NC State vs Clemson Open Post

09-10 Basketball86

Got thoughts? Post ’em here. This is the official “peek between the gaps in your fingers” game post.

No Live Blog today (sorry). Check Twitter before and during the game for updates and check back after the game for some instant analysis.

09-10 Basketball

86 Responses to NC State vs Clemson Open Post

  1. Justin Gainey 01/16/2010 at 3:08 PM #

    I am not at all dissappointed with this loss. These guys showed hustle and didn’t give up when down 20pts. They made a great comeback and had a chance to send it in to overtime against a team that will move up to the top 20 and probably finsh 2nd in the ACC this year. Great job Pack!

  2. papackman 01/16/2010 at 3:10 PM #

    looked to me that Howell was fouled, then blocked in his last attemp under the basket

  3. BSIE80 01/16/2010 at 3:30 PM #

    Great effort and comeback by the pack.
    Javi just can’t do anything right lately!
    Horner is just too slow to compete as a main player on this team.

    Thank god Degand, Mays, and Howell stepped up today or we are talking about a 30 pt blow out.

    If Wood hits that open 3, we would have won this game. We just couldn’t get over the hump.

    Give Clemson credit for their key blocks at the end. They made great plays to win this game.

  4. 44fan 01/16/2010 at 3:40 PM #

    you know, I wish I could be happy with this game like a lot of you are…12:00 mins in the first half without a field goal…and we have those every game…will not win in the ACC like that

  5. wolfpackattack89 01/16/2010 at 3:43 PM #

    I liked the starting lineup today minus Horner. We’re obviously a better team when he’s not in the game. As for Javi, I’m not really sure. I do know that the backcourt of MAys and Degand really looked good in the second half. I think we’ll pull out some good wins and knock off UNC at home. Instead of Horner, Howell should start. The guy has a lot of upside and he looked great today with a double double

  6. papackman 01/16/2010 at 3:46 PM #

    NCSU BBall feels like my golf game….can’t put 2 nines together…they played their a$$ off the second half….avoided an embarassment….nice job wolfpack

  7. Wufpacker 01/16/2010 at 3:49 PM #

    Thompson44 Said

    “You gotta love the effort regardless of the outcome.”

    I could not agree more! Yes, there are still some glaring problems (Free throws, rebounding, scoring droughts etc.) and many of them probably won’t be corrected completely, at least not this year. But to basically spot Clemson 20 points and then show the ability (not to mention the mental toughness and heart) to chip away at the lead and essentially get back to even with them with a real chance to win the game at the end, that has got to help with their confidence level as a team.

    Frankly, I never thought we’d even get back as close as single digits after halftime. This type of game would have been a very typical one in which we got schooled in the first half and then didn’t bother to show up in the second half and ended up losing by somewhere between 20-30, with the game not even being as close as the score would indicate. To their credit, the team did not let that happen. They actually played very poised and aggressive, as if they had every confidence they could cut the lead and win the game. I am very impressed with the team today, and the fact that they never gave up.

    This was not the same team that played with no energy or confidence against UVa a week ago. If they continue to play with this sort of poise, aggression and confidence for the remainder of the year they will win some games. Not that they’ll win enough to get an NCAA bid, or even an NIT bid for that matter, because I doubt they will. But there will be some wins and there won’t be very many losses that are truly embarrassing, if any.

    As some have already said, Clemson will likely contend for the conference championship this year and after trailing by as much as 21 points, we came within a hair of beating them. After the win at FSU and today giving Clemson as much as they can handle, nobody in the conference is going to be looking forward to playing us I don’t believe.

  8. JeremyH 01/16/2010 at 3:49 PM #

    the score still remains that lowe cannot get consistent production out of this group…the season continues

  9. whope90 01/16/2010 at 3:52 PM #

    Well, i am confused over the coaching down the stretch? down one we miss and do not immediately foul and then foul clemson’s best free throw shooter, then we call timeout under the opposite basket instead of pushing the ball and calling timeout? And with the time out, why did Lowe put in horner and javi for three pt shooting? The kids almost pulled this without
    Lowe, imagine if we had a coach. It would be worth 3-4 more wins and this is the year to beat UNC. They are bad!!! But if lowe cannot get to 8-8 in a watered down acc and a UNC down year,he should be gone. 12-6 and 1-3 cannot cut it.

    GoPack!

  10. theghost 01/16/2010 at 3:52 PM #

    Howell’s rebounding is fantastic, adn his offense has been coming on. He’s looked pretty bad to me on defense in games past, although I didn’t see many lapses today. I don’t mind Howell in for Horner, but I don’t think we need to turn on Horner and Javi all of a sudden, as seems to be our tendency.

    ^Horner and Javi for 3pt – of course, who would you put in? Javi has shot us back into games late, and Horner actually has the best shooting pct on the team.

  11. ADVENTUROO 01/16/2010 at 3:55 PM #

    Sounds like Julius Mays had redemed himself at SFN….he was being dissed so much the other night on the blog….until the posters realized that he was hitting ALL the FT’s. He had SUPER game today. The WPSN named him the Player of the Game and Sid had a lot of things to say about him….as well as a lot of “unsaid” things to say about Horner and Javi….look for a line-up change.

    The crowd was partially into the game during the first half….right up to the 21 point deficiet…..then they really started to get with it.

    It was great to hear C. A. Dillon’s voice again…he was being prompted on the player’s names….but he didn’t hesitate a bit on Sid.

    GO PACK….great game…tough loss.

  12. 44fan 01/16/2010 at 3:58 PM #

    wufpacker…I agree with everything you said…I’ve done a little coaching and I guess I have the mine set…you can’t give a whole half away and expect to win…but you are right other State teams in the last few years would have just given up…I do like that they didn’t do that.

  13. Wolfy__79 01/16/2010 at 3:58 PM #

    has anyone’s expectations risen aside from mine. imo, the teams is continuing to improve. the second half was electric, with or w/out stitt NCSU definetly was the more sound basketball team for the second half. mays looked really solid as he worked into the lineup with degands help. if that can be a working backcourt for us, our team can do some damage. wood also played really physical, very good to see. and howell, he really helped down low with tracy. this adds a key dimension to our offense and maybe the defense as well. i think it was important for horner to start today, he played well and contributed. as howell becomes more comfortable, horner’s pt should shrink. the same can be said about javi and cj. if degand and mays can become a reliable 1,2 then we may see javi filling in and cj forced to actually earn his min’s. 1. juls, 2. farndog, 3. wood, 4/5. tracy 4/5. howell… this lineup looks better and better for me. horner can play a significant role as a senior whether he starts or not. he looked ok to me, but i’d rather see howell take his starting spot. what a game!

  14. Wolfy__79 01/16/2010 at 4:07 PM #

    all season, i’ve seen a young team mentality. today it was a good young team mentality. our first half woes continued today and they fought back into a near win against the conference’s no. 2 team right now! it may not be that way at the end of conf play… but that’s how i see it in my eyes. i strongly disagree with the consistency statement. of these two last games, which were we expected to win? neither in most’s eyes.. yet we were in a position to win each of our last three. i’ve seen plenty of improvement thus far in ACC play rate to our progress as consistent.. after our brutal lineup ending with unc-ch, we can really make a dent into our win column. i’m pleased at the teams progress.

  15. PackMan97 01/16/2010 at 4:07 PM #

    Why does being an NC State fan feel like being in an abusive relationship? They keep saying they’ve changed that they’ll do better, and it really looks like they are…only to end up bruised, battered and hopeless as the last horn sounds?

  16. Wolfy__79 01/16/2010 at 4:11 PM #

    haha!

  17. theghost 01/16/2010 at 4:13 PM #

    Re: changed expectations – yes and no. With the development of Howell, Degand, and Mays, and potential from Vandy, I think we’re a much tougher team, at this point every game left except probably Duke should be within reach. On the other hand, if you lose to Duke and start 1-4, it’s going to be really tough to win more than 6 or 7 games, which is about where my expectations were to begin with. And, Mays is starting to show the rest of us what he must’ve been showing the coaches in practice, but playing better and being a top-calibre PG are two different things. I believe we will continue to struggle against top notch guard play.

  18. Rick 01/16/2010 at 4:34 PM #

    For the first time I am starting to feel some optimism. Strange to feel that after a loss.

    BTW we have got to figure out how to play like we did in the second half in the first.

  19. tractor57 01/16/2010 at 4:34 PM #

    To paraphrase Jimmy V if you are in a position to win you have a chance to win.

    Today I felt that way where in many games over the past couple decades I wasn’t even close to that thought.

    I’m disappointed with the loss BUT I am heartened to see the product on the court that was displayed during the second half. Once the team can bring that to a whole game they can play with anybody.

  20. rbwolf 01/16/2010 at 4:44 PM #

    Come on everyone, We are not a good team. I am tried of well they played hard today, hell my son’s 4 to 5 year olds play hard. Again I did not watch and I will not watch till I hear this team came win. The bottom line is they lost again. Four years of Lowe and we no better then four years ago. I was wrong when I said they will not win a ACC game, but we will finish 12th peiord. I still hope they show me up, but with Lowe’s teams I think 12th is all we will get. 1-3 in ACC no more needs to be said.

  21. Wufpacker 01/16/2010 at 5:02 PM #

    Regarding changing expectations, I’d have to say probably not. Today’s game was hopefully a step in the right direction as far as learning to play together as a team and as far as the players believing in themselves and their teammates. I hope that from this point forward we see the team playing more as a cohesive unit. I also hope that they show more of the same kind of heart and determination (and confidence) that they have in the past two games (with today’s first half as the possible exception, of course), and less of the uninspired play we saw against UVa a week ago.

    Mainly what I want to see is progress. I’m not usually one for “moral victories”, but if I see signs that this year’s team is improving, especially in the fundamentals and in reducing the frequency of unforced errors, despite being a bit short on talent as compared to our conference brethren, then I can’t help but feel positive about that. Also, the more our newer players, especially Mays, Wood and Howell, get experience and improve their games then the better off we’ll be next year when we expect a significant injection of talent into the program.

    This year, the only change in my expectations is that I expect to see a team that plays more like a TEAM, not necessarily a team that will have better overall W/L results. Even if they do win more games than expected I don’t believe it will be enough to make a significant difference in the long run with regard to where they finish the season. I don’t consider finishing 9th instead of 11th or 12th to be a significant difference.

  22. hball57 01/16/2010 at 5:12 PM #

    You know, the beauty of (most) sports is that there always is a winner and a loser. If two teams of equal talent play, and both play well, one will lose and one will win.

    Sometimes we fans critique the games as if we will play perfectly the whole game. But there will be ups and downs. We may not be as talented as a lot of teams in the ACC. But we are overcoming that with effort, heart and coaching. Yes, coaching. Players are improving. The team gets better. We make adjustments at halftime. We continue to run successful plays until the opponent stops it. Players that have been dogged on this blog all of a sudden become heroes. Why? Because of coaching!

    Player earn their minutes. As Sid has said constantly, if a player goes in and plays well and a starter is not, the minutes go to the player who is doing well. Some posters act as if a player does not come back in at a certain time, Sid is using a strange substitution pattern. Why not listen to the coach and get with what is happening? we will win a good number of games this year.

    What is best to me is that we are truly a team. Look at Javi and Dennis on the bench. Are they sulking because they are not playing? NO! The help helping, cheering, yelling. that should be the best thing we see when we watch this team.

  23. JeremyH 01/16/2010 at 5:19 PM #

    Rick, are you feeling ok?

  24. Rick 01/16/2010 at 5:24 PM #

    “Rick, are you feeling ok?”

    I know, weird eh?

  25. Rochester 01/16/2010 at 5:25 PM #

    I love it when people say “I didn’t watch, I refuse to watch, this team sucks.” How do you know?

    We showed a lot in the second half. Sure we came up short, but because certain guys played hard they made a game of it, while also proving they belong on the floor. And when they force their way into the lineup, we are a stronger team. Howell needs more minutes. Degand needs to be on the floor. Mays, amazingly, deserves to play ahead of Javi. Those things became very clear today.

    It’s easy to criticize Lowe’s rotations, but some of his troubles in finding the right combinations really boil down to guys playing like Jekyll and Hyde. At the end of the Arizona game Javi looked like an all-American. In the Florida game Mays looked like a turd. They’ve both changed significantly since then. The injury to Howell before the season really set him back. In addition to being a freshman, he’s also still working his way into form. He’s finally getting there. But three weeks ago he wasn’t where he is now.

    Oh, and if Tracy could finish more consistently around the bucket we’d be winning a lot of these close games.

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