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GAME WEEK: Wake Forest vs. Belmont Abbey (exhibition)

knowell said:
Just from looking at the stats, it appears Sarr has made the jump we hoped he would and the freshmen are as good as advertised.

The most disappointing part is to read from some of those who attended that the defense is still bad. I was really hoping something would have magically changed in that regards.

This team will really need a different kind of defensive effort than we have seen in past years.

If somehow that would happen, the season might be a lot better than we expect. If we have the same old defense, then 2-5 conference wins is what we will have.

Would like to hear from those who were at the game whether they thought the defense was any better than in the past.

Thanks in advance.
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I felt defense was so much better than many of last year's abysmal efforts. We were trying to push it with lots of new pieces so not surprised they scored in the 70s. Yes it was a weak opponent, but for THIS game, we rebounded them 54-24, held them to <42% shooting, held their expected leading scorer to 4-13 and 10 pts. 23 pts off TOs. Length helps across the lineup.
 
WFUWaldo said:
We won’t be 0.500 with 17-18 wins unless we make a deep run in the post season. There aren’t 34-36 games in the regular season.
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Is this a serious post?
 
WFUWaldo said:
Yes, your math doesn’t make any sense.
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So it wasn’t a serious post. You understand when someone says a team will be .500, that doesn’t mean that team will be exactly .500, right? I know you talk about sports.
 
Boy we will miss Wilbekin’s size, versatility and defense. Who can we have guard a 6’6” player on the last shot of the game?
 
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PhDeac said:
So it wasn’t a serious post. You understand when someone says a team will be .500, that doesn’t mean that team will be exactly .500, right? I know you talk about sports.
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Sorry, I was narrowing in on the specifics since it’s a ridiculous assertion to believe a new (presumably good) coach, with the exact same roster (which would mean an assumed top-10 pick would return for his sophomore year), an additional year of experience, and any recruits we are bringing in would only go 0.500.

It seems at contrary with how pessimistic about Manning you are that all of those factors would only add a handful of wins.
 
wfu22fan said:
Boy we will miss Wilbekin’s size, versatility and defense. Who can we have guard a 6’6” player on the last shot of the game?
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I don't have any real expectations for success this year without Moore and Crawford, but we don't have as many dead bodies on defense this year, which will be more enjoyable. Even if Manning is able to implement a good defensive system this year (which is questionable), we are so young they will screw up all the time, but I am hopeful for moments of excellence, as we certainly now have the defensive talent to be a major menace to an offense. We should be fronting everything and using our length to make up for our lack of bulk. Help and recover, and switch, switch, switch...
 
encouraging

I did attend the game, here are a few random thoughts:

- GW is a weak team, even by D2 standards. Our defense needs work, especially on closing out corner threes.
- This team communicates much better with each other than last year's team. Last year's exhibition with Queens was a foreshadowing for a rough year. You could feel the acrimony on the court even then last year. There is none of that with this team, thankfully.
- Our offense has MERCIFULLY stopped so much pointless high screen and roll. Last year the offense would get stuck with a lot of standing around. This game I saw a lot of high post/flashes to foul line. Both Hoard and Mucius have excellent touch in that position.
- Chill had like 5 TOs I think? Many of which were really bad against some fairly light full court pressure from a D2 team. Can't happen against tougher opponents.
- Love Wright's game. Period
- Mucius is a winner. I love his confidence and his willingness to dive on the floor for a loose ball when we were up by 29.
- Hoard is the real deal.
- There were quite a few two way plays in which Mucius or Hoard made a stop, took the ball up the court and made the play themselves. Something I haven't seen on a Wake team in a loooong time. We have bigger guys that can play multiple positions.
- WF didn't take this as a cupcake game. They played hard and crashed the boards well.
- Hoard and Sarr have a unique bond. There is a real strength in having two guys who have played together for many years on the court together again. They also speak French to each other on the bench and on the court.
- Manning was pulling guys for defensive lapses, thankfully. He didn't do that last year with Crawford, but maybe he didn't have any options otherwise.
- Nestor was "coaching" players on the bench: exhorting, giving advice, etc. Good to see.

This team actually PLAYS BASKETBALL, as opposed to last year where everyone looked confused and there was nothing fluid about our offense. Even if this season is rough, this team is far more enjoyable to watch than last year's team by far.
 
Chil Tron said:
I did attend the game, here are a few random thoughts:

- GW is a weak team, even by D2 standards. Our defense needs work, especially on closing out corner threes.
- This team communicates much better with each other than last year's team. Last year's exhibition with Queens was a foreshadowing for a rough year. You could feel the acrimony on the court even then last year. There is none of that with this team, thankfully.
- Our offense has MERCIFULLY stopped so much pointless high screen and roll. Last year the offense would get stuck with a lot of standing around. This game I saw a lot of high post/flashes to foul line. Both Hoard and Mucius have excellent touch in that position.
- Chill had like 5 TOs I think? Many of which were really bad against some fairly light full court pressure from a D2 team. Can't happen against tougher opponents.
- Love Wright's game. Period
- Mucius is a winner. I love his confidence and his willingness to dive on the floor for a loose ball when we were up by 29.
- Hoard is the real deal.
- There were quite a few two way plays in which Mucius or Hoard made a stop, took the ball up the court and made the play themselves. Something I haven't seen on a Wake team in a loooong time. We have bigger guys that can play multiple positions.
- WF didn't take this as a cupcake game. They played hard and crashed the boards well.
- Hoard and Sarr have a unique bond. There is a real strength in having two guys who have played together for many years on the court together again. They also speak French to each other on the bench and on the court.
- Manning was pulling guys for defensive lapses, thankfully. He didn't do that last year with Crawford, but maybe he didn't have any options otherwise.
- Nestor was "coaching" players on the bench: exhorting, giving advice, etc. Good to see.

This team actually PLAYS BASKETBALL, as opposed to last year where everyone looked confused and there was nothing fluid about our offense. Even if this season is rough, this team is far more enjoyable to watch than last year's team by far.
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Who is GW?
 
GW could be GW Bailey. He's had a nice career spanning more than four decades. He was funny as Rizzo in M*A*S*H, played the captain in Police Academy and recently was in Major Crimes among other roles.
 
WFUWaldo said:
Sorry, I was narrowing in on the specifics since it’s a ridiculous assertion to believe a new (presumably good) coach, with the exact same roster (which would mean an assumed top-10 pick would return for his sophomore year), an additional year of experience, and any recruits we are bringing in would only go 0.500.

It seems at contrary with how pessimistic about Manning you are that all of those factors would only add a handful of wins.
Click to expand...

To be clear I’m saying that a new coach would at least have the second best season we’ve had in 10 years with a team full of sub 100 and 200 recruits aside from 3 guys.
 
Chil Tron said:
I did attend the game, here are a few random thoughts:

- GW is a weak team, even by D2 standards. Our defense needs work, especially on closing out corner threes.
- This team communicates much better with each other than last year's team. Last year's exhibition with Queens was a foreshadowing for a rough year. You could feel the acrimony on the court even then last year. There is none of that with this team, thankfully.
- Our offense has MERCIFULLY stopped so much pointless high screen and roll. Last year the offense would get stuck with a lot of standing around. This game I saw a lot of high post/flashes to foul line. Both Hoard and Mucius have excellent touch in that position.
- Chill had like 5 TOs I think? Many of which were really bad against some fairly light full court pressure from a D2 team. Can't happen against tougher opponents.
- Love Wright's game. Period
- Mucius is a winner. I love his confidence and his willingness to dive on the floor for a loose ball when we were up by 29.
- Hoard is the real deal.
- There were quite a few two way plays in which Mucius or Hoard made a stop, took the ball up the court and made the play themselves. Something I haven't seen on a Wake team in a loooong time. We have bigger guys that can play multiple positions.
- WF didn't take this as a cupcake game. They played hard and crashed the boards well.
- Hoard and Sarr have a unique bond. There is a real strength in having two guys who have played together for many years on the court together again. They also speak French to each other on the bench and on the court.
- Manning was pulling guys for defensive lapses, thankfully. He didn't do that last year with Crawford, but maybe he didn't have any options otherwise.
- Nestor was "coaching" players on the bench: exhorting, giving advice, etc. Good to see.

This team actually PLAYS BASKETBALL, as opposed to last year where everyone looked confused and there was nothing fluid about our offense. Even if this season is rough, this team is far more enjoyable to watch than last year's team by far.
Click to expand...

Couldn’t run high pick and roll against a zone. No way DM has abandoned it.
 
excellent point.


I wish he would abandon it though.


I meant to say BA. GW...yeah, George Wendt that will work.
 
RJKarl said:
GW could be GW Bailey. He's had a nice career spanning more than four decades. He was funny as Rizzo in M*A*S*H, played the captain in Police Academy and recently was in Major Crimes among other roles.
Click to expand...

Haha I love "Procter" on The Closer \ Major Crimes. I fancy myself as the grizzled old, wise-cracking curmudgeon when I get into my 60's. Oh wait, I might already have arrived and I'm only 45!
 
PhDeac said:
To be clear I’m saying that a new coach would at least have the second best season we’ve had in 10 years with a team full of sub 100 and 200 recruits aside from 3 guys.
Click to expand...

No guarantee a .500 team would be the second best one in the last 10 years. If win percentage is your metric of choice then it would be third best. Also we moved from “might finish .500” to “will finish .500”?
 
Why the Deac Not said:
Haha I love "Procter" on The Closer \ Major Crimes. I fancy myself as the grizzled old, wise-cracking curmudgeon when I get into my 60's. Oh wait, I might already have arrived and I'm only 45!
Click to expand...

Woah woah woah... Proctor was not that guy. Proctor was this guy:

giphy.gif


Let's make sure to get our Police Academy facts straight. Thank you.
 
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