Fischer Finds Footing
Believe it or not, Ripley, West, Va. is a long way from the ACC.
Chase Fischer of Ripley believed it, but even so was surprised by the way he played Friday in Wake’s opener against Loyola of Maryland.
“In the first game I thought I came out and played a little hesitant,’’ Fischer said. “I didn’t really expect that. I’m very confident and always have a swagger about myself. So I didn’t really think that would happen. But you see a lot of these freshmen who are playing these big-time games having growing pains.’‘
If nerves played a role in the way he played against the Greyhounds, when he missed all three shots he took and fouled out in 24 minutes, then he apparently got them under control by tonight’s second game against Georgia Southern. In my first look at Fischer in a game that counts, I saw pretty much what I expected coming into the season.
He has a nice stroke. He knows the game. He looks like he’s not afraid to stick his nose into the fray.
“It definitely felt good to hit some shots and contribute to the team tonight and play a big role,’’ Fischer said after hitting four of nine shots for 13 points in Wake’s 81-72 victory over Georgia Southern. “So yeah, I felt a lot more confident.’‘
His lack of lateral quickness was evident even before Coach Jeff Bzdelik began substituting fellow freshman Anthony Fields for defensive possessions late. And Eric Ferguson, the Eagle’ long and lithe 6-7 forward, confirmed how open Fischer is going to have to be when he swooped from the lane to block a 3-point attempt from the right wing. After hitting his first two 3-pointers, Fischer missed his final five.
But I’ve seen players compensate for such deficiencies before, and truth be told, few college basketball players are the complete package. If Fischer can hit the open three-pointer, move the ball, spot the open man in the post, then he can help a team that needs all the help it can get. The Deacons’ open-post, motion offense should accentuate his attributes, especially if he continues to pick it up as quickly as he has so far.
To have a shot at having any kind of impact at all on the ACC this season, and actually giving occasionally as well as taking, Wake’s going to need another at least relatively consistent scoring threat besides Travis McKie and C.J. Harris. Can Fischer be that threat? It’s going to take more than 13 points against Georgia Southern to convince me, but I would say he’s the best chance the Deacons have.
“Chase is a freshman in his second game,’’ Bzdelik said. “He can make shots. He just needs to keep believing in himself. I certainly believe in him and so do his teammates.
“He made some shots and that’s a great thing. And he made some good shots for us, timely shots for us. We needed that—a shot in the arm.’‘
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By Dan Collins on 11/17/2011 (12:40 am)
Comments
Wake was a high enough profile job to get an accomplished coach from another D1 school or an up and coming midmajor coach when we hired this one…
We couldn’t get the one we wanted but truth be told, no one else in the country could have either. He wasn’t going to leave Butler. It was stupid to think otherwise. I mean we all remember when the SEC’s Arkansas came calling for Coach Grobe. He just wasn’t interested.
JoeyD on 11/18/2011 (9:30 am)
Chase is going to be fine. He’s a good player, and will only get better. I was also thankful to see the free throw shots much improved. I do question our defensive efforts though. If they would have dropped more of their shots, we’d be in for a loss. Thankfully, they missed a ton of shots. I don’t understand why we continue to leave guards open for wide open 3-point attempts. This is nothing new.
dano on 11/17/2011 (10:51 pm)
If Chase plays 1/2 as hard as Rusty and
Marc Blucas played we’ll be all right.
deacjordan on 11/17/2011 (6:07 pm)
We’re still a bit short on athleticism, but those kids will show up next year. I see a lot of improvement and feel Bzdelick is doing a good job. I’m sure he’s forgot more about coaching BB than I’ll ever know. I hope he stays a long time, because that will show we’re being successful. When that time comes for him to retire, etc., I really hope the AD looks beyond Rusty, because Wake should be a high enough profile program to get an accomplished coach from another D1 school or from a mid-major. Rusty is a great kid, but c’mon, he’s never been a HC and Wake and the ACC is not where you become a head college BB coach for the first time (ie. Bill Guthrage, Carolina, Bob Wade, Md. and Dino Gaudio, WF).
Jim on 11/17/2011 (4:55 pm)
Sorry I don’t see the improvement. We’re horrible.
The coaching decisions are bad Bad BAD!!!
Why did Greene only play 3 min against a scrub team? At best Carson is going to be able to play solid for about 30 min a night against real competition. That’s probably more than you can expect out of Nikita given his foul tendencies.
We kill ourselves defensively when we’re forced to play McKie at 4. It was one of the travesties of last season. We have to be getting Greene some quality minutes NOW. The team will be better for it down the road.
We accomplish nothing having him sitting on the bench.
I still don’t think Bzdelik could coach his way out of a paper bag.
JoeyD on 11/17/2011 (2:26 pm)
I think Coach Bzdelick is a good coach. Bless his heart for weathering last year’s hurricane of a season. I know he took much, much more heat for the team’s shortcomings than he deserved. We now know the kinds of players he was dealing with at the time, and we now also know that the guy can recruit quality players. I am very, very excited about what Coach B brings to Wake Forest, and I am looking forward not only to see what he can do by fully implementing his system and getting the players to buy into it but also to see his mentoring skills for Rusty Larue since he may be the next head coach at Wake Forest once Coach B decides to hang it up. (Of course, I also wouldn’t mind seeing “Il Professore”, a.k.a. Randolph Childress, get a shot at coaching the team in time as well.) But it sure appears to me that Wake Forest basketball has turned around and is finally headed in the right direction - thank goodness! GO DEACS!!!
Matt on 11/17/2011 (1:39 pm)
I agree that Chase will be some help to this team. To me the biggest disappointment of the team right now is Nikita.He does not look like he has imporved. We got very little from the 4 spot last night. We may have to move Travis to the 4 with Carson at the 5 with three guards to get the most out of this talent. It makes us very small—but it gives us the most on the offensive end of the floor. When they went to the zone it looked like Travis was at center with Nikita at the 4—-we need Carson on the floor as much as possible. That said, the team is much imporved.
steveh on 11/17/2011 (11:56 am)
Though Wake has had players in the past with more “athleticism,” Chase displays a significantly higher “basketball IQ” than several of them. He is a very nice addition (as are Fields and Green). Chase has a nice future at Wake and in the ACC. Glad he’s a Deac!
Rhenish on 11/17/2011 (10:24 am)
Dan,
Is Tony Chennault 100% recovered from the “stress reaction” in his foot that he suffered last year? He seemed a step or two slow last night. Perhaps he is still getting acclimated to the flow of a college game after such limited experience last season, but I expected him to be a lot quicker on both offense and defense, especially since he lost some weight in the offseason. Thanks.
Greg on 11/17/2011 (9:20 am)
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