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1/26/2011 11:14:52 AM

We blasted out of the gate against Clemson, which has been two games in a row where we haven't been flat footed or lackadaisical in the first half. there have definitely been improvements there.

I can only describe what I saw towards the end of the second half as utter exhaustion from our players. They weren't even trying for rebounds on the defensive end in the last few minutes (not very hard at least). I've noticed that when the opposing team really starts to clamp down on defense, that our offense starts picking terrible shots to take (looking at you today , Leslie).

I was so excited seeing us demolishing Clemson, and it was so odd that by the end of the game I felt utterly hopeless, but we're seeing progress. If we can learn to translate the early game explosiveness into long term hustle (a conditioning issue, I have to suspect) then we can start keeping some of these crazy leads we're putting up.

Definitely progressing, though.



PS - I, too, am sick of Leslie pulling in to help in the paint and leaving his man wide ass open for three's in the corner.

1/26/2011 11:17:08 AM

Could we organize a "State of the Union TWW Address" and formally document our findings and send them to Sidney after each game?

1/26/2011 11:20:09 AM

Pretty good summary of CJL's performance.

http://www.scacchoops.com/tt_NewsBreaker_External.asp?NB=5228

Quote :

" * 5:52 left in the first – CJ Leslie is in position for an easy rebound but mistimes his jump. The ball squirts out of his hands out of bounds. Bryan Narcisse gets an easy dunk on the ensuing possession due to weak help defense from Tracy Smith. 31-14 * 5:19, CJ cheats off his man Milton Jennings to assist Ryan Harrow guarding Andre Young at the foul line. Young hits an open Jennings with a pass and Leslie is too late to recover, Jennings drains the three. Timeout, Sidney Lowe, 2nd of the half. 31-17 * 4:26, CJ loses track of Jennings while trying to rebound. This is a common theme the rest of the night. * 3:59, CJ wanders away from Jennings again, trying to assist underneath the basket. A shot goes up and Jennings, unchecked by Leslie, grabs the rebound. Leslie reaches in and fouls Jennings on his put-back attempt, and Jennings hits 1-of-2 at the line. 32-18 * 3:28, while guarding Jerai Grant, weakly contests a 12-footer. His feet never leave the court as Grant makes it easily. 32-20 * 2:35, CJ jacks up an ill-advised three with over 20 seconds remaining on the shot clock. The team is slow to recover down court and surrenders an easy two. Sidney calls his third timeout of the first half and mercifully benches Leslie. 32-25 * 0:35, Lazy passing leads to a breakaway dunk from Bryan Narcisse. * With under four seconds, State converts an out-of-bounds play as Tracy Smith scores at the buzzer. 34-29 * 2ND HALF, yay! Starting lineup back on the court. * Tracy Smith the worst offender among many parties of setting weak screen after weak screen. The point guard can't get any separation because Smith, others are peeling off their screens too early. The point guards aren't doing the screeners any favors as the refuse to utilize the screen properly. * Some stuff happens. Scott Wood hits two big threes to push the lead back to nine, 40-31. * 14:41, CJ Leslie re-enters the game. * 13:31, CJ misses an easy put-back bucket off a Tracy Smith miss because he tries to tap it in with one hand instead of catching it with two. On the ensuing Clemson possession, he trips over Jennings' feet in the lane and can't contest an Andre Young layup in the lane. 40-37 * A flurry of two nice plays, one from Javi and one from Lorenzo Brown, help push State's lead back to 7, 44-37 * 12:02, Javi tries to buy a charge but his acting job takes him completely out of the play. Scott Wood rotates over to cover Javi's man just inside the arc but leaves Narcisse wide open. Narcisse receives the pass and drains a wide-open 3. 44-40 * 11:28, A turn of events occur where CJ might've been sparked positively. He makes an aggressive move to the basket, is fouled and makes an off-balance shot. The refs, however, say he was fouled prior to the act of shooting, so instead of two points and a foul shot, State merely retains the ball. On that possession, he takes another ill-advised shot, a contested two from the wing that misses everything. 44-40 * 9:58, CJ is still firing away, clanging an open 17-footer. Perhaps that's an ok shot if he's playing well, but given the circumstances it's yet another a bad shot. * 9:21, the shot that breaks State's will. The Pack play 33 seconds of solid defense, but CJ loses Jennings—again—and with 2 on the shot clock, Jennings hits an open three. State still leads 44-43, but the game is all but over at this point. You could see the fight leave the team after that demoralizing sequence of events. * 7:57, Leslie receives the pass in the interior while posted up on the block. Instead of being aggressive, he passes the ball three feet to Tracy Smith who's currently fending off a double team. Tracy does get fouled, however, and makes both attempts, 48-43 * 7:42, CJ loses sight of Jennings again. While wandering the lane with his head turned, searching for his mark, Demontez Stitt drives right past him to the bucket for a layup. CJ never so much as swats at the ball. 48-45 * 7:06, a great post move frees up CJ and he has a wide open layup…that he misses. 48-45 * 6:55, CJ allows Jennings to wander back out around the three-point arc. As Booker flashes through the lane, CJ inexplicably chases him, leaving Jennings with another wide-open 3. Thankfully for Leslie, he misses this attempt. Still 48-45. * 6:35, CJ receives a pass from Tracy Smith at the bucket. Instead of going up strong, he pump fakes once and has the ball swatted from his hands. 48-45 * 6:23, on the resulting Clemson possession, CJ commits the cardinal sin of trying to save the ball on your opponent's end of the court. He tosses it right to Stitt, who promptly converts a layup. Sidney FINALLY pulls the plug on CJ after that. 48-47 * 5:41, Jerai Grant is fouled and makes the bucket. He hits the free throw and gives Clemson the lead it would never relinquish, 50-48 * More bad stuff. * 2:52, Javier Gonzalez misses a nice look off an in-bounds play, but instead of hustling back down court, he and the rest of the team jog in back, unaware that Devin Booker has beaten everyone. Young hits him with an easy full-court pass for an easy layup…and that's pretty much where I stopped watching the replay. "

[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 11:31 AM. Reason : ...]

1/26/2011 11:28:42 AM

^And it's absolutely right

1/26/2011 11:29:51 AM

Ok...I've been able to sleep on the game and somewhat recover.

I am very happy with the way we have played the last 2 first halves as a whole. The last few minutes of the 1st half last night were very tough to watch, but I thought we hung in there.

The players are giving everything they have minus CJ Leslie the last 2 games (and at times Tracy). I don't know if he's still recovering from being sick, but his performance last night was awful.

The only real bone I have to pick with Lowe right now is the dadgum substitution pattern. One game he plays Harrow 35 minutes...last night he plays 25. He can't expect Ryan to get 8 game minutes of rest in the 2nd half and come back with 4 minutes to go to bring us back.

If there's one thing I've noticed with Harrow, it's that if he can get in a groove he is dangerous. Taking him out in the middle of the 2nd half and bringing him back in at the end was the worst move Lowe made all night.

Here's the minutes played breakdown:

Tracy Smith, F 32
Richard Howell, F 25
C.J. Williams, G 21
Scott Wood, F 36
Ryan Harrow, G 25
Javier Gonzalez, G 20
DeShawn Painter, C 8
Lorenzo Brown, G 20
C.J. Leslie, F 13

IMO Harrow should be playing 30+ minutes a night. Also, CJW is playing well right now...what's he doing w/ only 21 minutes?

I'd rather see Harrow playing 35 minutes and splitting up Tracy Smith's time w/ Howell & Painter. Harrow can get the ball to any of them no matter who they are.



[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 11:32 AM. Reason : d]

1/26/2011 11:29:56 AM

I noticed that, too. Was there any particular reason Harrow wasn't in? The only things I can think of are 1. he was super tired, or 2. Lowe thought Javi would be the better defender.

It seems obvious to me now that better defender is not worth complete lack of offense...

1/26/2011 11:31:40 AM

Is it just me or does Lowe micromanage the game play too much and not let the guys just play sometimes?

I feel like he's so caught up in the game play that he doesn't look at who is out there or who is on the bench. I feel like if that is his style, he needs to have an assistant that reminds him of who the hell is out there.

1/26/2011 11:36:20 AM

Sid's micromanaging style summed up:

1/26/2011 11:44:21 AM

Sid isn't a coach. He's simply a facilitator or in this case an enabler. Leslie needs a stop sign on his shots. The only time Leslie should shoot would be in transition and on put backs thats it. I love Sidney, not as much as Amato, but like Amato his time is up. We will move on and everyone will be better afterwards. Archie Miller would do a hundred times better than Lowe.

1/26/2011 12:32:21 PM

Quote :

"there have definitely been improvements there."

Quote :

"but we're seeing progress"

Are you blind? Or just a terrible troll?

1/26/2011 12:34:13 PM

It appears you are both.

1/26/2011 12:45:26 PM

I would love to hear what improvements have been made and/or your definition of improvement.

You do realize you are the only one on this board saying that right?

1/26/2011 12:48:07 PM

previously we always came out slow and played shitty 1st halves

last night, we improved with our initial intensity, evidenced by our 31-12 lead

obviously shit fell apart after that, but don't make it seem like we were never in the game last night

thats explicitly the improvement that he mentions in his post

I know well-coached teams don't generally choke away 19 point leads

I also know poorly-coached teams don't generally even GET 19 point leads

Thats whats so frustrating about these games...the first 15 minutes last night we played like an Elite 8 team...the 2nd half we played like a team that is gonna miss the NIT...its not like we play like shit for 40 minutes...there are signs of greatness...just no consistency

1/26/2011 12:57:17 PM

If we can find a way to bring out the up tempo starting team from the last two games, and combine that with the scrappy come from behind but not giving up teams we've seen in some second halves, we'll win lots....

If we can get both teams to show up. I've said it a million times, the coaching can be just fine, but until the players decide to will themselves to greatness, we're going to play close games (and lose some of them)

1/26/2011 1:08:08 PM

epic bed shut

1/26/2011 1:16:37 PM

:sigh:

[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 1:43 PM. Reason : .]

1/26/2011 1:42:32 PM

We have a number of problems and I think our conditioning is one of the larger problems. None of our guys ever seem to get stronger over their careers. Painter is an exception, but going back the past five years, every player just seems to stay the same or get fatter. Other teams are better conditioned and they can exploit us as they wear us down on defense and at the end of games.




[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 2:00 PM. Reason : sd]

1/26/2011 1:59:48 PM

i'm gonna +1 tree's comments above^

we HAVE to find a better level of consistency..

1/26/2011 2:05:24 PM

Quote :

"We have a number of problems and I think our Howell's conditioning is one of the larger problems."

1/26/2011 2:13:18 PM

Quote :

"We have a number of problems and I think our conditioning is one of the larger problems. None of our guys ever seem to get stronger over their careers. Painter is an exception, but going back the past five years, every player just seems to stay the same or get fatter. Other teams are better conditioned and they can exploit us as they wear us down on defense and at the end of games. "

We did have a ridiculously short turnaround from our last game so I am not surprised we were a little gassed.
If this team could learn consistent pressure defense we would be fine. Offensively this team is pretty good defensively this team needs to step the fuck up and FORCE TURNOVERS. If you look at the ACC stats so far we are an average to good offensive and rebounding team we just SUCK at defense.

1/26/2011 2:30:17 PM

Quote :

"I know well-coached teams don't generally choke away 19 point leads"

This I agree with, but this I don't:

Quote :

"I also know poorly-coached teams don't generally even GET 19 point leads"

We have enough talent that when everything is going in (which it was) and nothing is going in for the opposing team (which it wasn't), then its not hard build a 19-point lead against a below average Clemson team. You don't have to be well-coached to have a big lead. And it's not like we blew it over the course of the game...we blew it in less than ten minutes. Holy fuck. And we never regrouped. It was bad.

Even the Pitt/Syracuse game where Pitt gave a big lead, got it back, gave it up again...their team continued to play well and they eventually won the game. And they were also playing an extremely good team in Syracuse.

We have good players, but our team sucks. And I put that on the coach.

[Edited on January 26, 2011 at 2:45 PM. Reason : .]

1/26/2011 2:44:54 PM

Quote :

"You don't have to be well-coached to have a big lead."

True, and I agree our team is not great. I put that on both the players and the coaches.

I just don't think its fair to put all the blame on coaching when we play poorly, but not give any credit to coaching when we play well...its always a combination of players being outplayed, coaches being outcoached, etc...team effort...win or lose as a team

1/26/2011 3:01:11 PM

I just wanted to point out, although last night sucked ass and i'm not happy about it...that we have a significantly longer than 5 year history of choking away big leads, in both equal and much more important games.

1/26/2011 3:02:39 PM

Quote :

"that we have a significantly longer than 5 year history of choking away big leads,"

This I will agree with. Although a 19-point lead seems a lot bigger than the leads we are use to choking away...and it was to Clemson.

Those two things made this one sting a little bit more than usual.

1/26/2011 3:06:13 PM

When are we getting the Carolina thread?

I don't want to think about Clemson anymore. Time to focus on the next L.

1/27/2011 7:58:34 AM

Quote :

"And we never regrouped. It was bad."

Actually we regrouped. It was the same with Miami. We didn't choke away a big lead and continue playing like dogshit on both ends of the floor we played like shit for a brief stretch (allowing the other team to get back in the game) then played at about the same level as Clemson (until they pulled away to end the game) and Miami for the rest of the game. If it was never regrouping we would have been blown the fuck out in both of the games because we never would have stopped either teams runs.

[Edited on January 27, 2011 at 8:05 AM. Reason : asdfa]

1/27/2011 8:04:46 AM

Quote :

"Actually we regrouped."

We did against Miami...not against Clemson.

We were up 19...they came within 3 in the first half, we ended the half up 5. We lost by 10. So that's a 15 point turnaround in one half...there was no regrouping in that game.

Clemson only scored 60 points...there was no opportunity for a blowout.

1/27/2011 8:14:15 AM

adder, are you talking about a different game

1/27/2011 8:21:58 AM

^ that doesnt make it look so bad actually. We just barfed in the final 10 minutes.

Ill trade that abortion of a game for a win at UNC next up anyways...

1/27/2011 11:35:32 AM

We scored 19 points in the final 26 minutes

1/27/2011 11:37:29 AM

Is the UNC game thread up? i cant find it

1/27/2011 11:39:13 AM

I say we go this route for the rest of the season

message_topic.aspx?topic=605183

1/27/2011 11:41:40 AM

^^^^ Look at all of the long, flat lines for State's scoring. There are three that significantly standout. This kind of shit has got to stop.

1/27/2011 11:44:00 AM

^^I'd rather go this route message_topic.aspx?topic=465152

1/27/2011 11:46:02 AM

I'll put it up in a few.

1/27/2011 11:47:04 AM

Quote :

"adder, are you talking about a different game"

My point was that without the stretch from 6:10-00:35 to go in the first half we win the game. We played well enough for the rest of the game to win (the drought to end the second half could be attributed to rushed desperation shots). There are certain segments of the games where if we could get just a little production we would be dandy.The same thing can be said for the Miami game.
This all comes down to scoring droughts which I really think are a result of our defense. Start grabbing people and slapping them it isn't like we are ever really in foul trouble and sometimes refs miss the calls and you get a turnover. The root of our problem is being tentative on the defensive end.

1/27/2011 1:35:18 PM

^^ c'monnnn already...
im excited to see what new dancing L configurations and inventive shut the bed references our starved & weary fan base can come up with.

1/27/2011 2:12:54 PM