Tough loss for the Deacs Saturday in Florida. I have a feeling there will be more of these types of close games that could go either way the rest of the season. Check after the jump for the +/- stats and some random thoughts.
| Plus/Minus Miami | Minutes | Plus/Minus Total | Average Minutes played | |
| Ish Smith | -1 | 39 | 3 | 38.5 |
| CJ Harris | -1 | 22 | 5 | 25 |
| Al-Farouq Aminu | 6 | 36 | 10 | 33.5 |
| LD Williams | 9 | 34 | 11 | 30.5 |
| David Weaver | -9 | 17 | -7 | 17.5 |
| Chas McFarland | 6 | 24 | 13 | 22 |
| Gary Clark | 1 | 15 | 5 | 12.5 |
| Ari Stewart | -8 | 11 | -5 | 14.5 |
| Tony Woods | -4 | 2 | -1 | 6 |
These stats can be a bit misleading from Saturday as it was a game of runs. Clark was instrumental in getting the team the lead in the second half but was then on the court as Miami cut back into the lead in the next few possessions. I did not think Weaver played that terribly but we see just how bad the team was when he was on the court.
| Plus/Minus Miami | Plus/Minus Aggregate | |
| Smith, Harris, Aminu, Williams, McFarland | 4 | 1 |
| Smith, Harris, Aminu, Stewart, Woods | 3 | |
| Harris, Williams, Stewart, Woods, Weaver | 2 | |
| Smith, Williams, Stewart, Woods, Weaver | 2 | |
| Smith, Clark, Williams, Weaver, McFarland | 4 | |
| Smith, Clark, Williams, Aminu, McFarland | 9 | 9 |
| Harrris, Clark, Williams, Aminu, McFarland | 2 | |
| Smith, Harris, Clark, Aminu, McFarland | -2 | |
| Smith, Harris, Stewart, Woods, McFarland | 0 | |
| Smith, Williams, Stewart, Woods, McFarland | -2 | |
| Smith, Harris, Williams, Woods, Weaver | -1 | -1 |
| Smith, Harris, Williams, Stewart, Weaver | 0 | |
| Smith, Harris, Williams, Aminu, Weaver | -2 | -4 |
| Smith, Clark, Williams, Aminu, Weaver | 0 | -1 |
| Smith, Clark, Stewart, Aminu, Weaver | 0 | 3 |
| Smith, Harris, Stewart, Aminu, Weaver | -1 | |
| Smith, Harris, Stewart, Aminu, McFarland | 0 | 3 |
| Smith, Williams, Stewart, Aminu, McFarland | -1 | -1 |
| Harris, Williams, Stewart, Aminu, McFarland | 0 | 0 |
| Smith, Harris, Stewart, Weaver, McFarland | 2 | 2 |
| Smith, Harris, Stewart, Weaver, Woods | -4 | -4 |
| Smith, Clark, Stewart, Weaver, McFarland | -4 | -4 |
| Smith, Clark, Stewart, Aminu, McFarland | -4 | -4 |
| Smith, Clark, Williams, Stewart, Aminu | 0 | 0 |
Here is a chart of used rotations this season. I expect this list to grow larger and larger as ACC play continues and Dino continues to search for a rotation that works for extended periods of time. You won't see each rotation play each game, which is why some are blank in the first column.
Anything pop out of the unit numbers from two games so far? Woods has been a huge drain for Wake for the most part. That rotation of Ish, Clark, Williams, Aminu and McFarland looks really good but is helped by a zero differential in the State game and a big run in a few minutes in the Miami game. I don't think this is our best lineup (although I would not mind seeing it often).
Some other random thoughts from the game (that I am sure will not be breaking much new ground):
- I am very concerned about our lack of development in the big men. None of the 4 have shown any signs of improvement from last season. It's actually quite embarrassing that there is not one staff member that can develop these players. Looking at the bench though, I really don't see anyone that has the experience. Who is our tallest assistant? Larue? (Who played guard in college). This needs to be addressed in the offseason.
- Dino showed in the latter stages of the game he is not that great of coach at the end of games. Save for that Duke play last season (which was wonderfully diagrammed) he has failed in late game situations and the final possession in which Ish drove into traffic after little movement was the epitome of this weakness. I felt the same about Skip Prosser and it appears Dino has the same issue.
- Aminu is continuing to show he is not ready to be the #1 option on a team. He has many great qualities but leadership is not one of them. If Wake is to win these close games, we need him to take over and get a bucket in the late stages.
- I will continue to ride out this season with tempered expectations. People were quick to jump on our bandwagon after beating State, Richmond and Xavier but there will definitely be highs and lows with this team. Just enjoy the ride this year.