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Starting to Feel the Heat - N.C. State, getting ready for its fourth season under Lowe, under pressure to show progress
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Sidney Lowe has a record of 51-46 in three seasons at N.C. State.
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Published: November 6, 2009
Sidney Lowe knows that the coming season will be an important one for his N.C. State basketball program.
This is his fourth season back at his alma mater. Alumni, fans and students want evidence, after two struggling seasons, that N.C. State is building properly, and that the program isn't slipping further behind neighbors North Carolina and Duke.
Lowe knows exactly what has to be done.
"I think it's in a couple of things -- the way we play as a team, in terms of our style of play, and the way we play as far as how hard we play, our attitude out on the floor," Lowe said. "We have to show them things that maybe they haven't seen.
"We have to show them progress. We have to show them direction. We want them to walk away saying, ‘Hey, that was a tough one, but we really, really played hard.' I don't like hearing, ‘I just don't think we played hard.' As a coach, that's the worst thing you want to hear."
N.C. State will have a young team and questions to answer. Improving on last season's 16-14 finish and bidding for an NCAA Tournament berth will depend on replenishing the front line and finding a point guard.
Gone up front are dependable center Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner, a forward and 3-point shooter. They were last season's top scorers and rebounders. Tracy Smith, a 6-8 junior forward, is the obvious starting point in Lowe's front-line construction.
Smith started 12 of last season's final 13 games, including the last 11 ACC games. He averaged 12.2 points as a starter and 8.6 points as a reserve. At 247 pounds, he gives the Wolfpack some muscle it needs inside.
"I feel comfortable (inside); I feel Tracy's going to do a great job," Lowe said.
"If they don't double down on him, I think he'll be able to score for us in there. He's had a great summer, a tremendous summer. He's in great shape, and he's going to carry a lot of the load down in there for us."
Lowe doesn't want the load to become excessive for Smith. Help from others -- starting with Dennis Horner, a 6-9 senior forward -- will be necessary.
Horner spent much of his offseason in the weight room, building from 215 pounds to 226 and, in his words, not losing a step of quickness. He has been playing more on the inside in practice but can still step out and hit jump shots. Veteran Johnny Thomas, 6-6, should also help.
Lowe is impressed with the development of Jordan Vandenberg, a 7-1 freshman center from Australia. Richard Howell, a prized 6-8 freshman forward, has been slowed by a slight knee injury, but Josh Davis, a 6-7 freshman forward from Raleigh, has shown a knack for rebounding, playing defense and hitting shots.
"He's going to be tough to keep off the floor," Lowe said of Davis. "He's been great. He has been absolutely, I'm talking tremendous."
Three candidates will vie for the point-guard position. All are veterans. And all that Lowe is asking is that one takes control and gives the team the guidance that it needs. Lowe wants N.C. State to play at a faster pace, which will give his team more possessions and, in turn, more margin for error.
Some players feel as if the fast break runs a little more smoothly with senior Farnold Degand at point guard. Junior Javier Gonzalez said that Lowe has asked him to score more this season, and sophomore Julius Mays is confident that he is better equipped to play the position after an up-and-down freshman season.
"Sometimes Coach Lowe might run two point guards in there at the same time to get up and down the floor and release pressure," Horner said. "Having two point guards out there will give us another leader. Hopefully one guy will grab it and keep it so we can get used to playing with the same guy."
Lowe is looking for consistency at the position, but hasn't yet seen it every day in practice.
"One player had pulled out front," Lowe said. "Then we had a workout, and the other guy looked better. I hate when they do that."
The Wolfpack also must replace its No. 3 scorer from last season, Courtney Fells. C.J. Williams, a 6-6 sophomore, and Scott Wood, a 6-7 freshman, should battle for that starting job.
College-basketball analysts aren't sure that Lowe will be able to deliver on the progress he said his team must show. Horner was walking through the Philadelphia airport to catch a flight back to Raleigh when he spotted a preseason magazine that had N.C. State at the bottom of the ACC.
Preseason voting at the ACC's Operation Basketball also had the Wolfpack at the bottom.
"I wasn't really shocked; I was disappointed," Horner said. "It's only a projection. They're never always right. People are going to underestimate us and maybe not bring their ‘A' game or figure that, ‘We're going to N.C. State and we're going to get this easy win,' but that's not going to be the case."
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