Turnovers and the Shots Not Taken
Back in my early days in the business, before the digital revolution made everything so predictable, instantaneous and precise, I could often be found hanging around the photo department when I probably should have been doing something else. The photographers on my first paper, guys like Keith “Big Daddy” Richardson and Fred J. “Rhetoric Frederick” Peace were these outrageously hip characters and what they did was fascinating. To watch them put the undeveloped print in the chemical solutions and see it gradually, bit by by, outline by outline, detail by detail, come into sharper and sharper focus was like alchemy to me.
It has occurred to me more than once that watching a team develop is like that, although there at least seem to be many in this era known for its immediate gratification who might not see the metaphor. Snap judgments are made at the get-go that are changed only grudgingly, after the weight of overwhelming evidence has collapsed the original position. I personally have never felt the need to be the first to arrive at any conclusion or truth, and have instead endeavored to leave open the possibility of surprise. The only thing I really know from covering sports all these many years is that you never really know.
So what I’m seeing slowly and gradually develop at Wake Forest is a team that handles the ball like it’s a hot, butter-smeared potato and rebounds like a runt of the litter trying to maneuver past stronger siblings to its mother’s milk. There are obvious reasons for both deficiencies, but the result is that through eight games the Deacons rank dead last among ACC teams in turnover margin (minus-4.6 per game) and next-to-last to N.C. State in rebounding margin (minus 1.5 per game).
But there’s one thing the Deacons do exceedingly well, and that’s shoot the basketball. Gary Clark, Ari Stewart, J.T. Terrell, Travis McKie and C.J. Harris have all displayed a nice touch on their shots, which is why Wake ranks fourth in field-goal percentage (.459), first in 3-point percentage (.440) and second in free-throw percentage (.771). Think of how many Wake teams of the past screamed for another good shooter or two, and you would almost have to consider Jeff Bzdelik’s first team an embarrassment of riches in this regard.
I really can’t see Wake developing into a strong rebounding team, but maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the addition of transfer Nikita Mescheriakov to the rotation this Sunday against UNC Wilmington will make a big difference, and maybe Melvin Tabb will return from his time off to concentrate on his academics to provide even more frontcourt size and strength. Maybe. I still harbor serious doubts the Deacons can successfully bang throughout the season against the bigger, stronger teams in the league.
But the Deacons, even with freshman point guard Tony Chennault recovering from a broken foot, can clean up their handle. Coach Jeff Bzdelik knows it and his players know it, which is why it has been a point of emphasis in practice all season. If Wake can cut its turnover total from the 23 it had against VCU and the 22 against Elon down to around a dozen a game, then think how many more shots they can get.
Obviously, Bzdelik has thought about it.
“Our Achilles heel right now is we just turn the ball over a little bit too much,’’ Bzdelik said after Saturday’s victory over Holy Cross, before the team broke for exams. ” We had 10 turnovers in the first half and shot 58 percent, and if we can just cut that down another four or five possessions then we could score another four or five or six or seven points very easily with the way we’ve been shooting the basketball.
“And if we move the ball, we have guys who can really shoot the ball. I know you’re not always going to make your shots, but it gives you an opportunity to have open shots, shots we practice every day. And that gives us a legitimate chance to make shots when we move the ball and find the open man. So we need to learn to just hit the open man and make the extra, extra pass and we can become an efficient offensive basketball team.’‘