The schedule was rough for Wake Forest fans tonight because all the Deacs seemed to be playing at the same time. As a result, I watched one half of each game so I could catch each of our players in action.
Deac of the night
Although not one Deacon was convincingly better than the rest tonight, the best performance in my opinion was by Chas McFarland. Chas ran the floor well and finished almost every opportunity that he had. On a couple occasions he took the ball from beyond half court and finished with a layup or dunk, much like he did in the UNC game last year but with a little more traffic in his way this time. He also popped out and knocked down a three from the top of the key. McFarland is very skilled and will obviously be a huge factor this season if he can stay out of foul trouble and keep his head in the game.
Chas' teammate was also solid in the half I watched. C.J. Harris slithered his way through the lane for a few layups and was able to knock down a couple shots from deep as well. He loves to drive and kick out to an open teammate. C.J. and Chas got out to a twenty point lead at the half over Ish Smith and Ari Stewart's team and ended up winning by around ten. Ish and Ari had their moments as well, but it just wasn't enough. Ish was his usual summer league self, knocking down some threes and getting out in transition while Ari had a handful of dunks.
Woods has a nice outing
In the game against the 'newly personnel-ed' Glasgow Insurance, Tony Woods had quite a few highlights in the second half. At the beginning of the half he came out of nowhere to throw down a huge dunk off a missed shot and of course had a couple more slams as well. He also managed to convert a nice reverse layup while being fouled and seemed to get great position in the post all night. Woods is getting better and better with his back to the basket. On the defensive end, he swatted a few shots out of bounds and is always a very strong rebounder. His free throw stroke remains a weakness, but you know what you are going to get out of TWoods each time he hits the floor.
Although Tony's team led for much of the game, Glasgow shot very well in the second half and managed to win by around ten points.
L.D. and Ty grab the top seed
In a close game against David Weaver's team (Konner Tucker was not in attendance tonight), L.D. Williams and Ty Walker's team was able to hold on and earn the #1 seed in the tournament. None of the Wake guys had their best games, but Weaver delivered a couple nice mid-range bank shots. Walker had a number of big dunks in the half and altered plenty of shots in the lane. In the end, it was the hot shooting of one of L.D. and Ty's teammates that was the deciding factor.
Other notes
- Gary Clark had a tough matchup with the Holcomb-Faye's but was able to hold his own for the most part.
- Al-Farouq Aminu didn't do a whole lot in the first half, but his team came back to beat Guilford College's team in the second half
- Former North Carolina player Reyshawn Terry was in attendance tonight
Top four seeds:
1) L.D. Williams and Ty Walker
2) Al-Farouq Aminu
3) Glasgow Insurance
4) C.J. Harris and Chas McFarland
The playoffs will begin on Wednesday night with seeds 5 through 12 taking the court and the first four seeds getting byes. I will try to find out the final standings in their entirety and post Wednesday's schedule in the next day or so.