North Carolina State University Athletics
Haynes: Lowe Sees New Look for Pack Next Year
3/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TONY HAYNES
RALEIGH, N.C. -- On the surface, nothing appeared to be different at the NC State basketball offices on Monday. As usual, head coach Sidney Lowe gathered with his staff for a morning meeting, a planning session if you will.
But this clearly wasn’t like the morning meetings of the last several months. Instead of talking about that day’s practice plan and the upcoming opponent, the staff focused on next year and the premature arrival of the offseason.
“It was strange not to schedule practice,” Lowe admitted. “It’s a little disappointing (not to be in postseason play), especially when there was a team (
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And if there was an ACC defeat that will haunt Lowe for a few more weeks, it will be the 91-87 overtime loss at Virginia Tech on February 8, a game in which NC State led by 18 with 13 minutes to play before the Hokies stormed back. Tech’s comeback started with a questionable intentional foul call on the Wolfpack’s Courtney Fells, a play that set the stage for an 8-0 run over a 30-second period.
“Each play is crucial because it can determine the outcome of a ballgame,” Lowe said, reflecting back on some of the close losses. “We have to continue to teach that and enforce the fact that it’s important to do the little things to win that one game so we don’t end up in this situation.”
Despite losing its top two scorers and rebounders from last year’s team (J.J. Hickson and Gavin Grant), NC State was a better team this season. Not only was the record better, the overall statistics were more impressive. The Wolfpack went from averaging 67 points per game in 2008 to 73 points this season. The overall shooting percentage was better (from 45 to 47.5), and so was the accuracy rate from 3-point range (35% to nearly 38%).
And after finishing with a minus-1 rebound margin last season, NC State was on the plus side this year, finishing up at plus-3.4.
The Wolfpack still struggled at times on the defensive end of floor, as evidenced by the shooting percentage of its ACC opponents (46.9 percent) and its inability to force a lot turnovers (11.2 per game).
Lowe did have some success changing defenses late in the season, using a few three-courter court presses, 2-3 and 1-3-1 zones along with some gadget defenses that worked well against
As he looks ahead, Lowe will again be losing his top rebounder and could very well have to replace his top scorer next season as well. Center Ben McCauley made a strong comeback in his senior campaign, averaging a team-leading 7.8 rebounds per game and 12.4 points. McCauley was the Pack’s top rebounder and was second only to forward Brandon Costner (13.3 ppg.) in scoring.
Costner, a redshirt junior, is weighing his options before making a decision on whether to return for a final year of eligibility or move on. Lowe said he met with Costner on Monday afternoon and expects a decision from the
“We sat down and talked about his options and he’s going to sit down with his parents about it,” Lowe said. “We’ll get together maybe on Thursday and hopefully come up with a decision. If he’s going to stay, we’ve got to formulate a plan of attack for his workouts and we can help him with that. If he’s going to go and try the league, then I’ll want to make some phone calls for him and get his workouts situated.”
Costner’s decision not withstanding, NC State will have a very different looking team next year, one that will likely be smaller, quicker and perhaps better suited to play the faster tempo that Lowe prefers.
There will again be the issue of point guards Javier Gonzalez, Julius Mays and Farnold Degand battling for playing time and Lowe is still holding out hope that one will take the bull by the horns and separate himself from the others.
While Gonzalez was the Pack’s best point guard down the stretch, Mays let it be known in the ACC Tournament that he’ll be a factor. Playing in his first ACC Tournament game, the freshman came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points in the 74-69 loss to
“With Julius getting that experience as a freshman and Javier and Farnold being upperclassmen, someone is going to have to step forward and take control of this thing,” Lowe said. “We need a guy who is going to be consistent for us night in and night out, and not just in games but in practice. I will say that Julius Mays made it clear to me that for the last month, he hadn’t lost many games in practice. He made me aware of that. It’s very important that you’re the point guard on the team that wins.”
And in many cases, Mays was leading the team that was going against most of the starters in practice.
In the frontcourt, NC State will definitely return Tracy Smith and Dennis Horner, two players who demonstrated tremendous improvement the last several weeks of the season. After being added to the starting line-up in late January, Smith became a force inside, averaging nearly 14 points over his last 10 games. Guard C.J. Williams also showed some promise towards the end of his freshmen season, while athletic forward Johnny Thomas now has a season under his belt after undergoing knee surgery as a freshman.
The addition of guard Lorenzo Brown, swingman Scott Wood and power forward Richard Howell will provide some additional talent as well. Lowe also hopes to add a few more players to next year's freshman class before the current recruiting cycle comes to an end. Either way, it will be the first team in Lowe's tenure that will be comprised mostly of players he and his staff recruited.
Since NC State has been lacking penetrators and creators off the dribble the last few years, Brown’s arrival should give the Pack a boost in that particular area.
“I feel good about the players we have coming back and feel good about the players we have coming in,” Lowe said. “We’ll be a different team with a little more athleticism and different types of players. Right now it’s a matter of getting the team that we want that can play the way we want to play in terms of pressuring the ball and running. I’d like to have at least three guys on the floor that can handle the basketball and make plays. When you watch these teams that are winning big, they’re teams that have a minimum of three players on the floor that can handle the basketball and make a play. That just gives you so many options because it’s hard to run sets and consistently get shots for guys. When it comes down to the last five minutes of games, guys have to make plays.”
And Lowe also hopes he’ll be planning for another game when he has that first meeting with his staff following next year’s ACC Tournament.
