Delong’s Delights

General NC State Administration NCS Basketball Required Reading Sidney Lowe89

Just after Sidney Lowe was hired, John Delong of the Winston-Salem Journal wrote an outstanding piece that we never chronicled here and wanted to take a couple of minutes to get it on the site.

Good Call: In Lowe, State gets what it needs … a State guy .

This piece was fantastic. It was the absolute BEST article that we saw in the mainstream media regarding Lowe’s hire. The piece highlighted more of the different complex different elements related to Lowe’s hire.

We will quote Delong’s most recent piece in the comments section of this entry. These are great pieces and we wanted to have them chronicled forever in case you need/want access to them.

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General NC State Administration NCS Basketball Required Reading Sidney Lowe

89 Responses to Delong’s Delights

  1. Wulfpack 05/18/2006 at 1:11 PM #

    Those are very qualitative statements to make. My line of reasoning is supported with measureable statistics. I understand exactly what you are saying about his perceived lack of passion and his player development. I really do. We may have “the better guy” for the program, in time. But Herb did not kill this program.

    All I am saying is that Herb dug NCSU out of a hole and left the program in fine shape. A current assistant even mentioned that earlier this week. We are a top-25 program, and should continue to be. We could have easily fallen off the map during his time at the helm. But, we haven’t. We could be Clemson, or Florida State, or UVA, or Va Tech, or hell even Maryland now (the Terps are in shambles). We are not. The future is bright because one man left the program in good shape, and another good man will inherit the program and hopefully advance it to another level.

    Tcdhdi – I don’t know how else to say it but the V years have been long over. This is a different era with a larger set of challenges. Live in the present, understand the landscape. Sendek was also not a cheater — he did it the right way. Our program is in good shape. The future is bright. Even though he didn’t deliver any championships to your doorstep, you at least owe that to the guy.

    UNC has some major advantages at this day in age. Dean Smith was one of the all-time greats, and he still has a say in the direction of the program. They lured an excellent recruiter (Doherty) to town. They learned he couldn’t coach, so they fired him. They hired a Hall of Famer who consistently had Kansas in contention for the national prize. We are not so fortunate — for whatever reason. We did not have a Roy Williams to turn to. We do have Sideny and he will be a fighter. He will, however, have to learn the ropes. Roy knew the ropes.

    Lastly, Arizona State is a very good job. I’m not sure what is clouding your judegment about that. They are paying big bucks, competing in an excellent conference, recruiting great talent. Comparing Miami (OH) to ASU is just not really possible. ASU is on a different playign field. The expectations are not as high there as they are here. He and his family has been and will feel very welcomed. He has room to grow and to establish ASU as a top-25 program.

  2. Jeff 05/18/2006 at 2:18 PM #

    I think that ^your post is very good. But I disagree with a lot of what you say.

    My line of reasoning is supported with measureable statistics….We are a top-25 program, and should continue to be.

    How do your measureable statistics support this?

    (1) NC State finished the season ranked in the AP Top 25 once in Herb Sendek’s decade-long tenure…and that was three years ago.

    (2) NC State finished the season with an RPI better than #32 once once in Herb Sendek’s decade-long tenure…and that was three years ago.

    (3) NC State’s seeding anaysis in the NCAA Tournament under Sendek is included below. Only once in a decade did he achieve a seed that would put us in the Top 25. The last two years he achieved seeds that put us at #40.

    Seeding

    We haven’t even been a Top 25 program but for ONE SEASON in the last ten years…last five years….last three years. There is nothing remotely close to qualitative that supports your conclusions.

  3. Wulfpack 05/18/2006 at 2:27 PM #

    Jeff, you got me on that. No excuses. It would be incorrect to say we were a top-25 program during his tenure. I don’t think it’d be incorrect to say we were an NCAA Tournament calibre program, however.

    I will say the RPI can go to hell and a hand-basket. Many coaches despise it — it’s mostly a tool for the media and the committee to better decipher matters. It’s garbage, predicts nothing, and is loaded with fallacies. I’m guessing NCSU’s low RPIs are partly attributable to Sendek’s cup-cake non-conference schedule.

    Jeff – I agree with both of these comments. I hate the RPI, as well.

    I just get frustrated by the characterization that we are a Top 25 program because then we REALLY WOULD BE CRAZY for our opinions of Sendek. If Sendek had created a legitimate Top 25 program then most people would have been just fine with him. The problem is that the national media and those on the outside only choose to know that we made 5 straight NCAA Tournaments without dedicating themselves to know more about those trips to the Dance and how they were manufactured.

  4. Dan 05/18/2006 at 2:56 PM #

    Thats a great chart Jeff.

    Wulf, being a NCAA tourney team, with all due respect, isnt saying all that much anymore. Maybe it says you are a top 40 program. Look at Seton Hall and A&M last year. Air Force. Those arent seasons we aspire to. Its gotten to a point that making the tourney isnt what it used to be. It shouldnt be the gold standard of success in college basketball. Rather, not making the tourney should be a sign there is something that needs attention quick.

    Now if you can be in the upper tier of the at large bids over a five year period, that is really saying something.

    As far as the RPI goes, (Btw its “go to hell in a hand basket” – just in case you want to use it again later) it just a measuring tool. There are some things wrong with it. But overall its pretty useful whe used looking at an entire season. One thing about the RPI: If a good team plays a good schedule and wins, it wont be penalized. What’s so bad about that?

  5. redfred2 05/18/2006 at 3:26 PM #

    Some people are content as can be, with season upon season, of moving from point A, to point A.

    Hard to fight that mindset.

  6. redfred2 05/18/2006 at 4:18 PM #

    I hate to tell all of you out there still trying to defend, all the die hard X’s and O’ers, you can know exactly what needs to be done, or not, but if you can’t translate something to your players, you aren’t going to help them. You will seldom beat anyone of comparable talent, and you will almost never beat a superior one.

    I coach right now, that is fact. ^Mr Jeff’s^ chart plainly illustrates in the only colors that some can comprehend, plain ole black and white.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love the debate, but this is no brainer.

  7. redfred2 05/18/2006 at 4:31 PM #

    I hate to tell all of those still out there trying to defend, the die hard X’s and 0’ers among us, but a coach can know more than anyone, he can know exactly needs to be done, or not, but if he can’t translate something to his players, he won’t help them, they will very seldom beat a team with comparable talent, and almost never beat a superior one.

    I coach, I see it all of the time. ^Mr Jeff’s^ chart up there, clearly points it out in the only colors that some can understand, plain ole black and white.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love the debate, but it is a no brainer.

  8. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 05/18/2006 at 5:12 PM #

    If State is so concerned about the ‘student-athlete’ shouldn’t Terry Gannon and Todd Fuller’s names…errr numbers… hang from the rafters of CASE- Capitol Area Sports and Entertainment- Arena (Formerly ESA aka RBC)?

  9. redfred2 05/18/2006 at 6:26 PM #

    The names you mentioned would be true exceptions these days, there is an even wider gap between student, and athlete now days. I don’t think that a lot of the people posting here can except that fact. They have rosy view and similar view of the two, which is not shared by most UNC, or other school’s alums/fans. They just enjoy college athletics for what they actually are.

    Were are the kids like Gannon and Fuller, who were here during the “so respectable” recent years at NCSU?

  10. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 05/19/2006 at 12:22 PM #

    Gannon was around in ’83 and is a lead broadcaster for ABC sports. You will see him on things from Golf and football to handball.

    Fuller was drafted 11th by Golden State in 1997- Two spots ahead of one Kobe Bryant. Looks like he last played for Miami in 01 an I don’t see any information online about him since.

    Orginally I was speaking to the BS most all the universities put out when speaking of the ‘student-athlete’. We honor the great players, not the great students/good players by hanging oversized numbers in the rafters.

  11. redfred2 05/19/2006 at 4:31 PM #

    ^tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc

    Thanks for the updates on Gannon and Fuller, I was already pretty familiar with what they have been doing lately.

    What I was really trying to ask was, with all of the “class” and “respectability” that Herb Sendek supposedly brought to NCSU, where are the kids who were under his care over the past ten years, that have met with similar successes as Terry Gannon and Todd Fuller? Both players who played for the same university, one under the so called “program wrecker” Jim Valvano, and the other under Les Robinson. If Sendek was such a great boost to the university, where are the kids now, that are benefitting greatly from playing under him? HUH?

    Does Les Robinson have a better record with former player’s tenures in the NBA than Herb Sendek? It wouldn’t take much more than Todd Fuller’s NBA time to offset all of Herb’s players NBA success stories for the decade. I don’t know that for sure, but I would think Herb is playing second fiddle to Les in that category.

  12. Wulfpack 05/19/2006 at 10:29 PM #

    State players currently in the league:

    Anthony Grundy, ATL
    Josh Powell, DAL
    Julius Hodge, DEN

    Will Ced join this list? Haven’t heard much hear about Vinny Del Negro, though I know he played for V. He had a heck of a career.

  13. redfred2 05/20/2006 at 12:47 PM #

    Wulfpack

    You are right about those players, I’ll give you, and Herb, some credit there. Anthony Grundy is one of the players who did develop under Sendek because he had to carry the bulk of the load, he didn’t have too many other options to throw the ball to in his later years. Hodge, I don’t want to go into his college career, that would be rehashing a sore subject. I think maybe Josh Powell is a real stretch when giving any amount of credit to the coach, I would definitely argue that situation otherwise. I will say that Todd Fuller did get some quality NBA playing time for a while there though. I have pretty much lost interest in the NBA and don’t keep up anymore like I used to. I don’t really know for sure and maybe I shouldn’t have spouted off like I did. I hope maybe you will also be able to add Cameron Bennerman to your list sometime down the road, he deserves a shot. Simmons is in the bag already.

    I do get riled when Jimmy V’s name is mentioned as the single and only source for the downfall at NCSU, and the recovery process was guilt ridden, and punished the school far beyond the violations commited, for way too many years. Some of the players from his era have done pretty well for themselves, as the coaching search just showed. That was, his main job afterall, to teach them how to successful at the game of basketball. You bring up a good point when you mentioned Vinnie Del Negro. It’s that type of player development, from where he was when he came out of high school, to what he accomplished in four years at NCSU and beyond, that is what I crave. Gugliotta fit that same mold.

    If the most recent coach had developed his players in any way similar to that, regardless of the style of play or the number of games in the loss column, I wouldn’t be typing right now.

  14. Wulfpack 05/23/2006 at 1:33 PM #

    Red, was just trying to provide a little info that wasn’t already provided, that’s all. Not trying to make any sort of point about Sendek and player development and everything else. You raise very fair points.

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