Tudor: Gonzalez makes a good showing

07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball86

But there was a winner on the opposite team, too. It was beleaguered Wolfpack point guard Javier Gonzalez, a freshman with such a maligned background that he spent part of Thursday afternoon begging for a reprieve in State coach Sidney Lowe’s office.So bad was Gonzalez’s performance in the Wolfpack’s 72-62 home loss to Florida State on Wednesday that he felt his role as a regular in the lineup was in jeopardy.

“I wanted Coach to know that I could still help this team,” Gonzalez said. “I just went to him, and asked him not to give up on me. I’m capable of being better. I didn’t want him to lose confidence in me.”

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07-08 Basketball NCS Basketball

86 Responses to Tudor: Gonzalez makes a good showing

  1. Greywolf 03/02/2008 at 2:29 PM #

    Half the posts on this blog should be set to the music of the old Hee Haw TV song, “Gloom, dispair and agony on me.” SFN: Questioning “true fan” status doesn’t fly here. Admittedly the Pack has struggled, been out of sync, played like the didn’t care, etc. We have indicted Lowe for poor coaching, no coaching and adverse benefits coaching. WTF?

    Smith is now doing what we all said he needed to do to play regularly. Is that not a result of coaching?

    Javi finds out 2 friends have been killed the day before the FSU game and that matters not in the appraisal of his play. He comes out of high school, lightly recruited, injured in pre-season, 3rd string status and we don’t think he is making enough progress when he goes out and gives Duke and Paulus all they ever wanted.

    I like that Javi isn’t LOOKING to shoot but is now TAKING what they give him. I like it he knows how to deal with adversity. I like it that he is tough. I like it that he’s got an attitude on the court. Greg Paulus was VERY respectful of Javi in the “line” after the game. We FANs could take note.

    When Fergie rebounds we are likely on a break IF IT”S THERE. He is playing aggresively, with confidence and has a hot hand. And this is a problem for some naysayers next year? Get a grip.

    After the FSU game, Coach Harris fielded questions from Wolfpackers in the RBC. When asked why Fergie didn’t start the 2nd half, he said, ‘This is a team and the starters really played badly in the first half and we as a team wanted to give them a chance to redeem themselves.’

    Most of us are armchair coaches and ADs sitting in front of computers making fools of ourselves instead of working with young men to achieve success and have a great experience of playing basketball. Lowe refuses to “kill” off his players even when they deserve it. Those young men lived to play another day and almost pulled it off against Duke.

  2. redfred2 03/02/2008 at 2:30 PM #

    What else can anyone add after the first poster starts off the thread with…

    “One of the few bright spots yesterday.”

    What the hell??? Did this guy watch the game or what???

  3. Afterglow 03/02/2008 at 2:30 PM #

    I for soem reason feel like John Wall will go to Memphis. I also feel like Lo Brown is going to surprise everyone and go with a shool like Florida.

  4. Afterglow 03/02/2008 at 2:36 PM #

    I for some reason feel like John Wall will go to Memphis. I also feel like Lo Brown is going to surprise everyone and go with a school like Florida.

  5. Anthony Grundy 03/02/2008 at 2:37 PM #

    “Johnson may very well be a wash but the reality is (as someone pointed out yesterday) everyone felt the same way about Fergy. It seems we often live and die by the perception of what’s happening right now rather than looking at the whole picture.”

    Afterglow, I agree with you that we NC State fans tend to live in the moment. However, as student of the game and a small-time coach, it’s clear that Johnson is not very good and doesn’t have much upside potential. Conversely, I’ve said all a long that Fergie is good. He has fundamental basketball skills, which only a few players on the team have (e.g. McCauley & Smith). I’ll say what i said before the duke game, I think we have a shot to beat anyone if Fergie, Smith, Fells, Hickson, McCauley, Grant get enough playing time. I guess underestimated Javi’s importance.

  6. Greywolf 03/02/2008 at 2:38 PM #

    redfred2,
    You said in one sentence what it took half of Sunday for me to say.

    And rapping Costner after yesterday is a bit much. He actually looked — can you believe this shit — skinny on TV. What about the hustle play the Duke player wearing strips called an intentional foul? Is that loafing?

  7. Anthony Grundy 03/02/2008 at 2:41 PM #

    ha, Costner did look skinny yesterday!

  8. Greywolf 03/02/2008 at 2:42 PM #

    We evaluate coaches like my first wife evaluated our children’s behavior. When they were good, they were just great kids. When they were bad, I was a bad parent. 😉

  9. Afterglow 03/02/2008 at 2:47 PM #

    I certainly wasn’t saying that Johnson was the next Gugliotta. I was simply pointing out that you just never know. I think a lot of the reason Javi is doing better is becuase he’s getting an (intense experience) he would have gotten had Degand not gone down with a torn ACL. Johnson may suck until the “cheering stops” but I was just pointing out that you can never tell what’s going to happen.

    One could argue that the funky rotations we are seeing are Lowe’s longterm plans to have everyone gain experience ensuring a deep bench.

  10. werncstate 03/02/2008 at 2:55 PM #

    Afterglow…i wish I had the opportunity to make a multi million dollar mistake Like Hickson going pro…you are right though he should stay another year and maybe risk blowing out a knee.
    vtpackfan…what is “senial”?
    Michigan State is putting a whipping to another top 20 team without a coach.

  11. Anthony Grundy 03/02/2008 at 3:09 PM #

    …i just don’t think we should see Johnson until his senior day game.

  12. redfred2 03/02/2008 at 3:13 PM #

    Thanks Greywolf, funny stuff about parenting too. I get that alot myself.

    “Afterglow…i wish I had the opportunity to make a multi million dollar mistake Like Hickson going pro…you are right though he should stay another year and maybe risk blowing out a knee.”

    Oh boy, here we go with another of those wanting to treat college BB players like proverbial “the boy in the bubble” because they have the potential to play in the NBA SOMEDAY.

    Hey JJ, bundle up and be sure to look both ways before crossing the street there, you fragile little creature you.

  13. redfred2 03/02/2008 at 3:17 PM #

    ^Pitiful typing, AGAIN. I not even going bother these appologies anymore. You guys should be used to it by now anyway.

  14. Afterglow 03/02/2008 at 3:21 PM #

    I suppose blowing out a knee is a definite possibility and I wasn’t saying the decision (was by any stretch of the imagination) an easy one. If presented with the same problem-if one could call it that-I think I would consider the possibility of playing pro as well. However, if it were my potential profession and I was looking to be the best that I could be it may also not be the worst thing in the world to take a chance and get a little better. Risk is often what creates opportunity. Powel hasn’t blown his knee out yet. Ced hasn’t to my knowledge, blown his knee out yet. Is that insurance that neither will Hickson. No. Anything can happen. But in looking at it, I think in terms of putting yourself in the best position, it would be a mistake to go pro this year for Hickson. If you take a look back at NC States draft situation-historically speaking-things didn’t work out so well for Ced and Powell.

  15. Noah 03/02/2008 at 3:36 PM #

    Honestly, I don’t think Lowe will have anything to do, positively or negatively, with where Wall ends up.

    On Hickson…we’ll know pretty soon what he’s going to do.

  16. Afterglow 03/02/2008 at 3:38 PM #

    All right then. I’m going to go blow my knee out down at the local Rec Center. I’ll talk to ya’ll later.

  17. redfred2 03/02/2008 at 3:49 PM #

    Let’s play it really safe and not worry about any further development while JJ is ENROLLED at NC State University. Maybe he shouldn’t have played at all this season. Maybe he could have gotten hurt in his record breaking first game as a Wolfpack freshman, or in every other game that followed this season, or in the hundreds of practice sessions leading up to right now.

    We are all selfish a*holes. What on earth are we thinking? That poor kid should sit out the rest of the season. Shame on us for thinking that MOST BB players need more than, and continue to develop AFTER they leave, HS.

    Nope, we are all wrong, they come in (at NC STATE anyway, as seems to be the popular belief around here) all suited and ready to conquer the world. They are prepackaged and ready to go straight on up, and there is not one thing to be gained by wasting time on the college level at all, for anyone with any NBA potential whatsoever.

    That’s not true for most kids in most parts of the country, but when in Raleigh, the negativity just kinda overwhelms everything else.

  18. SMD 03/02/2008 at 4:16 PM #

    When I read the Tudor column this morning, I was troubled for a reason that has not been discussed here yet.

    Javi has two friends get shot. Doesn’t it say something about the lack of team unity, and the lack of a team leader that Coach Lowe didn’t find out until after the FSU game, from Javi?

    I could be wrong, and there’s probably more variables at play here – but you’d think that a)Javi would have told someone else on the team and that b) whoever that was would have told our staff. News like that is too big, and impacts a person’s play enough to override any concerns of being a “snitch.”

    So, either Javi didn’t share with his teammates, or, his teammates didn’t share with the staff. To me – that is troubling.

  19. Noah 03/02/2008 at 4:21 PM #

    The danger with Hickson isn’t that he’ll blow out his knee. The danger is that he’ll get exposed (like Tyler Hansborough or Terrance Morris) if he stays.

    And the exposure has nothing to do with what you have or have not learned. It has to do with the skills that you CANT change.

    But…talking about it doesn’t change anything. Lobbying for him to stay or go doesn’t change it. Until the NBA changes the RIDICULOUS way they run their draft, this is the way it is.

    We’ve got two games left. Like I said, we’ll know very soon if he’s coming back. We should know in about 10 days.

  20. Noah 03/02/2008 at 4:41 PM #

    “So, either Javi didn’t share with his teammates, or, his teammates didn’t share with the staff. To me – that is troubling.”

    Isn’t that consistent with EVERYTHING we’ve been hearing all year long? There is a rift on this team that’s suitable for the Colorado River and if Lowe is going to succeed, long-term, that’s something he’s got to recognize, come to grips with, and solve.

  21. redfred2 03/02/2008 at 4:58 PM #

    Noah agreed, but “being exposed”, as you say, can be either good or bad, depending on the true talents of the player and his desire to improve.

    What happens around here, at NC State, and with this particular fan base, is that everyone takes the negative viewpoint and believes that the coaches/BB program has nothing more to offer than what skillset the kid had when he first set foot on campus. I do not believe that at all, and without beating a dead horse, I have already said why I believe those negative attitudes are so engrained right now.

  22. Noah 03/02/2008 at 5:08 PM #

    “What happens around here, at NC State, and with this particular fan base, is that everyone takes the negative viewpoint and believes that the coaches/BB program has nothing more to offer than what skillset the kid had when he first set foot on campus.”

    Well, that’s crap. EVERYONE does not do that. MOST don’t even do that.

    Furthermore, the NBA isn’t looking for college-basketball skills. They play a different game.

    Hickson, like Simmons, is going to be a slightly undersized power forward in the NBA. He won’t be as undersized as Tyler Hansborough (who is going to have to somehow figure out how to be a small forward with his feet of clay), but he’ll still be going up against guys that are bigger.

  23. redfred2 03/02/2008 at 5:17 PM #

    Not to be a jerk, and he does have money, but isn’t Cedric Simmons kind of “exposed” right now?

    I believe there is a certain level that MUST be attained before even attempting to play in the NBA. Otherwise, even if the the kid did have NBA potential at one time, he will may swept away and overwhelmed by superior skill and athleticism, that he may never get there, or give up trying.

    That’s why they play amatuer sports throughout and in the different levels of education, it’s schooling. Only a certain few can skip an entire level, and still reach their full potential.

  24. werncstate 03/02/2008 at 5:28 PM #

    Let’s see I can get paid a million dollars but may end up playing in the development league, or I can stay in college and continue to develop my game hoping I might improve and get paid 2 million dollars next year. Yep that’s a tough choice.

  25. Noah 03/02/2008 at 5:34 PM #

    “I believe there is a certain level that MUST be attained before even attempting to play in the NBA. ”

    Every NBA scout would tell you that you are wrong.

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