No Hanging Crepe on Deacons’ Win
It’s tempting to call Wake Forest’s 63-56 victory over Hampton tonight in the first round of the Preseason NIT a bad win, given how the Deacons had to struggle to outlast a team from the MEAC ranked by the RPI No. 275 among 347 Division I teams.
But with this team, this year, I don’t really think there can be any such thing.
“I just told them winning is not easy,’’ Coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “You have to find a way to win refuse to lose. I believe in these young men. They are going to become a very special team in due time.’‘
That said, the Deacons have plenty of room for improvement going into tonight’s second-round game against VCU after committing 19 turnovers, shooting just 36 percent from the floor in the second half, giving up 18 offensive rebounds and losing all but three points of what had been a 15-point cushion early in the second half.
Positives were the improved ball movement in the first half and the more balanced shot distribution. In the 89-79 loss to Stetson, J.T. Terrell took 17 field-goal attempts, Ari Stewart took 15 and no other Deacon took more than eight. Last night Terrell attempted nine and Stewart took just three, while Travis McKie hit eight of his 11 attempts and C.J. Harris made four of 10. Hampton opened in a zone, a defense that stymied Wake Forest in the opener against Stetson, but was forced into a man-to-man after the Deacons’ interior passing produced open shots in the paint.
“Our emphasis in this game was to move the ball as much as possible,’’ Harris said. “When we got three, four or five passes, we always had a layup, a foul or a good open jump shot. That’s what we really worked on the past couple of days, is the move the ball.’‘
Another bright spot was the return of Melvin Tabb from a bout with mononucleosis that sidelined him in the opener. Tabb, a 6-8, 250-pound freshman forward from Raleigh, played 11 minutes and contributed 3 points and 4 rebounds. Tabb is not the biggest power forward in the ACC, but he’s considerably bigger than the other two players, McKie and Stewart, who played there against Stetson.
I told Tabb I was surprised to see him back so soon.
“I surpriseed myself,’’ Tabb said. “After the Stetson loss, I just felt like I needed to be out there giving people a break when they needed one.
“I’m not going to be in the best shape obviously, because I have been out two weeks. But I can just give them some solid minutes when they need it and bring some energy off the bench. So that was nice.’‘