It’s Unanimous: Ari Should Have Played More
Anyone looking to second-guess Coach Dino Gaudio for playing Ari Stewart—the Deacons’ leading 3-point shooter at 42 percent—only four minutes in the second half tonight against Miami’s confounding zone defense had to stand in line.
His assistants got the first crack.
“Boy my assistants got into me after the game about Ari should have played more,’’ Gaudio said. “And you know what? He should have. I’m not perfect.
“When one of them jumps me, usually I’ll fight them—argue with them I should say. But it was like four on one. They were like standing there, and I’m `All right, all right, OK, I’m wrong.’
“You know what? He should have played more. He was, what, 2 for 4 on threes in the first half? I should have played him more. I just felt like our defense was the thing that was going to carry us. I was probably wrong on that one—where four of them attack me after the game. I conceded. No mas.’‘
Dino was right in one regard. The defense did carry the Deacons on a night that nobody ever really got it going on offense. C.J. Harris made two 3-pointers and six free throws, including two of the biggest for a 59-53 lead with 1:46 remaining. Ish had 11 points and six assists, but again had trouble finishing at break-neck speed and was only 4 of 12 from the floor. Chas McFarland contributed nine points and seven rebounds. But when a team can impose a half-court game on the Deacons and hold them only seven points in transition and smother Al-Farouq Aminu so completely he makes only one of five shots from the floor and allow Wake only seven second-half field goals on 22 attempts (32 percent) then it would have to feel pretty good about its chances.
Miami did all those things tonight and Wake still won. Stewart played only four minutes in the second half and Wake still won. The Hurricanes outscored the Deacons 17-2 on second-chance points and Wake still won.
No coach has to be defensive when his team plays defense like that.
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By Dan Collins on 02/03/2010 (12:41 am)
Comments
I think that unanimity of opinion centers on the fact that Ari Stewart should have played more than four minutes in the second half of the Miami game. But to completely switch Stewart’s minutes with LD’s would be a mistake. First off, to insinuate that LD is overrated from the defensive standpoint is off base. The kid is a good defender, and that’s something that has been acknowledged by two Wake Forest coaches as well as every opposing team.
I also think that he contributes on offense to a certain extent, and is capable of doing more if his talents are focused correctly. I’ve noticed the last couple of games that he is quite good at feeding the post (an under-appreciated skill). That allows Ish and CJ to move without the ball to create mismatches on offense (instead of our bread-and-butter of Ish running his man off of a high screen). Our half court offense hasn’t clicked yet. I’m just saying that LD plays a role there too (even without being a shooter, which he will never be).
Having said that, Ari Stewart brings an element to our offense that LD does not provide, and Coach Gaudio needs to devise lineups and matchups to better take advantage of his skills, which he admitted.
Our team has a very long way to go if it wants to be a factor in March, so I’m glad that Coach Gaudio is willing to adapt his thinking. We certainly have the talent to turn this into a pretty special season.
DC on 02/05/2010 (11:51 am)
On the comments concerning playin vets over rooks and C.J. over Ari.
I"ll break it down.
The rookies are head and shoulders better offensive players than the veterans. Give me Stewart or Harris any day over LD or Gary Clark. Any day.
Harris plays because he is way way more confident and capable with the ball off the dribble. He is also superior passer to Stewart with better court vision and composure (I.E. Playing SMART).
I can’t see how in the world you can play LD over Stewart. I think this “One of the best defenders in the ACC” stuff is a figment of Wakes own imagination. Who has he stopped this year?? Give me Ari or give me death.
Thomas on 02/03/2010 (6:51 pm)
Dan - Even though we won, I just felt a huge disappointment after watching that game and started prepping myself for future disappointment down the road. A few points/questions. (1) The team came out so lackadaisical and careless last night. Why? Perhaps having time off hurts this team by taking them out of rhythm and sense of urgency. We could have blown them out in the first 10 minutes if we had just had a bit more focus. This brings me to (2). Why can’t this team finish and put teams away? They’ve talked about killer instinct, but where is it. I’m sure something has to do with Miami, but still - they should have put that game away early on last night. They just seemed not to take it that seriously at times. (3) I thought Ish had stopped his charging to the basket out of control. I had really been impressed with his improvement ever since the first half of the Gonzaga game. Last night, however, it looked like he was back as he was before the 2nd half of Gonzaga - making great moves to the basket but unable to finish. (4) - I still don’t understand how they outrebounded us on the o-boards like they did. I know many of their shots were horrible and thus crazy rebounds, but still. (5) - Bravo to Tony Woods! I’ll admit I know next to nothing about the in’s and out’s of b-ball strategy and such, but (to me at least) it looks like Tony is making huge strides. He’s catching feeds inside (except for one that was just a bad throw to him in the first place), finishing stronger, and even making the short jumpers with consistency and confidence. I’m very impressed with his improvement over the last few games (ever since Gaudio apparently had that sit-down with him as reported in your blog). Keep it up, Tony! You could be the future of Wake b-ball if you keep improving at this rate.
Michael on 02/03/2010 (3:42 pm)
Frustrated: I am not sure what you are talking about. A lot of the criticism of Dino is that he focuses to much on seniority. The three of the four players you listed that spend a lot of time out there are seniors. Ish and MacFarland have started 3 of their 4 seasons and LD has started all but maybe one game in his career (something the announcers evidently didn’t realize). While just a sophomore, Aminu has started in all but one game since his arrival at Wake (well, one that I can remember). The only ‘experienced’ players that didn’t get 28+ minutes were Weaver, Woods, and Clark. I don’t think we lost much because of that (Woods did play fantastic for the first half of his 12 minutes though).
This blog post is about him not playing a rookie enough, something every fan, every coach, and even the dimwitted announcers realized as well. The only rookie that ‘ate-up’ significant minutes was CJ, but he was our highest scorer so I am not sure how you can complain about that.
Dino isn’t perfect, but he doesn’t overplay the rookies.
Tim on 02/03/2010 (3:09 pm)
Hey Dan - I was sorry to see that you weren’t wearing one of your famous “Disco” Dan shirts when they caught you on camera at the scorer’s table last night!
Why is it that C.J. Harris plays so much more than Ari? I know that C.J. is better at shooting free throws, but I think Ari is the more confident player/shooter. Many have questioned why L.D. is starting instead of Ari, and I’m among them. L.D. may play somewhat better defense, but I don’t think that his offensive ineptitude (and some foolish defensive fouls) make up for what Wake gains in defensive toughness/intensity with L.D. on the floor. I think that Ari has a stellar career ahead of him at Wake Forest, and I hope to see more and more of him this year (not just next year). While the defense ground out the win last night, a few offensive sparks from Ari might have made Miami more desperate and caused them to make more mistakes than they did. Then the game would have been essentially over with four or five minutes to go instead of with one minute to go.
Matt on 02/03/2010 (1:59 pm)
On Coach: why does he have 4 “guards” and 2 “centers” on the floor at the same time? He acts as if Smith, McFarland, Williams and Aminu are the only players on the team. Let your experience ones play more. The others have 2-3 years more to play.Rookies are eating up minutes, making mistakes while experience is sitting on the bench. Why do players play with 3-4 fouls when players get 1 foul and sit out the rest of the game. How can you get into the rhythm of the game if you are in it for 2 minutes and taken out.
frustrated on 02/03/2010 (1:45 pm)
I’ll give Coach Gaudio credit for a couple of things.
First, he doesn’t just pay lip service to defense. Coach Prosser talked about making Wake Forest a defensively-oriented team too, but Coach Gaudio followed through on that promise. And given Ari Stewarts tendency to occasionally get lost on defense (although he seems to be improving), I understand the impulse to keep him out of the lineup during certain situations.
Second, it takes a good deal of courage to admit that you might be wrong, and I appreciate Coach Gaudio’s willingness to self-assess and adapt (if necessary). Should Stewart have played more than four minutes in the second half? Absolutely. Our offense needs more punch towards the end of games, which is when our half-court offense tends to grow stagnant.
But Coach Gaudio is correct that the end of the game is also the time for a team to dig in on defense. So while Stewart adds a lot to our offense with his perimeter shooting (and his yet-to-be-realized ability to slash to the basket), he will need to continue improving his defense if he is to be in the game more frequently down the stretch.
DC on 02/03/2010 (12:19 pm)
PS- I saw you on TV Dan! You’re famous. During the shot clock dispute you were there in all your Country Dan glory. Hope you had the VCR set…
Thomas on 02/03/2010 (11:56 am)
Ari’s absence was definitely noticeable, but, as you said, the Deacs still won. I’m not entirely sure how, other than the obvious point of defense, a poor shooting night for the ‘Canes and Dwayne Collins being a relative non-factor (although the points he did score were big). I also think this game showed an area the Deacs need to work on, and that’s getting Aminu involved against a zone defense. Bottom line, in a game like last night’s, he’s got to touch the ball more inside.
It’s refreshing to hear a coach actually recant on a decision made during the game. So often do coaches go into their shells and see only their point of view. That’s a fast track to a ticket out of town from this perspective. At least Dino can admit his mistakes. The question is, will he learn from them? We all certainly hope so.
I just don’t see how you can keep the kid out of the lineup.
Thomas on 02/03/2010 (11:54 am)
Why does WFU play so poorly against the zone? I’d be interested to hear your theories. Perhaps more importantly, why don’t more teams hold WFU to 60 pts/game (at home!) by playing zone?
Chuckles on 02/03/2010 (10:25 am)
It is nice to know that Dino can handle constructive criticism and his assistants feel comfortable giving it to him. I guess the obvious person for whom we’d sub Ari would be LD, but, as we all know, LD is the superior defender and we’d be giving ground on that end of the floor. I call it a wash.
Dan, you got some good face time last night when they were reviewing the video to see if the ball hit the rim and the shot clock should have been reset. Next time you’ll have to be ready to hold up a sign to advertise the blog!
John on 02/03/2010 (10:18 am)
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