State beats Clemson

It was plenty ugly, especially the first half when State executed poorly and played uninspired. But the Pack ended a three-game losing streak (and five-of-seven skid) on Scott Wood’s three-point game-winner with one second remaining. Richard Howell was again a beast with another double-double (16/11) and although it won’t show up in the box score, his screen set up Wood’s game winner.

State improves to 6-5 (5th place) in the league and has kept itself off the bubble and still in position to avoid Thursday in Greensboro.

Box Score (ESPN)

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12-13 Basketball

98 Responses to State beats Clemson

  1. bill.onthebeach 02/10/2013 at 5:09 PM #

    Mr. Dog…

    “Cuz” it appears….has been in the doghouse for a couple of weeks… put himself there … not because of his lack of defense (although that would have been sufficient )….

    Now on the other hand…. ‘Nervous’ (give the Dookies create for getting that right) …. has a bad case of I think what old golfers like Mr. Stick used to call the “gips” ….

    He just needs a jersey with a number other than ZERO, to keep working hard in practice and to relax during the games….

    Maybe ‘Nervous’ can get a much smaller amount of whatever CJ takes before the game to get in the right frame of mind…

    (Wasn’t CJ the one who GOTT told to drink one 16oz cold beer before the game last season …. for dehydration ?? )

    IDK… they all are a bunch of kids who most of the time play just like a bunch of kids….

    except Tyler… who is the most “consistent” player, in terms of attitude and effort I have seen in years… the same guy goes down the floor everytime, every night….

  2. Wulfpack 02/10/2013 at 5:10 PM #

    We haven’t forgotten how to run, it is just the brand of basketball some of these schools play. UVA and Clemson will slow it to a snails pace. They get back on D and milk the clock, limiting your possessions and opportunity to force the pace of play. Wisconsin is another that does the same. It isn’t pretty basketball, but if you aren’t getting the top talent (and they aren’t) and you are competing against the big dogs (and they are), it is a way to keep your program competitive with at least a chance to win ball games. We can play a half court game, too. When you have Leslie and Howell, it isn’t all that bad, especially when Wood is getting open. I don’t like that brand of basketball either but for some it does make sense.

  3. packalum44 02/10/2013 at 5:10 PM #

    “A statement like that just puts into question the intelligence or understanding of its author.”

    Proof is in the pudding. Lowe failed miserably. One of the worst head coaches the ACC has had. There was not 1 thing he was particularly bad it, he was just bad at all of it.

    Sure he had a good basketball IQ, whatever that means. He had good instincts? Or was more clever than opponents who have literacy issues? How smart do you have to be to play basketball? Not very. Average IQ of NBA players is about the average high in Raleigh during July.

  4. Pack1998 02/10/2013 at 5:14 PM #

    Zo Brown.

    A lot of talent on this team . . . and Howell is a beast. And yea, yea, Lewis is good too. CJ talented, etc. etc.

    Zo Brown is the difference maker on this team. Perhaps a fact of the obvious. As Zo goes so goes the team.

    For all the talk abut Gott’s great in-game coaching, if Woo doesn’t drain the final 3 we’d be saying the opposite (I personally would have questioned going for the 3 versus letting Zo take it to the hole – same concern with MD loss). And even with a loss at Clemson the season would not be over.

    I like Gott’s coaching sytle and approach. It shows its success in the duration if it stays the course. Someone made the comparison of Roy to Gott in styles.

  5. Wulfpack 02/10/2013 at 5:24 PM #

    I have said it several times that Roy and Gott have very similar styles. They let them play. Not much defense out there, either.

    I have no idea why some want to discuss Lowe. Leave the guy alone. I guarantee you this – he is happy the guys he recruited are having some success after those bad years. And, I guarantee you he is happy the Pack is on the way back.

  6. TheCOWDOG 02/10/2013 at 5:26 PM #

    More to the point, Wulfpack. Teams like UVa, Clemson, etc; etc; do have talented basketball players. They also comprehend the rules of D.

    They stop breaking teams, not so much in their snail pace, but because they are fundamentally strong against “quicker” teams.

    They send one to the offensive glass, box out the shooter, and get everybody else back. 101, baby.

  7. Texpack 02/10/2013 at 5:32 PM #

    “You cannot ignore in a win things that would bother you in a loss.” – Jeff Van Gundy

    Today it was sloppy play with the ball and Calvin playing for the NBA. We have to get better in the half court. Basketball history is full of running teams losing to teams who make them grind it out. Gott hasn’t made any progress on any of these issues.

    We didn’t give up and we kept digging

  8. TheCOWDOG 02/10/2013 at 5:42 PM #

    Holy shit…this site is on the verge of intelligent conversation once more.

    Maybe it can transfer to the forums, too.

    ( Whoops, my bad. Forum is lost in the woods. Damn, my bad, again.)

  9. Wufpacker 02/10/2013 at 5:43 PM #

    So does Herb’s lack of success make him dumb as dirt too then? There’s a transcript at Carnegie Mellon which would beg to differ.

    Few if any Nat’l Champ caliber point guards are dumb as dirt anyway, and Sid is no exception to that rule. As ‘foose points out, he was not the best manager of a team however. IMHO, one of his biggest problems there is that he was too smart for his own good and tended to throw too much at the players during games for them to be able to digest it and just play.

    I suppose the reasons for his lack of success are debatable, but his intelligence is not.

  10. ADVENTUROO 02/10/2013 at 5:51 PM #

    First….and in this post….

    In case you missed the N&O article with some quotes from Coach Gottfried, I cut and pasted this section. Pretty much sums it up. No Hero ball for Leslie…..we all, I know CHEERED when we realized his missed layout was negated by the TO…..

    State fouled Jennings on the ensuing in-bounds, and Jennings clanged the front-end of the 1-and-1 off the rim. C.J. Leslie collected the rebound and hustled down court against a reeling Clemson defense, but Gottfried decided to call timeout with 7.5 seconds remaining rather than let Leslie attempt to tie the game.

    “Although at times he’s good there, it was important that we got exactly what we wanted,” said Gottfried, who alluded to Leslie’s travel in the post just two possessions earlier. “There are times I’ve let my team play before if I feel like we’re in a good place and the ball’s in the right guys hand and guys seem to be in the break running and there’s a good feel for where we are and running then certainly. But I didn’t feel comfortable there and I thought it was important for us to get organized.”

    Gottfried drew up a play for Brown, who finished with 15 points and four assists in 32 minutes off the bench, to penetrate and draw defenders while Wood worked baseline screens by Leslie and Richard Howell. Brown dished to Wood in the corner, whose 3-pointer finished the Tigers.

    “’Zo did a good job of getting me a good pass… and it was real good to have him back,” Wood said. “He’s great player and a great leader and even when he’s not out there that leadership key is big for us. In my opinion he’s one of the best players in the nation and that showed again today.”

    Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/02/10/2669055/woods-3-gives-nc-state-a-58-57.html#storylink=cpy

  11. ADVENTUROO 02/10/2013 at 6:01 PM #

    Second….

    I do not agree, nor do I think it is appropriate (will not comment in any other way) to DISS Coach Lowe.

    He did an outstanding job of coaching his first year. I was there at every home game and had excellent seats in Tampa (right below Goog’s) for all our games. The UNC crowd in our caravan were concerned and said after the game that if we had not had to play on Thursday, that we would have probably defeated UNC and been NCAAT bound.

    I do NOT know or speculate what happened after that…..one side of me, from attending the weekly radio shows at Crabtree and ocassionally talking to Coach and Tony, thinks that the pressure of his personal life got to him and he lost his NCSU focus.

    Fate was not kind to him in the injury area.

    He did NOT transition to the College Level. As some pointed out, a SMART PG cannot always teach someone how to be the SAME….as it comes naturally to them. My son is MUCH smarter (intelligence) than I am, but he does not grasp some simple things that I find easy.

    Finally, he left the program with the best incoming class that it had had since the days of Valvano. There were some defections (Mayes) and then Harrow. Note their roles today. Also note that Painter would be great to have here today. It is a shame that Monte Towe, also an ex head coach, did not help Lowe more.

    Coach Lowe recruited a top class team. It was his NBA reputation that got them. He did not utilize that talent. BUT, he is anything but “STUPID and INCOMPETENT”

    Coach Gottfried, privately and publicly, acknowledges that he inherited a program what was in great shape. HMM….I think that Valvano also made that same statement.

    I, for one, get a bit miffed at the the dragging of Coach Lowe through the mud.

  12. 44rules 02/10/2013 at 6:13 PM #

    Just got back from the game. We played like crap but hit the shot at the end. When C.J. grabbed that last rebound, I knew what he was going to do and started screaming “No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No! No!”
    Doubt Gott heard me from the upper rafters, but maybe God did!

  13. PoppaJohn 02/10/2013 at 6:18 PM #

    Coach Lowe is an honored alum, former player, and former coach who deserves our respect. And I m sure is as happy as anyone reading this about our win, and dies with every loss – just like we do. Leave him alone.

  14. WeAreCured 02/10/2013 at 6:27 PM #

    I knew we would win. Going into a six day layoff in this fashion should be good medicine. I hope my man Purv can fix what ails him, and I hope Gott shows CJ the tape of him repeatedly spinning into double teams and getting stripped when there is a wide open shooter 10 feet away from him. I love the guy, and his double double today was huge and workmanlike, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t simple things he could do that would help the team. I think they will work out these kinks this week, and today will serve as a launching pad. Do it, Woo!

  15. theghost 02/10/2013 at 6:56 PM #

    ‘Roo, I agree, but my larger point is that it doesn’t matter so much. The failures of Sid’s tenure have been fully debated, there’s nothing to say that hasn’t already been said. I think he’s a competent and intelligent guy who lacks all that it takes to compete successfully at the highest level of collegiate coaching – just as almost everyone else in the world.

    But so what? Even if he’s too dumb to get through an AFAM class, there’s still absolutely no point – or benefit – in tearing the guy down after he served faithfully and left honorably. To do so to an honored alum – or anybody who acted with the class that Lowe does – from the shadows of anonymity on a message board is petty and classless and cowardly, and reflects poorly on all of us because it can’t reflect poorly on an anonymous poster.

    As Poppa said – leave the guy alone.

  16. freshmanin83 02/10/2013 at 7:02 PM #

    I am curious do most of the posters on here think that Calvin may be struggling because he is playing for the NBA?

    Or is it something else or combination of things that might be negatively affecting his game?

  17. tjfoose1 02/10/2013 at 7:04 PM #

    ” ‘Nervous’ (give the Dookies create [sic] for getting that right)”

    Nope. They stole it from the 80’s and Louisville’s “Never Nervous” Purvis Ellison.

  18. NCSU84 02/10/2013 at 7:05 PM #

    Someone please give Packalum44 his medication. His comments about Lowe clearly indicate that he has not taken his medicine today.

  19. tjfoose1 02/10/2013 at 7:07 PM #

    Einstein couldn’t coach basketball either. Who knew he was dumb as dirt.

  20. tjfoose1 02/10/2013 at 7:14 PM #

    “He [Lowe] did an outstanding job of coaching his first year.”

    Yep.

    Did did not have to COACH that first year, as Herb had already prepared the players in the basics.

    When Atsur was healthy, all Sid had to instruct.

    The following year, Sid needed to be able to lead and manage players. He failed miserably.

    Wade Phillips = brilliant DC.

    Wade Phillips = horrible leader, manager of men.

  21. Alpha Wolf 02/10/2013 at 7:14 PM #

    I hope CJ can improve his basketball IQ somewhat.

    That’s not going to happen while he is at NC State. Lowe and Gottfried have tried, but CJL just can’t escape the “me and four other guys mentality” when the pressure is at its highest.

    He’ll get it right, but I think that’s going to come to him as a professional when it becomes clear to him that he’s not the most talented player on the floor or even his own team.

    I am curious do most of the posters on here think that Calvin may be struggling because he is playing for the NBA?

    Been following him since he was at Holly Springs, where he played with some kids whose parents I worked with. He’s got all the talent in the world, but all too often, CJL tries to go Kobe and the other team collapses to defend him and leaves all kinds of better options. All too often CJL fails to see that when the pressure is at its greatest — tight games late, or when his team is behind. He’s pretty much always played that way.

    I don’t think it’s because he’s selfish or a bad guy, I think it is because he tries too hard and gets locked in without noticing what’s around him. That’s something he will grow out of and it will make him a better player. That and grooving his free throw.

  22. tjfoose1 02/10/2013 at 7:15 PM #

    “I am curious do most of the posters on here think that Calvin may be struggling because he is playing for the NBA? ”

    I think it’s because he’s still upset with Hobbes for being a Clemson fan.

  23. Wufpacker 02/10/2013 at 7:22 PM #

    I think it’s because he goes into his version of Spaceman Spiff when he thinks it’s his turn to carry the load.

    But maybe that’s just “comical” semantics.

  24. DrWuffette1day 02/10/2013 at 7:22 PM #

    Packalum44 = +1.

    Let’s not dress it up to something it wasn’t. The record spoke for itself. The recruitment was lazy. I remember comments from Noah, which also raised concerns. Transfers frequent. The game management was spectacularly bad. Nobody had a clue what they were doing and OMG, the incessent whistling.

    It was one of the worst eras of NC State Basketball history. I questioned everything about him. He wasn’t qualified to take the job and it went downhill from there.

    It was horrible. He should have resigned after year 2 instead he used a 19 year old kid to try and the enticement of more recruits as a shield after year 4. It was a trainwreck.

    When you make millions doing something badly, I don’t feel sorry for you.

    Now I don’t feel so bad about today though. Perfect time for a week of practice and talk-outs.

    Good comments on game. Like the optimism and analysis.

    Maybe I was a little harsh with the upperclassen but I do expect more out of them. They play quiet (level of competition). Wood and Brown have great communication skills but leadership is not there. See above.

    We’re in the middle of a culture change but it’ll take some time to overcome. I am not patient. I am glad that the upperclas man didn’t quit and fold like they did their 1st two years. That’s on Gott. There is massive improvement already.

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