NCAAT Friday Open Thread (Major update @ 11:50am)

Note: The comments in this entry are a consolidation of both BJD and Jeff.

Thursday Comments
* Not very many upsets so far, but those of us who stayed up late last night were rewarded by compelling endings in the VCU/UCLA and Illinois/Western Kentucky games. Clemson also fought back to make things close after 35 minutes of absolute bed shitting – but fell short once again. If there was one thing any ACC fan didn’t want to see, it was a conference member losing to a lower-seeded Big Ten team.

* Side note – I don’t know if it’s possible to get worse last-second shots than Clemson and VCU took last night – despite plenty of time on the clock to initiate a good play. Just ugly, ugly stuff that never stood a chance of working.

* Speaking of VCU/UCLA, those Rams fans were quite a motley looking group, were they not? What was the deal with the females in the band wearing bikini tops? Deadspin was thinking along the same lines.

* Is their any more justice in the world that Tyler Hansbrough breaks the ACC’s all-time scoring record with a friggin free throw? It was nice to see Hansbrough make this list of the five most hated players in the NCAA Tournament:

Hated because the media fawns over him (Jay Bilas going down on him at the end of the Louisville Elite 8 game last year may have been the tipping point), and because he seems to get all of the calls from the refs. Guilt-by-success seems to apply here.

Friday Comments – Here’s today’s slate, which looks pretty compelling:

Early Afternoon:
#14 Stephen F. Austin vs. #3 Syracuse
#9 Tennessee vs. #8 Oklahoma State
#11 Utah State vs. #6 Marquette
#14 North Dakota State vs. #3 Kansas

Analysis: Will Syracuse be flat and/or tired after their epic Big East tournament? Is Marquette as cooked as I think they are sans injured PG Dominic James? Also, don’t sleep on North Dakota State – they play numerous 5th year seniors, and Kansas is a well-documented fraud. If there is going to be a major first round upset, it probably happens here. Very strange for the 8/9 game to be the least compelling matchup, but that is the case here.

Late Afternoon:
#11 Temple vs. #6 Arizona State
#16 East Tennessee State vs. #1 Pittsburgh
#14 Cornell vs. #3 Missouri
#11 Dayton vs. #6 West Virginia

Analysis: Aside from Pitt/ETSU, these should be very competitive (if not aesthetically pleasing) games. Cornell could also pull a big upset, as they are a “repeat” team that returns most starters from last year’s early NCAAT exiting bunch. Those are the kinds of teams that can give a marquee team fits (just ask Jay Wright about Jeff Jones’ similar American squad). Syracuse and Kansas are very vulnearble #3 seeds, and the winner of each 6/11 game could easily make a deep run – particularly if Huggy Bear’s bunch can make it past a physical, tough Dayton squad. West Virginia is a good team with a good coach, and one of my dark horse Final Four possibilities.

Early Evening:
#16 Morehead State vs. #1 Louisville
#12 Arizona vs. #5 Utah
#10 Southern Cal vs. #7 Boston College
#13 Portland State vs. #4 Xavier

Analysis: It’s got the prime time slot, but easily the least compelling slate of games for the day. Louisville is really the only good team of these eight, and even the Cards come with question marks. Portland State could beat Xavier, but I wouldn’t consider that much of an upset because Xavier just isn’t that strong. Hopefully, BC comes through for the ACC, but that’s a coin flip at best.

Late Night:
#9 Siena vs. #8 Ohio State
#13 Cleveland State vs. #4 Wake Forest
#15 Robert Morris vs. #2 Michigan State
#12 Wisconsin vs. #5 Florida State

Analysis: I’d really like Siena to win this one if the game wasn’t being played in Dayton – what a lucky break for Thad Matta. As we’ve discussed many times on SFN, Wake Forest is a much better team against powerhouses than underdog squads. Their awful ACCT performance should get their heads straight, but I’m still not sure Jeff Teague is fixable mentally at this point. Cleveland State has a good shot to win – but if the Deacs squeak by, they could catch fire and go a long way. Florida State and Wisconsin should grind out a tough, defensive game. If the Noles survive, this could easily be a Sweet Sixteen/Elite Eight team. An elite scorer, great defense, and excellent size make for a potent NCAAT combination – but their first game is a big obstacle.

Media & Sendek Comments
ACCNow has some blurbs on each of the games as well. (Link) Of course, ‘the Observers’ can’t help but pen an article about Herb Sendek; this one written from Scott Fowler from the Charlotte bureau.

The title of the piece is very misleading – “Sendek’s style same as it was with Pack” would lead the reader to infer that Sendek is doing a lot of things similar to how he did things in Raleigh when in fact he has made some great adjustments to his ‘style’. Sendek has ditched his limiting “Princeton offense” that put a ceiling on both the performance and the talent-level of players attracted to the system. He has even shed his stubborn devotion to man-to-man defense and installed a pesky zone that has become one of ASU’s unique trademarks.

When you really read the article with a true depth of knowledge that most of our readers have you will realize that Scott Fowler was doing everything he could to paint and paint and paint a picture that he hoped would stir the pot as opposed to actually share some real information. Take for instance this item near the end:

The coach also pulled off a coup by successfully recruiting Harden, the 2009 Pac-10 Player of the Year who averages 20.8 points per game. Harden, a lefty, is often described as the most well-known southpaw at Arizona State since golfer Phil Mickelson.

Bringing up James Harden is one of the only things that supports the title of Fowler’s article – ‘Sendek’s style remaining the same’. Unfortunately, Fowler would rather ignore facts to support the premise of his piece at the peril of producing a disjointed article of praise instead of something that actually lived true to its purpose. As Fowler’s more-informed and more-balanced colleague, Joe Giglio, stated this morning:

Plus, there’s a reason Sendek hired James Harden’s AAU coach at ASU. Harden’s a lottery pick.

There is something that is JUST LIKE his style at NC State – Sendek hired Damon Thornton and Kenny Inge’s coach (Mark Phelps) as soon as he got the NC State job to secure Thornton’s waivering commitment at the time just like he hired James Harden’s high school coach to garner Harden’s commitment. There is nothing wrong with it; and it is one of Sendek’s few ‘styles’ that has been the same at ASU as at NC State. Why would Fowler choose to ignore this when it actually supports the supposed premise of the article?

Another component of Sendek’s style that has been consistent at both schools came into clear focus on Saturday when the Sun Devils were playing USC for the Pac-10 Championship. ASU led by 15 points at halftime and completely controlled the first thirty minutes of the…then, disaster slowly struck.

The Sun Devils and All-American guard James Harden only scored six points in the last eight minutes and ten seconds of the game en route to mustering only 63 points for the day. They scored only four points in the last 7:37, which included only one field goal in the last 7:37. They ultimately lost the lead with 30 seconds to go and lost the title to the Trojans.

Wow? Ever seen that script before? If ANYTHING represents the ‘same style Sendek’ as his time at NC State it would be the nationally televised performance just five days ago that took Sendek’s record in major conference championship games to 0-4. Where the hell was Fowler’s article on Sunday morning about Sendek?

But Sendek still wins, too. He took N.C. State to the NCAA Tournament in his final five seasons, and now he’s made it here. While Sendek has coached a dozen NCAA Tournament games, going 6-6, none of his current players have ever been in one.

‘Wins’?

In three years Sendek has a losing record in the Pac-10 that is just slightly better than his ACC record that was sixteen games under .500 (72-88).

Has more ever been made of someone who in SIXTEEN YEARS of coaching has managed to win a grand total of six NCAA Tournament games while never finishing better than second place in a major conference or ever winning a major conference championship? If that is winning, I want my kid playing in the same youth sports leagues as Scott Fowler’s so that all of the kids will get their trophy for signing up.

As with anyone that is a former part of the Wolfpack family we are pulling for Herb to have success and take the Sun Devils to the promised land; but, in the process, we are pulling for the media to finally be able to report some balance, fact and truth as opposed to shoveling us the kind of bullshit that Scott Fowler shoveled today.

Various
Once again, WRAL and Time Warner Cable have you covered with comprehensive HD coverage.

Duke against Rick Barnes’ Texas in Greensboro on Saturday? Hell yes! Speaking of Barnes (and Tubby Smith), we had some great stuff in our open entry from yesterday including a little video of how to deal with players who don’t want to bust their ass 100% of the time.

In closing, we’ve got a hat tip to March to Madness for linking to the greatest dunk of all-time this week…but that didn’t come from the NCAA Tournament.

About BJD95

1995 NC State graduate, sufferer of Les and MOC during my entire student tenure. An equal-opportunity objective critic and analyst of Wolfpack sports.

08-09 Basketball

120 Responses to NCAAT Friday Open Thread (Major update @ 11:50am)

  1. StateFoxer 03/20/2009 at 11:10 AM #

    “ASU led by 9 points at halftime and double figures in the second half”

    Don’t mean to be nit-picky or anything, but ASU led by 15 at the half- ASU 39 USC 24

    SFN: Thanks, I will update.

  2. TJEVERETTE1984 03/20/2009 at 11:13 AM #

    unc is not fast?????? where in the hell do you get that from LOL you must be blind !!! UNC will smoke Gonzaga IF they even get by western kentucky…… As far as Herb goes you guys might as well shutup talking and calling him bald head and all of that childish crap because he plays today and we dont simple as that

  3. SaccoV 03/20/2009 at 11:33 AM #

    Not to hijack, but Darrion Caldwell is in the semi-finals of the NCAA Wrestling Championships again this season. Congrats to Darrion. Darrion will wrestle Bryce Saddoris in the Semis from Navy, and possibly get a rematch against #1 Brent Metcalf from Iowa in the championship finals (Metcalf defeated Caldwell earlier this season 19-3 in the NWCA All-Star Classic, which is an exhibition match and Caldwell’s only loss by technical fall in his career).

  4. choppack1 03/20/2009 at 11:43 AM #

    TJ – Aren’t you the same guy who told us that Cousins was going to come to State? Aren’t you the same guy who then told us that Wall was going to come to State because he wanted to be THE MAN?

  5. TOBtime 03/20/2009 at 11:54 AM #

    I think most of us would like to NEVER hear of Herb again but that is pretty difficult when every writer online and major paper in this area wants to crow about how great he is.
    Of course, those esteemed media outlets write what is their opinion and if you buy it or read it, shame on you. The fact is, Herb DID blow double-digit leads in the 2nd half of 2 ACC championship games that he had the talent to win. The fact is, herb once again repeated that coaching miracle last weekend with a different team in a different conference AFTER he was paid handsomely to leave NC State. The fact is, as stated above, Herb is a remarkable 6-6 in the NCAA tourney despite being portrayed as a ‘winner” wherever he has been by the media. Roy Williams wouldn’t be at the hole with that kind of record so why shouldn’t we complain about the double standard?
    The FACT is, Herb is a good coach, not a great one and good ones don’t hang NC banners. We have 2 of those and if you think we should settle for anything else you should shutup.

  6. Daily Update 03/20/2009 at 12:17 PM #

    Good Sendek comments. Unfortunately, the media has made it so I have to pull against Herb Sendek. I don’t want to pull against him, but the media’s inability to drop the Sendek/NC State issue or at least cover it in a fair manner means I have to hope he loses because that is best for NC State.

    Unfortunate situation really.

    They always throw in the comments about 8-38 and how his offense was boring at times in an attempt to be fair. If Sendek had won 2 or 3 key games that he choked(Duke ACC finals with 12 point lead and round of 32 game against Vandy), then he would still be our coach. Not only that but I think most NC State fans would be relatively happy with him.

    Instead, the media always paints the situation as our fans wanting to be as good as Duke or UNC when the reality was Herb Sendek just needed to be a little better than he was at NC State.

  7. StateFans 03/20/2009 at 12:22 PM #

    TJ, this isn’t the idiot boards. If you can’t fit in with the level of intellect and the more friendly style of discussion that we have here then do us the favor of not wasting our bandwidth. Thanks!

  8. Noah 03/20/2009 at 12:34 PM #

    Is Greg Czaban related to Steve? Please God, there can’t be another one.

    STEVE Czaban. You’re right…sorry. I normally avoid his show like the plague. It’s all fantasy leagues and hi-def TV talk jammed in between his pseudo-libertarian short-wave radio fantasies. But I was flipping around and caught Doyal and…I’m ashamed to admit it. I had to hear his nonsense.

  9. frankiepack 03/20/2009 at 12:39 PM #

    Well yes that vcu shot was awfull ,and Grant is an up and comer too! But that was the kid pulling the trigger too soon. That is not on Grant and if Saunders was not in foul trouble they would have won hands down.
    “Good who needs wall and his one and done self,we have a top 25 class coming in next year” Top 25 where in the State?

  10. choppack1 03/20/2009 at 12:40 PM #

    DU – Good comments.

    Here’s my two rebuts to those who start this “You guys shouldn’t have ran off Sendek” crap:
    1) What was his record against NCAA tournament participant UNC teams?
    1-17.

    2) Name another ACC Coach in your lifetime who a) never advanced past the Sweet 16, b) Never won an ACC championship c) Never won a regular season title.
    This is, of course, a trick question. There’s one coach who falls into this category, but he was UVa’s coach BEFORE Terry Holland.

    3)We were beating Duke by 15 in the Second half – I think there were about 10 minutes left, we were beating Vandy by 11 or 12 w/ less than 3:30 seconds left. (Oh, the pain of those collapses have not yet faded!)

  11. Mike 03/20/2009 at 12:40 PM #

    My only comment about VCU, and I had them in winning in my brackets, is why do you walk the ball up the court for the last shot? I know the guy shooting was the guy they wanted, but gee whiz, the shot was forced because they ran out of time. Killed my bracket because I had them beating Nova too, at which point they had the rematch wiht the Dookies.

    As for the Sendek crap piece, I read while eating breakfast this AM. Thought I was going to lose it. As much as I want to root for former Packies, I am sorry I cannot in this case. Not only has the media made him out to be the next messiah, I think he left us in a lurch as well. HS left knowing we had nothing in the cupboard, and he would have been fired the next year (OK, maybe not with LF) when we would have stunk. Call me an idiot, but I still think HS has been our problem the past few years.

  12. ktoh 03/20/2009 at 12:44 PM #

    I was not broken up when Herb left nor do I miss his stlye and above all personality.That said if there was a coaching contest Herb wins hands down over Sid.
    I have asu losing to Temple that A10 is always vastly underrrated they are not like the matchup zone temple teams but still tough. Most games in that league unless they are playing Fordham(sorry Derrick) are all close and competitive.

  13. RickJ 03/20/2009 at 12:54 PM #

    “Name another ACC Coach in your lifetime who a) never advanced past the Sweet 16, b) Never won an ACC championship c) Never won a regular season title.
    This is, of course, a trick question. There’s one coach who falls into this category, but he was UVa’s coach BEFORE Terry Holland.”

    Chop – You left out the part about staying employed at the school for at least 10 years. There are probably more ACC coaches that never did a), b) or c) than ones that did but they did not stay employed for 10 years.

  14. choppack1 03/20/2009 at 12:55 PM #

    Wow – some good games. 3 games w/ a total differnential of 5 points.

    Syracuse – my new favorite team for this tourney after they heart they showed in the 6 OT game – is blowing Stephen F. Austin (insert 1 on 5 joke here.)

  15. choppack1 03/20/2009 at 12:57 PM #

    Yep – RickJ – critical piece of info to omit – that 10 year thing.

  16. highstick 03/20/2009 at 1:25 PM #

    From today’s Technician: “Local Fiddler continues to write, play”

    I’ve got a better one: “Local AD continues to fish, play, and underachieve”!

  17. Packman02 03/20/2009 at 1:58 PM #

    That depends on what you mean by ‘underarchieve’, highstick. If you’re talking self-generated press coverage, he’s second to none!

    Remember, as the AD, Jed sets the bar for the performance of the Atheletic Dept. – so by his own esteemed standards, I’m sure he thinks he’s doing pretty well!

    I’ve inexplicably missed only one game so far this tournament – thanks Clemson!

  18. Alpha Wolf 03/20/2009 at 2:35 PM #

    From today’s Technician: “Local Fiddler continues to write, play”

    I’ve got a better one: “Local AD continues to fish, play, and underachieve”!

    Or,

    “Fowler Fiddles While State Fans Burn”

  19. MrPlywood 03/20/2009 at 2:38 PM #

    re: the “Herb in the media” phenomenon – the other day I posted about the statute of limitations on mentioning a coach’s former school, when the talking heads mentioned it yet again during the USC/ASU game. As far as this latest article, what is the journalistic motivation? Are there really that many State fans that want a Herb update? Is this meant to be water-cooler ammo for anti-State fans? Is this some strategy from Herb’s PR team? Highlighting a coach who is three years gone just doesn’t make sense. The dude is 3000 miles away, in another conference. Media – let it go.

  20. Alpha Wolf 03/20/2009 at 2:49 PM #

    ^ They can’t because that would mean that UNC fans would have to find something else for their schaudenfraude.

  21. choppack1 03/20/2009 at 2:52 PM #

    Plywood – You have to remember, most of these talking heads are elitists – and they despise not only the voice of the fans, but any avenue that gives these same fans a voice.

    State fans are guilty of being loud and vocal and having strong internet prescence. Like Clemson in football, we should just chalk our previous success up to cheating – and have no reasonable right to expect to compete on the national scene again. Like Clemson, we have ran off good, competent coaches.

    The talking heads have access to Sendek and see him as a decent, honorable man who was having success at NC State.

    His success at ASU validates their world view – basically, fans are stupid, and certainly don’t know as much about the sport as them – and NC State sucks.

  22. chris92heel 03/20/2009 at 3:02 PM #

    “STEVE Czaban. You’re right…sorry. I normally avoid his show like the plague. It’s all fantasy leagues and hi-def TV talk jammed in between his pseudo-libertarian short-wave radio fantasies. But I was flipping around and caught Doyal and…I’m ashamed to admit it. I had to hear his nonsense.”

    I’d say you totally nailed Czaban. He’s much more of an ass on local radio. I was almost glad that Daniel Snyder bought the station.

  23. TOBtime 03/20/2009 at 3:03 PM #

    Right on MrPlywood and my point exactly. We sure don’t need or want to be reminded.

    Ditto as well choppack. It’s as if there are only a few media-ordained schools who can hope to be champions. If you aren’t one of those schools and HAVE won a championship, well, there must have been some mistake!

    It’s the glory of the NCAA tourney. You cannot rob a school like Utah was robbed in football. If you win, you win.

  24. BassPacker 03/20/2009 at 3:11 PM #

    The N&O has only one motive to continue to publish crap with Sendek, and its obviously not in good taste. Why else would a Raleigh based paper report on success of a coach in AZ? Look for a follow up N&O report on Mack Browns spring practice success…..NOT.

    Would have been an interesting match up with ASU and Clemson. If they get by Temple, as it looks like Herb is still Herb, losing big leads in the end losing.

  25. LRM 03/20/2009 at 3:14 PM #

    “As with anyone that is a former part of the Wolfpack family we are pulling for Herb to have success and take the Sun Devils to the promised land…”

    Hey speak for yourself. I hope he goes down in flames and loses even more hair in the process.

    On a side note, I was in Phoenix last week for a conference, and I spoke with three different Arizona State fans that had no idea who he is. I envy them.

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