Some quick bytes of current news:
* Last night was good to the Wolfpack basketball team. South Carolina squeaked out a victory over Providence and Villanova mounted an awesome comeback to beat LSU. I watched some of the Nova-LSU game and was fascinated on the impact that good officiating had on LSU’s ability to build a big lead. I’m more convinced that our game with Nova would have produced a margin of victory of ten or more points if we had decent officials.
* In fact, last night’s college basketball action was enough to move NC State’s strength of schedule rank from 33 (yesterday) to 29 (today). OF COURSE the RPI is grossly early and means nothing right now, but it is interesting to note that the Wolfpack has SIX games remaning against teams currently ranked in the RPI’s Top 20. In short, SOS will not be a detriment to our bid for an NCAA Tournament bid this year.
* The Sporting News is making some comments about Michigan’s interest in NC State Head Coach, Tom O’Brien. As scary as a thought that may be, I don’t find any supposition of a mututal interest between the entities as very credible at this point.
Two other interesting names recently were dropped in my lap: N.C. State’s Tom O’Brien and Missouri’s Gary Pinkel. O’Brien has been at N.C. State just one season, but he is a perfect fit in Ann Arbor. He’s a Navy grad who has coached at high-minded academic schools such as Virginia (as an assistant) and Boston College (as head coach). Plus, O’Brien is one of the nation’s best coaches.
* This morning it appears that Michigan and Rutgers’ Greg Schiano are hammering out a deal. I think Schiano is an awesome choice. You can read a nice biography of him by clicking here.
* The N&O reminds us that the couple of dozen Arizona State Basketball fans in the world are ‘eating up’ their still new head coach, Herb Sendek. I am not going to harp on the article very much because, frankly, a coach that went 7-22 against Division One opponents last year and didn’t win a conference game until the last couple of weeks of the season (2-16) typically doesn’t warrant a lot of commentary. But, I did find it very strange the author of the article was a guy named Edward G. Robinson, III whom none of us have ever heard of. (With a name Edward G. Robinson, III is, but with a name like that he just feels like he just finished a stint with the Daily Tar Heel.
* You may remember that the N&O tacitly criticized Sendek last year for a lack of class after Herb refused to give any comments/interviews to the local media who had treated him extremely well and with too much protetction during his ten years in Raleigh. (Even Tom O’Brien gave a ‘departure’ interview to the Boston Globe and TOB’s experience in Boston was more tenuous and strained than Herb’s in Raleigh). You have to wonder how this impacted the use of Edward G Robinson, III in this story.
* I hate to ruin “Trey’s” comments with a dose of reality but I just can’t help myself on a couple of things:
If Sendek, 44, builds an ASU basketball program with half the consistency he found at N.C. State — five consecutive NCAA Tournament berths from 2001 to 2006 — they will crown him a hero and draw his face on T-shirts for years to come.
* Dear Ed, If Sendek builds an ASU basketball program with half the consistency he found at N.C. State — five NCAA Tournament berths in ten years — then ASU will achieve five NCAA Tournaments over the next twenty years. How do you conclude they will crown him a hero for that?
* I am not even going to bother spending time discussing the comments about ASU’s ‘exciting offense’ that was mentioned in the article. I just think back to this little entry from last year for a laugh. Wait…I don’t have to think back to last year. I watched this year’s opening game between ASU and Illinois and saw the Sun Devils score their first basket of the season after Illinois scored 20 consecutive points to take a 20-0 lead. Talk about exciting!
* ASU lost to Illinois by like 23 or 24 points. The next night Illinoise lost to Duke by 13. I’m sure that secrectly Sendek appreciated the opportunity to not ‘improve’ on his 3-21 record vs Coach K. In the ASU-Illinois game ESPN couldn’t praise Herb more for the amazing job that he did at NC State. I would have loved to have seen how they reconciled this with a 3-21 record vs Duke on the next night.
* To be fair, Sendek does deserve some credit for exorcising some demons already from his time at ASU. Take for example the Sun Devils huge win over Princeton this year. Sendek couldn’t beat the Ivy League’s scholarship-less Princeton Tigers in two separate attempts while at NC State, including a home loss in including a loss in Reynolds Coliseum. So, this year’s win had to be a big one.
* Funny. Does this sounds familiar? After explainig that ASU just couldn’t find a quality opponent to open with - remember how ’scared’ everyone was to play NC State for years? - ESPN press play on the repeat button:
Arizona State is on the right track, but the players need some time to get to know each other and the system.
* Ah yes. Just give him some time! Right, national media?
* Lastly, “Hard Luck Herb” got some good news when it was announced that Arizona’s Lute Olson will not coach this year. This can’t be good news for the UA program, but definitely will provide a window of opportunity for Sendek’s ASU program. Hopefully he can take better advantage of that transition than he did when UNC employed four difference basketball coaches in a a six/seven year period while Sendek was at NC State.
The minute I saw that column this morning (which is never a good way to start out your Friday), my first hope was that SFN wouldn’t waste a breath mentioning it. I should’ve known better.
We’re still (obviously) obssessed. And yes, I said “we.”
^ Please note that “we” simply used the N&O’s article to comment. We dion’t often focus on the topic anymore. It IS relevant to NC State. We still talk about Jim Valvano and he coached at State for the exact amount of time as Herb.
All valid commentary. Herb should be thrilled with the opportunity he has in Phoenix. Good pay, Pac 10 job, great place to live, etc…I hope he does well out there and think that he will. He is a much better coach now than when he was first hired here at NC State. We gave him an incredible opportunity and over time he learned how to produce fairly solid teams at NC State. It will be interesting to see how he does out there. At least it gives me a reason to watch the Pac 10.
Yeah, maybe I’m the one with the problem?? haha.
After all, he’s one of the few people that to this day just the mention of him can still get me riled up…
I agree with StateFans. Does this article not seem measured in both breadth and timing? You won’t find any mention of Matt Doherty down at FAU, but Herb in ASU gets a three page fluff job in a paper 3000 miles away?
Terror,
I thought the same thing. Almost seemed like posturing to me.
Also, now looks like Schiano is staying at Rutgers (smooth transition to stop myself from talking about Herb).
The Calipari Gambit in full use, LRM.
That made me laugh…
When I read that article this AM, thought I was going to lose my breakfast. FWIW, Robinson is the high school reporter for the N&O. Guess he is taking on some new assignments. It was very obvious reading the article that he must have read SFN, as he said (I dont rememeber the exact quote) there were some bashers who hide in anonymity on internet boards.
Herb must have pictures of “Trey” or something for him to write this fluff piece on a coach who was 7-22. The again, that floor covering for new puppies would write a fluff piece on a football coach who went 4-8 in his first year.
I love the “hiding in anonymity” crap. Writers never use pseudonyms and broadcast personalities never have on-air names, right? Sure. Right, whatever. And I have some nice beachfront property in Ashe County to sell you too.
That line of thinking is just another “holier than thou” MSM tactic that’s essentially a strawman when one thinks it through — because it does nothing to address the real issue, the criticism.
I would just let this one be like water off of a duck’s back were I you guys. Consider the source, consider the logic and lack of thereof and you’ll be bothered a lot less by it.
/\Good point, if not for anonymity, there would have been no Watergate. And don’t reporters still use their own “anonymous” sources, despite the need to publicly disaparage or dismiss alternative sources that they routinely boost material and story ideas from?
Sour grapes at one of the many sources of their own lessening influence.
Just in case he comes back to check this place out… … …
My name is Robert Abernethy and I think Herb Sendek leaving N.C. State was the best thing he ever did for N.C. State.
How’s that for anonymity?
I hope he publishes that in his next article.
The other interesting point in the article was how HWSNBN has become a nice guy. He is doing all the things we wanted and refused. While I have no personal dislike for the man, I am happy to see him change and hope the time here was good for him personally. His attitude and standioffishness (is that a word?) was one of my big complaints.
Still cannot figure out how the high school beat writer did this story though……….
Can one of you RPI gurus help me understand why Davidson is so low right now? They’re at 132 despite having held their own against both Duke and UNC. The only bad loss they’ve had was their last game against Charlotte.
we better watch out against Davidson, they scare me alot
^ “having held their own” means nothing. You have to WIN some of those ‘holding your own’
“Plus, O’Brien is one of the nation’s best coaches.”
Ann Arbor is too far away from Charleston. NC State or bust for TOB. Isn’t that what he said?
BobLee had a line about the N&O that went something like:
If credibility was measured in pennies, the N&O couldn’t buy a gumball.
In a nutshell, BobLee captured the reason for the decline in MSM popularity and the rise in internet blogs. From Dan Rather to Barry Sanders, the MSM has made (and continue to make) absolute fools of themselves with no help from outside sources.
Any blog as poorly written and fact-checked as the average newspaper article, will be shunned as well. Anonymity doesn’t provide some sort of magic shield for blogs. Any source that it is accurate and entertaining will find readers…..and the converse of that fact is also true.
SFN,
Are you saying that margin of win/loss isn’t part of the calculation? Or that it is, but the actual win/loss is much more heavily weighted?
^ super comments that should be bronzed
Can one of you RPI gurus help me understand why Davidson is so low right now?
The RPI is not that complicated. Win games against good competition and you will have a good RPI ranking. Davidson is 2-4….of course their RPI will stink. SOS only increases your RPI so much….teams with losing records will usually have poor RPI rankings as well.
A quick glance through the rankings at kenpom.com shows that the highest ranked team with a losing record is Louisana Monroe at 73 (if I didn’t overlook someone).
“The minute I saw that column this morning (which is never a good way to start out your Friday), my first hope was that SFN wouldn’t waste a breath mentioning it. I should’ve known better.
We’re still (obviously) obssessed. And yes, I said “we.”
some never miss a chance to bash Herb. sad really.
Margin of victory is not part of the RPI calculaton. The formula consists of weighting factors on
Adjusted Winning percentage
Opponents’ winning percentage
Opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage
The adjust winning percentage gives more credit for a road victory than a home win.
Thanks, that makes sense. And I suppose it helps remove the temptation some coaches might have to run up the score.
I just have a hard time not being a bit sceptical about any system that ranks Miami #1 in the nation, no matter how early it is.
“ASU lost to Illinois by like 23 or 24 points”
& we just got embarrassed by Mich St by 23.
“Arizona State is on the right track, but the players need some time to get to know each other and the system”
yep, sounds familiar to NCSU this year.
I just have a hard time not being a bit sceptical about any system that ranks Miami #1 in the nation, no matter how early it is.
Yea, most of the complaints come from people looking at the rankings before the end of the year. Never forget that they are only used over the course of one weekend at the end of the year.
I’ve done several entries over the last two years discussing the RPI and how it is used….and what it can be used for. Some links are probably on the front page here down the right-hand side. Ken Pomerory explains the basics on his website.
http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/rpi_help/
from a wral article: Lowe doesnt sound too happy to be goin to Gvegas tomorrow…… maybe its all the venerial diseases
“”"”When asked why State was playing there, Lowe answered:
“Why are we going to play there? … Um … We’re going to play there … Um. … The schedule was made before I got here, put it that way.”
East Carolina is 3-5 this season and lost to Clemson 82-67 on Wednesday. But there’s no doubt the Pirates will be ready for the Wolfpack’s first visit to Minges Coliseum Saturday at 7 p.m.
And for an ACC team like State, it’s a game you look at with trepidation.
“We just had some games that were already scheduled ahead of time, before I took the job, and then we filled in from there,” Lowe said.
When pressed by the media on whether he’d like to play in-state rivals like this, Lowe almost went into a defensive crouch.
“We’re playing East Carolina tomorrow. That’s it,” he said.
Has anyone heard what changes we can expect for the ECU game? I’d like to know about the starting line up. I for one am ready to move on.
so was it Herbs brainchild or Lee that scheduled a game in Greenville?
i am going to the game, but i live on the coast, and the tixs were free so im not complaining. but It just doesnt make any sense to travel to greenville for the Pack. Was Lee doing a favor for Terry who was in turn doing favors for his dumbass 54 yr old brother who STILL attends ECU and was drawing like 25k a yr salary from the athletic dept plus a scholarship? too soon?
Even if the article is reconstituted pap, I think it captures in essence why it’s good for Herb Sendek not to be at a traditional basketball school with a proud, championship-filled history. He can be revered as a successful coach at “the other sport,” and I hope that he is.
^^^Translation of Lowe’s comments: “Thanks for nothing, Jed.”
Hey! I know Edward G. Robinson III. He has short-term memory loss!
I understand that Time Warner is going to broadcast the game tomorrow night. Does anyone know who the announcing team will be?
You guys are missing the important things! Herb was walking the stands at football with a bullhorn drumming up support?? Thats great stuff!
what channel is the game on tomarrow?
[i]You won’t find any mention of Matt Doherty down at FAU, but Herb in ASU gets a three page fluff job in a paper 3000 miles away?[/i]
Matt Doherty is actually at SMU now - he was the FAU coach for only one season.
Just to clarify, when we’re talking about Matt Doherty, we mean this guy:
In raleigh I believe the game is on 24, other places not sure.
I’m not showing that the game is televised. The original ACC Schedule from the website doesn’t have it being on t.v. I can’t believe that such a big rivalry game isn’t gonna be on the tube. lol
Looks like I’ll be spending some time with Johnny Evans and Gary Hahn tomorrow.
Unlike Cedar, I am glad he is gone and will not cry myself to sleep everynight thinking about losing the weave and heave offense.
On another note, I went to the Mount Zion at Word of God game last night.
Wall is one of the fastest players I have seen in 20+ years of watching basketball. Everyone knew he was going to drive the lane but five guys could not stop him from doing it. He had 33 points even though he missed alot of layups and FTs. His shooting and decision making need improvement but you cannot teach that kind of speed. Wall also impressed me with his commitment to playing defense. Whoever he was on did not score. I have heard Kentuky and Memphis are at the top of his list.
CJ Leslie is a tall skinny kid. He has a nice looking shot and a pretty good feel for the game. You can tell he is still a little raw but athletic. He did not play the end of the game because he was turning the ball over. He is going to be a wing player but if he improves will be a nice addition to NCSU.
MZ had a kid named Karron Johnson. He is 6′7″ with a muscular build. He was almost unstopable. He hit from inside and out. He will be playing for a top team in two years.
It was a fantastic game. The crowd was excited but not out of hand. It came down to a three point shot by WOG with 6 seconds left. I woudl be willing to bet either of those teams could beat the smaller colleges aroudn herend
The WOG coach is great. He had the right players in at the end of the game and made excellent in game changes.
Lowe was at the game. I stopped and said hey and he was very cordial.
How can NCSU not lead for a guy right down the street?
^ It ain’t over until he commits. And C.J. will be helping to recruit him I would think.
Time warner is broadcasting the ECU game, forgot which channel though, but it’s different in every area.
I wish there was a video I could watch of Lowe saying that.. hahaha.
“We’re playing East Carolina tomorrow. That’s it,” he said. AKA: We’re never doing this @#)& again.
I had to explain it to one of my friends at ECU that even if we blow them away 100-30 at their place they’d drag our RPI down a few notches. Even though they did get a win over George Mason.
Gopack.com has a more thorough clip of what Lowe said, it wasn’t all negative.
http://www.gopack.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=9200&ATCLID=1349791
“We’ve talked about it,” said Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe. “It’s going to be loud and hostile. I hope it’s a nice experience for us. We have to go in and concentrate on our game and really try to take the fans out of it by controlling the tempo of the ballgame.”
….
“This is a big game for them and a good game for them,” Lowe said. “It’s a big game for us. We expect that they’re going to be fired up and ready to go. Obviously, this is the first time we’re going down there to play them. They can certainly put a notch under their belts by playing an ACC team. They’ve got some very talented players, some experienced players. We’re looking forward to the challenge.”
It’s nice to know that Lowe is taking the game seriously at least.
Wall has said he plans to be a one and done.
I say if he does not improve his jumper he will not be.
“How can NCSU not lead for a guy right down the street?”
Yeah, your hero ever lost a player in his backyard [cough]Wilcox[cough]
How could anyone not take the EZU game seriously given how the Pack is playing so far? I’ll be surprised if it’s a blowout.
I heard the game will be called by Paul Doherty and someone named Telep (Dave?), whoever they are.
“Wall has said he plans to be a one and done.”
With that sort of attitude I wouldn’t bother recruiting him. Atleast Hickson is halfway humble and keeps us guessing
Trip,
From what I understand it is a family issue and not an attitude issue. Based on how he played I would say attitude is not a problem with him.
The best way to cure the Sendek obsession is for Coach Lowe to win and win big.
That said, while I’m glad he’s no longer the coach here, I don’t hold anything against the guy personally, and I wish him success at Ariz St. I just hope State and ASU meet in the first round of the NCAAs one year and ASU loses by 40+.
One thing that makes me hopeful about the question of Hickson returning for at least one more season is that draft wise his postion is loaded this year. Not only with college guys but European players also.
Unfortunately, the same thing may well apply for Hansbrough.
Wilcox had academic questions, Wall does not.
So many academic questions he breezed into Md.
how about Shav? his dad is in the rafters in raleigh. how about Blake? those 2 all but said they wanted to be NC state players but somehow they got out of raleigh
Hope all of y’all will pull for the Mountaineers this evening!
We are up 14-7, late in the 1st, and are playing on ESPN2
Go Apps!
didn’t LSU hire Press as their HC, and thus Shav ended up playing there?
I mean, how about that for recruiting? Make your dad that head coach? Though at 18 I would’ve gone some place else so I DIDN”T play for my dad - both my parents working at State was the main reason I went to App, that and my mom said “go to state and live at home.” right. I’ll pass on that offer Mom.
??? Are you confusing Shav and Pistol Pete?? He also wanted to play for State, but I heard he had issues, too. I don’t know for sure, tho…
Edward G Robinson III is/was(?) the N&O high school guy. I sat beside him in a press box during a rainy soccer game once (I chose not to get soaked, as apparently Ed did as well). His grasp of that particular evening was less than inspiring, but maybe this investigative gem will lift him to new heights.
He kept on saying something about “you dirty rats….”; not sure what his point was. There were cleary no rats in the press box, but maybe he was thinking about the people who assigned him to a future interview (2 or 3 years in the future, in fact) with a coach that’s dry a freakin’ dirt. Smart as a whip, though (I hear).
TN, yes I am.
adult beverages and the App game had me confused.
thanks for the correction.
Hijack in progress.
Back to the topic, as soon as I read that I thought about Doherty.
Gosh, it has been longer since Do left EweNC than ol Herb. Wonder why Chip hasn’t penned a love Matt article. He always seems to get beat to the punch by all the Carolina suck ups on the Disturber staff.
If there was an another option in town, I would bother with that paper.
Prime, it is Friday’s Bytes. How do you hijack that thread?
There really should be a Rhino Times in Raleigh. Raleigh needs another paper.
I’m at a bit of a loss to comment on that Herb article. What was the point exactly? I thought it was telling that Herb himself had a one-word comment about NC State, yet the N&O just can’t seem to let go.
It doesn’t bother me when someone mentions Herb in here. Comparisons among coaches and programs are inevitable - how can you discuss the Pack without mentioning what has come before? But the “love letter”, filed under NC State Sports no less, just didn’t need to happen. Maybe the Disturber can create a new ASU Sports section to fulfill their need to canonize Mr Sendek. Maybe LF can hold a press conference and announce that we have a new coach now. I’m sure Robinson the Third would be happy to attend.
Blake is actually from Florida, and Herb felt he wasn’t a D1 PG. Corch was pushing for him to come to State, but Herb was too busy building “daytight compartments” to listen to an “outsider”.
Don’t know the story on Shav, but I recall we had some players on the frontline and in fairness to Shav, I would play for K before playing for Herb.
K > Herb
That is all you need to know about Shav
I do believe that HWSNBN has found a personality while wandering in the desert….but I have been wrong before.
I think he finally realized that in order to connect with the fans (Which you MUST do if you aren’t winning a lot to keep your job happy) he’ll have to be a little outgoing. I think it mentions in the article that he used to think it was all about basketball, only winning games. Now he realizes that he has to go out, meet and greet, ect.
That was probably the ONLY decent point that this drivel the disturber printed made. The one big mistake made during his tenure was his lack of connection with the fan base, and that is what really doomed him in the eyes of the everyday ‘Pack fan.
The one big mistake made during his tenure was his lack of connection with the fan base, and that is what really doomed him in the eyes of the everyday ‘Pack fan.
Maybe, maybe not. I don’t remember Dick Sheridan “connecting” with the fans and he was pretty well liked. I don’t see K leading cheers during FB games and his job doesn’t appear to be in jeoparady.
Coaches are hired to do many things….but winning is at the top of the list. Do that (with integritiy) and everything else will fall into place. (Oh and you need to win something more significant than the BCA Classic.)
8-38 against Dook and Unx is most likely why Herb is now a Sun Devil.
If that record were reversed, Herb could have a crumudgeonly attitude toward us as fans and never speak in public, and I for one would have been cool with it.