Inside State’s 6-Game Win Streak

Two general articles out there today to share. This one from Ed Hardin pretty much just rambles about the entire league but has this observation of NC State:

N.C. State has been an out-and-out flop with no one bringing the Wolfpack along. Dissension and uninspired play, something Sidney Lowe simply must rectify in the coming weeks, have thwarted the team’s early development. Look for State to get back its swagger and emerge as the conference’s third-best team, but the Pack has to do it in January or it probably will be too late.

As easy as it is to accept, I don’t fully subscribe to the transitive theory of comparing scores of third party opponents. There are way too many variables involved and every game is different.

By Andrew Jones of Wilmington Star

N.C. State has won six consecutive basketball games. But what has the streak proven about the Wolfpack, if anything?

Wins are wins, some will argue, but how a team plays is also important, especially if shoring up some previous problem areas are a must as conference play nears.

State has shown a few glimpses of being a competitive team come ACC time, but more often than not, the Wolfpack isn’t even an ordinary team despite its inflated 10-3 record.

This isn’t saying State can’t string together some quality ACC wins and work itself into the NCAA tournament. But if the selections were announced today, there’s no way on earth the Pack would be included, especially after another poorly played victory over a lousy team Saturday.

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07-08 Basketball

82 Responses to Inside State’s 6-Game Win Streak

  1. primacyone 01/07/2008 at 11:52 AM #

    I don’t thing Chris Warren fully qualifed academically and that is why he went to the SEC. It was my understanding he had a great visit here from both sides, but he was borderline academically.

  2. BillyVest 01/07/2008 at 12:03 PM #

    Anymore official visits on tap?

    “No, I have used them all up. I just got back from North Carolina State last weekend, and I went to Virginia Commonwealth a few weeks back and a couple more earlier on.”

    When Warren sits down to make a decision; he will look at the following things:

    “I want to look at playing time, their people, conference exposure, the academic side of it, coaches, and playing style. I like an up tempo team. I like to push it up the court.”

    Who gives Warren the best chance for early playing time?

    “I feel I can make an impact at all of the schools, but I can make a bigger impact at Ole Miss because of their need for another point guard and they are in the SEC.”

    http://mississippi.scout.com/2/584854.html

    He wanted playing time and didn’t want to be Farnold’s back up, which would’ve been the case here.

    Don’t think Sid quit recruiting him, I think Chris had his own plans, which Ole Miss was a better fit for him.

  3. packbackr04 01/07/2008 at 12:08 PM #

    thanks for the addtnl info guys. im happy for the kid. and im happy with what we have. just thought i would bring it up as he is having an awesome freshman campaign.

  4. Trip 01/07/2008 at 12:14 PM #

    What about that white kid (Oglegon or something) from Clemson that was bombing 3’s away from near midcourt? Not a lot of them connected, but wow, they looked like they should have. Perfect form and most of them barely missed by hitting the back iron. Seems he was having an “off” night as well. My roommate who is a Carolina fan was just cringing every time he shot the ball, only to find out that he was just a freshman where he went “Awww @*)%”

    Yeah, I wish we had him.

  5. BillyVest 01/07/2008 at 12:23 PM #

    I hope Sid starts emphasizing three point shooting in practices. Horner was supposed to have a nice touch from 3 pt. range coming into college, but that seems to be lost this year. Costner’s getting his back, at times.

    Anyway, any one know if Horner will be able to play against NCCU and / or Carolina? He didn’t dress for the PC game because of a foot injury.

  6. Keystone 01/07/2008 at 12:27 PM #

    I’ve heard that Horner is out for NCCU, but I don’t know about UNC-CH

  7. niceguy 01/07/2008 at 12:39 PM #

    What kills me is, you see other teams that are good but have a bad night and their coach makes comments like “They will hate tomorrow at practice”. Our coach don’t show any anger and his comment is always “Its not a concern, but it is a area we need to work on”. What has to happen for him to show anger or be concerned?

  8. haze 01/07/2008 at 12:47 PM #

    PC was a horrible outing but there was development throughout the rest of the streak; rebounding and defensive intensity improved, as did offensive flow and response to back court pressure. Lastly, MJ proved himself adequate, if not dominant.

    All that said, NC State will not approach its potential until we start getting more than 60% of Brandon Costner’s potential output, along with improvements from Javi, Fells and Horner. Costner is working but his offensive game is WAY off vs. last year when he was shocking people with his inside play and general aggression in the paint. I have to wonder if the knee is anything close to 100%. He’s just a different guy right now; less aggressive, less confident, less effective.

  9. RAWFS 01/07/2008 at 12:59 PM #

    Our coach don’t show any anger and his comment is always “Its not a concern, but it is a area we need to work on”. What has to happen for him to show anger or be concerned?

    What Sidney Lowe says in public and what he tells his players in the privacy of film review and practice are probably two very different things. In other words, Lowe is not calling his team out publicly. Nothing wrong with that.

  10. Trip 01/07/2008 at 1:14 PM #

    ^^

    During the interview: “It’s not a concern, but it is an area we need to work on.”

    During practice: “Listen up scrubs, until you guys show 110% at the opening tip off, we’re going to be running suicides for 2 hours every practice.” (I used to hate suicides so much)

    During film: “What the crap were you doing there?”

    I just hope we’re playing our best basketball come feb/march and that our worst basketball was shown Saturday.

  11. JimValvano 01/07/2008 at 1:16 PM #

    Evidently…Joe Lunardi is in agreement with these other two stooges. Here’s his updated Bracketology:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

  12. HighRoller 01/07/2008 at 1:22 PM #

    I’m not sure if I am right or not, because I’ve been out of town, but did I see MJ only get 13 minutes against PC? Can anybody fill me in on that…

  13. JeremyH 01/07/2008 at 1:32 PM #

    JimValvano: good, and good bulletin board material. The lower the expectations the better we will be.

    Al Pacino in ‘The Devil’s Advocate’:
    “Look at me – underestimated from Day One. You’d never think I was a master of the universe, now, would you? I’m the hand up Mona Lisa’s skirt. I’m a surprise, Kevin. They don’t see me coming: that’s what you’re missing.”

  14. JimValvano 01/07/2008 at 1:43 PM #

    I just posted a question to Joe Lunardi in live chat at: http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=18728

    Here’s the conversation…

    Robert: (Newton, NC): N.C. State was a Preseason Top 25 Team and predicted by many to finish in the top 3-4 teams in the ACC. Do you see them improving enough to fulfill these expectations or do you expect them to remain as underachievers? What do you think they need to do to become a tournament team?

    SportsNation Joe Lunardi: (1:42 PM ET ) It’s all about point guard play, Robert, and the Wolfpack may be confined all year long by their relative lack of it.

  15. MrPlywood 01/07/2008 at 2:17 PM #

    If I’m not mistaken, last week State was in Lunardi’s “Next Four Out” group, so the “Last Four Out” is an improvement 🙂

  16. BillyVest 01/07/2008 at 2:25 PM #

    That’s actually a pretty succinct explanation of our problems from Lunardi. Not just lack of production from the PG position, but also the lack of consistency from the SG position.

  17. BillyVest 01/07/2008 at 2:27 PM #

    We need some big wins, in conference play. That means taking down both Duke and Carolina. Because of three bad losses, I don’t see us getting in to the NCAA’s with less than a 10-6 conference record.

  18. zahadum 01/07/2008 at 2:44 PM #

    I see Lunardi is apparantly another commentator addicted to overwrought cliches.

    Is pg play a vital component of a team? Absolutely, no argument at all. But if the college game were “all about point guard play”, then Texas A & M would have been national champs, because Acie Law was better than Taurean Green.

    Last time I looked, the game was played 5 on 5. Its all about who has the best team. And that’s where we’re not stepping up right now, as a team. To put it all off on our pg play is too simplistic an anaysis.

  19. packbackr04 01/07/2008 at 2:59 PM #

    it is a team sport, but the PG is the one who carries the team. much like QB, he has the ball in his hands every play. so their play is that much more important

  20. #44 17 24 01/07/2008 at 3:08 PM #

    If we beat NCCU, then I think we will get into the NCAA’s with a 9-7 ACC record, but 2 of the 9 wins are going to have come from either, UNC, Duke and Clemson.

  21. wufpup76 01/07/2008 at 3:17 PM #

    ^”I’m not sure if I am right or not, because I’ve been out of town, but did I see MJ only get 13 minutes against PC? Can anybody fill me in on that…”

    javi FINALLY showed some confidence and a good stroke in knocking down consecutive open 3-pointers in the second half … also, down the stretch javi was running the team ok (effectively, not great) – had a couple of nice steals on defense … easily his best half of basketball on the season … he just happened to close out the game playing all of about the last 10 minutes of the game … this looks to be the trend now – whoever is being most effective late in games will close it out – primarily at point guard … against seton hall and western it was marques … against presbyterian it was javi … no big deal – marques will continue to see plenty of PT

  22. waxhaw 01/07/2008 at 3:20 PM #

    ^ Since we beat Seton Hall, we can get in at 8-8 with a signature win. At 9-7, we would be in no matter who the wins were against.

  23. packpigskinfan23 01/07/2008 at 3:20 PM #

    we got a vote from someone… somewhere.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings

  24. Trip 01/07/2008 at 3:23 PM #

    I keep on wondering which coach is the one who consistently is giving us one vote, probably Davidson.

  25. wufpup76 01/07/2008 at 3:30 PM #

    ^”Evidently…Joe Lunardi is in agreement with these other two stooges. Here’s his updated Bracketology”

    way too early to even worry about this (i know you’re not “worried” – just fun to look at 🙂 ) … i personally don’t see why uva, florida st., and boston college are in the field other than you have to have 65 teams …

    they each have some bad losses, and we play these teams … beat them and it will take care of itself … we’ve built a decent enough non-conf. resume that 9-7 acc SHOULD do the trick … but you never know

    right know, i’d be willing to bet a lot of money on more than a few of those teams in lunardi’s field not being there when the real thing comes

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