Deploy the Panic Button (Clemson 70, NC State 54)

Press it, pound it, or beat the ever-loving piss out of it (my choice). But it’s time, my friends. It’s time.

UPDATE: Oh, and Ben gets hurt in garbage time. Like I’ve said before – the motto of every NC State fan should be “It can always get worse – and it usually does.”

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe

176 Responses to Deploy the Panic Button (Clemson 70, NC State 54)

  1. Cardiac95 01/15/2008 at 10:45 PM #

    If I really try to see the silver lining tonight (and that bugger is mighty thin), I’m encouraged that Sid was trying new combinations & rewarding players that were giving some effort. Better late than never I guess.

    I’m going to pass on the panic button until Saturday. These last two games were not really on my anticipated “win” list to get into the NCAA’s.

  2. tvopack 01/15/2008 at 10:45 PM #

    Can’t press the panic button. It’s stucked.

  3. howlie 01/15/2008 at 10:47 PM #

    what wesley said

  4. catchme16 01/15/2008 at 10:48 PM #

    dogbreath: we cant do what unc, duke, or louisville do because all three have hof coaches and every kid that watches espn wants to play in the biggest rivalry in college basketball

  5. Dogbreath 01/15/2008 at 11:03 PM #

    catchme16,

    my sarcasm completely escaped you.

  6. bTHEredterror 01/15/2008 at 11:09 PM #

    /\ Second that TNCSU, If they are embarassed at home by Miami, I’m on board the panic train. But losing to UNC and Clemson on the road is no surprise. You could have counted these as losses at the beggining of the year, and I wouldn’t argue the point.

    The PG play is so grievous, and the two youngsters look scared. Might as well plug Fergie back in, it would be an improvement to have a guy who may actually be a threat to score, we were playing four on five on the offensive end on the few occasions where the PG could get into the set.

    T smith has played well in most instances this year, and he at least makes mistakes at full speed. He hits the boards hard and is quick inside. I want him to get more minutes, at least HE seems to want rebounds.

  7. Trip 01/15/2008 at 11:10 PM #

    If there is a silver lining to our PG situation.

    13 Johnson, Marques…. g 3 rebounds 4 assists

    He had the most assists on the team for the first time ever… I wouldn’t throw Marques away just yet.

  8. Slader4881 01/15/2008 at 11:25 PM #

    2 out of our 3 toughest ACC games out of the way. If the boys can win against Miami, who was getting pounded by BC last time I checked a turnaround is possible.

    Let’s start the Tracy Smith Fan club NOW!!

  9. JimValvano 01/15/2008 at 11:26 PM #

    I’m not ready to push the panic button yet. I would have been had Coach Lowe not mixed in minutes for some of the other guys tonight. I honestly don’t know what has happened to Costner, but he is terrible. The way he’s playing right now, he doesn’t even belong in our rotation. I think tonight Tracy Smith proved that he can at least be a solid contributor offensively and a contributor on the boards. His defense (like most freshmen…including Hickson) needs some work, but that will come with experience. I think its time to let him get some playing time. Horner deserves more time. McCauley should have never been moved out of the starting line-up. Grant is giving good effort, but I think he’s been put into a similar situation as Hodge was during his junior and senior years…everyone stands around and forgets to move as Grant gets the ball and he’s forced to make either a bad pass or shoot a bad shot before the shot clock expires. With all that having been said…I think our starting line-up for the Miami game should look like this:

    PG-Fells
    SG-Grant
    SF-Horner
    PF-McCauley
    C-Hickson
    6th-Smith (replaces Hickson)
    7th-Johnson (Replaces Horner and Fells and Grant go to natural pos.)
    8th-Ferguson (Replaces either Fells or Johnson)
    9th-Harris (Replaces whomever isn’t giving effort)
    10th-Costner (keeps spots warm on the bench for guys that give a shit)

    This will give Smith, Ferguson, and Harris a good chance to establish themselves as contributors. Yes, Fergie lacks talent, but have you ever watched him play and thought that he didn’t care or wasn’t trying or that he was doing something against the coach’s will (on purpose)? Furthermore, has Gonzalez shown you that he is any better than Fergie? This will also give Costner a chance to learn that he should appreciate the minutes he does get. Maybe if he learns to appreciate his opportunity then he will show more effort on the court.

    I think we lost these last two games to…one of the top 5 teams in the country and a team that is a solid top 15 team if you don’t make them shoot free throws..on the road. We looked horrible, but remember that its almost impossible for the middle of the pack ACC teams to have winning road records. I think we’ll come home and give a great effort against Miami, and most likely win. While things have looked dismal in our opening two ACC games…remember what Boston College did a couple of years ago? We’ve seen other teams turn things around at much later points in a season and we still have time to do so. Let’s keep an eye on the future and realize that Coach Lowe is also gonna be trying to do the same.

    Oh…and we suck.

  10. DAMangum 01/15/2008 at 11:32 PM #

    I really could care less if I ever saw Brandon Costner wear a Wolfpack uniform again! Go Phillip, make your Pack fans proud by beating those cheating bastards from Boston!

  11. RBCRowdy 01/15/2008 at 11:44 PM #

    Step back and think first before hitting the panic button.

    Judge the team based on last years season and not a pre-season ranking, a great freshman, and the media hype machine. If you objectively look at last season, what has happened so far this year is not nearly as disastrous.

  12. GoldenChain 01/15/2008 at 11:50 PM #

    I forced my youngest son to apply to unx-xh last week just so he could talk stuff to me and my middle son!

  13. werncstate 01/15/2008 at 11:51 PM #

    Regardless I’ll continue to click the ads. I am encouraged by the varied line ups we saw tonight. I think Sid realizes what he’s been doing so far this year ain’t gonna work in the ACC. When I read in the N&O today that there would be changes in the starting line up I was hoping it was going to be more than replacing one not ready for prime time point guard with another not ready for prime time point guard. When I saw that was indeed the “change” tonight I was most disappointed. No way should Mr. White Castle be seeing more than 7 minutes of playing time per game. Tonight we saw at least 3 players that will contribute and help this group finally become a team.

  14. EverettBeez 01/15/2008 at 11:58 PM #

    Just feel bad for Costner, and damn mad him too. He is hurting his pro chances, and the whole team. It really looks like his mind went pro, and left his shell here. That sucks all around.

    What is killing me is yes, against my better judgment, I got my hopes and expectations up. So those are dashed. I agree with the earlier commenter, back to last season. I’ll take whatever I can get.

  15. Dan 01/16/2008 at 12:00 AM #

    “What makes you more qualified than State’s staff at finding THE PROBLEM?”

    C’mon, man. No one would have gotten away with that b.s. when Herb was coaching, and no one, not even Mr. Condescension, can get away with that crap now.

    There are a million problems out there that even a novice can spot. Boxing out. Passing. The idea that f’ing transfers do a damn bit of good. The playsets. JJ Hickson thinking WCU = ACC. Its comments like that from the contributors that keep this site from being taken seriously. Its even more of a joke when the contributors try to edit comments as to cover up any valid criticism or disagreement.

  16. wallacepark 01/16/2008 at 12:03 AM #

    Positives:

    we out rebounded clemson (4th best rebounding team in ACC) 38 to 30. Glad to see Lowe is getting through to the team in that area

    Fells is shooting well and seems to be gaining confidence 19pts on 7-12 from field and 5-8 from 3pt arch tonight

    Smith: season high 13 pts on 6-11 shooting and 1-2 from the line

    Negatives:

    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers
    Turnovers

    23 of them

  17. westwolf 01/16/2008 at 12:15 AM #

    I think that Sid may need to reevaluate his staff.

  18. burnbarn 01/16/2008 at 12:20 AM #

    one other positive..for the first time this season we forced a team to call a TO on an inbounds play b/c they could not inbound the ball. When was the last time we saw that?

    Also, nice hustle by most players when we started pressing with about 4-5 minutes left. I wish we would have started at the 15min mark.

  19. Trip 01/16/2008 at 12:26 AM #

    Turnovers are what killed us this game, nothing more, nothing less. Now, as to what caused these turnovers… is anyones guess.

  20. werncstate 01/16/2008 at 12:28 AM #

    An article from about 6 weeks ago quoting Rick Patino, if these guys cared more about the name on the front of their jersey than the name on the back they would probably be scoring more points.

  21. cooldrip 01/16/2008 at 12:36 AM #

    I too am glad Sid went to the bench tonight and gave some of the other guys a shot. I wish Brandon Costner would wake up and realize where he is. He needs to look up at those banners in the rafters, look at the faces of guys courtside like Corch or Burleson, and realize how LUCKY he is. He seems to believe we’re lucky to have him; believe me Brandon, it’s the other way round son.

    You have the opportunity to play for one of the college games LEGENDARY programs. You have the talent to follow some of the games GREATEST players into the storybooks. But that’s not enough. You gotta WANT it. BAD. So bad, that as Roy said, “I’d rather beat ____ than eat.” Teams and players with less TALENT succeed all the time. Teams and players with less HEART rarely do.

    Gut Check time. What’s it gonna be?

  22. WestCoast 01/16/2008 at 1:21 AM #

    I just don’t see how Coach Lowe continues to start the same/similar line-up. If Gavin openly admits that the players aren’t listening to coach by not doing what he says to do during time outs, sit their asses down and play the bottom five players on the bench. Play them the entire game until these guys get their heads out of the clouds and realize you have to earn playing time. By Coach Lowe always starting the same guys, and not making drastic changes, well, they continue to believe they’re irreplaceable.

    Towe better be on the next plane out of Raleigh offering a full scholarship to the best JC point guard in the nation. I don’t know who that is, but find him and get him here asap!

  23. TTandB74 01/16/2008 at 2:43 AM #

    Didn’t get to see the game, but am glad Lowe shuffled the lineup some. That said, what has disgusted me more than the team’s performance is the reaction on this Web site, particularly comments about how we should start thinking of getting rid of Lowe and how he can’t coach.
    He came into a bad situation. I, along with everybody else, swallowed the media kool-aid about being third in the ACC. Ain’t gonna happen. The deficiencies are too much.
    Have we forgotten how he outcoached K and Huckleberry last year? It can be done. He’s still in his second year, has made some mistakes in recruiting, but has shown his strenghts in landing JJ. Any talk of getting rid of someone who probably bleeds more than we did after getting embarrassed by Carolina is ridiculous. I could only get through half the comments on another entry before I felt more sick reading them than I felt watching the debacle at Chapel Swill.
    Patience is a virtue. I don’t like things right now, and might not for a year or two.
    Is Lowe the guy? Don’t know. But talk of abandoning him before the end of year 3 is ludicrous. This isn’t year 8-9-10 of Voldemort.

  24. tractor57 01/16/2008 at 4:53 AM #

    No panic here just more evidence of the work Lowe has before him.
    Face it this team has some issues to deal with – from major holes in personnel (point guard most noticeably) to major problems with consistent effort on the court.
    I was heartened by the play of some players in the game (Tracy Smith, Grant, Big Ben and Fells in particular) but there is still a lot of work to do.
    20 years of lowered expectations aren’t solved in a few months.
    I think this year will in many ways be like last year – some highs and some lows (really low) – part of getting the program headed for a brighter future.

  25. wolfonthehill 01/16/2008 at 6:06 AM #

    More wood chopping is most certainly in order.

    Just remember… playing a season in the ACC is like a salmon swimming upstream.

    Anyone feel better yet?

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