Two Coach Lowe Interviews (Updated 10pm ET): ‘Not that I can discuss at this point’

08-09 Basketball General Sidney Lowe94

Interview with 850TheBuzz

Interview with the media

The real story of the day may come from what was not said in Coach Lowe’s time with the media:

Q: Any other personnel changes?
A: Not that I can discuss at this point.

Q: Not just the players, but any other staff changes?
A: Not that I can discuss at this point.

The following are comments related to the 850TheBuzz interview:

Let me just say…I LOVE listening to Coach Lowe. Nobody is perfect, but I really appreciate his articulation of his perspective.

A couple of quotes from Coach Lowe:

“As a competitor, the only thing I was thinking about (at the end of the year) was getting started again”

“I really want to look forward”

In a morning show interview with candid answers, NC State basketball coach Sidney Lowe addressed a number of issues from last season and looked ahead to next season. Concerning the widely discussed chemistry issues that possibly stemmed from JJ Hickson’s playing time, Lowe placed blame all around, but focused on players accepting their roles in order to win as a team. Lowe, who is entering his 3rd year coaching the Wolfpack, also talks about what he has learned from working in the college game and the influences surrounding college players that the pros don’t experience.

* Good news is that the team only got 5 days off at the end of the year before being called back for conditioning. SFN Comment – This is in contrast to what appeared to be only 5 days of conditioning for the team for all of last summer.

* Adam Gold did a good job of probing what he wanted to probe. SFN Comment: This is not a criticism, but I would like to see that kind of probing

* Coach expects Brandon Costner to have a very good year. SFN Comment: We hope Brandon Costner has a very good year. However, the ONLY way that Costner has a year that resembles his freshman year instead of his sophomore year will be if he plays like a power forward who has a decent shot as opposed to plays like a wing forward who is too big and too slow forhis position.)

* AG brought up the post players and brought up Tracy Smith’s progress. SFN Comment: At first it felt as though Sidney sidestepped Tracy Smith which scared me due to the rumors that have swirled related to potential eligibility challenges. But, Coach finished his conversation about the post players with reassuring comments about Smith (particularly his

* Good question by Ovies near the end the interview about what Coach has learned/adjusted to?

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08-09 Basketball General Sidney Lowe

94 Responses to Two Coach Lowe Interviews (Updated 10pm ET): ‘Not that I can discuss at this point’

  1. JimValvano 06/20/2008 at 8:30 AM #

    I don’t think Javi was really all that bad defensively. He really does more than what an average basketball fan thinks. He does give up strength and speed, but he gives maximum effort which is the most important part of playing defense. He’ll never be Bruce Bowen or Dennis Rodman defensively, but I do like his ability to get his hands on the ball. He swats passes out of the passing lane and strips dribblers better than anyone on the team. Javi is the best on the team defensively in those two key areas (effort, deflections).

    I think Javi may be the starter this year. One situation you will probably see is Farnold starting against bigger guards and Javi getting the start in all other games. Lowe likes to adjust his line-up to the other team (the fact that I disagree with this strategy is a topic for another day).

    I think that we will see a team that lines up more like this:

    1. Javi/Degand Mays
    2. Fells/Ferguson Mays
    3. Harris/Fells Horner, Thomas
    4. Costner Horner
    5. McCauley Smith

    In reality I think it would be better if the line-up was faster than this with Javi as a 1, Degand as a 2 (old school…both guards can handle), Fells as a 3, Costner as a 4 (though I’m still not over the Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man and would rather start Harris), and McCauley as the 5.

    I know most of you will disagree, but I think this line-up gives us some quickness. It gives a team that is suspect at the point two guys that can handle the ball. It allows for us to use Degand on the more athletic of our opponents two guards. It also gives us the ability to use Ferguson and Harris as effort players off the bench in the event we start out slow.

  2. choppack1 06/20/2008 at 8:30 AM #

    BJD – good point on Javi’s D. He is a little too small (in both height and overall size) and not quick enough to compensate for those shortcomings. (He actually reminds me a little of Daniel Evans – a person who does everything he can w/ his abilities, but the rest of team isn’t strong enough to compensate for his obvious weaknesses.) The good news is that he has an offseason to improve his strength, develop more physically and work on his quickness.

    I do have share some agreement w/ Degand’s injury being used as a crutch/excuse for the collapse. If memory serves correct, we started 4-4 in the ACC w/ Javi at the PG spot.

    Granted, Degand was stronger in a lot of areas where Javi struggled – and we certainly would have been a better team with him.

    However, I do get concerned that once again Sid is pigeonholing folks into certain positions and hasn’t (to date) shown a lot flexibility in the line-ups he’s willing to offer teams. This surprises since V was an absolute master at controlling/forcing tempo and keeping the opponent off balance w/ various line up changes.

  3. tmb81 06/20/2008 at 8:33 AM #

    Just a correction to the above: The Seton Hall road win was the game following Degand’s injury. However to enforce your point, with Degand in the lineup, we defeated Davidson, a team that didn’t lose again until they almost took out the eventual national champs in the Elite 8.

  4. happypackdad 06/20/2008 at 8:52 AM #

    I think we’ll see DeGand & Javi on the floor at the same time some this season. Fells will play the 2 & 3. Horner might play some three since he’s slimmed down & the other options are Thomas & Williams. Maybe MJ will play some 3, he’s similar to Fells in size & he’s not a PG. We do have many multi-positional players.

    DeGand/Javi/Mayes
    Javi/Fells/Mayes
    Fells/Horner/MJ
    Costner/Smith/Horner
    Ben/Smith

  5. BJD95 06/20/2008 at 8:55 AM #

    The “chemistry issues” mushroomed in earnest a game or two after Degand’s injury (on the Seton Hall trip and its aftermath). So it’s hard to separate the impact of those 2 notable events.

    Yes, MSU beat the piss out of us (and we lost to ECU and NO) even with Degand. But we also DEFINITELY would have lost to a pretty damned lousy South Carolina team without Degand’s game-saving performance.

    My guess is that we PROBABLY manage to make the NIT or CBI if Degand stays healthy. But I can’t really be sure of that. The offseason complacency and in-season chemistry disruption were major, major problems.

  6. TomPack 06/20/2008 at 9:13 AM #

    Just a thought that I haven’t seen raised by the media concerning the upcoming bball season. How many bench jockies will Roy have to run off to make room for the incoming class since everyone is coming back? Also I feel better about the Pack’s season if you look at it this way…the core of the team that finished fairly strongly two years ago is back without the JJ distraction and will be looking to atone for last year’s debacle.Heck,between the progress of the football team under Coach O’B and the number of returning bball players we just may have a fun and exciting fall and winter!

  7. RAWFS 06/20/2008 at 9:26 AM #

    ^ Let’s hope that this is a very positive season of transition.

  8. packpigskinfan23 06/20/2008 at 10:04 AM #

    Glad to see I am not the only one who feels that way about Javi. I guess its just something that we are gonna have to let the Coach do his job, and make the decesions.

    Like I said before, and many have added onto, I just feel like its Lowe’s stubbornness that is gonna make Degand the starter and not just by merit. I hope Degand comes back setting the court of fire… but we dont know what he will look like yet, and for Lowe to basically name him the starter already is a bit disheartening to me.

    Can Javi fit in any other guard position? the 3 maybe? I am no basketball guru… so I dont really break down position by position, but it seems that Javi could offensively find a great open three. On defense his speed wouldn’t be as big of a liability? But then again I bring it back to Lowe’s stubbornness. I highly doubt he will change positions like that. He seems to have no flexibility.

  9. happypackdad 06/20/2008 at 10:11 AM #

    Lowe hasn’t had a full roster to work with yet. Give the man time to re-build.

  10. Ed89 06/20/2008 at 10:20 AM #

    ^^^Can Javi fit in any other guard position? the 3 maybe?

    Most SF (3’s) in the ACC would post up Javi. He’s just not tall enough to defend other 3’s — actually would struggle defending most 2 guards, IMO.

  11. Ed89 06/20/2008 at 10:30 AM #

    ….but I’ll add he’s one of my favorite players to watch. I love his tenacity and competitiveness.

  12. choppack1 06/20/2008 at 10:38 AM #

    Given Javi’s height – or lack thereof – he is one position player in this league. Degand – can play the two – and he could guard the 2 as well.

    One of my complaints last year is that our staff recruited 3 guards who they would only play at the 1 spot. Truthfully, a good guard should be able to play both positions in a pinch. For a guard of Javi’s size, he’ll never be able to defend a bigger guard consistently. However, your guards should be able to shoot and penetrate well enough and think well enough to move away from the PG spot.

  13. happypackdad 06/20/2008 at 10:53 AM #

    I think there’s a good change that we’ll have Javi & Degand on the court at the same time a lot. Who plays the 1 & who the 2 will depend on matchups. Fergie can provide some minutes at the 2 for sure.

  14. Trip 06/20/2008 at 11:14 AM #

    If Javi hits the weights and puts on 10-15 pounds of muscle I think he’d be able to make up for his lack of height. I love the kid. He’s without a doubt stuck at the PG position though. I think a lineup of Javi/Degand/Fells/Costner/Mccauley would be exceptionally fast. All Javi would NEED to do is hit open shots to keep the defense on him and atleast make the opposing team’s point guard work for his points. Fells would have more time to worry about scoring and less about passing.

    1: Javi/Degand/Mays/Johnson
    2: Degand/Ferguson/Johnson/Mays/Thomas
    3: Fells/Harris/Horner/Johnson/Thomas
    4: Costner/Smith/Harris/Horner
    5: Mccauley/Smith (I just don’t see Costner here, even if he is bigger than Smith)

    That’s from Starter—>3rd/4th option

    I love Harris and I hope he gets his minutes in, he’s a freaking BEAST and he gave Curry all sorts of problems when he was defending him.

    I don’t see Williams/Johnson getting any PT next year unless they’re monsters. I don’t know where Horner is going to fit in either :\

  15. newt 06/20/2008 at 2:48 PM #

    Javi was the most mentally tough player on the court by season’s end, something we definitely need.

  16. burnbarn 06/20/2008 at 3:51 PM #

    ^got that right

  17. redfred2 06/20/2008 at 5:50 PM #

    “One of my complaints last year is that our staff recruited 3 guards who they would only play at the 1 spot. Truthfully, a good guard should be able to play both positions in a pinch. For a guard of Javi’s size, he’ll never be able to defend a bigger guard consistently. However, your guards should be able to shoot and penetrate well enough and think well enough to move away from the PG spot.”

    Chop, now which staff are you talking about exactly? I mean, didn’t we already have a 2 guard who couldn’t pass the basketball, rarely forces the issue, and hardly ever penetrates, back before Sidney Lowe ever arrived? I don’t think I’d lay it all on the one coach who wasn’t at liberty to pick and choose, and had to pretty much settle for anyone he could get to fill the position.

  18. redfred2 06/20/2008 at 6:14 PM #

    It’s been sorely tested and almost rocked off it’s foundation, but I still have a good feeling about Sidney Lowe deep down. Considering that the learning curve of recruiting and managing kids on the collegiate level would be a colossal task for any mere mortal, and then starting it all out at a university that is an ACC member on top of that, I would have believe that the one man (who took the job with good intentions and after so many others had turned us down) still deserves our respect and some patience shown.

  19. redfred2 06/20/2008 at 6:20 PM #

    chop, I was admittedly trying to get a rise out of you in that first post earlier, but that last one was just a general statement, NOT pointed at you at all.

  20. redfred2 06/20/2008 at 6:26 PM #

    “Fells would have more time to worry about scoring and less about passing.”

    Not to be a smart ass, but I think you meant to say that Fells could just shoot from way down town all of the time. I don’t think he’s ever been too “worried” about attempting much of anything else.

  21. redfred2 06/20/2008 at 6:46 PM #

    I’ll admit I blamed it all on the former coach, and possibly wrongly so, but in my mind Courtney Fells = Cammeron Bennerman. Both have scary athletic potential, and both were never able to capitalize on it. I saw a look in Bennerman’s eyes that said he wanted to bag it all, break the restraints of the scheme he was forced to play in, and just bust out on his own. But it never happened for whatever the reason. I guess that’s why I blamed the coach more back then.

    Unfortunately for us now though, I do not see anything resembling that kind of “look” in our latest and greatest, highly touted and outrageously athletic, disappointment on the BB court.

  22. redfred2 06/20/2008 at 7:09 PM #

    ^correction to last post, should have said…

    …to date, neither of them have been able to capitalize on it.

  23. Trip 06/20/2008 at 11:12 PM #

    “Not to be a smart ass, but I think you meant to say that Fells could just shoot from way down town all of the time. I don’t think he’s ever been too “worried” about attempting much of anything else.”

    From the looks of some of the games he was in he wasn’t too worried to even shoot from down town. :\

  24. hball57 06/21/2008 at 2:26 AM #

    Again I am going to post this. On other threads I make this comment and no one responds.

    Those who questions Ferguson’s athleticism at the 2 are wrong IMHO. I’d like you to name one starting 2 guard in the league who is a much better athlete. He is a better athlete than he is given credit for (by OUR fans) and has one of the highest basketball IQs on the team. He will defend must like Engin Atsur did, and he is a better athlete than Engin, IMHO. I think a starting line up of Degand, Ferguson and Fells is more athletic, has better shooting and is better defensively than last year’s team.

    Now on Costner. Many still want to knock Costner for the type of shape he was in last year, totally ignoring his summer knee injury which prevented him from the normal summer work on his game. And again the “Big Lazy” nickname comes up with no idea where that comes from (given, not because of his work habits, but because he could fall asleep anywhere, anytime).

    I think the starting line up will be Degand, Ferguson, Fells, Costner and McCauley. With Javi, Smith and Horner as our first three subs and whatever we can get from Harris, Mays and Williams, we will have a better shootings and more athletic team, and we will resemble more the end of the 2007 season more than last year.

  25. packpigskinfan23 06/21/2008 at 3:34 AM #

    hball57- fair enough. Not a bad perception… but Costner IS “Big Lazy”. Its not just falling asleep. I agree that his injury had a LOT to do with his play last year, but it also comes down to heart. Even in Costner’s first year he only REALLY got energized against Duke and Carolina.

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