• Welcome to OGBoards 10.0, keep in mind that we will be making LOTS of changes to smooth out the experience here and make it as close as possible functionally to the old software, but feel free to drop suggestions or requests in the Tech Support subforum!

Disco Dan Talks FSU Debacle

I could be wrong, but it really seems to me that apathy has taken a toll on our fan base. I sense excitement and anticipation that the [Redacted] era may finally be coming to an end. Unfortunately, I don't have that same excitement and anticipation. While our team is in free fall, what evidence, if any, do we have that Mr. Wellman is actually feeling the heat and may actually make a change at the head coach spot? This team could still qualify for the NIT. Even if we get an un-vitation to the NIT, it just doesn't seem to me that Mr. Wellman is uncomfortable. Early in the [Redacted] era we had fans literally screaming at home games in protest of the situation; Mr. Wellman was holding fireside post game chats and fielding questions about the direction of the program; we had the Winter of discontent; and we saw a media blitz that was effective though often criticized. Now, I only sense waiting and anticipation by our fans that Mr. Wellman will do the right thing and make a move after the season. I wish I could be more optimistic but I simply don't trust Wellman when it comes to [Redacted] and our basketball program. It just doesn't seem that either Wellman and/or [Redacted] are very uncomfortable. Unless I missing something, I am unaware of even the simplest form of fan protest this season (like booing [Redacted] when he is introduced as our head coach at home games). I do support the team and our student athletes so I find it difficult to root against them. It's unfortunate that D. Thomas and CMM appear to have circled the wagons around [Redacted] (Wellman's final human shields for [Redacted]). Wellman made a big move at the end of football season. However, unless he is made to be uncomfortable, I fear that Mr. Wellman will be too preoccupied with the NCAA Tournament to make any changes in our basketball program. Wellman probably figures he can sneak one more year by and finish paying [Redacted] for the job he was hired to do. Similarly, [Redacted] is spineless. Is he really just going to walk away from another $1M+ next year if he has the protection of Wellman? Unless Nina demands that he resign, I just don't see [Redacted] giving up on that payday. All that being said - I hope Wellman and [Redacted] are made to feel very uncomfortable during the next 3/4 weeks and I hope the rest of you will do you whatever you can to ensure that our nightmare ends sooner rather than later.

-22
 
WakeForestRanger said:
The new coach is actually getting a pretty decent hand. He's getting handed a team of upperclassmen that should be a tournament team. That'll allow him to build momentum like the team Odom handed Skip. That rising junior class could have three or four transfers to free up scholarships and not miss a beat.
Click to expand...
I still don't get how some people think the 2016 class will ever be a tournament team. Just not enough talent and size. Their ceiling is a bubble team.
 
If you think they can be a bubble team, then you think they can be a tournament team.
 
Tournament team meaning an NIT team? Sure.
 
RangersboysWFBB said:
Honestly, the way he behaves and operates it really doesn't seem like he has any higher ups to answer to. The fans are the only ones who have ever asked him to be accountable and look how he responded? The president doesn't care about sports and the board is probably just a bunch of middling old people and big fish in a small pond who are just happy to have a title and access to something.
Click to expand...

You are looking at things from a fans perspective. You care about the quality of product you are watching, wins and losses, tournament appearances, and long term sustainability.

Hatch and the BOT look at things from a different perspective and the above list are only secondary/minor concerns to them. You said it yourself, Hatch doesn't care about sports. If so, he's probably more of a ND fan. Hatch and the BOT care more about the business of Wake Forest. They are focused on the perception and the "culture" of Wake. And most importantly, they care about the financial state of Wake Forest.

If the basketball program was clean without huge newsworthy off the court negative stories, players were graduating, and most importantly the balance sheets were in the black then Hatch and the BOT would give Wellman a huge leash to do nearly anything he wanted to do. That's exactly what happened the first 2-3 years of the [Redacted] Error. The new ACC TV money deal and the Moracle Boys intially made up for the rank and file average Joe Deacon clubber's decreased spending. Gradually, and more recently in the last year at a greater rate, Ron is starting to lose some of the big fish who aren't buying his talk anymore. On top of that, the average Joe is become so angry and frustrated they are showing their displeasure by closing their wallets to all things Mother So Dear, not just basketball.

It takes time for the effect of this to kick in as people come up with quarterly and yearly numbers. They didn't like what they saw at 2013 year end at all, coupled with the downward trend. They are not dumb people and know that the major reason for the decline is [Redacted].

Ron does have bosses. But they think about things very differently and care about things in a different way than most everyone posting on this board does.

The [Redacted] problem is bigger than Ron Wellman now. The game is finally over this year.
 
A bubble team is a team that is right on the line of making the tournament or being left at home. You can't say they are a bubble team and then think it's crazy to believe they will actually make the tournament. If you don't believe they can make the tournament then you don't believe they are a bubble team.
 
"If the basketball program was clean without huge newsworthy off the court negative stories, players were graduating, and most importantly the balance sheets were in the black then Hatch and the BOT would give Wellman a huge leash to do nearly anything he wanted to do. That's exactly what happened the first 2-3 years of the [Redacted] Error."

That's the opposite of true. That's exactly when the off the court negative stories were happening. Players were transferring en masse. I don't know about the balance sheets, but the chairbacks were black and clearly visible from my TV.
 
I think people on this board, because they have known Bz sucks the whole time, underestimate how much popularity Bz has lost with sunshine/casual Wake fans this year
 
FckVwls said:
I think people on this board, because they have known Bz sucks the whole time, underestimate how much popularity Bz has lost with sunshine/casual Wake fans this year
Click to expand...

...in this his best year to date? Who liked him last year, but didn't when his guys clipped Carolina and State at home? I don't see it. Casual/sunshiners aren't prisoners of the bad losses to FSU/GT.
 
WakeForestRanger said:
The new coach is actually getting a pretty decent hand. He's getting handed a team of upperclassmen that should be a tournament team. That'll allow him to build momentum like the team Odom handed Skip. That rising junior class could have three or four transfers to free up scholarships and not miss a beat.
Click to expand...

Sure, because there are plenty of major-conference tournament teams that can't shoot, rebound, pass, or dribble. The team Odom handed Skip had a future NBA All-Star, another solid NBA career and Olympic player, and a guy who played for years on the And-1 tour. Plus a guy who could dribble well (Hicks) and one who could shoot exceptionally well (Dawson). This team has nowhere close to that talent. Its "star" upperclassmen at that point will be a headcase and the always popular shooting guard who can't shoot.
 
FckVwls said:
I think people on this board, because they have known Bz sucks the whole time, underestimate how much popularity Bz has lost with sunshine/casual Wake fans this year
Click to expand...

This may be true
 
WakeForestRanger said:
A bubble team is a team that is right on the line of making the tournament or being left at home. You can't say they are a bubble team and then think it's crazy to believe they will actually make the tournament. If you don't believe they can make the tournament then you don't believe they are a bubble team.
Click to expand...
Fine, I retract that bubble talk. This 2016 class will not sniff consideration for the NCAAT. Major deficiencies all over the place that a new coach can only do so much about. Now, if a couple transfer, and we bring in a couple talented 2015 freshmen, maybe I'll reconsider at this time next year.
 
Last edited:
PhDeac said:
"If the basketball program was clean without huge newsworthy off the court negative stories, players were graduating, and most importantly the balance sheets were in the black then Hatch and the BOT would give Wellman a huge leash to do nearly anything he wanted to do. That's exactly what happened the first 2-3 years of the [Redacted] Error."

That's the opposite of true. That's exactly when the off the court negative stories were happening. Players were transferring en masse. I don't know about the balance sheets, but the chairbacks were black and clearly visible from my TV.
Click to expand...

And that's exactly where the whole "culture" spin came from and the deflected blame to Dino. It wasn't done for the fans. It was done to primarily appease the people that mattered.
 
woody9186 said:
Fine, I retract that bubble talk. This 2016 class will not even sniff consideration for the NCAAT. Major deficiencies all over the place that a new coach can only do so much about. Now, if a couple transfer, and we bring in a couple talented 2015 freshmen, maybe I'll reconsider at this time next year.
Click to expand...

I mean, that's the most likely thing to happen. There are going to be transfers and we will have more help when they are seniors. Hopefully Shelton and solid production from GMc foo.
 
The team Odom handed Skip could easily have been an Elite Eight team.

This team doesn't have that potential, but a good coach can make the tournament with them.
 
The good thing about doing it this year is (I assume) solid contributors from the class of 2012 will stay and the new coach will not feel a lot of pressure to fill the roster with non-ACC players right away just to field a team. He can be more conservative with giving out scholarships.

If CMM, Moto, Devin stay, we'll be competitive with a decent coach.
 
wakedeac98 said:
And that's exactly where the whole "culture" spin came from and the deflected blame to Dino. It wasn't done for the fans. It was done to primarily appease the people that mattered.
Click to expand...

So the BOT is full of people who lacked the common sense to realize they were getting pure spin on facts that were clearly obvious and not in Wellman's favor.
 
OldGoldBeard said:
That seems highly unlikely, as Buzzy had just completed his first, 17-65 season with the Nuggets at that point, and had been out of the college game for 15 years. Maybe when Skip was thought to be a candidate for the Cincy job in 2006?
Click to expand...

Yeah, sorry. I got the order of the two backwards. The Cincy job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top