North Carolina State University Athletics
Q&A with Herb Sendek
9/28/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
TH: Prior to leaving for Italy in August, you said that you hoped the trip would bring your team closer together. In retrospect, was the trip successful in that regard?
Sendek: "I really do believe the trip to Italy helped to bring us closer together. However, unity is not a static condition. Even in your own family, you have to work at it everyday. Just because you had a good day yesterday or you enjoyed a great weekend last week, doesn't mean you don't have to make special efforts to be loving and considerate toward each other. It's the same with a basketball team. The trip to Italy helped draw us closer together, but at the same time, we can't come home now and assume that we have that part of our store in order indefinitely. Furthermore, we add three new players who weren't able to go to Italy with us (freshmen Cliff Crawford, Damien Wilkins and Marshall Williams). Part of our challenge is to integrate them into our team family and allow them to become a part of us."
TH: NC State was probably the only team in the nation that actually had a chance to play basketball in the month of August. What kind of advantages do you see coming out of that experience?
Sendek: "First of all, it afforded us ten days of practice. We were able to not only work with our players individually on their skills, but at the same time we were able to employ our system. That is an advantage. It's hard to say how that will carry over months later once we actually start practice, but we were allowed ten days of work that, ordinarily, we would not have had. Once we got over to Italy, we played against outstanding competition. Once again, it's difficult to gauge what carry over that will have when we re-engage, but that was an opportunity that we otherwise would not have been afforded."
TH: You have made some adjustments in your motion offense. Were you pleased with how your team responded to those changes during the Italy trip?
Sendek: "We were. We did make some changes in our motion offense. I think our players have enjoyed it. I think they like it a lot better. It gives them more freedom. Certainly, we have a long way to go before we're good at it. You don't polish that in just ten days."
TH: You had the opportunity to work with one of the games great coaches in Rick Pitino (now the head coach of the NBA's Boston Celtics). How often do you talk to him and do you still try to pick his brain on basketball matters?
Sendek: I think it's important each year, not only during the off-season, but even at critical times during the season, to compare notes with fellow coaches, to constantly seek new ideas and different perspectives. I think that's very healthy and important. Each off-season, I try to get together with a coach or two. Even during the course of a season, I'll run certain situations by a fellow coach. It's refreshing sometimes to get a different way of looking at the same things. Sometimes you're so close to it yourself, it's good get another perspective from someone else who's not as close to it."
TH: Can you give us a recent example?
Sendek: "This summer I went up and spent a day with Jim O'Brien, an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics. He and I have been friends for a long time and obviously come from the same family of coaches. I also spent some time with Sean Brown, who's the strength and conditioning coach of the Celtics. He and I were together at Kentucky. I thought that it was a very fruitful day."
TH: During NC State's skill workouts this fall, a lot of time has been spent on conditioning. Should that be taken as a sign that your team will play at a faster pace this season?
Sendek: "We have put a special emphasis on conditioning and we do want to continue to increase the tempo of our game. Last year, I think we took an important next-step in that process. I believe we scored 80 or more points in eleven games. When you consider all the games, I think we finished in the middle of the pack in scoring and averaged over 70 points as a team. Although we have room to increase the tempo, I thought we took another important step in that direction last year."
*Next week, coach Sendek's comments will focus on individual players.
