MBB Game 22: WF Heads North To the Dome: Saturday 8 pm ACCN

[BlackjackMc]

No D. No W. It's that simple.

Laravia and Williams combine to average 35 points per game this season. Tonight they combined for 13. That's a 22point difference, identical to the Orange margin of victory.

That tells the story of the game.

 

[Ghostsurfer]

Damn, I am still pissed after last night's effort (or lack thereof). An extremely frustrating night for all of the Deacs, coaches, and fans. Syracuse was hot and their zone gave us trouble most of the game and the entire 2nd half. Get ready to see more zone w/Pitt. We need to fix the weak-ass passes against these active defenses. Why we didn't have someone running the baseline & baby corner for inside entry "bounce" passes was embarrassing. I get that in-game coaching is hard, but Forbes and staff should have really reamed the team out on this or given others a chance to show something. And, why we didn't attack Edwards when he picked up his third foul was a huge mistake. Yet, when your players are playing soft and giving the ball away you're not going too many fouls in your favor.

IMO, Carter and late 3-point shots by walk-ons are like blaming the deck chairs for why the boat sank. Carter is still young and his confidence, strength, and shooting is not where it needs to be right now. The dude can play and he just needs time to grow.

I love this team and hope we can grow from this and get a big W vs Pitt. After them, the schedule gets a bit scary.

 

[Liquid Karma]

what would you call a barrage of posts on a game thread ragging on Carter Whitt (and literally only about Carter Whitt) who played 9 minutes in a 22 point loss?

i call people deranged who focus so narrowly on a freshman point guard that this is literally the only thing that they can post about no matter if we're winning games by 30 or losing by 20

this is the first time we've been even remotely good during this board's lifespan, but this particular brand of derangement seems relatively new

Whitt not being an ACC caliber player transcends our wins and losses. Sure, that loss was on everyone, but Whitt is a constant from game to game.

 

[Jroc25]

Regardless of how well Williamson & Monsanto play, we likely won't win against an OK team if both ManMan & LaRavia have bad games. I guess that should be obvious.

 

[80deacon]

Boills down to this: Every player held the ball way too long. You beat a zone with quick, strong passes.

Our guys want to take 3 dribbles or hold the ball over their heads 3-5 seconds looking for someone. Plays right into the good zone D's hands. In a zone someone is always OPEN. You pass it there, then in a second or less to someone else who is open at the initial shift of the zone. You do this 5 times or more until you have a layup or wide open jumper.

 

[80deacon]

Lateral dribbling does nothing. Penetration dribbling is the other option at breaking down a zone.

 

[EatLeadCommie]

Defense was bad. Lack of rebounding at key moments gave them big second chance buckets. Lazy passes in the second half. We settled for the three too often when we were getting entry passes into the top of the paint, and it seemed like we weren't happy unless we were shooting from 22 feet or 2 feet out. What's wrong with 12 feet out? Jake should be drilling those. We also needed to knock Buddy B on his ass.

We lost. It was a bad loss and probably the worst half of hoops we have played this season. I have little doubt that Forbes will jump on their ass and we will look sharper next game.

 

[tigerswood]

Whitt not being an ACC caliber player transcends our wins and losses. Sure, that loss was on everyone, but Whitt is a constant from game to game.

Yeah, I think much of the criticism (some of it excessive and undeserved) is the growing assumption/concern for some in the fanbase that Whitt will not live up to his lofty recruiting ranking. I’m in that camp and hope to be wrong in future years. This team could REALLY benefit from a true PG that could play 20+ quality minutes, though.

 

[DeacLaw05]

Well, we opened January with a horrendous defensive effort at Miami, and we closed January with an equally horrendous defensive effort at Syracuse. Most everything in between was pretty good.

Glad I turned last night’s game off with 15 minutes left to play.

 

[Complacent Deac]

Whitt not being an ACC caliber player transcends our wins and losses. Sure, that loss was on everyone, but Whitt is a constant from game to game.

Confidence is huge with these young guys.

We are up 19-12. Whitt gets targeted and bucket.

Monsanto hits a 3. It's now 22-14.

Whitt gets targeted and bucket I think the prayer bank shot.

Walton throws awful bounce pass in lane turnover.

I go take a leak.

Whitt' s man takes him one on one and bucket.

Sy weakly turns it over again.

Walton makes a nice bank shot and it's now approximately 26-22. It's now a close road game. We are now toast.
Tons of turnovers and letting their zone dictate.

That's how I recall that 4 minute stretch first half transpiring.

Glad we have Pitt next and FSU lost a guy yesterday, so we will get right.

 

[BeachBumDeac]

Lol that four minute stretch in the first half did not make us toast. We were leading at halftime. Come the fuck on.

 

[daaberry]

Ha, yeah don’t think many of us were sitting at halftime thinking there is no chance we can win this one.

 

[ChrisL68]

whitt got beat on one of those 3 shots. the baseline shot was tough and he was jumping up and had his hand in the guys face. The bank shot was a prayer.

over our win streak he was providing us with nice off the bench point guard play.

 

[morrison2951]

Ha, yeah don’t think many of us were sitting at halftime thinking there is no chance we can win this one.

I actually was liking our chances as we had a halftime lead with just 6 pts between Jake and Man Man and looking for a big 2nd half from them.

I was wrong.... :tear:

 

[DunkinDeacon]

whitt got beat on one of those 3 shots. the baseline shot was tough and he was jumping up and had his hand in the guys face. The bank shot was a prayer.

over our win streak he was providing us with nice off the bench point guard play.

Agreed. Carter getting dogged on is unjustified, particularly when other players on the team make significant mistakes regularly that need to be addressed. Carter's shooting percentages are horrific and he needs to work on that, but he has provided hustle, defense and some good passing and composure in key games this year. This is a team largely built of portal transfers who were not even viewed to be amongst the best available -- we should keep our expectations in check and be happy to at least have a solid shot at the tourney this year.

 

[sportsmed86]

Some people’s agenda is set on CW. He is now a complimentary player, not a starter for many reasons. He could have 3 steals against Charlie Moore and hit 3 triples over Wong and they will later trot out the same stuff. Teams led by upperclassmen have role players that learn, get minutes here and there and develop. I am willing to see how he plays these next hopefully 15+ games. Then see in November how he has progressed before I crush him him under the bus that some keep rolling back and forth.

 

[liveanddiedeac]

Woke up this morning thinking, oh yeah this is what is used to feel like when I cared enough about Wake basketball to be disappointed in a loss. Painful progress I guess.

 

[forensicdeac]

How many times was the ball thrown to LaRavia at the free throw line just for him to turn and dribble out to the top of the key? That is as passive a move as I have seen. It happened repeatedly. It applied no pressure to the zone. This needs to be addressed. I have faith that Forbes will do so.

 

[GeeseGeese14]

How many times was the ball thrown to LaRavia at the free throw line just for him to turn and dribble out to the top of the key? That is as passive a move as I have seen. It happened repeatedly. It applied no pressure to the zone. This needs to be addressed. I have faith that Forbes will do so.

I thought the same thing last night but Forbes specifically talked about that being what they wanted to do in his press conference to then allow pass pass to an open man

 

[forensicdeac]

I thought the same thing last night but Forbes specifically talked about that being what they wanted to do in his press conference to then allow pass pass to an open man

Thanks for the response. I'll make sure to check out the press conference. I'll have to painfully rewatch some of the game to see if this was effective for open looks even if we didn't make the shots.