Playbook: Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs Miami Hurricanes

That was an incredible win for the Deacs. After falling behind 23-25 in the first half, Wake Forest trailed Miami for the entire rest of the game, save the final 25 seconds. At one point in the 2nd half, the Deacs even fell behind by 14 points, but that did not stop them from putting on a furious comeback to pick up their 4th conference win of the season. Trailing 74-68, the Deacs went a perfect 3 for 3 on their final 3 possessions to secure the victory. Let’s take a look at those last 3 baskets.

On the 1st possession, the Deacs got a wide open look from the 3-point line for Brandon Childress on a dribble hand off from Torry Johnson. He knocks it down and only 5 seconds run off the clock.

This is actually a play Manning appears to have borrowed from Bill Self, as Kansas uses it quite regularly in late game situations. The play, commonly referred to as “Chop,” was most notably used in the 2008 National Championship game when Kansas guard Mario Chalmers hit a 3-pointer with about 2 seconds left to tie the game (You probably remember that KU won it in OT).

Here’s maybe a better example of the play (where the ball handler isn’t tripping all over himself), from the 2007 Big 12 Championship game. Same scenario. KU needs a 3, Chalmers delivers.

Obviously Manning was an assistant coach at Kansas from 2006 to 2012, so there is no doubt he would be familiar with the play. In our game, Miami defended the dribble hand off so poorly that Childress didn’t even need to use the screen that Jaylen Hoard was in position to set.

The Deacs forced a turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass, giving them a chance to run a sideline out of bounds play down 71-74 with 36 seconds remaining.

This kind of looks like they were going for an “elevator doors” type play, where Chaundee Brown and Jaylen Hoard seal off the defender once Childress runs between them. If you are unfamiliar with the play, here’s an old example I found.

Miami elects to switch on the pick, giving the Deacs two very favorable match ups. We can either let Childress drive around the slower Sam Waardenburg or simply throw the ball into the paint, where Hoard is being defended by the 5-7, 160 lb Chris Lykes. Wake chooses the former, but I’m confident both would have resulted in 2 points.

After Miami split a pair of free throws on their next possession, the lead was just 2 points with 30 seconds left in the game. As it appeared Miami was switching on all screens, the Deacs simply had Childress dribble into the front court where Jaylen Hoard was waiting to set a screen. Again, we get a favorable switch with Waardenburg on Childress and Lykes on Hoard.

Brandon feels like he has plenty of space (and that Childress killer instinct), so he just pulls up for 3 to take the lead. Had he missed, Hoard was in perfect position to secure an offensive rebound over the shorter Lykes.

3 straight possession, 3 straight good looks at the basket, 3 straight buckets. Perfect execution and poise from Wake down the stretch to pull off the comeback and win the game.