Lowe Speaks To The Media

Thoughts on the starting rotation and Ben McCauley coming off the bench:

The thing I’ve told our guys is we don’t have a set starting lineup. All the positions were open and they are still open. As Ben progresses and works and continues to be the Ben that we know, certainly starting is in the picture for him. We’re going to put the best lineup out on the floor. I didn’t promise any of these guys anything except I want to win. I want to win. The guys that are playing well, playing hard, playing the right way, those are the guys that are going to play.

Having said that, sometimes that sixth man is more important coming off your bench than starting. I don’t know who that guy is. I’m not saying that’s Ben’s role or is going to be his role. Right now, at this point, it is, and he has to play the way we know he is capable he can play. He will… I’m not concerned about Ben at all because he plays hard every night. Certainly starting is there. If he works his way back in there… and that could be at four or five. It doesn’t matter. We’re just going to try to put the best lineup on the floor.

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07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe

27 Responses to Lowe Speaks To The Media

  1. spudmarsh 11/20/2007 at 7:06 PM #

    Leave Coach Lowe alone. He has proven that he knows what’s he is doing. He will work out personel issues and soft gametime efforts in his players. So we had an embarrassing loss. The “NC State basketball Ship” is not sinking. We are on the best course since the 1990″s.

  2. old13 11/20/2007 at 7:21 PM #

    ^Agreed!

    Lowe has some “interesting” problems with Engin gone and JJ arriving – mostly in the area of chemistry. In spite of having four starters back, he is essentially rebuilding from last year because of all the new possible combinations. I listened to his interview today and was totally impressed with his grasp of the situation. Yes, we will be fine when it REALLY counts. After all, what are OOC game about!

  3. redfred2 11/20/2007 at 8:20 PM #

    I went against popular opinion last season when I said that the team needed more players with Gavin Grant’s attitude out on the court. I just see McCauley as a player with a similar positive attitude, only maybe better than Grant in the decision making part of the game and also better in getting his other teammates involved. I honestly believe that it is a mistake not to have McCauley out there for most of the game and do not think that the team can be anywhere close to what anyone expected without him as a tone setter and a team leader.

  4. doug74 11/20/2007 at 8:34 PM #

    I bet that a week from now we will wonder why we were so nervous. This team still looks like a family to me and will work it out.

  5. ncsslim 11/20/2007 at 8:41 PM #

    As long as we lose games such as the last one, Coach Lowe will not be left alone, nor should he be. This past weekend was an absolute disaster, and I not only think Coach is aware of that, but more importantly, he feels it in his gut just like I do. However, I don’t get paid $1mm a year to right the ship; he does, and if it burns when we have performances like Sun night, so be it. It’s the way it is and the way it should be.

  6. Stoner 11/20/2007 at 9:11 PM #

    Leave Coach Lowe alone. He has proven that he knows what’s he is doing.

    I want NCSU to do really well and hope Lowe is the man for the job. He showed some great coaching ability last year, but I will not tag him with the “he knows what’s he is doing” label just yet.

    The high point of his tenure was a win against Carolina last year.

    I want him to hang some banners, before I “leave Coach Lowe alone”.

    There’s still a lot of basketball to be played and this weekend will be interesting, as will the trip to East Lansing, with regards to how good this team is.

    There’s lots of potential on this team, but so far, other than Hickson, most of it is underachieving.

  7. vtpackfan 11/20/2007 at 10:14 PM #

    You can’t have Hickson, Costner and McAualey out there all at once until we have a synchonized offense (everyone knows their roles, know’s each others games). It would be ridiculous because w/o a high scoring offense out of this set we would be destroyed by the quickness defecit given up in the three spot. Costner can’t get up and down the court with a typical ‘three’.

    Most teams (such as the one we had in the past) would lay the burden on the frosh for being the last in. Sid seems so far (although very early on) to be burdening Ben with difficulties of adjusting his game the most. He trust Ben can do it and believes will find a way to maximize his game through thick and thin.

    Last year it was GG who was expected to “do what was necessary” and best for the team. This year, so far, it’s Ben. GG looked pained by how awful things got while he played pg, but he still kept giving effort. Ben might not always like the minutes early on but he going to give the effort in and every time.

    Hickson, Costner, Grant, Fells, and Degand should start and if all goes well enough, finish the game. Those are the best players are their respective positions. If Hickson or Costner can’t go one night, Ben starts. If either are in foul trouble, Ben finishes.

    This is an attractive thought and we should get over our loss. The Coachs and players will because come tip off on turkey day the scoreboard reads 0-0. You don’t get docked points for messing your pants the last game. Go Pack!

  8. redfred2 11/20/2007 at 10:28 PM #

    I don’t know how any coach hopes to get by without having at least one guard spot occupied by a player that is a CONSTANT threat to score from either the outside or by driving to the basket, but that seems to be case right now. I’d somehow find a way to welcome the current, starting #2 (non-shooting/non-factor) guard, back over to a seat on the bench with his buddies until he proves he is going to assert himself and play harder on both ends. It doesn’t seem to matter what he does or doesn’t do, he’s always given more playing time than his efforts deserve.

    Sorry to say it but that current #2 guard, the kid with the awesome physical gifts, is letting it slip away and wasting his one chance to shine on the collegiate basketball court.

  9. wolfpack n da house 11/21/2007 at 12:06 AM #

    I thought the game was played very NBA like which so happens to be individualistic. Whether that has to do with personal issues or sidney lowes NBA coaching ideas it needs to change and we must gel and play college ball which is the ultimate team sport. Sid has proven himself last year but last year was an anomoly of years. this year is the first true test for sid. somehow we need to find a secondary break that is custom to most colleges that are good at running(particulary unc) and sidney lowe and his halfcourt genious can take it from there.

  10. choppack1 11/21/2007 at 12:10 AM #

    Let’s see how the team responds. Hopefully, they’ll get that magic back. Lost in all the frustration is how much effort played a key in our run last year to end the year.

  11. brickman 11/21/2007 at 12:55 AM #

    Why the hell DID WE NOT POST UP GRANT -COSTNER – FELLS THE OTHER NIGHT ?????? THEY HAD PEOPLE 2OR3 INCHES SHORTER THAN THEM !!! PLAY ZONE WITH BIG THREE . SID KNOWS BBALL BUT HE CAN HAVE BAD GAMES TO. IT IS HIS JOB TO GET EVERYONE TO PLAY TOGETHER AS A TEAM . WHAT GOOD IS A PLAYER SCORING 25 PTS A GAME AND YOU LOSE TO NO .LOOK AT OHIO ST LAST YEAR WITH ODEN TEAM BALL.BUT THEY JUST MADE IT TO CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!! WHAT THE HELL DO US FANS KNOW?????? I KNOW WE LOST THE OTHER NIGHT AND THAT IS THE TRUTH !!!!!!

  12. TTandB74 11/21/2007 at 4:41 AM #

    Defensive rebounding. That’s why we lost. The bugabear in the HWSNBN years still rears its head occasionally. There’s no reason this team should have had 3 and 4 shots at the basket so many times. You hold a team to 25 pct. shooting, you still lose if they get 4 shots every time down the court.
    After the game, I was very disappointed/down on Lowe//down on Ben/Fells/everybody except Grant and maybe Hickson (and my only worries there are comments about him being selfish, which I’m not convinced of yet). But with a couple days to drink and think, I realize there’s no reason to panic yet. We had some horrible games last year, but we improved as the year went on. That’s what I want to see, and that will reassure me.

  13. NCSUownzJoo 11/21/2007 at 8:15 AM #

    Some of the people who post here are so incredibly ignorant about basketball and football it isn’t funny.

    What the hell do you mean play bigs against the zone? Do you know how a zone works? Apparently not. If you put bigs out on the floor against a zone the Defense is just going to pack it in, which is EXACTLY what happened the other night. The defense packs it in so it’s basically a double/triple team regardless of where the ball is placed inside the 3 point line. The idea is that when you push it inside the 3 point line and the defense collapses on your big, you’re supposed to kick it out to a 3 point shooter. The problem is the 3 point shooter has to be able to make the shot. We weren’t able to do that the other night. That, along with poor rebounding and lack of effort on some of our players parts (whom i will not name) is what lost that game for us. It had nothing to do with Lowe’s ability or inability to coach.

    Lowe did exactly what he was supposed to do. He put his best/strongest big on the floor that COULD take it up against a double team and score and he told him to kick it back out more times than not. Hickson did that, our three point shooters simply didn’t hit the threes.

    Get a clue about basketball and how the game is played before you come on here acting like an idiot and ripping into our coach.

  14. Wulfpack 11/21/2007 at 9:03 AM #

    ^With all due respect, there are many different philosophies as to how to beat a zone. One rule of thumb, as you mention, is to put shooters out there to force the team out of it. However, if your shooters aren’t hitting their shots then the zone has done exactly what it was intended to do – force the outside shot and taking the inside game out of the equation.

    I have always thought the best way to beat a zone (and yes, I have coached and been coached) is to have bigs flash behind the defense along with a baseline runner (such as Grant, Fells) filling the short corner. This opens the passing lanes and allows for easy kick outs to the perimeter once the defense sags.

    If you are physically superior to the opponent in the post, the zone will not be effective. Hickson, Ben Mac, BC should be catching the ball in the lane with an easy jump hook or up and under. Additionally, a zone does not allow for solid rebounding position and a physically superior team will get many offensive rebounds and easy put backs.

    I would prefer to have a team that dictates the play than have some tiny team tell us the way we need to play i.e. forcing us into throwing a bunch of outside shots up. Again, there are many different philosophies — that’s what makes this game so great. Coaches are different. Please don’t go ripping posters that do happen to know something about basketball.

  15. NCSUownzJoo 11/21/2007 at 9:09 AM #

    Again, regardless of your philosophy of how to attack a zone, at the end of the day it all comes down to your outside shooters knocking down shots and we simply weren’t doing that the other night. I agree with what you said about how to beat the zone, however, we didn’t need to switch up how we broke down the zone because we were getting open 3 point shots. If we weren’t getting open 3’s then I’d say maybe we needed to do something different. But we WERE getting the open 3’s and we just didn’t hit them.

    Agreed they shouldn’t have even been close in the rebounding department but that comes from a lack of hustle and lack of position. Lowe did absolutely nothing wrong, our shooters just weren’t hitting their threes. That’s not debatable, that’s a fact.

  16. WolftownVA81 11/21/2007 at 9:41 AM #

    Thanks for the link to the PP article. I thought it was spot on and very reassuring – we should see some changes this weekend. Interesting that no mention was made of BC.

  17. Rick 11/21/2007 at 9:58 AM #

    NCSUowns,
    The other team was not even playign a zone. How can you say they packed it in? For someone that is so critical of others basketball knowledge you are certainly showing a lack yourself.

  18. brickman 11/21/2007 at 10:24 AM #

    NCSUOWNJZOO- YOU NEED TO LEARN HOW TO READ I SAID PLAY ZONE WITH BIG THREE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE WERE GETTING BEAT ON DEF WITH THERE SMALLER LINEUP!!!!!!!!! SO BEFORE YOU SHOW HOW STUPID YOU ARE !!!!!!!!! IT WOULD HELP TO LEARN HOW TO READ

  19. partialqualifier 11/21/2007 at 10:40 AM #

    First of all…I am a Lowe supporter as I think almost all of us are.

    A few things are without debate:

    1a- Lowe has only coached college basketball for one full season and 2 games. I am sure even Dean and K made a few mistakes their first season or 2. When we decided to hire an unproven coach with no experience, I knew there would be growing pains and head-scratching. So far…well…yea…

    1b- Because he has coached only one season and that season with another guys players, it is only prudent that we look at everything he does with an open mind. Honestly…no matter how much we think we know we really have no idea whether or not this guy can coach at all.

    2- I feel his pain, but Ben should play as hard as he can for as long as he can. Period. Maybe he doesnt get the minutes or the touches, but if JJ had only played 14 minutes he would have found a way to crash the boards against those midgets from NO and get some damn offensive rebounds! There is NO excuse for that.

    3- We have some problems. I knew that b4 we ever played a game. When you have no outside shooting, untested PG, and your best player is a freshman…you are gonna have nights like this.

    4- Redfred was right on about Fells. Anybody knows you cannot win in college with no scoring threat from either of your 2 guards. I am kinda shocked Lowe even implied as much.

    5- Finally…knowing your teams problems does not get them solved. Kudos to Lowe for knowing where our weaknesses are, but that doesn’t make us a better bball team. So far I give Lowe a D- grade for the first 2 games. He has had no chemistry, no offensive flow, poor sub patterns, poor defensive, no rebounding, and the teams leader from a year ago has been alienated. Wow!

  20. packbackr04 11/21/2007 at 12:28 PM #

    i personally think depth is overated… yeah its nice to have in case someone gets injured, but to give tferg the same minutes as Mccauley simply because you have the “depth” to do so is just plain wrong. Sid needs to play his best 7 players, the entire game, and thats it. maybe an 8th man gets on the floor for some mop up duty, but thats it.

  21. GoldenChain 11/21/2007 at 12:40 PM #

    NO had 12 more shots from the field than we did (a function of rebounds especially offensive) and also had more than twice as many offensive rebounds. Just bad board play.
    Also 50% FT shooting won’t cut it.
    I was thinking though (some of you old timers back me up here) was it not unusual for V to lose an early season game to a mid-major?
    One bad thing about the cyber age is that fans have a tendency to way over react to every single game. Its a 30 game season, UNO wasn’t a bad team (especially the night we played them). Every single message board in America has a thread about firing a coach because he stinks after every single loss in a revenue sport.

  22. BoKnowsNCS71 11/21/2007 at 12:46 PM #

    Last year the challenge was playing good with the shortage of players and learning to work together. This year the challenge is tranistioning from that mind set to learning that 1) it’s not good to have players play 30+ minutes every game 2) That depth is good and so is rest especially during tournament time and you have to play 4 straight games and 3) learning how to check your egos at the door and focus on the winning as the goal — not your playing time. The latter – managing the change in egos — is probably the toughest challenge for Sid this year.

    And as an aside — the UNO game might be the slap in the face that this team needed to focus on future games and ignore the ratings.

    The future is still very bright for the Pack. The 83 team dealt with a lot of adversity and it only made them better every game.

  23. packgrad93 11/21/2007 at 1:16 PM #

    come off the ledge & let Sid do his thing, geesh. Where’s the faith?

  24. NCSUownsJoo 11/21/2007 at 5:53 PM #

    Did I really just get told “learn how to read” from someone with 6 grammatical errors, 5 misspelled words and 8 punctuation mistakes in 2 posts?

    brickman: it would help if you would learn how to speak english. I can read fine.

    Costner nor McCauley would be alienated if they’d quit whining and sulking and get out there play some freaking basketball. 28 minutes with 4 points and 2 rebounds with 0 assist and one turnover is absolutely pathetic. Quit sulking and produce. There is no INTELLIGENT person, in his right mind, that would tell me they would play someone with that stat line over someone with this stat line. 30 minutes with approximately 26 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocked shots, 1 assist and 2 turnovers. If you say you would… well you’re an idiot

  25. NCSUownsJoo 11/21/2007 at 5:56 PM #

    And for the record Costner’s stat line isn’t impressive by any stretch of the imagination. 30 minutes with approximately 10pts, 8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 turnovers…

    Just pathetic… Quit sulking, and produce, and you’ll get more playing time.

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