I’m not a Herb hater, nor a Herb lover. But seeing him lose his season opener at Ariz State vs Northern Arizona kind of makes me smile. Herb did as well as he could at NC State and brought the program up from the shitter that it was in when he got here, but he plataued and many State fans thought it was time for him to move on. Feeling the pressure, he bolted to the less pressurized Pac-10 conference for the job at Arizona State. Constantly hearing people say that Herb was great and that Pack fans were crazy because they couldn’t do any better was frustrating. Herb looked good from the outside but only a Pack fan can know the mounting frustration, of inept offense, lack of adjustments, and handcuffing great athletes to fit into a system instead of adjusting the system to the athletes.

Well, now Arizona State Sun Devil fans can relate to us Pack fans in some way. Northern Arizona, a good sub-Mid Major team, beat the Sun Devils 75-71 at ASU. Marking the first ever season opener that Herb Sendek has lost in his 13 year head coaching career. Here’s a shocking stat: the Sun Devils attempted 36 3-pointers (making 10). Dig that crazy Prince-State offense, ASU fans. The post-game quotes will be even more dazzling.

“Early in the game, the team ran the new offense well. We got two or three easy buckets off back door cuts and it was a thing of beauty. Later, NAU made some adjustments and it didn’t run as smoothly.”

Let me guess, Herb did not adjust in response to the NAU adjustment and they ended up “chucking it from the cheap seats” the rest of the game.

Next game for the Sun Devils: Vs Cal State San Bernardino.

Keep chopping the wood and honoring the process, big guy.