Just wondering...nice run in the ACC tourney, btw

As an individual fan? Yes, I am happy with him. His players get the job done on and off the court. Progress is being made in the wins department. ACC finals in the past 2 years. NCAA tourney in the past 2 years. Our best team in 15 years coming up next season. Who wouldn't be happy with that?

However, I'm sick and frickin tired of the negative fan attitude. I didn't buy season tickets last year, not because of herb, but because of the fans. I don't want to sit behind some loud mouth jack*** and here him curse every coaching move Herb makes and if we happen to win he curses that because it means Herb will be back last year. Individuals like that are a cancer on our program and I'd rather fire them...however it's easier to get rid of the coach :(

PackMan97 Wrote:As an individual fan? Yes, I am happy with him. His players get the job done on and off the court. Progress is being made in the wins department. ACC finals in the past 2 years. NCAA tourney in the past 2 years. Our best team in 15 years coming up next season. Who wouldn't be happy with that?

However, I'm sick and frickin tired of the negative fan attitude. I didn't buy season tickets last year, not because of herb, but because of the fans. I don't want to sit behind some loud mouth jack*** and here him curse every coaching move Herb makes and if we happen to win he curses that because it means Herb will be back last year. Individuals like that are a cancer on our program and I'd rather fire them...however it's easier to get rid of the coach :(

Fans can ruin the game for some. Thanks for your answer. He has a great program, its a matter of time before NC State makes a deep run in the NCAAs

I think "satisfied" would be a better word for me. We made the NCAA tournament last year after an 11 year drought and returned again this season after losing two senior guards and a key player to injury. For the last couple of seasons, making the NCAA's has been how I defined success. Herb Sendek actually exceeded my expectations this year in that regard.

With the players we have returning and coming in next season though, I expect us to be competing for the conference title and to advance well into the NCAA tournament. Also, if we struggle against out-of-conference opponents like we did in December and January I will be very disappointed. The tools for excellence will be in place and there should be no excuses for anything less.

The recruiting struggles over the last couple of years are also a concern, but I think an successful 2003-2004 campaign could make that irrelevant. So to answer your question, I am satified with Herb Sendek's performance thusfar but my expectations are now going up. I also think the lambasting both he and our athletic director receive from some State fans is counterproductive and largely misguided.



<!--EDIT|The Prodigal Wolf|Apr 23 2003, 11:36 AM-->

I think Herb has done a good job. His kids keep their noses clean, and he wins in conference, where it counts. I think any fans look up the road and see what K has done, Gary has done, etc. and they expect the same results. If they dont get them, they pitch a *****. Entimov(sp?) is healthy all year, who knows what could have happened. All in all, it was a good year for State.

Happy? No. Satisfied? That's not it exactly. My feeling is I'm not sad -- I guess.

The two biggest on-the-court things in Herb's favor, IMO, are (1) He made the NCAAs this year despite the loss of Evtimov, and (2) We seem poised to be a stronger team than last year.

I have a few complaints, regardless. I absolutely despise his system of offense. I think it's ugly, not exciting, takes too much 'thought,' and better suited to be run by untalented Princeton scholars as opposed to talented and creative athletes. Even so, Princeton O is supposed to result in more backdoor layups than we get -- I call our offense Hot Potato 'Round the Perimeter Till the Shot Clock Winds Down. We get our layups primarily from defense. The three-pointer is a good catch-up device, but it's not near the high-percentage shot -- or foul-creating and therefore free-throw creating shot -- that the layup is.

And I'm really worried about our recruiting. Wake freakin' Forest is outrecruiting us now -- we are sucking hind teat in the Big Four in regards to recruiting. Carolina long eclipsed us, and we haven't made up any of the ground Duke gained on us, and now Wake Forest is beating us, too. I wonder if our troubles recruiting top PGs and centers has anything to do with our offense which, as we all have been told, doesn't require a point guard or a center.

Still, I'm not pessimistic about team next year. For me, though, and this is something I realized right before the NCAA tournament began:
When V was our coach, I wouldn't trade him for anyone.
When Sheridan coached football, I wouldn't trade him for anyone.
I wouldn't trade Amato for anyone.
Even though I think NC State basketball may be its best next year since Les' first year (or V's last), thanks to Herb, still if I were told he was leaving and someone else (say, Barnes or Few or Whittenberg) would be taking his place, I would not be upset at all.

That's why I can't say I'm happy.

Let me give the perspective of a Carolina fan (in addition to Rick's).

I can't say that Herb has done poorly or well -- because, as folks on here have said, that has more to do with the expectations of the fan base. He's never won an ACC title, but that ain't exactly easy to do with the competition around. He's made the finals a good number of times (twice in a row, too). He didn't make the tourney for a long stretch, but now he's made it twice in a row. He seems to have turned the program around (slowly) and has it going in a good direction.

But -- as others have said -- he doesn't have the support of all of the fanbase. And, that is really all the matters when it comes to coaches. There are tons of State fans out there that despise him and want him gone, and that is going to weaken State's program until Herb does something REALLY well to get them off his back... or until he's gone.

The same thing just happened over in Chapel Hill. Matt Doherty had a terrible year two years ago, but this past year he was turning things around. But, he was always going to have a lot of opposition within the UNC fanbase. Not even considering the player-relations issue, there were those fans who would never accept him as our coach. Thus, he ended up getting fired. And whether it was a good decision or not, it at least got all UNC fans on the same page again. The negativity is gone (at least temporarily).

That may be why State ends up firing Herb down the road even if he continues doing a decent/good job. The negativity is going to continue to cripple him as a coach.

-JD



<!--EDIT|JD Heel|Apr 23 2003, 02:42 PM-->