Local media rushes to defend NC State against national hacks

ACC & Other Big Four Rivals Coaches College Basketball Editor's Picks Fans Media NCS Basketball NCSU Sports History Sidney Lowe49

Many props to long-time ACC sportswriters Al Featherson and Brett Friedlander for their latest columns that will be linked towards the end of this entry

Also, our local radio guys like Dave Glenn, Joe Ovies, and Adam Gold have defended us all week as well. Maybe from now on the hosts won’t waste time on their shows featuring Parrish, Decourcy, etc…since they have proven to lack perspective and knowledge on the topics relevant to their listening audience? Why give these guys a stage when the hosts’ own opinions are much more interesting and accurate? Why have “experts” on the radio who know less about the topic than the actual hosts? Hopefully, if any of our local radio guys read this entry, then they will take those questions as a compliment, an honest suggestion from someone who listens daily, and chooses local sports talk over satellite radio.

Gold and Ovies have already weighed in on the Sendek/Lowe/NC State/Hate State topic here and here if you haven’t read their columns yet.

We have 5 years of data from Sendek coaching at ASU that proves NC State fans were exactly right about Herb Sendek’s record at NC State, yet these experts that we are subjected to on local radio aren’t ever asked to discuss Herb Sendek and his lack of progress at ASU.

We are still waiting for that update on the “revival in Tempe”, Seth. How about you, Gary? Remember this comment:

I decided right then I wasn’t getting off the phone until I got Herb Sendek to pat himself on the back a little bit. I wanted him to talk about how well he’s been doing since N.C. State fans pushed him to Arizona State in 2006 despite the fact that Sendek was coming off five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, and I wanted him to contrast it to the current struggles in Raleigh.

Why don’t you call him now and ask him about his 1-10 Arizona St. team and contrast that to the struggles in Raleigh? Where are all of these articles on Herb Sendek 5 years later about his progress at Arizona St.? How could such a great coach be struggling in year 5 of a rebuilding job? I can’t wait until some other major conference jobs come open and the national pundits start pushing Sendek’s name for these openings.

Anyways, here are the two articles from Featherston and Friedlander.

Full link an absolute must read:

Just because Sidney Lowe hasn’t worked out is no reason to consign N.C. State to college basketball’s dustbin. There is no reason that State can’t compete at the highest levels of the sport – up there with Duke and UNC. The school has great facilities (I’m not talking about just the RBC, but also about the Weisinger Brown practice facility), a passionate fan base, no unusual recruiting restrictions. They play in a great conference and they’re always on TV.

And they have a great history of success, even if guys like Brando and Patrick don’t know it.

Obviously, N.C. State has its share of delusional fans who thought that Rick Barnes would jump at the chance to replace Herb Sendek and who now think the Pack can lure Jamie Dixon or Jay Wright or Mark Few. But every school has fans like that. Just because new AD Debbie Yow is unlikely to hire a proven BCS-level winner does not mean she can’t make a great hire … maybe a mid-level Division 1 head coach such as the guys Duke, N.C. State and Georgia Tech all found in the early 1980s when they picked up Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano and Bobby Cremins from Army, Iona and Appalachian State, respectively.

She just has to find the right guy.

By the way, I wonder if the headline writer for Parrish’s story actually knows anything about the “Ugly Duckling” fairytale. Think about it – in the Hans Christian Anderson story, the ugly duckling grows up to be a beautiful swan … more beautiful than any of the ducks it was compared to.

Considering the potential of the currently ugly Wolfpack program, that might not be such a bad characterization after all.

Another must read:

One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday morning is getting up early, turning on the television and watching The Sports Reporters on ESPN.

It’s not that I’m looking for deep insight, breaking news or any kind of professional inspiration from writers who are far better at their craft than I could ever dream of being.

I just enjoy listening to the superstars of my field try to sound like experts about people and issues with which they are only marginally familiar.

What these guys lack in actual knowledge about things such as, say, the ACC, they make up for with a string of clichés and stereotypes passed down in Final Four hospitality rooms from generation to generation.

Or in the case of the N.C. State basketball program, they simply kneel down before the shrine of Herb Sendek and rewrite history.

ACC & Other Big Four Rivals Coaches College Basketball Editor's Picks Fans Media NCS Basketball NCSU Sports History Sidney Lowe

49 Responses to Local media rushes to defend NC State against national hacks

  1. RedAj4Life 02/12/2011 at 3:32 PM #

    “By the way, I wonder if the headline writer for Parrish’s story actually knows anything about the “Ugly Duckling” fairytale. Think about it – in the Hans Christian Anderson story, the ugly duckling grows up to be a beautiful swan … more beautiful than any of the ducks it was compared to.
    Considering the potential of the currently ugly Wolfpack program, that might not be such a bad characterization after all.”

    Hey guys i never thought of it that way, maybe we should actually be thanking Gary Parrish’s sorry ass for giving us this classic example of old school success.

  2. wolfie91 02/12/2011 at 3:52 PM #

    “And don’t read too much into the name recognition factor of the successful candidate. It has nothing to do with the quality of the program or the challenge of coaching and recruiting head-to-head in the same backyard as Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams.
    The fact is high-profile coaches simply don’t move around that often. Other than UNC’s Williams and his namesake Gary at Maryland – both of whom returned to their respective alma maters – you have to go all the way back to Frank McGuire at South Carolina in 1964 to find the last marquee name to be hired at an ACC school. That is, unless you include Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton in that same category.”

    I did not realize this, but a very interesting fact to think about if and when we have our next coaching search. No doubt Coach K’s successor might be a high-profile coach but even that’s not guaranteed.

  3. eas 02/12/2011 at 4:24 PM #

    This BS about coaches not wanting to go up against UNC and Duke is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. I would love to ask Davis or any other idiot in the media this simple question.

    “If NCSU is not a good job because of the UNC/Duke competition than why did you take a job a CBS Seth (any other sleeze reporter name will work)? If you follow your own theory Seth, than you should have taken a local news job rather than compete with the other big networks/names! Why didn’t you? Because you are no different than anyone else who strives for success. Coaches want to beat the best just like the media wants to compete against the best.”

    Absolutely absurd Seth! You are doing the same thing as what you say coaches are scared of at NCSU!

  4. highstick 02/12/2011 at 5:33 PM #

    “The Lowe situation was exactly the same. After basically running former head coach Herb Sendek out of town, former Athletics Director Lee Fowler led a very publicized head coaching search that failed to net John Calipari, Steve Lavin or Rick Barnes, all main targets. After a month, Lowe, an assistant with the Detroit Pistons at the time, threw his name in the hat, hoping to save a little grace on the search out of the love he had for the University.”

    Heck, you can’t even understand what the Technician is writing so I guess we shouldn’t blame the sportswriters…The statement above makes it sound like Fowler ran Sendek out of town..And did we really want “Calamari”? We’d be as dirty as the Heels are with Chief…

    http://www.technicianonline.com/sports/pack-needs-a-roy-williams-1.2461835

  5. MrPlywood 02/12/2011 at 6:59 PM #

    I’m not familiar with Featherston, so I was surprised to see the article was on the Duke Bball Report. That’s refreshing.

  6. GAWolf 02/12/2011 at 8:06 PM #

    Highstick: Calipari was on campus for an interview. It was all over everywhere that he was here and brought his assistants with him. Rumor has it he was so close to signing with us that nameplates were being cut for his office door and desk.

  7. runwiththepack 02/12/2011 at 8:40 PM #

    Did anyone else hear Joe Ovies field the call from the Heels fan who called in to say State should have been more patient with Sendek, and now, Lowe? I think he went on to yammer on about unreasonable State fans, unrealistic expectations, yaddy-yaddy… the usual BS.
    May Alla bless Ovies! He came right back at the meddlesome Heel fan with (partly paraphrased) “Well, Bob, what would UNC do if Lowe was the UNC coach for five losing ACC records in five years?”. (pause) “Bob?” (pause)
    Bob: “Well, uh, uh, well, um, uh…”
    Ovies: “Bob…, it’s a simple question.”
    Bob: “Well – you know, uh, duh, I uh, I uh…”
    Bob, the bandwagon fan, just couldn’t find his tongue! Ovies just cut him off as he was fumbling incoherently, explaining to the audience that Bob is full of it. It was hilarious, and so typical of the double standard of so many Heels fans, who will preach to NCSU, but know they can’t practice what they preach.

    Excellent work, Ovies.
    Did anyone else catch that exchange or other good ones? Knee-slapping LMAO. Direct hit on a Heel.

  8. mwcric 02/12/2011 at 10:42 PM #

    To say State fans simply couldn’t tolerate Sendek because of his abysmal record against UNC and Duke must be one of the most ludicrous conclusions ever drawn in sports history. Here are some numbers to consider BESIDES his 8-38 record against those two teams.

    · Overall record at NC State: 191-132 (.591)
    · Overall ACC regular-season record: 71-91 (.438) – This corresponds to an average finish in the conference of fifth place. If Duke and UNC were State’s only problems, shouldn’t that average be closer to third place?
    · While State never finished in last place during Sendek’s tenure, in eight of his 10 seasons the team that did finish last beat the Pack. In two seasons the last-place team beat State twice.
    · NCSU had a cumulative 13-10 (.565) ACC Tournament record, with three appearances in the championship…and three second-place finishes.
    · NCSU had a cumulative 10-10 mark in postseason play – 5-5 in the NIT and 5-5 in the NCAA. State missed the postseason once, and made it to the NIT semifinals once (finishing fourth) and the Sweet Sixteen once. Beyond that the Pack never advanced past a second round.
    · Sendek’s teams accumulated a 22-21 record vs. non-conference BCS teams (.512)
    · But his teams also lost nine total games to non-BCS schools over the course of six of his 10 seasons (to his credit he did not lose to a non-BCS school in his final three seasons).
    · State’s longest winning streaks by season: 6, 6, 3, 7, 4, 5 (twice), 5, 5, 8, 7. As you can imagine nearly all of these streaks occurred at the beginning of each season, against the softest portion of the schedule.
    · The teams’ collective record over the last 10 games (including postseason and ACC tournament) of the 10 seasons in question: 49-51 (.490). What that boils down to is that Sendek won about 64 percent of his games thanks to often frontloading embarrassing early-season schedules, and finished each season floundering. In fact, only twice in 10 years did he finish above .500 over the season’s final 10 games.
    · State’s record versus ranked teams over the decade in question? 28-71 (.283)
    · If you went to every game NC State played against an ACC foe from 1996-97 season to the 2005-2006 season, you on average watched the Wolfpack lose 70-69.
    · Since the media wants to make this all about Duke and UNC, if you just went to those games over those 10 seasons, you walked out of the arena after seeing, on average, a 77-67 defeat.
    · Of Sendek’s 132 losses while at NC State, 62 of them were of 10 points or more – an astounding 47 percent of all losses.
    · But even the close games weren’t much fun to watch; the Pack was 18-31 in games decided by three points or less (.367)
    · And what about the other ACC schools? We hear all about the 8-38 record against Duke and UNC, but were fans any happier with going 1-3 against Boston College, 7-16 against Maryland or 9-16 against Wake Forest? In fact, Sendek’s performance against the teams he bested – Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech – comes out to a .682 winning percentage. But his record against Boston College, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina and Wake Forest add up to a stellar .255.
    · His total ACC record, including ACC Tournaments and squaring off against Wake in the 2000 NIT, was 85-101 (.457)

  9. MrPlywood 02/12/2011 at 10:57 PM #

    re: Calamari – I don’t want to speak for highstick, but I think he meant “was Calapari the right fit for State” rather than “was State actively pursuing Calapari”. I, for one, was glad that deal fell through. I can’t stand the guy.

  10. 61Packer 02/12/2011 at 11:33 PM #

    I just wonder- do we have an overall winning record against ANY other ACC opponent since Valvano left?

  11. PackerInRussia 02/13/2011 at 9:21 AM #

    “I don’t think they are suggesting that Herb was the solution long term, just pointing out that Sid is clearly worse.”

    No, they are saying that Sendek was the best it will ever get and we shouldn’t have run him off. Their proof? Lowe. It’s lazy thinking.

  12. section2chuck 02/13/2011 at 9:41 AM #

    I would have taken Calipari in a second…He was a perfect for NC State.

  13. nocard 02/13/2011 at 10:28 AM #

    SFN posters and readers… This thread is the very reason that NCSU has had so much trouble. Trying to justify *the fall*, *the bad hires*, the lack of an ability *to turn it around*.

    Big suggestion here. Stop talking about all of this. The history. Herb Sendek. National vs Local writers.

    Big awakening here. Nobody except the posters here trying to *represnt* even cares what the national writers are saying. I am an avid sports fan and if I had not read that Seth Davis did his hammer piece on State, I would have never known. So, guess who has made the scratch fester up and get infected? The posters…and actually SFN.

    All of this crud does not endear a potential school to a recruit and they would not even know about it except that packnation keeps bringing it up. I follow many recruits on their twitters. Guess what?? Never have seen one of them tweet about *did you see what Seth said on CBS about NCSU ?* But NCSU recruits do FOLLOW places like SFN and guess what they get to read? Everyone on here talking about being dissed by a national sports guy. Who do you think has more street cred with them, SFN or CBS ? Guys, stop talking about this crap. Stop introducing negative BS into the packnation, especially the players and recruits.

    Unless of course….all we want to do is gripe about it.

    A positive environment is loved by 99.9% of people in any arena. Players will perform better if they are being uplifted by the fans and being coached and critiqued by the coaches. The coaches will coach better if they are being supported. The recruits will want to come play for that kind of environment.

    It took over 20 years to destroy the culture of NCSU basketball. It is not going to be fixed overnite. But it will not be fixed if the constant backbiting, dagger throwing, and negative input continues. Roy or K could not survive the negativity that the NCSU fanbase has created. It drives ABCers crazy that the UNC nation continues to back Roy even though he has obviously made some mistakes. It is called a winning attitude. Players know it and can feel comfortable that people are going to pull for them no matter what.

    The change begins with you. Right here. Right now.

  14. MiamiPackFan 02/13/2011 at 11:14 AM #

    It’s a sad day when one wants Wake to win today. We must seal the deal to regain the respect of the Wolfpack Nation. And if you don’t think Wake is biting at the chomps of revenge then you have another thing coming. Gladly, the game will not be broadcast here due to the quirkiness of comcast cable. I suggest CJ, LB, and RH become more athletic in the off-season. Yep along with a new b-ball coach we need a strength coach. Excuse the grammar but I’m really pissed off.

  15. Scooter 02/13/2011 at 11:57 AM #

    nocard — We want this team to be competitive and that positive attitude crap is, quite simply, laziness. Doing nothing, smiling and trying to put on the “I’m not ok, you’re not ok, but that’s ok” attitude is just going to result in us turning the other cheek while Duke/UNC/Media break our chin. I mean, we can’t even say we’d be rewarding mediocrity — we’d be rewarding crap. Both are completely unacceptable and I refuse to carry a hello kitty balloon and smile, all the while pretending that things will get better if we’re patient, as the ship goes down in flames (again). 20 years is patience enough.

  16. JT 02/13/2011 at 1:23 PM #

    I agree with nocard to some extent. I mean, there is a game in 25 minutes and the first thread on the frontpage is this. The writers are finally doing State some justice, but the horse of national pundit incompetence has been beaten beyond death.
    I agree with all the gripes and have participated, but the points have been made.
    Sendek was a good hire that didn’t work out on many levels. Lowe came in after an incompetent search by Fowler, and he hasn’t brought wins. I’m just ready to look forward (while referencing the GOOD history of State), and hope for what the future brings. And again, the Sendek and UNC threads are worn out…I assume there is current Wolfpack news to discuss, like the fact that we BETTER f’ing beat Wake or my tv is gone.

  17. eas 02/13/2011 at 2:52 PM #

    Very well put JT.

    Scooter, totally agree that a hello kitty balloon is not our issue. Any other program in the country would/does deal with the same issues. Further more, when someone makes big money coaching a program with no results we have the right to question it. Especially when OUR OWN money is involved in providing support. No one enjoys giving money to something that doesn’t show some positive results.

    Now let’s let the dead horse rest and look forward to a new direction in Wolfpack BB (whatever that may be)

  18. NCSU84 02/13/2011 at 5:01 PM #

    I agree with the article about NCSU’s BB history and there can be no argument about the contributions we have made to the league. The only problem with our history is the fact that it is history – past tense. Let’s face it, the players on the court today were not even born during the glory days. The students have no idea what it is like to win championships. In sports, the old phrase still applies, “what have you done lately?” If we are to return to the glory days, we must begin to look forward. Reading these articles about our history makes us feel good, but reliving days gone by will not bring more wins. I for one am looking forward to the decision Debbie makes. Make no mistake, we are at the crossroads and this next hire will define wolfpack BB for the next 10 to 20 years.

  19. NCSU84 02/13/2011 at 5:11 PM #

    Nocard wrote “The UNC nation continues to back Roy even though he has obviously made some mistakes. It is called a winning attitude”

    Uh..yeah. If my coach had won national championships, multiple final fours, ranked every year, etc, I think I would support him too. Did the UNC fan base stand behind Gutheridge or Doherty? I think not.

  20. Daily Update 02/13/2011 at 7:24 PM #

    Nocard: There is nothing negative in this entry.

  21. highstick 02/13/2011 at 9:13 PM #

    I’m well aware of the Calipari “almost” as I was tracking tail numbers on this site along with everyone else. However, I was about to puke the entire time and glad that never came to fruition! Calipari may have brought us a few wins, but he would have left a stench!

    Plywood, you interpreted correctly…My bigger point though was the Technician basically said we “ran off Sendek”…Only a few years too late if that was the case!

    I see this next coaching search is going to piss some folks off. Either we hire a big name/win at all costs coach or a coach that’s going to build a real program and I don’t think you’re going to find the traits of the “win at all costs” coach in the one that will build a real program. If we hire that type coach, it’s going to define NCSU basketball all right and we may not like what the definition is.

    This search is gonna be brutal!

  22. newt 02/13/2011 at 10:31 PM #

    I won’t go so far as to give Debbie Yow credit for this positive media blitz in defense of national ignorance, but I have a hard time imagining that the NC State perspective would have been put forth in the media like this several years ago.

    OK, f-it, Lee would have been on the darn radio agreeing with the national dolts.

  23. GAWolf 02/15/2011 at 9:24 PM #

    Here is what should be exhibit 1 in any conversation such as this one. It is NEVER cited as such these days, but it’s funny that some things indeed never change. I bought this over from a post at PP:

    Did anyone see Sunday night? ASU was down 10 @ half. Comes out of the half and doesn’t score the first 3 minutes. Then ‘Zona gets a dunk and a 3 to go up 15. Herbie calls a timeout.

    Down 15, with 17 minutes to go, at home, out of a timeout, ASU proceeds to………………

    Get a shot clock violation, where they did not even think about shooting, it was all weave and no heave. I shook my head in disbelief……but then couldn’t figure out why I was surprised.

    The more things change…………………

  24. rtpack24 02/25/2011 at 10:55 PM #

    A couple of observations. First HS lost again last night, his team scored a total of 53 pts. This is his 5th year at ASU. His team is currently ranked 296th in points scored, 300th in rebounding, and 234th in FG percentage. He is gone so no need to rehash but thank the lord he is gone. Sid brought some initial excitement but pretty much same story every year. Anyone should be able to recruit to our school. I found it interesting that our coach says we lost last couple of games because of players poor shot selection. Nice game plan when one of the best shooters in the ACC gets a grand total of 3 shots for the game. Maybe we will put it together for the ACC tournament.

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