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N.C. State Guards Ready for Challenge at Cameron

By J. Mike Blake

Jan 31, 2008

Farnold Degand was averaging more than 28 minutes a night before suffering a season-ending ACL tear in the 10th game of the season. After that, N.C. State point guards Javi Gonzalez and Marques Johnson went from limited action to playing in the spotlight.

The pair originally left much to be desired. At one point, the two were averaging less than two points and just two assists a game.

But the duo has improved. In the last three games, they are averaging 10.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, four assists and 2.3 steals.

This maturation is important for N.C. State as it enters tonight’s game at No. 3 Duke. Playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium is a tall order for any point guard, especially two players who are rookies to ACC play.

But so was opening league competition at North Carolina and Clemson.

“It was a monster,” Gonzalez said of the opening losses.

Now, Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe expects his guards to be better prepared for the Blue Devils’ pressure defense.

“Whether it was the first two games of the ACC season or the last two, playing at Carolina and at Clemson was going to be tough,” Lowe said. “So maybe it was good to let them get a feel for it early and hopefully it’s helped. I think it’s helped.”

When the team started off 0-2 in the ACC, Johnson and Gonzalez took most of the heat.

Some fans suggested the Wolfpack would be better off resorting to last year’s strategy, placing wing players Gavin Grant and Courtney Fells at the point.

Lowe, a former point guard himself, resisted, and the coaching staff worked to help the point guards improve.

“We spent a lot of time with them. It’s more just conversations, talking about the game, talking about the thought process and what they’re trying to do,” Lowe said.

“And I talk a lot to them about control. Just about being in control, being a leader and understanding that they’re the captain out there, basically, and whatever they say goes.”

Both men said they lacked the confidence to be that leader on the court when they first took over. But with all the play calls that a Lowe-coached point guard is required to make, confidence is a requirement.

Johnson said he realized he had to become more confident if he expected Lowe to have confidence in him.
“I have to give Coach a reason to give confidence in me,” Johnson said. “Once I saw that it, just helped my confidence even more.”

It has taken time, but Lowe has groomed Gonzalez and Johnson into their larger roles.

“If they make a call, it’s not wrong, it’s the call that they make so now we just need to execute it. [We tried] to give them that confidence that it’s on them,” Lowe said. “They can do whatever as far as making decisions and calls they make.”

The two point guards are starting to be comfortable running the team after working extensively with Lowe and the coaching staff.

“He definitely spent a lot of time on us and was hard on us in practice,” Johnson said.

“There for a moment, me and Javi were sort of feeling our spot on the team and getting comfortable. I think the last three games we felt that and we’re ready to step up and make the open shot.”

Gonzalez has more points, assists and rebounds in his last three games than any other three-game stretch this season.

“I’m playing with more confidence. I’m just coming out there and playing my game and running the offense and when I see things I just do it,” Gonzalez said. “At first I didn’t want to turn the ball over so I wouldn’t try to do things as much as now. But now I just do whatever I see and play my game.”

Even when Gonzalez air-balled a 3-pointer that would have tied the game at the end of regulation against Georgia Tech, he gathered himself in time for the next game despite being visibly upset with himself – a sign of his newfound poise.

“Coach told me it happens sometimes. You’re going to miss shots that you think you should’ve made and important shots like that,” Gonzalez said. “[He told me] just to keep my head up and bounce back and try to play your best from now on. I just tried to go to FSU and get the win and we did.”

Both guys said they haven’t arrived just yet and are still making turnovers and missing shots.

But both look nothing like they did a month ago.

“I got a lot better. Knowing the offense, running the plays against ACC teams, I’m a lot better now,” Gonzalez said.
Lowe has said often that he lets the best players finish games. Since Clemson, it has been Johnson who starts and Gonzalez who finishes.

“We play well that way,” Johnson said. “I get off to a good start and Javi has been finishing really well. So I think it works out for the best of us.”

Playing a team like Duke will test the young point guards once again and the Pack’s chances could hinge on whether they can handle Duke’s pressure..

“Our guys are just going to have to concentrate, block that stuff out and show some poise while they’re over there,” Lowe said.