NC State

with barely beating Loyola (MD), struggling vs. ECU, High Point, New Orleans and Towson what should NC State expect in ACC play this year?

With no true point guard, and none committed and the only one on radar is probably not going to play in Raleigh, how much longer will Fowler and State fans put up with Lowe?

 

I'll tell you, its tough to see State playing the way they have been over the past year-plus...that said any rational fan (or administration) has to give Sid at least till next year before enteraining the idea of making a change.

Lowe's best class to this date will be next year, (2) Top 50's coming in and another guy (Scott Wood) who is climbing fast in the rankings. That's a decent class to start with, now if they got lucky and stole John Wall away from Memphis/Baylor, then you're talking probably a top 3 or 4 class coming in among ACC schools and top 10 in the nation. That along with Costner and Tracy Smith down low, State would have by far their best "group" of guys yet under Lowe.



As far as this year goes, I could see 6-10...maybe I'm a bit biased but State tends to win a few games in conference that you wouldn't expect.

FSU, MD, GT, UVA all at home...I could see the Pack playing well and stealng games away from a Miami and/or Virginia Tech.


Guard play is definitely by far our biggest weakness but I got a good feeling on current freshmen Julius Mays...as a fan all I'm asking is for him not to be a turnover waitin to happen (ala Javi Gonzalez). if Mays can hold steady, we got enough guys like Costner, McCauley and Fells who can produce offensively.

 

do you want John Wall? He's an obvious 1 and done player, and he won't be like a Hickson where he would share the ball. He'll more than likely take more shots and not play team ball because he seems more concerned about himself.

 

I agree with Big Dan, I see a 6-10 year for NCSU. We will get enough down low to compete and if Fells/Ferguson/Mays get hot from 3, we can surprise some people but not enough guard play to be a .500 team.

Have to keep in mind that this team is still mostly Sendek guys and they just aren't the type of players that Lowe is wanting to bring in based on what he has recruited coming up. A good friend of mine is a HS ref and recently ref'd a game that Lorenzo Brown (Combo guard that Lowe is bring in next year) played in and said he definitely has the handle to start in the ACC next year. This guy saw Ish Smith in HS as well as Kendall Marshall (PG commit in 2010 for UNC) and said that Brown definitely has enough handle to compete with them so that should settle PG next year and then the following year, Harrow comes in who has been burning up AAU and HS ever since committing to NCSU to solidify our depth at PG. Also, Lowe is bring in a tough PF in Richard Howell to give us some doggone meanness on the boards and finally getting a shooter next year which we desparately need so he is starting to plug up some of the holes that the program has right now. The following year comes in CJ Leslie who is a top 20 player at this point and showing well so far this year.

Again, Lowe's Offense is predicated on good guard play (as is most every college program) and he just hasn't had it yet but hopefully that will change next year. I always agree that you give a coach 5 years to get his guys in place. And Lowe would definitely take John Wall or Derrick Favors (#1 C in 2009 between GT and NCSU and with GT's struggles/Hewitt rumors....) if either wants to come. Also starting to be a lot of noise about NCSU and DeMarcus Cousins (#2 Center in 2009 class). So, there are still some potential pieces out there that could really complete that 2009 class.

 

Hell yes, I'd take John Wall in a heartbeat...That would be like asking the Memphis fans two years ago if they wanted Derrick Rose?


I think the problem with John Wall is that he don't have jack s**t in terms of a high school coach. I went to the Glaxo last year and I was planning to attend this year's Glaxo (didn't make it because of covering local christmas tourney) but from what I saw last year Word of God showed no fundamentals at all and they had a coach who wouldn't get off the bench and start showing interest in winning till the 4th quarter. That's gonna be a culture shock to Wall when he makes his college choice. That could ultimately be of a concern to whoever wins that recruiting war but I would be willing to fight that battle in exchange for his skills.


Also...I know John Wall fits the 1 and Done label to perfection but so did Ty Lawson when he was at Oak Hill. Once Lawson played a season in Chapel Hill, I think he wisely found out that he needed more than one year to be ready for the NBA. Granted I think Lawson may have a better mind and better ability to keep from being influenced (outside the gym) than maybe Wall has, but regardless it isn't a guarantee that Wall would last only one season.

 

win, win, win, win, and win

 

We did have losses against two of those teams in his list last year so that is definitely an improvement. We gave Davidson and Marquette (both ranked when we played them) good games as well. Would be really nice to pickup a win at Florida this weekend!!!

 

Didn't Duke just beat Loyola(MD) by about 40? State beat them by 2? I'd be worried.

 

We beat Towson by more than #13 Villanova did. Doesn't mean we are better than them. The transitive property doesn't necessarily work in college athletics. We probably won't beat Duke but I'm not going to worry about what they do against Loyola Marymount.

 

Arizona State is 11-1 and ranked 14th in the ESPN poll. Just sayin'.....