North Carolina State University Athletics
Tony Haynes: Lowe Taking Defensive Approach
2/17/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C. – The way Sidney Lowe sounded following NC State’s 85-70 loss to Maryland on Wednesday night, his players may not get the chance to even touch a basketball in preparations for Sunday’s 4 p.m. meeting with Virginia Tech.
Why no ball?
Well, as disgusted as Lowe sounded with team’s perimeter defense, he may just leave the basketballs racked up and spend most of practice putting players through various defensive drills.
Ironically, the Wolfpack played one of its best defensive games when it defeated the Hokies 70-59 back on January 31. Four days after that big road win, the Pack was again energetic on defense, holding North Carolina nine points below its season scoring average in an 83-79 victory over the Tar Heels.
Since that memorable triumph on February 3, however, NC State has fallen on hard times, losing three games in a row for the first time all season. One of the major culprits during the skid has been the Pack’s leaky man-to-man defense, which has been sliced up by the likes of Georgia Tech point Javaris Crittenton, Denis Clemente and Anthony Harris of Miami, and Maryland’s Greivis Vasquez.
“You have to man up and guard your man,” Lowe said after the Maryland game. “Our perimeter guys just did not defend.”
Lowe’s answers to postgame questions were eerily similar to his message following last Saturday’s defeat at Miami. The Hurricanes’ guards routinely got into the lane off the dribble, pulling up help from NC State’s big men and taking them out of position to block out Miami’s frontline players, who got the bulk of their team’s 21 offensive rebounds.
“One thing we really have to concentrate on now is our guard defensive play and keeping guys in front of us so that we can stay on our own man,” said Wolfpack center Ben McCauley.
There’s nothing that disrupts a defense more than straight-line dribble penetration. Not only does it make it more difficult to box out an opponents for rebounds, it also makes big men more vulnerable to fouls. Against Maryland, NC State’s Brandon Costner was saddled with three fouls in the first half, primarily because he was being forced to rotate off his man in order to help on a quick dribbler that had broken containment on the perimeter.
To be sure, there are things beyond Lowe’s control. After missing 12 games with a hamstring pull, senior point guard Engin Atsur still isn’t completely healthy. Against Maryland, sophomore guard Courtney Fells played only 19 minutes after bruising his tailbone in the final moments at Miami.
And of course, it’s reasonable to assume that NC State is just a tired basketball team. With a thin bench and limited resources personnel wise, Lowe hasn’t had the luxury of being able to rest his starters at any point during the season.
“I think that’s fair to say,” McCauley said. “I actually hate to admit it, but the truth of the matter is when you play a lot of minutes all the way through the season it’s going to wear and tear on you. We have some games left and we’ve got to dig down deep and really try to pull off a few more wins and try to finish off the season strong.”
It’s not as if Lowe hasn’t tried different strategies to negotiate around the Pack’s defensive deficiencies. Back in January, he toyed with a 1-3-1 zone that worked well in a victory at Wake Forest. NC State’s 2-3 zone was not effective against Maryland, which got D.J. Strawberry open in gaps for 3-point baskets.
The Wolfpack has also mixed in a triangle-and-two for a handful of possessions over the last five games and even went to a box-and-one on one possession at Miami.
But gimmick defenses can only take a team so far and usually work better when deployed to either alter a team’s offensive rhythm in certain game situations or after timeouts. Ultimately, Lowe says, trickery won’t get it done in a league like the ACC.
“It really comes down to guarding people,” Lowe said. “It comes down to man-to-man, staying in front of a guy and really being determined to do so. That’s the only way you can win in this league; you have to play defense. We have to start guarding the basketball and that’s from the perimeter. That’s the bottom line; we have to stop the basketball.”
On Sunday, NC State will have to deal with yet another outstanding guard tandem when Virginia Tech comes to town. Seniors Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon are quick, savvy and strong with the ball, as evidenced by their play in Tuesday night’s thrilling 81-80 win at North Carolina. Dowdell scorched the Tar Heels, scoring 33 points. Repeatedly breaking down UNC defenders, Dowdell converted on 17-of-19 free throws. Solid as usual, Gordon tallied 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and had only one turnover in 36 minutes.
In game one in Blacksburg, NC State produced a stellar defensive effort that was spearheaded by Fells. Staying in Dowdell’s hip-pocket most of the night, Fells held the Hokies star to 16 points on 4-of-14 shooting. Between them, Gordon and Dowdell made only 8-of-25 shots and Tech as a team converted on only 35 percent from the field.
Can NC State repeat that defensive performance on Sunday? Lowe will try everything in his power to make it happen again, even if that means practicing without basketballs.
