Sidney Lowe met with the media this morning. Here’s some of his thoughts on where NC State sits right now along with thoughts on Saturday’s match up with Carolina. Check back later for video from today’s press conference.
How are Richard Howell and Farnold Degand doing? Also, can you talk about the difference Howell and Degand make for the team when they’re in the line up?
It was just something sticking out. It was in that tunnel, the red thing. He’s good, he’s better. Farnold is feeling better, he’s had a couple days now under his belt. He seems to be coming along.
They bring different things. We’re different. Richard brings the physical play and he’s a good passer and then Farnold gives us that extra guy in the back court to maybe push the ball or get to the basket, create something for us. Last game, I’m not sure what team that was. But we definitely need to have everybody healthy.
Is this losing streak frustrating because of what you know this team can be?
It is because I’ve seen it and I know it’s there. We allow the offense to dictate our energy and how he play so if we’re not making shots then guys will get down and worry about their shots too much as opposed to getting back and playing defense. If we make shots then our energy is really good, but we need to get to the point where our defense ignites our offense. That happens with a lot of players and several teams. The good teams fight through that period where they arent scoring and they start talking to each other and getting stops. That’s one of our weakest areas is we’re not very vocal and verbal with each other in that way. We let our offense dictate our energy.
You wanted progress this year. Are you satisfied with the team right now?
With the effort, for the most part I am. That was one thing we set out to do, to come out and give a good effort. The effort part I’ve been pleased with. If we just shoot the ball just a little bit better things would be different. Just a little better and it would have been a different year so far. We have accomplished playing hard now we’ve got to put those other things together. I’d like to see us get a little more active defensively when we’re in our man-to-man defense and more active in our rotations. We’re still working on that. At times we get a little too concerned with our men and not getting off on the weak side. We still have to improve there. We knew it was going to be tough, this is a tough conference. I’m happy with the effort. I would hope we would be a little bit further but a lot of that is dictated by our offense and so I wish we would have been a little but further in that area. Offensively I thought we’d be a little bit better. I don’t think we’ve progressed from an offensive standpoint and that has dictated a lot with our team in other areas.
Could tomorrow’s game against Carolina be an opportunity to turn the year around? Obviously both teams records aren’t what they would want, but is this somewhat of an opportunity?
It could be. It could start something good, but it’s going to be tough. It’s a rivalry game, it doesn’t matter what the records are. Both teams are going through some similar things with youth and developing and trying to progress but it’s still NC State and Carolina. Certainly for us it’s a game that could maybe start something. Showing that you play through things and you get a big win like that. But we’re going to have to be very disciplined. Our defense will have to be solid. And then rebounding the basketball will be key. Transition defense is going to be key. We’ve got to get back and form a wall and protect that paint. We can’t go in there and be soft and allow them to be the aggressor. They are a very active physical team, they play hard. We have to play harder. We have to go in there and compete because if not it’s going to be a long day.
Talk about Josh Davis a little bit. Could you see him developing into a shut down defensive guy you could stick on two guards or point guards in the future? How much lift has he given you rebounding?
Absolutely. With his size and his quickness Josh can guard those guys. I’m sure we’ll have another situation where we put him on a point guard just to take something away, whatever it might be. It could happen tomorrow if those guards and penetrating and hurting us too much. He gives us that luxury defensively.
It’s not just the ones that he gets its the one that he makes an effort and drags another big out and one of our bigs get the rebound. He understands who he is. He knows his strengths and he plays to his strengths. He defends, he runs the floor and crashes the boards. Occasionally he’ll take a shot if it’s wide open, he knows he can take it. But he just knows who he is. That’s probably one of the biggest adjustments for players today. It’s a huge adjustment. Sometimes guys think they are three point shooters, but they don’t make many. Your not a three point shooter. Some guys think they can penetrate and draw and kick, but they turn it over three out of four times. Maybe that’s not what you do. He understands who he is and he plays to that.
What are the thoughts from the team when you watch film? What is the pulse of the team right now?
I think when they watched the film they were a little embarrassed. When you’re in the game they can’t see really what’s happening. It’s not until you show them the film and they walk out in disbelief. We went out on the floor and practice and had a great practice. But I think they were a little embarrassed. Unfortunately, sometimes you have a game or two like that during the course of a season where it’s not your team. What we did too is show them some clips of positive things we did. We showed them 10 clips of when we did things right and we scored 10 times. We’re trying to show them some of the positive things they are doing and trying to get back to those positive things.
