Notice I don't say they "played". Or at least nobody besides Tracy Smith and Lorenzo Brown played. Everyone else kind of ran though the motions. C.J. Leslie tuned in a bit on the offensive end of the court every now and then, and so did Javier Gonzalez.
On the defensive end though pretty much everyone was horrible. On the hustle end everyone was horrible.
Granted State came in with a bit of a disadvantage. Ryan Harrow was sick all week and didn't practice. He was out for the game. Scott Wood was also sick and fighting it. There was still a chance right? A chance for an undermanned and up and down (with a lot of down) NC State team to show that they belonged, that they were hungry, that they were on the rise even though this year hasn't gone to expectation. A chance for Senior point guard Javier Gonzalez, back in the starting lineup with Harrow out, to show that he had something to say about losing his starting spot to a true freshman. It was a chance for this team to show that they were passionate about playing for their head coach Sidney Lowe, whose job is on the hot seat more and more every day.
Failure on every count, right out of the gate. As noted earlier State was down huge in the first half, acting like they had no scouting report on UNC at all, and had never played in a hostile environment on the road.
State has no leadership and no fire. Tracy Smith can lead from center, it doesn't have to be a guard. He has fire, but he's not spreading it around. State even HAS a Senior point guard. But no leadership there either. Or is this freshman class not listening? I have a hard time believing that. CJ Leslie can be a bit of a one man show at times. But Brown seems like a team player who is coachable. Ryan Harrow also gives that impression.
The end result was a 84-64 blowout. Lorenzo Brown kept playing throughout and scored 19 points with 5 assists. Tracy Smith had 12 points before fouling out. CJ Leslie turned it off and on and had 14 points and 5 rebounds. Javier Gonzalez did a little bit of everything, with 8 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists.
The problem there was that while a couple State guys did a little bit of everything, UNC had guys doing ALOT of everything. John Henson had 16 points 18 rebounds and 7 blocks. Harrison Barnes had a career high 25 points, looking like that pre-season All-American that he is, and 5 rebounds. They got lots of work from their energy guys.
State's players look like they've given up on the season. Honestly Sidney Lowe looks like he's given up the season. Pretty much to me it looks like that as soon as Lowe didn't start getting the production he expected out of his freshmen, with Leslie averaging 18 and 10 and Harrow about 15 with 8 assists a game, he quit on the coaching and the adapting to where their strengths are now.
So now I'd say Lowe is gone. I wouldn't be shocked if Leslie transferred. Harrow and Brown would be a bit more surprising, but I expect major upheaval.
I think State needs a coach with a college track record, and at least some functional "system" that works at the college level. I don't know that there is anyone in the NC State family that fits that bill other than Sean Miller at Xavier. Vinnie Del Negro at least has had success in the NBA, so maybe he'd be Candidate B from "in house".
But if they can't get one of those two they need to go outside to try to get what they found in Herb Sendek before.
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