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KP Report - Xavier Musketeers - 4 pm Saturday - ACCN

Having gone back and watched the entire game on DVR a couple things stand out....

1) Xavier is a pretty bad shooting team from the perimeter. Their game is in the paint on drives by their two big guard/wings and offensive rebounds and put-backs by their bigs. In the first 30 minutes they could not get anything to fall and we frankly did a fabulous job on the defensive boards and also getting their key players in foul trouble.
2) Chaundee Brown had his best game for sure offensively, and may be our most potentially dominating player, but he's still not consistently our game changer. We need him to play like that EVERY night to relieve the pressure on Childress to lead our ragtag group. On his best nights Brandon plays above all expectations, and honestly Chaundee rarely does.
3) In the second half Xavier's pressure and comeback were what you'd expect from a team of their strength and experience. Some of our mistakes were what we'd expect from our team. But overall we did a darn good job of not folding, and keeping the game in our favor. I was impressed. Ody, Neath, and Massoud gave quality minutes. The game plan was well executed considering we were severely out-sized.
4) I'm not at all in agreement with all the criticism of Brandon Childress. Without his mentality and leadership in the second half, drawing fouls on purpose, and winning the game at the line, we could easily have lost. The biggest thing we lack offensively is the confidence of almost all the players except Childress to get their shots, take them, and make them. Childress is often over-matched in size, skill or quickness, but never in confidence or mentality. This team can't survive without him as a buffer while the rest of the players mature and develop.
5) This was one of our best wins in a couple of years considering our roster available, our opponent, and the suffocating cloud of doubt surrounding our entire program. Congrats to the guys and let's have some more overall quality performances.
 
Having gone back and watched the entire game on DVR a couple things stand out....

1) Xavier is a pretty bad shooting team from the perimeter. Their game is in the paint on drives by their two big guard/wings and offensive rebounds and put-backs by their bigs. In the first 30 minutes they could not get anything to fall and we frankly did a fabulous job on the defensive boards and also getting their key players in foul trouble.
2) Chaundee Brown had his best game for sure offensively, and may be our most potentially dominating player, but he's still not consistently our game changer. We need him to play like that EVERY night to relieve the pressure on Childress to lead our ragtag group. On his best nights Brandon plays above all expectations, and honestly Chaundee rarely does.
3) In the second half Xavier's pressure and comeback were what you'd expect from a team of their strength and experience. Some of our mistakes were what we'd expect from our team. But overall we did a darn good job of not folding, and keeping the game in our favor. I was impressed. Ody, Neath, and Massoud gave quality minutes. The game plan was well executed considering we were severely out-sized.
4) I'm not at all in agreement with all the criticism of Brandon Childress. Without his mentality and leadership in the second half, drawing fouls on purpose, and winning the game at the line, we could easily have lost. The biggest thing we lack offensively is the confidence of almost all the players except Childress to get their shots, take them, and make them. Childress is often over-matched in size, skill or quickness, but never in confidence or mentality. This team can't survive without him as a buffer while the rest of the players mature and develop.
5) This was one of our best wins in a couple of years considering our roster available, our opponent, and the suffocating cloud of doubt surrounding our entire program. Congrats to the guys and let's have some more overall quality performances.

We needed Childress at the line because his own dumb decisions let them back in the game.
Being overmatched in all those things and still having “confidence” (I’d call it ego) to keep playing the same way isn’t a good thing. If you are overmatched in skill, yet keep doing things you are unable to do then that is just dumb and hurts the team.
 
Justin Gray?

In fairness, JGray was not supposed to be our point guard. He was an excellent SG with PG size. He became the only PG after CP3 jumped a year before he was expected to. JGray had a lot of skills but he was counted on to score and create the offense (like BChill) and while he average 18 ppg and 4.6 apg, his FG% dipped to 36% and he committed 3.5 TO per game. I recall that almost every player on the team had an ast:TO ration of less than for a good portion of the season, maybe not JG though. Still, he scored 1946 points in his career at Wake, made 319 3's and averaged over 4 apg over the course of his career. I think he's proven enough to leave him off the list.
IMO, Childress is a more effective PG than:
Tony Rutland, Broderick Hicks, post-freshman year ROK, Ervin Murray (if you consider him a starter) and CMM. CMM had a skill set but his shooting was so poor he was a liability.
I'd think of Sr year little Chill as nearly comparable to Bryant Crawford. I certainly enjoy watching him play more than I did Crawford.
 
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It seems like the frustration of losing over the past 9+ years is falling on Brandon. His play has its shortcomings. It has strengths as well. Wake Forest basketball's problems correctly reside with the coach, his staff and the athletic director who hired and retained him. The administration that has supported this fiasco shares responsibility as well. I doubt there is anyone more disappointed with the present state of the basketball program than Brandon Childress. I doubt there is anyone working harder to change the present state of the basketball program than Brandon Childress. Just something to consider.
 
Changing the discussion a little, but serious question - a lot of these guys that have been "terrible" point guards have gone on to relatively successful overseas careers playing, yes, point guard. Why is that? And I'm not being a dickhead. Is it because on pro teams everyone except maybe the center can create their own shot and point guards dont have to spoon feed 3 guys on each possession? Or just maturity?
 
Justin Gray?

This has hashed over and I am not going to bother pulling the numbers again but after cp3 surprised everyone by leaving gray was forced to play out of position at pg. He was solid if unspectacular. That team finally played up to their potential and played a couple good games in the acc tourney. Had they played like that all year the were an ncaa caliber team.
 
It seems like the frustration of losing over the past 9+ years is falling on Brandon. His play has its shortcomings. It has strengths as well. Wake Forest basketball's problems correctly reside with the coach, his staff and the athletic director who hired and retained him. The administration that has supported this fiasco shares responsibility as well. I doubt there is anyone more disappointed with the present state of the basketball program than Brandon Childress. I doubt there is anyone working harder to change the present state of the basketball program than Brandon Childress. Just something to consider.

This is a fair point
 
In fairness, JGray was not supposed to be our point guard. He was an excellent SG with PG size. He became the only PG after CP3 jumped a year before he was expected to. JGray had a lot of skills but he was counted on to score and create the offense (like BChill) and while he average 18 ppg and 4.6 apg, his FG% dipped to 36% and he committed 3.5 TO per game. I recall that almost every player on the team had an ast:TO ration of less than for a good portion of the season, maybe not JG though. Still, he scored 1946 points in his career at Wake, made 319 3's and averaged over 4 apg over the course of his career. I think he's proven enough to leave him off the list.
IMO, Childress is a more effective PG than:
Tony Rutland, Broderick Hicks, post-freshman year ROK, Ervin Murray (if you consider him a starter) and CMM. CMM had a skill set but his shooting was so poor he was a liability.
I'd think of Sr year little Chill as nearly comparable to Bryant Crawford. I certainly enjoy watching him play more than I did Crawford.

The biggest board problem with Craw was that he played "hero ball" too much. Chill has been that personified and more. Brandon would never have beaten Craw out to be a starter had Craw stayed.

Rutland would have had much better numbers had he not played on such a good team. He's much, much better than Brandon. It's not even close.
 
I believe that if someone works had with Neath he has the potential to be the best Wake PG since CP3. He has size and toughness, he is fearless and has the raw talent. However, he needs a better instinct for the game along with better court vision. Also his skill set needs to be improved across the board. But the potential is strong. The spin move in the lane against Xavier was top flight.
 
I agree about Neath. He's a freak athlete and a tenacious defender. With the right coach having Chaundee and Jacobi playing D, next year could fun to watch. One of the reasons he doesn't take make jumpers is that he gets to the rack so easily and quickly that he does.
 
The Rutland comparison can’t stand without further comment. Rutland was the PG on ACC championship teams when the league was absolutely stacked. I’ll never forget him going toe to toe with Marbury in Joel marching him shot for shot. Brandon probably wouldn’t have started for any of the ACC teams of that era over his full 4 years.
 
The other big difference between big Chill and little Chill is that big Chill played two years each with Rodney Rogers and Tim Duncan. He didn’t have to do everything and could make sure he got his big man involved.

So you think Tim Duncan and Rodney Rogers are better than Sarr??

I think that's a close call.
 
Having gone back and watched the entire game on DVR a couple things stand out....

1) Xavier is a pretty bad shooting team from the perimeter. Their game is in the paint on drives by their two big guard/wings and offensive rebounds and put-backs by their bigs. In the first 30 minutes they could not get anything to fall and we frankly did a fabulous job on the defensive boards and also getting their key players in foul trouble.
2) Chaundee Brown had his best game for sure offensively, and may be our most potentially dominating player, but he's still not consistently our game changer. We need him to play like that EVERY night to relieve the pressure on Childress to lead our ragtag group. On his best nights Brandon plays above all expectations, and honestly Chaundee rarely does.
3) In the second half Xavier's pressure and comeback were what you'd expect from a team of their strength and experience. Some of our mistakes were what we'd expect from our team. But overall we did a darn good job of not folding, and keeping the game in our favor. I was impressed. Ody, Neath, and Massoud gave quality minutes. The game plan was well executed considering we were severely out-sized.
4) I'm not at all in agreement with all the criticism of Brandon Childress. Without his mentality and leadership in the second half, drawing fouls on purpose, and winning the game at the line, we could easily have lost. The biggest thing we lack offensively is the confidence of almost all the players except Childress to get their shots, take them, and make them. Childress is often over-matched in size, skill or quickness, but never in confidence or mentality. This team can't survive without him as a buffer while the rest of the players mature and develop.
5) This was one of our best wins in a couple of years considering our roster available, our opponent, and the suffocating cloud of doubt surrounding our entire program. Congrats to the guys and let's have some more overall quality performances.

This so weird to say, but I don't disagree with this Fusion post.
 
The Rutland comparison can’t stand without further comment. Rutland was the PG on ACC championship teams when the league was absolutely stacked. I’ll never forget him going toe to toe with Marbury in Joel marching him shot for shot. Brandon probably wouldn’t have started for any of the ACC teams of that era over his full 4 years.
I remember watching that ACC Final in person talking to my brother about how we can win the NCAA Championship and then of course in typical God hates wake Athletics fashion 5 minutes later Rutland gets hurt and is never the same for the rest of the year
 
The Rutland comparison can’t stand without further comment. Rutland was the PG on ACC championship teams when the league was absolutely stacked. I’ll never forget him going toe to toe with Marbury in Joel marching him shot for shot. Brandon probably wouldn’t have started for any of the ACC teams of that era over his full 4 years.

This
 
I believe that if someone works had with Neath he has the potential to be the best Wake PG since CP3. He has size and toughness, he is fearless and has the raw talent. However, he needs a better instinct for the game along with better court vision. Also his skill set needs to be improved across the board. But the potential is strong. The spin move in the lane against Xavier was top flight.

I like Neath, and think he has strong potential, but don't think his ceiling is as high as Teague or Ish.
 
I like Neath, and think he has strong potential, but don't think his ceiling is as high as Teague or Ish.

You are talking about two guys who have ten year NBA careers. Almost everyone would have a tough time reaching those two.
 
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