I don’t agree, but I obviously understand the frustration.

Bottom line is that we have a lot of odd pieces, many of which don’t fit together. Whether or not that will that change with the new blood coming in next year will be interesting to see. I think we will get a shot at seeing this staff with those (better shooting) players though, unless Dino himself ends it. It will definitely be refreshing to start over with some clear heads.

Then again, I always think basketball coaches get too much credit/heat for performance on the floor. Players have to make plays on both ends of the floor. The ones we currently have are not making these plays at anywhere close to a reasonable clip in March. It is definitely in their heads now.

Will this team put up a fight next week? I have no clue. I’m sure I’ll be back on the wagon by then like always though.

Is difficult for us because we don’t have the big men that can flash high and make a play at the high post. AFA is the only guy but he often plays the wing position to drive and create. Chas is average at it but not spectactular. Weaver and Woods can’t plays there to break the zone. Combine that with our lack of outside shooting and we have a team that will struggle mightily against the zone. Fault the other coaches for not playing it against us all season.

I also do not agree. Several of the points you made on attacking a zone are valid, but only if you have the personal to execute them.

This team would be undefeated in the following:
1. 40 yard dash
2. High jump
3. Broad jump

They would finish last in the following:
1. Dribbling contest
2. Passing contest
3. HORSE (shooting contest)

There are and have always been certain skills needed to play the great game of basketball, and Wake is the weakest team in the conference when measuring and evaluating those skills. It is what it is.

Dino and staff recognize the teams weaknesses, thereby turning to defense and rebounding in an effort to win. When an opponent elects to run with us or play an aggressive man to man (as opposed to a sagging man to man) then our chances for success increase considerably. The truth is we have one player currently who can both dribble and pass and two who can on occasion hit the jump shot. When the media and fans talk of Wake’s talent, they have to be referring to shear athletic ability, definitely not basketball skills.

Our late season losses to me are to be expected. As the tournament time approaches, teams on the whole tend to slow the game down and pull their defenses back to the paint. When this happens, we are put at a serious disadvantage and typically will not be successful.

While it could be argued that everyone wants the athletes, if you want to win at a high level you need some basketball players. ****In a contest of athleticism Wake would dominate Duke…in a contest of basketball, Duke will dominate Wake.

I like Dino a lot as a person, but this is becoming a trend. It’s clear he can coach defense and that he doesn’t have the personnel to execute. But as Bart said, there are other ways to break the zone.

I was listening to an interview with Kent State’s coach last night (RPI 42, 22-8, 13-3 in the MAC, SOS- 90,6-5 vs. RPI Top 100) and he flat out said, “We need to make a few jumpshots, but I know we’re not a good shooting team, so we have to do other things to beat the zone. And we’ve done a good job of that this year.”

And that’s the case. There have been plenty of teams that can attack the zone effectively, but it’s a matter of patience, discipline and execution, none of which have shown themselves from this Wake team in the last few seasons.

Olddeac is on the right track—we have athletes, not shooters, and that has been the case since Skip’s tenure. It is important to note that this class (Ari and C.J.) is Dino’s first true class and that the new 5 coming in are supposed to be better shooters, so would they help? Possibly. But, again, this is an unknown like anything else.

What we do know is that the team has folded down the stretch three straight years, Dino’s first three years. Teams exploit Wake’s weaknesses and the Deacs look unprepared and lost and we get left with player quotes like “I don’t know what happened” “They just got hot” “They got the 50-50 balls” “I’m just shocked. I can’t believe it.”

Am I advocating a change? I honestly don’t know. I’m not Ron Wellman and it would be a difficult decision. Dino has been very faithful to the program, his kids are Wake Forest kids, but if a decision is going to be made, you either make it now or you give Dino the next two years.

Whether Wellman wants to be patient and risk another two years of failure in March or the chance at Dino’s system falling into place, well that’s his call.

A large chunk of the blame goes to personnel. Gino became head coach when Prosser passed away and really was learning about his team. The defense-orientation he installed has been a big success with a few failures (If the other team can hit threes it’s incredibly ineffective). I think he focused on getting his team working together the first year and realized last year that the team couldn’t shoot hence recruiting ari and harris. The problem is that they are both freshman and probably not ready to be leaned on against so much. This team was probably one or two pieces away from being a legitimate power team. Having any ability to hit the outside shot would have collapsed zones. With only two freshmen to fill those needs the other teams knew to clamp down on them.
Essentially Gino needs to get some sort of offense going. He has succeeded in one part of the game, but he needs major help on offense and developing bigs. I’m willing to give him one more year, but after that he’s done. He might just need better assistant coaches but I don’t understand why that hasn’t been corrected by now.
Oh and if they make the tournament they’re one and done sad to say.