RALEIGH
Sidney Lowe is looking for someone to take control at N.C. State.
Lowe, as the coach, oversees the program. He wants someone to take hold of his basketball team on the playing floor.
What he wants is a point guard, someone who can man the position night in and night out and stop the constant switching of starters that went on at the position last season.
"I think the main thing they have to give us is some direction," Lowe said yesterday before this season's first practice. "Direction, and don't turn it over. It's more having control of the game and having control of the team, of the players out there on the floor."
Poor play at the position handicapped last season's team, which finished 16-14 overall and 6-10 in the ACC in Lowe's third season at N.C. State. The players who shared the position are back, but Lowe is hopeful that one can do the job that will be needed to make the team successful.
"We have to look at all three at this point," Lowe said. "In the workouts that we've had, there's probably one that has moved ahead a little, but there's still time remaining. I don't want to say (which player it is) because it's really still up in the air."
The candidates are Javier Gonzalez, Farnold Degand and Julius Mays, in no particular order.
Gonzalez, a 6-0 junior, finished last season as the starter the last 10 games. He has had a difficult transition to playing point guard, after being a scorer in high school.
He is confident, after last season's late surge in which he averaged 23 minutes of playing time, that he is better equipped to play point guard and can offer even more this season.
"This year I'm ready; I feel comfortable playing the point," he said. "I'm a point guard now, more than the last two years. I've been concentrating in every workout and training session in being more aggressive on the offensive end. Coach Lowe wants me to score a little bit more."
He has a message for the critics who think that point guard is the team's weakness and is the place to attack N.C. State.
"I don't get insulted," he said. "I'm doing whatever Coach wants me to do. I don't really care what other people think."
Degand is a 6-4 senior. He can tell a big difference in his preparedness to start the season.
Last season, he was coming off a knee injury suffered early in the 2008 season, wasn't cleared to run full speed until September and never felt fully recovered all season.
Degand spent the summer working on becoming stronger for the rigors of ACC play and getting into shape.
"I feel a lot better than I have in the past, almost 100 percent," Degand said. "I feel like I did two years ago, prior to the injury. As far as skillwise, I've grown as a basketball player and I understand the game a little bit more, and I think that will help me in whatever I'm doing at the point-guard position."
Mays, 6-3, had an up-and-down freshman season last season. He hit a winning 3-pointer in overtime for a win against Miami, and had a stretch late in the season when he did not play in seven of eight games.
Mays said that the time on the bench was helpful. He said that, last season, he would look to the sideline after a bad pass or a missed shot, fearful that Lowe would take him out of the game. In the stretch in which he didn't play, Mays recognized many aspects of point-guard play that he needed to improve.
Mays was more of a scorer in high school also, which made last season's transition difficult. He said that he feels more comfortable now, understanding what a college point guard must do, and is more confident heading into practice.
"I feel like I'm mentally ready and physically ready to be the one to step up and play the position," he said. "Sitting was a good thing for me. Playing time was a good thing for me. Hitting a big shot was good for me.
"It all built my confidence up for this year. I'm ready to play. I want to be the one to lock that spot down and step up."
bcole@wsjournal.com
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