State loses at Clemson in OT, 72-69

11-12 Basketball117

State put its very slim NCAAT hopes on ice today with a lackluster, often listless showing at Clemson, dropping its fourth straight. Now its only shot is to run the table in Atlanta in two weeks.

The real losers today were the fans, who were forced to watch five extra minutes of “ACC Excitement” (10 if you count the Duke-VPI game before it). State’s immediate goal should be to finish .500, which itself seems like a longshot at this point.

Box Score (ESPN)

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

11-12 Basketball

117 Responses to State loses at Clemson in OT, 72-69

  1. Wufpacker 02/25/2012 at 6:48 PM #

    “What the hell is wrong with me?!?”

    You’re a State fan.

  2. Prowling Woofie 02/25/2012 at 6:52 PM #

    5 of 13 at the line. And the dumbass announcer kept saying “NC State is the best FT shooting team in the conference.” He obviously hasn’t seen us play in the last month and a half…

    Calvin was 4-8, and Howell was 1-2. Nobody else hit a FT, and Wood didn’t even get his stupid ass to the line (again).

    We won’t beat Miami on Senior Night, and VTech will roll us in Blacksburg to complete the 0-7 finish.

  3. john of sparta 02/25/2012 at 6:56 PM #

    prop bet: Pack v Terps 7PM 3/8 in ATL.

  4. brickyard 83 02/25/2012 at 7:09 PM #

    Shame to chock it away and play lifeless most of the time. Currently sitting in Richmond watching VCU vs George Mason. I realkly Shakka teams energy. I wish we had 1/2 as much. Check out on espn2.

    Gott has to light some fires!!!!

    Go Pack…

  5. brickyard 83 02/25/2012 at 7:16 PM #

    Shame to chock it away and play lifeless most of the time. Currently sitting in Richmond watching VCU vs George Mason. I really like Shakka teams energy. I wish we had 1/2 as much. Check out on espn2.

    Gott has to light some fires!!!!

    Go Pack…

  6. Khan 02/25/2012 at 7:30 PM #

    I’ve said this before and got blasted for blaming the players, but that doesn’t make it any less true. This team needs a leader and it clearly doesn’t have one. Nobody has proven capable of stepping up and producing when it matters. Nobody. Until someone can get control of this team on the floor and be able to hit a big jump shot, make a huge defensive play, knock down a critical free throw, this team is going to cave in every single time in a close game. Our mindset is just too fragile. We as fans believe the team is going to lose, when it’s tight at the end. We believe it because we see that the team believes it. And they will continue to believe it until somebody proves that they can handle the pressure and carry the load.

    Regarding the players, I think we can pretty much agree that Zo and Calvin are our best players. They’re the athletes and have the quickness and the skill set to give defenses fits. Howell is a decent big man, but he plays small a lot of the time. To me, the person with the biggest upside as far as contribution goes, is Johnson. I think he’s capable of some big things. But he’s either being too tentative or he’s not quite confident yet or something. I can’t figure that out. But that guy’s definitely got some potential.

    Wood, on the other hand, is a different story. There’s a lot of bashing of him, but the ugly fact of the matter is, the guy is just not a great athlete. He doesn’t have the ability to truly create his own shot. He has to rely on transition, coming off screens (which he’s not really quick enough to do and/or we set sloppy screens which allows the defender to stay tightly on him), or just a defensive break-down in order to get open. When teams take him away, which they’re going to do because he’s been our only legitimate outside threat, then that leaves him basically useless. It’s not his fault. He’s just not that quick. You can run all the plays you want for him, but if he’s tightly guarded and not quick enough to get free, forget it.

    We just do not have either the talent or the on-court leadership to be a good team this year. We’re ok, and we’re certainly better than the abysmal team we were last year. But we’re not much more than a middle of the road team. We are certainly capable of playing better, but with the current talent level, we’re a lot more likely to lose to a team we shouldn’t than to beat a team we shouldn’t. If we’re capable of playing at a 7 out of 10 level, we’re probably playing at 5/6 right now. There just isn’t a lot of upside to the team that I see.

    I think Gottfried is a good coach, but it’s going to take some time to know for sure. Right now, his biggest problem is the on-court leadership, poise, and composure of his group. I’d be ok to give Alex Johnson the opportunity to be that guy. What do you have to lose at this point?

  7. TLeo 02/25/2012 at 7:31 PM #

    This is a game we should have won. I saw lots of old habits like standing around on offense but we still could have and should have won this game. JUST HIT A f*ING FREE THROW at the end of regulation and it’s over. At this point I see finishing out the regular season with losses coming up and 7-9 record. What an epic choke down the stretch this season!

  8. Avid109 02/25/2012 at 7:45 PM #

    I agree with Khan. This team lacks a Julius Hodge-type player who will carry the team in a tight game.

    This team lacks depth and emotional strength. They let winnable games slip away (Ga. Tech, UVa) and the Duke game seems to have added the straw that broke the camel’s back.

    It’ll be interesting to see how Gott handles this situation. Over the past several years, the team would just give up and go through the motions after falling off of the NCAA bubble. Will Coach Gott be able to motivate these guys into playing with maximum effort for the remaining games?

  9. BJD95 02/25/2012 at 7:55 PM #

    We lost one coin flip game, two left. We really need to make it to 9-7. Would be a huge step in development.

  10. john of sparta 02/25/2012 at 7:57 PM #

    4 games left: 2 regular season/1 ACC/1 NIT.
    what would/could make it 5 games or more?

  11. ADVENTUROO 02/25/2012 at 8:00 PM #

    Khan,

    Good analysis. CJW was the heart and soul, for a few games, but he seems to be fading. Painter when he came in looked like he perked them up, as did Johnson for awhile.

    If you are correct, and I think you are close, then next year will not be as rosy as some predict.

    YES, we will have this covey of talent (Remember what Lowe had LAST year and remember how Lowe has chemistry issues with his first year team and JJH?).

    Coach G has more college coaching experience than Coach Lowe, but he will have to make some mental adjustments to get one of them to step up next year.

    Senior night might tell the tale. Still going to be in my seats, but I told my “source” to forget Atlanta.

    When CJW took that 3P attempt late in the game instead of looking (there was about 15 sec on the shot clock) and Clemson hit a 3p off the rebound, I told my wife….that was it. We wen’t into OT and lost what little MO we had.

    Still, not a bad year, but certainly not as great as it looked just 2 short weeks ago.

  12. Codebrown 02/25/2012 at 8:04 PM #

    We’re done like Mel Gibson in show business. Probably lose out the season.

  13. tuckerdorm1983 02/25/2012 at 8:36 PM #

    Lowe left the program in tatters and rebuilding it will take some time and new players. Its just the facts. I remember Lowe’s first season and he took us the finals in the ACCT. We were all happy and excited only to live a nightmare that went on and on and on and on. I think the reverse is true now. While we may not have tremendous success in Gotts first year (I still think we have what it takes to get go to NYC in the NIT) the unfolding of the program in the years to come will rival the Norm Sloan and Valvano eras. The man has what it takes. He is having a hard time undoing all the negative mental attitudes that have built up in the players over the years.

  14. swamppack 02/25/2012 at 8:48 PM #

    Taking a slow, steady approach in our thinking to allow a slow, steady improvement and development of anything dealing with State basketball has led to slow, steady disappointment for 20 yrs. now and has also been a slow, steady lesson in humility and embarrassment. Today was no exception.

    I have no reason to doubt MG and the future after not even completing one full season yet(I think He’s done a good job) but after the last 4 games it’s hard not to think “WHEN ARE THINGS EVER GOING TO CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?”.

  15. BJD95 02/25/2012 at 9:02 PM #

    Maybe I’m less upset because I really never thought we were that good. MG has still done a good job with this team. It seems more up and down because the schedule broke out weird.

    And just like the beginning of the year, I won’t make wild predictions for the future beyond cautious optimism.

  16. Avid109 02/25/2012 at 9:06 PM #

    “WHEN ARE THINGS EVER GOING TO CHANGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?”

    We’ll know soon enough. If the team plays uninspired basketball over the final two regular season games, we’ll know that Gott and his staff were not able to overcome “all the negative mental attitudes” that tuckerdorm1983 spoke of.

  17. Wulfpack 02/25/2012 at 9:12 PM #

    I think many of us got caught up in the hot ACC start, when in reality we were just munching on the bottom feeders. Still, that’s an improvement over the last 5 or so years as it became clear we were no longer the bottom feeders. When you factor in the non-conference slate, where we basically lost to all decent to solid competition, and beat the average to bad competition, I think it is clear we are basically a solid NIT team. Hey, it’s something to build on.

    Of course, had the Duke affair gone another way we could be having an entirely different conversation right now. That was the turning point, and we came out on the wrong side of it due to many factors out of our control. Still, there was a chance to win, just as there was a chance with Stanford, Indiana, GT, Clemson, etc. It takes time to learn how to close out games. You need confidence, and we just don’t seem to have it in crunch time. And why should we? 20+ years of suckage. That’s what Gott is up against.

  18. wolfie91 02/25/2012 at 9:21 PM #

    “. It seems more up and down because the schedule broke out weird. ”

    Yep, the schedule probably made us look better than we are. 9-7 would be nice and is doable, though I am thinking 8-8 might be it. I still see that as improvement. I hope folks realize that very seldom do freshman carry a team (A. Rivers at Duke is an exception). I am not banking on making the tourney next year either. But I think making it in year 3 should be non-negotiable. IIRC, Gottfried gets a bonus if we make it this year or next. Straight pay after that.

  19. ADVENTUROO 02/25/2012 at 9:31 PM #

    Tuckerdorm1983,

    I agree with the bulk of your post, however, I would add my own recollection (opinion). Sendek left the program in tatters. There was no incoming talent and the fiasco of hiring Lowe stripped all the 2006 recruits. Obviously, I like you, remember the 2007 ACC Tourney Run. I was there and had we only played three games like UNC, we might have pulled it off.

    Coach Lowe did not live up to my expectations and I gave him a LOT of rope. However, he did leave Coach Gottfried a much larger talent pool that he inherited.

    Coach Gottfried made a lot of positive changes early on last year and we saw a much improved team this year.

    Their current “slide” is something that he and staff will have to deal with.

    I have no doubts that he will continue to rebuild and also polish out the “gems in the rough” that we have. I do WORRY about where the floor leadership will come from next year. Warren, et. al, reminds me of the Fab Frosh that Lowe recruited and are still in the “learning curve” as saw today and over the past two weeks.

    I certainly do not think that Debbie Yow could have hired a better coach…..Shaka does have energy, but Gottfried has experience and maturity and has impressed me with his candidness.

    Looking to return to those thrilling days of yesteryear…..

  20. Ashman87 02/25/2012 at 9:42 PM #

    I agree with Kahn that this team lacks REAL player leadership. My hope is that since this team is still young and has NEVER BEEN IN THIS SITUATION BEFORE (2006 was the last time when games in late Febuary were really relevant to us), that this team will build some mental toughness as a result of these games this season. I do like where this program is going. Just remember, we were ALL DYING just to be in the conversation around early March. After this season, that’s accomplished. I really think that next season is when we can get an idea of how good of a coach Mark is.

  21. john of sparta 02/25/2012 at 9:50 PM #

    ash: which/what conversation are we in?
    it’s not March, yet. no miracle ACC.
    no NCAA without that miracle.
    no NIT, well, ok, maybe that.

  22. 8pack 02/25/2012 at 10:39 PM #

    Dont bail on this team yet…you just never know what March brings. Ok, usually you do know with State…but maybe there is a little run in us. If for no one else, I hope that we finish strong for CJ Williams. He is giving all he has every possession…and these kids around him are letting him down.

  23. packattack13 02/25/2012 at 11:24 PM #

    I think by no means are we out of the hunt for a bid…….if we win the next two and then go to the tournament I think all we need to do is pick up a “signature” win against one of the blues and we are right back in it

  24. stillapackfan 02/26/2012 at 12:01 AM #

    …and visions of sugar plums danced in his head.

  25. Sweet jumper 02/26/2012 at 12:07 AM #

    Just came in from out of town today. Did not watch but listened to game on the radio. Adventuroo stole my thunder. When we were up by 3 with under 2 minutes to go and CJW took a 3 with about 15 secs left on the shot clock and Clempson then hit a 3 for a tie, I told my wife and daughter that it was over. Why not shove the ball inside and score or at least draw a foul with under 10 secs left on the shot clock and make one out of 2 FT’s for a 2 possession game? We truly are not a smart team. We have proven time and again that we cannot finish when the game is on the line. I hope Tyler Lewis can come in and establish himself as the point guard and the leader who knows what to do and who to set up in crunch time. Very, very frustrating loss.

1 2 3 4 5

Leave a Reply