You can watch Sidney Lowe on the sidelines and know exactly why he won’t return as N.C. State’s head coach.

On any given possession, Lowe is out on the court yelling at his offense. Go here … cut there … watch this … It’s looks like Lowe’s players don’t know what to do, and Lowe is trying to coach one play at a time.

By comparison, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and UNC’s Roy Williams usually watch from their seats, trusting that their players are well-schooled enough to know what to do. Sure, Kryzewski and Williams get emotional, and that’s when the TV cameras catch them,  but if you really watch them, you’ll see that most o the time, they are watching attentively – not yelling.

UCLA’s John Wooden was like that, too. Wooden’s view was coaching was to be done during practice, and it was his job to prepare the players for the game. Once the game started, his role was essentially done. You didn’t see Wooden screaming on the sidelines – instead, he was famous for watching calmly with his rolled-up program in his hand.

By comparison, Lowe’s teams seem perpetually confused. And while you might think it’s unfair to compare Lowe to Krzyzewski, Williams and Wooden, the fact is other ACC coaches – Frank Haith, Tony Bennett, for example, and even Gary Williams – are much more composed on the sideline.

Whether Lowe simply hasn’t prepared the players, or they haven’t paid attention in practice, does not make any difference, since the outcome is the same. State seems poorly prepared for games, and Lowe is constantly trying to direct the team rather than let it flow.

That responsibility falls to him. Lowe’s tenure at N.C. State has not worked, and that’s too bad, but that’s the way it is.