Lowe fires warning shot
Sidney Lowe fired a warning shot across the bow of some of his veteran players after Tuesday's loss to Florida State, his postgame comments leaving little doubt what was said during a lengthy locker-room meeting after the game.
When Brandon Costner (16 minutes) plays less than C.J. Williams (17), Dennis Horner (24) and Johnny Thomas (18), Lowe didn't really need to amplify the message. Nor did he after benching Farnold Degand for the second half and leaving Ben McCauley out as well for much of that half.
But he did anyway:
"We talked about this ballgame and where we are and what we need," Lowe said. "Just like any other team in the country, we have certain guys we count on to play well every night to win games. There are certain guys we need to play well to win. That's not all we talked about, but we talked about guys stepping up and playing their role and doing what they're supposed to do. We didn't get that tonight. We didn't have that tonight."
Later, he'd point out again that, "every team has a couple guys that need to play well for them to win. They have to. We have certain guys we have to have play well in order for us to win."
This is a critical moment for State. The Pack is 0-2 in the ACC, and Tuesday's 78-65 loss was one of the few "winnable" games on the Pack's schedule. (The next game, at home against Georgia Tech, qualifies as well.)
Lowe used a mind-boggling lineup of Julius Mays, Horner, Thomas, Courtney Fells and Tracy Smith for most of the second half (that group, averaging about 55 minutes total per game, played 111 Tuesday), bringing Costner and McCauley back into the game with the score tied at 63.
With its best players on the floor, State didn't exactly go for the jugular. Florida State promptly went on a 15-2 run to over the final five minutes and change as State lost all momentum, then fizzled, then collapsed.
"I didn't like what I saw when I made the change," Lowe said, hinting that more changes may be on the way: "They're going to play the minutes that they deserve to play, regardless of who they are. Obviously, you have to make some substitutions because guys are out there a long time, but they're going to dictate their playing time. Obviously, you have certain guys you hope can come in and finish games."
Luke DeCock
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at 829-8947 or luke.decock@newsobserver.com.
Comments
NC State will suffer until Sidney's guys are all that we have
Wed, 01/14/2009 - 07:19 — WolfpackPrideGuyI have loved NC State since birth, and do not like what I think about this situation. However, NC State will suffer until the only players on the bench are Sidney's guys. Herb Sendek's style was outside-in, and so are his players, that is why we shot tons of 3's and got out rebounded every game of his tenure. Sidney wants to play inside-out and outrebound the opponent. That is turning out to be an impossibile task to do consistently. Sidney will be able to pull this off and more, once the Sendek era players have graduated.