Not Tired Wolfpack is New Attitude

06-07 Basketball General Sidney Lowe90

On the back of this entry by Tom Suiter, we get more great praise for our Wolfpack today!

As I write this, it’s late and I’m tired, but if the N.C. State basketball team can keep doing it, I suppose I can stay up just a little longer. I know I can’t be as tired as those guys.

I don’t know what the State basketball team is eating and drinking but whatever it is we all need to have some of it. Somehow, someway, this team which has to be running on fumes, keeps playing winning basketball. They’re like that Energizer bunny: they just don’t wear down.

The NIT selection committee gave the Wolfpack, coming off four grueling days at the ACC tournament, the almost impossible task of having to play a fifth game in six days and do it on the road to boot. The Pack could have moaned and groaned said, “Who cares about the NIT. Let’s just get this over with and take a break.”

But not this team, which since last Thursday has found something deep inside them that has transformed this 10th-seed in the ACC tournament to something that is becoming a little bit special. It’s usually hard to get excited about a team that’s just 19-15, and I almost never care about the NIT, but the grit and determination that this weary team has shown has to be admired. At least that’s what I’m thinking.

Tuesday night, having been exiled to Philadelphia for its first-round game, N.C. State turns back Drexel, coming from behind to do it by the 63-56 score. Drexel was bitter about being excluded from the NCAA tournament. The way State’s gutting it out, they have more right to complain about being left out of the big show than Drexel does.

There’s no question State had to reach way down into the well of emotion to win this one, but again the heart was there.The legs got a little rubbery, but the will to win was very much present. There’s no question a strong will can overcome a lot.

I’m watching this game and State’s down 15-4 and I’m thinking, “Well they don’t have it, the legs are gone.” That’s what you don’t say about this group. Maybe a week ago you could, but you can’t now. These guys just don’t quit. State keeps battling.

Five games in six days, four of them wins, none of them at home. What Sidney Lowe is selling, the team is buying. “We talk about being mentally tough and focused, taking what we want and not what they’re giving us.”

Sure it’s just the NIT, but that’s a championship to be won.

Seems like it, doesn’t it?

I know that I don’t have to highlight this to a lot of you…but, don’t you see the beauty in this? Don’t you recognize the significant change around both the macro and the micro ‘attitude’ of the NC State Basketball program?

Suiter, and much of the country, are talking about NC State’s spirit and the renewed passion around the program. (So much for the myth that ‘continuity’ is so important to a program. That is bullshit. Continuity MAY SOMETIMES be relevant when taking a narrow view of looking at the ‘next season’…but it is irrelevant on the progress of a program).

Basically – NO EXCUSES will be tolerated. Allowing yourself to wallow in excuses and look for reasons to rationalize issues only opens the door to conveying blame onto

Sound familiar?

When was the last time we really had this can-do spirit in Raleigh? When was the last time a Wolfpack team seemed to openly welcome any any all challenges despite the odds? Even Engin Atsur’s injury this year was carefully positioned as something that was obvious, but was no excuse for not trying to make good things happen.

Even before the ACC season got rolling, beowulf indentified a trend directly related to the new spirit in Raleigh when he penned – No Lead is Safe from Sidney Lowe’s Wolfpack.

This was quite a departure for many Wolfpack fans who innately believed that once a Wolfpack team falls behind by 8 to 10 points then there is no chance for a comeback. Why should they believe differently? They had 15 years of experience that taught them to believe it.

Conversely, it is just part of WolfpackNation’s psyche to expect the bottom to eventually drop out of any lead that the Pack builds. And we aren’t talking about just individual ball games. Does anyone remember the entire second half of the 2001 season? Talk about mental fortitude!

It would blow all of us away if we went back and analyzed the differential between the number of ‘leads lost’ and ‘comebacks’ at NC State over the last decade. It would be staggering.

Hell, one year after collapsing and losing a double digit lead in the last ten minutes half of the ACC Championship game – Herb Sendek’s BEST TEAM in his BEST SEASON managed to be the victim of the worst collapse in ACC Tournament history and produce one of the Top 10 collapses in NCAA Tournament history within one week of each other!!

By contrast, Sidney Lowe’s first team pulled off the second largest comeback in the history of the ACC Tournament that was second only to Maryland’s defeat of Sendek’s Pack in 2004.

This is just one set of specific examples to exemplify the change in NC State Basketball. But, the difference in attitude and environment around the program is very important to publicly recognize and not to ignore!

The Pack Pride here is reciprocal. NC State fans should be extremely proud of the Wolfpack’s 2006-2007! And, the NC State basketball program should be very proud of the support of its fan base who sold out Reynolds Coliseum in just three and half hours yesterday in hopes to show their appreciation and support to the team.

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06-07 Basketball General Sidney Lowe

90 Responses to Not Tired Wolfpack is New Attitude

  1. Spin Wolf 03/15/2007 at 11:06 AM #

    Aside from the general stuff about “tone” and spirit, that’s hard to quantify directly, I think the biggest difference we’ve seen under Coach Lowe can be attributed to his influence from Coach V.

    V wanted his teams to be “in a position to win” at the end of the game. Sure, he wanted a blowout if possible, but he knew that times when we had a clear talent advantage would be rare. It doesn’t matter how you get there, just don’t ever give up, get us there and let’s take a shot coming down the stretch.

    That is the EXACT mentality I see in Sidney Lowe. He takes advantage of our players strengths and shifts them around to put them in a “position to win.” Sendek was too stuck on trying to make our square peg players fit into the round holes of his offense, come hell or highwater.

    Once we get some more bodies in over the next few years, I fully expect to see some junk defenses a’la putting Corchiani on GT’s Hammonds, which is still one of the shrewdest coaching moves I’ve ever seen.

  2. PackBacker001 03/15/2007 at 11:16 AM #

    Also, has anyone noticed that NC State is being featured more in the sports segment during local news? I don’t mean stories about State, but if they are talking about Duke or UNC, they show them playing us. I get a feeling that the media is treating us with new found…well, respect probably isn’t the right word…but our name is getting out there. Winning brings positive press (yes, I’m naive and too young to really remember the Personal Fouls days), and it looks like that press is coming our way.

  3. beowolf 03/15/2007 at 11:17 AM #

    Great post, Spin. I’d just like to point out we’ve already seen some “junk” defenses utilized this season, as well as another V tactic of occasionally switching defenses just to keep the other team off rhythm.

  4. highonlowe 03/15/2007 at 11:19 AM #

    I love our new attitude, in basketball AND football.
    “The attitude [coach O’Brien and] the new staff brings, I think is great. My teammates, everybody is embracing it.” quarterback Daniel Evans said.
    O’Brien’s first practice

  5. beowolf 03/15/2007 at 11:37 AM #

    Man, I gotta say having a football coach compared with Dick Sheridan and a basketball coach compared with Jim Valvano has me totally jazzed. Those are still my ideal Wolfpack coaches in their respective sports.

  6. ShootingGuard 03/15/2007 at 11:40 AM #

    Although we didn’t win (and there is no consolation prize in bball), I thought the comeback vs UNC in the ACCT Finals was one of the most impressive things I have seen all season. Everyone in the world knew it was our 4th game in 4 days with an already undermanned team hobbling around with nagging injuries vs one of the best and deepest collections of talent around playing for the big prize. Down 16 in the 2nd half, we had every reason to quit and probably no one would have looked down on us if it had ended right there, but the guys roared right back. Win or lose, that was impressive. (Contrast that game to non-conference blowout losses to the likes of Providence, Tulane, Fresno State, etc.)

    The reverse of the comeback notion is also very important. I hope I don’t jinx us in the NIT, but how many games have we blown big leads in or blown it for a heart wrenching loss this season?? We dominated a good VT team 3 times this year from start to finish and never let it slip away. We held it together vs UNC, Wake, Duke, UVA, etc. this year as well, despite not having the “ice it” kind of point guard and other guard play that you need to close out wins in close games. At times, Sid was literally point guarding us to victory, sometimes way out on the court. (Contrast our “stay aggressive, keep attacking” wins to some of our complete chokes and meltdowns over the past several years.)

  7. beowolf 03/15/2007 at 11:48 AM #

    The “hit the wall” game vs. Ga. Tech was the biggest blown lead this year I can remember. We did lead UNC briefly in the first half, but it wasn’t by double digits.

  8. redfred2 03/15/2007 at 11:48 AM #

    Can’t add much to that thread header, good job Statefans.

    I will say that there has been so much more gained, or regained, in this one single season of basketball than a W/L record. So much so that it is still very hard to explain to the people who had never experienced in the past. They will now learn and grow to love WOLFPACK BASKETBALL for all of the same reasons we did. Now, all we can do is pray that in a few generations they won’t have to be trying to explain the feeling to another group of younger and unknowning NC State fans.

  9. Texpack 03/15/2007 at 11:52 AM #

    GT game was the only real blown lead. We have demonstrated more comeback ability at the end of the year than we did during the bulk of the season. I think some of it is just the players building up enough game experience to learn how to make plays when they need to and the other part is Sidney figuring his players out better.

  10. old13 03/15/2007 at 1:05 PM #

    This team has renewed the Coach V legacy in attitude, and set the table for future teams with a tradition of toughness – mental and physical. Coach Lowe is well deserved of much of the credit. BUT he had to have something to work with. Therefore, the players themselves deserve much credit as well for letting the coaches coach them and mold their approach to the game. They themselves have had go follow though on the court from where the coaching left off.

    BTW I could see come of this carrying over to football – especially with TOB at the helm. Maybe the football players could hang out with the baskletball players and catch this “disease!”

  11. PapaJohn 03/15/2007 at 1:06 PM #

    Great post SFN.
    Well, we just won four games in six days against first class competition, and in practically impossible circumstances (short bench, Drexel’s home “court-ette”). Maybe we can win five games in 16 days and hang Sid’s first decoration in the rafters.
    Here’s a slogan for the Pack…
    SINCE WE’RE IN IT, LET’S WIN IT!!

  12. TNPackFan 03/15/2007 at 1:17 PM #

    “We talk about being mentally tough and focused, taking what we want and not what they’re giving us.”

    Maybe it’s just my imagination, or just a bad memory on my part, but I seem to recall Sendek saying several times something to the effect of “we have to take what the defense gives us”. If he didn’t come right out and say that, the style that his teams played certainly suggested that he believed it. It is so refreshing to have a coach who pushes his team to take what they want, and not let anyone “punk” them.

  13. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 03/15/2007 at 1:38 PM #

    Wouldn’t it be great if the Reynolds game next year can be against DWhit? I don’t want to say Fordham because it would be an injustice if he hasn’t got a better job next year after what he did there this year and his past performance.

    I wonder if Lester contacted him last year when Citadel had an opening.

  14. CarnifeX 03/15/2007 at 1:41 PM #

    Continuity comes in with recruiting. I don’t think it plans out within the team itself.

  15. Dogbreath 03/15/2007 at 1:48 PM #

    with an even keel, these guys just keep chopping wood inside their daytight compartments, always honoring the process. we are who we are.

  16. Mike 03/15/2007 at 1:52 PM #

    Very interesting folks – business is business. I was over at UNC for a meeting with their athletic dept. Had a meeting in the building next door to the Dean Dome. My timing was poor – meeting was scheduled for about the same time as their team was loading a bus to drive to Winston. Had a great conversation wiht people in their athletic dept about Sid and the team. They said they were so impressed with the character of the team, the kids, and what Lowe had to offer.

    I had said I thought we were done, the adrenaline had finally run out early in the 2nd half when we went down 14, but I was surprised, pleasantly surprised, that we were able to chip away and fight back. They knew they were in a dogfight, and thought that at that point they might be able to breathe again. I dont want to use the word scared, but not sure what the right word is – but the folks in CH KNOW we are a force to be reckoned with in the future. The Pack is Back!

    Another very interesting note, 2 of the people I was talking to saw Fowler earlier that day walking out of the Dean Dome. No one knew why he was there. My thought was he was there trying to work out details to possibly move the gymnastics meet there so we could use Reynolds. Admittedly, I have not been a huge fan of LF, but I do wnat to give the man some credit for making Reynolds happen.

  17. Rick 03/15/2007 at 1:56 PM #

    “When was the last time we really had this can-do spirit in Raleigh? When was the last time a Wolfpack team seemed to openly welcome any any all challenges despite the odds? Even Engin Atsur’s injury this year was carefully positioned as something that was obvious, but was no excuse for not trying to make good things happen.”

    I have said all along a team takes on its coaches personality.
    We just happen to havea never say die coach now.

  18. GoldenChain 03/15/2007 at 1:57 PM #

    To me the biggest thrill was having my middle son call at 11pm last night jazzed because he was camping out in from of Wm Neal Reynolds for tickets……can anyone say “old school”?!
    To a whole new generation of Pack fans it has to be like waking up on Christmas morning to get a gift you didn’t even know existed!

    (Now maybe some of the younger fans can see what some of us were telling them this time last year; State basketball is special, it is storied, and the story isn’t over).

  19. Rochester 03/15/2007 at 2:05 PM #

    t-t-t,

    Whitt’s got a loaded team for next year at Fordham. His roster was almost all juniors this year and they were good players too. It won’t be the worst thing for him to stick at Fordham another year, because they should be a serious contender for the A-10 title with the bunch he’s bringing back. He’ll have a chance to make some noise and get them into the postseason.

    I do love the thought of bringing him back for a true heritage game, though.

  20. packbackr04 03/15/2007 at 2:16 PM #

    hey we are going to play ECU. so it cant hurt our OOC SOS RPI to play fordham could it..

  21. TNCSU 03/15/2007 at 2:18 PM #

    I want to play Seton Hall, so Courtney, Brandon, and Ben can dunk on Larry Davis!

  22. RedTerror29 03/15/2007 at 2:29 PM #

    Throw in Florida, Georgetown, Texas, Memphis, Arizona St…

    We can have a “What’s up now, rookie bi-atches?” tour.

  23. pakfanistan 03/15/2007 at 2:39 PM #

    I say we let Horner dunk on him.

  24. GoldenChain 03/15/2007 at 2:40 PM #

    My son told me that some campers put up a makeshift sign dubbing the the front of Reynolds “LOWESVILLE”.

  25. burnbarn 03/15/2007 at 2:46 PM #

    ^ saw the sign on the news.

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