Can NC State Down In-State Rival Wake?

The NC State Wolfpack have in-state rival Wake Forest coming to town and they are looking to add another victory to their resume.

Wake is coming off of a tough loss against a very good Virginia Tech team, and they will be looking to vault back into the top of the ACC to gain a first round bye in the ACC tournament.

NC State is also coming off a disappointing loss against another good ACC team in Maryland. The Wolfpack once again played very good and efficient first half of basketball, but they once again failed to finish the game.

In the first game of this series the Wolfpack failed to shoot the ball effectually not only from the field but also from the free throw line. The Wolfpack as a team shoot 33.9% from the field and 57% from the free throw line.

Tracy Smith was in foul trouble the majority of the game until he fouled out and once the did foul out the Demon Deacons pulled away. It is going to be very important that he stays out of foul trouble and attacks the basket and scores.

I know that I might sound like a broken record but...Somebody is going to have to step up and score on a consistent basis. I would really like to see Scott Wood get hot again and score similar to like he did at Florida State.

Although it was nice to see Horner get more involved, it was a little dis-hearting to see Smith get complacent against Maryland.

Obviously Wake Forest is a team with a lot of height and it is going to be difficult to defend them unless players like Jordan Vandenburg and DeShawn Painter see more playing time on Saturday.

Sticking with the topic of Wake's big men, limiting Al-Faroug Aminu touches will be vital in pulling off this upset. Unfortunately Wake isn't as one dimensional as NC State and their point guard Ishmael Smith is another weapon in their arsenal.

"Ish" as he is commonly referred to by Wake Forest fans, is arguably the fastest player in the ACC. He can not only slash his way to the basket, but he can on a occasion step back an make some threes.

With saying all of this, Wake is not an invincible team and could beaten for the upset. The Wolfpack did only lose by eight the first time around and they played very poorly.

This will be another interesting ACC game, despite NC State being in the cellar of the ACC they are a talented team and any team they play should be on full upset alert.

Tenuta to Coach Wolfpack Linebackers

Jon Tenuta has been hired to replace former linebackers coach Andy Mcollum, who left to become the recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach for Georgia Tech.

Tenuta is a native of Columbus, Ohio and has a total of 29 years of coaching experience, his last job was defensive coordinator for Notre Dame.

He has been defensive coordinator for seven schools, spanning two decades, including defensive coordinator at NC State's rival school North Carolina.

In his time as defensive coordinator at Notre Dame he helped them to considerably improve their defense in rushing yards per game and scoring defense, both were major issues for the Wolfpack this past season.

He also had great success while at Georgia Tech; his defense was ranked in the top 30 nationally in total defense, rushing defense, and scoring defense all five years he was at Georgia Tech.

Tenuta also had 18 players from his defense selected to the All-ACC first or second team, and another 18 made it at the next level in the NFL.

I think he will be welcomed to a Wolfpack team who struggled to stop anybody on defense last year, and even though he wouldn't be the defensive coordinator he will be able to contribute greatly to Mike Archer's defensive schemes.

Is Sidney Lowe The Right Man For the Job?

We all know that back in 2006 the Wolfpack nation was a little disappointed when Sidney Lowe was given the job of head coach of the NC State Wolfpack basketball team.

Rick Barnes was the flashy, stylish pick for the job of head coach, and he was even born in North Carolina. Which was all the better for when the Wolfpack had a coaching vacancy that he could possibly fill.

Unfortunately we know what happens and Sidney Lowe is given the job.

Sidney Lowe was a star point guard during his playing years at NC State and he was a major component on the 1983 National Championship team.

As a coach Sidney Lowe is yet to see that kind of success on any level of basketball.

Lowe has been a head coach for two NBA teams, The Minnesota Timberwolves and the Vancouver Grizzlies (now known as the Memphis Grizzlies).

He coached a total of 307 NBA games, he had a career record of 79 wins and 228 losses—a winning percentage of .209.

That isn't exactly a good record, but there are plenty good college coaches who have bad professional coaching records.

In his first year at NC State he complied a record of 20-16 overall and a conference record of 5-11. They also made it to the ACC championship game, but they lost to Roy Williams' UNC team.

This Wolfpack team was full of talent and had all been recruited by former NC State coach Herb Sendek. So I am only being fair by saying that Lowe took Sendek's team to the ACC Championship game and the NIT.

The Wolfpack finished the year hot making it all the way to the NIT quarterfinals and started the next collegiate basketball season ranked inside of the top 25.

This is really where Sidney Lowe started to make his mark on the NC State basketball program. He had recruited a five-star power forward/center out of Marietta, GA named J.J. Hickson.

The team really suffered with the graduation of their senior point guard and they had no real experience at point guard after the Iowa State transfer Farnold Degand suffered a season ending injury in the 10th game of the year.

They finished that season at a mediocre 15 wins and 16 losses and a conference record of four wins and 12 losses. They failed to make it beyond the first round of the ACC tournament and they also failed to make the NCAA or NIT tournament. The next season would yield similar results.

That leads us to this year where the majority of Herb Sendek's players have graduated or left and the majority of the guys playing now were recruited by Sidney Lowe.

This year's team has showed some real promise but with Lowe as coach they may never be able to play at a consistently high level to compete with Duke, Carolina, and Wakes of the world. Though Lowe's years at NC State, the team has looked confused and undisciplined, and as the old saying goes you play like you practice.

I think a fellow NC State fan and Raycom blogger, George Cox put it best when he said that Sidney Lowe needs to resign.

I think that the Wolfpack nation is ready for a winning basketball program and that will not happen until Sidney Lowe resigns or is fired and a good proven coach is bought in.