My Take on Wake - Harris No Shooting Star

Harris No Shooting Star

There’s something to be said about a player waiting for the game to come to him. The problem is when the game takes too long to get there.

Wake lost to Maryland 70-64 tonight because it couldn’t guard without fouling or lock down its defensive boards well enough to overcome a sluggish start. The Deacons fouled 28 times, allowing the Terps to shoot 24 percent in the second half while making only seven field goals and still slip away with the win.

But Wake would have never found itself in a 34-16 first-half hole if C.J. Harris, the ACC’s second-leading scorer, had been more productive early. Instead he took only six field-goal attempts in the game’s first 25 minutes while the Terps, behind the ACC’s leading scorer Terrell Stoglin, were making hay.

Harris played well enough down the stretch for a player in the throes of foul trouble, scoring eight points in the final 14 minutes to finish with 10. But on a night Travis McKie was pouring in 25 points and Ty Walker (eight points, nine rebounds, eight blocks) was playing like the player he was once upon a time projected to be, the Deacons needed something more to throw at Maryland to pull off a second-straight upset.

The main reason I like Harris’ game so much may is he is a consummate team player and he doesn’t force bad shots. And one of the most impressive accomplishments of the early season is that Harris is scoring 18 points a game totally within the flow of the Deacons’ offense. But since returning from the strained groin that sidelined him against Wofford, he has attempted only 19 field goals in 70 minutes of play. He did hit the two biggest shots of Saturday’s victory over Virginia Tech, but lost in the celebration was that, up until crunch tiime, Harris had taken only six shots and made one.

I asked him tonight if perhaps he could help the team more by being more assertive early.

“As a player, you just have to go with the game offensively—moving the ball, everybody touching it, finding the open man, attack and attack for others,’’ Harris explained. “And that’s just something that definitely works. If we stick to that, we’ll be fine.’‘

I posed the question to coach Jeff Bzdelik as well, if perhaps Harris could help the team by coming out of the gates more aggressively.

“Within the framework of what we’re doing,’’ Bzdelik replied. ‘And he had a couple of good looks there too that he just didn’t make.

“They did a good job of keying on him, but others have to help us out there too by scoring.’‘

It’s apparent 16 games into the season that Wake has too many flaws to be a great team. The Deacons are weak on the boards, they blow too many prime scoring opportunities and they have a short bench. But they do have, in Harris and McKie, two of the ACC’s most prolific scorers. When both are on their game, they can cause problems for even good teams. When one of the other—or both—are sputtering, there’s not enough left to take up the slack.

Back to the main page.

By Dan Collins on 01/12/2012 (12:47 am)

Comments

What an travesty that was today at the Joel! To not have any energy, passion, or desire to win, or even compete is inexcuseable! WF embarassed the school and themselves today, and took no pride in the jersey they are wearing! Randolph Childress had to be sinking in his seat(and actually was!). How can they play so hard and beat VT and almost beat Maryland and then not have any desire to play a Big 4 opponent at HOME?! What did Buzz do to kill their spirit? They are 18 to 21 year old kids who should love to play basketball and compete; however they look like they would rather be anywhere else than on their home floor playing a rival team. Amazing that we have sunk this low. Ronnie Wellman must be proud that the once hostile Joel is now a wine and cheese party for our opponents!

Bobby on 01/14/2012 (7:07 pm)

Talent? Kidding again rright?

Mel on 01/14/2012 (7:00 pm)

Coach of the year. You’ve got to be kidding.

Mel on 01/14/2012 (6:59 pm)

officiating was horrendous in College Park, BZ is going to have to start getting more vocal with the officials

thomas on 01/13/2012 (11:23 am)

Why would 3 ACC wins make Bzdelik ACC coach of the year? Anything less than 6-10 will be a complete embarrassment. This team should be 8-8 in this league. Really the only teams that should beat us are Duke and North Carolina.

Virginia is the 3rd best team in this league and we beat them last year, so falling behind them would be a step backward.

We have talent! We have always had talent. The coach has to use the talent.

Notice how much improved McKie and Meschirakov have become in the presence of a legitimate C. Notice what has happened to the oppnents shooting percentage since Ty Walker has started playing more. Notice how much better we rebound with a McKie playing 30 min a night at small forward (28 last night with the foul trouble).

If Chase Fischer makes a couple shots we win last night. I understand he’s a Freshman in his first ACC road game, so I’m not disappointed. But overall we have comparatively the talent to do quite well in this league.

Joey D on 01/12/2012 (10:58 pm)

I too was proud of the second half comeback by the Deacs….College Park has never been an easy place for us to play. As you all know, we have had some our good teams (ie. those that made the NCAA tournament) get blown out up there.

At any rate, I think we can bounce back against State this weekend…especially since we came back after losing to Wofford.

Does anyone where we play if Ty Walker had reshirted his freshman year? He played great last night and I always wonder what if….

Quentin on 01/12/2012 (8:18 pm)

Felt good to have another ACC game that you didn’t have to turn off before half time to avoid smashing the screen out of frustration.

While I’d argue some of the foul calls someone needs to tell the players what to watch out for or how the game is being called… just say its being called tight downlow… watchout… the string of about 5 plays in a row ending in a Deacon defensive foul made me cringe…

He’s a long way from getting there but if Coach Bzzz gets 3 ACC wins this year then he is coach of the year… he’s got one now he’s just got to find a way to get 2 more… (I think a win over UNC and DUKE gets him the nod even if they just get 2 W’s this year)

Go Deacs…

Lee Jackson on 01/12/2012 (6:00 pm)

Overall Deacs are vastly improved. I hate to whine but some of the foul calls seemed a liitle out of line. Our guy goes out wih a smashed face and there is NO call. They have a touch off the ball and they are on the line. Seems typical of ACC officiating. Home team usually has a huge advantage.

JR Hunter on 01/12/2012 (12:32 pm)

Dan—I was thinking along similar lines while watching the game. The difference was, I was wondering why we don’t run a special set designed to get an open shot for CJ. Odom did this strategy very successfully with Childress in years past. It was great to see the heart the team showed by the comeback. Also, great to see Walker making a significant contribution.
Go Deacs—-beat State on Saturday!

steveh on 01/12/2012 (11:27 am)

I thought Wake played really well in the second half, minus the foul issues, but they didn’t match Maryland’s effort or intensity in the first half. That was disappointing. They looked sluggish on the offensive end in that first half, no one was really taking control or breaking down the defense. I think we saw much more of that in the second half…driving the ball, getting into the lane, making defenders come off their man and finding the open player. Like Dan said, Wake has too many flaws to be a great team, so the effort and intensity has to be there for 40 minutes. Chennault looked strong, Walker was tough, McKie played great, but 17 second-chance points was the story. Too many missed assignments, not boxing out on the defensive end. And, Fischer has to make those open 3s. That front end miss on the one-and-one hurt too. He’s supposed to be one of our shooters. I know he’s young, but I think he’s a bit of an X-factor for Wake. If he can hit for 10, 12 points…which he certainly had the opportunity to do last night, Wake’s a different team. All and all, I’m proud of the way they fought back. They showed mental and physical toughness last night. That’s certainly a combination we didn’t see a whole lot of last year.

That said, looking at the schedule, I’m uncertain as to the prospects of Wake being in a postseason tournament. I can’t make any sense of who’s who in the ACC other than North Carolina. Beating N.C. State on Saturday would go a long way in making a run for the NIT. I’d like to think we could handle Boston College, maybe Clemson once…we play both of them twice. Georgia Tech is an enigma to me, as is Miami and Florida State. If there’s six ACC wins out there for the Deacs, they would finish 15-15 and would need a win or two in the ACC tournament to finish at .500 or above.

Casey on 01/12/2012 (11:09 am)

Let me just state the obvious thing that I noticed last night…yes tons of fouls, but I tell you what, those foul calls were really bad. I couldn’t believe that they called so many touch fouls. Many of them, it didn’t even look like our defender even touched the person. I know everyone complains about refs, but my gosh, can you not defend a shot now?? Is it a foul to just stick up your hand and put it in the shooter’s face? There was a period in the second half where there were at least 5-7 fouls called in about a 5 minute span that I just couldn’t believe they were calling. I’m sorry, but other than DUKE, who gets away with fouls all day, no team typically has that many fouls called on it. Maryland was in the one & one before I knew it in the second half and was shooting two right after. How many points did Maryland get from the line? Answer: 24

Dano on 01/12/2012 (10:57 am)

I almost turned off the TV in the first half and then at the beginning of the second half. However it was a very good comeback and one to be proud of. I just have to say that it does not make sense to have our 6’11” and 7 footers on the perimeter taking 3 point shots etc. Like Tony Wood last night, they belong under the basket.

raytn69 on 01/12/2012 (10:40 am)

Dan,

I think you pretty much covered CJ’s performance in the game last night. I agree that every team needs players to step up when the primary guys have an off night (McKie by the way, amazingly filled up the stat sheet without anyone realzing how well he was playing - again).

To that end, a more efficient night from Chase Fischer would’ve made a huge difference last night. I loved the way he moved without the ball (he actually drew a couple of fouls just from running his guys off screens). Unfortunately, he was just a bit off the few times he was able to get his feet set with enough time to shoot. It’ll be interesting to see if he takes a step forward this year or if his legs kind of hit a wall.

I thought that Tony Chennault played an outstanding game at point guard - best I’ve seen him play. He seemed a lot more under control, and actually had a few incredible passes that were not handled well enough by their recipients to end up as assists. He also did a decent job on Stoglin for stretches.

Likewise, I’d like to congratulate Ty Walker on being an impact player last night at both ends of the floor. There were a few points during the game where Ty (and the rest of the team) could have checked out mentally. Instead, Walker helped key the Deacs’ comeback with a few timely blocks as well as physical offensive rebounds and put-backs. His performance was made that much more clutch by the fact that Carson Desrosiers couldn’t stay on the floor. I hope he keeps up the progress.

Overall, losing sucks - no sense trying to sugarcoat it. But when the Deacs were down by as many as 16, you could tell they were still engaged in the task at hand (during timeouts and on the bench, as well as on the floor), and they almost sneaked all the way back into the game because of that tenacity. I wasn’t the least bit ashamed of them when I left.

Greg on 01/12/2012 (9:30 am)