From the DBR site....it gives some good perspective on the Sendek era.

Sendek’s strengths and weaknesses have been discussed ad nausea, but let me try to sum up the debate in a few short points:

-- Sendek is a better coach than at least 90 or maybe 95 percent of the Division 1 coaches working today.

-- Sendek is not as good a coach as Mike Krzyzewski, Dean Smith or Roy Williams.

-- Sendek is colorless, with none of the charisma that marked Jim Valvano or even Les Robinson.

I think the issue is complicated by two factors in Sendek’s 10-year tenure at N.C. State:

-- His first five years were a disaster. Four straight NIT trips followed by a losing season in his fifth year. During that span he had some selfish players and several who embarrassed the school and the program with their off-court behavior.

In fact, if N.C. State had fired Sendek after his 13-18 season in 2001, I don’t think anybody would have been surprised or objected. It’s my opinion that that long, mediocre start to his tenure alienated many fans, who have been unable to abide him since.

—In the last five years, Sendek’s program has been as consistent as any program other than the game’s truly elite (Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc.; in fact, State has been more consistent than UNC, winning more ACC games than the Tar Heels in that five year span and making the NCAA 1Tournament more frequently), but for all the consistency, Sendek has failed to catch lightning for just one memorable run.

Just compare this five-year stretch with Jim Valvano’s first five years at N.C. State. Since 2002, Sendek has won 46 ACC games, won seven ACC Tournament games and played in five straight NCAA Tournaments. Valvano won 32 ACC games, five ACC Tournament games and missed the NCAA twice in those five years.

But Valvano had 1983, when the Pack exploded for one of the most memorable postseason runs in NCAA history. His Cardiac Pack won the ACC Tournament, then improbably beat Houston in the NCAA title game. After that, he was a God who could do little wrong in Raleigh.

Sendek, who has been more a consistent winner than Valvano, has never been able to put together a memorable run. He’s had four first-division ACC finishes in the last five years. He’s played for the ACC title twice in the last five years. He’s reached the Sweet 16 once and twice knocked recent champions out of the NCAA Tournament. But that’s not good enough for fans who still remember his mediocre first five years and can’t accept the second-class status to their Triangle neighbors.

You have to understand that N.C. State was once the premier program on Tobacco Road. If you had rated the ACC’s programs on a historical basis in 1970, N.C. State would probably still have ranked No. 1. If you’d taken that same poll in 1990, the Pack probably would have finished second to UNC and ahead of Duke (in 1990, N.C. State had two national titles to Duke’s none and 10 ACC titles to Duke’s eight). Ask that question now, and State is third—with Maryland closing the gap.

State fans see their legacy slipping away and it kills them. They are becoming the equivalent of Duke football. They haven’t fallen that far, but they are afraid it’s headed in that direction.

Adding to the problem this month are a couple of lackluster performances by Sendek’s latest team. It wasn’t so much that State lost at home to North Carolina as how lackadaisical the team appeared. There was no fight, no fire. The same lethargy marked State’s play against Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament. And Sendek’s mild-mannered postgame comments after each loss have enraged the frustrated fans.

So there’s an uproar in Raleigh. The question is whether it will lead to the end of the Herb Sendek era at N.C. State?

I have no idea, but I do know this—Sendek will NOT be fired by the school’s administration.

However, there are those close to the program who wonder whether Sendek is fed up with the hostile attitude and may leave on his own.

Some reporters witnessed (I didn’t see it) an ugly scene Friday as the Pack was leaving the court after losing to Wake Forest. A fan was screaming obscenities at Sendek as he walked through the tunnel to the locker room. The normally placid coach paused and started screaming back at the fan before he was pushed along by his assistants out of sight.

My take is that Sendek would be very open to leaving—if (and only if) the right job offer comes along. He’s not leaving N.C. State for Duquesne, even if it is in his home town. I think he’d leave for Pitt if the Panthers came calling, but they are not making a change any time soon.

Don’t ask me if there’s an open job out there that would attract Sendek. I’m not sure he’d want to relocate for the West Coast to take an opening at Arizona State or a presumed vacancy at one of the Oregon schools. I think Sendek, who has overcome his early problems to build a model off-the-court program in Raleigh, would be an attractive option for a Cincinnati administration that wants to break all ties with the corrupt Bob Huggins regime. But I hear that Kevin Stallings in the frontrunner for that job (and haven’t heard Sendek’s name mentioned with it).

I think the best thing to do is wait and see what coaching dominos fall in the next month. Indiana is open and while I don’t think Sendek would be a fit in Bloomington, whoever gets that job could open up an attractive destination for the embattled Wolfpack coach. If Tubby Smith leaves Kentucky for the NBA as has been suggested, I wouldn’t expect Sendek to land in Lexington, but he might like one of the jobs that open up as a result of that move. There will be some attractive openings – I’m just not sure Sendek will find one he likes enough to leave N.C. State.

But let’s assume for a moment that Sendek does leave N.C. State. The question then becomes, can State do better?

Forget the fantasies about getting Rick Barnes or Tubby Smith—not going to happen. Nate McMillen ain’t leaving his NBA millions to rescue his alma mater. And while some members of the school’s lunatic fringe would love to see currently unemployed Bob Huggins in Raleigh, I guarantee you that won’t happen either.

Would State be able to attract a prominent big name coach or would the school have to roll the dice on somebody young and unproven, maybe a Valvano discipline such as Derek Whittenburg? Or maybe an NBA failure with a good college track record would be available—Lon Kruger is out there (although rumored to be returning to Kansas State) and Mike Montgomery might be on the market after this season.

I can’t help thinking about how Clemson football fans ran Ken Hatfield off in the early 1990s—largely because he was a bad personality fit at the redneck school. He didn’t drive a pickup truck or spit tobacco like Danny Ford. All he did was win football games. So they ran him off as Wolfpack fans are trying to run Sendek off and hired Tommy West instead. They loved him—he was a Danny Ford clone in every way except he turned the program into a mediocrity (he even lost to Duke!).

N.C. State had better be careful. They may run off Sendek and find themselves stuck with Tommy West.

Or maybe not. I can’t help thinking back to 2001, when the situation in Raleigh was every bit as ugly as it is today. I can remember the State fans in the Georgia Dome screaming for Herb’s head after Duke routed the Pack in the first round of the tournament. I can remember a Raleigh reporter saying that he knew for a fact that a group of big boosters were about to buy out Sendek’s contract.

Only it didn’t happen.

Sendek hung tough, kicked his best player of the team, and changed the direction of his program, taking it to a different, higher plateau. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the same thing happen again now.

3/13/2006 11:37:14 AM

excellent post

3/13/2006 11:44:05 AM

Quote :

"10 years. 0 Titles. 1 ACC finish above 4th place"

3/13/2006 11:44:49 AM

Quote :

"It’s my opinion that that long, mediocre start to his tenure alienated many fans, who have been unable to abide him since."

3/13/2006 11:47:11 AM

that is a great article

just gives people who want to bash Sendek some things to think about

i am shocked that he actually yelled back at the fan....shows that he actually might be getting fed up and seriously considering a resign

lastly, some people on here I think hate Lee Fowler as much as Sendek...do we all really want to trust him to hire a new coach when we already have a very acceptable one in place?

3/13/2006 11:47:47 AM

That is a good article.

Poor Herb:

3/13/2006 11:50:09 AM

your ignorance is mindnumbing salisburyboy

but then everyone already knows that

3/13/2006 11:51:24 AM

how many titles did Roy Williams win in his first 10 years at Kansas?

3/13/2006 11:53:00 AM

Thats the catch 22 of a total shit situation.

I want Sendek to leave...but we won't get anyone better and would most likely get someone a lot worse.

3/13/2006 11:53:40 AM

^^conference or national??

obviously national is zero but i am not sure about conference

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 11:54 AM. Reason : ^]

3/13/2006 11:53:52 AM

finally a good article about the man

^^but you're willing to accept a lot worse so long as sendek is gone and we get someone that's really charismatic and gets everyone all hyped up and then loses, right?

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 11:55 AM. Reason : ]

3/13/2006 11:54:11 AM

hmm kevin...that sounds like another coach at state

3/13/2006 11:55:56 AM

lets get a large-breasted italian who likes to dress like a clown to install mirrors in the RBC center and install smoke machines in all the seats to blow smoke up our asses

3/13/2006 11:56:31 AM

Quote :

"lastly, some people on here I think hate Lee Fowler as much as more than Sendek..."

thats more like it

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 11:57 AM. Reason : ]

3/13/2006 11:56:56 AM

^^haha

I second that

Walk of Champions

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 11:57 AM. Reason : to slow]

3/13/2006 11:57:13 AM

well played

3/13/2006 12:00:22 PM

excellent article

3/13/2006 12:00:28 PM

ncWOLFsu, not at all. Stop being a drama queen and going for extraveggant interpretations of my posts. I want Herb gone, but I don't want another Amato, the obvious reference you and treetwistah are making.

3/13/2006 12:04:52 PM

Quote :

"how many titles did Roy Williams win in his first 10 years at Kansas?"

i see what you're trying to do here, but its not really comparable. roy came in to kansas right after they won a national championship, so he didnt have nearly as much shit to deal with as herb did coming in after the travesty that is the les robinson era

3/13/2006 12:05:39 PM

Quote :

"school’s lunatic fringe"

Parrotting Fowler's "lunatic fringe" blather?

Yeah, "excellent" article there.

And why not mention Sendek's woeful ~45% all time ACC regular season record? Selective statistical analysis?

3/13/2006 12:09:01 PM

^^he also couldnt win a national title with his own players in a much shittier conference than the ACC...he would routinely coach against basketball powerhouses like Nebraska and Baylor.

3/13/2006 12:10:08 PM

look at those woeful acc numbers

3/13/2006 12:11:30 PM

^^^prob not selected cause he had to fix the shit he came in here with.

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 12:11 PM. Reason : fgh]

3/13/2006 12:11:44 PM

dont worry, if we dont get in a big run sometime in the next few years to boost him, he wont be around for 15-20 years so stop complaining now...some things are inevitable

3/13/2006 12:12:08 PM

Glad some other reasonable people are around and can appreciate this article. It displays perfectly our problems with Sendek but also the reasons why he's a good fit for State and we'd be fools if he left.

3/13/2006 12:15:27 PM

Quote :

"we'd be fools if he left"

Quote :

"1 ACC finish above 4th place"

oh, yes

Herb is the best NCS can do. We are so lucky to have a coach like him.

Keep smoking the Herb.

3/13/2006 12:20:15 PM

Who the fuck else are you going to get right now?

OH NO! DONT HIRE A j00!!!11

3/13/2006 12:25:47 PM

you know, Maryland won a national title just 4 years ago, and they didnt even make the tournament this year

FIRE GARY WILLIAMS

3/13/2006 12:27:52 PM

i'd say our program has been more consistantly good than their's over the last 5 years and that includes their TWO final four appearances. at least we can stay in the tournament.

3/13/2006 12:29:38 PM

Quote :

"Who the fuck else are you going to get right now? "

We're talking about Herb Sendek here. Do you really think there aren't better coaches than Herb out there?

3/13/2006 12:32:13 PM

^that are available to us

nope

3/13/2006 12:33:36 PM

that's not the right question. the right question is, do you really think there aren't better coaches out there that would actually come here. to that, the answer would be a simple ABSOLUTELY

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 12:34 PM. Reason : ]

3/13/2006 12:34:32 PM

yeah, name 3 that will assuredly come here if herb leaves

here's my 3:

Quinn Snyder
Mike Davis
some guy from the MVC

all 3 arent any better than herb. live with it.

[Edited on March 13, 2006 at 12:35 PM. Reason : .]

3/13/2006 12:34:44 PM

fuck 3, name 1

3/13/2006 12:35:14 PM

Quote :

"that are available to us nope "

dude, your average Joe off the street could probably coach better than Herbudda

Herb is a joke

There are plenty of available coaches who could do a much better job than Sendek

3/13/2006 12:35:24 PM

ok folks. time to just ignore salisburyboy. He is obviously out of his element when it comes to rational thought and discussions..

3/13/2006 12:36:37 PM

youre using your soapbox tactics of dodging hard questions and blowing smoke up everyone's asses

NAME AT LEAST 1 COACH WHO WE COULD HIRE WITHOUT A DOUBT AFTER THIS YEAR THAT WILL WIN THE ACC FOR US

3/13/2006 12:36:51 PM

Quote :

"ok folks. time to just ignore salisburyboy. He is obviously out of his element when it comes to rational thought and discussions"

I'm not crunching the numbers, and I don't know all the available coaches we could possibly hire, but at least I know this much....HERB SENDEK SUCKS. And everyone knows he's a sorry coach whether they want to admit it or not.

3/13/2006 12:40:12 PM

Quote :

"Sendek hung tough, kicked his best player of the team, and changed the direction of his program, taking it to a different, higher plateau. I wouldn’t be shocked to see the same thing happen again now."

well, maybe herb will change again

when he first came here he tried the traditional kinda bball and didn't do too well. He had a tough time recruiting against UNC and Duke.

then he switched to this crap that we have now and rode it to this point. used it to raise our national attention and thus recruit better players.

now that we look like a better team to prospects, maybe he will switch back to a more traditional system that would do well with our more athletic players.

















but I'm not holding my breath

3/13/2006 12:40:22 PM

Quote :

"I'm not crunching the numbers, and I don't know all the available coaches we could possibly hire,"

and thus we stop listening to you

bye bye, gg

3/13/2006 12:41:41 PM

i wish you would hold your breath

3/13/2006 12:41:41 PM

The problem is this. Picture yourself for just a moment as a prospective coach on the outside looking in. You see a guy who has been in place for 10 years who took the team from being a consistant bottom feeder to now 5 straight tournament appearances, several conference title games, and got the team back to the sweet 16. One year after that sweet 16 run, the team starts very strong, but hits the skids for the last two weeks of the season, and is run out on a rail.

Now ask yourself, from that perspective, would you take that job if you had other places you could go to try to build a program?

3/13/2006 12:53:43 PM

hes not switching our bball system and the way we play. those JR recruits, whatever the names were, those guys that said they wanted to play that style of bball under sendek wont come here anymore and i thought they were highly talented

3/13/2006 12:59:44 PM

If you were confident in your coaching abilities, and saw a program with decent past success, an awesome facility, and a higher-tier coaching positions in one of the best basketball conferences in the country... yes I could see them coming here

3/13/2006 1:01:23 PM

there's no reason to think he wouldnt change the offense. wright likes our style, but if we changed it up and still had success i'm sure he'd still want to come. plus, i think any changes we made in the near future would involve wright. we might become more PG oriented with the new talent, which would be different from the current O. i really doubt he'd have a problem with that.

3/13/2006 1:01:29 PM

Quote :

"And everyone knows he's a sorry coach whether they want to admit it or not."

Knowledgeable and reasonable basketball fans everywhere know that Sendek is a good coach. National media and other coaches respect his ability as well.

I'll admit that it's reasonable to debate if he's our man or not, and if we could do better, but to say he's a sorry coach goes AGAINST what "everyone" knows.

Please limit yourself to talking about a subject that you have at least passing knowledge about...

3/13/2006 1:03:59 PM

Quote :

"He’s had four first-division ACC finishes in the last five years."

I'm sorry, but I don't understand this comment from that article. Can someone explain it? Either I'm a retard or its horribly written.

3/13/2006 1:12:10 PM

Top Half

3/13/2006 1:12:57 PM

oh okay thanks. Well thats the only part of his performance I've been impressed with.

3/13/2006 1:18:14 PM

Quote :

"Do you really think there aren't better coaches than Herb out there?"

Sure there are. But to meet your measures of success would require a couple of things:

1) As good or better than Coach K and Roy

2) Willing to leave wherever they currently are to coach at NCSU.

I don't believe there is a coach that meets these conditions. The problem with you fucks is that you can only look at our teams in comparison to UNC and Duke. I hate UNC almost as much as I love state, but my hatred of UNC doesn't come from the fact that they win, as it does with you and the people like you.

3/13/2006 1:20:04 PM