My Take on Wake - The High Cost of Experience

The High Cost of Experience

It took exactly two games last basketball season to know that Wake was in trouble.

Deep trouble.

The first was an 84-44 exhibition joyride past Guilford, a Division III opponent that had lost most of its firepower from its vintage team of the season before. The second was an 89-79 season-opening loss to Stetson seven days later.

The way the Deacons came out and stumbled around against the Hatters led me to believe that they had actually allowed the victory over the Quakers to go to their heads. As ridiculous as it seemed, it was about the only way I could reconcile what I’d just seen. When I ran my theory past coach Jeff Bzdelik a week or two later, he immediately seconded my notion.

“That’s exactly what happened,’’ he said.

My initial impression is that this year’s team may not be as talented as that of last year. Say what you want about Ari Stewart and J.T. Terrell, both were known to light it up on a good day. Obviously Southern Cal thought enough of their abilities to take them on the rebound.

But this year’s team won’t neeed long to prove it’s more mature than the one that lost 20 of its final 22 to finish 8-24 overall and 1-15 in ACC play. The Deacons gave themselves that opportunity by stomping Division III Ferrum 82-43 in last night’s exhibition at Joel Coliseum.

This Friday they start playing for keeps against Loyola of Maryland at the Joel. I couldn’t help but ask C.J. Harris and Travis McKie if the Deacons had learned a lesson from last November.

“We just talked about that,’’ Harris said. “Carson (Desrosiers) said that `We can’t get complacent.’ Last year showed us what happened. We’ve just got to come back and work tomorrow.’‘

So what, I wondered, led him to believe the lesson had been learned.

“We’re not going to let it happen,’’ Harris said. “The guys that were here last year went through it. We’re not going to let that happen.

“We’re that much older, that much more experienced.’‘

McKie didn’t exactly shoot down my theory.

“Maybe we got a little complacent last year after Guilford,’’ he said. “We thought it was going to be the same way the following week, and obviously it wasn’t. Me and C.J. will not let that happen again. We’re going to take Loyola very seriously.

“Preseason is over. The regular season is about to come. So it’s time to get going.’‘

Back to the main page.

By Dan Collins on 11/05/2011 (3:04 pm)

Comments

How long do we have to wait before we get Childress as coach? He obviously didn’t come back here to sit on his hands. Or to play second fiddle to our increasingly dubious athletic director.

Hunter James on 11/06/2011 (2:50 pm)

There were talent deficiencies and chemistry problems last year. I believe the shock of the Dino firing, and the huge contrast in coaching styles led to the chemistry problems. All that should be a thing of the past now. While we’re still talent shy this year, I believe the Deacs will play with a sense of purpose and lay a foundation that will have us back to respectability in the not too distant future.

Andy on 11/06/2011 (11:08 am)

Nice to see that this year’s team already shows more spunk and effort than last years… Regardless of the end result, a team that fights to win is much more welcome than a team that barely seems to care… I hope to see an improvement in this season as opposed to the last, and get a better idea of whether Bzdelik can coach a coherent and recognizable system as our head coach (it was hard to say that last year…) Go Deacs!

The Deacon on 11/05/2011 (4:45 pm)

Thanks for the update, Dan. I’m looking forward to being proud of the representatives of my school again. I just want these kids to keep giving one hundred percent effort and keep improving. It will take more than just saying the right things, but I think that guys like McKie and Harris have the necessary character to constitute the foundation of a winning program. Good luck on the upcoming season. Go Deacs!

DC on 11/05/2011 (4:37 pm)