Wake Forest at Clemson: Live Thoughts

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.