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Thoughts in Brief: Richmond

So I hate sports, but this time it’s soccer’s fault! Probably the best showing of the year for the Deacs, I’m going TiB format because it’s tough for me to really think of three negatives, Let’s do this thing.

By SamuraiFoochs
NCAA Basketball: Illinois at Wake Forest Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
  • Doral Moore continues to be terrifying. 15 points (6-7, 3-6), 8 boards, 4 blocks, and only 2 fouls in 25 minutes. Feed that man.
  • It wasn’t all the big men though. Bryant Crawford chipped in 15 points on 5-9 shooting, 4-5 from the line, and 1-3 from deep. Mitchell Wilbekin also added 12 points on 3-6 shooting, 1-2 from deep, and 5-6 from the line. Keyshawn Woods led all scorers with 17 points on 7-11 shooting, 1-3 from deep, 2-2 from the line coming off the bench.
  • Donovan Mitchell is, well, really good. 15 minutes, 9 points (3-4 shooting, 2-2 from deep, 1-2 from the line) and 4 boards. He’s the only real frontcourt player who is a threat to stretch the floor, and I expect him to start soon. I’d even call him Dinos-esque.
  • I also liked what I saw from Melo Eggleston. 14 minutes, 6 points on 3-4 shooting including a rim-rattling alley oop, and two steals, not to mention solid defensive effort. Good stuff.
  • The zone continues to be a good fit for this squad, though we also worked in man. We forced an abysmal shooting team into 26 threes (of which they only hit 6). That’s extremely good.
  • On the other side, the Deacon offense was smart. hitting a solid 5-12 from deep (41.7%) but feasting on two point buckets, hitting an amazing 57.7%. Smart game plan all around. Good stuff.
  • There were only 10 Wake Forest turnovers, but it felt like more, probably because most of them were live-ball. I was frustrated by a lot of those.
  • The end of the first half was probably the only major Down in my opinion, as the Demon Deacon defense gave up 5 baskets in a row in the final 4:20 (heh) of the first half. Somehow Wake Forest still went +1 in scoring over that stretch, though.

Best outing of the year for this team, by far. Good game plan, good execution, and an absolute dismantling of struggling competition to get to 4-4. But Fire Manning, am I right? Get well soon, Brandon Childress. Let’s keep this positive momentum going.

On to the next. Go Deacs.

—SF