It is all over the internet…so, it would be pretty stupid of us to just choose to ignore it.
You probably know by now that Herb Sendek’s Arizona State Sun Devils lost AT HOME in their first game of the year against Northern Arizona last night. NAU had previously lost by 34 points to Kansas. Ouch! (For the record, NAU ranked #117 in the RPI last year – significantly better than the type of team that Sendek likes to schedule for out of conference feasts.)
ASU had won 16 straight home openers dating back to 1989 when the Sun Devils lost to Brigham Young in Bill Frieder’s first season as head coach.
Wolfpack fans will recognize a lot from ASU’s loss. For example:
* The Sun Devils attempted 36 3-pointers, making only 10 from beyond the arc
* The Sun Devils hit six of their first eight shots from the floor but then went cold. They made only nine of their next 26 shots to end the first half.
* The “Words of Wisdom” included in this link.
The announced attendance of Wells Fargo arena was 10,000+ but many posters on ASU’s message boards estimated the attendace closer to 6,000, comprised largely of students that had turned out to support the new program. At least their students turned out. That is a lot more than we can say about the NC State students that continue to disappoint for games not against UNC or Duke since the Wolfpack moved off campus to the RBC Center around the turn of the century.
We aren’t going to harp on Sendek’s loss too much…nor are we going to focus on Herb all year. But, the event hit every major news outlet around here so we were looking left out by not blogging something. 850TheBuzz blogged a good one that you should see and also refers to the N&O’s blog entry.
Turning Arizona State into a strong program isn’t a quick fix job and Sendek has been trying to explain to the folks out west during the offseason.
“It’s not going to happen overnight,� Sendek said. “I don’t think anybody thought it was going to. Experiences like this will only serve to strengthen our resolve and increase our determination, I assure you.�
Keep chopping the wood and honoring the process, big guy. Not that we’re saying anything about the rest of the season based on one game, but right now it’s Sidney Lowe-1, Herb Sendek-0. What?!? Like State fans aren’t going to keep track of it anyway… Next game for the Sun Devils: Vs Cal State San Bernardino.
Don’t forget…give him some time. Wait til next year! There is a great recruiting class coming in to complement some very good young talent on the roster. This team is going to be force in a few years!!
