A View from the Cheap Seats

06-07 Basketball General Sidney Lowe78

I was wrong.

Way back in November, before teams were playing in Maui or Anchorage and March Madness was still nothing but a distant idea, I wasn’t a complete believer. I had begrudgingly offered my support for the new coach that I had, admittedly, felt was simply the guy that we knew would say yes. And I wasn’t exactly pumped for a season in which we had returned a mere 36% of our scoring and 34% of our total minutes. Three of our starters – Costner, McCauley, and Fells – had combined to average seven points and six minutes in 2006.

Back in the fall, our hopes and dreams were simply romantic; we’d have to settle for those hard-fought intangible moral victories this season. But somewhere along the line all that changed: for Lowe, for the players, for us. In March, it’s suddenly a not-so-distant reality.

Believe it or not, it started way back in November against Wofford in a game that would prove to become a microcosm for the entire season, a prelude of what we could expect in the months to follow.

[If] this team continues to play with the passion and intensity every night that they showed against Wofford, then it will be very tough not to get behind this team. It’s not something I’ve said a lot in the past decade, but this could be an exciting State team to watch. And the dreamer in me can’t help but think Lowe’s first team has at least a couple big upsets, defining victories, in store.

And whoa, did it ever. We beat Carolina in Raleigh and Duke in the ACC tournament, and then proceeded to storm past the co-regular season champion, Virginia, and then completed our season sweep of tournament-bound Virginia Tech.

Just for emphasis: we beat Carolina and Duke. That’s poetry, folks.

But the defining moment for me wasn’t even during a State game. Appropriately enough, it was during the final minute of the Big XII championship game. For the second straight weekend I had watched Rick Barnes mismanage his team in the final minutes of a close game, losing both times to Kansas – in the final minutes of that championship game, not only had he directed his team into a zone defense against a team that had been shooting lights-out in the second half, but inexplicably he had failed to get the ball into the hands of the best college basketball player of the past decade.

It was one of those clairvoyant moments of complete enlightenment. Suddenly, it hit me: we could have gotten Rick Barnes, gained instant credibility and notoriety in the basketball world, and then watched our season end after a second-half collapse against Duke on Thursday night of the ACC tournament because we lacked passion.

That’s when I realized just how wrong I had been.

As a lifelong State fan, it’s my nature to be cautiously optimistic, especially in regards to recent first-year coaching successes. But in his first season, Lowe did everything that we required of him. He played to our strengths and inspired this team to play with unflinching passion, to which they responded in kind. Coaches, players, fans – we all embodied that cherished “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up” persona that defines NC State basketball.

Oh yeah, we beat Carolina and Duke. Never gets old.

Meanwhile, this team just kept improving; we finished a better, stronger, smarter team than we started, and most importantly, we built a solid foundation for next season and beyond. The three players that collectively started this season as one big question mark – McCauley, Costner, and Fells – will start next season as the nucleus of this team. In addition, Grant will be our piston on offense while Horner, whose maturation is something akin to Gugliotta’s as a freshman, has become an outside-in threat that every team now has to respect; I love how fearless that kid plays.

And now that 2007 is over for us, after another remarkable run, I say this: K can have his card, his life and all the so-called recruiting advantages that come with it, and I’m so deeply moved that Roy’s mom ironed extra clothes every night so he could have a dime to buy a Coke every afternoon; even more importantly, I’m absolutely teeming with glee that Carolina fans can no longer complain about those unfair recruiting advantages K’s commercials created (I think Coke easily closes that gap created by American Express).

As for me, I’ll take the Red Blazer any day – all it did was make us believers once again.

Sometimes it feels good to be wrong.

About LRM

Charter member of the Lunatic Fringe and a fan, loyal to a fault.

06-07 Basketball General Sidney Lowe

78 Responses to A View from the Cheap Seats

  1. nsj 03/23/2007 at 9:47 AM #

    Well written and great points.

    I find myself looking forward to… yes, I think it’s… Midnight Madness. Yes, that’s it. I’m looking forward to next season with more than just the standard “wait ’till next year” mantra.

    It’s good to be a State fan.

  2. Mr O 03/23/2007 at 9:59 AM #

    BJD95: There aren’t that many national championship callibre programs running the PO in the first place(I can’t think of one), so it isn’t much of a stretch to say that the offense will “never” win a national title. But I could make the same statements that Rick Barnes’ offense most likely will never win a title and that Sidney Lowe’s offense will most likely never win a title because the chances of winning the title are so slim.

    Beilein did play in a Final 8 two years ago(I think they almost won that game too), so he has proven that he can be in the picture of winning a title with the PO just as much as a guy like Rick Barnes can with his offense and some of the best recruits in the nation.

    Beilein’s inability to recruit the talent it takes to win a title will be a much bigger factor in not winning it all than the PO. If you give Beilein UNC’s players, I wouldn’t want to play him. But he will never get those players at W. Va.

    What is “plan B” for a traditional offense that isn’t making their two point shots?

  3. TNCSU 03/23/2007 at 10:06 AM #

    Georgetown runs what is considered a “version” of the PO. I think they would be considered national championship calibre. I think for the players that Beilein recruits (and can get) to WVa, his version of the PO works well. That being said, I like our current Offense, the Sidney Lowe Way!

  4. redfred2 03/23/2007 at 10:12 AM #

    “What is “plan B” for a traditional offense that isn’t making their two point shots?”

    That’s easy, start hoisting three’s. 😉

  5. BJD95 03/23/2007 at 10:13 AM #

    Georgetown rebounds well, and can do traditional lowpost stuff. That’s very different from the “true” PO.

    A championship offense is versatile. When the 3s aren’t falling you go inside more. When they take away the inside game, you get “kick out” 3s that are higher percentage than the garden variety 3.

    NC State became a pretty good 3-point shooting team this year b/c we didn’t take too many of them. Lowe’s offense created lots of GOOD shots. If we can keep getting those kind of shots next year and Hickson’s presence leads to better rebounding – that’s a dangerous combination.

  6. RickJ 03/23/2007 at 10:15 AM #

    To follow up on Mr. O’s point – not sure this is totally accurate but listed below are the BCS conference teams that run the Princeton Offense:

    ACC – None
    SEC – Vanderbilt
    Big East – Georgetown, West Virginia
    Big Ten – Northwestern
    Big Twelve – None
    Pac 10 – None (ASU did not use it this year)

    It is pretty easy to say these BCS teams, along with teams like Air Force and Western Carolina are never going to win a National Championship but a darn high percentage of these teams are still playing.

  7. lush 03/23/2007 at 10:30 AM #

    rickj

    i wouldnt count out georgetown when talking about winning a national championship. they are pretty damn good.

  8. BJD95 03/23/2007 at 10:31 AM #

    The PO is actually a very good system to make a school like WV or Air Force competitive. I actually heard Coach Thompson on the radio last week, and even he says he just uses some Princeton principles/philosophy (in terms of ball movement, etc.) and doesn’t really run the PO like WV, Northwestern, and Air Force do. So generally, Thompson tries to incorporate the good aspects without the downside (over-dependence on the 3, poor rebounding).

  9. class of 74 03/23/2007 at 10:33 AM #

    Memo to LF:
    You should be thankful for that saying “I’d rather be lucky than good”, because when it comes to running our athletic department, that is exactly what you have been more luck than smarts!

  10. PapaJohn 03/23/2007 at 10:35 AM #

    Nice article, thank you

    I did not know Sid’s responsibility at Detriot was defense. Wow, that makes my head spin to think about the team when he’s got his recruits in place.

    The sun is shining, it’s 80 degrees, and State’s got a future. Life is good.

  11. choppack1 03/23/2007 at 10:45 AM #

    See, that’s where the media is off-base. Very few teams in BCS conferences run the classic PO…Northwestern may be the only one.

    What the WV’s, Georgetown, and Vandy run is an offense that leverages it’s basic principles. There really isn’t a ton of difference between the offense that UT was running last night and the modified offenses run above. They are designed to spread out the opponent and open up the middle. If you’re Georgetown or us last year, it makes it real easy to have some guys running basic PO principles and a send your big man in 1 on 1 in the low post.

    The biggest problem w/ this offense is the lack of offensive rebounding. An open 3 point shot isn’t too difficult and more kids can hit an open 3 pointer nowadays that can probably can an open 10-18 foot jumper. However, if you’ve 4 guys around the arc, you better make your shot.

  12. Mr O 03/23/2007 at 10:49 AM #

    Good points by all.

    I think the larger point is that coaches have to use an offense to play to the strengths of your players. I think Sidney’s offense was leaps and bounds better for this year’s players than anything Herb would have employed.

    But if I am not mistaken, Herb actually used the flex offense this year to match his players just like Sidney used the flex. Weird…

    I still think if Beilein gets a shot at a program that doesn’t have recruiting limitations, then there is no ceiling for him as a coach. Put him at Michigan where he could recruit Chris Webber or Juwan Howard and guarantee you he will incorporate more of an inside out game. As much as people spend talking about his offense, his 1-3-1 defense is one of the toughest defenses in college basketball IMO.

    Lots to be excited about in regards to NC State basketball. Getting back to the NCAAs next year is very important.

  13. Mr O 03/23/2007 at 10:59 AM #

    So of the teams that have been mentioned on here that use a type of PO, we have Vandy and GT in the Sweet 16 and Air Force and W. Va in the semis of the NIT. Overall, you would have to argue that this is pretty solid post-season for the PO especially if these teams advance further.

    Choppack: Good point about the lack of offensive rebounding. Another interesting point is that Coach K’s impact on offense in college basketball wsa to utilize the three point shot. During their best years, they typically played with four perimeter players aroud 1 post player. The best example of this was their W. Avery, T. Langdon, Mike Dunleavy, Shane Battier and Elton Brand team that did not win the national title. I think I have this lineup right.

  14. choppack1 03/23/2007 at 11:05 AM #

    O – Herb did run the flex offense, but it was run more like BC – yet it never seemed to produce those easy shots BC gets. It also didn’t help that neither Thorton, nor Kelly, nor Inge had good enough passing or ball handling skills to be anything but low post threats on a consistent basis. (It’s funny, they all had diffent shots, and styles, but had the same limitations.)

    And you’re right – Herb’s offense never looked as good as what we ran this year…Even when it was run right, I don’t recall us shooting over 60% for a half.

  15. Mr O 03/23/2007 at 11:05 AM #

    Sorry, the 2001 title team was Jay Williams, Mike Dunleavy, Shane Battier, Nate James and Carlos Boozer.

    I was thinking of the team with Will Avery, Corey Magette and E. Brand that last the title.

  16. Rick 03/23/2007 at 11:18 AM #

    “But if I am not mistaken, Herb actually used the flex offense this year to match his players just like Sidney used the flex. Weird…”

    He can call it what he wants, the outcome was the same as we saw here. Last second heaves from three.

  17. Texpack 03/23/2007 at 11:36 AM #

    I saw too much of Sidney Lowe as a player to doubt his basketball IQ and X’s & O’s ability, but I had no idea he was this good as a game coach. The staff, who Sidney always credits in the PC’s, must have proved valuable in helping him manage the program.

    I just remember last year during the search fiasco when my boss, from UF, asked, “Don’t you guys have an alum you can get?” At the time the degree was thought to be a deal killer with Sidney. I also love the fact that he has emphasized our tradition. The first part of competing with the other teams in the area is believing you belong. Sidney has made these guys aware of the place the State program holds in the history of college basketball and has set restoring the program to that status as his standard. One of the things he said early on was that it’s about us.

    He has by no means reached the level that is the goal, but the things he’s doing will get us there.

  18. bTHEredterror 03/23/2007 at 11:44 AM #

    I was as skeptical as anyone that Sid could be a solid head coach. I was actually hoping for Whitt and Sid as help on the bench similar to what Monte ended up being.

    But in Sid we got a beloved name from the past, and something none of the other high profile guys could give us. This thing is ours, and Sid knew this coming in. We got our family back, and the satisfaction of watching one of our own stick to those we want to beat the most.

  19. redfred2 03/23/2007 at 11:56 AM #

    If Beilein is the master, then so be it. What did/does that ever have to with NC State? The point is, no matter how many times someone painted it as the next great thing on the horizon, or what strides Beilein, or JTIII, or anyone else across the country were making using the PO, it didn’t really affect us here. What we witnessed in our own NC State basketball program was inferior in comparison to their use of it, and inferior to the programs that we need to beat in our own neighborhood.

  20. c6by66 03/23/2007 at 12:02 PM #

    Chris Corchiani told Sidney this year that Valvano often said point guards were born not taught. The same can be said for teachers and coaches.
    Sidney Lowe was born to coach – if you didn’t know that you are too young to have witnessed him coaching on the court in 1983.

    We are so-o-o lucky. It comes back to me watching WVA and Memphis last night and ESPN – everytime I see someone we thought about hiring.

  21. wallacepark 03/23/2007 at 12:03 PM #

    good point redfred

  22. ruffles31 03/23/2007 at 12:09 PM #

    I am so happy to have Lowe. However, some media idiots are still making fun of us. Hey Grant, how did Herb do this year?

    http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/grant_wahl/03/23/five.things/index.html

    And much like Herb Sendek, who finally got so tired of his hysterical detractors at N.C. State that he skedaddled for Arizona State, Smith decided enough was enough.

    Whatever Grant. Go back and cover the MLS!

  23. StateFoxer 03/23/2007 at 12:26 PM #

    Off topic. I glanced over a news article today that read, “Tubby leaving Kentucky good for both sides.” I like to think I’m smart enough to discount any claims of media bias against State, but come on. How is the Kentucky situation any different then ours was last summer? Maybe there is some merit in the conspiracy theories.

  24. redfred2 03/23/2007 at 12:33 PM #

    Off topic and probably old news to most, but Dennis Johnson collapses after coaching a practice and died at 52 years of age. One of my favorite NBA players.

  25. waxhaw 03/23/2007 at 1:13 PM #

    How great is it to watch a game where we come out flat and know that we have a shot to turn it around in the second half?

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