Wake Forest vs Princeton: GIF Review

So the gifs didn't work out so well on mobile devices last time, but I think I've finally got that figured out.  But more importantly, what a way to close out 2014 for the Deacs. This was arguably Wake Forest's best game as a basketball team all year. The Deacs recorded 21 assists on their 26 made field goals on their way to an 80-66 win over Princeton.

Here's a great example of passing that helped lead to the Deacs to victory. Devin gets the ball inside and 3 defenders converge on him. He quickly hits freshman Dinos Mitoglou for the wide open 3. Dinos, aka the Greek Deac, had one of his best games as a Deacon, scoring a team-high 15 points.

Here's another great assist on the textbook pick and roll. Codi Miller-McIntyre comes off the screen from Devin Thomas, who rolls to the basket. CMM finds him with a nice bounce pass for the huge slam and the foul. Codi had a great game passing the ball, finishing the game with 11 assists.

Here's another example of CMM's great day passing the basketball. CMM pushes the ball after rebounds and is able to find both Mitchell Wilbekin and Cornelius Hudson on the wing for quick transition 3s. It was great to see Wilbekin back on the court after his 3-game suspension. He finished the game with 12 points.

Another play that worked well for the Deacs against Princeton was the pick and pop. Consistently, both Princeton defenders involved in the pick would follow the man with the ball, leaving the screener wide open. In the case that the erscreen was Darius Leonard or Dinos Mitoglou, this meant that they had an opportunity at a wide open 3. Wake Forest shot really well from the 3-point line in this game, hitting 10-23 shots.

Remember that team at the beginning of the year that couldn't beat a press? I know Princeton isn't as talented as Arkansas, but its nice to see the team not panic in the face of the full court press and get a wide open dunk. Defensively, the Deacs played pretty well the whole game. Princeton is a team that scores a lot on 3-pointers and backdoor cuts, aka the "Princeton Offense." 

Princeton got a few easy layups off the backdoor cuts, but as a whole, the Deacs did a great job guarding against them. Wake Forest also played good 3-point defense, holding Princeton to just 30% shooting from the 3-point line.

The defense was also able to get a few steals that led to nice fast break dunks. In my opinion, this was Wake Forest's best game as a team all year, and one of the best in the past 4 years. watch.0.html

Here's an example of something I might try to do in 2015. Pretty much just an idea at this point. Let me know what you think.