BY TONY HAYNES
Raleigh, N.C. – A former national championship winning point guard with high expectations, Sidney Lowe disdains losing as much as anyone. But the NC State men’s basketball coach also knows his players take many of their cues from the man in charge.
As a result, Lowe’s approach through one of the Wolfpack’s toughest stretches in nearly a decade is to learn from mistakes, but not dwell on the disappointment of a losing streak that has now reached five games.
“If they’re going to watch me and read me, then I can’t hang my head about the last ballgame,” Lowe said. “I need to let them know that we’ve got another game coming up and let’s get ready for that game. The last game is done and now we have to move on. If I’m going to be the leader, I can’t come in with my head down. I’ve got to come in with a positive attitude and focus on those things that we didn’t do well in the last ballgame. It’s not forgotten, but we’re not going to dwell on it.”
On Wednesday, NC State (15-12, 4-9) will try to return to winning form when it entertains Florida State (16-12, 5-8). Tip-off time at the RBC Center in Raleigh is set for 7 p.m. At the moment, the two clubs appear to be headed in very different directions. FSU is coming off back-to-back home wins over Clemson and Boston College.
Meanwhile, the Wolfpack’s current skid is its longest since the seven-game losing streak that marred the end of the 1999-2000 campaign.
NC State’s last win came back on February 5 in what, ironically enough, may have been its best performance of the season. But since that 73-63 triumph over Virginia Tech in Raleigh, the Pack has dropped four of five games by double-figure deficits.
Over the weekend in Charlottesville, NC State turned the ball over 17 times in the first half, trailed by 20 at the break and ended up falling to Virginia, 78-60. Point guard issues have continued to hound the Wolfpack, especially when it has gone up against some of the other quality point guards in the league. At the other positions on the floor, Lowe senses that other players have responded by pressing and trying to do too much.
“I’ve seen that quite a bit, especially from some of the guys that are returning this year,” Lowe said. “They realize that our point guards are young and when they see pressure being applied to those guys, they try to pick it up and do too much. They’re pressing to make it happen, but what you end up doing is looking worse than you should. They want to get it done and are trying to help the young guys along. We’re trying to tell them to keep it real simple, continue to play your game and stick to your strengths and not try to do things you’re not capable of doing.”
This most recent stretch of games has brought into focus some shortcomings Lowe and his staff will have to address on the recruiting trail. Teams with above average speed and quickness, in particular, have given NC State problems all season, particularly during the ACC portion of the schedule. Even Virginia, the ACC’s last place team, owned an obvious quickness advantage on Sunday that ultimately made the biggest difference.
The season-ending knee injury to point guard Farnold Degand in December has left the Wolfpack with no consistent threat to breakdown aggressive defensive pressure off the dribble. Without that threat, the Wolfpack must rely on near-flawless execution from its offensive sets, something that can be difficult to achieve on a consistent basis against good pressure man-to-man defenses. Looking down the road, Lowe envisions having multiple players on the floor who have the ability to create off the dribble.
“I think if you have ones, twos and a threes that are capable of creating things not just for themselves but for other people, then it opens up your offense. It’s not often that you’re going to run a set and get a good shot because teams are good defensively and they’re going to stop that first option and that second option. Sometimes the ball falls into the hands of your players and you want to have multiple players that can put the ball on the deck. If you don’t have the players that are capable of putting it on the floor and getting into the gut of that defense, you have to rely on execution. In doing that, you have to do everything correctly.”
Wednesday’s contest against Florida State will be a rematch. Back on January 26, J.J. Hickson’s two clutch free throws in the final seconds and huge blocked shot gave the Wolfpack a 69-66 victory over the Seminoles. That particular game actually turned late in the first half when a 17-0 NC State run was fueled by perhaps the Pack’s best stretch of defense all season.
Of late, the Seminoles have been getting great production out of point guard Toney Douglas. The ACC steals leader, Douglas has also turned it on offensively, averaging 23 points over his last five games.
For the short term, Lowe’s biggest concern is putting his team in a position to do something it hasn’t done in three weeks: win a basketball game.
But when he pauses and dares to glimpse into the future, Lowe confidently predicts the growing pains of the present will one day be nothing more than a fading memory.
“I’ve been in this thing a long time,” Lowe said on his weekly radio show. “I know how it can turnaround and how it can happen. Just as my coach (Jim Valvano) said when he got here, I’m going to win here.”
Courtesy: Associated Press
