Comments

Jim R - Much of what you are saying could have come from my own heart.  But I very much hope you are wrong about that whole “here to stay” thing.  Myself, I’m not above “spitting in the ocean” or finding some other, more “rational” way to make the water rise… 

Right shall prevail for “Old Alma Mater sons are we”.  So “Here’s to Wake Forest, a glass of the finest.”  :-)

gt on 02/03/2011 (6:50 pm)

Our coach has commented about having NBA players on last year’s squad & if we look at that squad & the year before, this is an update on their NBA progress: tonight, Ish Smith got his bags unpacked in time to arrive in Hidalgo TX having been reassigned for the 2nd time to the Vipers. Tonight he got a double-double,12 pts, 12 assists, but 5-16 shooting,went 0-4 beyond the arc.He squared off against James Johnson’s Iowa Energy team, & JJ had his best game yet:41 minutes,31 pts, 14 boards,6 blocks,7 assists & he stayed out of foul trouble.If you watch the Clippers, Aminu is on the 2nd team behind Gomes & they have him shooting threes.He doesn’t get to do much else & Teague doesn’t play much behind Bibby in Atlanta.In one game, I saw Aminu under the basket on a fastbreak awaiting the pass, Blake threw him out of the way & took the pass.Yes, all 4 made NBA teams, but two are in the D-NBA,& the other 2 don’t play much.I never thought I would see Aminu used primarily as a 3-point shooter. They could have waited a year & gotten Gary Clark as a free agent,signed him to the NBA minimum that I think Ish makes. But Ish, we all love him, he has worked so hard, who,except maybe Ish, when he arrived at Wake 5 years ago ever thought he would make an NBA squad.Ish will work hard & will be called back up if he doesn’t get hurt(both Chas & LD have been waived by the Springfield Armor due to injury, but LD may be brought back, Chas broke his hand & is out for the year.)The point being that when Coach B said or implied we should have done better with future NBA players last year,it should be brought out that none of them are exactly setting the league on fire yet or making an impact, except in the D-NBA. Not a knock on our coach & certainly not on any our guys up there who are doing their best.

memphisslim on 02/03/2011 (3:09 am)

I just re-read some of these posts. Those who say RW and JB are here to stay are correct, of course. But to say Wake fans are “spoiled” and “you are going to have some bad years” is just SAD. Coaches like Lombardi and Wooden would never have accepted that you are going to have some bad years.  And a bad year might be 15-15, not what we are experiencing. I am not sure what kind of resolution I expect. I guess I and other Deacon fans are simply hurting and expressing our pain. Carolina fans rumble lately about Roy Williams, which seems absurd to Deacon fans since Roy has won more than one national championship.  But that is the point!! You never succeed in a major way unless you expect it, speak it forth, make it part of your fiber.  Some are calling fans who want to see us live up to a higher standard whiners. It is not whining but a call to action and responsibility. Now sing the fight song!

Jim R on 02/02/2011 (11:41 pm)

I suppose posting is self soothing if nothing else. It is so frustrating to look back at the talent and opportunities we have had. When we had the opportunity to attract top coaching talent, we chose not to. I will never understand why, as an ACC school and a school that is in solid financial shape, we would not spend the money to hire the very best head coach available at the time. I don’t know who that would have been - Tubby Smith, Tommy Amaker, maybe. But, it seems we never even try. A winning record in your last job seems a reasonable pre-requisite? I will support any coach we hire because, at the end of the day, I love the Deacs and always will. It is just terribly frustrating to hear our AD talk about building a program or rebuilding a program that sent 10 teams to the NCAA tournament over the past 15 years and had teams ranked in the top 5 in the last 5 years.  That doesn’t sound like a program that should need rebuilding.  It shouldn’t be a long term project. Coaches win with freshmen every day. Lord, give me patience and hope.

Jim R on 02/02/2011 (11:21 pm)

Dan,

I apologize for jumping the gun on your “signing day” coverage, but I am curious about a couple of things. 

First, can you remember a time where Wake Forest competed with as many bigger programs for recruits?  We held onto Kevin Soussa and apparently were in the running for Darius Jennings.  And a number of our signees chose us over schools from the Big Ten, Big East and even some minor SEC schools.  This seems like a step in the right direction.  I’m confused about why this didn’t happen immediately after the Orange Bowl run, but I’ll take it. 

From a more critical perspective, I am curious about how we can switch to a 3-4 defense and not come up with a single recruit who fits the physical profile of a nose tackle or defensive end under that scheme.

DC on 02/02/2011 (5:34 pm)

Well said, Deacon.  I cringe at what the players must think when they read the comments following the article on our loss at FSU.  Obviously, the fanatics are back and shrilling as loud as ever.  FSU was not a fair test as to what we may have picked up after the VA game.  We went down to Talahassee to get beat up on by a vastly more experienced and physical team.

Jim on 02/02/2011 (4:37 pm)

I was just as excited as anyone when we beat Virginia.  It was a home game and we played a much more consistent game than previous games, but we did beat a tired team whose best player Scott was injured.  However, I was impressed with the play of McKie and Ty Walker, who played as well as any player with little to no game experience.

However, to expect the same result at FSU against the #1 National Field Goal Percentage defense with a team with very little production in the paint seems rather obvious.  Not to disparage my blogging brethren, but this team reminds me of the Staak years and the last two years of Skip Prosser where they were 17-17 and 15-16 (at least i think), not with talent, but with the lack of experience and a soft center/power forward position that didnt produce a lot of points. 

I still think the team shows improvement despite the magnitude of the loss at FSU.  I listened to the game, and I think as Chennault gets integrated into the game, and hopefully the inside players and McKie get more confidence inside the paint, we will see more and more improvement at least in home games where they have the fan support to offset the lack of experience.  I also must apologize for disparaging Walker and Clark in earlier posts.  Although Walker definitely is a work in progress, I was pleasantly surprised by his hustle in the Virginia game, and Gary has proved that he has patiently waited for his time to shine (although his defense is a little slack which is part of what kept him on the bench previously, but with this young team, its definitely not the worst).

So I look forward to seeing what Wake will do in this next stretch of games, and thanks for all the energy you put into satsifying this “peanut gallery” with your articles and posts, Dan!

The Deacon on 02/02/2011 (3:57 pm)

Jerry , with the new coaching staffs at Gardner-Webb and Vanderbilt personally I am not counting those as winnable. Remember they don’t need to call and ask for game film to study. All they have to do is set EA Sports NCAA football on “play the computer” and they will know our offense. Seriously.

Doug on 02/02/2011 (3:32 pm)

Dan,

I am just looking forward to watching a Wake Forest basketball team that doesn’t get complacent after anything that resembles an accomplishment.  It has certainly been awhile. 

Clearly this particular team had that problem at the beginning of the year.  Based on the box score of last night’s game, I’m inclined to conclude that we still haven’t grown out of that habit.

However, I think that you are absolutely correct to guage progress more on the quality of spacing and shots that we are able to get than on field goal percentage.  The only reason I say this is because our team is going to wear down physically over the course of the season even if they mature from a mental standpoint.  The fact of the matter is that if these players were too immature to keep from getting carried away after a win against Guilford, then you better believe they weren’t smart enough to prepare themselves physically for the rigors of an ACC season.  As a result, our shooting percentage is bound to decrease just by virtue of our shooters losing their legs over the course of the season.  So we will need to pay attention to shot quality, and just look forward to those games after a bit of a layoff.

DC on 02/02/2011 (3:27 pm)

When we go to FL State and turn the ball over 24 times, how can we not be discourged no matter who said what last weekend.

Just got my football season order form. Of 7 games in the “most exciting home line-up in Wake Forest’s football history”, only 2 games appear winnable-Gardner Webb and Vanderbilt.

Jerry on 02/02/2011 (1:12 pm)

This comment is a little off the mark for the post on which I’m commenting, but Wake really needs to schedule some better non-conference opponents in the coming years to set a better precedent as far as the caliber of play expected from a Wake Forest basketball team. Scheduling Stetson, Presbyterian, UNCG, High Point, Elon, UNC-Wilmington…these are lose/lose games for Wake Forest. No one wants to watch these games. No TV station wants to air these games. Shoot, Stan Cotten probably doesn’t even want to call these games. If the Deacs lose, which they did this year, then the program’s confidence is shattered. If they win, there’s not much to build on because Wake is expected to win those games. We used to play Texas, Kansas, Marquette, Cincinnati, Florida…the likes. Bring those games back! Let us play against the top talent from the top conferences in the country and learn from these teams. Bring South Carolina to Winston-Salem. Bring Tennessee over. Schedule a home-and-home with Kentucky. Schedule Georgetown, Pitt. You can still throw a bone to UNC-Wilmington or Elon, but keep those types of games to one or two max per year. Or else, the growth of the team is going to be stretched-out and monotonous. The younger players especially will have a skewed view of what’s expected of them unless they’re shown, in person, how a top-tier D-I program operates. Dan, has anyone else brought this up in the inner circle?

Casey on 02/02/2011 (12:02 pm)

Bzzz ball is back. 20+ point loss. Yikes!

Craig Carter on 02/02/2011 (11:08 am)

Let’s not get too negative.  A 20 pt. loss was expected.  Last year, with 3 players who are now playing in the NBA, we lost to this same team down there when they simply out “physicalled” us.  This year, more of the same with them a year older and us being very young and physically inferior.  I really think we have to keep things in perspective here.

Jim on 02/02/2011 (10:49 am)

I didn’t get to see or hear the game last night, but I did happen to see the score as it scrolled along the bottom of my tv while it was on ESPNU.  In the second half, with 15 minutes left in the game, we had 25 points.  Now that my friends is real progress…

dano on 02/02/2011 (9:45 am)

Dan - I knew this was going to be another big loss because all of the wrong settings were in place:  coming off of an emotional win, at the other team’s gym, a physical and experienced opponent who defends well, a team who beat Duke (and Wake lost to Duke by 20+ points at home).  So there was no way this game was going to be close.  For those (FrankSWII) who think that Coach B will have to be .500 or better in the second half of the year to maintain his job, you’re really not dealing in reality.  A.D. Wellman already said there is nothing that will cause him to fire this coach at the end of the year.  This team may win one or two more games, but they very well may not win any more.  But you will see Coach B again next year, and I think next year’s team will be much better than this year’s squad.  Next year will be the litmus test.  So put away the pitchforks and torches and the tar and feathers - neither Mr. Wellman nor Coach B will be fired anytime soon.

Matt on 02/02/2011 (9:14 am)

“It is one thing to make average player better, and another to make good players great.”  Great observation Frank.  And apparently Bz knows it because he has already indicated he is not planning to recruit the best.  Unfortunately, even if Bz was as good as Coach K, we cannot be consistently competitive with Duke and UNC unless we can attract top talent. 

If this coach can’t be competitive with this talent, how does he expect to succeed with less?  Anyone who thinks that a mediocre coach can be consistently successful in this league is being “irrational”.  And anyone who thinks that we can be consistently successful against Duke and Carolina without top talent is also being “irrational”.

gt on 02/02/2011 (2:09 am)

I can not call this progress!!! A 20 plus loss to FSU..  Progress would have been a 5 point loss maybe even a hard fought 10 point loss.  This is the point I was trying to make the other day after the 5 point win against UVA.  It was an is not time to break out our dancing shoes, nor is it time to take the pressure off Ron and Bz to produce a better product. 

Again, I have never called for the firing of Bz, but if he finishes below .500 in the back half of the season, it is hard to justify him staying.  The thing that concerns me most about this season is the excuses.  We continue to here Ron and Bz talk about the unseen progress and the youth of the tram.  It is time to start seeing some real progress. 

Ron’s stated reason for firing Dino was back half performance and lack of success in post season.  Considering how bad the front half of the season was it is not wrong to expect progress in the back half.  Additional,  while I am not a Dino fan, people have failed to mention he had a very similar situation his first year (I.e. Had to secure his recruits, young team, bulk of the talent underclassmen).  He managed a 17/13 record that season (7/9 in the ACC).  He did it by coaching to the strengths of his team. 

Bz has a very talented team with a lot of potential.  My concern with him is, he appears to only have one coaching style and that style does not factor in the talent level of his player.  It is one thing to make average player better, and another to make good players great.

FrankSWII on 02/01/2011 (11:09 pm)

We aren’t ready for Kumbaya yet sitting around Skip’s campfire, but the FSU game just ended. Before the guns begin firing again, I want to get in this first volley about last night’s women’s game, if nothing else to damper the powder. Maybe if some of your readers, Dan, saw it, they might feel a little better, if that is possible:last night the Wake Forest womens’ team played the best game ANY Wake team has played this year against a high-powered BC team with the ACC’s top scoring offense & fg% as well as other top offensive categories. We came in at or near the bottom in offense & fg%. A total team & coaching effort, it seemed literally a David vs. Goliath game when I saw the huge front line of BC with its 6’6’ center & huge forward about 6’4” or 5” & Garcia, our star center, at 6’3”,being our tallest player. Never this year has she shown brighter. Nor has the team.We couldn’t outmuscle them, but we could sure outrun them and we did. The change came when we pressed, & they didn’t have enough time to get into their offense, we were quicker to the ball, & as the game progressed, we outhustled & out wrestled them for the ball. Enter Secily Ray & that slashing left handed drive to the basket which will not be denied, she rebounded well, & played the game we needed from her, as she did last year. Chelsea Douglas moved to the two guard, buried threes, helped with ballhandling, but it was the deft drives & dishes of Brooke Thomas who has matured at point guard that drove the victory. It seemed a mismatch, we had a 25 point lead on a team with a 15-6 record, the top scoring team in the ACC which has 6 teams in the top 25, & we were playing scrappy defense, a thicket of hands & arms up denying passes inside, had more assists than turnovers, got out rebounded, but on this night it did not matter. We were off & running, getting fastbreak baskets on a BC team that seemed confused as though stunned by a stone against its Goliath forehead. Boykin once again played well, Waters contributed & Asia Williams played some good defense.With less than a minute left, Coach Pete smiled—and he & his team deserved it.

memphisslim on 02/01/2011 (10:46 pm)

Sitting down at Lawrence Joel,
Waiting on an 8:00 game
Since Dino got fired last April,
Things ain’t been quite the same.

The Deacs gotta get back to winning
This ain’t the way it’s s’posed to be.
They need to lift those weights
And get a good bit stronger
Dominate the lane again.

Steve Mc on 02/01/2011 (6:01 pm)

Dan, do you know why Melvin Tabb didn’t play against UVA?  I was at the game and it didn’t appear that he was even in uniform.  I was disappointed since I liked the extra beef he gave us during the Duke game when he allowed McKie to move to the 3.

Mike Gorman on 02/01/2011 (5:38 pm)