Bubble Coach is Good Enough For NC State

General Media NCS Basketball93

Tom Sorensen from the Charlotte Observer in today’s article:

We hear about bubble teams. N.C. State’s Herb Sendek is a bubble coach.

He’s too good to fire but he’s not good enough to fire up fans.

He has a winning record but he can’t beat Duke or North Carolina.

He always gets to the NCAA tournament but he never competes for the championship.

The best word to describe his work is solid. His seasons at N.C. State have been devoid of scandal. He is a solid citizen. He does a solid job.

Question: What happens to solid coaches at North Carolina and Duke?

Answer: Ask North Carolina’s Matt Doherty and Duke’s Pete Gaudet.

Sorensen’s piece goes on to talk about how tough it is to be at NC State and compete with Carolina and Duke…yada…yada…yada. All the same ridiculous crap that you’ve heard before. As if we play Carolina and Duke every game and as if no other school in the country has to get by Carolina and Duke in the NCAA Tournament. (More on this later).

The problem with all of this “Carolina & Duke” stuff is that it is wrong. NC State DOESN’T have to compete with Carolina & Duke. Can’t you tell? The losers in our athletics administration and at the University DON’T feel that they have to compete with Carolina and Duke and they prove it over and over and over again every single day and in every single (not) decision that they are cowardly to make.

The media talks about competing with Carolina and Duke. The fans talk about competing with Carolina and Duke. But, the only time Lee Fowler and folks at NC State talk about competing with Carolina and Duke is when they are making another excuse for why their version of NC State can’t succeed.

As Lee Fowler so eloquently stated last year,

“Our fans are comparing ourselves to Duke and North Carolina. Every program in the country doesn’t do well when you’re compared with those two on a day-to-day basis. I understand that our fans want to be able to compete with them; we all do. But you can be real good on a daily basis and not be better than those two programs.�

Don’t you get it…NC State can be “real good” without competing with Carolina and Duke. Here’s a question — are we? Are we “real good”? I guess only Lee Fowler can answer that since only Lee Fowler knows the definitions of such immeasurable terms. But, this year’s performance didn’t at all match Fowler’s preseason expectations.

If this is the way that NC State wants to run its Athletics Department and the University, then that is great. Unfortunately…that is not what was told to all of the thousands of NC State fans who the Wolfpack Club solicitied for millions of dollars over the last 15 years. For 15 years…all we have heard is how we have to have these great facilities to compete with the best. We have to have these great facilities to be the best. Suddenly, we are told and we run our program in a completely different manner than we were marketed. It’s called bait & switch. And, you and I are called suckers.

Today, we have a coach that has been given a DECADE of opportunity to succeed. We have a coach that has had the nation’s top college basketball arena at his disposal and has recently added one of the top practice facilities in the country. With those resources, this coach has succeeded in destroying the NC State fanbase’s sense of community in route to compiling:

* The second worst record of performance in the history of the NC State program

* performance that clearly ranks him ahead of a ONE of the 17 coaches in ACC history that have been provided the honor to coach for a decade or longer in the ACC.

Folks…it is as good as it is going to get.

This is obviously as good as the administration wants to aim. You need to know this. You need to realize this. And, you need to stop acting like everyone else in the world has your historical perspective and has your standards of success. The administration doesn’t care about having a championship-caliber program. They never address the topic and at this point, if someone from NC State would dare make such a claim then you need to move away quickly before the lightening strikes them. So, why should we care?

When you finally accept the truth…perhaps you can a chuckle at the University that is currently raising over a billion dollars in what they call the “Achieve!!” campaign so that NC State can compete with higher ranked universities. Gee…where have I heard that before?

I think that they should rename it “Solid!!!”

General Media NCS Basketball

93 Responses to Bubble Coach is Good Enough For NC State

  1. BJD95 03/22/2006 at 10:41 AM #

    We all heard so much about the “stress” that the negative atmosphere was placing on Sendek and family. Apparently, there is a price for that stress, and it is the differential between Sendek’s salary here, and what he could have at the mid-major level.

    I apologize for this borderline unfair/insensitive comment. I am just extremely frustrated today. Let me blow off some steam, and I will be more objective and fair-minded tomorrow. 🙂

  2. Rick 03/22/2006 at 10:54 AM #

    I feel your pain BJD.
    I am having a hard time not turing my frustration on Herb himself. I have never had any ill feelings toward him but the way he is treating my alma mater is starting to really irk me.

    BTW,
    I was talking to a guy from Az today. He is an ASU fan. I mentioned his teams coahing search and asked him what he felt about Sendek. He said he would rather have a young up and comer.
    I have no hope.

  3. class of '85 03/22/2006 at 11:00 AM #

    Today is starting to get depressing. I hope we are off base.

  4. B.Stone 03/22/2006 at 11:05 AM #

    I think the HSSS’ers might be more aptly described as “Herbivores” because they continually feed off the same diluted fodder from one year to the next. A “Herbivore” is able to survive strictly off squeaking into NCAA tournament bids; all the while filling its’ belly with bloated twenty win seasons and the all important “entire body of work” diet. This culminates with a giant load of Herbivore crap, usually dumped in March or February, on the court of an arena near you . Does anyone else see the irony in a Pack of Carnivorous Wolves being led by a passive Herbivore? “When we hungry, we gonna eat!” Too bad it looks like it’s going to continue to be vegetable medley instead of ribeye.

  5. choppack 03/22/2006 at 11:06 AM #

    “Wow, hard to believe that Sendek has so little market value that we don’t even make it to Final Four weekend before giving up all hope of a fresh start.”

    Well, if you are a major – which is a job that Sendek is looking for – you probably want to bring in someone special. Sendek hasn’t established himself as that yet. As a matter of fact, I’d wager that the only 2 really hot coaches right now in the conference (outside of Roy and K) are probably Hewitt and Williams. I’ll put it to everyone on this blog this way…aside from the obvious established coaches – Barnes, Donovan, Belien, Izzo, Calhoun, Wright, and Howland(UCLA coach?) – and someone like Pearl and Gillespie – who do you find appealing out there who coaches at the major level?

    I think the best hope is the mid-major route at present – but Sendek doesn’t seem to want that right now – or maybe they don’t want him.

  6. BJD95 03/22/2006 at 11:08 AM #

    You are seeing the full PR press. The only logical conclusion that I can come to is that Sendek’s feelers produced NO hits, and so the spin machine has been told to go to work.

    The NC State spin machine really could have a future in politics.

  7. beowolf 03/22/2006 at 11:15 AM #

    I’m just thoroughly, completely disgusted. The NC State athletics dept. won’t come right out and say what their standards for basketball are, and I think it’s because doing so would be a financial killer. But those standards are becoming quite obvious to everyone.

  8. jesse 03/22/2006 at 11:19 AM #

    hey cheer up guys. it’s not so bad. if we keep sendek for just a few more years then he will be one of those guys with the label “longest tenured coach who has never won anything” you know like jim beoheim (not sure how to spell that sorry) until he won. and then all the recruits will want to come here to “win one for the coach”. feel better?

  9. beowolf 03/22/2006 at 11:26 AM #

    Yeah, jesse, because we all know if you stay at a place long enough, championships magically happen. And the best way to dig yourself out of a hole is to dig up. If you walk far enough east you’ll suddenly be in the west.

    I feel better now. Let’s go lose in the NCAA second round by one of our largest margins of defeat again, and then let’s go lose to our underdog archrival at home in our largest margin of a defeat in a home conference game since Les had to play that walk-on white guy with the floppy hair. Because ten more years or so, *you never know, it might happen!*

    Criminy.

  10. BJD95 03/22/2006 at 11:28 AM #

    Sort of reminds me of the old phrase – “wish in one hand and crap in another, and see which one gets full first.”

  11. RedNYellow 03/22/2006 at 11:29 AM #

    Boeheim and Roy actually had made some noise in the NCAA tourney and regular season before they brought home the hardware. Herb’s NCAA tourney trips have had about as much effect as a fart in a windstorm (Sweet 16 trip included). Oh yes…then there is the national prominence that they achieved in the regular seasons. Oh yes….and those conference championships that they won.

  12. choppack 03/22/2006 at 11:31 AM #

    beo – I do think that you have a point. I’ve mentioned before, that w/ a couple notable exceptions, the highest profile sports are successful when you compare them to our low profile sports. Look at our men’s b’ball, women’s b’ball, and football – clearly these sports are right on the “average or slightly above average” bubble. I do think it’s a fair question to ask Fowler if he’s happy w/ a coach who gets him to the NCAA tourney most years, rarely advances past the round of 32, and doesn’t win any titles – and if he’s willing to put a timeline on when he’d expect something different. I also think it’s fair to him to ask when he’d expect our football program to have a winning record in conference.

  13. BJD95 03/22/2006 at 11:36 AM #

    Chop brings up a good point. Just b/c we’re in a frenzy about Sendek right now doesn’t mean that we should forget about how Chuck’s seat needs to be hot, too. 🙂

  14. Sam '92 03/22/2006 at 11:56 AM #

    n.b.: according to packpride fowler just gave herb a vote of support (no surprise, but disappointing)

  15. Old13 03/22/2006 at 11:57 AM #

    It’s all about $$$$$. And nothing associated with NCSU will recieve any more of mine!

  16. choppack 03/22/2006 at 11:58 AM #

    BJ -Actually, it’s more about Fowler in general. I think he’s happy running a “solid” athletic program. I doubt he’s willing to admit publicly that he’s happy w/ NCAA bids and bowl games most years -titles be damned.

    I would also tell you that I think that Fowler’s attitude and expectations at least partially explain both Herb’s and Amato’s reaction to what they perceive as unjustified criticism. If you are the chef at a restaurant and your boss says he thinks you are doing a great job at cooking the food and setting up the menu, how would you expect the chef to react to criticism from the restaurant’s customers. In some cases the chef would say, “Yep, that steaks overcooked, I apologize.” But in many, the chef would say, “You’re an idiot, you obviously don’t know food.”

    I’d also add that when folks are unreasonable, it doesn’t help keep the discussion and debate reasonable. There are way too many folks who make foolish statements that Fowler, et al can parrot back to paint most critics w/ a broad brush.

  17. WufPacker 03/22/2006 at 12:01 PM #

    If people complained about the food AND stopped eating there then the chef would be canned, pronto.

    Unfortunately, the restauranteur was clever enough to charge customers a huge cover charge to even get seated for the next 30 years, so now they don’t feel they can afford to eat anywhere else.

  18. Jeff 03/22/2006 at 12:02 PM #

    Typical Jessee, pick one, arbitrary, irrelevant factoid and point to it as if it had an application here.

  19. WufPacker 03/22/2006 at 12:12 PM #

    Yes, Jeff. And in response to your request for a term for some who does that (about 2 weeks ago or so IIRC) I would suggest:

    FactJacker (n): One who takes a random fact somewhere it was never intended to go in order to support an argument that is largely irrelevant to that fact. See also “InfoBroker”.

  20. Rick 03/22/2006 at 12:17 PM #

    “I’d also add that when folks are unreasonable, it doesn’t help keep the discussion and debate reasonable. There are way too many folks who make foolish statements that Fowler, et al can parrot back to paint most critics w/ a broad brush.”

    This is happening because of Fowler’s complete ignoring of anyone that does not agree with his “everything is great” mantra. Fowler more than anyone is driving this divide in the fanbase. He is arrogant and ignorant, a bad combination.
    People are spounting off foolish statements because they are frustrated that no one is seeing reason.
    I go to a Bible study that Fowler attends and it takes every once of my being not to accost him. But that is neither the time nor place. I do think it explains somewhat the reasons behind his love of Sendek though.

  21. Sammy Kent 03/22/2006 at 12:17 PM #

    Lee Fowler needs to be sent on a trip to Tora Bora with an Islam Sucks sign chained to his neck. Never give up, people. Do not lose heart or faith. I know it is frustrating and depressing. Do whatever you must to make your voice heard. Don’t be skeered to call or write these people and tell them what you think. Boycott, picket, call talk shows, write letters, do it all without fear or compromise. The Herbivores will not win this war. Either Herb Sendek WILL win or he WILL be gone, sooner rather than later. Stand up for your school, your heritage, your honor. YOU ARE ENTITLED TO HAVE YOUR OPINION MATTER.

  22. TampaPack 03/22/2006 at 12:23 PM #

    Okay, this may get me torn apart on here, but does anyone think we still have any shot at Barnes? Am I the only one that things he said those nice things about Herb and wanting to be at Texas because his team is STILL in the tournament. Maybe I am just holding out false hope for a change, especially since the statement Fowler issued in the N&O today….

  23. WufPacker 03/22/2006 at 12:34 PM #

    Because Barnes’ team is still in the tourney AND was playing Herb’s team the next day is likely why his responses were phrased as they were. However, I do not think this necessarily means we ever had a shot at him (currently, that is).

    Personally I believe that ship sailed 5 years ago when we failed to act when we should have.

  24. WufPacker 03/22/2006 at 12:38 PM #

    ^^First and foremost it is not relevant because its idiotic to think a recruit would go to any program just to help out a coach who isn’t winning. Personally I thought you were kidding when you made that statement. If you weren’t kidding thats kinda scary.

  25. beowolf 03/22/2006 at 12:39 PM #

    I think WufPacker is right.

    But I’m also at the point right now where I’m trying to be as pessimistic as possible, since that’s the only way a Wolfpack basketball fan these days can be pleasantly surprised.

    Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to out-pessimist reality. At the second half of the VT game, I said it figured that NC State would suddenly forget how to play basketball right before our archrival came to town. I just thought they might remember again after the inevitable UNC loss.

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