Wolfpack Finally Finds “Way To Win”

RALEIGH, NC – Just days after a loss in the first round of the ACC tournament ended NC State’s basketball season with a nine game losing streak that ensured a losing record for the year, jubilant Wolfpack basketball players emerged from a players-only meeting and announced that they had finally found the “way to win.”

“Man, I am so relieved,” senior Gavin Grant said. “I mean, nine straight games is tough, especially with everyone relying on me for senior leadership. I’m glad we finally have this turned around.” Wolfpack junior Ben McCauley agreed. “We really had some issues. Now that we’ve talked through them, we feel that we’re ready to take on any team in the country and win.”

Redshirt sophomore Brandon Costner, whose game suffered a noticeable lapse in effectiveness compared to the 2006-2007 season, may be the most happy about the Wolfpack finding the way to win. “It’s certainly been disappointing, losing nine straight games. But we always say that tomorrow is a new day, and I can tell you this: our next opponent is going to have their hands full.” Freshman guard Javier Gonzalez concurred with his teammate: “In my case, finding the way to win meant realizing that turning the ball over to the other team wasn’t really smart point guard play. I mean, that’s the difference between us and, say, Carolina and Duke. We’re just as talented, really, and we’ll show that in our next game now that we’ve found the way to win again.”

Wolfpack freshman J.J. Hickson did not pause to speak with the media after the players gathering broke up, stating only that he had to attend “a meeting with some people” before speeding away in a new Cadillac Escalade with a temporary tag.

Wolfpack head coach Sidney Lowe, notified of the players-only meeting, expressed his gratification. “I must say, though, I’d have been much happier if they’d come to this conclusion during the actual basketball season,” Lowe admitted.

When assistants quietly notified the players that the season was, in fact, over, the team was stunned. “Say what?” Grant said. “But we have this turned around.” Costner too was crestfallen, stating, “Such a wasted potential; we really were finally ready to win. I understand now why the fans were so upset yesterday. Oh, well.”

NC State Director of Athletics Lee Fowler said, “This meeting is just another example of how, under my leadership, NC State is building top-caliber athletic programs. Like some guy once said, never give up. When the ACC thinks ‘champions,’ they think, ‘NC State’. And ‘Lee Fowler’.”

General

107 Responses to Wolfpack Finally Finds “Way To Win”

  1. travelwolf 03/18/2008 at 1:07 AM #

    it’s hard to admit, but the coach is at fault. deep down, we all know it – even though we blame it on the players. blaming it on the coach basically requires us to give up hope that next year will be much better. i guarantee you that coach K or Roy W. would have at least had this same team in the top 5 teams in the league. when coach K had to take a year off, his (assistant’s) team went 16-10 and missed the NCAA, i believe. next year, they were just like the duke we all love to hate. for those of you (the media?) who point out that coach K and Dean Smith had trouble their first 3 years… when coach K was in his 2nd year, I believe he had 4 freshman and one canadian sophomore starting. no one expected anything from that team. the difference was that as the year progressed, everyone could tell that they were improving – and they had occasional great plays that made the highlights. by the time most of the starters were sophomores in the ACC Tournament – they had a big upset – Carolina, I believe. the next year, they kicked butt.

    i doubt this will happen with coach Lowe, but i’m trying to be positive and hope for the best – contrary to what the data says.

  2. FLPack 03/18/2008 at 6:58 AM #

    Check this out – “Donovan kicks Gators out of practice facility” –
    “…feeling like his players had settled into a state of complacency and entitlement, banned them from Florida’s $12 million facility. He also told them they couldn’t wear any Florida attire.”

    http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/7923570?MSNHPHMA

    An interesting approach to a problem we share – the complancency at least.

  3. Cardiff Giant 03/18/2008 at 8:48 AM #

    ^ They have successive national championships. We won’t have that unless the rest of the United States is sucked away to another dimension by that creepy kid from The Twilight Zone, leaving us as the only division I college in the country. And then we’ll lose to an NAIA team.

  4. cWOhLFrPAiCKs 03/18/2008 at 9:40 AM #

    But at least you know the coach is trying something. From our perspective (NC State Fans), we saw very little, if anything, being done throughout the season.

    The only game I went to this season was the ACC Tourney game against Miami. I guess from only watching on TV I was able to miss a lot of the “lack-of-hustle” plays and just all around standing around that is impossible to miss live. I’ve never seen a team that looked so discombobulated out on the floor. It was like watching a bunch of eleven year olds learn how to play basketball.

    But I digress. I have seen no actions from Sidney throughout the year to give me any indication that he knows what needs to be done. Next year will most likely prove to be as difficult to swallow as this year was. You know it’s sad when you ALMOST miss Herb Sendek…almost…

  5. Astral Rain 03/18/2008 at 12:30 PM #

    Question- would Nolan Richardson be a good hire here?

    He’s avaliable and interested in heading back to coaching.

  6. Mike 03/18/2008 at 1:53 PM #

    NO to Nolan. He has gotten every program in trouble and is always involved in some controversy. Same with Bob Huggins. I would root for UNX before I would root for us with either of those two.

  7. Bynum State Fan 03/18/2008 at 3:57 PM #

    About the Duke women. I just figured I’d give all the Glory to Duke as does everyone else. Of course, I don’t think their women are better looking than NCSU or UNC. I do not even think they are the best team in the ACC. But I sure as hell was dead on when I said that they have the biggest asset needed to win (The officials)!

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