Five of our staff here at Blogger So Dear participated in a snake draft-formatted Wake Forest Basketball All-Time Fantasy Draft.
Now we seek your help as readers in voting on the best team, and ask you to rank our teams from 1-5 in order from best to worst.
The results of the draft are below, with Edward choosing Tim Duncan as the first overall selection:
Below are a list of team names, descriptions, and gameplans submitted by the respective team owners:
Team Name: Bart’s Ballers
Owner: Bart Johnston
Coach: Horace “Bones” McKinney
Headlined by the coaching prowess of Horace "Bones" McKinner, Bart's Ballers will enter the BSD pool looking to stifle the competition through an athletic front court, an assist machine, and dangerous outside threats to stretch the defense beyond their means.
With the human blur that is Ish Smith handling the ball in the backcourt, he will have plenty of options to get the rock to with recent draftee John Collins, versatile wings Josh Howard and James Johnson, along with a bench led by Vytas Danelius and Sam Ivy.
Outside threat Craig Dawson will require teams to follow him across the floor as he's a threat almost the second he enters the half court, but the strength of the team lies in the ability to dominate teams in the interior. Ish will have plenty of space to operate the pick and pop game with opposing defenses focused on collapsing to prevent easy baskets and the ability of Danelius to stretch the D when he's in, based on his ability to stroke the long ball, will punish teams that are too aggressive.
Similarly, opposing offenses will struggle to get anything going inside as they are faced with the daunting task of navigating the height of Collins while also dealing with the athleticism of Johnson and Howard matched up against their threes and fours.
The team will also have the leadership of Brooks Godwin from the bench- he of Club Trillion fame - to ensure that the intensity never waivers. Additionally, international sensation Ricky Peral and scrappy, gym rat, full-of-heart Billy Packer will come off the bench and bring in the necessary depth to keep this team competitive for thefull forty minutes.
Can others beat this team? It remains to be seen, but the combination of athleticism, talent, and outside ability will force teams to be on their A game. And if they come at the kings they best not miss.
Bobby Hoekstra’s Dream Team
Owner: Riley Johnston
Coach: Dave Odom
PG - Frank Johnson
SG - Charlie Davis
SF- Skip Brown
PF - Rod Griffin
C - Len Chappell
6th - Chris King
7th - Kenny Green
8th - Robert O'Kelley
9th- Danny Young
10th - Bobby Hoekstra
With two All-Americans on the roster, and multiple All-ACC players, the biggest problem with this lineup will be figuring out the usage rate for each player to keep the guys happy. It is a stacked roster full of versatile, two-way players that Dave Odom should be very happy with. The three-headed monster of Johnson, Davis, and Brown at the 1-3 should create mismatches with most other teams, as the 3 will have a difficult job keeping Skip in from of him.
This team may look like it is built for up-and-down basketball, but the slowed down, efficient basketball that Odom teams were known for will capitalize on wearing down the opponent on both ends of the court.
Walk-on legend Bobby Hoekstra will be at the core of this roster, keeping morale up, providing a "coach on the floor", and inspiring the entire team with his work ethic that sees him be the first one in and last one out every single day.
While the team may look a bit short at times, Chappell should be more than enough at the 5 to handle most threats (maybe not Timmy D). The physicality and toughness of some of the elder Deacs will throw off the "finesse" play of today's players and provide a mental advantage that builds up as the game goes on.
Team Name: Get Buckets
Owner: Robert Reinhard
Coach: George Edward “Skip” Prosser
Starting 5:
Jeff Teague
Randolph Childress
Chaundee Brown
Rodney Rogers
Eric Williams
Bench:
Travis McKie
Gil McGregor
Tony Rutland
Jerry Schellenberg
Delaney Rudd
Teague averaged 19 ppg as a sophomore and shot 42% from 3 during his career at Wake. 2nd team All American. Could pick pockets and is used to playing in a high octane offense.
In addition to breaking Jeff McInnis’ ankles en route to an ACC Championship, Chill was also a career 40% 3 point shooter. He averaged 18 points per game over his 4 year career and was a 2nd team All American. Will my bigs ever touch the ball with these two guys in the back court? I have no idea, but this back court can light it up and beat anyone.
I do not care that Chaundee has yet to play a game for Wake. He is one of our highest rated players in program history, and provides great skill on the wing. He can play either wing position, and could also play the 4 in small ball lineups. Buy stock now.
Rogers is an athletic freak at the 4, who is a former ACC POY and 2nd team All American. He was efficient around the basket, grabbed rebounds, stole the ball, blocked shots, and could also step out and hit the 3. He could play center in some lineups and is the perfect big to play in this up-tempo system.
Big E was a very effective player offensively and could also rebound, plus get steals and block shots. He averaged 16 points and 9 boards as a senior and is used to Prosser’s run n’ gun system.
Travis McKie will be an excellent bench player because he can play the wing, but would also be a nice small ball 4 who could hit perimeter shots and get putbacks around the hoop. McGregor averaged a double double for his career and will add nice depth in the front court. Rutland shot 38% from deep during his career and will give me a nice shooter coming off the bench. Jerry Schellenberg is versatile player who can provide spot minutes for this team.
Team Name: 2000s+ or Bust
Owner: Ned Harwood
Coach: Danny Manning
Starting 5:
Chris Paul
Justin Gray
Al-Farouq Aminu
Darius Songaila
Kyle Visser
Bench:
Bryant Crawford
Trent Strickland
Devin Thomas
Chas McFarland
Codi Miller-McIntire
Just by looking at this roster on paper, you can see it's the deepest of any of the 5 selected. Its PG has its jersey in the rafters, its SG had over 1900 points and 300 threes, its SF was a 3rd team All-American and lottery pick, and its starting bigs are two studs that averaged 17+ and 7 in their senior years. The bench is filled with dead-eye shooters (Crawford and Strickland), energy role players (Thomas and McFarland), and a 10th man who could get to the rim at will against anybody when he was healthy (CMM). We play a fast-paced game heavily focused around the perimeter with CP3 driving and forcing the defense to either double from the wing (Aka Justin Gray open 3) or double in the lane (Songaila and Visser both 50+% in the post). If the other team wants to play a little dirty, Chas McFarland is there to help show we aren't meant to be messed around with. And let's be honest, with the score being so lopsided against all other opponents, I wouldn't blame them if our opponents got a little chippy at some point.
Team Name: The Demon Deacon Dream Team
Owner: Edward Foster
Coach: Carl Tacy
Starting Lineup:
PG-Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues
SG-LD Williams
SF-Jamaal Levy
PF-Dickie Hemric
C-Tim Duncan
Bench:
PG-Taron Downey
SG-CJ Harris
SF-Travis “Scooter” Banks
PF-Trelonnie Owens
C-Rafael Vidaurreta
Coach Carl Tacy was one of the few men to ever figure out how to beat Dean Smith’s “Four Corners” offense. He had a brilliant mind for the game of basketball, and led the Demon Deacons to some of their most successful seasons in team history. He will figure out how to utilize every player on this roster to their maximum abilities.
Our gameplan begins and ends with Tim Duncan, the most dominant player ever to don the old gold and black. Duncan was quite an literally unstoppable force in the paint, and I don't think there is a single player in Wake Forest history who could even begin to stop him. If opposing teams decide to double team him, he’s got the all-time leading scorer in Wake Forest history and one of the greatest Deacons ever working on the opposite block in Dickie Hemric.
In addition to this, Hemric and Duncan rank first and second in all-time rebounding and rank first and third in career rebounding totals, both averaging double-doubles for their careers. Jamaal Levy led the team in rebounds in two of his seasons, and ranks 12th all time in Wake Forest history in rebounding. Muggsy Bogues is the all-time leader in both total assists and assists per game, so he should have no trouble getting the ball down low. Defenders also have to be on the lookout at all times for LD Williams to go flying along the baseline, point to the rim, and catch an ally-oop pass from Bogues, just as he did so often in his career.
On the defensive end of the ball, Duncan is the ACC’s all-time leading shot blocker, so opposing teams shouldn’t even think about bringing the ball inside. LD Williams is a lockdown defender, and will be on any opposing team’s best player. If they manage to get inside around him, which is unlikely, they then have to deal with Duncan. In addition, Jamaal Levy was nicknamed “The Praying Mantis” because of his long arms that constantly caused opponents shots to be altered, and his ability to snag any rebound within ten feet on either side of him.
Muggsy Bogues is the all-time Wake Forest leader in steals by a large margin, and opposing teams’ backcourts will have to constantly be on guard with him looking for any opportunity he gets to take the ball away. He may only be 5’3, but he finds ways to use this to his advantage.
And if the opposing team misses they can forget about any second chance opportunities with Duncan, Hemric, Levy, and Williams all crashing the boards.
You may be thinking that Coach Tacy was known for his shooting and this team lacks that. That is where the bench comes in. Taron Downey shot 38.5% from three for his career. CJ Harris shot 38.8% from three for his career. These two are deadly three point shooters who must be accounted for at all times. If opposing teams make the mistake of fouling them instead as they drive the lane, both shot 80%+ for their careers from the free throw line. Rafael Vidaurreta was known as one of the “bang bros” (along with Darius Songaila) because of his tough and physical play in the paint. So if things get a little chippy, Coach Tacy can turn to Rafa. Scooter Banks and Trelonnie Owens are the glue guys on this team, providing scrappy play and rebounding off the bench, along with being familiar with Timmy D’s preferences.
I don’t know how anybody handles this team’s starting 4-5, but teams will have to bring their A-game to stop this team built around the anchor of Timmy D.
Summary
Man we’ve had some fantastic players in Wake Forest basketball history! How would you, the readers, rank these teams from 1-5? Let us know, as we want many answers and want to know which one of us picked the best team! Comment below, on Facebook, Twitter, etc. But above all, GO DEACS!!!!!
Poll
Which all-time Wake team would you want on the court?
This poll is closed
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13%
Bart’s Ballers
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22%
Bobby Hoekstra’s Dream Team
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10%
Get Buckets
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14%
2000s or Bust
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38%
The Demon Deacon Dream Team