North Carolina State University Athletics
Confident Pack Hits Road for Syracuse
12/4/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 4, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. - Sidney Lowe remembers the time last season when he thought his players might be a little down in the dumps. It was after a string of five losses in February and he told his coaching staff they need all needed to be upbeat and positive for the players as they went into their next practice.
But the players beat them to it. Their spirit and morale was unaffected by the loss, and they had one of their best practices of the year. Not long afterwards, the Wolfpack went on a late-season surge that allowed Lowe's team to win six of its last nine games, including three postseason contests.
And that's how the coach expects his team to react following its ugly loss earlier this week at Wisconsin, an 87-48 setback in which little seemed to go right for the Wolfpack, as it played another game without senior preseason All-ACC selection Tracy Smith.
Lowe expects to see no dip in his team's confidence, which has been has high as the expectations placed on the highly touted freshman trio of C.J. Leslie, Ryan Harrow and Lorenzo Brown.
"I don't think we've lost any confidence," Lowe said Friday morning as his team prepared to leave for its 5:30 p.m. Saturday contest at No. 8 Syracuse. "Certainly, we weren't pleased with the way we played, but it's not going to bother our confidence.
"We had a great practice [Friday morning]. Guys were upbeat and very positive talking about going into this next game."
Junior C.J. Williams and sophomore DeShawn Painter led the way in keeping the team light on its feet. Smith, expected to be out another week or two, added some words of encouragement. While their attitudes won't erase what happened against the Badgers - when the Pack went more than 10 minutes without scoring, missed 11 straight shots and had seven turnovers - they will help the team move forward.
"You have to be realistic about it," Lowe said. "There were some positives. The effort was there. We just have to make sure we don't repeat the errors we had. You have to learn from every game. But you also have to realize it is one game. The reality is that we went in there with a very young team against an experienced team, in a tough game, and we didn't play as well as we wanted."
The Pack will certainly have to play better against the undefeated Orange, though, to come away with a victory in this infrequent series, which Syracuse leads 2-1. Head coach Jim Boeheim's team has won its first seven games this season by an average of 12 points. Senior forward Rick Jackson, the team's leading rebounder, has had double-doubles in the team's last six games, while small forward and leading scorer Kris Joseph has averaged 18.7 points in the team's last four games.
Lowe and his squad know they will face Boeheim's problematic zone defense that is as much a Syracuse tradition as dreary winter days and basketball played in a football dome.
"They're long and athletic," Lowe said. "We have to be patient with it. Your first thought against it is to take a bunch of 3-pointers. But you still have to get the ball inside. They want you to shoot jump shots. We still have to look at the bigs and play inside-out. The guys have to know who really can just shoot the 3s. You have to work the ball around to the players who really are 3-point shooters.
"Patience is the first thing."
So, in Smith's absence, sophomores Painter, Richard Howell and Jordan Vandenberg will be important to the Wolfpack's fortunes against the Orange. But so will the three freshmen.
This is the Wolfpack's first visit to the Carrier Dome since December 2001, a game that had eerily similar circumstances. NC State's lineup was filled with freshmen, including New York swingman Julius Hodge, and the team was looking for its first big win. Thanks to 28 points from senior guard Anthony Grundy, and a memorable performance by Hodge, the Wolfpack took an impressive 82-68 victory that was a great resume enhancement for a team that broke a decade-long NCAA Tournament drought.
Lowe knows his team - which was 3-2 against ranked teams last season - is capable of playing well against the Orange. And he's sure there will be no lingering confidence issues from Wednesday night's loss to the Badgers.
"If we can come away with a win, we'll certainly forget about what happened at Wisconsin," he said. "Playing these early games on the road, something really good could come out of this."
- Tim Peeler, tim_peeler@ncsu.edu
