MBB Game 17: WF plays the most under-performing program - Duke Wed. 7 pm ACCN

Haros said:

I agree with you awakegirl. It’s the same reason I’d rather not see more of McCray and Taylor at this stage if they aren’t ready either.

Also, I’d generally rather play seniors (if capable, consistent) than less consistent underclassmen that aren’t ready to produce. Just because someone isn’t ready as a freshman doesn’t mean they won’t be more ready later. The time to see what they have is when they’re the best option to contribute to wins.

Click to expand...

The problem in today’s world is that if they don’t play as freshmen then they likely aren’t going to be on our team in the future. The bball transferring is out of control.

Strickland33 said:

yea and i watched the other 37, too, (and we could have used an actual point guard in all of them)

Click to expand...

An actual point guard can dribble the ball into the front court. (Daivien can do that)

I’m done here. Denigrating kids who choose to represent my school isn’t fun. If you think ratings of 68 and 114 are close, or fluky, then there is no further point in engaging.

Davien is much better than Wilbekin. His shot has been off the last 5 games, but he shot pretty well last year and the first 10 or so games this year. He shot well at ETSU. Whitt shot ok last year but has regressed. Hard to figure him out.

Whitt shot 32% last year so no he did not shoot ok last year.

I trust Forbes, but I do worry sometimes about the sustainability of relying so heavily on the transfer portal in creating a consistent winning program. I guess that's just college basketball now.

mako1331 said:

I trust Forbes, but I do worry sometimes about the sustainability of relying so heavily on the transfer portal in creating a consistent winning program. I guess that's just college basketball now.

Click to expand...

Last year Forbes had to get a lot of guys from the portal because of all the underclassmen who left. It also was a rapid talent upgrade. Once Wake has some on-court success, as it appears is happening, it will be easier to get top 100 HS kids to Wake.

However, the portal is a fact of life. Kids will be moving much more with immediate eligibility. Some late blooming guys will want to move up to P5 and on TV every game. Some guys will realize that P5 level is beyond their skill set and talent level if they want regular minutes/starting spot. Coaches will get fired and players will look elsewhere.

I would hope Wake doesn't see massive turnover via portal as occurred between last season and this season.
However, I do expect to see a steady influx of guys from the portal. And I also expect to see departures to the portal.

Managing the flow if players into and out of the portal is a new challenge for coaches. Coaches at four year schools will see roster churn that is much more like JuCo. I expect that, going forward, we can expect an average of five new players every season. Some from high school, some frome portal. The openings will come from graduating players, early entries to the NBA and departures into the portal.

Forbes' JuCo experience will help. He is used to having half his roster new every year.

Williamson is clearly not 100%.

Once he is back to 100%, hopefully in a week or so?, then all this is moot.

He is a good player, clearly better than Wilbekin, and we will need him to play very well, if we are going to win 20 games and have some sort of ACC Tournament buzz...as in we actually care about the games and watch them with some hope we can make the Dance.

thatguy2016 said:

why are people surprised Whitt did not come back in? He was completely overmatched when he was on the floor. He could not get us into the offense. Hildreth came in and, while not flawless, definitely competed and gave us a spark. Daivien had his defensive and shooting issues but he did attack the rim and draw fouls.

note this is not a commentary on whether Whitt will one day develop, just an observation of what happened last night.

Click to expand...

surprising that he started and played a few minutes then sat the entire rest of the game.

thatguy2016 said:

why are people surprised Whitt did not come back in? He was completely overmatched when he was on the floor. He could not get us into the offense. Hildreth came in and, while not flawless, definitely competed and gave us a spark. Daivien had his defensive and shooting issues but he did attack the rim and draw fouls.

note this is not a commentary on whether Whitt will one day develop, just an observation of what happened last night.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I get why he didn't play after the first few minutes. My surprise was that he started the game over Williamson. What did Forbes think warranted the start? And then why do a complete 180 right away? My assumption was that he was rewarding Whitt for a solid game against Syracuse in the hopes that he'd play well to start the game against Duke. And that didn't happen.

Also likely that Williamson wasn't 100%.

DeacsATS said:

Yeah, I get why he didn't play after the first few minutes. My surprise was that he started the game over Williamson. What did Forbes think warranted the start? And then why do a complete 180 right away? My assumption was that he was rewarding Whitt for a solid game against Syracuse in the hopes that he'd play well to start the game against Duke. And that didn't happen.

Also likely that Williamson wasn't 100%.

Click to expand...

I would think that the goal was to ease Daivien back in following an 11-day Covid-19 layoff, but then Whitt was ineffective and we want to win the game

DeacsATS said:

Yeah, I get why he didn't play after the first few minutes. My surprise was that he started the game over Williamson. What did Forbes think warranted the start? And then why do a complete 180 right away? My assumption was that he was rewarding Whitt for a solid game against Syracuse in the hopes that he'd play well to start the game against Duke. And that didn't happen.

Also likely that Williamson wasn't 100%.

Click to expand...

You miss games for injury, you don’t start next game. The guys had to play on without you. I was surprised Carter didn’t get back in but once we went big, we needed more physicality. He will get better and we will play better.

mako1331 said:

I trust Forbes, but I do worry sometimes about the sustainability of relying so heavily on the transfer portal in creating a consistent winning program. I guess that's just college basketball now.

Click to expand...

The portal is still in its infancy and Forbes has and will navigate it well. Play better, win and players from many paths will want to join you.

Is the transfer portal that much less reliable than depending on getting 16 and 17 year olds to commit to your program then show up on campus and produce at 18? Only in that there's a consistent supply of HS basketball players to rely on. The main problem for Forbes is that there won't be as many grad transfers without that extra COVID year.

PhDeac said:

Is the transfer portal that much less reliable than depending on getting 16 and 17 year olds to commit to your program then show up on campus and produce at 18? Only in that there's a consistent supply of HS basketball players to rely on. The main problem for Forbes is that there won't be as many grad transfers without that extra COVID year.

Click to expand...

For fall 22, there are still plenty of guys who had a Covid year.

True. I guess there will be an oversupply of grad transfers for three more seasons. That’s enough time to get the program on track.