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

07-08 Basketball AD & Department NCS Basketball Sidney Lowe144

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. Rick 03/07/2008 at 7:49 AM #

    “until somebody helps mend the image of pack bball and nc state fans from the national media’s point of view ”

    One of our biggerst image problems is our AD. When he is not busy running us into the ground he is busy feeding the division or ineptly running a coaching search.

    LF is the problem not the fans. Our fans are no worse (and IMO considerable better) than any other when it comes to expecting wins.

  2. blackdom 03/07/2008 at 8:06 AM #

    GAWolf……….Sid walk out on us? There is nowhere for him to go dbag. He as well as fowler have found the only place that would put up with either of them.
    If anyone ran a company like these two are doing here they would be out on their fat asses.
    Ps GT sucks and the clemson game last night was sloppy but they played hard and did not excuse no pun inttended Pack it in!

  3. choppack1 03/07/2008 at 8:41 AM #

    1) Is the lack of head coaching experience Sid’s fault? Or rather isn’t that Fowler’s fault?

    Oh, it’s definitely Fowler’s fault, but blame is irrelevant here. It’s not about what’s best for Sidney, it’s about what is best for NC State.

    2) Is the lack of experience a reason to oust him early or give him an opportunity to adapt, since y’all believe that to be something that TOB does so well. Doesn’t it make sense that TOB would be able to adapt easier and quicker to adversity through falling back on the knowledge gained through many years of coaching at this level?

    It does – and we can see something similar happening at ASU right now. However, this is a bit irrelevant too. The only reason I’d want to keep a coach doing miserably after 3 years is if that coach had previous success – especially if he struggled early. Usually if you struggle your first 3 years, you’ll struggle your next 3 years.

    3) Am I the only person that thinks Herb was every bit the scam artist as Amato as to hyping over and beyond the actual strides made? A decade he was here. A DECADE. Unfortunately that decade so divided our fan base that now we’re so trigger happy to fire a coach we are living up to the unfair stereotypes the national media smacked us with when Herb left.

    That’s just BS. With the exception of Noah – most folks on this board aren’t saying “fire him now!” I just don’t see a lot of reasons to be optimistic for next year. I understood why fans were frustrated w/ Herb. I was frustrated w/ him at times – too – like the last 5 minutes of almost every big game we played.

    I will tell you this – go anywhere in the country and see if they are happy w/ a coach who took over after 5 straight NCAAs and has them in last place in the league in just 2 short years…Go anywhere where they care about sports and see if they aren’t bothered by that.

    I don’t think Herb is guilty of overhyping about the strides made, nor was Amato necessarily. Both of them had significant improvement over their predecessor.

    4) If a “big name” coach was here suffering the same season Sid endured this year, would we be so quick to jump ship?

    If you include the first year – and you include the second year – and depending on the big name coach – Hell, yes is your answer. If that big name coach was “Steve Lavin” – people would be ready to jump ship (I’d be among them.) If that big name coach was Jim Beilein – I’m sure others would be willing to jump ship. If that big name coach was John Calipari and you combined the poor performance on the floor w/ 5-6 arrests, yea, we’d probably be ready to jump ship. If that big name was Rick Barnes – well, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.

    However, I’d also tell you that if that Big Name coach had previous success, we could just sit back and go, “Well, so and so, did at Clemson and Texas, or UMass and Memphis, he can do it here.” Instead, we can go, well, Sid’s doing better than he did in the NBA….

    5) At what level does the lack of effort by the players get to the point that it is apathy and not lack-of-coaching?

    Good question. A better question is why didn’t the kids who have given us the recent spark – Ferguson and Tracy Smith – get more playing earlier when the season could be salvaged, especially since they substitute for the 2 spots on which we see the “apathy” problem most evident.

    6) Where’s Archie?
    Ohio State I believe.

  4. Ed89 03/07/2008 at 9:43 AM #

    GAWolf….^^^when we finally fired herb, I was convinced we were going to get a “name” in here to head our program.

    Once and for all, we DIDN’T “fire” Herb — he left for greener pastures in Arizona. That’s an oxymoron isn’t it. Are their any green pastures in Arizona that aren’t golf courses??? My gut tells me that we make another run in the tourney — to at least Saturday. First, let’s just see how we play against Wake, though.

  5. choppack1 03/07/2008 at 9:47 AM #

    I wouldn’t be surpised if we made a run in the tourney…Sid is an impressive 8-2 in tournament games at NC State. I think his NBA experience is critical here – he’s used to making quick adjustments and breaking down an opponent w/ little time to spare.

  6. Rochester 03/07/2008 at 9:47 AM #

    My gut tells me that we make another run in the tourney

    Maybe we’ve been sand-bagging it this year just to make everyone think we suck when in reality we’re the Final Four team that Gavin predicted. Maybe the “chemistry” talk is just to throw everyone off our trail and catch them off-guard. All we need is 10 wins in a row and we’re champs. That’s probably the plan.

  7. marybethrizalucy 03/07/2008 at 11:04 AM #

    I wish he would just shut his mouth. I think State would be better off without an AD than having this idiot around. God I cannot believe that we have to put up with this crap. He makes State look like more of a redneck school than Clemson. How is it possible to out redneck someone named Terry Don? Please make him go away!

  8. RAWFS 03/07/2008 at 11:24 AM #

    wernstate: VERY well played, sir!

  9. dR. dIX hILL 03/07/2008 at 12:10 PM #

    wHO hAS aN aNCESTER tHAT lIVES aT tHE nEUSE iN cLAYTON…

    An ancestor is a relative that comes before you, a descendant is a relative who comes after you. jUST sO yOU kNOW.

    tHIS i aM aWARE oF.

  10. GAWolf 03/07/2008 at 12:57 PM #

    Ed: You’re right. I misspoke about Herb leaving. We didn’t fire him, but the writing was on the wall that it was coming and he left. The departure for “greener pastures” was best for all. (Unless you’re looking at it from the local media’s perspective who moved here from ohio or michigan or chapel hill and never understood the plight of being a Pack fan in that we do have reason to expect success in basketball.)

    Choppack: You make some valid points and I can see things both ways. I agree with you 100% that there are no reasons to be optimistic for next year. We’re likely going to be worse with Hickson gone unless the guys who remain can buck up and play together. You’re so very right that guys have shown more effort haven’t played. I’m baffled by that as well. I don’t agree with it nor do I understand it. If we were winning it would still baffle me that some guys can loaf and never seem to punished for it. However, the flip is only SOMETIMES true: guys who work hard and play hard give us a better chance to win. I think the white guys at the end of the Carolina bench who maintain the team GPA probably play their butts off when they get some PT, but I’m not sure that means they are better than the starting Carolina 5 at three-quarter speed. THAT… that is a very tough thing to gauge and I will say that Sid probably did a poor job of playing that dynamic through the entirety of the season.

    Bottom line: I don’t know what the answer is. But I keep my frustrations about Sid… and I promise you I have many… to myself until it’s apparent 1) there’s a better coach available and 2) until there’s no doubt in my mind that he CAN’T get it done. I’m just not to that point yet and while I know that’s just my opinion I also think it’s unfair to throw him under the bus at this stage of his very, very ,very short tenure in NC State standards. If we’ll give Herb a decade we owe sid 3 or maybe even 4 years without the town criers stabbing him in the back.

    ALSO… let it be known… I respect your opinion as well as Noah’s. I don’t post with the regularity of you two, but I’ve been around for years and have read this blog religiously since it’s inception. I should not have used the word idiotic. That was poor form. I do appreciate being called a dbag, though. That was a nice touch, Blackdom. It really solidified my already established opinion not to take anything you post seriously.

  11. inhoc... 03/07/2008 at 2:50 PM #

    “I think his NBA experience is critical here – he’s used to making quick adjustments and breaking down an opponent w/ little time to spare.”
    -ok, cant argue the 8-2 tournament record. on that though, how much of that was fueled last year by atsur. we had a senior with leadership experience running the point.
    -other than one first half adjustment that i saw sid make in the last Dook game to get us back in front, sid usually appears to be clueless as he watches a team like UVa(singletary is a great player….but come on) get 15+ takeaways in the first half or have a team go on a 10(and frequently more) to 0 run.
    -how come our leads disappear just minutes before the buzzer goes off? or we make our way back in to the game and then cant seal the deal.
    -as for the other things being said, which are probably partly directed at me about throwing sid under the bus, and “WHAT IF” it were this guy or “WHAT IF” it were that guy coaching or “WHAT IF” sid had more experience then the jerkoff state fans probably wouldnt jump ship(or would, i guess there are many presumptions being made, either way the fans are still portrayed as being trigger happy…etc)i think we need to deal with WHAT IS, which happens to be a potential last place finish in the acc. no NIT. no post season. period.
    i personally dont want sids head on a silver platter. i firmly believe that the problem is at the top. there are so many questions about the ability of LF that it cant go unnoticed. what frustrates me to the highest is the lack of accountability, no explanation, lack or heart…same ole same ole. all of us state fans just need SOMETHING encouraging to happen so they can sleep a little better at night. the effort of the duke game did a little. still left me with some questions, over all i would say we too a step forward, but now i`m wondering if we’ll take two steps back….

  12. choppack1 03/07/2008 at 2:57 PM #

    ga wolf – I thought you asked fair and reasonable questions. I’m probably being a little hard on Sidney – and he definitely has a shot at turning things around next year. I know the guy can coach in a game. I’m just so disappointed in how the train has fallen off the tracks in the second half of this season and the overall lack of accountability. And nothing, tees me off more than a lack of effort – I got mad when I saw from it TOB’s team in football and I got mad watching it the last 2 years in b’ball.

    I’ve pretty much moved on to next year – though that might be a mistake based on how Sid’s teams play tournaments. (I’ll watch the games initially w/ a sense of detachment.)

    Next year will be critical. I just hope we don’t have the proverbial “witches brew” for fan division: another repeat of this year’s regular season results (or worse), coupled w/ a fantastic recruiting class who sign on to play w/ the man, not w/ the school – we’ve been through that before and know what that looks like.

  13. WolftownVA81 03/07/2008 at 4:10 PM #

    My wife just called to say LF called my house and left a message on our answering machine. I’m real suprised and currious. More later.

  14. GAWolf 03/07/2008 at 5:28 PM #

    inhoc: In all fairness, you can’t have it both ways man. I understand your frustrations, believe me… we all do. And we’re all pissed off about how poorly the year went. However, you just pointed out that Atsur was experienced and good at running the point which is why we played well in the ACC Tourney. If he was the key to success last year, doesn’t it make sense that we would struggle without him this year? Since you’ve pointed that fact out, think about when he was out last year. We stunk. We stink this year.

    Without a viable threat at point guard… hell… without a PG who can get it over half court and at least make the first pass to initiate the offense without turning it over at the top of the key for a dunk the other way… a team in a strong conference like the ACC has no real chance in hell of doing well. We play against the best guards in the country night in and night out and we have, God bless their little pointed heads, guards that wouldn’t start in the SEC. Wait… guards that DIDN’T start in the SEC. And Degand… objectively speaking… he’s not much better. I don’t see a theoretical situation of him not getting hurt changing much of what we witnessed this year.

    BUT… I do know why you’re pissed and I can’t blame you for being that way. I just got numb to it early in the season when I saw the train wreck coming around the bend. Our guard play sucks and our senior leader has a big mouth and our big guys got a little upset because they (rightfully or not rightfully so) lost some playing time to a freshman who is likely one and done. The whole scenario is a recipe for disaster and ALL OF US… including me… came into the year thinking it was a recipe for greatness. I was just as wrong as anyone, but I reckon I realized it and admitted it early on enough to not lose my shit as the season progressed. We stink, bro. Face it.

  15. GAWolf 03/07/2008 at 5:30 PM #

    Can’t wait to hear Fowler’s message… but it wouldn’t shock me if it was a recording. His emails are automatic replies… why wouldn’t his phone messages be?

  16. inhoc... 03/07/2008 at 5:56 PM #

    haha thats about righ GAwolf. my numbness kind comes and goes, however i`m still on the quest for closure. i probably wont find it anytime soon though. my comment about atsur was in response to a comment saying that sid is a good tournament coach and we could expect to make a similar run this year. now i`m not going to damn the tournament and say we are going to suck. we might be getting some things worked out based on the performance last week and might win some games. but we are in a completely different situation than we were last year, and the observation that i made is that i think having atsur out there was a big factor in our success, not so much sids NBA experience and last minute strategies(which i havnt ever seen i dont think). you know what i mean? dont get me wrong, there were other things going on too but i just wouldnt expect to see sid as capable of devising a formula to win in the tourny. right now we need to play with heart, tenacity and passion. get the momentum back. i loved the way javi tore it up last week from laying paulus’ punk @#$ out, to him draining two 3s and taking it to the hole all back to back to back….

  17. werncstate 03/07/2008 at 10:31 PM #

    Hmmmm Trevor has a high basketball IQ. Then why hasn’t he seen the floor more for a team with a very low basketball IQ? This interview scares me actually.

    http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=AuEE2jIzcOX50Lt3ZZEh73Cc07YF?slug=rivals-205746&prov=rivals&type=lgns

  18. werncstate 03/07/2008 at 10:49 PM #

    ^In the article linked above Lowe was asked two questions about rookie of the year. In answering the first question he didn’t even mention Johnson. For the follow up question the interviewer used Johnson’s name. At he end of his answer to this question Lowe said “and then there’s Johnson”. Anyone want to take bets on who has their career game against State tomorrow? I say Johnson is good for 30 points and 15 rebounds. Holy crap!

  19. packpowerfan 03/08/2008 at 2:27 AM #

    werncstate – Trevor has had a rough time getting over his HS injuries to his wrists. I talked to him a little on campus to-and-from class, and he mentioned how hard it was basically learning how to write again. For those of you who were unaware, Trevor was undercut as a senior, fell, and broke both his wrists. For a shooter, like Trevor, I can imagine that’s a catastrophic injury. I honestly don’t know what’s being put in his water or WHAT, though. Earlier in the season, he had that one night where he was, what, 1-8, with those 7 misses being terrible misses. I remember screaming every time he touched the ball “GOD NO! PASS IT!” I’m kind of ashamed to admit that, but I’m impressed 10000% with him come lately.

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