Comments

I don’t agree with the coaching choice on the behalf of the Wake Forest Athletic Association or many as it be known to as Ron Wellman. It is clear that Bzdelik isn’t fit for this ACC team. I’m not sure he understands what a huge responsibility that is. The ACC is one of the best basketball confrences in all of college basketball. I would have never fired Dino Gaudio if I knew this guy who has a 50/50 track record come in to an ACC school who has been pretty respectable considering they were number 1 the previous season. Not only do I not agree with his coaching method, I strongly disagree with the offense he is running. Wake Forest is NOT a good screening team! They all stand around and set screens. Where does that get them? 44 points, 50 points, etc. In case Bzdelik hasn’t noticed the point of basketball is to score points and win. Stop clapping your hands when your down by 30 points. It’s absurd. This team has talent and this team NEEDS discipline. So my advice for your Coach start using your kids to their fullest potential you have got two seven footers, 2 of the top leading ACC scorers Travis and C.J., and much more. I wish Wake well for the rest of the season they will need it.

Cassidy on 02/12/2012 (12:15 pm)

@Tony.  You mentioned Harvard’s starting five.  You do realize that Wake starts 2 Seniors, 1 Junior and 2 Sophomores.

Chill on 02/11/2012 (11:27 am)

Once again, breathe.  DC is right.  We knew there would be games like this.  In fact UVa is an appropriate place to start a discussion.  When Tony Bennett took over at UVa, they had two .500 seasons before this year.  Yes, he had a great run at WSU, but when the players that he did not recruit graduated, he had a terrible season.  Players matter.  Time matters.

How about the hottest story in hoops right now?  Jeremy Lin and Harvard.  Tommy Amaker won a total of 22 games in his first two years.  Then the CIT, then the playoff loss to Princeton, and then this year.  He has two seniors, two juniors, and a sophomore starting.  Time matters.  Players matter. 

Lets see how the Deacs do in this stretch of six games against middle of road or bottom ACC teams.  By the way, UVa is pretty darn good this year and Mike Scott was out of his mind.

Tony on 02/11/2012 (10:07 am)

Virgina scored 8 points in the last 11 minutes and 15 seconds of the game.

That is Pathetic and Embarrasing!

The sad thing is, despite what Bzdelik said, it was not at all surprising to anyone who followed this team the last two years. Bzdelik has failed and it’s time to cut bait. The team isn’t improving as a whole.  None of our individual players are developing.  There’s no coherent system on offense or defense and there’s no sign that anything is getting better. The games are boring.  The coach is emotionless on the sidelines and rarely stands up for his players.

Next year’s heralded recruiting class hopefully will raise the talent level and we’ll probably win a few more games because of that. However, does anyone who has been watching this mess closely really expect Bzdelik to develop those players or the current players, implement a system that maximizes their talent, or get the best results possible with the players he’s got?  Heck, if I was one of those recruits I’d be having serious second thoughts right now.

Bz Out Now!

Andy Y on 02/11/2012 (9:18 am)

I don’t think we should change the subject to football.  Coach Grobe is and has always done a great job.  I bought season tickets to football this year JUST to support WFU and athletics in general.  But I only bought tickets to two basketball games solely in order to see if our basketball team (under this coach) has made improvement over last year’s team (to assess whether giving this coach additional time has made any difference.). It has not.  So it’s time for our university and it’s alumni to have this discussion.  If we don’t, we don’t advocate on behalf of the players (who really can’t).  I think and have always thought we’ve had talent to compete.  We had 20 win seasons (the acc standard) until our current coach.  Even Dean Smith noted you don’t make it every year.  You just have to make the NCAA tournament to have a shot at it.  We made the tournament under the last coach. But not under this coach. We’re not getting better, we’re getting worse.  Year two, were still dead last.  So let’s NOT change the subject. Let’s resolve the problem.  Pressure needs to be brought to bear on this matter till its resolved.  I for one am not buying basketball tickets like I used to until Wellman does the right thing and makes it right.  Go Deacs!!!

Alan on 02/10/2012 (6:53 pm)

As the old saying goes, “one oh crap, will mess up a thousand atta boys” I always thought Wellman made good decisions but the BZZZ hiring overshadows everything good he’s done to date in my opinion.

AV8R on 02/10/2012 (5:49 pm)

I think Wellman may finally get the peace and quiet he wants from this decision….

I really just don’t care anymore.

JoeyD on 02/10/2012 (4:02 pm)

Since we are all probably tired of talking about our basketball coach and team, could you bring us up to date on the roles our new football coaches will be playing this year and how it will change what the other coaches do?

DE on 02/10/2012 (11:56 am)

Other than hiring buzzy, welly has done a fantastic job since coming from Illinois state to wake. This enabled him to build a lot of credibility with the administration, the fan base and the media. That is why he was able to fire a successful coach and replace him with a washed up 50-something year old who had a losing record at third tier hoops program across the country. The ONLY reason that welly hired buzzy is their friendship.

Now, welly must decide whether he’s going to make the only logical business decision or whether he will dam& the torpedoes and plunge ahead with his buddy. This is like a gambler who after getting cleaned out all night must decide whether to go to bed and start over the next day or call the credit card company for a special cash advance and double down.

Welly, you have to realize that hoops is wake’s marquis program and that you can trash your otherwise great reputation and great work at Wake by ignoring the writing on the wall.

Rob on 02/10/2012 (12:15 am)

Dan, What was that you said last year about “spitting in the ocean”?  Well I’m still spitting.  Hopefully somebody at Wake has the courage and good sense to put an end this sorry experiment - SOON! 

Let Battle finish the season.  That alone will make the rest of the season worth watching.  He’s good people.  Besides both he and the players deserve it.

gt on 02/09/2012 (11:12 pm)

I think the truly sad thing from last night was the “that’s not us” comment.  Anybody watching from the stands gets an eyeful of what “us” really looks like under this current coach.  That IS our Wake Forest team out there as presented to us by our AD’s decision to first hire and then now keep our present coach.  Say what you will about Dino, at least he had us winning.  It’s simply arrogant to think you can “tweak” a team by changing coaches. What sought out Skip and those he brought with us to turn things around (to win).  To bad were undoing all the good from those years.  Too bad the best of Wake basketball has to live in our memories since we can no longer see it at the Joel!! The time to fire a coach is when they’re losing, not when they’re winning.  First we fired a winning coach, now we’re keeping a losing coach.  Has anybody noticed that as of yesterday we are now dead last in the ACC.  It’s clear what must be done.  Time to move on!!

Alan on 02/09/2012 (9:35 pm)

When’s the first football game?

Mark on 02/09/2012 (8:34 pm)

I can’t believe some of you still wish Dino was here. So what, he averaged 20 wins in three years but he still couldn’t win tournament games. I’m glad Dino’s gone I only wish he had hung around long enough to take BZZZZ with him. Where’s Carl Tacy or Dave Odom when we need them? They were all class and they could win.

AV8R on 02/09/2012 (8:24 pm)

“When Wellman surprised fans by dumping Gaudio a few weeks after a season in which Wake Forest faded late but still made the second round of the NCAA tournament, the assumption was he had to have a splashy replacement in mind,’’ Jeff Eisenberg wrote at rivals.com. “If that man is Bzdelik, Wake Forest fans are going to be very disappointed.’’  How true, Jeff, how true.

Robinson on 02/09/2012 (7:57 pm)

Sadly, our comments are probably not read by Wellman.  I’m glad my season ticket renewal comes up. It will be the only meaningful way t o show my displeasure.  The Deacon shop at the mall will give you a free ticket to the Clemson game if you buy a hat…how pathetic.

Jim on 02/09/2012 (6:42 pm)

I have a hard time understanding those that want to give Bzdelik more time. It has been so obvious since day one that he is in over his head. I went to the Stetson game 1 1/2 years ago. It was stunning to see a team that had 1/10th our talent run all over us. We have had at least 4 games this year that were worse than any game that I have watched Wake play in over 35 years. Many of those years we played with significantly less talent than we have Today.
I was not down on Bzdelick from the very outset. It seemed like a bad hire, but I had confidence in Wellman. It did not take long to see the on court results were flabergasting. I truly believe that had Wake had no coach this year and last and the players just played on their own we would have won more games. I do not know if Bzdelick is overcoaching and the players have no feel left or if his schemes are just bad or he is unmotivating them. I am fully aware of all of the problems and turmoil that Bzdelik has had to deal with, but none of that account for the truly abysmal results of his teams.
It does not help that his personality with the media is so terse. If you have the credentials of a Bobby Knoght or Roy Williams, by all means mouth off, but if you are trying to breed good will and interest in Wake Forest basketball lets try some humility and enthusiasm. At least try to be likeable.
I think that about 80-90% of the fan base is so turned off that Bzdelik will never be accepted. The only people still going to the games are those that have always bought season tickets and want to keep their seats for some day in the future. I am sure that Bzdelick is a nice man and I wish him well in his future endeavors.
We need to start the healing. For that to happen, Bzdelik has to move on.

Ken Nowell on 02/09/2012 (6:08 pm)

As many people noted here, the team was actually quite recognizable because we knew what kind of team we had from the beginning of the year.  So I don’t understand the seemingly surprised reactions from the comments below, especially considering the fact that we were playing on the road against a top 20 program that matched up well against us. 

This program wasn’t going to be a contender this year, and everyone knew it.  That doesn’t make it less frustrating, but we need to keep supporting these kids as they work to get Wake Forest basketball back to where it should be.  Let’s bounce back with a better effort this weekend.  Go Deacs!

DC on 02/09/2012 (4:54 pm)

Virginia is the real deal… after seeing how well they can play last night I’m sure they will be in my pre-NCAA tournament final four…

Can anyone out there explain how we’ve won 2 ACC games?

Minor shout out to Bzzzz… There are some of us out here still defending you and we’ll keep it up as long as we can, but you’ve got to give a little cover fire every now and then from the bench…

Lee Jackson on 02/09/2012 (4:46 pm)

How much longer will Wake fans have to endure this sorry spectacle? Dino coached the team to 60 wins in three years and nobody liked it in the AD’s office apparently. Too many egos and such they said and only had a #1 ranking for a week. Read the above numbers carefully and let me know when you think you are going to see anything like that anytime soon with Bzz. Remember the score last night and against NC State and others, makes you shudder. Time for a change, past it I think.

Paul on 02/09/2012 (4:20 pm)

Dan
Now that the high school basketball season is close to winding down, could you please give us an assessment of the much ballyhooed recruiting class for next season? More specifically how each recruit’s teams fared and the individual stats for each recruit

Regardless these recruits will still be freshmen; and in Coach Bz’s words “young.”

But hopefully your assessment will offer some encouragement for next season.

DTuttle on 02/09/2012 (3:35 pm)