Friday, November 26, 2010

Hanging in There With the Deacons

There’s a passage in Life on the Mississippi where a young Mark Twain, upon becoming a riverboat pilot, realizes all he lost to gain his heart’s desire. He describes in rich and eloquent detail the beauty he once saw in a sunset on the Mississippi.

“A broad expanse of the river had turned to blood; in the middle distance the red hue brightened into gold, through which a solitary log came floating, black and conspicuous; in one place a long, slanting mark lay sparkling upon the water; in another the surface was broken by boiling, tumbling rings, that were as many-tinted as an opal; where the ruddy flush was faintest, was a smooth spot that was covered with graceful circles and radiating lines, ever so delicately traced. . .’‘

He understands, having attained his goal, that he would never look at the river the same way again. Instead, preoccupied by his responsibilities, he would note in every color, shape and form not the beauty and wonder but the practical signs all pilots must be able to read and discern to get the boat from New Orleans to Memphis and back in one piece.

“No, the romance and the beauty were all gone from the river. All the value any feature of it had for me now was the amount of usefulness it could furnish toward compassing the safe piloting of a steamboat. Since those days I have pitied doctors from my heart. What does the lovely flush in a beauty’s cheek mean to a doctor but a “break” that ripples above some deadly disease. Are not all her visible charms sown thick with what are to him the signs and symbols of hidden decay? Does he ever see her beauty at all, or doesn’t he simply view her professionally, and comment on here unwholesome condition all to himself? And doesn’t he sometimes wonder whether he has gained most or lost most by learning his trade?’‘

The question is one I have asked myself a time or two since I first started writing sports way back when. I’ve labored to explain to friends and family so intent on gauging my allegiances that I don’t look at games the same way they do. I’ve been trained not to. And because I’m not to invest as much emotionally, the thrill of victory is not as thrilling to me. And thankfully, the agony of defeat is not as agonizing.

Over the past few weeks several friends have expressed sympathy over what I’ve been through as Wake Forest’s beat reporter, given the sad state of the football season and the less-than-rousing start to the basketball campaign. One regular of the Peanut Gallery, Tom, noted that I have often described covering Wake Forest sports as the best beat in America, and wondered if I still felt that way. I truly appreciate the concern.

First off, let me begin this day after Thanksgiving by saying I’m thankful to have a job writing sports. Too many sportswriters I know don’t. Second, it’s easier to live when you don’t live and die with the outcome of a game. But third, in the interest of fairness, I have to acknowledge that all the negativity that has blanketed the program in this season of discontent has gotten to me a time or two. I understand the outcry. Fans have every right, if not an obligation, to detest losing and to do everything they feel is in their power to avoid it. I also understand that there are many readers who don’t give one whit about my feelings about having to cover a 2-9 football team and a basketball team that has already lost at home to Stetson and Winthrop. Nor, in the final analysis, should they.

Still there are times when someone has to do something to lighten the mood before the black clouds envelop everyone in a pit of darkness. That was the real reason I wrote and performed my song “Jim Grobe Punched Me Out’’ on this blog a couple of weeks back. The rancor had gotten so thick, somebody needed to tell a joke. I told one, and if you notice, I really told it on myself.

I don’t believe I could have gotten away with that covering most other programs. If nothing else, the head coach wouldn’t have stood for it. I haven’t heard any reaction from Jim Grobe, but my sense is if he ever saw it he took it in the spirit in which it was intended. And whereas Jeff Bzdelik has encountered more bad fortune in his first seven months at Wake than most basketball coaches face in seven years, he has gone out of his way to be cooperative and accommodating. These are two good men. Both are down right now, and both know they have to get back up to be worthy of their present jobs. They’re working hard at it every day.

So in answer to your question Tom, I’ll just say I still wouldn’t trade my beat for any I know.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The High Cost of Wisdom and Experience

I heard a new verb tonight, courtesy of Chuck Martin. He’s the former assistant at Memphis who is trying to pick Marist up from last season’s 1-29 pratfall in his second year as head coach of the program.

Tonight his Red Foxes played even-steven with Wake through 10 1/2 minutes, and actually led 19-17 before the Deacons took charge with a 24-9 run to halftime. I asked Martin what did the Deacons do to break the game open.

“We call it, they ACC’d us,’’ Martin said. “That’s what they did.

“When I was at Memphis, they’d (ask) `You guys played really, really well. How did the game unravel?’ (We’d say) ‘We NBA’d those guys. Derrick Rose just took over.’ And that’s what (Ty) Walker did. He did what he should do. He’s an All-Conference ACC guy.*** He’s got potential to play at the next level. And he took over the game defensively.

“Their guards are big, their wings are good, Ari (Stewart) is talented. They’re going to be a really good team.’‘

Walker’s school-record 11 blocked shots and the Deacons eventual 81-59 victory notwithstanding, the Deacons haven’t ACC’d many teams this season. Otherwise they wouldn’t be 3-3, with a 10-point loss to Stetson of the Atlantic Sun and a nine-point loss to Winthrop of the Big South—both at home. I did some research when I got back last night, and best I could tell was going into this season Wake was 7-0 all time against opponents from the Atlantic Sun and 19-1 against teams from the Big South, with the one blemish being the loss to College of Charleston over a Bob Staak-coached team on Dec. 22, 1987.

So these are historically bad losses the Deacons have taken this year, and senior Gary Clark knows it.

“It’s humbling,’’ Clark said. “You know who we had in past years and what kind of success we had, so I’ve been here with the Farouqs and the James Johnsons and the Jeff Teagues and Ish Smiths. We had Chas (McFarland) here tonight.

“It’s different. It’s not the same.’‘

Coach Jeff Bzdelik was so down Monday night that he remained in the interview room long after everyone had left, sitting in his seat at the podium staring down. But hope springs eternal, and all that, and tonight he was back up and excited about his team and his season. He was really excited for Walker’s 11 blocks and what it could do for Walker’s fragile confidence.

“Obviously it made an impact on the game, No. 1,’’ Bzdelik said. “And No. 2, it’s quite a feat, 11 blocks in one game. No. 3, it really gives him a lot of confidence for a young man who hasn’t had a lot of playing time his first couple of years. So it’s all beneficial.’‘

But Bzdelik’s satisfaction with the performance extended past Walker doing the one thing he does well better than anyone in Wake Forest history. I know he’s looking close, closer than anybody else, but he was adamant afterward that he could see progress in his team.

For one thing, the Deacons handled the ball far better than they had been and ended up with a season-low nine turnovers. This is the same team that averaged 19 turnovers over its first five games.

“We’re starting to see some consistency with four or five players in double digits,’’ Bzdelik said. “They’re sharing the basketball, and that’s a good thing.The shot distribution was pretty even. We got to the free-throw line. We still don’t rebound well enough, obviously. We need to contain the ball better.

“They’re all young. They’re all learning. Learning and gaining wisdom and experience are coming at a high cost, and that high cost is three defeats. But it’s the only way they can learn and the only way we can have a reference point.’‘

***I included Martin’s description of Walker as an All-Conference ACC Player to indicate how glowing Martin was of Walker’s play, not because I think anybody should believe it. Until Ty gets stronger with the ball, both on rebounds he can’t clear and passes into the post he can’t control, he’s not going to contribute much of anything offensively or on the boards. He hasn’t learned to establish effective position underneath and he hasn’t shown the innate ability to get to a spot all great rebounders have. But his ability to block shots is something all teams are going to have to deal with. And if and when he can put the other parts of his game together, who knows, we might be calling Chuck Martin a prophet.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

So Where Do We Eat Lunch Next Tuesday?

We gathered one last time today to eat chicken and talk football with Jim Grobe. It was a sad occasion. I love chicken. I’ve also loved talking football with Jim Grobe, even in years he’s explaining all that’s gone wrong as opposed to commenting on all that has gone right. And this season, next to nothing has gone right.

Grobe was actually working himself over pretty good concerning one call he made this season, the decision to shelve the option attack out of the shotgun once his quarterbacks started dropping like leaves from a oak tree in October.

“We got to the point one time that we were talking about `Who is going to be our quarterback this week? Is it going to be Mike Campanaro? Is it going to be Devon Brown? Is it going to be Chris Givens?,’’ Grobe recalled. “We were looking at taking wideouts and making them quarterbacks because we couldn’t keep the guys healthy.’‘

I wrote a piece for tomorrow’s Journal that had Grobe wondering if, in hindight, freshman Tanner Price might be more durable than the coaches suspected. But one repercussion to the move away from the option was it hamstrung the offensive line all season and prevented it from being the kind of unit Grobe envisioned. Injuries and lack of depth were also to blame, but Grobe can’t help but ask himself how the line would have performed if the Deacons had stuck with their guns by running option out of the shotgun.

“When I said going into the start of the year that we were going to run the option, I felt we had very athletic linemen and I thought veer blocking and low blocking and getting guys on the ground was going to be our strength,’’ Grobe said. “Not too far in we lost all our quarterbacks and now we’re back to trying to throw the football. And I never thought that would be our strong suit, that we were going to be a 50-throw a game team. And we haven’t gotten to that, because we have been productive enough to have enough snaps to throw it as much as we were trying to.

“And then we went back to more power football about three weeks ago and that was kind of retooling. So we’ve kind of been through three different looks with that offensive line, through option stuff and passing and back into more Power Iso, toss sweep and that kind of stuff. I think what we are going forward is a little combination. And I think we can be OK. And of course (Michael) Hoag was out with a concussion, and then Joe Looney was out for a couple of games and Russ Nenon has had a broken hand for three weeks now and he’s not played very well with a broken hand, which is hard to do for an offensive lineman.’‘

Grobe said he and his staff have already changed thier philosophy on recruiting offensive linemen, and are now in the market for more meat on the hoof, so to speak. Four freshmen redshirted this season, Daniel Blitch, Dylan Heartsill, Colin Summers and Antonio Ford. Blitch is 6-6, 305, Heartsill is 6-5, 310, Summers 6-4, 310 and Ford is the ``runt” at 6-3, 285.

“The problem that we get into is when you’re in a development program, when we bring in kids we know that they’ve got to play their best football when they’re juniors and seniors,’’ Grobe said. “That doesn’t mean they won’t play when they’re young, but they’re not physically developed yet. We don’t ever want a kid that doesn’t have any athleticism. We don’t need a file cabinet – and we probably erred more on the side of good feet, quickness and footspeed hoping to bring in an undersized guy and get him ready to play. In some case that’s worked out pretty good, but in a lot of cases we don’t get them as big as they need to be to play against the size you go against in this league.

“So I think we’ve tended to move more toward ready-made big guys and worked more on their feet and strength than bring in the undersized guy that you’ve maybe got to get 40 pounds on before he really becomes the guy. That doesn’t mean we’re still not going to take some in the 265-270 range, but we know that we don’t want guys too big. Dennis Godfrey is too big right now. We’ve got to get some weight off him. But we know if we’re hanging out with guys around 270, its going to be tough in this league to play the Clemsons and people that have 300-pound defensive linemen.’’ .

Bzdelik and the Youth Card

Jeff Bzdelik is determined not to use youth as an excuse this season. He’s so determined, he keeps vowing not to. He vowed it again after tonight’s deflating 83-74 loss to Winthrop in front of the smallest crowd (3,014) I’ve ever seen watch a Wake Forest’s men’s basketball game at Joel Coliseum.

“We’ll never use youth as an excuse—never,” Bzdelik said. “We need to grow up right now. We need to understand how important every possession is. And what’s the next possession? It’s the opening tip tomorrow night. You can’t be hung over by how we feel right now. Yes we all feel awful, but there’s another big game (against Marist) and we have a walk-through tomorrow at 11.’‘

But try as he might, Bzdelik can’t help himself. A fact is a fact. Two of the Deacons’ freshmen weren’t available tonight—Melvin Tabb because he was given time off to get on the straight-and-narrow academically and Tony Chennault because he has a broken fifth metatarsal in his left foot—and still three of the seven scholarship players Bzdelik had at his disposal are freshmen. Two others, Ari Stewart and C.J. Harris are sophomores. Ty Walker is a junior who has still played only a total of 13 minutes against ACC competition. And the lone senior, Gary Clark, had never started a game before this season and had scored more than 10 points all of three times.

So when I asked why the Deacons were having trouble stringing two good performances together—instead of the loss, win, loss, win, loss treadmill they’re on now—Bzdelik had only two choices. He could break his vow and tell the truth, or he could deny the obvious. He told the truth.

“It’s going to contradict what I just said and we’ll never use youth as an excuse, but that is the inconsistency of youth,’’ Bzdelik said. “Sometimes we look like we’re deer in headlights, and sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we fumble the ball. We’re not sure-handed yet. We’re not quite strong enough yet.

“But we can’t offer that as an excuse because we live in a world today that wants everything now. That’s the way it is. And I understand that and I have to make sure our players understand a sense of urgency. Otherwise they will never grow as quick as we all want them to grow.’‘

Coach Randy Peele of Winthrop came to praise Bzdelik, but not before he buried him. After the Eagles broke down the Wake Forest defense sufficiently to score on 20 of 28 possessions during a devastating 42-24 scoring spree, after the Eagles shot 52 percent both halves, after they made six of 11 from 3-point range and after they out-rebounded the Deacons 35-25, Peele offered an unsolicited testimonial to the wisdom of Athletics Director Ron Wellman’s decision to hire Bzdelik away from Colorado last April.

“If I could just say I’m a big fan of Jeff Bzdelik,’’ Peele said. “I think Jeff is a class guy. I think he’s doing a tremendous job, and he’s going to do a tremendous job here. I say that. I mean that. I wish him and Wake Forest nothing but the very best.’‘

The words of support and encouragement came on a night that Jeff Bzdelik clearly needed a friend. Two of his first three losses at Wake Forest have been against teams from the Atlantic Sun and the Big South. Tonight’s game was further proof there there’s no team anywhere—not even a Marist team coming off an incomprehensible 1-29 season—that the Deacons take for granted.

Did he ever need a friend.

“I’ve been through this before with youth and I’ve got to be a teacher, I’ve got to be a psychologist, I’ve got to motivate them, fire them up, I’ve got to teach them,’’ Bzdelik said. “I had a radio caller call in the other day and say `Well everybody’s mad at you.’ I said `Throw it on me. I’ll take the hit for all this. Stay away from the kids. Support the kids. They need time to grow up and they’re growing up and they’re learning and they’re going to be all over the map. If you want to be mad at me, fine. If you want to doubt me, fine. But don’t doubt the kids. They’re really great kids who have had a bunch of adversity thrown on top of them as well, with Tony Woods, Tony Chennault, Melvin.

“It’s not been easy for them, but they’re great kids, and they care. So throw it on me.’‘

As for when Tabb will be back on the court, Bzdelik said, in effect, that will be up to Tabb.

“As soon as he takes care of what he’s supposed to do from an academic standpoint,’’  Bzdelik replied.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Popham Pops Up in Pregame Ceremony

Shane Popham either did or did not punt for the final time at BB&T Field yesterday against Clemson. If he did, he’d like to have his last one back, the one that carried 18 yards and out of bounds three yards short of midfield. But there were plenty this season that Shane would like to do over. For the day he punted seven times for an average of 30 yards a punt. With a per game average of 35.9 yards, he’ll have to be the second coming of Ryan Plackemeier in the finale at Vanderbilt to avoid ending up last in the league in that category.

The hardness of my head was proven once again two weeks ago when my infamous face plant ultimately hurt nothing more than my looks and my feelings. But there are times I suspect my heart is too soft to be really good at what I’m hired to do. I get to know the coaches and players on a personal level and being a person who, in general, likes people, I end up liking them.

I’ve gotten to know Shane over his years, and I was pleased to meet his father Greg before a game last season. I enjoyed writing the story of how he came as a walk-on knowing he had only a limited time to prove himself worthy of the scholarship he would need to remain. He succeeded, and has been the regular punter the last three seasons. And he was pretty solid last season, when the Deacons’ net yards per punt ranked seventh in the ACC. But this season he has struggled as badly as most of his teammates, only in a more visible, conspicuous you might say, role. It doesn’t get much worse than when a coach eschews going for fourth and short and the punter ends up shanking the ball out of bounds. It’s almost enough to make a cheerleader boo.

But it’s a shame when any player becomes the personification of all that has gone wrong by pretty much everybody. In Shane’s defense, he has been hampered by nagging injuries to both knees, which one would have to suspect are pretty essential for a punter. And truth be told, Popham has been Wake’s regular punter for three years because no one has been able to beat him out.

“We’ve got to punt the ball better,’’ Coach Jim Grobe said. “We’re just not punting the ball very good right now. Shane’s had problems. I think he’s had surgery on both knees. He’s had some injury issues. And that’s tough, when you think about the amount of pressure they put on their legs.

“We’ll give Shane an opportunity to come back in the winter and get stronger and get in shape and all those kinds of things, try to get his legs in shape and let him have a good spring. And we’re still in the market for a punter right now. If you find a guy like Plack, you hit a home run. If you find a guy like Sam (Swank), who can kick and punt, I don’t know what that would be – a grand slam I guess. But we want to be competitive.

“I think one of the things that has happened to us here is there’s just not a lot of competition in that room.  We need more punters, more kickers. It’s not a recruiting pitch. And I think we’ve got to do a better job covering punts and protecting and all those type things. It’s never just the punter or just the kicker. We’re asking our punter a lot of times, because of pressure, to one-step punt, and that’s a problem. That’s not easy. It’s much easier if you can three-step it. You’re going to have a better average. So we’re asking our punter to do some things that make it a little tougher on him to have the kind of average he would like to have.’‘

So I was intrigued when I found out late last week that Popham, along with Ryan Britt, would be one of two juniors taking part in the pregame ceremony honoring the seniors. The implication seemed obvious, that Popham and Britt will not be back for their redshirt senior seasons. I asked Coach Grobe about it in the post-game.

“We give the kids the option,’’ Grobe said. “Pop knows we’re looking to bring in another punter in this recruiting class and there could be a situation where we’re out of scholarships because of that. But we typically aren’t. I can’t remember when I’ve come back too many times without room on the other end. And he knows he’s got to improve. He’s got to improve. He’s not the only one. I’ve been doing this for years now, if we feel we’ve got to move in another direction, or if we feel like you’re not competitive to play.

“We’ve had kids in the past who had a chance to get on the field, but they needed to have a good winter and they needed to have a good spring. And of course we’ve got to have room on the other end.’‘

Saturday, November 20, 2010

A Sad Farewell For Wake’s Seniors

Wake’s oft-stated goal is to make BB&T Field the Wrigley Field of college football. Now we find out that Wrigley Field is not even big enough for college football, at least not without pointing both offenses toward the one end zone with enough clearance for the players to run pass the endline without smashing headlong into the outfield wall.

On the other hand, the way the Wake Forest offense performed in today’s 30-10 loss to Clemson at BB&T Field, there would have been no reason to change directions with the change of possessions. As long as the Tigers were headed toward the end zone with clearance, both teams would have been safe and sound.

The Deacons’ main accomplishment of the first half was to cross midfield, which they managed to do for exactly one play by reaching the Tigers’ 46 on Tanner Price’s 16-yard completion to Marshall Williams with eight minutes left in the half. The high-water mark was short-lived. On the next play Da’Quan Bowers sacked Price for a 15-yard loss. By the time the Deacons got back across midfield on the fourth play of the second half, the Tigers had opened up a 13-point lead with their touchdown scored in the last minute of the first half.

And 13 points backed by that defense, as I suspected at halftime, was indeed sufficient.

But as bad as the offense performed, the defense wasn’t much better and the special teams were probably worse. The defense did stiffen to force field goals on three of Clemson’s forays to the red zone, but we have to remember that the Tigers entered the game ranked 10th in the ACC in points per game. Kyle Parker completed 15 of 17 passes, but other than the 40-yard touchdown strike to Jaron Brown at the end of the half, most of his passes were on short, quick routes that required the receiver to break a tackle.

Today, against this defense, that posed few problems. The field remained strewn all day with prostrate Deacons who failed to pull the ball carrier to the ground.

“Part of it is coming back as coaches and saying we’re going to work harder on tackling,’’ Coach Jim Grobe said. “I don’t think anyone works harder on tackling than we do. Part of you has to give Clemson’s kids some credit. Jamie Harper (142 yards on 24 carries) is a big, physical back, but he has good foot speed and he has good agility for a big back.

“I thought their skilled players on the perimeter gave us some fits, especially on the rocket screens. I’m very disappointed that we didn’t tackle better, but I think, at the same time, we’re trying to tackle some pretty good players.’‘

It’s hard to imagine the seniors who played their final game today going out on a more depressing note. Clemson controlled the game from start to finish, the Deacons lost their ninth straight and the fans that did show up on a picture perfect November day for football didn’t stay around long enough to sing the school song at the end of the game.

If more than 2,000 people tell you they were at their seats when the final horn blew, some of them are stretching the truth.

More of the Same Old Same

Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Even good ideas are turning out bad in this season of discontent in Deaconville.. Coach Jim Grobe chose to call timeout before Clemson’s punt with 2:33 remaining in the first half, and wouldn’t you know it, the decisin cost the Deacons dearly. Tanner Price fell down on the ensuing possession the Deacons were able to run just 58 seconds off the clock before punting, and the Tigers capitalized with Kyle Parker’s 40-yard strike to Jaron Brown—who went up and over Josh Bush to pull it it in the right corner of the endzone.

It’s tempting to say that was that for this game. Clemson’s defense stonewalled Wake in the first half, and the 13-0 lead looks sufficient for the Tigers. The Deacons gained
all of 49 yards in the first half for four first downs.They crossed midfield once, reacing the Tigers’ 46 before Tanner Price was promptely sacked for a nine-yard loss.

Speaking of the Tigers’ defense, there was one point in the first half when Da’Quan Bowers, with one more sack, would have had more than Wake Forest’s team. Bowers, the Tigers’ junior defensive end, came in with 13.5 sacks, and made two more in the game’s first 22 minutes for 15.5. The Deacons had a total of 16, but gave themselves some breathing room when A.J. Marshall blitzed off the right corner to bury Parker, and then Zack Thompson and Kevin Smith double-teamed Parker two plays before Parker connected with Brown for the touchdown pass.

More stats for your halftime pleasure.

The Deaconsm all seasonn, have found themselves trailing if not by the coin flip, then shortly thereafter. Opponents have scored on nine of 11 game-opening drives, converting five touchdowns and four field goals. Presbyterian punted and Florida State fumbled. Wake, conversely, has scored three touochdowns on opening drives, punted seven times and thrown an interception (agianst BC).
.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Straight From the Tiger Beat

I don’t know anyone who knows more about all things pertaining to Clemson athletics than Larry Williams, a good friend who happens to be the senior writer for Tigerillustrated.com. Larry checked in with me last week and suggested we do an information exchange, with me at least trying to answer his questions on Wake and him fielding questions on the Tigers.

I’m always up for giving you good folks in the Peanut Gallery the best info to be had, so we decided to give it a go. And if this collaboration is well-received, who knows? There may be more. Larry said he’s pretty handy around a drum kit, so maybe we’ll make some music as well.

Larry’s answers go a little something like this:

Q —The Tigers are struggling on offense, ranking 10th in the league in points per game? What have been the biggest problems?

Larry—The biggest problem has been a self-impaling inability to cash in with points on possessions that reach the red zone.

The Tigers rank 117th nationally in red-zone offense, scoring points on just 69 percent of their opportunities. When you’re walking away with no points 31 percent of the time, that is a huge, huge problem.

Clemson has been terrible on field goals. They have missed seven—SEVEN!—kicks from inside 40 yards on 12 attempts. Six of those misses have come in the last four games.

And consider this stat: Over the past four games, the offense has been inside the opponent’s 23-yard line 19 times and scored FOUR touchdowns. Add in five field goals, and that’s 10 possessions that have produced zero points. Given those stats, you wonder how they’ve managed to win two of the last four.

The Tigers have moved the ball fairly effectively this season, but they really bog down when they get close to the end zone.

Q—How much pressure will the defense be able to mount on Tanner Price?

Larry—A lot, I would think. Clemson’s front four has been absolutely dominant over the past 10 quarters. They thrashed N.C. State’s offensive line, and they did the same to Florida State’s front last week.

Da’Quan Bowers has been unstoppable. On the interior, Jarvis Jenkins and Brandon Thompson have consistently disrupted.

Given that Wake Forest has given up 17 sacks in seven conference games, I’d say the chances are good that Clemson gets pressure Saturday.

Q—What’s the local opinion of Kyle Parker’s season.

Larry—Most people expected better. Dabo Swinney has defended him at just about every turn, but the fact is Parker has been much more erratic than everyone envisioned.

To be fair, Parker has not been helped by the lack of proven guys at receiver. It was a lot easier last year when he had C.J. Spiller, Jacoby Ford and Michael Palmer. And it should also be pointed out that Parker suffered bruised ribs in the third game against Auburn, and it took a while for him to recover.

But he threw two completely inexplicable fourth-quarter interceptions in a six-point loss at Boston College. Against N.C. State, he fumbled twice and was lucky to have an interception return for a touchdown called back by a penalty. And last week, both of his interceptions were deep in Florida State territory—including one in the end zone.

Some folks have called for backup Tajh Boyd, but Parker gives the Tigers their best chance to win. He has not been awful, but he hasn’t been great.

Q—What is the local opinion of Dabo Swinney’s short run as head coach?

Larry—There’s some concern at this point, for sure. Swinney took over a program that didn’t need a vast overhaul.

Even though he brought the school its first division title last season, no one has patience for a 5-5 record through 10 games. Not with the kind of talent they have on hand here.

Swinney is the perfect fit at Clemson in a lot of ways. He says and does a lot of the right things, and he’s a genuine dude whom people can embrace. But he has to win, and right now the Tigers are flirting with a 6-6 season.

If South Carolina comes to Death Valley and wins its second consecutive game over the Tigers—that hasn’t happened since 1970—there will be major pressure on Swinney to win in 2011.

And if the Tigers manage to lose Saturday in Winston-Salem? There would be calls to fire him on the spot, though I don’t think anything will keep him from getting a third season.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Take a Load Off C.J.

For a number of years now the basketball locker room at Wake Forest has been closed to the media, as it is most places. The arrangement never bothered me as long as I could get access to those I needed to talk with. Besides, I’ve spent enough time in locker rooms, which are usually crowded, smelly, tight spaces where it’s as hard for you to get out of everyone else’s way as it is for everyone else to get out of yours’.

But one condition imposed by the NIT Preseason Shootout is that all locker rooms be open. So while we were waiting on Coach Bzdelik to address the media in the interview room, I took the opportunity to duck into the Wake locker room just for old-time’s sake if nothing else. And what I saw was C.J. Harris sitting low in a stuffed chair in the outer-room (the only area we were allowed to venture), where he was facing the music.

Harris, as you’ve probably heard by now, had an exceedingly rough night in the Deacons’ 90-69 loss to Virginia Commonwealth. Stripped time and time again in his efforts to get the ball upcourt against the Rams’ swarming press, he finished with 10 turnovers. His comments were included in my game story.

“In the second half we broke down a little bit and I’ll take a lot of blame for that,” Harris said. “I wasn’t as strong with the ball as you’re supposed to be as a point guard. I need to do a lot better job than I did.

“They did a great job getting up and into us. We’ve just got to execute better and a lot of that deals with my part at the point.”

My question was: Do you think people are making too much of the point guard situation on your team, or is that the story?

“I think that’s the story,’’ Harris said. “I have all the confidence in my skills at the point. My teammates and coaches do as well. We’ll just put it together.’‘

Life is about controlling what we can control and dealing with the rest as best we can. Harris, as was glaringly obvious last night, is not a natural point guard. He’s a wing guard, and from what we could see last year during his impressive freshman season, he’s a good one. But he can’t control the reality that Wake Forest has, at best, one scholarship point guard and that guy, freshman Tony Chennault, will miss at least the next eight to 10 weeks while recovering from a broken foot.

Later I asked Bzdelik to comment on the impact of point guard play in the game. Joey Rodriquez, a tough, savvy senior who has played tons of college basketball, committed only one turnover in 30 minutes and dictated the flow of the game in such a way the Rams, as a team, had only seven. Rodriquez also scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half while VCU was pulling away.

Bzdelik essentially declined to answer, which I understood. To do so would have been piling on a player that already had enough on him.

Bzdelik instead did his best to put Harris’ predicament in perspective.

“C.J. is playing his heart out,’’ Bzdelik said. “In fairness to him we’re asking him to do something he’s never done before.

“But this is a team game, and we all have to play our part in it. We, I as a coach, everybody on this team. We all have to be better. And we will. And we will get back to work.’‘

If Harris is going to settle into the position over the next couple of months, he’s going to need all the help he can get. Last night he got precious little, and his teammates were the first to know it.

“C.J. got hounded,’’ sophomore Ari Stewart said. “I don’t know how many times they took the ball from him.

“But it’s not C.J.’s fault. It’s the other four people’s fault. It’s a team game.”

Skeen No Longer a Teen

Grizzled is one of those great old-fashioned sportswriter words that has probably outlived its usefulness. But because it has a bit of punch to it, I always love to use it just the same. So thanks to Jamie Skeen for returning to Wake Forest with the Virginia Commonwealth basketball team and giving me the opportunity.

I kept trying to put my finger on what looked so different about Skeen from when he played at Wake in Skip Prosser’s last season of 2006-07 and Dino Gaudio’s first of 2007-08. What I remember was a big player with a nice shooting touch whose production never seemed to live up to his natural ability. He actually started 30 games, but 24 of them were as a freshman when he averaged 7.5 points and 4.6 rebounds. When he got off to a wobbly start as a sophomore, he was replaced by Chas McFarland in the starting lineup. Gaudio made the move against at Iowa on Nov. 22, and afterward I asked Skeen for his reaction to McFarland starting ahead of him. We were standing in the corridor outside the visiting locker room at Carver Hawkeye Arena. Skeen said McFarland should be starting because he’d been playing better than him in practice. I appreciated the honesty to no end. But another part of me wondered if Skeen wasn’t taking the demotion a little too well.

We are talking ultimate competitive, big-time college basketball here and if I were a coach trying to make a living in the ACC I might be looking for a little more fire in the belly of my power forward.

After averaging 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds as a sophomore, Skeen began his junior season in limbo when he was suspended for the first semester for what was described as a violation of the university’s academic policy. He would have had to apply to be re-admitted to Wake, but chose instead to transfer. That’s how he ended up with the VCU team that showed up at Joel Coliseum for the NIT Season Tipoff.

All I knew about his time at VCU was his numbers from last year, which were remarkably similar in points (8.1 per game) and rebounds (4.5 per game) to what he averaged as a freshman. But he shot 52 percent from the floor for the Rams, after shooting 42 percent at Wake.

He was 19 when he last played for Wake, and he is 22 today. You could see a physical maturity as soon as the Rams came out for warm-ups. He looked stronger, and far more self-assured, like a player who had been up and down the court a time or two. Compared the Jamie Skeen I knew at Wake, he looked grizzled.

And once the game started, he definitely showed an assertiveness I never saw at Wake. The VCU press led by senior point guard Joey Rodriquez was really what flummoxed the Deacons and sent them reeling to an sound 90-69 thumping on their home court. But Skeen got in his licks too, hitting five of eight shots from the floor to score 15 points. He also had five rebounds and a block in 23 productive minutes.

“I couldn’t be happier for Jamie to come back at Wake and play as well as he did and get the win,’’ Coach Shaka Smart said. “It’s not easy to do what he did tonight, and I’m really, really proud of him. I think he showed a lot of toughness.’‘

Skeen’s performance looks even better in comparison to the players he was going against. Starter Ty Walker, in 13 minutes, contributed all of two points, one block and one steal. And that was it. There were no rebounds. And freshman Carson Desroisers played better, good enough in fact to block five shots. But otherwise he hardly lit up the stat sheet with five points and three rebounds in 22 minutes.

“We allowed Jamie Skeen to catch the ball constantly too deep as opposed to being on top of him and not allowing him that low-post position,’’ Coach Jeff Bzdelik of Wake said.

Skeen appears to have landed well. If you’ve got good, savvy, veteran guards in college basketball you sleep better as a coach and Smart ought to be sleeping just fine. I was really impressed with the senior point guard Joey Rodriquez, who has 31 assists now in three games, and guards Bradford Burgess (25 points) and Brandon Rozzell (17) showed against Wake they can’t be left alone on the perimeter. And the Rams swarmed Wake, knocking them out of the game with 31 points off turnovers.

“We played against a veteran team of mostly seniors and juniors, and maybe a freshman on the team,’’ sophomore Ari Stewart of Wake said. “That was just like an ACC team in the ACC Tournament for us. And that is definitely an NCAA Tournament team right there. They’ve got a veteran point guard, and they had a chip on their shoulders coming in here on top of that.’‘

Skeen suggested that he had moved on when asked about the extra motivation of playing a school he once attended.

“It was not a motivation,’’ Skeen said. “I was just trying to get a win. We were just trying to get to New York. That’s all we’ve been talking about this whole trip. We didn’t want to win just one game, we wanted to win them both.

“I was hyped, or whatever, to be here, but at the same time I just wanted to get to New York and advance.’‘

But then he revealed he had not moved on, at least not for good, when he was asked about his footwear for the game.

“Yeah, I wore my Wake shoes,’’ Skeen said. “But it’s got Skip Prosser’s name on the inside of them. 

“That’s who recruited me here, so I mean it was a special thing for me, may he rest in peace. But it was definitely for him.’‘