Comments

Dan, I am sure you’ve heard about this or will shortly, but CJ is on the ACC All-Academic team. Maybe that’ll help his confidence.

Proud on 03/03/2010 (2:52 pm)

This is what I have a problem with. This quote from Dino says it all: “I think we’re trying to put a little too much pressure on guys individually going one-on-one and I think therein lies the problem on offense.” Uh…ya think? What? Your “offense” is Ish going 1 on 5 with the shot clock winding down and that’s not working? I wonder why? I’m trying to remember if any coach I ever had, YMCA, high school ball, whatever, ever designed a play which resulted in a player trying to go one-on-one around the perimeter, take their man off the dribble, create their own shot and score. Hmmm…nope, can’t think of that ever happening. So, why is it happening at Wake Forest? I mean, I understand you put players in position to score (i.e. Aminu in the post against a single defender), and you could call that one-on-one. But there isn’t even a trace of a comprehensive offense being run by Wake Forest to imply that even the little things that need to happen to get the ball to someone like Aminu in the post, are being done. One pass, shot. One pass…dribble around, shot. This team has clearly lost its head, from top to bottom. I never thought I would say this, but, oh how I miss Dave Odom. Is Howard West available?

Annoyed on 03/01/2010 (4:30 pm)

Here is the N&O assessment of the game:  “Wake star forward Al-Farouq Aminu finished with only seven points, but the main reason was he wasn’t getting the ball enough. While point guard Ishmael Smith took 21 shots - making only five - Aminu made 2 of 7. Even senior L.D. Williams, known more as a defensive stopper than an offensive threat, had 13 attempts.”
Is this not a problem with our offense?

Jim on 03/01/2010 (4:18 pm)

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING ABOUT ISH SMITH….

He refuses to play defense, he can’t shoot from the 3 point line, he can’t shoot inside that line, he can’t shoot unguarded at the freethrow line, he’s out of control nearly the entire game… but he is fast and that is possibly the cause of all those negatives.

LJCPA on 03/01/2010 (2:00 pm)

The comments in regard to the team and coaches have been interesting.  What we do know is that 1) the half court offense is not working, 2) WF is relying too much on Ish to go 1 on 5 with 7 seconds left on the shot clock, 3) Dino is showing his frustration both on TV interviews and in the press which, in my opinion, is not the leadership role the team needs at this moment, and 4) Woods and especially Chas are not giving us the defensive presence we need inside and finally 5) we’ve got to find somebody willing to take and make outside shots (Ari is one and should be starting).

Jim on 03/01/2010 (11:01 am)

Players go through slumps but they have to keep playing to come out of them.  If CJ is good enough to start then he is good enough to allow him to work through his issues.  That’s where coaching comes into play.  Sitting him down for that long will not help him get back into the groove.  We need him to come out of his slump since we will be facing that packed in zone from here on out.  Dino needs to step up and start coaching offense as well.  Too much standing around and reliance on Ish who we all know is not the best shooter on the team.  Our end of half play is always the same:  Ish holds the ball until 7 seconds and then drives or takes a jumper.  Get creative-use that as a fake and dish the ball. 
One other Dino comment:  why would he leave Chas in after he picked up his second quick foul and it is obvious that he is throwing a fit?  We all knew his 3rd foul was going to come very quickly.
Dino, your players need leadership and need you to step up.

Duggan on 03/01/2010 (10:45 am)