Pack Wins In Lowe-vertime: NCSU 84 – Miami 81

08-09 Basketball General186

UPDATE: 850 The Buzz has put post-game interviews online.

Julius Mays sank a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.8 ticks left on the clock to give NC State a three point win in OT.  Sidney Lowe moved to 5-0 in overtime games, and he did so with a combination of solid coaching moves, tenacity by his team on the floor and some good luck at key moments down the stretch of the extra period.

1 2 OT T
Miami Hurricanes 25 45 11 81
NCSU Wolfpack 39 31 14 84

Courtney Fells had 24 points to lead the Wolfpack, who blew a 19-point lead early in the second half and a pair of leads late in regulation and in overtime before Mays shot sealed the win for the Pack. Brandon Costner added 21 points and Ben McCauley had 12.

Your post-game thoughts here.

ht: “russelbuzz” of 850 The Buzz’s Blog for “Lowe-vertime” phrase.  We like it.
08-09 Basketball General

186 Responses to Pack Wins In Lowe-vertime: NCSU 84 – Miami 81

  1. red-enough 01/28/2009 at 8:31 AM #

    “Why did we shoot with 17 seconds left? They way McClinton was playing I do not know how they did not win.”

    ————————————————————

    When did that happen? Sid’s clock management at the end of regulation and in OT were both spot on.

  2. Rick 01/28/2009 at 8:39 AM #

    “When did that happen? Sid’s clock management at the end of regulation and in OT were both spot on.”

    Maybe I am smoking crack but I thought Costner hit a 2 on the inbounds play at the end of regulation with 17 seconds left. They kept fouling us and we could have run the clock out before we shot.

  3. Gene 01/28/2009 at 8:49 AM #

    “we were just as lucky to be up 19 in the 1st place. we shot lights out for a half as miami went cold. should never have had that big a lead in the 1st place, we don’t have great consistent shooters.”

    What’s funny about this comment and others like it is when a team shoots lights out against us, we chalk it up to NCSU’s piss poor perimeter defense.

    When we shoot lights out against another team, we chalk it up to dumb luck / act of God.

    How’s that for some serious self hatred from a fan base.

  4. wufpup76 01/28/2009 at 8:58 AM #

    “What I do believe is there are a lot of fans like myself who have been frustrated for the last twenty years with all of the expectations, hype, and WTNY.”

    ^Absolutely. I don’t think there’s any need for any “I told you so’s” from anyone here. We’re all State fans, and it’s completely valid to point out faults / ask pointed questions so long as we’re willing to dole out credit/praise when it’s due.

    I admire the folks with blind faith and optimism, you don’t come across that type of spirit every day; that said, I have an equal amount of admiration for those that want more from something they love – it keeps spitting in their face sometimes, but they never abandon it.

    I try to keep an even keel after most games (save for the FSU debacle), but am more than willing to point out things I may see as potentially flawed … With that, I personally feel compelled to find something else to be complimentary about (when it’s there and valid) … Not everyone operates this way, and that’s cool … It’s part of what makes this site great

    Let’s not attack each other … It’s not about being correct, it’s hopefully about seeing State do well – at least sometimes … Of course I’m willing to argue with anyone, civilly, about the virtues of our various school administrators 😉

    Go Pack

  5. red-enough 01/28/2009 at 8:58 AM #

    “Maybe I am smoking crack but I thought Costner hit a 2 on the inbounds play at the end of regulation with 17 seconds left. They kept fouling us and we could have run the clock out before we shot.”

    ———————————————–

    I have good news, that’s definitely not crack you’re smoking. My bad, I was thinking of OT, when Courtney pulled up about 5 seconds into the shot-clock with about 45 seconds left in OT. That is a good question about Brandon making that move…. I can’t remember if he had rubbed off his defender and created a mis-match (and drove) or if he received the ball in a good position to score… but I do remember it being a pretty easy conversion for him. Good question, but as it turns out Courtney was up to the challenge on D… I liked how he was in a nice low position against McClinton and was clapping his hands confidently… with Court that’s a definite sign that his head is in the game!

  6. wufpup76 01/28/2009 at 9:04 AM #

    ^Brandon received the ball in a one-on-one post situation and was able to take advantage of it

    Down by 2 with time running out, beggars can’t be choosers … It was a high percentage shot and we had to tie the game (or take the lead) any way possible … If we were tied, then maybe we hold it longer and have Mays hit a 24 footer 🙂

  7. W0LFPack 01/28/2009 at 9:26 AM #

    I’s been a long time since I have seen so many critical comments about a coach after a win, and the last time it was when Herb Sendek was here. Hmm, so we go up on a team that were suppose to get beat by (just ask all of yourselves if you don’t believe me, or if you can’t remember go back to the previous post “Home vs. the U…) not only do we go up, we go up big. So they fight back, and actually take the lead, but we didn’t give up, and you know how the story goes, we win the game. So less than a week ago, we get down by 19, we cut the lead to within 3, yet lose the game. You say both are the coaches fault?? Some people on this website are clearly ignorant, at best. I mean, I have no idea what you expect? Us to get up on a team that were SUPPOSE TO LOSE TO, and win the game by 100?? Maybe then Sid would get fired (if you don’t get it, I’m referring to the high school girls game where the coach was fired after winning 100-0).

  8. W0LFPack 01/28/2009 at 9:29 AM #

    Oh by the way…GREAT CALL with the quick shot. How many times have we been beat on a last second shot? I don’t think I could take another last second shot that beat us. Plus as previously said…It’s a two for one.

  9. Clarksa 01/28/2009 at 9:51 AM #

    I can’t believe Sid played Simon Harris the entire OT period, without any regulation minutes.

    Sid, I support you all the time. I like the starting line up and PT, but I can not explain or back you up tonight when you put Harris in for OT. Inexcusable.

    – I think Coach Lowe was looking for a spark and knows Harris will give everything he’s got.

    I can’t believe Sid went with Horner instead of Smith after Costner fouled out.

    – Horner had hit some big shots in the game, and everytime Smith touched the ball last night, he shot it…no matter how many people were guarding him. He should have passed it back out on many occasions.
    Sid overall coached pretty well tonight. And hey, he’s 5-0 in OT now. Not too bad.

    i like how sid called a quick pick and pop with 41 secs left in regulationwhile we were up by 1…

    – As has been explained, this was the correct call to get us 2 possesions…we have lost what 3 games this year when the other team had the last shot?

    We need this resurgence from Courtney Fells to continue.

    – Amen brother.

    i think sid is taking bong hits in the locker room. he is terrible. i am glad for the win. the players never gave up but this was terrible. why in the world would would sid allow any player to foul Mcclinton for a 3?

    – Coach Lowe “allowed” Degand to foul McClinton? Laughable statement at best…Degand just made a bad play and he knows better, coaching had nothing to do with it.

    Would have liked to see a little zone. I guess our guys matched up ok with them in man to man.

    – IIRC we did play some zone last night…

    Why is Smith good? Well, first of all, check his stats. The kid scores when he is in the game, even if it is not pretty.

    – Again, last night he was a vacuum…the ball would go in, and he wouldn’t pass it out.

    The amazing this is seeing people STILL point fingers at Ben/BC/Fells. Other than Degand, they pretty much had all of our production tonight.

    – I’ll point fingers at them…yes they produced last night, did great in getting a 19 point lead, but then they missed a few shots and their whole attitude changed for a while…more of a “oh noes, here we go again, the man has us down” attitude (I call it the Marcus Melvin attitude)…and it allowed Miami to make their run…they do get credit for snapping out of the funk and making plays to get us to OT and the win.

  10. ryebread 01/28/2009 at 9:52 AM #

    Hmm… I don’t understand some of the comments by the fans at all. The Harris sub was actually a terrific one from where I was sitting (admittedly the rafters, but I was there and you can always see more than what’s shown on TV). He shut McClinton down on the last defensive stand. He then gave him problems all through the overtime period — particularly in the first couple of minutes. Yes, he didn’t score, but he played good defense.

    The same could be said for playing Horner. I’m a huge TS fan, but he didn’t have his best game last night. Miami abused him on defense several times and he was a black hole when he got the basketball on offense. It looked to me like he was pressing far too much after getting into foul trouble. Horner on the other hand played a pretty good game and hit some big shots.

    The two for one call was also the right one (IMHO). Do you really want McClinton (who is possibly the ACC’s best individual player and best free throw shooter) driving to the hole against our defense, when the fouls were going Miami’s way, with 2-3 seconds left and a chance to either win the game on the drive or win it at the free throw line? I wouldn’t as that to me seems like a recipe for a loss. If McClinton doesn’t kill us, Collins probably does with some sort of rebound and put back or a dish and dunk from McClinton. If this were a 3 point lead, the fans would be right in criticizing, but with a 1 point lead, I think Sid made the right call in going for 2 possessions to ensure we had the last shot.

    As always, I’ll do a good, bad and ugly.
    Good:
    – Coaching: see my points above
    – Resiliency of the entire team
    – Fells’ shooting and overall effort. That’s the best he’s played all year.
    – Costner’s all around energy. Even when he fouled out, he was leading on the cheering.
    – Some miraculous individual plays like Fergie’s 3 and some of Horner’s prayers.
    – Crowd: It wasn’t packed, but it was loud and the students were great.
    – Mays last shot! That’s ice water in the veins for a freshman.
    – We got a win!

    Bad:
    – I didn’t see it in the comments above, but Fells tweaked his leg late in the game. He was really struggling but wasn’t pulled. If he’s hurt, then we’re in even more trouble.
    – Interior defense, particularly in the second half. BM and TS were abused.
    – Pick and roll defense: I’ve been saying for a while that the pick man is always open with the way BM defends a pick and roll. There either needs to be a second rotation or BM needs to change what he’s doing. Miami (like any team whose coaches watch film) ate us alive on that play.

    Ugly:
    – Losing the big lead. That game was 1-2 baskets from being done.
    – Officiating: I normally don’t cry about the refs. If we’d have lost last night, it would not have been the fault of the refs — it would have been the fault of the team. At the same time, I cannot for the life of me understand how Miami pushed, thugged and mauled their way back from a 14 point halftime deficit in an away game and only had 3 fouls in the second half up until 30 seconds to go. How can a team play that style, on the road, not shoot lights out, yet make up 14 points and only commit 3 fouls? After giving up 3 fouls on the final regulation possession (that they had to give), we’re to believe that they then only next fouled with a minute left in the OT? Hmmm……. It’d be one thing if the entire game were called super loosely, but we had 2 guys foul out and another with at least 3. ACC officiating is just horrible and impacts the flow of the game way too much. The first half was called pretty evenly and we ran away with it.

    Like GT, this game doesn’t mean that we’ve turned any corners, but it was progress. There were several times in the game where I thought we were done for sure (Costner fouling out, blowing a 19 pt lead, Degand fouling out after a pretty good overall game, McClinton getting hot right when Miami needed him), but the team collectively fought back and forged through it. Go Wolfpack! 🙂

  11. ktoh 01/28/2009 at 10:06 AM #

    Sid 2 for 1? What are we talking about here seriously? We won great 2 wins,that is all lets hope and prayer for the best.
    That learning curve and turning the corner are way far away still.
    But we won and because people question Sids coaching ability or lack there of ,does not mean we hate him. I wanted him and us to succeed always and often.
    But lets not lose sight of the fact that May’s shot went in and it was a desperation shot at that. We could have easily lost this game as well with a 19 point lead in the second half at home.
    Most of the same people that are praising Sid here were doing the same after the GT game and saying let’s see how we come out against BC. Same group that also wanted him to play “Sids” players and sit BC,B Mc,and Courtney whom the last I looked carried us in our 2 ACC Wins this year.

  12. Rochester 01/28/2009 at 10:06 AM #

    I have voiced concerns about Lowe’s coaching at times this year, but I can’t quite see people bashing him after last night. What do you want? Yes, we blew a huge lead. But in the end we beat a team that most of us agree was in a higher “tier” than we were. Did he do a Hall of Fame job last night? Maybe not, but he got the job done in the end. It doesn’t wipe out all of the issues we’ve pointed out throughout the season, but it didn’t really add any new ones to the list.

    This was our first quality win of the season. Enjoy it a little.

  13. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 01/28/2009 at 10:16 AM #

    “why in the world would would sid allow any player to foul Mcclinton for a 3?”

    Plenty of blame to lay on Sid’s shoulders but I think you may of suffered a minor stroke. Sid didn’t allow that foul anymore than he allows any foul unless he calls one. That was a Farnold error and sounded to me like he lost his balance trying to get in front of McClinton. Bone headed mistake but I think you may of had a little too much Herb Kool-aid if you are blaming THAT mistake on Sid.

  14. Alpha Wolf 01/28/2009 at 10:19 AM #

    “Sid 2 for 1? What are we talking about here seriously? ”

    Two possessions, no matter what in an end-of-game scenario. Shooting at 41 seconds means you will get the ball back to win the game. It was a smart tactic.

  15. PacknSack 01/28/2009 at 10:19 AM #

    I’d rather be Lowe today than Gary Williams. He’s living our nightmare from last season.

  16. ktoh 01/28/2009 at 10:25 AM #

    ^ I understand it was said tongue in cheek.A great tactic if it really was his tactic.

  17. Daily Update 01/28/2009 at 10:26 AM #

    I wondered about putting Horner in instead of T. Smith as well. However, I figured that he likely went with the better shooter because Simon Harris was on the floor.

    Otherwise, it would have been Degand, Fells, Harris, Smith and McCauley.

    Horner did hit a couple of shots for us and hit another 3 that wasn’t allowed because of an illegal screen call. Horner gets put in really bad spots a lot. He is forced to bail us out at the end of possessions, but that isn’t the role he should be playing. Some of his struggles aren’t his fault IMO and I don’t think anyone should give up on him contributing for us. We are going to need him badly next year.

  18. blackdom 01/28/2009 at 10:27 AM #

    ^ Let’s not compare Williams with Sid please.

  19. primacyone 01/28/2009 at 10:34 AM #

    Did Collins score again after Harris came in the game?

    I’m thinking no and I remember several occasions of Simon assisting on Collins, even some prevention of having the ball being delivered into the paint. And he was still able to keep his guy in check.

    I also remember that one crucial defensive rebound that Simon was able to get his hands on, by sheer hustle and will, and tip the ball to the outside. He didn’t get credit for the rebound, but it was him and two Miami players going for it, and Harris was able to tip it out.

    I believe Simon was in there for his quicker feet on defense and nothing else.

    Quick shot with 41 seconds to go was an obvious 2 for 1 possession. Why would anyone have a problem with that when the other team has a McClinton? That’s smart as hell.

  20. BJD95 01/28/2009 at 10:39 AM #

    Miami didn’t make us pay for putting Harris in the game. They could and should have taken more chances with trapping, knowing that we were basically playing 4-on-5 when we had the ball. Instead, the Canes guarded him as if he was a threat to score, which allowed us to keep the ball out of his hands completely (and ballhandling would be my main concern coming in ice cold like that).

    Fells’ shot with 41 seconds left in OT was fine. Can’t bleed clock with just a 1 point lead, and he had a great look at the basket. I did NOT like the quick shot with 1:06 left in regulation, because it was a bad look and so early that Miami was almost guaranteed 2 possessions (i.e., if they had missed on the next possession they would not have been forced to foul – and worse, we couldn’t have held for the last shot if we got the ball back in a tie game).

    Nobody’s saying that Costner, McCauley, and Fells don’t have weak points. But some people still act like its going to be addition by subtraction when they’re gone, and I struggle to see where the offense is going to come from without them.

    The optimistic side of me says that we played our best game of the year, and certainly played hard (though not always smart or well) for 40 minutes (well, 45). The pessimistic side of me says that Les’ teams also won whenever they made a very high percentage of their 3s. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

  21. blackdom 01/28/2009 at 10:41 AM #

    2 for 1 is done in NBA because it is pretty much an automatic you will hit your shots. I don’t think we are automatic.
    Collins for some reason was not an option the last 3 mins of game and in ot . They never looked at him and he owned us down low ,he was doing what he wanted .

  22. primacyone 01/28/2009 at 10:42 AM #

    We lost a 19 point lead, the troops were physically tired and almost at the breaking point mentally. Sid rallied the troops and held the team together last night and produced a W. Sid should get some credit for that.

    How many turnovers have we had the last two games versus the previous 4. Been some coaching effort involved there as well.

  23. Rufftown Wolf 01/28/2009 at 10:44 AM #

    “Sid, I support you all the time. I like the starting line up and PT, but I can not explain or back you up tonight when you put Harris in for OT. Inexcusable.”

    Harris played great D and got up on the boards, he didn’t get one board but he slapped one off the backboard and it went to another pack player.

    Great effort. I think Degand is getting back to where he needs to be.

    I feel Sid got rewarded last nite for playing those young guys so much in the early season. None of the guys that came in off the bench were scared. To have that kind of Trust in your players is a good thing and will come in to play down the road..

    Great job and Go Pack!!!!

  24. Classof89 01/28/2009 at 10:47 AM #

    I checked the schedule…unfortunately we play Maryland only once, and its at home, where we have played miserably against Gary Williams coached squads since the RBC Center opened…I think I remember one win over Md. in the RBC Center–anyone know if any more?

  25. Alpha Wolf 01/28/2009 at 10:48 AM #

    ^I would LOVE to have a photo of Gary flipping off the RBC crowd.

1 … 3 4 5 6 7 8

Leave a Reply