My Take on Wake - Wake Vs. the World

Wake Vs. the World

Jeff Bzdelik wasn’t being paranoid when he said the whole world is against him and his basketball team.

Instead he was just being a coach.

To those who say the two terms are interchangeable, I’ll submit that I’ve worked with a string of coaches at Wake who have proven differently. But every coach I’ve ever known here or anywhere would use pretty much anything he or she could write on blackboard to get another victory, another strong effort, even another point, from their team.

And what Bzdelik is using with increasing frequency is the notion that nobody on the planet is giving the Deacons a chance at anything. He sounded the theme loud and clear at yesterday’s practice attended also by my esteemed colleague Edward G. Robinson III of the Raleigh News and Observer.

“The world gives us no chance,’’ Bzdelik said. “The outside world gives us no chance. But all we’re concerned about is our little world right inside here within our team. There’s a reason you play the game. So all we can control is how hard we play, how well we play and our mindset. And we’ll just take it one game at a time and all I can say is we’re going to show up.

“The last time I looked they haven’t thrown us out of the ACC.’‘

What, Robinson pressed, did he want to see from his team? The question was all Bzdelik needed to return to his point of the day.

“Just a team that’s gritty, tough and hard-playing in a collective way,’’ Bzdelik said. “That’s all. Just a team that knows that nobody else believes in us but we believe in ourselves. We know that the bottom line in this business is to win, but we’re going to show up.

“This is a really good group of young men and they care. They care about wearing Wake Forest across their chest, they care about playing the game the right way, they care about each other. So we know what gives us a chance to be competitive, we know what it takes to put ourselves in a position to win. And that is to play as hard as we can individually and collectively and play as well as we can.

“This is who we are and what we have and we will show up. I don’t mean that in a sarcastic way, I just mean, hey, we’re going to do everything we can to maximize our opportunity to win.’‘

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By Dan Collins on 01/10/2012 (4:21 pm)

Comments

Not a very good 1st half against Maryland.

Craig Carter on 01/11/2012 (9:07 pm)

I’m glad the coach is fired up. He can say anything he wants to as long as we start to win. One good game does not make a season. Winning the next three games coach goes a long way in firing up the fan base. Coach we love our basketball in North Carolina and all of the Wake fans are tired of reminiscing about the days of Tim Duncan. Fans in the ACC demand excellence and Wake fans are no different. Wake Fans won’t just settle for a sub 500 ACC season. Coach if keeping you fired up is the best way for us to win I suggest that you scream, yell, or cuss at all of your critics at your post game press conferences. Coach Wake fans will forgive you for cussing, they won’t forgive you with just a mediocre record.

Craig Carter on 01/11/2012 (3:52 pm)

I like this coach Bzdelik better than the “horse manure” Bzdelik.

Jerry on 01/11/2012 (2:05 pm)

Dan: sometimes I wonder if Jim Grobe’s teams would fare better if he were to do a little of the Bzdelik shuffle. I’ve always felt that a team who is “hell-bent-for- leather” will win games that, otherwise, they would lose. A team with grit, smarts and the power of a great attitude is a winner, no matter what.

Lee Anglin on 01/11/2012 (11:35 am)

Jim….I think Buzz understands that Wake alumni, students and fans are all for them. He is speaking about the media and fans of other teams, who seem to think we are a walkover…just show up and Wake will roll over and play dead.

I say….let ‘em talk. I am proud of Buzz and his motivational tactics. He is a better, more intense coach than the “Buzz-Outs” realize and now he has a good core group of guys who want to be at and play for Wake Forest. I enjoy being the underdog, as we will be all year, knowing that help will be here next year! So, let ‘em talk….I truly believe we will win a few more games than “they” think!

Ken Green on 01/10/2012 (9:19 pm)

I have two points to raise. One is that Bzdelik finally seems to be a little fired up. Thank goodness. The other is that Bzdelik seems to be building off of the lessons his teams learned over the summer with their boot camp experience. I love to see a basketball TEAM.

John Sanders on 01/10/2012 (8:04 pm)

Dan,

When I was reading the quote of Bzdelik telling the team that they need to be concerned only with their own world inside the team, I wondered if the players still get the reminder when they step onto the practice floor that “the gym is the best place [they’ll] ever be”.

Indeed, the cohesiveness and tenacity necessary to make any noise this season in the ACC is going to need to be cultivated on that practice floor, so I sure hope they like it there! Sometimes a good Skipism is just what the doctor ordered.

DC on 01/10/2012 (5:13 pm)

I understand what Bzdelick is trying to do. Nothing wrong with trying to motivate your guys in any way possible. However,the “world” of WF fans do want to see this team succeed and most of us still attend every game and cheer for the Deacs. All we ask in return is for Coach B to put them in the best possible position to win and that is the crux of it. Has he done everything he can? Is he open-minded and will he listen to and accept advice from his staff? Is he willing to adapt his game plan to the talent he has on hand, even if it isn’t his preferred style of play? If the answer is a resounding yes, I have no bone to pick with him and will support him 100%.

Jim on 01/10/2012 (5:11 pm)