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UNC-G, 7:00 PM; ESPN3--On a TUESDAY!

wfu22fan said:
Rondale gets major minutes against UCLA and Arkansas and no time against the G? VH out there taking up minutes again? Collins sitting the whole game? SMH And Carl Tacy needs to teach DM how to feed the post with a bounce pass with a shooter on the wing and another big down low on the other side in case of a double team. We got out coached tonight.
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More troubling is the fact that CMM's return cut right into Crawford's minutes and while he may benefit from extra rest and being fresh in the latter stages of games, is it really wise to give Wilbekin 35+ mins yet cut the mins of your best guard down to 24 due to the return of your other "best" guard?

I realize CMM and BC play the same hybrid type guard position, but shouldn't those two be able to play together? Or did Crawford get into early foul trouble too and have his mins severely reduced as a result in the first half? Or is Danny being careful not to overtax Crawford since he hurt his hip/back in Maui?
 
Let's give CMM some time to get back from being injured. It was clear live that he was tentative (see the missed dunk) with his foot. He will get his legs back under him. It was his first basketball game in 10 months. Let's cut him some slack.

He's still a top 2 player on the team.

Wilbekin's minutes clearly need to go down as CMM gets back into form. He brings nothing except a three-point threat, and his defense is bad. CMM and BC can, and will, play in the backcourt frequently once everything gets settled down and we get into conference play.

Overreacting over 15 minutes of Codi's first game back is inadvisable, but to each their own.
 
Crawford had some foul trouble which limited his time, Wilbikin played more because UNCG went to a zone in second half and he is some threat from 3 Codi was definitely tentative which will get better, a win coming out of 11 days off is good. Look at UNC last Saturday.
 
liveanddiedeac said:
Sure, we didn't play very good last night, but we're still 7-2 when some were saying we could be 4-5 or even 3-6 at this point in the season. No reason to be upset at this point of the season, I expect us to play better Friday night and prepare to take our best shot at a very good Xavier team. [Redacted] is still gone, it's all good peeps!
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This type of take is disingenuous as you know full well, as well as anyone, we are fortunate to be 7-2 and could just as easily be 5-4 or even 4-5. Yes, we have demonstrated some impressive poise and resilience late in games on several occasions in difficult settings, and that is promising. But what is wrong with questioning a) the effort of this team against an obviously inferior opponent b) the inability of this group to gel as a more cohesive unit defensively and c) the substitution patterns that serve only to teach lessons through punishment at the potential expense of offensive unit cohesion and efficiency? IOW, there are other options to try besides plugging in TVH at the 3 because Hudson is having a bad game. Get creative! Pound the damn ball against a shitty team and work on some aggressive 3-2 zone to take away their one weapon! Chances are if you need to re-adjust and go back to M2M and play a traditional line up, you'll still be able to pull it out in the 2nd half.

You don't have to watch a ton of Wake BB to see that this team could easily "regress to the mean" and begin losing games that it should win. And in a very difficult conference like the ACC with 12-14 teams easily within reach of a Top 100 KP ranking, you can ill-afford to not show more progress at this stage in cleaning up mental errors and poor defense as well as tightening your substitution patterns as you head towards conference play. This next game will be telling to see if more practice, stress-free post-exam focus on BB and additional rest will serve this team well. Not expecting them to overachieve against X, LSU, UofL and Duke, but the potential is there to beat a couple of these teams if we can find more consistency and cohesion.
 
If we play like we did last night then the Coastal game will be very tight. We are projected to win by 8 as is.
 
Why the Deac Not said:
This type of take is disingenuous as you know full well, as well as anyone, we are fortunate to be 7-2 and could just as easily be 5-4 or even 4-5. Yes, we have demonstrated some impressive poise and resilience late in games on several occasions in difficult settings, and that is promising. But what is wrong with questioning a) the effort of this team against an obviously inferior opponent b) the inability of this group to gel as a more cohesive unit defensively and c) the substitution patterns that serve only to teach lessons through punishment at the potential expense of offensive unit cohesion and efficiency? IOW, there are other options to try besides plugging in TVH at the 3 because Hudson is having a bad game. Get creative! Pound the damn ball against a shitty team and work on some aggressive 3-2 zone to take away their one weapon! Chances are if you need to re-adjust and go back to M2M and play a traditional line up, you'll still be able to pull it out in the 2nd half.

You don't have to watch a ton of Wake BB to see that this team could easily "regress to the mean" and begin losing games that it should win. And in a very difficult conference like the ACC with 12-14 teams easily within reach of a Top 100 KP ranking, you can ill-afford to not show more progress at this stage in cleaning up mental errors and poor defense as well as tightening your substitution patterns as you head towards conference play. This next game will be telling to see if more practice, stress-free post-exam focus on BB and additional rest will serve this team well. Not expecting them to overachieve against X, LSU, UofL and Duke, but the potential is there to beat a couple of these teams if we can find more consistency and cohesion.
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It's not disingenuous, we are what our record is right now and it's better than many were predicting. All I said is there's no reason to be having a cow over anything at this point in the season. Arguably our best player has been out until last night, another important players was out the first 5 games, and we've played a pretty tough schedule. Have we been perfect- no, have we been great- no, have we been good- at times, have we had reason for some concerns- yes. However, I'm not going to get all bent out of shape at this point in the season, when record wise we're better than many thought.
 
Yes, it's okay for you to overreact to fans' perceived overreactions and the expressing of legitimate concerns because you have things in better perspective than the rest of us. :rolleyes:

Perhaps I'm just setting myself up for more disappointment hoping for more signs of the potential improvement we all feel is possible with this team. Perhaps they are what they are and I should simply accept that, as a young team with developing chemistry, many more growing pains will make for erratic progress along the way. I certainly realize there are going to be some rough patches as the season unfolds, but I guess I can't get that excited about being 7-2 or 8-2 despite spinning our wheels as we go into a stretch in which we could easily go 0-4. Hopefully they will learn from this lackluster effort and apply some hard-earned lessons in a better effort dispatching the Chanticleers.

8-6 and 0-2 in the ACC won't look too good despite wins over Ark, UCLA and IU, which will seem like distant memories after going on a very likely skid of tough losses. Perhaps they will play better against better competition as this team is wont to do, but it would be much more re-assuring if this team could demonstrate improvement and progress in their ability to play with sustained defensive intensity, turn the ball over less and put the petal down against a shitty team when the opportunity presents itself.
 
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Why the Deac Not said:
Yes, it's okay for you to criticize fans for expressing concern because you have things in better perspective than the rest of us. :rolleyes:

Perhaps I'm just setting myself up for more disappointment hoping for more signs of the potential improvement we all feel is possible with this team. Perhaps they are what they are and I should simply accept that as a young team with developing chemistry, many more growing pains along the way. I certainly realize there are going to be some rough patches along the way, but I don't see the advantage of being 7-2 or 8-2 and spinning our wheels going into a stretch where we could easily go 0-4.

8-6 and 0-2 in the ACC won't look too good despite wins over Ark, UCLA and IU, which will seem like distant memories after going on a skid. Perhaps they will play better against better competition as this team is wont to do, but it would be much more re-assuring if this team could demonstrate improvement and progress in their ability to play with sustained defensive intensity, turn the ball over less and put the petal down against a shitty team when the opportunity presents itself.
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I'm not criticizing anybody, just giving my opinion. I'm the one that was accused of being disingenuous.
 
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Everyone should chill and enjoy the ride. Memories must be very short not to remember the obstacles we faced two years ago. Wins will come. May not be as quickly as one would want but whether you love him or hate him the "Black Pearl" is building his program the way he wants. We should all remember who the hell caused all the problems and four years of purgatory we all endured...Wellman!!!
 
http://www.journalnow.com/sports/wf...cle_4c1c4bc4-a3ac-11e5-958d-db55a10b123b.html

Manning is doing something right, because the change in Devin has been outstanding. He's become the real heart of this team, when there was a time it appeared his attitude would always be a liability to this team. I love the part about going by the Miller Center to make a quick 100 free throws last night, because 8 for 17 was not acceptable.
 
One thing that has been clear this season is that DM values what Wilbekin brings. He will continue to get minutes at the expense of Crawford IMO. It must be things that don't show up in the stat sheet (leadership, maintaining flow of offense, spacing, etc) that Manning thinks are indispensable. I think he'll settle in at 28-30 min going forward, not the 35 min he's gotten all season so far.
Crawford and CMM are a bit redundant. We'll see if the 2 of them can work on the floor at the same time. I suspect a backcourt comprised of 2 alphas who aren't pure shooters is not the best idea but that will be one of the more intriguing story lines to watch unfold. CMM will round into form soon enough and I suspect we'll be singing his praises here again shortly.
Hudson needs to play better and smarter. He's crucial.
Devin needs 32-24 min/ game. His development in the past year is astonishing.
 
liveanddiedeac said:
I'm not criticizing anybody, just giving my opinion dickhead. I'm the one that was accused of being disingenuous.
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Apologies for singling you out, but one of the things that rankles me the most is when some of y'all are quick to dismiss constructive criticism or legitimate concern simply because our record is X-Z. Records don't matter if the team doesn't improve. How many years have we seen good WF teams with good records going into Feb fade badly because they failed to improve or regress towards tendencies we all knew they had? Pretty much for all eternity with a few rare exceptions.

Anyway, I understand your viewpoint, but for you and Townie to poo-poo fans for expressing doubt and disgust smacks of disingenuous condescension. Why bother with any discussion at all? Let's just be happy with finally not sucking and being rid of Bzzdoofus cuz it's all sunshine and lollipops now despite sinking in the almighty KP rankings that so many of you delight in cramming down our throats as biblical in its omniscience?

Was surprised there wasn't more gnashing of teeth after the game considering this team has shown serious potential to rise from the depths of Bzz-inflicted hell, but then when fans express warranted frustration and disenchantment, they get met with lecturing admonishment by the silver linings brigade.
 
How about Mitoglou's improved free thrown shooting. Shot 72% from the line last year and is over 90 so far this year (28/31)
 
Why the Deac Not said:
Apologies for singling you out, but one of the things that rankles me the most is when some of y'all are quick to dismiss constructive criticism or legitimate concern simply because our record is X-Z. Records don't matter if the team doesn't improve. How many years have we seen good WF teams with good records going into Feb fade badly because they failed to improve or regress towards tendencies we all knew they had? Pretty much for all eternity with a few rare exceptions.

Anyway, I understand your viewpoint, but for you and Townie to poo-poo fans for expressing doubt and disgust smacks of disingenuous condescension. Why bother with any discussion at all? Let's just be happy with finally not sucking and being rid of Bzzdoofus cuz it's all sunshine and lollipops now despite sinking in the almighty KP rankings that so many of you delight in cramming down our throats as biblical in its omniscience?

Was surprised there wasn't more gnashing of teeth after game considering this team has shown more potential to rise from the depths of Bzz-inflicted hell, and then when fans express warranted frustration and disenchantment, they get met with lecturing admonishment by the silver linings brigade.
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No worries. I realize the problems that exist and potential for extreme let down as the season goes on, heck after all these years I expect it. I'm just not going to get all down about right now and wait and see what happens the rest of the way.
 
liveanddiedeac said:
http://www.journalnow.com/sports/wf...cle_4c1c4bc4-a3ac-11e5-958d-db55a10b123b.html

Manning is doing something right, because the change in Devin has been outstanding. He's become the real heart of this team, when there was a time it appeared his attitude would always be a liability to this team. I love the part about going by the Miller Center to make a quick 100 free throws last night, because 8 for 17 was not acceptable.
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Scary thought. If Devin had been shooting FTs this season as well as the rest of his teammates (74%), he'd be averaging 20 and 11 right now.
 
Good teams pound weaker opponents (at least some of their weaker opponents). When UVA was just starting to ascend(2012-2013), they started annihilating weak teams. They beat Wofford by 37 and Seattle by 40 among other dominating wins which has continued over the next 3 seasons. Margin of victory matters. It's a strong predictive tool. No question that winning is far better than losing, but how you win is improtant.

With that said, WF played its first few games without Crab and CMM. CMM is going to take a few games before he returns to form. So, there are explanations as to why WF is not hitting all cylinders, but even taking into account of those factors, WF needs to play better to be anything other than an NIT bubble team.
 
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