Maryland Game Thread/Semi-Live Blog

I enjoyed semi-live blogging the Wake game, so I’ll try to do the same tonight. I am very confident tonight, and expect a fairly comfortable (8-12 point) win. Of course, NC State is like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get. Place your thoughts, reactions, and happy/angry utterances in the comments. You can also let us know if and when it starts snowing where you are.

Keep praying for Wolfpack alum Corey Smith and the other people missing at sea.

7:39 – If FSN’s HD feed doesn’t start working soon, I’m going to start swearing. Bastards.

7:41 – HD finally here. I guess the game will have to make me say the F word. I can’t believe “Best Damn Sports Show” is still on the air. Who watches that shit?

7:52 – Maryland is aggressively pushing Javi when he handles the ball. That’s a very good strategy. We need to adjust or shift more minutes to Degand, because our half-court offense has trouble getting started. 11-7 Terps.

7:59 – I hope Tracy is ready to play 35 plus tonight.

8:04 – Apparently, we missed committing turnovers, and are back in the saddle tonight.

8:08 – OK, Degand is sucking really bad tonight. Time for Mays? Terps by 7.

8:11 – Dinnertime makes things better. Mmmmmmm…jambalaya.

8:21 – Finally, a nice run of non-shitty play. A 9-point lead goes down to 3, and it’s Wolfpack ball. Should have 2 possessions left to Maryland’s 1, if we play it intelligently.

Halftime – You have to feel great about only being down 1, given how bad we played for most of the half. Unfortunately, it looks like Costner might have checked out for good.

8:41 – What’s the deal with all the Hooters and creepy “Just for Men” hair color ads? I have to switch the channel with my kids in the room!

8:47 – Back to extreme shittiness.

8:53 – We finally score, but still look awful. Luckily, so does Maryland – and the deficit is only three.

8:57 – Dead crowd, dead team.

9:03 – McCauley asserting himself in the second half. A very welcome development. Maybe we’ll even start guarding Vasquez!

9:09 – Smith puts the Pack in front, I think for the first time all night!

9:15 – Vasquez is eviscerating us.

9:21 – I’m pretty sure that’s your ballgame. Jesus, what a shitty half of basketball we are playing.

9:24 – A late call. A shitty call. Just when it looked like we might have one last run. Damn it.

9:31 – Don’t worry, it will be football season soon enough.

Your final score – Maryland 71, NC State 60.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

08-09 Basketball General Sidney Lowe

276 Responses to Maryland Game Thread/Semi-Live Blog

  1. Sweet jumper 03/01/2009 at 9:58 PM #

    A must win at home against a team winless on the road in the ACC and we laid down. Serious lack of effort by several players. Turnovers on multiple possessions to start the second half. Good night and hope for snow.

  2. wolfpacktexx 03/01/2009 at 9:59 PM #

    Lowe 0-5 against U Maryland – embarrasing…

  3. redfred2 03/01/2009 at 10:03 PM #

    “I wouldn’t say too much about Ben and Courtney but Costner just doesn’t have any heart in the game.”

    “Heart”??? What are you talking about?

    Oh, you mean Valentine, I see what you’re saying now.

    But seriously, Fells did nothing but make me mad as hell when finally took a step OUT OF THE RIGHT HAND CORNER, and ACTUALLY WENT TOWARDS THE BASKET, then easily ROSE UP OVER the Maryland defenders, and scored a smooth, mid-range jumper along the baseline.

    He tried it once, very late in the game. Do you think he’ll remember how easy it was and try it again in the next game?

    HELL NO.

  4. thekind 03/01/2009 at 10:12 PM #

    Fowler,
    You suck and you are to blame for this awful mess. Fire Fowler and bring an AD that has a brain.
    We suck in everything!

  5. wufpup76 03/01/2009 at 10:26 PM #

    Infuriatingly pathetic performance. Nowhere close to how we had been playing.

    Maryland’s D stymied / shut us down, which is inexcusable given the advantages we held. 60 f’n points – are you kidding me? Really? Gary Williams kicked Sidney Lowe’s ass again. This was not a good team we lost to tonight at home. Have to give the Terps some credit, but the turnovers and uninspired play … disgusting.

    Sidney has yet to beat Maryland, Clemson, or BC in three seasons … not a good sign there. This went a long way to zapping just about all of that newfound confidence and optimism.

    We lost to Grevis Vasquez and Dave effing Neal. Dave Neal. What I’d really like to know is how many moving picks did Neal set for Vasquez? He got called for one, but he set many.

    Smith, McCauley, and Gonzalez came to play tonight. That’s about it. It truly looked like the guys had quit on the season and were more or less going through the motions. Extremely disappointing.

    Vasquez’s last shot was Maryland classless-ness at it’s best.

    Edit: This is the exact type of ballgame that we lost every time in the previous era regardless of how good or bad we were – the other team wanted it more and we were more than happy to oblige. Jesus I hate this. You’re welcome Maryland, again.

  6. PackWolf7 03/01/2009 at 10:30 PM #

    This game was UNACCEPTABLE. LOWE has finally convinced me HE HAS GOT TO GO. FOWLER HAS GOT TO GO. COSTNER HAS GOT TO GO. Such a PITIFUL EFFORT AT HOME. PUH.LEESE!!!! JUST END THIS SEASON AND LET THE FIRING BEGIN. JUST DON’T CARE ANYMORE.

  7. PackWolf7 03/01/2009 at 10:32 PM #

    I’M WITH YOU 100%, WUFPUP76!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  8. CStanley 03/01/2009 at 10:34 PM #

    Everyone has been talking about Costner turning pro after this season.

    My question…in what?

    Seriously, what has he done over 4 years except put together a decent run in an ACC tournament 3 years ago? And what professional league – American, European, or otherwise, would take anyone as slow, inconsistent and lazy as him, pray tell?

    In short, I’m ready – past ready – for the Sendek players to be gone so I can judge for myself just how bad of a coach Lowe is.

    Disgusting loss. And what a prick move by Vazquez.

  9. Tau837 03/01/2009 at 10:37 PM #

    Anyone see Vasquez’s throat slash gesture at the bench?

  10. choppack1 03/01/2009 at 10:45 PM #

    wulfpup – I’m with you.

    I find it pretty typical that there are those who want to cast blame on the 3 players that have stuck w/ this program the last 3 years instead of the man in charge.

    I’ve given Lowe credit for some improvement, but it’s a two way street. Was I happy w/ Costner’s effort tonight – not really. Was I happy w/ some of Javi’s baffling passes – nope. Was I happy w/ Fells baffling passes – no. Was I happy w/ Smith’s foul shooting – nope. Was I happy w/ Degand’s play – no. CJ Williams had his second awful game in a row. (If you wondered why Fells was in the game, well…)

    I really don’t know or care where the blame lies – it will all be clear enough next year. Tonight’s game was awful, I’m not happy w/ our upperclassmen, but I wasn’t happy w/ the coaching tonight either.

    Chalk this up to yet another game where the program under Lowe had a chance to make a statement that said, “We’re playing w/ pride!” – and we didn’t follow through.

    Who knows what next year will bring. Unless something changes in the last 2 games, this year will have the same sad ring as last year. We’re sitting at 5 wins in the ACC – it’s up to Lowe to see if we’re going to win at least 2 more which could give us at least a little bit of hope.

    I was watching the game at the neighborhood pub tonight, and someone asked me “Are you guys going to run Sidney off too?” It’s just the kind of thing that makes more dedicated to my support. But then I come on a message board and see some folks want to blame everyone BUT him, in his 3rd season. The guy asked me about HWSBN – and I said, hey, it took him 6 years to get in the tourney and after 10 years, all he had to show was 1 sweet 16.

    Quite frankly, we’re at a crappy place right now. That we are staring 5-11 in the face 3 years after a coach left is pretty sad. The good news is that momentum is fickle – things can be turned around. Heck, we can go 7-9 and win the ACC tournament. We can win the CBI or NIT.

    It’s the reality we’re in. I haven’t written the season off yet, but these last 2 games make it hard not to.

    I WAS optimistic – now I’m not. The information I have in front of me is now not so encouraging. We’ll see, I’ll be cheering for the pack against BC, hoping for some kind of recovery.

  11. 61Packer 03/01/2009 at 10:59 PM #

    “I don’t really know or care where the blame lies- it will all be clear enough next year.”

    Next year? It’s pretty clear to me NOW that we need a coaching change if we are ever going to be good again.

  12. wolfpackbball 03/01/2009 at 11:02 PM #

    We’re either headed for the promised land, or the sky is falling. Funny how that changes from one week to the next. Like I’ve said before, things are never as bad or good as they seem.
    On a side note, I hope we get MD in the tourney and someone puts an extra red mark on GV’s face when he first tries to penetrate.

  13. wufpup76 03/01/2009 at 11:12 PM #

    ^I agree chop – I’m definitely not giving up on the season, but you have to call it like you see it and tonight was just a flat out stinker.

    McCauley’s comments on the postgame radio show were really cool and seemed geniune in that he isn’t giving up and is trying to be a leader. He basically said we stunk tonight and we have to have everybody on the same page, and when we play together and the way we are capable of playing we are good team and can play with anybody. He said there was still hope to finish strong and hopefully make a run in the acc tournament … God bless him, I admire him for hanging in there.

    Coach Lowe, for his part, seemed exasperated. Definitely not a good night for him tonight.

    As for Vasquez and any throat slash gesture – I didn’t see it while at the game but I was probably looking up into the rafters hoping for some answers to the agony … If he did do it, it’s supposed to be an automatic suspension. The league is supposed to be all aobut sportsmanship yet Maryland and their punk fans are *always* trying to instigate something. When does the hammer come down Swofford? Or does it just come down on teams that it’s easy to butt-**** like NC State?

    “Sure! We LOVE punishment! We’ll take it!”

  14. redfred2 03/01/2009 at 11:12 PM #

    I’ve said it already tonight, but i get the feeling that Lowe is digging his own grave in regards to Javi. He had several bad plays to start the game, but stays in, which is fine and it should be that way. Then he makes another obvious TO, he’s IMMEDIATELY yanked, Degand in. First possession, Degand…boink, terrible pass, even more obvious TO out at about the halfcourt line even, Lowe just claps and triews to encourage him.

    Maybe I’m seeing something that isn’t really there, but to me, Ja Ja Javi pla pla played BB at times tonight like he was wearing a shock collar.

  15. wufpup76 03/01/2009 at 11:18 PM #

    “On a side note, I hope we get MD in the tourney and someone puts an extra red mark on GV’s face when he first tries to penetrate.”

    ^That guy needs to pay.

    Total. Dick. Move.

    Somebody needs to stick it to Gary Williams while they’re at it.

    Does anyone field less classy teams than Ralph Friedgen or Gary Williams?

    What’s in the water up there? Is there some sort of massive inferiority complex going on up there that America doesn’t know about?

  16. redfred2 03/01/2009 at 11:26 PM #

    About his face, it’s just the way Grevis looks, or Grevis looking. Something like that anyway.

  17. PackWolf7 03/01/2009 at 11:38 PM #

    The sky is falling, and it ain’t snow. Hey Sidney. Hey Monte. You can’t go home again. Time for change.

  18. dtwncsu 03/01/2009 at 11:39 PM #

    We need to bench Brandon for a game and see if that changes his attitude. The game seemed like it had no importance by both our players and fans. A high school team could of shut MD down better than we did tonight.

  19. gopack103 03/01/2009 at 11:46 PM #

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    email me [email protected] if interested or need questions. Also details. Name:PackNation, Private Group, Rotisserie Point system, Live Draft. Who’s interested?

  20. JeremyH 03/01/2009 at 11:49 PM #

    blah blah blah…this rerun again? already seen it.
    Maryland was hungrier and have a more balanced attack.

    we move to the next game.

  21. blpack 03/01/2009 at 11:59 PM #

    Bad game all the way around. Not enough passion on the court, no leadership and Lowe seemed to be 2 steps behind GW all night. Our ‘seniors’ continue to baffle. You just never know. UMd is heading to the Dance, but certainly not unbeatable. Look at their road ACC record. We made them look good tonight.

  22. wufpup76 03/02/2009 at 12:02 AM #

    pretty good summary of the game and the situation for Lowe and the team here:

    http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/latest-loss-frustrates-lowe

  23. Mike 03/02/2009 at 12:10 AM #

    I wish I had photoshop. I would cut a picture of Costner’s head onto the Tin Woodsman, since he had no heart. I would cut Fells head onto the Scarecrow since he had no brain. Someone please do that for me.

  24. WolfEyes 03/02/2009 at 12:17 AM #

    In the post game radio show it was told that Costner just got back today from his grandfather’s funeral, and did not paticipate in practice yesterday or the shootaround earlier today. This may explain some of his lack of focus tonight.

  25. robzucc 03/02/2009 at 12:32 AM #

    I said it before and Ill say it again,why is JMays and JThomas
    not getting any playing time? You know sometimes when you put
    in young guys they have no fear because they don’t know what
    to fear. In CFells case I thought in the first half he was agressive then came the second half and normality set in.does
    this guy not know he has the speed of a rabbit to at least
    go hard to the basket.We better start to worry about Tracy Smith
    leaving early in stead of who is going to be one and done.

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