Sidney Willing to Learn and Adapt

The N&O ran two articles that we felt were extremely insightful, positive, and very telling about our current Coach Sidney Lowe. Many find that basketball and life can be very similar in many ways. To truly succeed in both you need discipline, passion, and the willingness to learn from your mistakes. Now, everyone makes mistakes from time to time, but the willingness to drop your pride, admit your mistake, and turn the negative into a positive may be the most important thing a person or a player can learn...and that is exactly what Sidney Lowe has done.

In an article published by the N&O yesterday, Lee Fowler was quoted as saying that this past off season Sidney approached John Cheney from Temple and two other coaches that have formally won national championships to pick their brains on how to run a successful college basketball program. Face the facts folks, Sidney Lowe might know as much about playing basketball as there is to know, but he has never had to deal with the ins and outs of running a college program. The fans, the school, the media, the players. These past two seasons Lowe has basically been learning on the job, in an unbelievably high pressure situation. These quotes tell me a few things. A)Sidney wants to win for his team, his school, and for us, and he's willing to do whatever it takes. B) He is willing to learn and adapt on the job, and that is something all great coaches do. Take a look at what Fowler had to say about Sid:

"Sidney did this on his own. I didn’t tell him to [talk to other coaches]," Fowler added.

Lowe spent 15 years in the NBA, where it’s crucial to keep the multimillionaire superstars happy.

"In college, it's important that the coach be happy," Fowler said. "Sidney decided to be happy...it's more about playing within the framework of the team concept, of playing hard, and we’ve done that. Sidney has settled into the situation."

The second article was just as uplifting as the first. It spoke of how all of Sid's tinkering is starting to finally pay off. He's settled on a line-up, given us an identity, and has picked up on what has given other programs advantages and implemented those things in his own way. Again, a very good write-up and a must read for doubters of Sidney Lowe. The guy can, and will, be an elite coach. Check it out:

* Switching defenses. Jim Valvano, who coached Lowe and N.C. State to the 1983 NCAA title, was famous for using gimmick defenses to frustrate opponents.

Lowe began the season running mostly man-to-man defenses, but he dusted off some tricks shortly after going to the big lineup. N.C. State mixes in a 2-3 zone on occasion, but it also used a box-and-one and a "1-3 and a chaser" to hold high-scoring Wake Forest guard Jeff Teague to 11 points in a Feb. 11 Wolfpack win at the RBC Center. Saturday, N.C. State used a triangle-and-two at times against Virginia's Sylven Landesberg and Jeff Jones.

Switching defenses and using zones also helps with matchup challenges, such as when Costner goes up against a much smaller, quicker wing player.

"It's so hard to play some of these teams strictly man-to-man all the time," Lowe said. "Even some of the great teams, they'll go to zone sometimes, or come up and trap you, just to keep you off balance. Sometimes it really gets us going."

It's nice to finally get a little positive press out of the hometown paper, the same one that was calling for Sid's head just 3 weeks ago, while we were trying to calm everyone down and let it be known that we are in good hands. No matter who thought what when...You can't help but think NC State is on the verge of something special.

**cited for this article from the N&O:
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/college/ncsu/mens_basketball/story/1419629.html
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accnow/fowler-lowe-sought-offseason-advice