Late last night Kansas State pulled off a historical upset over previously undefeated Kansas. K State, who had lost 24 straight games to Kansas on their home floor prior to last night, finally broke that streak and improved to a perfect 5-0 in the Big 12.

Highly touted freshman Michael Beasley, who scored a game high 24 points and made all four of his 3-point attempts, was the biggest star of the game. There is no doubt that Beasley will make a very good NBA player, most likely sooner rather than later.

Birkel from ACC BasketBlog saw the game as well and made a very interesting observation. He says that future 5-star recruits should learn from Beasley’s example. For top recruits, “if you go somewhere where not much is expected and the overall competition in a conference is decent but not great, you can become a legend.”

It is an interesting and compelling argument, and although there is certainly some support for it, I’m not entirely convinced. Beasley is a pretty good example, and currently O.J. Mayo at USC might be another who could fall into this category, but would these guys be incapable of making a splash at an ACC school other than Duke or Carolina?

Assuming Boston College loses tonight there are seven three-loss teams in the ACC all essentially tied for third place behind Duke and Carolina. The way I see things, if Michael Beasley was on one of those seven teams then that team would likely be the best team in the conference.

If this season continues the way it has for Kansas State Beasley will be a hero in Manhattan, Kansas for many years to come, but I don’t see why he couldn’t do the exact same thing in Blacksburg, Virginia or Clemson, South Carolina.

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If a team’s going to make it a habit to play close games at home, they can at least make sure they win them. Thankfully Ishmael Smith and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have figured out how to make that happen. With 2.6 seconds left Ish Smith made a shot from just outside the right elbow, eerily similar to the one he hit to beat Virginia Tech , and the Deacs beat Miami 70-68. As Ish said, “Same spot, same move, same shot, same result.”

Had it not been for Ish’s late game heroics, Jeff Teague would have been the only name discussed after this win. Teague scored 27 points, including 5-6 shooting from 3-point range, and proved too much for Miami to handle all night long. Nonetheless, when asked after the game if he should have taken the game winning shot instead of Smith, Teague didn’t hesitate to say no. The whole team agreed that it was Ish’s shot to take all the way.

Wake started a little slow, showing some rust coming off of a week-long break and dealing with the injuries to Chas McFarland and LD Williams. Chas not only played, but started and acquitted himself quite well all night long, scoring 10 points and pulling down 6 rebounds. Although he seemed to have lost a step on the defensive end, there is little doubt that a win would have been much less likely without him on the floor.

Struggling shooter Harvey Hale showed some mild improvement on the offensive end shooting 2-6 from 3-point range, but Coach Dino Gaudio was quick to point out that “a tremendous amount of credit goes to Harvey Hale on the defensive end of the floor. He did a really nice job on Jack McClinton,” who only had two points in the second half.

James Johnson had a surprisingly quiet night, scoring only 9 points with 8 rebounds. For those who are curious, when asked about his second new haircut in as many games Johnson said “I had to clean it up to come play at home.”

I would guess that most Wake fans were disappointed with the strategy in the last five minutes of the game. For the second straight outing the team went into a sort of stall, utilizing a four corners offense and taking as much time off the clock as possible each possession. For the second straight outing this strategy led to several turnovers and allowed the evaporation of a significant lead.

When asked about this Dino did not believe it was the wrong strategy. In fact, he didn’t feel like the games were comparable at all. “I think it was two completely different scenarios, the Clemson game and then this one here. Clemson is pressuring and extending 94 feet and putting a lot of pressure on us, and these guys are predominantly half-court man,” said Gaudio.

While this may be the case, I don’t think it means the strategy was necessarily correct or effective in either scenario. Obviously, in both games, when Wake went four corners, a significant lead evaporated. I think that I and other Wake fans won’t be happy if this trend continues, unless it somehow starts working.

Nonetheless, this was a big win for the Deacs to get to 3-3. Assuming UNC beats Boston College on Thursday night Wake will once again be in what coach called “a 14 way tie for third” and right there in the thick of things. A road win at NC State would be a huge way to follow this great game.

A win is a win, and now it’s time to figure out how to do it on the road.

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Final - No shot from Miami, WAKE WINS 70-68!!!!!!!

0:02.6 - ISH SMITH IS THE MOST CLUTCH PLAYER I'VE EVER SEEN IN A WAKE FOREST UNIFORM. WAKE LEADS 70-68, Miami ball with 2.6 seconds.

0:30 - Unbelievably poor performance down the stretch here, but somehow the Deacs have the ball and the last shot coming. This stalling thing we've been doing is one of the ugliest things I've seen our basketball team do in awhile, but a score here and I suppose all is forgiven. Game tied at 68, Wake ball.

2:30 - What looked like a steal by Teague turned into 2-points for Miami, who cuts the lead to two, 68-66. Missed freethrows are killing us right now. Coach is subbing James out for defense right now and back in for offense, can't quite tell why. He looked like he rolled an ankle earlier in the night so maybe his mobility is a bit off.

3:22 - Just like we did with a lead against Clemson, we've started stalling. I think this is an incredibly dumb tactic and I think it may well come back to bite us. Also, the refs don't seem to be calling this game very evenly at all, that would be an equally crappy way to lose. Chas is shooting 1-and-1 after this timeout, and we desperately need both of them. Wake leads 67-64.

6:16 - How 'bout Jeff Teague!!! Now has an incredible 25 on the game. We've got to do something to stop Miami's inside game, though. Leading 65-60.

7:34 - I've never seen Jeff Teague this hot, and it's a thing of beauty. James Johnson is doing some good things too, even though he's isn't putting up any kind of gaudy numbers. The unfortunate thing has been that whenever Wake does something pretty good Miami has answered with something just as good if not better. The Deacs need to go on a little run and play some better defense to get a little bit of room.

The Deacs' last posession was one of the ugliest things I've seen; they did nothing and then got a shot clock violation. Ugh. Wake leads 60-58.

12:48 - The officiating is starting to get particularly annoying. Although we've still had one more shot at the line than Miami has, we've been called for three more fouls, and we don't seem to be getting away with nearly the things Miami is. Chas got himself a technical, but I can't figure out what he did to get it. Apparently is was a double Technical with Miami. Looking at the replay it appeared to be an elbow Chas put in the guy's face after getting pushed. Fair enough.

Teague has provided a nice spark with a big dunk followed by a drawn foul, but Wake couldn't inbound the ball and had to call timeout leading 50-46.

2nd Half - 16:28 - Quite a burst to start the half, including back to back threes and a nice tip-in by James Johnson (who?) Miami scored some a bit as well, but the 8-point run made them call a timeout with Wake leading 46-40.

Halftime Soccer Tribute - Great tribute to the soccer team here at halftime. They showed all three goals several times, and the crowd gave a big ovation for all of them. There was also a great slideshow of pictures following the highlights, which were fun to see as well. It included celebration shots both from the field and also from the locker room.

At the conclusion of the video/slideshow the team was given a standing ovation by the crowd and the team was presented. The PA listed a bunch of their impressive statistics and award winners, and then the team presented Hatch and Wellman with the Championship trophy. The crowd was very congratulatory and appreciative. Definitely a nice ceremony.

Halftime - Not a bad half, but the Deacs are having a lot of trouble getting out on Miami's Jack McClinton, who is 4-5 from beyond the arc. Amazingly, the Deacs are shooting over 50% on their 3-pointers as well on 6-11 shooting. A surprisingly good stat at this point, particularly since we seem to have several guys who are pretty hot. Also good, the Deacs only have 3 turnovers so far.

The biggest concern I have right now is how quite James Johnson has been. He's 0-5 shooting and seems to be short-arming everything a bit. His only stats are 3 rebounds and a turnover. We're going to need him in the second half to win this one.

The only other thing I'd say is that the officiating has seemed pretty uneven so far, not sure why but we seem to be getting called for a bunch more touch-fouls than Miami. Hopefully that will even out in the second half.

Great drive by Ish Smith on the last play of the half to tie it up at 34 going into halftime.

3:37 - If Harvey's willing to only shoot a couple 3's per half than I'm more than happy to let him put them up and see what happens. One for two is fine in my book. Chas made a very strong move to the basket there, converting a 3-point play on the foul. Considering the injury he's played a very solid half so far.

Miami's doing Wake a big favor by missing some freethrows, and we've managed to grab a little bit of a lead, 26-24.

7:22 - Nice 8-point run from Jamie Skeen there, but Miami keeps burying threes whenever we get back with them. Finally someone is really hot from three, love to see that kept up. Good to get a little run and get back in the game. I think the rust I was talking about is starting to fall off, particularly on the offensive end. The defense could definitely still use some work, though.

All tied up, 20-20.

10:14 - It may be a mobility issue, I'm not sure, but Chas is getting caught out of position more than usual so far. He does have several rebounds, though, and can apparently hit a three. I've never seen Wake get blocked as many times they have in the first nine minutes of this game.

It really looked like goal tending when Jeff Teague got fouled, but it didn't get fouled. Making freethrows is always a good thing. I've also been impressed by David Weaver's effort on the boards so far. Cam Stanley, on the other hand, has had a rough couple of minutes. We may need him for the next couple weeks so I hope he can get it together a little bit.

Dino's yelling at the team "They're killing us inside!" on the bench, hopefully that gets stopped up somehow. Also, Wake is shooting 17% while Miami is shooting 46%, which makes a huge difference. Deacs trail 10-14.

15:45 - Looks like the Deacs need to knock off a little rust after not playing for a week. There are signs that we'll be fine, but Miami looks crisper than us at this point. Harvey made his first shot from a step inside the 3-point line, and it looks like Miami's running a little 2-3 zone which means we need him to make those tonight. I think I'll be happy if he just decides to shoot from there all night long and not step outside the line. A couple ticky-tack fouls but all in all we're alright at this point. Deacs trail 5-7.

James Johnson has apparently shaved off the much-maligned haircut from last week. Public pressure or personal preference? Maybe I can find out.

Tipoff: We won it! Only the second time all season!

Pre-Game: LD Williams was in the middle of the team circle for introductions pumping the team up in his vest and tie. Looking good, and nice to see him still leading the team. Chas is in the starting lineup. Good Sign.

Back in the Joel and happy to be here as always. About 10 minutes from tip, and I'm pretty excited about this game. Last I saw Wake is a 1.5 point favorite this one, and I anticipate a reasonably close game, although I think we can probably win it by about 10. Having Chas in the lineup is going to be huge, we'll see if he starts. I don't know a lot about Miami, but I think it's a good thing that they won on Saturday to end their losing streak. We'll see.

Go Deacs!

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At the beginning of January I posted a highlight video of one of Al-Farouq Aminu's games. Takkle, the site that provided the highlights, now also have a video interview available as well. Click play below to check it out.

Video Posted from Al-Farouq 's Gallery on Takkle.com

Good stuff form AFA, who also talked to the Winston-Salem Journal recently as well. You can check that post out here.

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At this point there's no doubt about the excitement over next season's recruits. The catchy "AT&T" nickname notwithstanding, the recruiting class of Al-Farouq Aminu, Tony Woods, and Ty Walker has garnered plenty of national recognition for being among the best, if not the best, in the country.

Aminu has been the mostly highly touted of the three, and from the performances I've seen he's definitely bound to be a star. This fact has not been lost on John Delong of the Winston-Salem Journal, who traveled down to Georgia to meet with Aminu, his coaches, and his family.

He has written a fabulous article about Aminu, and not only should it excite Deacon fans about Aminu's potential with the team, but also his classiness and integrity. It's a long read, but well worth it. Check it out here.

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Last night I got to talk to cornerback Alphonso Smith for a few minutes about Dean Hood and the coaching changes. It was an impromptu conversation, so I'm just going to paraphrase what Phonz said:

Hood leaving has been hard on the team and on Alphonso personally. He has talked to coach Hood several times and definitely would like him to still be around. Nonetheless, he understands why he took the job (family reasons, mostly) and wishes him all the best.

According to Alphonso, Hood and Lambert are/were the two best coaches on the staff, so with Lambert filling the role of DC he doesn't expect there to be any drop off. Alphonso is confident next season's defense will be the best in Wake Forest history.

It was great to hear how close the team and the coaches are and that they have formed such strong relationships. Also, there is clearly no ill will between players and coaches who have moved on. We have a strong staff and they are ready to fill in the holes and not skip a beat. As far as coaches are concerned there should be nothing to worry about for next season.

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In an article in today's Winston-Salem Journal coach Grobe talks about this week's coaching changes.

As was posted earlier in the week, defensive coordinator Dean Hood left to take the head coaching job at Eastern Kentucky, and QB coach Jeff Mullens took the offensive coordinator job at West Virgnia.

You can read Dan Collins' article to see what Grobe had to say about the situation (not surprisingly all good things) but the more interesting part is where he plans to go with the staff from here.

Considering the way Grobe goes about most things it isn't surprising that he's planning to promote from within to fill these two vacancies. Linebackers coach Brad Lambert is expected to be promoted to Defensive Coordinator, and former Wake QB and current fullbacks/tight ends coach Tom Elrod will become QB coach.

I think this is what most people expected to see happen, and now Grobe will go out and hire a couple of coaches to fill the rolls of those promoted. I'll keep you posted when those hires are made, although Grobe has said not to expect them until mid February after Signing Day.

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Although some rumors had been swirling, it is now official that running back Luke Caparelli (a freshman who has been redshirting) has been dismissed from the team and left Wake Forest.

On his facebook profile Caparelli apparently left messages saying he would "blow up campus" and that “for those left standing he will have an uzi locked and loaded in his bag.”

When police searched his dorm room no weapons were found, and Caparelli has stated that he had no intention of actually doing anything. Nonetheless, schools have tightened up on these issues in the wake of last year's Virginia Tech tragedy.

I feel sorry for Caparelli, but unfortunately is does not seem that the school had any other choice. He did something very dumb, and even if he didn't mean anything by it he still must be accountable for his actions. Hopefully other students and players will learn from this and not make such poor decisions in the future.

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Since I know all of my readers are very observant, I'm sure you've noticed the new toy over there on the right side of the page. Of course as soon as you noticed it you probably wondered "what the heck is that?" Luckily I'm not going to leave you hanging on this one, so read on.

Schmap is a new tool that integrates all kinds of good stuff into one small package. Schmaps exist for everything from city guides to concert tours, mountains of the world to Wake Forest basketball.

For our purposes the widget provides a map of all the places the Deacs have played or will play this season. If you click on one of the locations the map will zoom in to a satellite view of the arena so that you can check out the stadium and surrounding area. Also, you can switch to schedule view to see an overview of the season schedule and results, or you can switch to stats view and see stats for individual games.

Schmap is a relatively new tool, particularly in the widget form it is seen in here, and the developers are hoping to continue to improve it's design and functionality. They have asked Old Gold & Blog to be a showcase site for the widget, and have asked to be provided with feedback.

Therefore, if you have a few minutes to play around with the schmap and provide me with some feedback it would be greatly appreciated. It will be greatly appreciate if you send me an email (oldgoldblog@gmail.com) and let me know what you like and/or don't like about the Schmap, how you think it could be improved, and anything other feedback. I will then pass it on to the developers.

Thanks and enjoy!

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No new injury news since last night, so I'm going to catch up on something that slipped off my plate last week: Soccer News!!!

Many of you probably already know, but last week Wake Forest soccer coach Jay Vidovich was named the NSCAA coach of the year at the same time three of Wake's best soccer players from this year's graduating class were drafted in the MLS draft.

Defender Pat Phelan went 10th to Toronto FC, while GK Brian Edwards and Defender Jules Valentin went back-to-back in the 28th and 29th picks to to Toronto FC and the Los Angeles Galaxy, respectively.

I'll be honest and say I haven't paid too much attention to previous MLS drafts and which Wake players have been taken, but I imagine this has been one of the best years the school has had in the draft. With the talent the team currently has I imagine it will only continue.

Also, coach Vidovich deserves lots of credit for the incredible work he's done here at Wake and was more than deserving of these Coach of the Year honors. Well done, gentlemen.

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This evening the school released information regarding the injuries to L.D. Williams and Chas McFarland, and the news is much better than expected. The school's release is available here.

L.D. Williams fractured his right hand is only expected to miss three weeks. I'll believe that when I see it, but this is definitely good news.

Chas McFarland is (amazingly) listed as day-to-day with a right knee sprain.

I'm honestly amazed. These injuries may not end up being as devastating as originally feared. Particularly considering the week off the team has right now it is theoretically possible that Chas won't miss any games at all, although I expect him to probably miss one or two. LD could potentially be back for the Duke/UNC stretch, which could be huge for the Deacs.

It looks like Deacon fans' prayers have been answered in this situation.

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As painful as last night's 80-75 overtime loss to Clemson was, a couple of Deacons felt an even greater pain as a result of the game.

Both center Chas McFarland and G/F L.D. Williams were unable to complete the game due to injuries.

Chas hurt his right knee and is expected to have an MRI today. No information regarding that has been released, although he has been seen walking around campus today without the aid of crutches (no official word on whether or not he has some kind of brace). This is a good sign, but not necessarily a definite sign that the injury is minor. The injury could still be quite serious. We'll have to wait and see.

L.D. Williams appears to have broken the metacarpal in his right hand. I have it from a reliable source that he confirmed a broken hand in a class this morning. Because it is his right hand it seems unlikely that he will try to play with the injury, and an injury like this usually takes 6-8 weeks to heal according to this website. If that truly is the prognosis it looks like we won't see L.D. back on the court until March.

Definitely tough news. We'll analyze what this will do to the starting lineup and rotation in the next couple of days.

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The last week or so has been full of rumors regarding several members of the football team's coaching staff. As I've said before (most notably in the Grobe to Arkansas situation) I try to avoid reporting on rumors I have no factual basis for, although that factual basis does not necessarily have to be published reports, it could be first hand knowledge.

I mentioned yesterday morning that Dean Hood was set to be named Head Coach at Eastern Kentucky, and he did formally accept that offer yesterday afternoon.

The other rumor that has been swirling is in regards to QB coach Jeff Mullen heading to West Virginia to be Bill Stewart's offensive coordinator. Until today I hadn't heard anything reliable that I could share, but now reports are being published that say this move is expected within the next couple of days, most notably from Rob Daniels at the Greensboro News & Record.

It definitely hurts to be losing these guys, however I believe Wake fans should be proud of the program and these guys for doing such a good job for Wake that other schools want to give them bigger and better jobs. I have confidence in Jim Grobe's ability to keep a strong staff around him and I'm not going to worry about these losses having a terrible impact on the 2008 season. If these two coaches are ready to move on to bigger jobs elsewhere I'm sure there are coaches on our staff who are ready to move up and fill their shoes. I do expect Grobe to promote from within, but we'll have to wait and see. I imagine he will make the promotions pretty quickly.

I'd like to formally thank Coach Hood and preemptively thank Coach Mullen as well for their contributions to this program, I'm sure it wouldn't be where it is without them. Good luck to them in their future endeavors!

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For much of the second half it looked like the Deacs were poised to grab their first ACC road win of the season. Unfortunately things didn’t end well as the Deacs only scored 10 points in the final 10 minutes of the game and fell to Clemson 80-75 in overtime.

As painful as losing this game was, this young team should take away plenty of positives. For the first time this season the Deacs played pretty good basketball for an entire game on the road. The defense was solid, the offense showed flashes of brilliance, and against a very good Clemson team the guys hopefully proved to themselves that they can hang with the “big boys,” even on the road.

Unfortunately, too many mistakes as the game came down to the wire cost Wake a win that could have been big come NCAA Tournament selection time. As it is, the Deacs have to deal with a 2-3 ACC record this week as they prepare for Miami’s visit next Tuesday.

The two players who impressed me the most tonight were Chas McFarland and Ishmael Smith. I don’t have the full box score yet, but I believe Chas had 11 boards and around 7 points. In my mind his biggest contribution was on the defensive end where he worked incredibly hard all night long and was very effective. With only a minute left Chas went down with a right knee injury when Harvey Hale fell on the back of his legs. The injury looked like it may be pretty serious and we can only hope to have Chas back sometime soon. Unfortunately, it looked like the type of injury that will at least keep him out for a few weeks, but it could be even worse.

Ish continued to be a great leader for the team tonight, not only in non-statistical ways but also by scoring points when they were most needed (most notably to tie the game at the end of regulation with a deep three). He really seems to have matured a lot this season and may be the most important guy on the floor right now. You can tell he puts his whole heart and soul into ever game, and a loss like this really hurts him. According to Harvey Hale he was crying in the locker room he was so upset.

James Johnson was very frustrating to watch tonight. If Sunday afternoon was the type performance that had people thinking he may jump to the NBA at the end of this season, tonight’s performance indicated that he may need to stay here at Wake for two or three more years to really be ready. The biggest issue definitely wasn’t his athleticism or ability, but rather his decision making. I don’t have the exact number, but he threw the ball away 3+ times trying to inbound the ball against Clemson’s press and also made a really stupid behind the back pass for a turnover. The decision making skills were definitely lacking and it hurt the team tonight.

Harvey Hale’s shooting woes continued, and it’s getting to the point where you can’t really even call them “woes.” It has been so consistent that it’s hard to justify calling him anything but a bad 3-point shooter as opposed to a good one in a slump. He has shown several times that he can perform well inside 18 feet, but when it comes to 3-point shooting it’s really about time to give up. Constantly putting up 7+ 3’s a game and only making one of them just isn’t going to cut it. Dino and staff need to cut their losses on this one and move on, I just don’t think it’s going to happen.

The other problem that reared its ugly head tonight was turnovers. The team had cut its average down to about 14 per game, but tonight the Deacs were back of 20 and Clemson made sure to capitalize on them. Cut out seven or so of these turnovers and the Deacs probably don’t lose this game.

Nonetheless, for all these negatives, I really hope the team can turn tonight’s performance into a positive. I know they’re disappointed to have lost and they should be for the next day or two, but I hope looking back at this game in a couple weeks it can be seen as a turning point for this team on the road. Even though they lost, they went into the building one of the toughest teams in the ACC and took them to the wire. Considering the performances at Boston College and Maryland this is a huge step in the right direction. Yes it hurts to give it all up there at the end, but the overall performance will hopefully be viewed as a positive. Play like this anywhere but Clemson, Duke, or UNC and you should come out with a win, even with many of the mistakes. If the team can realize this then their confidence on the road should receive a big boost. As long as the team bounces back to .500 with a win at home next Tuesday the Deacs will be in good shape heading on the road for NC State at the beginning of February.

It’s a tough loss to swallow, but a few days from now I will consider the experience gained from this game a huge positive for this young team. Keep working hard, Deacs, the wins will start coming.

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Final - What a heartbreaking loss for the Deacs. For such a strong road performance to end like this is definitely hard to take, but I'm still proud of the overall performance. Certainly there were way too many mistakes, particularly in the clutch at the end of regulation and in overtime, but nonetheless this was a huge step in the right direction for this team on the road. That's not to see I'm not disappointed or that I don't wish it had been differently, believe me I really wanted to see it end differently, but after pouting tonight I won't let this loss get me down going forward. A game like this will do a lot of good things for this young team. Not much to hang our heads about here. Final: Wake loses 80-75.

2:57 - Ish Smith could not be coming up bigger right now, but turnovers are so very deadly. Oglesby just made a great shot, nothing to complain about there except that he made a good one. Deacs are playing well all over the floor except for the Cam Stanley turnover. Deacs lead 70-68.

End of Regulation - Very good defense on Clemson, but I don't know what happened on the offensive end there. Harvey looked like he got himself out of position. Going to overtime tied at 65. This is going to be a great finish, but we really need to come out on top. Losing this lead has been very hard to watch.

0:39 - I can't believe Ish made that three. Incredible! Game tied at 65.

0:55 - Chas looks seriously hurt, possibly the right knee where he wears a brace. That looks really bad, and its really unfortunate considering his performance tonight.

2:45 - It's amazing how fast a lead can vanish when you don't get rebounds and make stupid turnovers. If we lose, that will be exactly why (and maybe missed freethrows too). Wake down 62-63 with Clemson at the line.

3:58 - Kind of a scary stretch there, although Chas McFarland is blowing up. Johnson made several mental mistakes in that stretch and all in all it has cost the Deacs some of their lead, as they only lead 59-54. I think the guys are starting to panic with the closeness late in the game, they just need to get their heads right and they'll be okay.

7:23 - As I said earlier, Chas has been really really big tonight even though the stat line won't show it. Clemson isn't going to go away so the Deacs have to keep playing hard like this, but so far they've been up to the challenge. I still don't trust it though, I keep waiting for something to go terribly wrong. Everyone is hitting the boards hard and it's making a big difference. Slowly but steadily this lead is growing. It's almost hard to believe. Deacs lead 57-49.

11:31 - Wake has done a better job holding on to the ball the last few minutes and Ish keeps doing a great job penetrating. What I'd love to see right now is several good possessions in a row on both sides of the ball to get a little cushion. Keeping it close like this scares me on the road, but a four point lead is nothing to frown at right now. Deacs lead 49-45.

2nd Half - 15:41 - Turnovers are absolutely going to lose the Deacs this game if they keep making them. When the Deacs move the ball on the break they make things happen in a great way. This is obvious, but Johnson can't afford any more fouls, we need him on the floor. Chas may not have a great stat line tonight, but he's been working incredibly hard on the defensive end; he deserves credit for that. Game tied at 40.

Halftime - Huge three from LD to give the Deacs the lead at the half, 32-31!! Not exactly a bad half, but certainly not great either. 12 turnovers have definitely been the team's downfall to this point, particularly because the majority of them have come on what seem to be out of control plays. Ish and Teague (and Johnson to an extent, too) need to do a much better job keeping track of the ball in the second half. Of course the other stat that's killing us is the 3-11 shooting from beyond the arc. I'm glad we started making some, but too many are still being put up - 27% isn't going to cut it, even if it is better than we're used to.

Clemson hasn't played poorly but also hasn't been outstanding, we just haven't been able to capitalize on opportunities. At the end of the half it seemed like Wake was losing their composure a little bit. Hopefully coming out of halftime they'll tighten things up (kind of like they did vs. FSU on Sunday) and go on a little run, thankfully we're still in position to do that.

Harvey will probably shoot a bunch of threes again in the second half since he made that one there at the end. This will probably not be a good thing, although I think he's better doing it on the move coming of a screen than when he's already set. I'm definitely more comfortable with those, but I'd really rather him stick to the mid-range.

Also a pretty good half for Johnson, although not quite as amazing as Sunday. He usually seems to pick things up in the 2nd half; hopefully he does that tonight.

Considering our last couple of road performances, I'm very happy at this point. Getting a win tonight at Clemson would be absolutely huge. At this point it could definitely happen.

3:50 - When the Deacs move the ball good things happen, but there have been several turnovers when things to stagnant. Hopefully they'll realize that and keep the ball moving. Johnson probably shouldn't be bringing the ball up against this press. Also, like I (AND EVERY OTHER DEACON FAN) have been saying: STOP SHOOTING THREES!!! Deacs trail 24-27.

6:50 - Oglesby is a scary scary shooter. I don't like the looks of him getting hot at all. I think it's obvious at this point: We shouldn't shoot a single three tonight, we're dominating points in the paint but haven't but one three. Breaking the press hasn't been much of an issue and has created some good opportunities but without good shooting they can't do much with it. The pace of this game has gotten to be a bit too quick I think, this timeout comes at exactly the right time. Deacs trail 22-25.

11:48 - The team that shoots the highest freethrow percentage may end up winning this one, both teams are struggling right now and the game looks like it will be close. Harvey's look wasn't a bad one, but if he misses a couple more like that I'd like to see him quit shooting them anyway. He can definitely shoot from mid-range though. I think we may have a pretty exciting game on our hands, Deacs lead 13-12.

15:04 - The announcer seem to want to credit the turnovers to good defense, but I'd say that on both ends of the court the issue has been more that of offensive sloppiness than defensive prowess. Nonetheless, the Deacs are out to an early lead with a couple of good plays inside. LD did airball a three, so that needs to end right now. We just need to pound it inside and work on having success that way. Deacs lead 7-4, but Clemson is headed to the line.

About 20 minutes until game time, and I'm cautiously excited to see what this team will be able to do on the road. I think the short turnaround may be good for not giving the team much time to think about past road struggles, and I know Clemson may struggle some with our quickness. I'm not going to be so bold as to guarantee a win, but I think it's possible, and I think we can at least keep it to a single-digit loss. We'll see pretty soon.

I've begun to realize that I don't always have a whole lot to offer during these games, particularly when I'm just watching them on TV like all of you. That being said I'll probably only offer some analysis a few times per half and at halftime, although constant posting may be a hard habit to break. Either way, check back every once in awhile to see what's going on and leave your own thoughts on the game.

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There are a couple notes of interest here on Tuesday morning:

Defensive Coordinator Dean Hood is set to be named Head Coach at FCS Eastern Kentucky University, apparently at 2pm this afternoon. This is definitely an unfortunate loss for the Deacs, but I expect that whoever fills his shoes will do so admirably and that next season's defense will be just as incredible as we all expect it to be.

The basketball team heads down to Clemson tonight for a 7 pm tip. I'm hoping to have an interview up later, but it seems that may have fallen through. If there isn't one I may attempt some sort of preview, but we'll see. Have to figure out my new class schedule and when I can write.

Last night I was a guest on the ACC Nation radio show/podcast, which provides an excellent look around the ACC every week. You can listen to the whole show (or just my part - I think it starts about a third of the way through the program) here at ACC Nation.

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After a rocky first half Wake Forest played a second half that could have beaten any team in the ACC, defeating Florida State 74-57 and improving to 2-2 in ACC play, tied for fourth in the conference.

As a team Wake Forest shot considerably better than they did at Maryland, making six of fifteen three pointers (40%) and shooting 45% overall. On offense the Deacs only turned the ball over nine times, with only two in the second half (one of which came on a shot clock violation the team intentionally took with time running down). Meanwhile on the defensive end Wake forced 15 turnovers, six steals and held FSU to 36% shooting on the afternoon.

In the first half Wake had some good moments but as a whole struggled to play consistently. The team took too many threes and only made one of them, and also turned the ball over seven times. As I said at the half, though, it was clear the team was working on taking better shots and getting the ball in the paint where they outscored FSU 18-8. Trailing by three at the half 31-28 it looked like Wake could make some adjustments and come away with a win.

The game turned almost immediately at the start of the second half when Wake went on a 13-1 run in the first four minutes to lead 41-32. Wake never looked back, forcing turnovers and taking good shots against an FSU team that seemed to be getting worn out. The Deacs scored 11 points off of turnovers and outscored FSU 18-10 in the paint, thanks primarily to James Johnson. As time was running out the students began to chant “Just Like Football,” and it was clear this one was in the books.

James Johnson led the Deacs with 26 points and nine rebounds, dominating the game in the paint and also making four of five three point attempts and looking strong against anyone FSU tried to guard him with.

Jeff Teague poured in 12 points of his own and also tied for the team lead with three assists combined with only one turnover. His shooting percentage wasn’t outstanding but it was another solid performance from the freshman.

Ishmael Smith had exactly the type of afternoon I was hoping he would have. Even though he didn’t put up big numbers he was clearly the team leader and he continued to make sure he didn’t turn the ball over. He brings a lot of intangibles to the team and everything seems to run more smoothly when he’s on the floor.

Harvey Hale had a better game today, but still needs to improve his shooting (1-6 beyond the arc with several questionable shots). I like the pump-fake he used to step up from a three to a two and want to see more of that out of him. Talking to him after the game it’s clear the confidence is still there and that he thinks the shots will start falling soon. Here’s to hoping he’s right.

This afternoon’s performance was exactly what Deacon fans were hoping to see in this return to the Joel. As James Johnson put it, “I like road trips but there’s nothing like home. Winning at home is great, especially when you get the crowd behind you.” Dino said there’s just something about the positive energy at home that a young team like this feeds off of, and that is exactly what I saw today.

Unfortunately the Deacs don’t get to stay at home and have a quick turnaround to play at Clemson on Tuesday night. Maybe having the quick turnaround will keep the team from thinking too much about playing on the road again, but we’ll see. Because of the holiday tomorrow the team will be able to practice early before driving down. The team definitely knows the importance of getting a win on the road, as L.D. Williams said, “We’re going to do everything we can to get better tomorrow because you can’t take a step back in this [conference].”

This team is a lot of fun to watch here in the Joel, I’m just hoping we all get to enjoy watching them on TV Tuesday. Beating Clemson and improving to 3-2 would be huge. Either way we can all look forward to having them back here next Tuesday against Miami.

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Final - Big win for the Deacs, 74-57. I'll be back with my game wrap-up after the press conference. How sweet it is.

2:00 - FSU seems to be pretty much out of it at this point, which is of course great for the Deacs. I don't see how they could come back at this point. Great win for the Deacs, students are chanting "Just Like Football," and all the world is right! Go Deacs! 74-57.

3:20 - Wake looks very strong right now and they aren't taking the offensive pressure off of FSU. The defense has caused a couple of big turnovers and this lead is getting close to the point of being insurmountable (not yet, but soon I hope). Teague will go to the line shooting 1 and 1 after this media timeout looking to expand the current 15 point lead, 70-55.

4:24- Chas just got his 4th foul and came out, but LD appears to have hurt himself and came out as well. I can't tell what got hurt though. It might be his chin based on what the trainer is looking at.

5:05 - Johnson hits another three but the Deacs leave FSU open for another to respond. Surprisingly I'd say defense has been our biggest issue today. Nonetheless, Deacs lead 66-55.

6:48 - Great coast to coast dunk by Johnson. Good way to head into a timeout.

7:28 - Great work by the Deacs on offense, with Harvey finally hitting a three and Skeen and Johnson getting good shots in the paint. Dino's been a little frustrated with the open looks we've been leaving FSU on defense but the lead is growing and that's what counts. We're in good shape right now up 59-50. The wave is going. I hate the wave.

9:48 - Ill-advised attempt at an alley-oop, but somehow a non-shooting foul was called. Things have gotten a bit sloppier, and FSU is hitting shots to stay with us. We've been making the few threes being taken, so thats great, and we're in the bonus for the rest of the half. Thigns are looking good right now but it's still early. Wake leads 52-47.

11:44 - Florida State has gone on a three point run and cut the lead back down, but the Deacs don't seem to be letting it phase them and more importantly aren't jackin gup threes in response (at least not yet). I think playing with a lead has something to do with that. Harvey just did that pump-fake then step up for a two move again and it worked beautifully. I like that a lot. Unfortuantely I don't like the three he missed next time down. Thankfully FSU gave us a gift getting called for traveling while fighting themselves for a rebound. 48-44 Deacs.

NAZ-T DEAC!

15:59 - What a run by the Deacs!!! Several fast breaks later Wake leads 39-32 and has FSU on their heels. I haven't heard the Joel this loud yet in 2007-2008 (although I wasn't here for Virginia Tech which I'm sure was louder). The intensity is there and we're finally playing well. It's a beautiful combo.

16:27 - James Johnson never stops working, and I'm grateful for that. He just padded his stats with two offensive rebounds before making a layup. These refs are not being kind to the Deacs, but we've got to be smarter with the ball. James Johnson is apparently also the only guy who can shoot a three pointer. Wake leads 33-32.

The Joel is Rockin'!!!

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Halftime - The Deacs played a better half then they have in either of the last couple of games, so that is at least encouraging, but they still trail 28-31.

Looking at the stat sheet one thing that strikes me is how spread out Wake's scoring is. Seven players have scored but none have dominated the game. FSU, on the other hand, has had scoring from only 4 players and is relying primarily on a couple of them to score. That is not the type of game FSU likes to play, so hopefully that will work to our advantage.

Despite the better performance, the Deacs must continue to improve in the second half to win this game. Right now there are still too many mistakes and sloppy plays. Best stat of the half? Only eight three pointers attempted (unfortunately only one went in, and it was the first). I don't care if he's a "shooter," Harvey shouldn't be taking any more of them, and I'd be alright if eight is the final number. We've continue to be able to score inside, and even Harvey had success taking the ball to the hoop and getting fouled. Maybe he'll realize that he's more likely to score three points that way.

Right now I think we'll pull this one out. It will be close, but we've played hard for the whole half and never really let up. Certainly we've looked better at some moments than others, but the intensity was there throughout. Keep that up and keep pounding the ball inside and hopefully things will continue to improve. Let's go get a win!

1:05 - I've never seen a center make an Alley-Oop pass the way Chas McFarland just did to LD Williams. That was INCREDIBLE. Then LD takes a charge after a Wake turnover. The guys are playing with a lot of emotion today, I like that a lot. Unfortunately Chas was just called for an intentional foul, I'm not sure what he did to get it though.

2:30 - Aparently I don't know the proper definition for a foul, definitely looked like the Deacs got messed around several times on that posession. Can't fault our guys for taking it to the basket though. After missing his last two freethrows Chas redeems himself by completing a 1-and-1 to tie the game at 23.

3:55 - Wake is only down two at the final media timeout of the half and Chas is headed to the line to shoot two. FSU has taken some poor shots on their last couple of possessions while the Deacs make good smart plays on offense. Amazing! We put points on the board without shooting threes! Deacs trail 21-23.

5:18 - Timeout FSU after Wake has a couple of good possessions in a row. The last one finished with a nice layup by LD. Good trend, Wake only trails by four, 19-23.

6:17 - Gary doesn't seem to have it today, missed another three and is coming back out for Teague. Ish makes the first, Chas rebounds the 2nd miss and James scores. Good posession, Deacs trail 17-23.

7:35 - Things don't seem to be getting better, instead we're turning the ball over and have taken a couple of bad shots. I'd love to see Clark light it up, but I'm just not sure he has it. I'm fine giving him the chance, he's got to get some time in the game to get better. We're still close and definitely not out of it, we just need to shoot better. Deacs trail 14-20.

8:52 - Harvey missed another three, wasn't entirely open either. Gary Clark just checked in for Jeff Teague. A surprise early sub for him, maybe he's been playing well in practice recently...or maybe not, he just missed a three...and a layup.

10:00 - 2nd media timeout - Harvey pump faked a three and stepped up to make a two. A good shot and a good move, the type thing I'd like to see more of. We didn't look as good in this stretch, but I can tell that the team is working on some things and that coach isn't going to let people get away with dumb plays. It should pay off in the long run. Deacs trail 12-17.

11:33 - Coach just yelled at Harvey for jacking up an air ball three. Clock was starting to wind down, but it was not a smart shot. I'm glad coach got on him and he called for Chas, Ish, and James to come back in.

11:56 - Wake calls time out, probably because we don't seem to be doing anything on offense. There doesn't seem to be a plan; last posession LD dribbled around forever and then got blocked in the paint. I like that we aren't jacking up threes, I don't like that we don't seem to be able to do anything else.

13:03 - We're not playing bad defense, but we've looked kind of lost on the last couple offensive possessions. Hale checks in...can he shoot?

15:10 - A terrible call by the refs, Johnson was called for a charge but the FSU player was clearly not set. That gives James two fouls, so he'll be on the bench for awhile I imagine. At the first media timeout I'm overall satisfied by what I've seen. Although there have been a few sloppy plays we've played pretty good defense and made mostly smart offensive choices. Hopefully we'll keep our heads in the game since it's so close. Tied at 8.

16:45 - Mini-run for FSU as Toney Douglas his a three, Ish turns it over and Douglas gets a fast break layup. Chas then gets on offensive foul. That's the type of sloppy play we can't have today. FSU leads 8-6.

18:10 - I was nervous as it went up, but James Johnson has hit Wake's first 3-point attempt of the day. I'm glad it went in, but I'm worried that it wlil set a trend of jacking a lot of them up today. Chas just followed with a not very good shot from the top of the key on the next posession early in the shot clock. Wake leads, 6-3.

Tip-Off: LD was just doing Hot-Time at mid court. Not surprisingly, we lost the tip. Starting lineup is the usual LD, Chas, Ish, Johnson, and Teague. Quick foul on FSU.

Introductions: Definitely the best crowd turnout I've seen so far this season, but then I couldn't exactly tell what it looked like on TV for some of the games over break. Either way, I think it's going to be rockin' in here this morning, which is exactly what we need. I still wish the big billowing air guys weren't part of the player intros.

It's fun to see how the guys' dance moves for their intros has evolved over the season. They look pretty good.

We're 10 minutes from game time and it's time for the Deacs to get back on track win a win. I'm back in the Joel for the first time since December and am certainly glad to be here! I'll be posting every few minutes with my updated thoughts on how the game is going. Feel free to leave your comments and questions about the game here and I'll do what I can to respond/answer. I'll be posting the newest stuff at the top I think today, unless you all think it should go down. Let me know.

Go Deacs!

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This week I've had the pleasure of chatting with the basketball expert from Florida State blog Scalp 'Em, Bill. He did an excellent job answering my questions, which follow below. He also posted my pre-game report, so make sure to head over to Scalp 'Em for that or anything else FSU related.

1. Wednesday’s loss to Duke must have been tough to swallow considering how close the ‘Noles kept the game until very late. Any thoughts on this loss? How will this loss affect FSU for Sunday’s game?

Bill: It was certainly another tough close loss. FSU had its chances after battling back from 17 points down but could not close the deal. With Jason Rich picking up two early fouls, that really threw the game plan off and the team experienced some loss of focus mostly on the defensive end in that first half. It was a much different story in the second. But that is why Duke is Duke. They have experienced this many times and know how to win games at the end. But the one thing about Florida State under Leonard Hamilton is that he has always gotten this team prepared for the next game. With the exception of one game a few years ago coincidently against Wake Forest where the team just fell apart after having several close losses in a row, FSU has picked itself up and has come back out in the next game to give its next opponent a tough battle. I expect that to be the case on Sunday.

2. When I look at FSU’s statistics I see several pretty good players but no one stands out as a superstar. Interestingly enough, four of the five players who average double digits are guards. If you had to pick one (or if you must, two) players who are the team’s “stars” who would they be and why?

Bill: And that’s how Hamilton wants it. He wants that scoring by committee concept. This season is the first season he has really gotten that. With the graduation of Al Thornton it was necessary to have this many players in double figures. Last season we tended to stand around and watch Al take over a game. But to name a star, Jason Rich is the first one I think of. He is a player that is determined to take the ball to the rim and is very hard to stop for any team. The weird thing about Jason is I have never seen a guy work so hard to get to the rim, put the shot up, and then see it trickle or roll off the rim as many times as I have seen Jason’s shots. It’s just bizarre how many times that happens. He would have a much better scoring average by probably four points a game if some of those went down. But the other thing about Jason is because of the short handed front court he has been forced to play power forward on defense. He has taken on that role quite well defending players taller and bigger than he is and done an admirable job of it.

3. The ‘Noles have played three pretty close games in conference so far but have only managed one win. What is the missing key to winning these close games rather than losing them?

Bill: As with just about any game on any team that loses a close game it’s a play here or there at the end that costs you the win. With Clemson it was two miracle shots, one in regulation and one in the first overtime, that prevented the win for FSU. When it got to the second overtime the Seminoles had zilch left in the tank. Toney Douglas played 49 minutes in that game. Jason played 48. They were dogged tired at that point. Against Duke, Kyle Singlar’s three pointer to take the lead back at 57-55 and then later Greg Paulus’ steal and layup giving the Blue Devils a 60-55 lead with 2:29 left really took the wind out of the sails for FSU. But if you ask Hamilton he will tell you the game was lost in the first half when we did not execute certain defensive principles specifically worked on in practice for the Duke game. Getting down by that large of a margin once again expended so much energy getting back into the game that the ‘Noles ran out of gas again helped along by that short bench. But then there was the Georgia Tech game where I feel Hamilton coached one of his better games because he had just learned less than 48 hours earlier that Solomon Alabi was done for the season and Julian Vaughn was out indefinitely. Here again Rich came through at the end recognizing what the defense was giving and put pressure on the defense pulling up and hitting that game winning jumper. So we know they are capable of winning the tight game.

4. Looking again at Sunday’s game where do you see FSU matching up well against Wake? Anything you expect to struggle with?

Bill: Here is where teams have had to deal with FSU. I mentioned Jason at the four spot and what he has had to contend with on defense. The opposite holds true for the opponents. They have had to deal with Jason. A power forward has found it very difficult to contain the guy. And with the four guard lineup that Wake is sure to see I’m not sure the Deacons have enough people with that much foot speed to contain the athletic guards FSU has all the time. At some point they are going to break down the defense. If Isaiah Swann can have one of those games from three point territory that will make guarding against the dribble penetration ability of Rich and Douglas more problematic. Now what worries FSU is Ish Smith. As was the case last year, Hamilton put a lot of focus on stopping Smith. That will be no different this year and with more experience Smith becomes more of a problem. That is helped along with some good young athletic players who can finish plays like Jeff Teague. It did not go unnoticed by the staff that Wake Forest took a ranked Vanderbilt team to the end of the game losing by just three points. Another issue for FSU is that it has not played with the same intensity on the road that it plays with when at home. In addition guarding the perimeter against the three has been a problem for the Seminoles.

5. Put your name on it: What will Sunday’s final score be? What will FSU’s ACC record be this season? Will there be any kind of postseason appearance?

Bill: Hey, I’m a FSU fan!! Of course I’m going to pick the Seminoles. :-) A final score? I would expect a some high score something in the high 70’s or low 80’s. And I would expect it to be only a few points difference, maybe no more than five points. As for a final record and postseason, it is my firm belief that this team has the ability to win every game from here on out. That obviously will not happen. But the potential to win over every remaining opponent is there. It all depends on what FSU shows up. One flaw has been not playing a forty minute game. But when it does the team is tough to beat. For this team to reach the NCAA I think it has to win a minimum of ten games in the conference. With the ACC being somewhat topsy turvy after Duke, UNC, and probably Clemson, it’s anybody’s guess who follows those three. So it’s not out of the question at this point to get those wins. And even then it may not be a guarantee because the team lacks a real good resume in its out of conference schedule. The wins over Minnesota and Florida look good. But opportunities were lost against Butler, Providence, and now what looks to be a surprising Cleveland State team as well as a disappointing loss to USF. FSU fans have seen it before where a 9-7 record still was not good enough in the eyes of the selection committee. The NIT is certainly a realistic possibility for this team should they not reach the NCAA.

Bill obviously did an excellent job with this, so big big thanks to him! Now let's go get a win!

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The Deacs (finally) return to the Joel on Sunday for their second ACC home game of the season, and the return home couldn't come soon enough.

A win brings the team's ACC record back to .500 and would hopefully provide a much needed confidence boost for the team. With a loss, however, I worry that the team might fall into a deadly spiral.

This team has been much better at home this season than they have on the road, having not lost any of their 10 home games this season. Nonetheless, I don't see how playing on a different court is going to all of a sudden make us shoot at least 35% from beyond the arc (or just make us not shoot from beyond the arc at all, I'd take either one right now). 5-30 shooting doesn't all of a sudden turn into 8-20 on a flight back from Maryland.

There is no obvious solution to Wake's shooting woes right now, other than to quit shooting outside shots so much. The team actually has reasonably good success when they pound the ball inside. Chas McFarland and James Johnson have shown me more in the paint than Harvey Hale or any other "shooters" have from three point range.

Jeff Teague and Ish Smith are generally much more effective as slashers than they are as shooters, so that's where I want to see them focusing. If Ish can have one of those games with a good number of assists and no turnovers, even though he only scores a few points, it should be a pretty good afternoon for the Deacs.

I think the Deacs will match up well with Florida State. No one on the 'Noles squad really stands out as superstar, instead the team relies on getting 10-15 points from several different people instead of 25 from one. They do this by using four different guards, so stamina could be the only issue I see here. So far this season I haven't seen much reason to worry about the Deacs' stamina, but we'll see.

Jason Rich is a very athletic power forward for Florida State, however the Deacs will counter with a very athletic forward of their own in James Johnson, so I think this could be one of the most interesting matchups on the floor come Sunday.

I expect to see a pretty close game. Florida State has been reasonably close in all of their losses this season, and were even up by a point against Duke late in the second half earlier this week. Like the Deacs they seem to be a team who plays up or down to the level of their opponent sometimes.

This is a game Wake needs, and hopefully home court advantage will hold up. If we do win I will be confident that the advantage we seem to have at home will hold up throughout the ACC schedule and that we really might win seven home games (I'm not sure even the best home court advantage will be enough against Duke). As I've said all along that would only mean we need one road win to be 8-8 in conference, a record that gives us a decent shot at making the Tournament. I think this Sunday's game will say a lot about the team.

Now that we're getting into the bulk of the ACC schedule it's more important than ever that Wake fans come out and pack the Joel to support the team. Make sure to buy your Wake Forest tickets for both home and away games so that the Deacs know how much support they have. If we can encourage them towards 8+ ACC wins we might all need to start looking at NCAA Tournament tickets for March. Let's hope it comes to that!

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Happy snow day to Deacon Nation!

As I begin to enjoy what has become a five-day weekend (no classes on Fridays this semester, Monday is a holiday) I have decided that since very little is going on in Wake sports news today (Dean Hood being considered for head coach at FCS Eastern Kentuky would be the exception) this would be a good opportunity to let you all know about a few things going on here on the Old Gold & Blog.

A couple of weeks ago a couple of buttons showed up at the bottom of my posts that say "Bark it Up" and "Hype it Up." These two buttons lead to a couple of different websites, YardBarker and Ball Hype, that allow readers to vote on the best sports news on the internet.

When you click on the button it allows you to vote for that post. The more votes a post gets the higher it will appear in the list of popular news on those websites. I recommend both of these services because they really are a great way to keep up with good/important/interesting sports news from all over the nation without having to do too much leg work. I use them both on a daily basis.

So, if you like something you read here then "Bark it Up" or "Hype it Up." You'll be glad you did. And so will I.

Also, as I'm sure all of you have recognized, there are a few different ads running on the blog. I hope that having a bit of advertising around here doesn't bother anyone, but I'm sure you're all used to it since advertising is basically what makes the internet work these days. I'm certainly not making a whole lot from them, but it is enough to pay the bills as far as the domain is concerned and just putting a little money in my pocket increases my motivation to keep working hard at it.

I started running some Google AdSense back in December, and as of right now it's being used only at the bottom of each post and in the sponsored search results if you use the search in the top right corner. I would definitely never ask you to click on any of those things if you weren't actually interested in where the link might lead, but if you do find one interesting and click on it it a few pennies end up in my pocket, which is always nice.

I also have a couple of new advertising deals with online ticket brokers, including the Coast to Coast tickets you see on the left as well as a deal with another ticket company to occasionally link to their tickets in my posts. If you see that soon you'll know what it is.

As I said before, I will never ask any of you to click on these things just for the heck of it, but if you're looking for tickets to a Wake sporting event or really any other event then these are definitely good places to look.

I hope you all have a great Thursday. Tomorrow I'll be doing a preview of Florida State, and hopefully an interview will be up by Saturday as well.

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This post doesn't need to be long. Wake's 64-71 loss to Maryland can be summed up in one statistic.

5-30.

That was what Wake shot from beyond the arc. That's a whopping 16.7%. On 30 attempts. Are we serious? First of all a team should never jack up 30 attempts unless they're making over 50% of them, and second of all if a team can only make one out of every six they attempt they shouldn't shoot any of them at all.

Harvey Hale's 1-8 performance was clearly culprit number one. Just because he's supposedly our best three point shooter doesn't mean we need him to shoot them. We had much more success inside then we did from beyond the arc.

Chas McFarland doesn't need to take two threes in a game either (unless maybe the first one goes in). And if Johnson is off he doesn't need to shoot five.

Shooting threes is not a requirement. It's not the only way to play (and even win) a basketball game. No one should have been shooting anything outside of 15 feet tonight. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the point.

There were some decent offensive performances from Ish, Teague, and Johnson, and the overall defense wasn't atrocious. It certainly wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as it was against Boston College.

But it doesn't matter what you do, if you jack up 30 three's and only make six you're going to lose the ball game.

That's about all I have to say about that.

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Game's about 10 minutes away. I may or may not be live-blogging the first half, we'll see. I should be able to post some thoughts at half time at least and of course post-game.

Feel free to discuss among yourselves.

Clearly didn't get around to posting anything during the game. Sorry. See the above post for my thoughts on the game.

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During football season I did a weekly feature called "5 good questions" featuring a blogger from the opposition. I haven't done it so far this basketball season because many of our non-conference opponents don't have anyone blogging for them, there didn't seem to be too much demand, and frankly I was somewhat lazy about it.

Now that we're getting into the bulk of the ACC schedule I figured it would be fun to bring it back, so this week I asked five questions of Matt from Turtle Waxing. His answers follow below, and you'll find my answers to his questions over on Turtle Waxing.

Although Maryland's record isn't overly impressive so far this season, most of the team's losses have come in games that appear to have been reasonably close. How does this team seem to be responding to those tough losses? Does Saturday's one point loss to Virginia Tech motivate this team or discourage it?

Turtle Waxing: After losing a tough game to BC earlier in the year that they probably should have won if not for the technical foul on Greivis Vasquez the Terps dropped games to Ohio and American at home. I'd say they didn't deal with that loss very well. This isn't the most mentally tough team that Gary Williams has ever had so I don't expect them to turn things around. They may play better if they feel their backs are against the wall but in reality this team is only playing for an NIT birth at this point.

The Terps seem to have some great senior leadership from forward James Gist but also a younger spark with guard Greivis Vasquez. What should Wake fans expect to see out of these two on Tuesday night?

TW: Gist has been a disappointment at times this season. He got stripped in the closing minutes of the Virginia Tech loss and fouled out of both the American and Ohio losses. He isn't consistent enough to provide that reliable scoring threat the team needs which explains the inconsistent 10-7 record. Vasquez had one of his worst games at Maryland the other day. He went 2/14 and was truly awful for most of the afternoon. Given that it is a home game I'd expect those two to play better against Wake.

What are the keys to a Maryland victory?

TW: Hitting shots. Simple enough but it really tells the tail of the season. If they are settling for jump shots that are not going in then it is going to be a long night. The defense has been solid for most of the year but they can't generate offense. If Vasquez and Gist play well early that is a good indicator. Gist especially needs to show an aggressive mindset.

Fan morale seems to be pretty low right now for Maryland. Are the fans really ready to throw in the towel at this point?

TW: I think so. This is probably the least talented team Gary Williams has had in 15 years. The freshmen have offered very little and there are no signs that anyone will improve significantly. I think the NIT is about all this group can hope for now. With bad losses to Ohio and American and the best out of conference win over a struggling Illinois team they are probably out of the running for an NCAA bid already.

Time for some predictions: Final score against Wake and final ACC record. Will there be a post-season appearance?

TW: I think it will be a low scoring game with lots of turnovers. I'd say 71-67 Maryland, but I would not be shocked at all if Wake comes in and steals a road win. This group has already lost 3 games at home and blew their best chance for a road win against a terrible Virginia Tech squad. As for Maryland's record I'd probably put my money on a 5-11 season in the ACC which may get them 10th place. That would leave them with a 15-16 overall record and no NIT bid. The talent just isn't there in this group even in a weak ACC.

Once again big thanks to Matt at Turtle Waxing for taking the time. Hopefully he'll be wrong on that prediction! Head on over there and see my answers to his questions and any other Maryland news that might interest you.

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From time to time I find blog posts or newspaper articles that are off the beaten path for most Wake Forest News. "Around the Interweb" is my way for sharing these with you and commenting on them myself. Enjoy!

When I returned home from church this morning I was surprised to find an article from my hometown paper, the Houston Chronicle, that my dad had left out for me (I'm flying back to school tomorrow morning). The article was a feature on Terrance Robinson and the decision he's making between Wake Forest and Boston College.

I've read a lot about Robinson, knew he was from Texas, and have been hopeful that he'll be on the Wake sidelines next fall. Somehow, though, I had failed to realize that he was from so near to my home. It would certainly be fun to have a hometown guy playing for us.

Read the story on the Chronicle website here.

Based on that it sounds like he's leaning towards Wake, but we'll see what happens when he visits Boston next weekend. Apparently part of Boston's appeal is that he has family there. Although I understand how that can be a strong draw, I somehow think Wake's weather and fan base will win out.

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There is a huge temptation after a loss like this to rant for several paragraphs about how terrible this team is and how they never make shots and never play defense and never do anything right and that we might as well give up on this season right now. In fact there's a very strong temptation to do that.

But everyone will be better served if that is avoided.

Even without a rant the facts aren't pretty: Wake lost by 39 to a Boston College team who just lost to Robert Morris. Boston college shot 66% overall and an even better 68% from beyond the arc. Tyrese Rice (who I now probably like less than just about any college player I've seen play thanks to his cockiness) tied his career high with 32 points. John Oates, who averages 3 ppg, scored 14.

Wake shot a somewhat respectable 44%, but turned the ball over 16 times ( and it seemed like 26). Other than James Johnson's 22 points no one scored more than 11.

The first thing that stands out about this loss is the score. 10 minutes into the game Wake was only down by 5. At Halftime it was 15. At the end of the game it was 39. Check out this game flow chart - the bleeding never stopped:

College Basketball Stats by StatSheet.com

It didn't seem like Wake was out of it at halftime. A comeback was going to require huge second half improvements, but there were enough positives to indicate it was possible for things to turn around, and it certainly didn't seem like they could play worse.

Nothing improved, and really things got worse. The team seemed to roll over and give up. Boston College, who didn't seem like they could play any better, didn't look any worse in the second half and really may have been better. In the first half Boston College was shooting very well, but they were doing it with a hand in their face almost every time. When Wake's defense seemingly gave up in the second half Boston College was able to shoot more uncontested shots and had a ridiculous 73% shooting and even more ridiculous 78% from three. They deserve credit for some incredible shooting.

Boston College must be given some credit for an outstanding performance. With BC shooting the lights out like they were this Wake Forest team probably couldn't have kept up even if they played a pretty good game. I think I would have rather had a close, hard-fought loss than a blowout though.

After beating BYU convincingly on Tuesday, Wake looked poised to really buckle down and make a truly strong start to the ACC schedule. Instead they proved just how awful they can be on the road. The Deacs have played five road games this season and lost four. The win at Iowa was nice, and although it was a frustrating loss the team didn't play too poorly at Vanderbilt.

The other three road losses - Charlotte, Georgia, and now Boston College - were about as ugly as it comes. It doesn't make sense that a team could play so much worse on the road than they do it home. It's not like playing at Georgia or Boston College is like playing at Duke where the environment can get to you. Many teams play better at home than they do on the road, few show such a huge discrepancy.

I don't have an explanation for today or any other road performance and I doubt anyone else really has one either. Even though the home schedule is reasonably favorable for Wake this season no one should be counting on eight ACC home wins. The team is going to need to find a way to win a couple on the road, and the game at Maryland on Tuesday night is one of those wins we really need to get.

I understand that this team is young and can't be expected to play to their greatest potential every time they hit the floor. Today I would have been just as surprised to see them play as well as they did against BYU as I was to see them play as poorly as they did. Nonetheless, it would be nice to feel like you were at least watching the same team from game to game.

I don't intend to dwell on this loss, and I hope the team won't either. They're staying up north and going to Maryland without ever coming home. Hopefully that will focus the team and maybe make them more comfortable with the road environment. Coming back to Winston with a 2-1 ACC record won't be all that bad.

It would be nice if Maryland didn't have its best shooting night ever on Tuesday.

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I'm relatively certain that I'm going to be wishing I was already back in North Carolina today. As far as I can tell there is no place to see the game here in Texas, so for the first time this season I will see exactly zero of a Wake game - and our second conference game at that.

I guess there's nothing that can be done, so hopefully correspondent Steve Edwards will watch the game on TV and give us a full report. Otherwise we'll be stuck with the AP and Dan Collins (both great, but everyone needs a little OG&B now and then).

I saw that the line opened at Wake +5.5, but apparently it's closer to Wake +4 right now. I guess going on the road in the ACC for the first time warrants that a little bit, but I think Wake may be getting ready to surprise some people.

I don't want to assume that what we saw against BYU is what we're going to see every time the Deacs hit the floor (because it's not) but hopefully we'll find something close more often than not.

As far as BC is concerned I don't know a whole lot (it's been difficult to see too many ACC teams play here in Texas over the last month) other then the fact that they lost there last game against nobody. This is a great thing since it means they clearly aren't very good. It's also not great because it means they'll be out to make sure they don't lose again. I think we'll see some fire, but hopefully there isn't much to back it up.

If you know more, please feel free to share!

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Okay so really it was Norcross HS vs Helen Cox HS, but all any Deacon fans (or Georgetown fans for that matter) cared about were these two guys.

Thankfully Aminu didn't disappoint, putting up 29 points and pulling down 13 rebounds in a very impressive 11 point win. Not only did he play well, but he definitely out-shined Monroe on this night as well

I only got to see the second half, but the third quarter was dominated by Al-Farouq, and although he wasn't quite as impressive in the fourth he still looked like the best player on the floor.

Besides getting to see a great performance from Aminu, Wake Forest got some great publicity throughout the game. The announcers talked about Skip (including another very tasteful tribute), Dino, and the job he's been doing so far. Tony Woods and Ty Walker also were mentioned and all three recruits were credited for their integrity in still signing with Wake.

All in all it was a great night for Wake Forest basketball.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Aminu's performance, the broadcast's comments on Wake, or anything else related to tonight, so please share in the comments.

AFA Highlights:

Brief Skip Tribute:

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Although I watched the game on ACC Select last night, Old Gold & Blog Correspondent Stephen Edwards attended in person and checks in with this full analysis of the big win over BYU.

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As I was talking with Zach during my two and a half hour drive to Winston yesterday afternoon, we talked about how HUGE of a game the Deacs had tonight in the Joel, and how GOOD we both felt BYU was. As I listened to good ol’ Stan Cotten’s pregame on ISP Sports, and listened to BYU’s numbers on the year and further analysis on how well they played against UNC and Michigan St., I will admit I was nervous to see how Wake would respond to the pressure of such a big non conference game…

The Demon Deacons responded emphatically with their best performance (only Vandy on the road comes close), and win of the season. Wake jumped out to a quick lead of 49-32 at the break, and played the Cougars to an even 30-30 in the second half as BYU’s shooting heated up.

BYU’s Trent Plaisted is a great player, and a big-time prospect, but Chas McFarland did one of the better interior post defensive jobs I have seen in a long time holding him to a measly 8 points, well below his season average. (Just a week earlier BYU’s big man tore up the Tar Heels down the road in Chapel Hill for 24 points.) When an exhausted Chas finally fouled out in the final minutes, finishing with 11 points and 7 rebounds, he was given a great standing ovation by a near capacity and very energetic Joel crowd. It is going to be fun to watch Chas develop as a center for the Deacons next year and I hope an invitation to Big Man Camp is in store for the well deserving Mr. McFarland this summer.

JT and JJ. Boy are these guys FUN to watch. Jeff Teague had a career night with one of the better stat lines you will see from a freshman guard halfway through their first season: 26 points, 5 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 3 assists in 35 minutes of play. That is really really special and my congrats to Jeff on one of the better shooting games I have seen in my years as a Wake fan from a point guard not named Chris Paul, Randolph Childress, or Taron Downey (8-10 from the floor and 8-8 from the line!). JT’s 2011 running mate James Johnson also had another of his workmanlike nights that we are growing accustomed to: 19 points (at least 8 of which came on HIGH-flying SLAMS) and 7 rebounds.

I am so proud of how Ish has developed since the tough SEC stretch earlier in the year and how he decided to become the floor general and leader that we desperately needed. Another amazing game tonight for Ish when it comes to being an efficient PG and making your teammates better. Ish had 10 points, SEVEN REBOUNDS, 4 assists to 2 TURNOVERS in 37 minutes of play. Committing only 2 turnovers in 37 minutes in such a high paced game is impressive.

Harvey and L.D. both continue to struggle right now offensively and it is obvious that neither have much confidence shooting the ball. Hopefully Harvey will figure things out and become a LETHAL threat off the bench, and say a prayer that L.D. did not really do significant damage to the same ankle he originally tweaked versus Virginia Tech. Here’s to the both of them finding their groove just in time for ACC play.

The 2007-2008 Demon Deacons are really becoming a DYNAMITE squad to watch. I cannot say enough about the job that Coach Dino and his staff has done on preaching hard-nosed defense from the get-go, ingraining the importance of hustle, effort, and hard work that Wake basketball teams did not previously value. The Deacs could not have been anymore prepared last night and they made many great in game adjustments to avoid long scoring droughts and to kill BYU’s momentum, resulting in a commanding victory, 79-62.

These next few weeks are a very important; the Deacs need to distance themselves from the teams in the ACC that are talented but are struggling to find an identity right now. BC, Maryland, and FSU are all talented ball-clubs and it is an important stretch that will shed significant light on the how the ACC will stack up at the end of the season. Outside of UNC, Duke (although I’m not completely sold on them yet), and possibly Clemson, the ACC is WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE open.

I cannot wait to be back in the Joel on the 20^th as the Deacons look to continue their fine play against the Seminoles, and keep intact the longest active home court winning streak in the ACC.

“We’re going to be good again.” –Coach Skip Prosser

ONE TEAM, ONE FIGHT! Skip would be proud…

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As always, great analysis from Steve. He is certainly a valuable asset for the Old Gold & Blog.

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