months, Sid and Monte have taught these boys how to run one to near-perfection. Two guys run down opposite sides, passing back and forth, the ball never touching the ground, until one is in position to go to the rim. Not to say he was right about everything, but this is how Dean taught his boys to run a break. It’s VERY nice to have great point guards teaching our guys how to play basketball – we look like a normal team for the first time in about 15 years.

  5. MadWolf92 01/14/2007 at 12:11 PM #

    One officiating question: how can someone “carry” the ball, when he makes only *one* dribble?

  6. redfred2 01/14/2007 at 12:20 PM #

    Maybe the coaching staff has a little more discretion than we have given them credit for so far. vtpackfan said it better than anyone, when he said that these kids are just now beginning to play the minutes and get adjusted to the college game. That’s not even talking about the bench, that’s concerning all of the starters, except one, and he’s out due to injury at this point. Having patience and giving these guys the opportunity to progress in practice, then working them in slowly up off of the bench, instead of throwing them into fire right off the bat, and possibly losing them for the season, may be the best thing for their confidence and for the team in the long run.

    Who knows?

    I do know one thing though, if there is any slight opening or any way to conjure up different opinions on hard to figure coaching decisions, and with what I’ve learned over the past few years, I think I can shine more than a few rays of sunshine over in Coach Lowe’s corner from here on out. I’ll admit though, I couldn’t have done it alone, without following the lead and in the footsteps of the many legendary SS’ers of the past decade.

    Thanks guys, you have taught me well. 😉

  7. Frank 01/14/2007 at 12:59 PM #

    “Who knows?”

    Lowe knows.

  8. vtpackfan 01/14/2007 at 2:16 PM #

    There was one carry call that was wrong. A State player, Fells I believe, palmed it when he piked up his dribble. Meaning he didn’t continue in the act of dribbling so there is in no way a rules infraction. It was the last of the calls, and one the official knew was a mistake, I believe, and blew the whistle in haste thinking Fells would continue dribbling.

    The palming calls are a new TO part of the same overall problem. Grant or Fells have picked up their dribble in bad spots across the timeline. Coach Lowe and his staff have obviously worked with them to keep their dribble alive until they get to where the offense can work. When they palm it I think there is an indecisive moment where they usually panic and pick the ball up, but somewhere in the back of their minds the ear Sid’s or Monte’s voice telling them not to.

    Bottm line, it’s to be expected. I think these guys are learning alot in a short period of time. It’s a balancing act of teaching new aspects of the game to young players without stifling their existing talents. Against WF GG was aggressive, and Courtney moved well without the ball and set himself for three pointers. I think we’ve seen when they haven’t been able to play to their strength’s, and it is without question that we’ll probably see these touh times again this season. McCauley, Costner, and Horner deal with it too under the boards, and their inconsistency at rebounding can be spotted easily on stat sheets as well. They are all taking a crash course apprenticeship in ACC basketball while also being asked to ake the lead night in and night out.

  9. choppack1 01/14/2007 at 3:48 PM #

    Lots of coaching props to give to Lowe and staff for this performance. Here’s the following adjustments I saw:
    1) Played Fells at the Point and moved Grant to his more natural SG or SF position.
    2) Using more players off the bench. Nieman, Davis, Ferguson and even another sub saw action while the game was still in doubt.
    3) Great useage of TO’s when he wasn’t happy w/ team’s effort on the defensive end – either on the boards or stopping penetration
    4) Even allowed Costner to bring the ball up.
    5) much better intensity throughout the game yesterday.

    Fantastic job by players and staff. It’s only 1 win, but it’s a start and it was impressive.

  10. vtpackfan 01/14/2007 at 6:28 PM #

    -add mixed 1-3-1 zone(and maybe a 2-3 on one or two possesions) in well. It is a nice system to have in place when man-to -man isn’t working, but even better to use to throw off anothers temas chance to make a comeback.

    It worked well against WF, but it will be interesting how Sid uses it against Duke. On the one hand it would be good to forse Paulas to one side of the court and limit him, maye even force a few TO’s. I guess the heath and availability of Atsur will determine much of the defensive gameplan. I’m afraid McRoberts would go off if we played to much zone, I’d like to see us guard him and make him earn every thing out there, but we will see. Difinitey agree that the buttons pushed by the team worked this last time out, but it all starts again with practice on monday.

  11. human 01/15/2007 at 1:37 AM #

    Here is Costner and Fells video.

  12. Rick 01/15/2007 at 8:56 AM #

    We have seen more adjustment in ten games that we saw in ten years.

    If there is one thing that is constant in college bball it is change and you have to be able to adjust to it during a game. The great coaches either can make these changes (ie Valvano) or are able to get enough talent to force other teams to adjust to them (ie K and the Nose). Lowe seems to have an inate feel fro the game (which is not surprising).

    I am happy with this year so far.

  13. burnbarn 01/15/2007 at 9:42 AM #

    Where is shooting guard.. i am missing his comments.

  14. redfred2 01/15/2007 at 9:42 AM #

    ^^I didn’t get to see the game because the wife wanted to go look at furniture, thanks for the clips.

    I really wish Fells would start playing aggressively in the half court, taking it inside and challenging people like that throughout the games, without the travel(?) of course. But he should be aggressive and drawing a lot more attention to himself, and helping to open things up, not to mention forcing the issue and getting to the line often with penetration. Maybe he did that against Wake?

    Brandon Costner?…Curly Neal? That was a pretty awesome display of ball handling skills, with a big ! at the end.

    That looked like a great game to watch. Be back shortly, I’m going to have to go slap my wife…again.

  15. tractor57 01/15/2007 at 9:54 AM #

    All this talk of the 1-3-1 zone got me thinking. Today it is rare to find a good corner shooter (the weakest place on the court against the 1-3-1).
    I also remember Sloan using the 1-3-1 frequently with a smaller player on the back line as the chaser for the corner shots. Whoever that person was at the time expended a lot of energy when the zone was working as designed. I especially remember Kenny Matthews as the runner – one of many. In those days I frequented the endzone seats at Reynolds – usually up close and personal.
    I really like the progress I see with the current team – undersized, undermanned and I’m sure more losses ahead but much better than the worst predictions of the summer.

  16. choppack1 01/15/2007 at 11:30 AM #

    “I really like the progress I see with the current team – undersized”

    I wouldn’t say that this team is undersized…McCauley and Costner are both at least 6-8…Horner is 6-8, Grant is 6-7, Fells is 6-6…Our size isn’t small at the positions 1 through 4 (this was very obvious vs. Wake Forest, who we seemed to tower over at all positions w/ the exception of the 5 spot.) Now, when we’re bringing in a 6-4 guy to play the PF spot, we’re small, and we certainly have little to no depth in the backcourt right now. But when I see our guys, I don’t think “Boy, we’re just tall enough to win.”

  17. packbackr04 01/15/2007 at 11:42 AM #

    i dont understand how herb could even think that Fergie is a D1 scholarship type athlete. i think he needs to be a “RUDY ” type player too, where this is his only year. sorry, just my opinion

  18. EdoubleE 01/15/2007 at 1:09 PM #

    Fergie is money with his shooting. Give him time and when he get’s a little more comfortable and they can run some screens and sets for him to get his shot off, he’ll be ok.

  19. redfred2 01/15/2007 at 1:19 PM #

    04

    Going off of what I had read a few years back involving his HS playing days, I thought Ferguson might be an unlikely looking, unheralded, total BB package. More than anything the articles lead me to believe that he was extremely confident and a multi-skilled player. I didn’t get to scout him like the someone else did, but I was hoping along with everyone else, that he would be a big surprise as at least as a cold blooded killer from beyond the arc.

    Oh well, there’s still time. I’ll still give Ferguson and the unmentionable both, the benefit of the doubt…for right now anyway.

  20. choppack1 01/15/2007 at 1:43 PM #

    We shouldn’t write Ferguson off yet….We’ve seen how McCauley and Costner have blossomed once given playing time and gaining confidence. It’s easy to forget that Ferguson had not really played in a true game setting for 2 years.

  21. wallacepark 01/15/2007 at 3:21 PM #

    I was very impressed with Darrell Davis. He’s raw, but he’s athletic and aggressive. I hope we get to see more of him this year.

  22. packbackr04 01/15/2007 at 3:57 PM #

    i too was impressed with Davis, he can give fouls (hard fouls) and a few minutes to get the six pack some rest. good move by sid, and not to second guess our coach but i think maybe a game or two too late. he might should have tried this a few games earlier, but again Sid is the captain of this ship and i am not about to second guess him

  23. choppack1 01/15/2007 at 4:34 PM #

    packback04 – Remember, Sidney’s never coached college before. He’s going to make some mistakes. This is a “throw away”/learning year for Sid as far as I’m concerned – I’m impressed he did a total 180 Saturday and tried something new.

    I was very impressed w/ the product I saw on the floor Saturday. He and the team did a great job -and it got my excited for next year when we won’t have to resort to such extreme measures to spell our starters.

  24. packbackr04 01/15/2007 at 4:44 PM #

    chop^ i am with you 110%… like i said, it was just an observation… and of course it is easy for me to make a call like that sitting on my couch with a studweiser in hand and quite another for the head basketball coach of a major university. I think Sid is doing a terrific job. his mistakes have been minimal and his adjustments and good moves have been phenominal! way to go guys!

  25. choppack1 01/15/2007 at 5:20 PM #

    I’m just glad to see the adjustments. Herb used to try stuff – think his 2nd year when we went to the big lineup and zone vs. an incredibly talented UNC Tarheel team and whooped them. However, maybe it’s me, but I didn’t see the same game to game adjustments once we changed to the new offense. Perhaps at that point, it was all about the process and our own execution as opposed to what our opponent was doing, but like you said, that’s just armchair coaching.

    One thing that hasn’t been brought up – I believe before that game, we’d had 7 consecutive conference losses.

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