Wake vs. Clemson Game Thread (Deacs Pummeled Again)

[redwing42]

Not sure if anyone caught the pregame (and I'm not reading the whole thread to check, but before the game, [Redacted] said that they had the gameplan in place, but the players just had to execute it. That's what's been going wrong this season. I almost threw my radio out the window. If you have a gameplan all season that isn't working, then you either need to coach the players to be able to follow that game plan, or change the gameplan to something the players are able to accomplish. Not doing either means that you aren't actually coaching.

 

[vtwhat etc]

This is crazy.

Explain.

I've thought it was time for change in the past (Caldwell & Odom come to mind) but I've never been ashamed that those coaches were a part of the school's history.

There's a big difference between a nice guy doing everything he can to succeed professionally (as I feel both of those examples were doing) & what Bz has been as a HC in the past decade.

 

[Chunkyc]

Why don't we all write an email to Wellman telling him how bad he is f**king up the program. Wait to send them at a predetermined time to totally blow up his email. Haha that would get his attention!!

 

[WakeForestRanger]

You really need me to explain to you why hating Bz the man is crazy?

 

[vtwhat etc]

Why don't we all write an email to Wellman telling him how bad he is f**king up the program. Wait to send them at a predetermined time to totally blow up his email. Haha that would get his attention!!

Or we could all chip in and buy him a tv. or a computer. or a newspaper subscription. Or, at the very least, enroll his email address to Dan's blog feed.

 

[TBR]

Yeah, that's crazy.

I don't necessarily think Bzz is a good guy or anything, but I don't really know him and certainly don't him.

 

[WFdeacon04]

You really need me to explain to you why hating Bz the man is crazy?

Yeah I'm interested in hearing your explanation as well...


Is there something against hating people based on their personal characteristics? Is that not PC?

 

[BobStackFan4Life]

Same here. No need/no excuse for the level of cruelty expressed by some on this board towards another human being for whom this is his dream job.

Yeah, I don't hate the man. I've never met him and he doesn't seem like a bad person. And I even regret piling on- I don't want to see anyone miserable. The one thing he has going for him is that he makes more than 99% of the country and if he's fired he should still be okay from a financial standpoint. And I think he'll probably get at least one more year to show he can turn things around.

 

[ChrisL68]

[Redacted] has terrible communication skills.

Not sure how in hell he made it this far.

That's the thing I don't understand. How in the world could Wellman interview him and say, Wow, that's the guy I want running my basketball program?

 

[WakeForestRanger]

Yeah I'm interested in hearing your explanation as well...


Is there something against hating people based on their personal characteristics? Is that not PC?

PC? Good lord.

Assuming you don't know the man personally and are basing your opinion off of your interpretation of press conference quotes, newspaper articles and radio interviews. Yes, I think it's crazy to say you hate him not just as a coach but as a man and wish nothing but bad for his family.

 

[vtwhat etc]

PC? Good lord.

Assuming you don't know the man personally and are basing your opinion off of your interpretation of press conference quotes, newspaper articles and radio interviews. Yes, I think it's crazy to say you hate him not just as a coach but as a man and wish nothing but bad for his family.

There is a HUGE (one word) misreading of my post going on, on your part.

 

[WakeForestRanger]

You're right. I read it as you wished nothing but bad for his family.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

That's the thing I don't understand. How in the world could Wellman interview him and say, Wow, that's the guy I want running my basketball program?

I'm not sure the application process involved resumes, interviews, etc.

 

[vtwhat etc]

You're right. I read it as you wished nothing but bad for his family.

Yep. Big distinction there.

Maybe our definitions of 'hate' don't align.

Bz (the coach) has desecrated a program to the point that my father, who hasn't skipped a home conference game that I know of since the 60's, was sitting on his couch for the UNC game.

Bz (the man) is blaming guys 1/3rd his age for the reasons behind that. These aren't off-the-cuff comments ... He's handled his defeats/failures the same way since he was given the Denver job.

But yeah... again, that all comes down to personal feelings and subjective definitions of a word... I can easily see why you thought it was crazy if I was wishing bad upon his family. No harm, no foul.

 

[Deac83]

You're the imbecile who said we could go 8-8 or 9-7 in conference after the BC game. You must not have thought our talent was so bad at that point.

Uh, classy.

Look it up I showed the games we'd need to win to get there and were conceivable that we could win. I also noted we'd have to win all the games we had a shot at, which started not happening at Clemson.

I'd also say there is a big difference between saying 'could' and 'will'.

Continue the name calling if it makes you feel better.

 

[Strickland33]

Clemson is a 0.500 team. We made 18 more free throws than them yet loss by 20 points. The problem isn't a player averaging 16 points scoring 10.

I would also argue that we aren't putting him in a position to succeed. He's great at cutting to the basket, but how many times do we actually have him do that?

Who is bashing Travis? Myself and a lot of folks on here have remarked what should be obvious to most: that he hasn't improved a heck of a lot from last season and that he's having a dismal ACC campaign. There's a difference between that and the "unwiped @$$" crowd.

If Travis wants to be that guy, then he simply has to get a lot better in the off-season. For whatever reason, that didn't happen last time around, but it simply has to this time around. He has to develop those handles and re-tool his jumper. It was falling earlier, but now... The good thing is that these are fundamentals and he'll hopefully only get better.

Our team's general level of crap-itude from the coaches on down doesn't help, but for a guy who wants to spot-up and ISO, Travis just doesn't have the game yet. Perhaps his weaknesses would be less exposed on a better team, but he's not going to get open looks or open lanes for another year, at least. A lot of blame for this goes to [Redacted], who for whatever reason, hasn't realized this and put his best player in a position to produce. What happened today is just sad. If Travis has checked out, then the staff deserves every bit of it...

I really feel for the kid. Nobody cares more about our team than Travis; nobody takes these losses more personally; and nobody deserves to a better situation, either.

I've heard that Travis reads these boards and if that's true, then I just want to publicly throw my support behind him. It can only be worse to live what we unfortunately have to watch and it couldn't happen to a less deserving player. Keep your head up, Travis.

 

[TBR]

Truth is McKie thinks he is a 1st rounder and wants to declare (at least that was the story 2 months ago)...but I think he is learning he would be a 1st rounder in the WNBA draft.

How could Travis McKie possibly view himself as a first round pick? Can't shoot from outside. Undersized. Extremely limited handle. Laughable.

Travis is an undersized 4 and can't shoot well enough to be a 3. Everybody knew that when Dino got his commitment.

**

 

[Strickland33]

**

Ah, evidently I missed quite a show. I guess we have NBA scouts on this board, as well...

Way to keep it classy, fellas.

 

[cville deac]

Travis really thinks he's NBA material? I love his game, but ain't no way he can play the 4 at the next level, and his handle and shot have to improve significantly before he'd even make an NBA team. Hell, look at how Rodney was really only an average pro after completely tearing up the ACC. He wasn't quick enough to be a great 3 and not big enough to be a legit 4. Travis needs to talk to Landesberg if he is really thinking about declaring. Well, prolly would get to talk to Landesberg when he's playing with him in Israel.

If a kid doesn't want to stay in school and wants to travel, I have no problem with him going to Europe/Asia and wish him the best. As long as he realizes that's where he's headed and isn't leaving under the misguided belief that he's going to the NBA because he's had the wrong people whispering in his ear.

As for the thread, didn't read but the last couple of pages. That game was yet another abortion. The combined defensive effort by both teams in the 1st half was 1 of the worst I've ever seen. Difference was Brownell got his kids to focus on D in the 2nd half and not commit so many dumb fouls, and we continued to play horrific D. I can understand our sucking on O because we don't have a legit PG and not enough scoring and our sucking at rebounding because we have precious little beef. So I'll continue to cut Bz slack in those 2 departments and hold out the possibility that he might actually be able to coach O more like Skip and less like Dave. That said, consistently over the last 2 years, we continue to be 1 of the worst defensive teams I've ever seen, and the players appear unmotivated. Which is why I continue to be buzz the eff out.

Anyone else catch the Skylar McBee highlights on SportsCenter this a.m.?

 

[TBR]

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Travis is ready for the NBA, but I do think he has a pretty good chance.

Wake fans severly underrate him due to the shittiness of the season. Here are the stat lines for his slump: 3/9 (FSU), 13/12 (@ Clemson), 8/13 (vs UNC), 13/4 (@ NCSU), 16/6 (@ Virginia), and 13/6 (vs Clemson). So he's had one bad game and 4 below average games.

The guy who can't shoot has the 2nd best 3pt % on the team at 34.2% and has improved compared to 30% last year. Here are some other ACC shooters: Andre Young of Clemson at 34.9%, Sammy Zeglinski of Virginia at 35%, Terrell Stoglin of Maryland at 36.6%, and Glen Rice Jr of Georgia Tech at 32.6%. Don't get me wrong, he isn't a great shooter right now, but he is dangerous enough to command attention, and he has plainly worked on it.

Here are LD William's numbers: 38.95 (freshman), 30.3% (sophomore) 24.5% (junior), and 16.4% (senior). This warrants to observations: 1) What the hell went wrong? 2) Travis is not on the same trajectory thus comparisons of him to LD are off base.

Through the Maryland game, Travis was 20 of 48 (41.67%). Since he is 5 of 25 (20%). I think he's just mentally and physically tired. He is averaging 34.5 MPG as a sophomore.

I attribute three things to his "slump": 1) He isn't being positioned to succeed. He shouldn't need to dribble more than once before taking a shot. Recall the Carson pass (great pass btw) in the first half. That's how he needs to be used most of the time. Cut, catch, power dribble, dunk. But we don't seem to run very many plays for that. Or really too many plays for Travis at all. 2) We have no consistent 3rd threat that warrants the defense's attention. 3) He's tired.