Lowe talks NIT, effort

During his weekly press conference Monday Sidney Lowe spoke about the possibility for NC State to receive an invite to the NIT following the regular season and ACC Tournament. WRAL’s Tim Hall looks at NIT possibilities here.

Postseason play has almost been reduced to a distant memory at N.C. State. Argue all day about what kind of job the head coach is doing and what direction the team is headed, but the facts are simple. The Wolfpack haven’t played in an invite-only postseason tournament since 2007.

For two seasons the Pack have gone one and done at the ACC Tournament, and that has been it. There’s been no ticket to the NIT, not even a trip to the CBI, and certainly no invite to the big dance.

Another topic of discussion Monday was the health of junior forward Tracy Smith. Smith hurt his knee in the second half of Saturday’s win over Miami. Although the injury looked fairly serious at first glance, Smith came back into the game late and helped lead NC State over the ‘Canes .

N.C. State’s leading scorer Tracy Smith banged up his right knee late in the second half of Saturday’s win at Miami. He was helped to the bench to receive treatment but he did come back in the ball game before it ended. Smith did have some soreness in the knee on Sunday. He didn’t practice today, but did take part in some light drills.

Lowe praised Smith for his toughness at the end of the Miami game.

“That’s the character of this team, all the way down the line. Every single guy. He was determined to help us win that ball game.”

09-10 Basketball ACC & Other

123 Responses to Lowe talks NIT, effort

  1. Clarksa 03/01/2010 at 2:45 PM #

    “not even a trip to the CBI”

    Read on another site where the CBI ending up costing UVA $150,000 to participate….

  2. packbackr04 03/01/2010 at 2:52 PM #

    i believe we turned the CBI down on acct of it costing money…. you can say alot about NC State, and being cheapasses has to be right at the top of the list.

  3. 66pack 03/01/2010 at 3:01 PM #

    the cbi is for losers,nit not much better

  4. Rochester 03/01/2010 at 3:43 PM #

    When you have to pay your way into a crappy tournament it’s like vanity publishing your own book. For $2,000 you can be a published author too. Lots of glory there. Roughly on par with winning the CBI. The NIT may suck, but at least it’s got some history and is a legitimate tournament.

  5. Wolfy__79 03/01/2010 at 3:44 PM #

    not thrilling but it is a good option from where we stand. this turnaround, depsite any of the components, certainly won’t happen in the blink of an eye.

  6. PackMan97 03/01/2010 at 3:59 PM #

    So..I guess that answers my question on our chances in the ACC T.

  7. GAWolf 03/01/2010 at 4:00 PM #

    The benefit in paying to play in a post-season tournament would be a few more legal team practices, correct?

  8. fullmoon1 03/01/2010 at 4:03 PM #

    I enjoy the NIT games. I wouldn’t fill out bracket sheets for it but usually some good basketball goes down. As of 1 game ago Roy was still gunning for the ncaa lol. Good point Rochester about vanity publishing . The cbi is like going to glamor shots and calling yourself a model.

  9. The Grinch 03/01/2010 at 4:11 PM #

    I think success in the NIT would be better for this team than an early loss in the NCAAT.

    Of course right now I still think we can win the ACCT and go take some names in the NCAAT, but in case the ACCT doesn’t work out I’m going with the above.

    (By the way, I’m rather disappointed by the lack of a post-game post/analysis or even thread for the win at the U.)

  10. fullmoon1 03/01/2010 at 4:26 PM #

    I would like to amend my last post with an * to say I would prefer to win the acc tourney but I would settle for an nit bid. Stranger things have happened.

  11. 61Packer 03/01/2010 at 4:32 PM #

    I got my fill of the NIT under the previous coach. We had a nice NIT run under the current coach, but I’m not anxious to return to this tournament. And I’m even less interested in the CBI. A favorable NIT draw (home team throughout) might attract some Wolfpack fans, but after the BC game this Sunday, I don’t intend to spend any more money watching this team play this season.

    If we got an NIT invite, I don’t think we’d get any home games, plus we’d probably run into an athletic SEC team early on and get smacked. If we were passed over by the NIT and the CBI came calling, I’d want our coaches to decline. This event offers absolutely nothing for our program to build on. It would, however, tell the whole country that NC State basketball is at that level. And we might not even win at that level. Enough already.

  12. kyjelly 03/01/2010 at 6:26 PM #

    WE have never turned down a tourney on Sid’s watch. If we win the acct than the nit would invite us ok. We had a nice nit run in Sid’s 1st season with Herbs players. And penn state won the nit last year check out how they are doing now.

  13. Clarksa 03/01/2010 at 6:40 PM #

    “If we win the acct than the nit would invite us ok.”

    If we win the acct, than the NCAA would invite us ok.

  14. blackdom 03/01/2010 at 7:15 PM #

    Wow 4-10 talking post season .

  15. philliepacker 03/01/2010 at 7:26 PM #

    He said NIT as a joke right? Yeah Clarksa save me a seat at the ncaat.

  16. LRM 03/01/2010 at 7:57 PM #

    “If we win the acct than the nit would invite us ok”

    If we win the ACCT then we would hang a banner as the ACC Champion and get the ACC’s automatic bid to the NCAAT and Sid would be off the hotseat.

  17. Wolfy__79 03/01/2010 at 8:52 PM #

    that he would. i’ll believe it when i see it!

  18. jbpackfan 03/01/2010 at 8:56 PM #

    If Sid wins the ACCT, give him a lifetime contract

  19. Pack84 03/01/2010 at 9:47 PM #

    Tracy Smith is one tough hombre. Glad to have him wearing the red and white and glad to have him back next year.

  20. Pack Mentality 03/01/2010 at 9:53 PM #

    I’d rather lose the play in game at the NCAA tournament than win the NIT.

  21. fmack 03/01/2010 at 10:03 PM #

    “Oh ye of little faith”… – WE ARE GOING TO THE NCAAT- Yeah baby!!
    I’ve never heard of the CBI or at least I’ve never paid any attention to it. Where and when did this tournament come about?
    We definitely don’t need to go to anything like that – just my 2 cents.
    I’m holding out hope that we have righted the ship and is headed toward some post season play.
    BTW – can someone give me some more information on the kid we have coming in 2011 – this Uchebo kid? Who is he and where’s he coming from and what does he look like? Is he a low post player or another back court kind of player? I’ve seen nothing on this kid yet.

  22. Gene 03/01/2010 at 10:12 PM #

    Uchebo would be part of the 2012 class. 6’9″ tall, athletic, maybe still growing.

    His Scout.com page: http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/a.z?s=178&p=8&c=1&nid=4665311

  23. Gene 03/01/2010 at 10:19 PM #

    Win the remaining two games and put together a nice run in the ACC tournament and hopefully we can get an invitation to the NIT, which considering where this team’s been recently would be a step in the right direction.

  24. Wolfy__79 03/02/2010 at 12:45 AM #

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opR0J2CUQ0w

    uchebo is still unpolished. but he’s a tall kid with good footwork so far stemming from playing soccer. he’s still filling out and gaining muscle, doesn’t appear too muscular to me. but he’ll be a nice addition, by then.. vandenburg should be a solid option and these two kids can really be trees for us..

  25. Wolfy__79 03/02/2010 at 12:50 AM #

    for some reason i thought he was the sole member of the 2011 class. i’ll be glad to see who will be joining him if sid can get it together over the course of the next year.

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