My Take on Wake - Deacons Going Nowhere Fast

Deacons Going Nowhere Fast

The debacle against UNC Wilmington yesterday provided all the reasons one would need to wonder if, nine games into his first season at Wake, Coach Jeff Bzdelik has lost his team.

Which leads me to wonder if he ever had it.

I’ve sat through my share of ugly shows over my years as the Wake beat guy, and yesterday’s setback—with the Deacons getting cuffed around by a team picked to finish last in the CAA—was about as ugly as it gets. Making it all the harder to stomach was watching two of Wake’s key players, junior Ty Walker and freshman J.T. Terrell, sulking on the bench through the second half after Bzdelik had clearly seen enough of their, shall we say, less-than-inspired play.

Terrell trudged off the court during a timeout late in the first half. Told by Bzdelik to run, he did. For about one half-hearted step. He didn’t start the second half, and spent most of his 17 minutes on the bench staring off into space. And that’s pretty much the pose he took in the locker room later when I asked him four questions.

Question one—“J.T., were you given a reason you didn’t start in the second half?’’—was met with silence.

Question two—“Did (Coach Bzdelik) say anything?—was met with silence.

Question three—“Did you ask him why you didn’t start in the second half?—produced a monosyllabic “Nope.’‘

Question four—“What was your reaction to not starting or playing more than you did?—was met, again, by silence.

I’ve been at this game long enough to know it’s not all about me, and if a player wants to be the first in my time of covering Wake to give me the silent treatment, that’s his prerogative. J.T. Terrell may be a wonderful human being for all I know because, truth is, I don’t know him. I hope to get to know him over his time at Wake. But just as it’s not all about me, it’s not all about him either. In his case, it’s about being a good teammate and a player willing and anxious to learn from his coaches.

And Walker, once he was subbed for early in the second half, walked over the bench and called for his warmups. He bickered with teammates and generally was creating enough disruption that Bzdelik, at one point, felt compelled to walk down the bench, lean over, and say something to him.

At least he talked after the game, telling me he didn’t know why he didn’t play more in the second half.

“I have no idea—I just didn’t,’’ Walker said. “I have no explanation at all. I can’t read the coaches mind, so whatever he goes by I respect it to the best of my ability.’‘

And lest we forget, Bzdelik has already taken steps to get freshman Melvin Tabb with the program, suspending him for three games to give him time to concentrate on his academics and, in Bzdelik’s words, ``carry himself to the level of expectation we expect from our players.’‘’ Tabb returned to the team last Thursday and was in uniform yesterday, but did not play. Bzdelik said last week that Tabb was going to have to earn his way back into the rotation.

But as bad a scene as it was in Greensboro yesterday, it really wasn’t all that much worse than the season-opening loss to Stetson or the setback to Winthrop. When asked before the season who was going to be the team leaders, Bzdelik said it would have to be him. But it’s becoming more and more apparent it’s going to take a player or two or three to step forward and remind everyone that a team divided can’t stand, not even against UNC Wilmington. And if it can’t stand against the Seahawks, it’s really in trouble against Duke.

“I’m not saying we’re fragile,’’ Gary Clark, the lone senior, said after the game. “Everyone has to buy into the system and play hard for the full 40 minutes, because Wilmington did.’‘

Back to the main page.

By Dan Collins on 12/13/2010 (1:39 pm)

Comments

Uh, have you guys actually seen this team? There are guys with potential, and then there is talent, and right now, there is no talent. Walker is a bust, Clark, Stewart and Harris are good role players right now, but all-ACC material, unfortunately, no. Terrell and McKie have a lot of upside, but Terrell like Teague before him, carries the downside of how high school basketball emphasizes the individual over the team. We have no point guard, no center (Walker and DeRosiers make Tony Woods look like a NBA prospect…), and we unfortunately have Gaudio to thank for that. Bzdelik is coming in on the hot seat, and has no support it seems from our hyped-up bandwagon fans (who quite frankly act as if we have a storied program like our Tobacco Road neighbors do, and not like quality Wake Forest long-time fans who take the good with the bad.) We can only hope there will be improvement, but its hard to make gold out of mud… Lets hope the next couple of years will flesh out our program with quality representatives of Wake Forest University, and not just flashy players… Give me a Sam Ivy, a Rodney Rogers, a Muggsy Bogues - heck give me Ralph Kitley over some of these selfish young men who disrespect our University with their actions and antics… Keep up the good work Dan…

The Deacon on 12/15/2010 (11:05 pm)

You are always better off saying nothing than saying something and looking a whole lot worse….

Lee Jackson on 12/15/2010 (5:00 pm)

For those calling for Wellman’s head, I think he has deserved some us give him more than one bad year before calling for his head. The football season was obviously frustrating but all schools (Texas didnt make a bowl this year either) go through ups and downs and we will be back soon with the young talent we have.
As for the basketball team, I agree with the Gaudio firing since his talented teams underachieved when it mattered.
However, I hope that Wellman isnt afraid of admitting a mistake with his hiring of coach B at the end of this year if we dont show any progress. Sure we are young, but we are also talented and we should at least be competitive by the end of the year. If we are, then he deserves more time but if this team competes on a regular basis like they did Sunday, then I think there are plenty of talented young coaches that would love to have a chance with this group and have them competing for ACC and national championships in the coming years.

canadian_deac on 12/15/2010 (4:06 pm)

John S, don’t want to get you in trouble on the homefront. You have my blessing to side with your wife. These nights have been too cold to be sleeping on the couch.
And you’re right, in that I will relish the opportunity to write nice things about Terrell and Walker.

Dan on 12/15/2010 (11:43 am)

Being a WFU football and basketball fan right now is like having an ingrown toenail and a bad case of hemorroids at the same time.

wfu22fan on 12/15/2010 (10:19 am)

Country,
You are doing a yeomans task that would not be required if the two major sports had W’s instead of L’s in the column.

This is your Blog, your thoughts and expressions and many here appreciate your honesty and frank assessment of the current situation. Many here agree with you…

Just keep on doing what you do and with the knowledge that most here support you 100%!!!

Tom on 12/15/2010 (7:35 am)

And this is the state of Wake Forest sports ladies and gentlemen…The 2010-11 seasons of football and basketball, “A year to forget”.

Dano on 12/15/2010 (12:50 am)

Thanks for your perspective, Dan. You are doing your job. The Deacs are so bad right now that I think everybody is a little testy.

Steve on 12/15/2010 (12:14 am)

Wow Curious, thanks for giving us all a laugh with your moronic assessment of Dan’s blog. Any true Wake fan appreciates his insight and is above looking at it as a personal attack on a teenager. He is a reporter. It is his job to report. He asked the kid questions and the kid chose to show his immaturity. As another poster said, the title of the blog is “My take on Wake” - and that is what DC always delivers.

Tuck on 12/14/2010 (10:11 pm)

Wow, Dan. You’ve really set off a firestorm. Even my wife said “the bushy-beard guy is wrong”. You’ve lost the homefront.

Thanks for the insight. Even though you wrote some pretty negative things about Terrell and Walker, I’m sure you’ll be the first to praise them when they put forth better efforts.

John S on 12/14/2010 (9:11 pm)

I briefly talked with JTT at one of the football games earlier this year and I came away worrying that he was not going to be much of a team player. I hope he settles down and decides to work hard and do the little things like being on time and trying hard ALL the time. He could be a great player for us. So could Ty. I really believe that if Kyle Singler or Nolan Smith were suddenly stuck in a disaster like we are currently experiencing they would still use max effort every play. I would be happy just to see some good efort tomorrow.

DannyB on 12/14/2010 (8:26 pm)

wfu22fan, you’re always welcome here. The “unfounded attacks’’ point I made concerned sharp and at times hurtful comments made about people that I either know for a fact aren’t true or have enough doubt to not let them pass and show up on my blog. I always hate reading those on other sites. But I do like a free exchange of ideas.

Dan on 12/14/2010 (7:07 pm)

Dan, Sorry for the personal attack on Curious. His comment about “impending football transfers” and his attacks on your work really ticked me off.
Being a WFU fan isn’t easy right now. It has us fighting amongst ourselves.

wfu22fan on 12/14/2010 (6:38 pm)

Last year there was speculation that Dino had lost his team. I was not in favor of getting rid of Dino but we cannot blame coach Bzdelik Wellman is the one to blame.
Watching Wake basketball helps me get through the winter. Thanks Ron

ED on 12/14/2010 (5:53 pm)

To Wfu22fan,
I welcome your comments, and I also welcome those of Curious. A dissenting opinion can be a good thing. And like I’ve said a couple of times before, if someone disagrees with me, I want to know. I won’t validate profane comments or unfounded attacks on anyone. But again, how dull this world would be if everyone agreed.

Dan on 12/14/2010 (5:51 pm)

Go away, Curious. You are outnumbered.

wfu22fan on 12/14/2010 (5:40 pm)

Stonewall,

The first question was reasonable. Asking four times, then reprinting those four questions with commentary on the responses (thanks letting us all know that “Nope” is monosyllabic) was not reasonable, in my opinion, and closer to badgering.

I don’t feel at all that either his response or Walker’s have any effect on their standing as “decent” human beings. Though with your slight change to “respectful” you have more of a case, I guess.

Anyway, thanks for your response, too. Mine could be viewed as kind of snarky, which was probably my intention, but was without ill intent, which probably wasn’t clear.

Curious on 12/14/2010 (5:36 pm)

I do appreciate this new hard hitting, no holds barred, Dan Collins. It will be interesting to see how he questions people regarding the much more tangible evidence of a coach losing his team with the impending football transfers.

Curious on 12/14/2010 (5:29 pm)

Curious,
I played 4 years of D1 baseball (lower profile sport, I fully concede) but have some experience in speaking with local sports reporters and know that if they ask you a reasonable question, you do your best to answer it or respectfully ask for a pass because of the emotion of the moment following a loss or whatever. College athletes are even typically given some guidance by their school in that regard. Guys like Dan have a job to do and guys like JT and Walker (who were given scholarships to a high-end univ) also have a job to do—-namely representing their university in an appropriate manner. Non-answers are insulting in just about any situation and JT simply should have said “Dan, I’m sorry. I’m really upset at this loss and my play and I’m gonna need to speak with you another time”. That’s how a respectful human being acts.

There are kids the age of JT and Walker who have had limbs blown off overseas…and who actually know what a real “bad” day is. Losing to UNC-W and being benched doesn’t exempt someone, who should be cognizant that he is representing his school, from trying to be a decent, respectful person.

FYI—-I’ve witnessed numerous wonderful interactions between Wake athletes (incl Kenny Moore, Justin Gray, Ish Smith) and my own children over the years and know that most of these student-athletes “get it”. Stop making excuses for JT’s behavior—-it’s indefensible.

Stonewall on 12/14/2010 (4:26 pm)

DC,

I understand and appreciate that view. I understand that this is a blog and freed somewhat from the restrictions of proper newspaper writing.

If Collins had used this to illustrate his opinion about the one game, that would be more understandable.

Instead, in my opinion, he takes a mocking tone that is incredibly patronizing and disrespectful of Terrell. He doesn’t know him. Maybe he should take the time to do so before attributing thoughts to words that were not spoken.

It’s not up to Terrell to go out of his way to get to know Dan Collins.

I appreciate people offering their opinions on such matters, and he has ever right to; I felt, based on extremely circumstantial evidence, he made a leap to his conclusion that seemed based more on spite and bitterness, than merely offering his “take.”

Anyway, I’m getting too fired up over this. Thank you for your well-reasoned and tempered alternative explanation, though. I just thought he took advantage of the athletes in this situation, and I’m usually going to side with the kids and give them the benefit of the doubt.

Curious on 12/14/2010 (4:02 pm)