Pack's Lowe: Players Need to Produce

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Pack's Lowe: Players Need to Produce

Wolfpack head coach Sidney Lowe has a word with an official during the second half.

By Dane Huffman

Feb 20, 2008

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Raleigh, N.C. — Twenty-five years ago Tuesday, N.C. State scored one of its most remarkable wins over North Carolina.

Wolfpack point guard Sidney Lowe made a bounce pass between his legs for a dunk as State held off Michael Jordan and the Tar Heels, 70-63, in Reynolds Coliseum.

On Tuesday, though, Lowe wasn’t one to look back to a win that sparked State’s 1983 national title. The UNC basketball system, now run by Roy Williams instead of Dean Smith, still looks familiar to him, with its defensive traps and overall philosophy.

But what he is looking for, in his second Wolfpack team, is one where his players, simply, learn to make plays. He'd like that Wednesday night, when Carolina returns to Raleigh.

“The job of a coach is to put the team in position to win. And the players take over from there,” Lowe said.

“We need players to make plays now. It’s real simple.”

He repeated that same point several times. And he said, again, that State needs more than just a handful of players doing well in a given game.

“It’s something that hasn’t happened for us. We’ve had two or sometimes three guys going, occasionally four. …,” Lowe said. “We haven’t had consistent play from at least four guys.”

In elaborating on that, he made an intriguing point about his freshmen.

“I don’t think Javi Gonzalez is the issue,” Lowe said, defending his freshman point guard. “I know he’s not the issue. Javi is not the problem.

“We need to have more guys rebounding and helping J.J. [Hickson]. And we need to have more guys scoring and making plays to help J.J. inside. … “We have other guys who have been here for a while. And they need to step up and play.”

Those other guys include players who played heavy minutes a year ago and helped State reach the ACC Tournament final.

“We need to have people come in and produce for us,” Lowe said. “We need to have people who are starting produce for us.”

And as for any thoughts back to what happened 25 years ago Tuesday, Lowe said that’s a conversation for another time. His current team doesn’t need that speech – after all, they beat Carolina in the RBC Center last season.

“They did it last year,” he said. “So there’s no need to go back and talk about when we did it. They’re probably tired of hearing about what we did when I played.

"It’s not important now. It’s these guys.”

These guys, to Lowe, have more to worry about. Like producing when Carolina is back Wednesday night.

Most Recent Comments

There is no doubt UNC has a good athletic program, but overall, UCLA is a little better.

Hats off to the Heels for the win last night!

Thanks, and have a great day!

Hey Heels!

I am going to speak for all of the UCLA fans worldwide.

Let's compare athletic programs.

National championships:

UCLA -100 (70 men's and 30 women's in 16 different sports.)
UNC-32 (9 men's and 23 women's in 6 different sports.)

Since 1999:
UCLA-21
UNC-8 (We will not include team handball.) :)

"In the 26 years that the NCAA has awarded both men's and women's championships, UCLA has won 60 NCAA team titles (30 men's and 30 women's), including at least one in 24 of those 26 years."

21 national championships since 1999.
I must say that your lady soccer team is notoriously impressive. Hats off to the team! (Seriously.) In men's basketball, we have 17 Final Fours, with 11 wins (both more than the Heels), coupled with a higher winning opercentage in the tourney. Keep selling t-shirts, we'll keep winning champinships! ;)

Little pup, I've seen lots of UNC Women's Soccer Games, on tv and in person. And whoever posted that USC won 26 championships in Men's Track and Field, consider the opportunity.

Women's soccer became an NCAA sport in 1982. With 19 titles, UNC wins the National Championship--wait for it--73% of the time. The greatest dynasty ever, period.

"but it is absolutely ridiculous to even begin to compare the overall athletic programs of UNC and NCSTATE"

I'll second that!

Please note...I did not say "most national championships" in my previous post. I said "mecca of college sports." Perhaps I should have omitted "uncontested" There are many factors that are involved with my statement, which I maintain. Such factors include, but are not limited to, players to make it pro in their respective sports, winning percentages in respective sports, post-season tourney performance in respective sports, conference championships, notoriety of sports in which nat. championships are won, merchandise sales, graduation rates among student-athletes, global recognition, etc. etc. etc. The point, however, was that it's fine to argue that State has a chance in the bball game tonight b/c you hope they win/don't like UNC...but it is absolutely ridiculous to even begin to compare the overall athletic programs of UNC and NCSTATE.

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