NC State 72 Miami 70

10-11 Basketball140

It could have been the ultimate disaster after losing 17 point lead at home on the day of the celebration for 100 Years of NC State Basketball.

Thank God it wasn’t.

Share articles, links & conversation here.

For a running conversation that unfolded during the game, you can click here.

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

10-11 Basketball

140 Responses to NC State 72 Miami 70

  1. Wolfy__79 01/23/2011 at 6:42 PM #

    oh i definetly think Sidney needs to stay. if he wins! he’s got to limit if not give up entirely on his subsitution patterns. reminds me alot of hole roy when the team isn’t playing well. it accomplishes nothing! but i’m all for my new saying “win sidney win!” is that too much to ask for?

  2. choppack1 01/23/2011 at 6:44 PM #

    If you want to know why the Lowe era is where it is, just watch this game. At times, we played brilliantly and were fun to watch. However, for too many other stretches, there was baffling subsitutions, poor rebounding, poor shot selection, a lack of court awareness and horrid defense.

    Miami made I think 12 of their last 15 shots or something. In the last 10 minutes of the game, they’d basically spread us out, and drive to the hole. They’d either score on a lay up or hit an open 3.

    The good news is that we’ve still got a heart beat right now. The bad news is that I’m sure the rest of the league saw the game and knows how to break down our fragile D.

  3. BassPacker 01/23/2011 at 7:00 PM #

    Only thing I can add about todays game is that “man this team has so much talent and potential”. And it showed today with Howell, Williams, CJ, Harrow, Brown, Wood on and on. I’m not on or off the Lowe bandwagon but the talent is there, so should the wins in such a down year for ACC. Just saying….

  4. cooldrip 01/23/2011 at 7:16 PM #

    Whatever the majority opinion is or is not regarding Coach Lowe matters not at all. There are maybe 10 people who’s opinion matters on this subject; they will make the decision. Based on the statements from DY and RW since they were installed, does anyone really think he has a chance?

    And by the way, 15K+ attendance is over 4K below the RBC’s basketball seating capacity. On the anniversary of 100 years of NCSU basketball. Personally, 75-80% full for such a momentous occasion is kinda pathetic IMO. If we were a good team (and we’re not even close, regardless of what those who “know basketball” think) I think we fill the arena. Which brings us around to the real problem. Sid is starting to cost us as a school and a program alot of money. How long are we, or the powers-that-be behind Wolfpack sports, willing to accept reduced revenue in the hope that this project works out?

  5. tvp1 01/23/2011 at 7:23 PM #

    I’m taking the same approach to Lowe that Yow is taking: wait until after the season, then evaluate.

    Where I will differ from some here is that, if I were making the decision, I would not make the NCAA Tournament an absolute requirement for Lowe to come back.

    But we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it. The next 3 games are now absolutely critical: @Clemson, @UNC, VT. We really need to win 2 of those 3. That would get us to 4-4 going into a back half of the season that looks a little easier: after the given loss at Duke, we’d have @ Wake (a must win) and then 4 of the last 6 would be winnable home games.

  6. wolfpack4ever 01/23/2011 at 7:34 PM #

    Beating a bad Miami team today does not change the dynamics of this season, coaching staff or team. Sidney is done at the end of this season (barring a miracle of epic proportions).

    I really wanted Lowe to succeed but it is not in the cards with his NBA coaching style.

  7. Wolfy__79 01/23/2011 at 7:51 PM #

    sure i’m in agreement with what coaching direction we take at the end of the season. i was there and didn’t feel like we had 15k there?? it was a little better in the lower level than a few other games i attended.. today the ceiling seats we down a bit! and i cannot blame people for not wanting to sit atop a mountain to watch us play bball.. it’s not a big game and those seats frankly aren’t good! if we’re winning.. then all that changes. where i was disappointed was the fact that the lower level season ticket holders haven’t been there all season. not even before we got behind the conference eight ball. and the folks that were there rarely cheered or tried to support. i’m sure alot of these people are lifetime wolfpack club members and/or big donors.. but you don’t just throw $ at a problem and expect results.. participation helps a bit too! how can you not feel burned by over two decades of SUCK… but regardless of the coach, the fans have to move on. maybe this is a final straw for our HISTORY and the ticket to turning the page. if it takes SL failing miserably to get us to that point so be it.. but i think it would help just a bit for people to atleast show up for some games this year and give it a shot!

  8. Wolfy__79 01/23/2011 at 7:55 PM #

    so i would say todays attendance is on the fans, not the situation. man, all the winners were there and we celebrated! timing wasn’t good being at 12 and a playoff sunday but.. no effort from the fanbase is where i would hang blame!

  9. 61Packer 01/23/2011 at 7:57 PM #

    Besides the obvious (that Sid is starting to cost our school revenue), the ACC’s policy of only 16 league games each season is also costing us. Most of the upper deck, usually empty during the OOC games, was filled today; fans will come to our ACC games, even against Miami. We should be playing EVERY league opponent here each season, not the OOC lineup we had here this past Nov and Dec.

    The 100 years celebration today was nice, but it was a sad reminder that our glory days are for all practical purposes 100 years in the past. Despite blowing two big leads today, we won, but I saw nothing to convince me that our upcoming road games will look much different from the ones in Chestnut Hill and Tallahassee. I’m absolutely amazed that there are people on here who want at least another year of this.

    Enough already.

  10. Wolfy__79 01/23/2011 at 7:57 PM #

    you have to put the work into building something, this isn’t chapel hill where we buy our way to the top 🙂 remember, the carolina way!

  11. PackMan2012 01/23/2011 at 7:59 PM #

    Attendance was 15,000+ in the box score. And I like few others on this site, would like to see Sid stay one more year. This team won’t roll over and die.

    Funny how we keep calling Miami a crappy team on here, yet they’re projected to be right in the mix for the NCAA tourney, and we had a chance to run them out of the gym. Plus, its another top 50 RPI win.

  12. Wolfy__79 01/23/2011 at 8:03 PM #

    ^^i did not see much either to make a case for the team going on a 5 game win streak. i saw that we are better than miami as well as wake. so we don’t have last place dead to rights. i did like the starting lineup! they played well when in at the same time today. but they too are flawed.

  13. Wolfy__79 01/23/2011 at 8:10 PM #

    are they rpi top 50?? the way we came out i wouldn’t think so. but they way they came back,.. okay i can see that. our team needs that killer instinct(why didn’t we run them out of the gym?). its too the point where no fan can make a case for our hc.. be he can for himself that’s for sure! well, to my eye test the upper deck was <50% at best amd the lower was barely over half?

  14. ADVENTUROO 01/23/2011 at 8:41 PM #

    This is the VOICE of the supposed MINORITY. It was a GREAT game and a good win. It had its moments. I don’t care to read all the BS about Sid’s farewell tour. CJL was sick and almost didn’t dress out today. CJW played a GREAT game. Sid’s decision (it is OFFICAL) to switch Javi to a shooting guard and develop Ryan as the number one PG and have Brown as the back-up will strengthen the team. As one person said, there were 15,2xx fans that really enjoyed (well there may have been some UM fans there….but NOT many) the game and WE gave a vote of confidence to Sidney.

    When you start a Freshman point guard and mostly underclassmen, it is going to take some time.

    Sid also took the team on a little journey yesterday….a Raleigh Road Trip to Oakwood and Raleigh Memorial Cemetary. They visited the graves of Case and Valvano. Tony Haynes talked about it and Scott Wood commented on it during the post game.

    Sid needs to look at the staff and maybe make a change….

    GO PACK….GO SID….

    The Minority is behind you…

  15. VaWolf82 01/23/2011 at 9:00 PM #

    Couple of things that are just numerically wrong in this thread.

    From CBS sports, UM was ranked 49th inthe RPI and will likely fall out of the Top50 when new rankings come out tomorrow. UM is only State’s second top-100 win this season.

    State’s BB attendance was the lowest last year since moving into the ESA/RBC Center. Last year was also the second straight year of declining attendance. So if you’re looking for signs of support for Sid among the fan base, I suggest you look somewhere other than attendance.

  16. swamppack 01/23/2011 at 9:10 PM #

    Tracy has been spotted more than once this year complaining about a no-call instead of hustling back on defense. That suprises me. Javi seems to still be playing against himself and against what’s good for the team. That doesn’t surprise me. It’s not that I think Javi can’t do better but he just seems to have a chip on his shoulder. I don’t know him personally and maybe my perception is wrong. I’m just trying to look past the Lowe issue a little in wondering why we’re having such a hard time re-establishing an on-court winner at State. I know that a lot of the player issues stem from lack of coaching leadership, but the players have to step up and assume leadership roles also. It must be incredibly hard to break a 20 year cycle like we’ve been through but it can be done. Thankful for the win today but losing that 17pt. lead lets you know we still havn’t turned that corner yet.

  17. Ed89 01/23/2011 at 9:19 PM #

    I’m definitely in the camp of those that want to see this season play out before saying we need to make a change. I’ve seen some good coaching moves lately. The second half starting five vs. Duke, today’s starting 5, playing Javi at the 2 guard to develop Lo Brown as a backup PG, etc. One thing that is rarely mentioned about this year’s team. We only have 10 scholarship players due to 3 transfers last spring. Even the announcers mentioned at one time today we had 3 freshman/2 sophomores or 2 FR/2 SOPH’s on the court. We lose Tracy and Javi. I think Sir Rich is ahead of Tracy at this point of his Sophomore year, so I think we are set for the future. We’ll be signing 1 or 2 more for this class, and I think we’ll have a strong class. If Ryan, Lo Brown, and the rest of the team continues to develop, we could make a strong run the rest of the season. Again, we need to beat Clemson and get a road win, and see how the season plays out. And just to add, during that Miami comeback, they made ALOT of contested shots…I’m just saying that I think 3 out of 4 times, they don’t make that many shots (esp. the 3’s) to help the comeback.

  18. JT 01/23/2011 at 9:21 PM #

    I think Sid will be gone after this year, but I hope he makes Yow’s decision a tough one. I’ll take every win I can get and if Sid earns more time I’ll be glad.
    The starting lineup looked killer today. Harrow has such potential; his passing has a ways to go to be sharp on this level but it’ll come. Leslie is super athletic, but damn he needs to stay AT LEAST another year; I don’t see a developed skillset that is even NBDL ready. CJW and Howell are two who I think can contribute a lot if given the chance…but that’s on Sid. I could really see this team making a run, either to get into the NCAA’s or to at least get a good seed in the NIT. And call me crazy, but I think they’re gonna beat UNC’s ass. I hope State can be the team that finally forces Baddour to have Roy committed.

  19. tjfoose1 01/23/2011 at 9:31 PM #

    “Enjoy bashing Sid in here, for it’s HERE that is in the vast MINORITY of that opinion.”

    Sid is rarely “bashed” here. I think most, if not all, are fond of Lowe.

    Critical analysis concluding that Sid does not have the required skill set to be a successful head coach at the major college level does not equate to “bashing”.

    “Those of us that know the game can see improvement being made, and the frosh coming into their own”

    Question for all of you out there… How many people in the public arena, or in your own circle of acquaintances, personal and/or professional, whose opinions and judgment have earned your respect, actually go around proclaiming their superior knowledge and judgment?

    Second question. Of all the people you know and/or are of an acquaintance, who go around publicly proclaiming their superior knowledge and understanding of a particular subject or area of study, actually have neither?

    Just asking.

  20. swamppack 01/23/2011 at 9:39 PM #

    Real good tjfoose1. Seriously.

  21. leewolf 01/23/2011 at 9:46 PM #

    So with the win, now we see how this team responds on the road. Can they go out and win some road games, something Sidney’s teams have managed to do only SIX times in his four+ years here? Clemson is a decent team but manageable, I think we match-up well against them. UNC’s guards are so-so and I think the physicality of our big men match up well with them.

    The key is going to be coaching. We have the talent to win the next two games, but if the coaching and effort fail, the team fails. Being 2-5 going into the VT game will be disasterous and will almost certainly mean no NCAA Tournament without a 7-2 finish down the stretch and probably a win or two in the ACC Tournament. Just don’t see that happening, so we need a win this week, two if we want a little breathing room.

  22. packfan03 01/23/2011 at 9:51 PM #

    As much as I despise the knee-jerk referendum on Coach Lowe after every game, I understand why it happens.

    With that said…I hope that we can take this game for what it was – a win. There were poor stretches and excellent stretches. No team is immune from bad stretches, regardless of the coach or players. Basketball is a game of runs – we saw that today.

    Miami’s run was facilitated slightly by bad adjustments to D, especially when Grant would drive the lane off of a screen at the top of the key. But, our 3 point D wasn’t bad – Grant was just on fire. At lease three of his threes were HEAVILY contested, the other two the product of good ball movement, IIRC. Defensively, we aren’t a great team, but, we got stops when we needed them today.

    A win, is a win, is a win, is a win. Today we won. Let’s hope we don’t s*** ourselves against Clemson this week because I am certain we will lose to UNC – Fact of life.

  23. nocard 01/23/2011 at 10:11 PM #

    Lowe made a great move today when he put Wood on their slasher (#1) at the end of the game. Lowe’s starters jumped out to a big lead and looked good out there together. Lowe played Javi exactly at the spots he needed to and only at short spells, perfect strategy. Lowe could not play the Leslie too much due to his flu symptoms. Lowe let Harrow and TSmith play their 2man game on the wings. Lowe’s team played great defense the final 15 seconds and provided the much needed stop. Finally, Miami began shooting the ball like NBAers. That is always going to produce some points. I think State can win every ball game they have left on the schedule, except maybe MAYBE Carolina at UNC-CH.
    So, why in the heck is our nation all up in arms about getting rid of Lowe. This is ridiculous. Lowe knows basketball. I think he is learning how to communicate what he does know to his players. Hey, those 3 really talented freshmen came here to play for Lowe. I say we keep Lowe and let them put 2-3 more quality players in this year and we are going to see some fun times at the RBC. By the way, why not have the RBC rocking like it was the last 15 seconds for an entire game.??
    Come on wolfpackers, get off this sniping and get behind these guys.

  24. packfan03 01/23/2011 at 10:21 PM #

    ^I don’t think anyone on this board actually wants Lowe to fail, I think they are under the impression that he already has failed. However, if they trust Yow as much as they seem to imply they do, I would hope they would continue to support the team as much as possible down the stretch.

    If you trust leadership, there is absolutely no reason to stop supporting the team and the players who do indeed love this university. That’s something we have in common with each player on the court, and our HC. We all love NC State. That’s why I continue to go to games.

  25. WolftownVA81 01/23/2011 at 10:21 PM #

    I viewed today’s game as a battle of the celler dwellers. Sorry, but that’s where we are at the present. I watched and I’m glad for the win but I can’t get excited about a win over this miami team at home that we pulled out by the skin of our teeth. For another indicator of fan interest/support, look at this this blog. The pitiful number of posts tells me that people have/are losing interest in State BB.

1 2 3 4 … 6

Leave a Reply