Running 2010-11 BKC thread

Duke and Chapel Hill are in ... so what else is new?

Florida State is in - 20 wins and 10 ACC victories should work - but I wonder if the committee is going to mess with the Seminoles' seeding because Chris Singleton is gone with the broken foot. Still the same swarming defense, but Singleton was the best individual source of scoring for a team whose offense can disappear into dark, deep holes.

Virginia Tech should be in, but another win or two and not going home early in the ACC Tournament would certainly solidify the Hokies' footing. The Duke win should neutralize the pair of losses to Virginia - at least somewhat.

A puncher's chance that one of Clemson, Boston College or maaaaybe Maryland gets a nod. Not holding my breath, though.

 

Renardo Sidney could be Stansbury's Waterloo. A lot of the State faithful didn't want him there in the first place, and they're utterly disgusted at the way Stans has basically let him do whatever he wants. Sidney has completely poisoned that team's chemistry, and the next time he plays any defense will be the first time all season.

 

I went to one of those summer showcase camps and I saw a particularly impressive point guard (still a high school junior) named Javon Felix and I remember a coach making this comment about him: "Everybody else is playing a pick-up game, he's playing basketball," because he was so smart and heady, even amidst all the chaos of a bunch of players trying to put on a show.

Watching Sidney in the LSU game, I thought just the opposite. Everybody else was playing basketball, Sidney was playing an AAU game.

 

Boston College smacks around VT in Blacksburg, as the Turkeys trail for the final 36 minutes of the game. Now they go to Clemson for the regular-season finale. Welcome back to the NIT, Seth.

In other news, BYU loses its most athletic inside guy to honor code violations. G'night Cougs. Jimmer can only do so much ... http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=6172760

 

Boilers keep on truckin. JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore are fun to watch. Going to miss them next year. They could go deep in the tourney or they could get knocked out early. If those two are on I'm not sure if anyone can beat them. If one is off they can be beat and if both are off they have no shot at winning.

 

The other big problem in Raleigh, of course, is trying to get away with everythng that (now-sainted : : : Jimmy V.) got away with, there.

 

Chuck Amato didn't see it as a big problem.

The fact that Amato was an alum and raised a lot of money which allowed the school to upgrade Carter-Finley Stadium from a bad high-school swamp to a nice facility almost overcame his arrogance and the fact that he was bringing in kids that made Chris Washburn and Charles Shackleford look like Rhodes scholars.

Almost.

The unsettling part is how many people in the Wolfpack Club probably wouldn't care about bending an academic issue here and there if it meant the losing to Chapel Hill and Duke stopped. They didn't take issue with Jim Valvano or Chuck Amato, yet they did with Herb Sendek, who not only got them into the NCAA Tournament in each of his last five seasons, but also graduated every player who stayed with the program for four years.

The only legitimate knock they could have had with Sendek, IMO, is that he wasn't a rah-rah sort with a bigger-than-life personality. He could come off as very dry, but it wasn't an attempt to be aloof and it wasn't arrogance. He had the misfortune of following not too far behind someone who could charm, work a crowd, persuade and almost single-handedly ignite a fanbase.

Sendek proved a very effective coach, but wasn't a natural at the other aspects. The argument could last forever regarding how important the other aspects are for a successful coach.

 

Kind of interesting to hear Lavin talk about how he nearly took the N.C. State job in 2006 but decided it was too soon after he got fired, how he needed some time away from the game first. Didn't realize he could've been the Wolfpack's coach.

 

Funny how now Amato can't even rate an interview at UNC Charlotte, even though he made his interest in the job very public.

 

That was funny. Big time.

Keep Pounding, Chuck ... hope recovery continues to go well and the cancer stays away.

 

N.C. State fans talk about how they have to have a coach that "understands the ACC and the rivalries," which is code for "he has to beat Carolina and Duke and hate them as much as we do." What they don't realize is they had the perfect fit and a guy that truly understood the landscape of the ACC with Sendek. Understanding the ACC means doing the best you can in Raleigh without always looking over your shoulder to see what's going on in the next town over.

If N.C. State fans hadn't ran off Herb then by the time K and/or Roy retire the Wolfpack could have probably been coming off a trip to the NCAA Tournament for something like the 10th time in 12 years and ready to pounce. Instead they'll probably be ready to fire their next failed coach.

Interestingly enough when Valvano, er, I mean Amato didn't work out they hired the Herb Sendek of football coaches.

 

Note: Jake_Taylor is really a sock puppet.

;D

In all seriousness, Jake's first sentence above is pitch-perfect. One of the reasons the folks in red couldn't wait for Herb Sendek to leave was because "he didn't beat Carolina and Duke enough."

Guess what, folks? No one else, except maybe Gary Williams, is doing it more than once in a blue moon. I mean, Duke doesn't have Kyrie Irving because of injury. Chapel Hill lost a point guard who abandoned ship on them. They're still 1-2 in the ACC.

To reinforce Jake's point, Sendek worried about what his program could do and didn't pontificate the goings-on in Durham and Chapel Hill. Too many of the fans get caught up in that. Sendek wisely considered it a waste of time.