I am so sick of this shit I can’t stand it!

[Ayo]

Better end this losing streak soon. Manning approaching [Redacted]'s conference record:

[Redacted]: 17-51
Manning: 17-43

 

[Rafi]

Yeah everything this. It’s crazy how much a lot of you people just sound like spoiled children whining about something. You can be frustrated and not say ridiculous things at the same time. The knee-jerk, purely emotional reactions are the ones that bother me and I call them out.

I agree with this. There are some absolutely absurd statements made on this board. Right now there is a thread asking if our players are "on the take." C'mon man, let's try to avoid stupid.

I saw this quote from Doral (who I thought played an excellent game) last night, "We're all very frustrated, but we have to stay positive. We know we played good for 36 minutes. We just have to clean up the last five minutes and we'll be fine." I think he sums things up well, and it's a good reminder that if the fans are frustrated, the coaches and players are 10 times more frustrated.

I also saw this quote last night, from a Stanford football player in reference to the tragic suicide of the Washington St QB, "Student-athletes and athletes in general are more than just your entertainment. We’re people who go through anxiety, depression, and difficulties just like everybody else. Please remember that when you’re tweeting at us like we’re animals."

 

[Ghostsurfer]

Last night's game laid bare our continued weaknesses in a winnable game - player execution (how many missed layups or shots at the rim??) and poor in-game coaching. Our shooting from the arc was pathetic. No way are we going to win if we shoot 10% from the 3 in the second half. We were careless with the ball as some of the turnovers came at the absolutely worst time (10 second violation & Sarr's pass to Moore in the paint - kick it back out, young man!) or were unforced passes trying to be cute. I know Brown was struggling early, but you have to give the him more minutes to see if he can get it going. Bottom line we had Sate on the ropes and then let them steal it from us. Hard to win on the road, but that was our ball game.

I, also, agree with Raffi's post that this is our team for better or worse and yes we can, and should vent/bitch, about being upset and disappointed, but I choose to stay supportive and optimistic - it's in your DNA if you are really a Wake fan. These kids are nice, kind, and friendly every time I see them on campus or around town. They have a collective team GPA over 3.0 and hopefully they will continue to do work and get better.

 

[Wrangor]

Good post Ghost. I know it sometimes it doesn’t seems like it but we are very close to being a very good team imo. We may or may not get there this year, but I do think we get there next year.

At the same time our defense is absolutely unacceptable at times and Manning must do a better job with his scheme. We clean up our rotations and get a little more talent on the floor and we will be a top half of the ACC team.

 

[Shake]

Wrangor - Saying we're close to being a very good team means we're very close to making post season which we most certainly are miles away from. Look at our record...this is a bad team being coached poorly. DM is one really nice guy and we have great kids...both of those things can be mutually exclusive with having a great basketball program. We've sucked for 8 years after experiencing 15 years of success...I don't blame the fans for wanting more.

NCAA BB is high stakes now...DM makes a lot of dough. If we're to the point where our expectations are a nice guy coach who tries hard and good kids and W & L's don't really mater then we're finished as a program. This is the ACC and while we talk about our incoming class I can assure you that every team in the ACC (except UL) believes they too will be better next year.

My advice to DM is this isn't Tulsa anymore and you better bring it every night or these guys will eat you alive.

 

[06deacon]

Good post Ghost. I know it sometimes it doesn’t seems like it but we are very close to being a very good team imo. We may or may not get there this year, but I do think we get there next year.

At the same time our defense is absolutely unacceptable at times and Manning must do a better job with his scheme. We clean up our rotations and get a little more talent on the floor and we will be a top half of the ACC team.

That's a hard sell wrangor. We were close to being good last year, but our inability to close out games and play consistent defense almost made us miss the tournament. This year it's the same stuff ratcheted up a notch and without a lottery quality PF.

 

[CharlotteDeac1]

Good post Ghost. I know it sometimes it doesn’t seems like it but we are very close to being a very good team imo. We may or may not get there this year, but I do think we get there next year.

At the same time our defense is absolutely unacceptable at times and Manning must do a better job with his scheme. We clean up our rotations and get a little more talent on the floor and we will be a top half of the ACC team.

100% agree with this. I don't know if it's lack of communication or what but it's bad. Manning needs to be better at coaching his defense or change his defensive scheme, but it is partially how unathletic we are on the perimeter. It's pretty telling when your 4/5 (Sarr) can get back to his man faster than a couple of your guards on the 3 point line (although Sarr lost Yurt on multiple occasions last night, which Manning should be able to coach him not to do).

 

[CantStandYa]

A four guard lineup should disqualify you from coaching an ACC team. A four guard lineup in the waning minutes of a winnable road game within one possession should disqualify you from coaching D1. Un-fucking-believable

State ran a 4 guard lineup almost exclusively in the final 10 minutes. Makes sure you let Keats down lightly. That’s a tough fire.

The point was made that any coach who runs a four guard lineup should be fired. I merely pointed out the idiocy of that statement.

I personally feel our four guard lineup is a huge mistake and hate it when Danny does it. But that doesn’t mean that statements like that should get a free pass. This board is like an angry 4 year old who just screams about everything when it doesn’t get to win chutes and ladders.

Yeah everything this. It’s crazy how much a lot of you people just sound like spoiled children whining about something. You can be frustrated and not say ridiculous things at the same time. The knee-jerk, purely emotional reactions are the ones that bother me and I call them out.

I'll own my mistake. I didn't realize State was running a four-guard lineup. Chalk it up to being blinded by continued visceral disappointment in our basketball program.

 

[Wrangor]

Wrangor - Saying we're close to being a very good team means we're very close to making post season which we most certainly are miles away from. Look at our record...this is a bad team being coached poorly. DM is one really nice guy and we have great kids...both of those things can be mutually exclusive with having a great basketball program. We've sucked for 8 years after experiencing 15 years of success...I don't blame the fans for wanting more.

NCAA BB is high stakes now...DM makes a lot of dough. If we're to the point where our expectations are a nice guy coach who tries hard and good kids and W & L's don't really mater then we're finished as a program. This is the ACC and while we talk about our incoming class I can assure you that every team in the ACC (except UL) believes they too will be better next year.

My advice to DM is this isn't Tulsa anymore and you better bring it every night or these guys will eat you alive.

You aren't wrong with most of this. We will see next year if my optimism is warranted. The 4 losses early in the year are unexcusable, so there is nothing really to say about that. Manning and staff deserve every bit of grief they get for those losses. I don't care who we lose in the draft, you can't lose guarantee games, much less multiple guarantee games. However, the team as it currently stands both had the opportunity to win on the road at Carolina and on the road at State (who in case you didn't notice, has had a lot of really good wins). When I say we are close, I don't mean we are 14-6 and almost in a spot to make the tournament. Clearly we will not make post season play this year without some serious luck. But this board is singing a much different tune if we took down UNC and State on the road.

Now granted, we didn't win - and in the end wins and losses matter, but my point is that last night if Crawford hits his layup and State follows with a miss, there is a really good chance we come out of that game with a win (and not a 9 point loss). The margin is thin, and right now we are on the losing end of that margin due to coaching deficiencies and talent deficiencies. However, we do need to realize that our margin for become a pretty good team isn't that far away.

As some have ridiculously suggested, this isn't [name redacted] territory. Those teams were atrocious...this team is not. Last year's team was not (in fact it made the NCAA tournament). I want to see the Manning / Childress coaching staff work because it sure would be a lot of fun, and thus I am optimistic. It is a real bummer to come here sometimes and just read all the exaggerations.

 

[Wrangor]

I'll own my mistake. I didn't realize State was running a four-guard lineup. Chalk it up to being blinded by continued visceral disappointment in our basketball program.

LOL - I was just having a little fun. I don't like our 4-guard lineup at all either. Next year I wouldn't have nearly as much of a problem with it if our 3 wings are Brown, Mucius, and Hoard. Because then our 4-guard lineup with be 6'4", 6'7", 6'8". Running a 4 guard lineup with 5'11", 6'2", 6'0", 6'3" is pretty foolish and I hope to not see it again this year (but I am sure that Manning will put it out there at some point because he does seem to like it for some reason).

 

[wfu22fan]

17-43 in ACC. A long pattern of meltdowns at the end of games. The bottom line is that DM has underperformed at WF, 2 years ago and this year being the worst. We should have 14 wins right now.

 

[wfu22fan]

LOL - I was just having a little fun. I don't like our 4-guard lineup at all either. Next year I wouldn't have nearly as much of a problem with it if our 3 wings are Brown, Mucius, and Hoard. Because then our 4-guard lineup with be 6'4", 6'7", 6'8". Running a 4 guard lineup with 5'11", 6'2", 6'0", 6'3" is pretty foolish and I hope to not see it again this year (but I am sure that Manning will put it out there at some point because he does seem to like it for some reason).

He does it at the end of almost every game.

 

[thatguy2016]

As some have ridiculously suggested, this isn't [name redacted] territory. Those teams were atrocious...this team is not. Last year's team was not (in fact it made the NCAA tournament). I want to see the Manning / Childress coaching staff work because it sure would be a lot of fun, and thus I am optimistic. It is a real bummer to come here sometimes and just read all the exaggerations.

Bz's last year had an overall KenPom ranking of #117 which was 13th in the ACC

this year's team currently has an overall KenPom ranking of #90 which is 13th in the ACC

offensively, we are better than Bz; defensively we are worse; overall, we are better, but it is close

 

[CharlotteDeac1]

I'll own my mistake. I didn't realize State was running a four-guard lineup. Chalk it up to being blinded by continued visceral disappointment in our basketball program.

Yeah I get frustrated at the losses then get frustrated with some of the posts I see on here and it compounds into probably being a dick sometimes. I hate the 4 guard lineup, same reasons as Wrangor. Too small, not athletic, defensively just atrocious. As I said somewhere in one of these threads, Sarr had an easier time getting to his man on the three point line and staying with him when State was in the 4-guard lineup than our fourth guard did. Next year could be completely different with the size and athleticism we should have.

That being said, I don't think the 4 guard lineup cost us the game - though it didn't help. We had a missed open layup, missed free throws, and that backcourt violation that I can't stop thinking about. Sincerely cannot believe that 7 years of backcourt experience got a 10-second call, when Crawford had the choice of either passing forward to Wilbekin leading him over the line or to drive past Beverley who had 4 fouls (would've either fouled out or gotten out of the way, likely).

 

[thatguy2016]

backcourt violation was a killer

it's almost as if we don't practice that situation enough in practice

 

[Rafi]

100% agree with this. I don't know if it's lack of communication or what but it's bad. Manning needs to be better at coaching his defense or change his defensive scheme, but it is partially how unathletic we are on the perimeter. It's pretty telling when your 4/5 (Sarr) can get back to his man faster than a couple of your guards on the 3 point line (although Sarr lost Yurt on multiple occasions last night, which Manning should be able to coach him not to do).

In my opinion, we sorely lack a defensive identity. When asked before, Manning has stated that his D philosophy is "cover your man." I think we need more than that - we need a team defensive identity. We really lack pressure from our guards, and that allows other teams to comfortably set up their offensive.

 

[BudatWake]

Wouldn't you think that after 4 years of playing among the poorest defense in the whole country, DM would bring in someone who can coach defense and give him or her a free hand in running defense? But wait, DM thinks he knows basketball better than anyone! Guess he doesn't see a problem.

 

[thatguy2016]

more thoughts on Manning year 4 vs. Bz year 4:

Bz's year 4 team equates in overall efficiency to slightly worse than 2018 Georgia Tech

Pomeroy has us splitting with GT this year, winning by 5 at home and losing by 2 on the road; therefore we're ~1.5 point favorites on a neutral floor

so, according to KP's system, 2018 WF would be a roughly 2-point favorite on a neutral floor against 2014 WF

(this assumes the college basketball landscape in 2018 is equivalent to 2014; reasonable assumption)

 

[Pazdadeac]

What we need is addition by subtraction... one player needs to move on that will still have eligibility. One player trusts nobody else, and tries to win every game by himself in the late goings, and has failed miserably at judging his own talent to do so.

 

[coredeac]

Better end this losing streak soon. Manning approaching [Redacted]'s conference record:

[Redacted]: 17-51
Manning: 17-43

Aside from these numbers speaking for themselves, the sad fact is that if Manning finishes this season with 18 total conference wins, some will post that we're making progress! Just wait for it.