KP Report: Hokies @ WF -- Sunday 6 pm ACCN

[BlackjackMc]

Lousy shooting prevented the win. Wake's play matched their identity goal...gritty, grimy, tough and together for a full forty minutes. I was encouraged by the performance and the game to game progress.

Forbes (and I) liked what he saw from Okpomo. Solid. The goal is to keep either Ody or Eman on the floor for 40 minutes. That allows Mucius and Massoud to play the four and moves Wilkens to the three. All three are productive in those roles and aren't overmatched physically. Ody, Mucius and Massoud were on the floor together briefly the past two games.

[sailordeac]

we lack size and shoot poorly, and oh yeah, we need to learn to win

about all we can expect is hustle, movement on offense, and organized defense

[stevewhite14]

I spoke with a colleague that is an NCAA ref. He officiated several games at ETSU, says Forbes will absolutely win once the talent is on the team.

[cheeseheads12]

we lack size and shoot poorly, and oh yeah, we need to learn to win

about all we can expect is hustle, movement on offense, and organized defense

All the more reason to be impressed that we're in games against top 25 opponents. Very encouraging.

[ipitytheblue]

All the more reason to be impressed that we're in games against top 25 opponents. Very encouraging.

This is where I'm at. I sure remember falling behind and losing these games by 20-30. Consistently. For years.

[bigboy8]

We have the least talented team in the ACC by far and we have had a chance to beat 4 top 25 teams. Forbes is coaching his ass off, just look how much better our defense is. When Forbes gets better players hes going to win ALOT of games.

[Resilient Deac]

I like that Okpomo is going by Eman now and not Emma...Wasn't a huge fan of Emma.

[awaken]

I couldn't watch this game. But from what I've seen so far, Forbes doesn't have enough pieces to play 4-D chess. He's just trying to keep pieces on the board. I don't think we can read too much into who plays and who finishes from one game to the next. We don't have much talent and nobody on the roster is 100% reliable in any particular role. I think Forbes just has to balance work ethic, stamina, and hot hand to put the best unit on the floor he can at any given moment in the game.

I do like how much Forbes is getting from so little this year. This is a write-off year in W's and L's. This team is learning....everything. But to be in games this year with our talent, Covid circumstances, and lack of cohesiveness (we have not played together much) is impressive. Moral victories are usually for losers, but I get the feeling a Forbes-led team under normal circumstances will be pretty good.

I hate the gray unis, or any other non-school color uni. If we want to wear non-white at home, wear gold. I'd be happy with home gold, black road unis and never wear gray or white.

[liveanddiedeac]

We have the least talented team in the ACC by far and we have had a chance to beat 4 top 25 teams. Forbes is coaching his ass off, just look how much better our defense is. When Forbes gets better players hes going to win ALOT of games.

You need no further evidence of this than the fact that there has been so much talk of how much we miss Dubose a transfer from Houston-Baptist. Dubose is a good player and I'm glad we've got him, but when not having a transfer from Houston-Baptist is such a big loss for an ACC team, you've got problems.

[DCDeac]

Definitely feel bad for Forbes at this point. Again we have a close game down the stretch built on strong defense and grit, 3 points under 3 minutes left... Then Neath misses his next 3 consecutive shots to lose the game sandwiching Daivien's made 3. Neath's back in that role (I assume) because Whitt wasn't 100%, and he just didn't step up at all. Erase Neath's meaningless 3 pointer in garbage time and he was 1/6 from the floor, 0% from deep. He managed ONE assist and that was a handoff to Massoud for a 3. Plus it comes on a night when Jonah shot 0% from deep as well... From a coaching standpoint he deserves to have a couple wins, not be 0-5.

[RJKarl]

I'd like to see Opkomo get 10-12 mpg. I think he could be a pleasant surprise.

There will be times when he looks lost or gets ugly, but that's the best way to learn.

[liveanddiedeac]

I'd like to see Opkomo get 1-12 mpg. I think he could be a pleasant surprise.

There will be times when he looks lost or gets ugly, but that's the best way to learn.

This is the year to get a guy that can help in the future minutes.

[DeacsATS]

I agree that we should be encouraged, but there are a lot of mediocre teams in the ACC this year and we’re in last place.

One of the factors of Wake Forest not getting blown out is that there aren’t any elite teams in the conference this season.

It’s a weird season all around.

Schedule gets easier from here, for the most part... Hoping we can scrape together a few wins.

[RJKarl]

I agree that we should be encouraged, but there are a lot of mediocre teams in the ACC this year and we’re in last place.

One of the factors of Wake Forest not getting blown out is that there aren’t any elite teams in the conference this season.

It’s a weird season all around.

Schedule gets easier from here, for the most part... Hoping we can scrape together a few wins.

Along these lines. Baylor is good. Nova is good when they play. Gonzaga is one of the best teams over the last 5-10 years. The rest of the country is a crapshoot. Lots of average to above average teams.

[TheReff]

I spoke with a colleague that is an NCAA ref. He officiated several games at ETSU, says Forbes will absolutely win once the talent is on the team.

Pretty sure that is why Currie chose him Coach Forbes is not afraid to go up against anybody and has won on the road like last year down at LSU. Plus his style of play is exactly what DM "said" he was going to play like but never did. Get our pieces in place and we shall be good again.

[Deac83]

I agree that we should be encouraged, but there are a lot of mediocre teams in the ACC this year and we’re in last place.

One of the factors of Wake Forest not getting blown out is that there aren’t any elite teams in the conference this season.

It’s a weird season all around.

Schedule gets easier from here, for the most part... Hoping we can scrape together a few wins.

The last 10 years we didn’t need to play elite teams to get blown out.

[dw88]

I agree that we should be encouraged, but there are a lot of mediocre teams in the ACC this year and we’re in last place.

One of the factors of Wake Forest not getting blown out is that there aren’t any elite teams in the conference this season.

It’s a weird season all around.

Schedule gets easier from here, for the most part... Hoping we can scrape together a few wins.

Good points. Agree that we are playing better than in recent years (it would be impossible not to do that), but trying to imply that it has been against really good nationally ranked opponents is misleading....and self-serving. The ACC is weaker than it has ever been...including traditional powers like UNC & Duke. For example, that Virginia Tech team lost 11 of its last 13 games last year. So the jury should still be out on how much we have really improved. It's a shame that we didn't get a chance to play some real...even mediocre...non-conference games. Beating Longwood, Delaware State & Catawba count for absolutely nothing. They were like pre-season exhibitions. Catawba is D2 and Longwood & Delaware State are outside the top 300 and currently 3-21 against an average SOS of #285.

[BeachBumDeac]

Good points. Agree that we are playing better than in recent years (it would be impossible not to do that), but trying to imply that it has been against really good nationally ranked opponents is misleading....and self-serving. The ACC is weaker than it has ever been...including traditional powers like UNC & Duke. For example, that Virginia Tech team lost 11 of its last 13 games last year. So the jury should still be out on how much we have really improved. It's a shame that we didn't get a chance to play some real...even mediocre...non-conference games. Beating Longwood, Delaware State & Catawba count for absolutely nothing. They were like pre-season exhibitions. Catawba is D2 and Longwood & Delaware State are outside the top 300 and currently 3-21 against an average SOS of #285.

We actually are losing to nationally ranked opponents. Nobody said they are really good. But lots of people think they are among the best 25 teams in the country.

Are you that shithead blogger that Forbes used to call out in press conferences? Weird that a new poster would register just to rag on Forbes

[Pilchard]

WF has played the toughest conference schedule and it’s not close. WF 5 games so far have come against the #1, 2, 3, 5 and 7 rated teams in the ACC. As ATS stated the schedule moderates, particularly at the end of January.

[dw88]

We actually are losing to nationally ranked opponents. Nobody said they are really good. But lots of people think they are among the best 25 teams in the country.

Are you that shithead blogger that Forbes used to call out in press conferences? Weird that a new poster would register just to rag on Forbes

I'm not "ragging" on Forbes. From what I can tell, he is doing just fine so far. I just think it's a little early to install sainthood upon him, since we haven't yet won a single game against a Top 300 team in the nation. Actually, the problem I have is with many of our fans, rather than Forbes. They were all out on Buzz & Manning....particularly Buzz, whose early players he inherited were more likely to be found on police blotters than in the sports pages. Even when he beat Duke & Carolina, he could do nothing right in their eyes. Now, as if to compensate for the all-out hatred of the last two coaches, many of those same fans have evidently decided that no matter what happens the new coach is going to have their full support. And as I mentioned earlier, the boards are full of confirmation bias. You would think that Wake Forest is the only school that has had a tough time of it in the last year. These other teams have had problems too...but they have found a way to win some games along the way. As ATS said, after the next two games the schedule gets softer with games against the bottom three teams just above us (Notre Dame, Miami & Boston College). Hopefully we can begin to see a few W's on our record.