Dave Johnson of the Hampton Roads Daily Press wrote an article on Saturday saying that state fans should “give sendek a pass” this year.
Here are a couple quotes:
State fans seem just as concerned with how others – namely, Duke and North Carolina – are doing. And true enough, the Wolfpack is third in The Triangle. But guess what? Excluding brief stretches here and there, that’s the way it’s always been.
Sendek deserves a pass this season. His starting point guard (Tony Bethel) missed four games and played pieces of others after being diagnosed with colitis. His second-leading scorer (Cameron Bennerman) just returned after missing five games with an elbow injury. His most experienced post player (Levi Watkins) could be done for the season with a sprained knee.
It’s not like Sendek hadn’t won before. For the 2002, ’03 and ’04 seasons, State averaged 21 victories. Its 11-5 conference record last season was its best in 15 years. Even if he doesn’t win another game the rest of the way, Sendek will be averaging 18 wins over his nine seasons in Raleigh.
He’s 11-8 in the ACC tournament, a .579 winning percentage that is better than every coach in the league except Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski. And, for that matter, better than Lefty Driesell, Dave Odom, Terry Holland, Bobby Cremins, Norm Sloan and Valvano.
Yet State fans aren’t seeing that. All they’re seeing is their team struggling while Duke, North Carolina and even Wake Forest look like Final Four contenders.
