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2020-21 WF Basketball Season - "Experts" Think We Suck

Pilchard

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With WF Basketball now in full-time practice mode and with the season just a little more than a month a way, its time for this season's WF basketball thread.

CBS Sports just released their ACC Basketball Preview article, and their 5 "experts" (Matt Norlander, Garry Parrish, Jerry Palm, Kyle Boone and David Cobb) were not kind to the Deacs. 4 of the 5 picked WF DFL (15th in the ACC) and the other picked WF 14th. Here is their perfunctory take on the WF season:

We'll slot the Demon Deacons at the bottom of the ACC barrel due to Steve Forbes taking over for Danny Manning and undeniably inheriting a huge construction project. The good news for Wake Forest is Forbes and his staff have already made some waves with some transfer additions and recruits for 2021, but this upcoming season is all house money. Forbes built East Tennessee State into one of the best mid-major programs in the country. Now he'll try to get Wake back into the top-third of the league.

The link: https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/how-kentuckys-olivier-sarr-could-play-after-ncaa-gives-extra-year-of-eligibility-to-basketball-players/

FWIW, Garrison Brooks is their pick for POY. Duke's Jalen Johnson is the FOY. UVA, Duke and UNC is the consensus top 3. Shocker.

If there was an over under bet on where WF will finish in the ACC and the number was 14.5, I would take WF to finish better than DFL.
 
Yeah, I'd be surprised if we finished DFL, but it's so easy for the pundits to put us there that I find it tough to fault them for it.

I have to think that Forbes, who has a record of winning pretty much right away, will get us closer to the middle of the pack in year one... But with the roster what it is (and a global pandemic), we could be terrible this year and it wouldn't really dampen my enthusiasm for the long-term.

I'd like to say we'll be TJDK 2.0 this year, but that's not reality. There is no Josh Howard on the roster.

Looking forward to seeing a schedule so I can better frame my expectations for W/L.
 
Your link sent me to an article and picture of Olivier Sarr... Nice unintentional troll job.
 
We lost Sarr, lil Chil, and Chaundee Brown (our three best players) off a bottom-dwelling basketball team. They'd be insane to pick us for anything but last.
 
We lost Sarr, lil Chil, and Chaundee Brown (our three best players) off a bottom-dwelling basketball team. They'd be insane to pick us for anything but last.

All true, but then when looking at the coaching change, you have the "addition by subtraction" principle at work.
 
I think it is reasonable to expect that we finish #10-12 in the ACC this year. That's my baseline.
 
Regardless of record I will be content to just see effort and some semblance that we can play defense. Essentially is Forbes coaching defense as he has harped on.
 
I mean... yeah, we will undoubtedly suck, but that doesn't mean Forbes won't turn it around in year 2 or 3.
 
Regardless of record I will be content to just see effort and some semblance that we can play defense. Essentially is Forbes coaching defense as he has harped on.

This. It'll be refreshing to see a well coached team and a team that plays with effort regardless of the results this season.
 
Regardless of record I will be content to just see effort and some semblance that we can play defense. Essentially is Forbes coaching defense as he has harped on.

yes. I want to see a team playing together coherently and with effort even when they lose.
 
Counting on the #ForbesFactor this year! I like the 10-12 range DeacsATS used has his baseline. But yeah, hard to argue about pundits predicting we finish DFL.
 
#10-12 because I think BC, Pitt, & ND should all suck and they haven't hired a better coach.

That means we are in the group with Clemson, VT, & NCSU... And not as good as Miami, Cuse, & GT.

I'm probably being a bit optimistic, but I'm counting on the team being as good as the sum of the parts after performing well below that under Manning.
 
I think that's great, no expectations this year, Forbes can start molding this team and program how he wants without any kind of pressure of expectations. He's inheriting the basketball version of what Clawson inherited, it's going to take a little bit, but at least with hoops you can turn it around quicker.
 
Daivien Williamson is eligible, per Twitter.

 
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