Wolfpack deliver something of pride!! Scraps back to win Glenn Wilkes

09-10 Basketball General60

Any time NC State can beat Jeff Lebo it can’t help but feel just a little better than any other win!!

You REALLY have to give Coach Lowe and the Wolfpack a lot of credit for coming from behind to beat Auburn, 60-58, when Tracy Smith rebounded and put back a Julius Mays miss from the corner. (Link to ACCNow)

Glenn Wilkes

We followed it live on our Twitter feed and the community really jumped into the thread on the message boards.

Coach Lowe really loves November in Florida. First it was the Old Spice Classic two years ago & now the Wolfpack sweeps the field to go 4-0 over the last week in the Glenn Wilkes.

Dennis Horner – 17 pts
Tracy Smith – 11 pts
Scott Wood – 10 pts

Other than poor shooting by both teams, Auburn’s FT shooting (5-15) has to be the key stat of the game.

Look, I recognize that this is basically nothing in the entire scheme of things; but you can only play what is on your schedule and at the moment we are 4-0.

Class of 2009: I mean, all things considered, I’ll take it. Those last few minutes I was still expecting a Pack-Meltdown simply due to the deep scars Herb left on my basketball soul. It is really, really refreshing to see a team do something that resembles trying on the final stretch of a game.

I honestly was HOPING that State would be 3-1 right now, and had mentally prepared myself to be 2-2. To get out of this with a 4-0 record actually has me doing math to try to calculate a winning season and try to find a way to get into the NIT or CBI or something.

I tended to agree with the following comment from one of our posters and thought I would share:

Ok, I’m starting to figure this team out a little more. Smith, Horner and Wood are the only guys that act like they know how to score. Javy and Mays can shoot when open, but struggle getting good looks. Painter and JV are big bodies that can play defense and maybe get a few garbage buckets/FTs. The real mystery is CJW. We need 10 points per game from him in order to be successful. Assuming we need 75 points to win games, we need the following.

Smith – 15
Horner – 10
Wood – 10
CJW – 10
Everyone else – 30

Degand and Howell could really help this team. Degand is aggressive and helps a little on D. Not sure what Howell can bring, but he’s our highest rated freshman.

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09-10 Basketball General

60 Responses to Wolfpack deliver something of pride!! Scraps back to win Glenn Wilkes

  1. PackMan97 11/23/2009 at 9:20 AM #

    bradleyb123, I would disagree that these games didn’t prove anything. That at least proved we aren’t gonna be horrible this season. That’s something 🙂

    I guess some other teams can chant “We’re #1” while we chant “We’re not horrible”.

  2. Wulfpack 11/23/2009 at 9:48 AM #

    Oh, we can still be horrible. Absolutely. When you have to scratch and claw to beat AP and Auburn, you can’t assume many wins in ACC play. Now will we be horrible? That depends on how much this team improves. I like that we won these games. It’s surely a step in the right direction. But the enthusiasm should be tempered.

    Good tourney. Congrats to the Pack.

  3. rtpack24 11/23/2009 at 9:59 AM #

    Great weekend for the Pack. I was worried who could score on this team besides Smith. Anytime a young team can win and especially a close game that is really a boost for their cofidence. It is very early but this is certainly a good beginning.

  4. primacyone 11/23/2009 at 10:09 AM #

    “theghost Says:
    November 22nd, 2009 at 11:37 pm also – any idea why Mays jacked a 3 on that last play? Was it a good open look, or just Mays acting like a freshman?”

    StateFans Says:
    “November 22nd, 2009 at 11:42 pm ^ It was a perfect look. Wide open in the corner. Couldn’t have asked for a better look. He had to take it. And, he didn’t hesitate.”

    According to the post game radio talk – it was a designed play from the bench and executed excellently. They successfully ran the same play two other times in the game with a different variation and shooter. The put back from Tracy was not a designed play, but everything before that was a drawn play from the bench.

  5. LRM 11/23/2009 at 10:22 AM #

    Pacman97,

    We won the 2007 Old Spice against some very good teams and still managed to be horrible that season, so be careful reading too much into the GWC.

    Like I said elsewhere, I’m going to savor every victory this season, but for my own sanity, I’m not taking any of it too seriously.

  6. SuperStuff 11/23/2009 at 10:26 AM #

    I’m glad we won these games and will give us something to build on.

  7. Pack Mentality 11/23/2009 at 10:31 AM #

    If you are picked to finish last in the ACC, then NO win is guaranteed. I am VERY happy to be 4-0. If we play to our abilities and don’t have mental collapses we should be able to beat the bottom 4 or 5 teams of the ACC. It’s not saying that much (in fact it should be a given for any college team), but playing hard and never giving up is a refreshing change from the past few years.

  8. theghost 11/23/2009 at 10:43 AM #

    glad to hear the last play was actually a well-designed play. Another refreshing change from the “and 1 tour” offense that we used to use in end-game situations.

  9. 61Packer 11/23/2009 at 11:43 AM #

    Let’s hope we love Lowe as much in March as he loves November in Florida.

  10. bradleyb123 11/23/2009 at 11:55 AM #

    61Packer, did you mean that seriously, or was that sarcastic? Based on posts I’ve seen over the months, I believe sarcastic.

    I think most of us are just surprised and happy to be 4-0 when most of us thought we could easily be 2-2 right now. This is not a lovefest for Sidney Lowe.

    I do like how you managed to twist a 4-0 record into a jibe against Sidney Lowe, though. Good one.

  11. Classof89 11/23/2009 at 12:13 PM #

    I was impressed with the Akron win. Less so with the AP and Auburn wins. Auburn is supposed to be the NC State of the SEC this year, and the SEC is a much weaker league, yet they still pushed us to the final horn. We need to do a lot of improving to have a shot at 6-10 in the ACC. Still, 4-0 is better than I expected.

  12. brave_wolf 11/23/2009 at 12:17 PM #

    I saw Luke Cothron play saturday night in Red Springs NC, he is a legit 6′ 8″ with 3 point range, good hops, but he is VERY laid back, almost seemed not interested. That being said the other team (quality education) had two,possibly 3 D1 players. The Nigerian kid Joseph, forgive me I cant spell his last name was in the gym, but not playing, is NOT 7′ he is maybe 6′ 9″ but he is only a sophmore.

  13. Gene 11/23/2009 at 12:19 PM #

    “We won the 2007 Old Spice against some very good teams and still managed to be horrible that season, so be careful reading too much into the GWC.”

    But we had a close loss to New Orleans at home going into the OSC. We struggled at times with William and Mary, before putting them away. We didn’t look cohesive even though we won. We beat ‘Nova by a somewhat questionable foul on Gavin Grant’s heave to try and win the game.

    Even though we won, we still had issues that were apparent.

    We have different issues this year and I can see us doing as predicted and having a horrible 12th place finish in the ACC, because we lack players, but I think there were more positives to take away from the GWC than there were from the OSC a couple of years ago.

  14. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 11/23/2009 at 12:24 PM #

    This is huge. Why? Because if State does not win this tournament they pretty much lose any argument to be a bubble team with a good season.

    Last year State fans knew before the ACC season started that State was out of the NCAA’s even if they had a decent season. State had already lost the games that would of mattered if they had managed to pull off an average ACC season and 19 or 20 wins. Of course it didn’t matter because State didn’t do anything in January or February but it wouldn’t of matter if they had.

    Last year in December State lost to Davidson and Marquette and in the first game in January, lost to Florida. The season was over after the Florida loss unless State was to have an incredible ACC season, which wasn’t likely.

    Any loss in this tournament would of been the first few nails in the coffin.

    Go Pack!

  15. tvp1 11/23/2009 at 12:36 PM #

    Gene: This is a good post, IMO.

    “But we had a close loss to New Orleans at home going into the OSC. We struggled at times with William and Mary, before putting them away. We didn’t look cohesive even though we won. We beat ‘Nova by a somewhat questionable foul on Gavin Grant’s heave to try and win the game.

    Even though we won, we still had issues that were apparent.

    We have different issues this year and I can see us doing as predicted and having a horrible 12th place finish in the ACC, because we lack players, but I think there were more positives to take away from the GWC than there were from the OSC a couple of years ago.”

    Also note that South Carolina that year was probably about comparable to Auburn this year, and Rider that year probably about comparable to Akron. Clearly Nova was better that year than any of our opponents at Glenn Wilkes will be, but that was a lucky win indeed, and I recall that none of those wins “felt” very good. Of course, we quickly followed up by getting blown out by MSU then the embarassing ECU loss.

    The schedule sets up nicely for us to be 8-1 or 9-0 going into the Wake game (let’s put it this way – anything less than 8-1 would be very disappointing), which should be an interesting matchup.

  16. wolfonthehill 11/23/2009 at 1:31 PM #

    I’d honestly be happier with the last play if it was NOT designed & called on the bench. In crunch time, needing a single point to win, doing anything but jamming it into the lane to Tracy as the primary options just doesn’t make sense to me.

    That being said, I didn’t see the play… so if Tracy was the first option & was covered, then I stand corrected… just doesn’t sound that way.

    And if we’re going to set someone up for the game-winning 3, I’d make it Horner… you have two capable, experience options in Horner & Smith… I just see no reason to go to any option below those 2.

    But we won, so I’ll take it… we just happened to win IN SPITE OF the call from the bench, not because of it.

  17. Clarksa 11/23/2009 at 1:47 PM #

    ^Tracy was not an option but I’m sure Auburn thought he would be. They had collapsed on him all night, they weren’t calling fouls down low, and he had been struggling. There was enough time to drive the lane, and kick it to Mays who hit a game wining shot last year…and obviously there was enough time to rebound and put it back in…so all around I think it was the perfect call for the situation….especially since we won. 🙂

  18. old13 11/23/2009 at 1:51 PM #

    Last night’s game told me that the Pack may be outmanned in games this year, but they will play tough D, and they do have fight. That’s a good place to start from IMO.

  19. Wulfpack 11/23/2009 at 2:15 PM #

    Agreed. That’s been my primary criticism of Sid’s teams the past 2 years. We’ve laid down and died a few too many times when the going got tough. It shouldn’t happen. I think we can build off this. Going to be a Happy Turkey Day for all.

  20. JeremyH 11/23/2009 at 2:22 PM #

    good wins. What’s important now is to see consistency, and see consistency from start to the end of the season. I’ve read some folks say “wow, if they could just put two of those first halves together!”. We said that last year. A lot. Degand can help the backcourt (if he gets his stuff together), and we need Howell to spell Smith (can he be effective coming from a surgery), but overall the team needs to grow and improve until the end, rather than combust.

  21. coach13 11/23/2009 at 2:39 PM #

    I think this weekend’s outcome was outstanding for where we are as a team and where we have come from. I don’t know if last year(s) teams(s) had the character to pull these out. But moving foward, this young group just wants to play and compete and compete hard it would seem. IF they improve and continue to scrap til the end of games they may just surprise a few folks. Too early to talk post season but it’ll happen with the course they are on.

  22. waxhaw 11/23/2009 at 3:37 PM #

    If a coach draws up the perfect play and a player misses a wide open shot, we blame the coach.

    Now, he draws it up, we miss a wide open shot but get the rebound and make a shot to win and we still blame the coach.

    Maybe we are the lunatic fringe.

    IMO, win or lose, it’s ultimately the coaches fault/responsibility. I’ll give credit to Sidney for the win.

  23. bradleyb123 11/23/2009 at 4:38 PM #

    I saw a post earlier about how we should have drawn up a play where we would get it to the Macrowave in the middle and let him win the game for us.

    Before his game winning rebound and stick-back, he had made ONE basket. One of (I think) 15. And Auburn was pounding him all night and NOT getting called for it.

    So Sid was supposed to go to HIM for the game winner? We drew up a play designed to get an open look at a three, and it worked beautifully, except for Mayes missing the shot.

    I don’t really have a problem with the play we drew up. I don’t think it’s worthy of criticizing coach Lowe anyway. If he had designed a play to get it to Smith, and he had missed yet ANOTHER shot, people would be bashing Sid for trying something that had not worked for us all night long. One could argue that going to Tracy Smith for the game winner would have been a low percentage play, given the way he was shooting. And the refs had swallowed their whistles. If Tracy had been fouled, we couldn’t count on getting the call, either.

    I guess Sid is danged if he does and danged if he doesn’t.

  24. wolfonthehill 11/23/2009 at 4:39 PM #

    ^ I don’t think anyone on this site has ever criticized a coach because a single player just plain missed a single shot on a single perfectly-designed play.

    Ever.

    Personally, I’m far more into analyzing HOW we won or lost, as opposed to just WHETHER we won or lost. It tends to be a far better predictor of future success… or lack thereof. And while I love getting an open shot, designing a play to take a 3-pointer when you need a single point to win is simply not the high-percentage play in that situation. If we did that every night, and we put the win in the hands of a 30% 3-point shooter, we’re going to win on that shot 30% of the time. I personally don’t like those odds.

  25. GAWolf 11/23/2009 at 4:46 PM #

    Not to mention Tracy had struggled some from teh line. If you’ve got a 90% freethrow shooter AND they’re calling fouls in the paint with regularity, I agree that the best percentage shot/plan would have been to go to T Smith.

    As it was, however, I agree with Waxhaw. We won. Great! Congrats to the team and the staff. These were the type of games we more likely than not lost in the past. It’s just nice to lose for a change. Thanks guys!

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