N.C. State’s Fowler Backs Lowe, Says Chemistry an Issue (Updated 8:50 pm)

Audio of the interview.

“Winning is good, losing is bad,” Fowler said Wednesday morning in an interview on 99.9 FM The Fan. “We’ve been very frustrated this year. You have high expectations, and I think the fans did, and we have not lived up to them. That’s the huge frustration.”Lee Fowler

Fowler said some Wolfpack players have been “probably a little more interested” in their own playing time and performances than in team objectives.

“Chemistry seemed to be a bit squirrelly through the year,” Fowler said.He added, “And so it’s just been a battle throughout the year.”

But Fowler was encouraged by Saturday’s Duke game and is confident Coach Sidney Lowe can get the job done. Fowler brought in Lowe because Lowe knows what it takes to win a championship. “I understand that it’s all about winning and that’s what we live in everyday, and when you don’t win, it’s tough,” Fowler said. “But we also feel like we have the things in place to win in the future.”

UPDATE: Some helpful answers to questions posed in the comments:

Q: Can you elaborate on saying that Oblinger wants to get rid of Fowler? I really hope that’s true, but I always had the opposite impression, that current NC State leadership, Oblinger included, is less than committed to athletic excellence.

A: Your impression is 100% correct. The poster in question was pointing out how little desire Oblinger has to get rid of Jed.

Q: Why exactly is he going on radio now? Is this because he is feeling heat from the fanbase and needs to project the cause of a failure season on something other than him?

A: The compulsive need to hear himself speak (and have as many people as possible also hear him). He’s had that from the minute he got here.

Q: Did he give the interview from his house on Lake Gaston?

A: He usually makes it to the office on Wednesdays. Mondays and Fridays are a different story, perhaps.

Q: Will there ever be any accountability with his [Fowler’s] regime?

A: Are you kidding me? This is NC State. You can’t get in trouble for anything other than stepping on the toes of the Faculty Senate. Hell, if Chuck Amato hadn’t been offensively rude to a number of big donors and BOT members, we wouldn’t have even gotten rid of him!

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07-08 Basketball AD & Department NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe

144 Responses to N.C. State’s Fowler Backs Lowe, Says Chemistry an Issue (Updated 8:50 pm)

  1. DRW 03/05/2008 at 3:24 PM #

    “Winning is good, losing is bad,”

    Well, no shit Sherlock. It’s spot on analysis like that that lets me know we have the bestest AD in the world!

  2. StateFans 03/05/2008 at 3:30 PM #

    should have been “Winning is good, losing is bad, unless I am the AD”

  3. packbackr04 03/05/2008 at 3:32 PM #

    “winning is good, losing is bad, mmmmkaaaayyyy!”

    in your best south park counselor voice

    way to go jed….

    oooohhh, so you mean to tell me that the ball goes in that hoop thing? wow!!! no wonder weve been so bad this yr.

  4. choppack1 03/05/2008 at 3:36 PM #

    As a player Lowe knows, but there is no evidence Lowe knows what it takes to win a championship as a college coach.

    I love the, “We feel like we have things in place to win in the future” comment.

    Here’s where he needs to fall on his sword at least a little bit or the interviewer needs to ask a good question:

    Question: Isn’t it understandable that if you bring in a guy w/ no college coaching experience whatsoever, that he’ll struggle?

    LEE: Well, you’ve got the lunatic fringe and the internet and they seem to think things can be built overnight.

    Question: I’ll take that as a yes. Do you believe that you communicated those challenges when you brought in Lowe?

    LEE: The coaching search was tough, I lost 25 lbs from the stress of it all.

    Question: You’ve said that everything is place for the future, what if NC State has a similar season to these last 2 next year?

    LEE: Sidney’s job isn’t in danger – I’ll actually call-in ESPN and tell them that like I did w/ Chuck – and we’re shaping up to have a great 2009 recruiting class.

    Question: Wasn’t Chuck fired that same year?

    LEE: I have full confidence in Sidney Lowe – he knows how to win championships.

  5. Rick 03/05/2008 at 3:44 PM #

    chop,
    Are thos real questiosn or did you make them up?

  6. Rick 03/05/2008 at 3:46 PM #

    What is the difference in Lee Fowler and a bag of poo?

    You can get rid of a bag of poo

  7. choppack1 03/05/2008 at 3:48 PM #

    Rick – those are real questions that need to be asked if someone is going to conduct an interview like this.

  8. Girlfriend in a Coma 03/05/2008 at 4:11 PM #

    Did he give the interview from his house on Lake Gaston? I’m actually impressed that he gave an entire interview without shitting on Wolfpack fans.

  9. Rick 03/05/2008 at 4:15 PM #

    Tells you something when people are suprised he does NOT dump on the fans.

  10. sautz 03/05/2008 at 4:26 PM #

    Insightful as a 2 X 4. How could this guy get a job running a big time NCAA athletic department (well, not so big time anymore)?

  11. wufpup76 03/05/2008 at 4:26 PM #

    At least someone with a little authority acknowledged publicly that there have been problems w/ this team, regardless that the problems were somewhat obvious …

    Problems acknowledged w/out blaming the “bad” fans – who knew that would ever happen at NC State?

    Accountability – what a concept

  12. RBCRowdy 03/05/2008 at 4:30 PM #

    Chemistry problems can be tolerated in November, not March. Lowe has shown he is not yet an elite coach b/c he failed miserably in managing this team. He may become a great coach, but he is not one yet.

    BTW, shouldn’t a coach who was in the NBA coaching ranks for 10 years be able to deal with chemistry problems????

  13. roandaddy 03/05/2008 at 4:33 PM #

    You have high expectations, and I think the FANS did, and we have not lived up to them. That’s the huge frustration.”

    –Is he saying only the FANS had high expections? What were his freakin’ expectations? This is the most confusing sentence.. Who is “you”, I got the fans, then who who is “we”. I am terrible at English so someone smarter than me can explain this.

  14. choppack1 03/05/2008 at 4:35 PM #

    RBC – Probably if they were not “the” guy. Now, he was a HC for almost 300 games, but we don’t even want to bring that up.

  15. choppack1 03/05/2008 at 4:37 PM #

    Also, I should add – chemistry issues have hurt coaches w/ a lot better pedigree than Lowe. Billy Donovan had plenty of issues before these last 2 years. Coach K’s had some issues on some of his teams. V and Cremins were always big believers and reliant on positive chemistry.

  16. Ed89 03/05/2008 at 4:41 PM #

    As I think about it, it was a MAJOR error in judgement when Sid started JJ the FIRST game of the year. It would be different if he started him in front of a junior or senior that was not a starter the year before, but to start him in his FIRST college game (against W&M) over a guy that played 30-35 minutes a game last year — THAT was the START of any chemistry problems there may be on this team. I hope he’s learned a little from that. I’m not saying JJ shouldn’t be starting now, or even in game 2…but I don’t think he should have started his first game EVER in a STATE uniform over Ben McCauley.

  17. ncsumatman 03/05/2008 at 4:42 PM #

    Get off the friggin radio Jeb.

  18. newt 03/05/2008 at 5:04 PM #

    I agree he should shut up. All his comments do is feed the fire. Of course the AD supports the new coach in year 2.

  19. howlie 03/05/2008 at 5:05 PM #

    (What ED said)

    BTW, (can’t believe I’m saying this but) Fowler deserves credit for simply stating the problem. Interestingly, and frustratingly, Sid has not mentioned the chemistry issue as THE problem this year, and has sought to deflect any queries from call-in fans or reporters about the chemistry issue.

    Herb [may his name be an anathema] went through a part of year with a player’s daddy wanting to demand playing time and control for a son, and he told the supposed “McDonald’s AA” that he no longer had a scholarship. I’m hoping this offseason [when Sid finally gets some ‘distance’ and can reflect] that he realizes this cannot ever happen again and he must simply give some players–WHOMever they are–an ultimatum that they listen to his directive or hit the highway.
    Our ‘cellar-scraping’ can be blamed on ‘chemistry’… but the reason behind the reason is that Sid just did not step in early enough to cut off the resistance by the players.
    Instead of heading back to where the mutineers wanted to go; and instead of resetting course back to where Sid wanted;
    he tried to steer compromise–and took the ship straight south.
    To the bottom of the conference.

    As another now-gone coach said, “I can promise you we will NEVER have a season like this again.” One way or the other, Sid needs to know the words were said for him even if he doesn’t.
    Time to grab the bull by the balls and take control, coach.

  20. Clarksa 03/05/2008 at 5:06 PM #

    “As I think about it, it was a MAJOR error in judgement when Sid started JJ the FIRST game of the year.”

    It was reported that Ben was sick at the beginning of the season…and that’s why JJ started the first few games.

  21. choppack1 03/05/2008 at 5:06 PM #

    e89 – I don’t know whether that was an error in judgment or not. For all I know, Hickson earned it in practice. OTOH, McCauley may have been schooling him in practice since the beginning.

    I really try not to make judges on what coach should or shouldn’t have done in most cases (unless it’s out there for everyone to see) – or if they got PG A and should have gotten PG B. I’ll critique them for crimes of omission (for example, not recruiting an athletic combo guard last year), what I see or don’t see on the floor.

    But my final judgement is based on the product I see on gameday. This year – I’m sure chemistry problems hurt us, but last year wasn’t exactly a Mardi Gras.

  22. westwolf 03/05/2008 at 5:11 PM #

    Like most weak minded beaurocrats, Jeb usually builds his case on a fautly premise from the start.

    It’s not just “winning and losing” you flippin’ moron; it’s a question of degree… of DEGREE. Everyone wins and loses. But how many times, to whom, by how many, for what reason…

    We are the LAST placed team in the Acc. That’s not just a loss, or some losses…that’s the worst league peformance of any other team in the Acc.

    Anyway, I wish that at least one “journalist” in the are could learn the art of the follow-up question.

  23. Sippit 03/05/2008 at 5:19 PM #

    A great NCSU philosopher once said “when we hungry…we eat”

    I believe we are hungry now and should eat

  24. Howler 03/05/2008 at 5:21 PM #

    I may be the only one who thinks the whole “chemistry” thing is way overblown and somewhat of a crutch. At this level of basketball, all five guys on the Court should know how to play to their strengths and how to get the ball to the most prolific scorers in positions where they can score. They do practice together quite a bit, don’t they? This isn’t rocket science (which does require knowledge of chemistry, come to think of it). Just play hard like you want to win more than anything else in the world. It is more about psychology than chemistry.

  25. westwolf 03/05/2008 at 5:23 PM #

    Here’s an idea for a follow up question:

    Jed: We have the things in place to win in the future.

    Journalist: What, exactly, will you have in place next year that you didn’t have in place this year?

    Seems pretty simple, really.

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