WVU beats NCSU

[MountaineerDave]

Belien beats the team that spurned him in the offseason.

Both teams entered the game having lost only one game.

My question for the more college basketball educated, or doublee (he's in NCSU land, after all), is this: Is this a big deal for the Mountaineers, who have the potential to be a ton better than the predicted #12 team in the Big East, or will the 'Eers get to the conference portion of the schedule and get drilled by the likes of G'Town, Pitt, UConn, and 'Nova?

I haven't turned my attention fully to college basketball yet---just too much going on in work and life---but this WVU squad was supposed to be too young to make any hay. And here they are, 6-1 and could get to the conference schedule with the single loss they have presently (kinda have a soft non-conference schedule).

[bama4256]

GO MOUNTAINEERS!:thumbup:

[KevinBeane]

It's definitely a positive indicator for the 'Eers, but I'm skeptical of how positive. NCSU, IMHO, is descending and hasn't hit its nadir yet after the whole Sendek bolting and all the "name" candidates being loathe to take such a thankless job, leavin the Pack to take their sixth choice or something like that.

[doublee]

Dave, I would not get too terribly amped about beating this year's NCSU squad, especially given that they played without starting PG Engin Atsur who was the team's leading scorer when he got injured. The expectations are for NCSU to finish in the bottom half of the conference and some are even speculating they will finish in the cellar.

This year's squad has some nice talent but has zero quality depth. When Atsur was healthy Lowe was only playing 7 in the regular rotation and only played six last night with four guys going the full 40 and another playing 32.

The Pack is rebounding quite nicely from the Sendek fiasco and they have a winner in Sidney Lowe. He has already landed a 5-star recruit in J. J. Hickson and a 4-star guy in Tracy Smith. According to Rivals he is still in the running for 4-star recruit Jai Lucas. Not too bad who got a late start in recruiting for the '07 class.

The production he is getting from Courtney Fells and Ben McCauley, who were buried on Sendek's bench last year, has been pretty amazing. Brendan Costner and Gavin Grant are blossoming under Lowe as well. He has these kids playing with a ton of heart and hustle and are going to compete in every game. The problem is that they run out of gas with about 10 minutes to go due to the lack of quality depth on the bench.

The 'Pack will not be down for long and I would not be at all surprised if Lowe gets them a notch higher than Sendek did.

[wufpax]

OMG...I'm feeling at home already...A STATE FAN! Hi Doublee, wuffy(name adopted from my former board) is pleased to meet ya!

I have faith that our guys will prove they are not bottom of the barrell...I, however, do not see championship potential...but I'll take what we can get and be happy!


Go Wolfpacks!