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I will change the old addage “Skilled craftsmen don’t blame their tools” to “Losers don’t blame the refs.” In full disclosure I didn’t watch the game yesterday. I was out having a lovely, calming lunch with friends.
Imagine three really shitty offseason headlines for the sports page. You’ll end up seeing at least one of them.
And I’m not counting “Fowler, Lowe Sign Extensions” in that discussion, although I should.
Folks, we lost a game yesterday that we ahd in our grasp. We had a game plan that worked, and last I checked the game plan is done by the coach. I know people will say I am nuts, but so be it.
We lost the game for sevreal reasons, some of which were already written about. I will try to remind you why this game was lost.
1. Fells TO and subsequent intentional foul and 8 point swing.
2. Costner scored 0 points in the 2nd half’
3. Fells scored 2 pts in the 2nd half
4. Horner alligator armed 2 FT’s that would have put the game out of reach. Absolute choke job for an 86% shooter.
5. McCauley got raped at the buzzer, but OK, officials do swallow whistles at that stage of the game.Why was Gonzo in the game down the stretch? Mays was awful and Sid went with the guy who had performed better. Oh sorry, Wall or Lawson were not available, so he went with the best he had.
Why was Smith not in the game? Maybe his knee was hurting. Maybe he was getting abused on the D side of the ball and with the lead, Sid was trying to play better D as a team.
I dont know about Fergie or Thomas having academic issues, but IF Sid held them out for disciplinary reasons, good for him. Sticking to principles in spite of what people will say about him.
This team is getting better and improving. We have some tough losses, and I do not beleive in moral victories. There is no doubt in my mind Sid would beat Roy if Sid had Roy’s boys.
I didn’t realize this but after reading the paper this morning I learned we failed to score a field goal the last nine minutes of the basketabll game.
I caught part of the game on the radio as I returned home. One of the announcers said, “That was our first field goal in 16 minutes.”
Good lord.
I’m reasonably certain that if we pulled up at midcourt and just shot from there, we’d hit more than one every 16 minutes. When your offensive strategy is less successful than, “Shoot from 45 feet,” you have a bad strategy.
I will change the old addage “Skilled craftsmen don’t blame their tools†to “Losers don’t blame the refs.â€
Yeah, they do. That’s what makes them losers.
“There is no doubt in my mind Sid would beat Roy if Sid had Roy’s boys.”
That’s probably true. Of course, if you let the two choose teams, who do honestly think would win the most games?
BJD – I’m a little concerned about what you are hinting. Of course, right now, if I was on the team and I was a freshman or sophomore, I’d have to be concerned my future. And if my son was a blue chip prospect…
The only unplanned departure in the off season that would hurt would be Tracy transferring.
We expect Costner to graduate and go to Europe.
That leaves us short in the frontcourt- only Horner/Tracy and Howell.We have a bunch of 1, 2, and 3’s that we could handle some departures in these positions.
I just don’t see it. I think the guys maybe frustrated and even confused with playing minutes, etc. But I also think Sid has played a lot of players this year, so each of them should believe they will get minutes. CJ & Mays have gotten a lot of time as unheralded players, so they shouldn’t complain.Ben McCauley was also the only guy to score in the last 9 minutes of the game. But we’ll certainly be better without him next year.
Yes, the refs hosed us in the second half. BUT … we built a good chunk of our first-half lead courtesy of some fairly friendly calls. The T on Seth came after he’d seen several borderline foul calls go our way. The crappy officiating went both ways.
BJD, are these the headlines:
“Mays, Thomas and Williams transfer to UNC-Greensboro to play for a ‘winner'”
“N.C. State rejoins Southern Conference”
“God issues edict damning Wolfpack fans to another 100 years of losing”The refs were terrible for both teams. The facts are we let an 18 point lead go and were outplayed in the second half. Missing crucial foul shots and returning to our typical 20 turnover total also helped.
The intentional foul call on Fells was absurd. He blocked the ball and fouled the guy with his body. I still cannot figure out why the refs did not eject GreenHerb after T-ing him up and then letting him repeatedly call at least one of them a f***ing a**hole several times.No need to rehash all the stuff you guys have been over, so I’ll touch on a different subject. This was the first time I’ve seen VT this year, and unless it was his worst game of the year I have to say that I was not at all impressed by Delaney. He had 5 turnovers, (same as Javi) against a team that doesn’t press at all, and made a number of other bad decisions. And that’s on top of the fact that he should have fouled out well before Allen. I can’t recall ever seeing any player get away with clearing out with his off arm as much in one game as he did.
We know that we’re losing some players next year. If I had to guess at the headlines, I would guess that it has something to do with recruiting.
Other “baddies” would include:
Probation/NCAA sanctions;
The revelation that Bernie Madoff has been treasurer of the Wolfpack Club for the last several years; and, or
Todd Turner has been rehired.There is only one way out of this total mess for NCSU and everyone knows it.
Sid needs to immediately tell the BOT that he is just not comfortable as a college coach and will be going back to the NBA at seasons end.
Then the people with the bucks can hire a search firm and find a new coach while keeping things real quiet.
At the end of the season, Sid resigns to go back to the NBA before his reputation is totally trashed. Fowler is handed a note for him to read – if he can do that correctly – that, much to his surprise, announces our new coach.
The resignation and hiring is done over a 24-48 hour span so the new coach can immediately work on the incoming freshman class, and the current commits, and perhaps bring a player or two he is recruiting in. Then he begin coaching the team and recruiting.
Anything other than the above, and it is total chaos.
You can’t be up by 18, with 12 and change to go, and lose. Scew the bad call, our radio folks and fans dwell too much on crap like that. The refs were crappy for both teams. From that 12 minute point of the 2nd half, in 30 seconds we let the opponent score 8 points. That amounts to sorry play and worse coaching. Listening to Sid on the postgame, I can’t believe I’m hearing him say that for the last play in regulation he got what he wanted. The ball never made an upward move to the hoop. To me it was a crappy move by the point guard pitching the ball into what, double or triple team? The ball was swatted/fumbled away without so much as an attempt. Perhaps I’m a bit fuzzy on the last second mechanics, but if you have an 18 point lead at the 12 minute mark, and I believe, a 6 point lead with 2 minutes to go, it seems there is more than enough blame to go around to players and coaches alike. We are just plain bad, and it doesn’t appear we have the management in place to get any better. I’m glad I was alive and present to witness first hand the 1st National Championship and then to see the second Championship under V. In our current management set up, I don’t see us winning either a division championship or an ACC, much less contend in the nation. A prior post and many others over the last year or so have hit the nail on the head. Money is all that talks these days. Until the revenue in the Atheletic Department takes a significant hit, don’t expect any miracles. Seat licenses, Wolfpack Club priorities based on giving, and sold out season tickets (at least in Football) dictate that the powers to be have the only affirmation they understand. Blogs hold no threat to the status quo. Glad I went broke a few years ago and don’t have to worry about the issue anymore.
The only possible reason I could justify giving Lowe another year is because the unspeakable nightmare that will be next season would hopefully be laid squarely at his feet by some of the fans who inexplicably continue to justify his performance. It’s absolutely crystal clear to me that he is in way over his head, but I want to be absolutely crystal clear to a majority of the fan base. (and I sure hope it doesn’t take seven years for that consensus to emerge as it did with Les).
Here’s a truly frightening thought to contemplate: there were still a sizeable contingent of Pack fans who wanted to retain Robinson after year 7. Remember in the famous anecdote, Les received a picture of wolves fighting each other…not a picture of a pack of wolves who have cornered some hapless deer and are about to pounce…
Um folks, there is no denying that yesterday was B-A-D!!! and about as BAD as it can get. But there is no way to point all of the blame in any one direction
1) There were coaching errors
2) There were player errors
3) and there most certainly officiating errors
4) and most importantly, all of those things happened to both teams involvedThat was a loss that will make our stomachs burn everytime we think of it for some time to come, but I’m telling you, it is not the end of the world.
Oh yeah, and if I’m not mistaken, some of the other, and some pretty damn good ACC teams got totally embarrassed and had their asses absolutely drubbed this past week. The difference was that it wasn’t in overtime, or after playing well for thirty minutes and giving up a huge lead. Those other, and much more talented ACC teams got their butts whipped from the first second when the ball went up, and they got beat right through the middle of the game, and all the way down to the very end.
But somehow, it appears that a couple of completely lifeless, effortless, and lackluster TWENTY SEVEN POINT LOSSES that were handed to our more well rounded conference foes, are easier to write off as simply “bad games”.
Facts are that we may have some talent, but it’s not enough, and there is no doubt that there is no mental toughness on this team. Blame that on whoever, I’m about as dumbfounded concerning that aspect as anyone. I’m sure the coaches are at wits end over that one aspect as well. But, and believe it or not, there has been improvement in certain areas.
Speaking of that, people who are still bad mouthing Javi Gonzales just plain do not understand BB. It’s true that he may not be the definitive answer at the point guard position, but he was not tenative yesterday, he stepped up and made plays yesterday, he made the passes, and he got the ball were it needed to be. That is, until his teammates quit on him. He’s not a scorer, he knows it, but he was TRYING to do HIS job, while his teammates just stood around and watched, until he had no where else to go and no where to get rid of the ball.
We don’t have it, we didn’t have it before the season started, and there is no way we are going to get it until there is an established leader who can challenge his teammates out on the court, as well as a coach who has learned how and when to properly challenge and discipline his players in the heat battle and DURING THE DAMN BALLGAME.
Noah is the master of negativity. Reality-wise.
Granted Javi has improved and rebounding has improved. But this squad as a whole has not. Too many lazy passes, not moving to the ball, ball through hands, or stupid fouls at the top of key. Many of these turnovers were from or by our most experienced players. Freshman mistakes I can live with; but these others – I can’t. Each players shows potential, but there is no consistancy night in and night out. It’s like they don’t care half the time.
WolftownVA81: they make mistakes on the court, that you just don’t see at this level. This has to fall on the coach; you have to look at these players as trainees.
On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like a lot of these guys have a killer basketball instinct. Courtney Fells is an athletic freak that happens to play basketball. It’s a downright shame that someone with his physical attributes would base his game on the three point shot. Maybe there is something to be said about position-less above average players not fitting with Lowe’s coaching style. Look at the Phoenix Suns after taking on a defense-oriented approach versus the show-time they had with D’Antoni. They have literally traded almost the whole team to make it work, and are about to trade one of their cornerstones. I think we saw what this team can do in that point of one game all the young guys were playing and the sendek crew were sitting. Painfully so, we should see what next year brings, it just frustrates the crap out of me that we are underachieving for the 2nd straight year, with the talent to do otherwise.
Noah is the master of negativity. Reality-wise.
An excellent example which proves my point. And you don’t even realize it.
Textbook.
So, here are the stats for State from the 11:49 mark through the end of regulation (via espn.com play-by-play):
8 Turnovers
FG 2-8 (0-1 for 3)
FT 7-10One field goal at 9:53 (Fells), one at 2:11 (McCauley).
Score 11 points and commit 8 turnovers in just under 12 minutes and you can generally expect a very bad result.
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