(8pm Update) State’s First Basketball Practice Doesn’t Make Hometown Newspaper

08-09 Basketball Media50

head_up_your_ass.jpgSay What?  No Room for NC State Coverage?

Saturday’s News & Observer told the world that basketball is back in style at Duke. At Carolina, Roy Williams relishes the role as the favorite.

But, Sunday’s News and Observer somehow found room in today’s sports pages for an article about former UNC-CH quarterback Darian Durant’s play in the Canadian Football League, a 59 year old jockey winning a horse-race, and NASCAR needing to fund diversity efforts…but they couldn’t find space for the hometown major conference member’s open basketball practice that was held yesterday with the two top high school recruits in the country in attendance.

Saturday was undoubtedly a busy day in the sports world with almost all college football teams in the area taking the field; Game 6 of the ALCS; and the local NHL team’s action…but it’s still hard to believe that with the #1 high school center and the #1 high school point guard attending State’s practice that the N&O couldn’t find the requisite space for some coverage if nothing more than a throw-away mention in Tim Stevens’ recruiting column. Heck, there was fourteen full pages of sports coverage today. For the record, we weren’t the only people to recognize this today.

I don’t believe in black helicopter conspiracies where the media are concerned, but I do believe that the media is often grossly incompetent and overlooks a lot of their readers’ interests.  My theory on this oversight falls back to the recent headcount reductions and effective merging of the N&O’s sports department with that of the Charlotte Observer. All of the other sporting events on Saturday simply spread the limited resources of the newspapers too thin and made it impossible to cover everything.

When you end up with a non-Triangle-centric sports editor sitting in Charlotte making decisions – these are the decisions that you get. If the N&O wonders why their circulation is dropping, perhaps they should look at these types of editorial decisions for a clue.

Post-script note: To be fair, we need to let you know that the N&O’s ACCNow Blog did acknowledge the Wolfpack’s practice on Saturday afternoon with a picture and a blog post that was less than 50 words and didn’t include the words Derrick Favors.

—–

Since the N&O couldn’t spare the time and/or space to cover the event, fortunately SFN reader xphoenix87 gave his take on the practice.

– I’m always hesitant to believe talk about a guy really dedicating himself over the summer, yada yada yada. Talk is easy in the offseason, and often never amounts to anything. However, the talk from Brandon Costner is for real. He looked a good 15 pounds lighter at least. Definitely trimmer and much more explosive than he was last year. He didn’t do much during the scrimmages, but he looked great.

– Javi Gonzalez looked better than I ever would have imagined. He was making good decisions, and he was making them instantly, instinctively. He was strong with the ball and looked confident, everything that he wasn’t at the beginning of last year.

– The highlight of the practice was when John Wall responded to a chant by standing up and throwing up two wolf signs. Everyone went absolutely nuts. Both Wall and C.J. Leslie were in the house along with Favors.

– There was definitely an emphasis on getting the ball into the post. Several times as a team drove down the floor, Lowe would repeatedly yell “SEE HIM” to the guards as McCauley posted up.

– Farnold Degand is obviously not back at full speed. He wasn’t awful, but he certainly isn’t 100% yet.

We have addded some comments from some other friends of SFN who sent us some eye-witness accounts:

– We’ve heard a lot of buzz in the offseason about Dennis Horner and I thought his body looked much better and he looked much more agressive/confident. He just looked comfortable, which manifested itself in good shooting.

– McCauley also looked ‘smooter’ than last year (not sure if that is the best way to explain it). Generally, his activity resembled more of the 2006-2007 season than that of the 2007-2008 season.

– Fells may have been the best player on the court – which isn’t really a surprise when he asserts himself. Obviously, it appeared he was asserting himself.

– Tracy Smith continues to be so solid that it is hard to highlight any one item. He will play a lot this year.

– There is no doubt that the recruits – particular CJ Lelie and John Wall – are comfortable and familiar with the current players on the team. Wall seemed to be talking a lot with Courtney Fells.

08-09 Basketball Media

50 Responses to (8pm Update) State’s First Basketball Practice Doesn’t Make Hometown Newspaper

  1. packof81 10/20/2008 at 4:40 AM #

    spanky is right. The N&O buried us on the back page even when we were winning. That paper has always hired lots of UNC Journalism school grads. They don’t like us because NC State was created to correct the Chapel Hill mistake. They have despised us since our inception. Why is anyone surprised when they short us on coverage?

    Don’t lose any sleep over it. Newspapers are on the ropes these days. They’ll be out of business soon enough and the world will be shed of them. As my grandpaw said, “Boa, ‘at dam paper ain’t fit ta wrap fish in.”

  2. SEAT.5.F.2 10/20/2008 at 7:01 AM #

    JT represents to me the first Sid guy in the program. FD was waiver wire, no disrespect intended whatsoever. We had to have someone and he came available and we got him. He sounds to be a very High character player and his speed, defense, effort are appreciated. JT is a great rep of what Sid wants to do here, sorround blue chips with solid athlete who are interchangable and versitle.

    JT,TS,CJW,JM and even SW are going to be players who will be able to play 2 different positions comfortably and maybe fill in holes at a third. That allows you the ability to search around and get blue chips that are available, ie LB who we didn’t HAVE to have to fill a position of need (although bases on two years of crap one could argue we need alot)

  3. Ismael 10/20/2008 at 7:11 AM #

    honestly, i don’t know what happened. I grew up in the valvano years and i remember all the nonsense that paper (N&O) did back then, i must have come down with a case of “fairness” or something. All of you guys are right, no sense whining about the N&O especially when there’s an entire university’s athletic image that needs work.

  4. Classof89 10/20/2008 at 9:05 AM #

    Like Noah, I believe this is a function of the devastating cuts to staff at the paper rather than some sort of anti-NCSU conspiracy…the increase in spelling, punctuation and other mistakes has dramatically increased in recent months–what kind of numbskull would cut the copy editing staff?

    I will remind ya’ll that the season we played Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl (and it looked for a long stretch of that season like we might make a BCS bowl) that the N&O did a special wrap on the sports page like they do on Saturday now, except devoted exclusively to Pack football. And then they shipped thousands of copies of the N&O to Jacksonville so they were available every morning of Gator Bowl weekend. When we actually start accomplishing anything of note in our athletics program, I believe the N&O, even with their layoff riddled staff will step up the coverage…

  5. GoldenChain 10/20/2008 at 9:27 AM #

    The paper here in the QC is not The Observer, it’s the Daily Tarhole Southern Edition!

  6. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 10/20/2008 at 9:31 AM #

    You are speaking of the Sacramento Bee, Raleigh Edition.

  7. burnbarn 10/20/2008 at 9:52 AM #

    Since the N and O would not write up the practice, here goes..

    I was at the practice..and that is what it was..a prictice. The team was divided in two and they played 4 minute segments and kept the score for each segment. I got there a bit late, but i saw 3-4 segments.
    During the segments, chants of derrick favors and john wall would start up.. 2-3 time for each player. Wall really seemed to enjoy it and during one of them he stood up and did the wolf sign with both hands.. place went nuts. I would say there was about 2500 fans there tops. Favors seemed very low key the entire time.

    Monte coached one team and Pete the other. Lowe and Harris stayed on the other side of the court and talked to players the entire time.
    BC looked okay.. he seemed to move well but did not force anything.
    BM did his usual dips and short hooks around the basket.
    DH shot very well.
    CF is the best athlete on the team.. this was not a good showcase for him ,but he seemed relaxed and to be having fun.
    FD played alot but is still slowed from the knee injury..he was mwearing a heavy wrap.
    JG played great.. he was all over the court and was making great passes, rebounding and hitting open shots…if he were only a few inches taller.
    TF looks better than last year but this event really did not showcase him either.
    TS looked good and he was very effective around the basket. he has a very quick release on his jumpers and hustled around the boards.
    SH was, well Simon Harris… constant motor.
    JT played but his recovery is not to the point of Degand yet. He hustles but toward the end you could tell his knee was bothering him.
    CJ W hustled his butt off and did a nice job on the boards but he is very raw.
    JM seemed a bit overwhelmed but he looks like he may be able to play some in the future… I do not expect much out of either of the freshmen this season.

    The Favors left with Harris and then there was a foul shot shoot around.
    Coaches were contantly yelling ‘push it’ and ‘ball pressure’. Let’s hope they follow instruction.

  8. PackGirl 10/20/2008 at 10:14 AM #

    “Javi Gonzalez looked better than I ever would have imagined. He was making good decisions, and he was making them instantly, instinctively. He was strong with the ball and looked confident, everything that he wasn’t at the beginning of last year.”

    This is great to hear. Not overly surprising given his exponential improvement over the course of his freshman season, but it’s good to know he’s continued in that direction during the off-season. Being thrown into the fire does have long-term benefits!

  9. WolftownVA81 10/20/2008 at 11:29 AM #

    Judging from the pictures on the N&O, looks like Sid has slimmed down as well as BC. Good to see he is leading by example. So far, there seems to be indicators of progress in the off season. Lets hope things continue in the right direction and those prospective recruits liked what they saw. Go Pack.

  10. BoKnowsNCS71 10/20/2008 at 12:05 PM #

    Wow – -all this coach and recruit contact. Seems like it was only yesterday when we lost a year of NCAAT eligibility because then recruit David Thompson played a brief pickup game in Raleigh with the coaches.

  11. tmwilema 10/20/2008 at 1:04 PM #

    Just saw that four-star point guard Elijah Johnson just commited to KU at http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/74592. I know we also signed a four-star point guard but maybe this will help us in our efforts to land John Wall. I was at the practice Saturday and from my seat it looked like we were in pretty good contention to get Wall.

  12. tooyoungtoremember 10/20/2008 at 1:11 PM #

    I’m not gonna get too excited about the Javi comments until I see him play against decent competition in a competitive setting. Wasn’t he one of the ones that the coaches always said played lights out in practice but never reached his full potential in the actual game?

  13. PackGirl 10/20/2008 at 1:13 PM #

    ^No, you’re thinking of Fergie.

  14. Wolf Dog 10/20/2008 at 1:51 PM #

    Staff Cuts My ass! Stated like a true Hole Fan! Not covering NCSU is an N&O tradition. Sure Caulton Tudor was too busy rewriting his article stating the heels football team would win out, to cover the only practice in town that had the nations top recruit in attendance. Most hometown papers are helpful to their local schools recruting efforts. Raleigh and Charlotte papers write more articles on top recruits leaving the state than anything positive about State’s recruiting efforts. All I can say is it will not change until people quit advertising and buying the baby blue liberal rags! Both papers give little to the local communities and do little for local charities, they too busy trying to will their political agendas on everyone.

  15. sholtzma 10/20/2008 at 3:22 PM #

    “You know, i don’t understand this whole “winning will help this” mentality… Was Jim Valvano not winning at the end of the 1980’s????
    Was Stormin’ Norman not constantly pissed about the baby blue coverage of the local paper? I just don’t believe that will help our cause with the N&O… Nationally, sure, but not the N&O”

    And bingo was his name-o.

    Every now and then some folks trot out this chestnut about poor (or no) media coverage being the result of not winning. It is, to my mind, a way of denying or ignoring the truth, which is that there is and has long been sustained media bias against State. Much easier to believe that there is no bias, that the world is a fair place, that media want to cover winners, and that the media will cover us well when we are again winners. Don’t. Hold. Breath.

  16. McLovin 10/20/2008 at 3:34 PM #

    Here are some good looking pics of the practice.

    Look at Johnny Thomas in photo 3. 😯

    http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/ncsu/photos/story/1260099.html

  17. 24Jules 10/20/2008 at 3:35 PM #

    I was at the practice Saturday, but from about 12:40 to the end. From what I say, Wall and Favors were pretty excited, especially Wall when he threw the Wolf sign and we all went nuts. I liked the “John….WALL” and “Derrick….FAVORS” chants. There was also a Bishop Daniels one and a “Wall to Favors” one. It was a pretty fun atmosphere, and I think the recruits would like it.

    As for the team, I saw some good things.

    1. Javi, I can say, is a decent player. He’s alot better, and showed good things in the practice.
    2. Costner DOES look alot slimmer, but he didn’t really show much off today.
    3. Fells might actually show up for a whole game this year… he tried hard today.
    4. Julius Mays played good defense on Javi, but not much else. CJ didn’t do much of anything either.
    5. Farnold is back, not at 100%, but he’s still doing pretty well. I mean, I’m sure his leg is in 100% condition, he just needs to get accustomed to playing again.

  18. Dogbreath 10/20/2008 at 8:47 PM #

    This is indeed true, as I coordinated and oversaw this “loss leader” project while working at the N&O:

    “I will remind ya’ll that the season we played Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl (and it looked for a long stretch of that season like we might make a BCS bowl) that the N&O did a special wrap on the sports page like they do on Saturday now, except devoted exclusively to Pack football. And then they shipped thousands of copies of the N&O to Jacksonville so they were available every morning of Gator Bowl weekend. When we actually start accomplishing anything of note in our athletics program, I believe the N&O, even with their layoff riddled staff will step up the coverage…”

  19. highstick 10/20/2008 at 8:51 PM #

    “They don’t like us because NC State was created to correct the Chapel Hill mistake”

    Packof81, I’ve got a framed cross-stitched of that saying that my wife did year’s ago that hangs above my john for me to view every morning!

  20. highstick 10/20/2008 at 8:55 PM #

    When I first looked at the picture, it vaguely reminded me of Lee Fowler. Now that I’ve studied it a little longer, I KNOW it is Lee Fowler. Didn’t know he could do that! Just knew that’s where his head is most of the time!

  21. highstick 10/20/2008 at 9:42 PM #

    Just read in the newspaper that Carolina has their own perfume. They didn’t give a name, but I’m sure it “Eau du Bleaux”!

  22. redfred2 10/21/2008 at 7:36 AM #

    Here’s a headline that the N & O COULD have used to show that they are at least trying to halfway fair in their reporting.

    “Sidney Lowe rekindling Wolfpack BB of days past, with visits from the 2 best nation’s best prospects!!!”

    That would be a FAIR statement, I think anyway. It’s NEVER going to happen around here though.

  23. redfred2 10/21/2008 at 7:52 AM #

    “Just read in the newspaper that Carolina has their own perfume. They didn’t give a name, but I’m sure it “Eau du Bleaux”!”

    I took French forever, lotta good that was, but I can’t remember much nowdays. Anyway Highstick, I think the perfume’s French to English translation would be something like “Both Ways”.

    “It’s the only scent that truly captures the essence of the gender neutral lifestyle.”

  24. burnbarn 10/21/2008 at 8:13 AM #

    Stevens has a typical piece in today’s paper about the visits of BOTH Wall and Favors.

    WTVD-TV has an interesting interview of Wall on their site. It is worth a look.

  25. redfred2 10/21/2008 at 8:54 PM #

    ^^^After re-reading my own post, what I was really trying to say, was that the N & O could be more fair. And like my example above, I wasn’t really complaining about their needing to type coherent sentences.

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