Wake Woes

49ers Basketball Forum 🏀
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:weep: :weep: :weep:

[QUOTE][B]“It’s a bit mystifying, in all frankness, that we were such a good rebounding team. That was the one thing we could hang our hat on, generally speaking. Then you look at the numbers (on the stat sheet), not that dissimilar from Virginia. We have a lot of size, but that didn’t manifest itself tonight in a better result on the glass.”[/B] – [I]Skip Prosser, Wake Forest coach on BC’s 41-27 rebounding advantage, one game after Virginia outrebounded Wake by 22.[/I][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE][B]Wake coach Skip Prosser changed the lineup again, inserting Chris Ellis at forward and Mike Drum at guard with Justin Gray shifting to point guard. Ellis had two points and one rebound in 24 minutes and Drum no points and two rebounds in 23 minutes.[/B] – [I]Greensboro News & Record, February 9, 2006[/I][/QUOTE]

[QUOTE][B]“I don’t have too many speeches in my bag for a team that’s 1-9.”[/B] – [I]Skip Prosser, Wake Forest coach[/I][/QUOTE]

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[B]Reeling Deacs fall again
Wake Forest burned by one-time target Rice in 72-66 loss[/B]
[I]By Dan Collins, Winston-Salem Journal Reporter[/I]

Tyrese Rice finally made his visit to Wake Forest last night. For the Deacons, it was certainly not a case of better late than never.

Rice, a late recruiting target for the Deacons after Chris Paul announced his intentions to leave for the NBA last April, poured in a career-high 23 points to spark 17th-ranked Boston College to a 72-66 ACC victory at Joel Coliseum.

Nailing six 3-pointers on eight tries - many from well beyond the arc - Rice gave the Deacons a bitter taste of what might have been.

“They came in late,” Rice said of Wake Forest’s interest.

"They didn’t offer (a scholarship) from the start. They were waiting to see what Chris Paul was going to do.

Would he have picked Wake Forest if a scholarship had been offered?

“Maybe - who knows,” Rice said. “When I went on the Boston College visit I had a visit set for Wake Forest the next week. But I didn’t go because I had already committed to Boston College.”

Coach Skip Prosser, whose Deacons dropped their sixth straight and ninth in the last 10 games, confirmed Rice’s account. He said he didn’t offer earlier for several reasons.

Wake Forest fell to 12-11 and 1-9 in the ACC. Boston College, which has won seven of its past eight, improved to 18-5 and 6-4.

“Part of it was we still thought Chris might be coming back,” Prosser said. "And we felt with Chris and Justin (Gray) we’d be all right at that position.

“We were involved with several other point guards in the junior class. But I think his recounting of the recruiting story is accurate. We knew he was a very good player, and obviously he showed that to us again.”

Last night Rice, a 6-0 freshman from Chesterfield, Va who spent his early childhood in Salisbury, was the difference. After Wake Forest’s zone held Boston College to seven points in the first eight minutes, Rice entered the game and nailed three free throws and three straight 3-pointers to carry the Eagles to a 28-22 halftime lead.

After Wake Forest regained the lead at 34-33, Rice drilled a 3-pointer to put the Eagles back ahead. After a short jumper by Harvey Hale of the Deacons tied the game at 42, Rice made two straight 3-pointers for a 48-44 Eagles lead.

Louis Hinnant then nailed a 3-pointer two possessions later to extend the Boston College lead to 51-45 with just more than seven minutes remaining.

“He was in the scouting report as an X-factor guy,” Gray said of Rice. "I stayed in today and watched maybe two hours of films on those guys and he made shots.

“It was rhythm shots for him, and on most of his shots there wasn’t a hand in his face. He does what any Division I basketball player is going to do, step up and knock down shots.”

But the Deacons had trouble doing just that. Gray made eight of 17 field-goal attempts for 24 points and Hale hit six of 11 for 13 points, but Wake Forest shot 41 percent from the floor.

Boston College, despite getting five field goals on 13 attempts from star forwards Craig Smith and Jared Dudley, shot 45 percent. And the Eagles also handled Wake Forest on the boards, outrebounding the Deacons 41-27.

Wake Forest, in its previous game, was outrebounded 47-25 in a 75-73 loss at Virginia.

“We thought a zone would be good and we didn’t do a good job of finding Rice in the zone,” Prosser said. "And when we did find him we sort of looked at him while he handed us a three.

"We went man-to-man a lot more in the second half because of his shooting ability, but we were unable to guard them without fouling.

“It’s a bit mystifying. We were such a good rebounding team. That was the one thing we could hang our hat on, generally speaking, and then you look at the numbers down below and they’re not that much different from Virginia. B.C. has 18 second-chance points and Wake Forest has six.”

Although seniors Gray, Eric Williams and Trent Strickland had all fouled out with around a minute left, the Deacons still managed to slice the lead to six with 25 seconds remaining. The Eagles left the game on the table by missing 14 free throws in the last two minutes, giving Hale a chance to cut the lead to three with 20 seconds remaining.

But Hale’s pull-up 3-pointer came off the front rim, and Boston College put the game away with three out of four free throws from Akida McLain.

Coach Al Skinner of Boston College said that many college programs shied away from Rice because of his lack of size. But last night against Wake Forest, no one came up bigger.

“He was really excited about playing down here,” Skinner said. "He had some family members here.

"When you play a zone and give him an opportunity to get good looks at the basket, he’s going to put the ball in the basket.

“Obviously it has given us a lift.”

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[B]Deacons’ year quickly going from very bad to really bad[/B]
[I]By Lenox Rawlings, Winston-Salem Journal Columnist[/I]

Wake Forest’s dreary season turned a darker shade of gray last night. The Boston College Eagles moved like they had eaten too much barbecue and launched foul shots that resembled wounded ducks, but that didn’t matter. They won 72-66.

A hopeful Deacons audience filled nearly every seat except the upper deck behind the student section, but that didn’t matter. Slipshod play lulled many fans into silence, and the looming prospect of the ninth loss in 10 games sent thousands toward the exits with nearly 3 minutes left.

The quickly departed guessed correctly, although no one could have predicted BC’s free-throw follies. The Eagles made only 5 of their last 16 and 30 of 50 overall, the attempts column setting a Joel Coliseum record.

At the end of a draining ACC experience, the Eagles held on and Coach Skip Prosser of Wake Forest let go, his shoulders slumping at softer angles than the Deacons’ sharp nosedive.

This is how bad things have gotten: Wake Forest (12-11, 1-9 ACC) strengthened its grip on last place. This is how bad things might get: If Wake Forest doesn’t beat UNC Charlotte at home on Saturday afternoon, the National Invitation Tournament consolation prize could evaporate.

Prosser expressed gratitude for the fans’ support, however subdued, but gave few thanks for the Deacons’ uninspired rebounding or zone defense.

“As I told the players,” Prosser said, “I don’t have too many speeches in my bag for a team that’s 1-9. I’m speaking anyway. I’m trying to make them up as we go along.”

His pregame speech and scouting report emphasized the zone defenses that Wake Forest planned for dealing with BC shooters, especially freshman Tyrese Rice, the prospect who got away last spring about the time Chris Paul applied for the millionaires’ club.

Rice drifted beyond the zone and fired away, hitting 6 of 8 3-pointers and scoring 23 points on just 9 field-goal attempts. The efficiency rescued other Eagles from their own naps and buried the Deacons.

Coach Al Skinner reveled in the one element that eased BC toward records of 18-5 overall and 6-4 in its first ACC race.

“You’ve got to keep a guy in front of him,” Skinner said. “If you don’t, he feels pretty good about letting it go.”

The Deacons felt badly about watching Rice’s missiles nail the target, particularly freshman Harvey Hale (13 points, four assists, four steals).

“After he hit two,” Hale said, “I told myself: ‘You’ve got to get up on him.’ I did, but he was already hot.”

The Deacons heated up after halftime and tied the score at 42 midway through the second half. In routine fashion, they dropped a cylinder driving home. Senior Justin Gray (24 points) shook his head and spoke softly.

“I think I’m a little frustrated right now,” Gray said. “Nobody wants to lose. Nobody on this team probably wants to win more than me, every game. I’m sure everybody in that locker room feels that way.”

As the losses add up, the short-term questions sag like an overloaded golf cart.
Can Wake Forest stay above .500 and lure the NIT folks? Can Wake Forest dodge last place?

The long-term questions started popping up about the time the Deacons hit the skids, led by the rampant and unsubstantiated speculation that Prosser will bolt his sweet Wake Forest deal for the University of Cincinnati.

Although the logic has more holes than the Deacons’ defense, constant repetition has transformed rumor into accepted fact among some fans. The contorted logic rises from the premise that Prosser preferred living in Cincinnati and that the university would love to hire a former local.

In many ways, the logic seems contradictory. Prosser coached Xavier, Cincinnati’s rival. Would Wake Forest rush out and hire N.C. State’s former coach on the rebound?

Taken from the other side, why would Prosser leave a high-profile, high-paying job with a semblance of security? Why would Prosser want to take over a declining Cincinnati program in a soaring conference, the Big East?

The Bearcats beat Louisville on Monday night, improving their records to 16-8 overall and 5-5 in the league, tied for eighth place with Syracuse.

Andy Kennedy, a Jim Valvano recruit at N.C. State, holds the shaky title of interim coach. Despite wins over LSU, Vanderbilt and Rutgers, Kennedy must await the ultimate administration decisions. Athletics Director Mike Thomas, a former Virginia bureaucrat under Terry Holland and more recently Akron’s athletics director, evidently will weigh every option before confirming or rejecting Kennedy.

The stretch run obviously could determine his fate, but the chase will not solve Cincinnati’s looming personnel crisis. The top two scorers, James White and Eric Hicks of Greensboro Dudley, are seniors, and so are two other players among the top six. That leaves freshman guard Devan Downey of Chester, S.C., and junior forward Cedric McGowan.

Prosser hasn’t announced his intentions, one way or the other, but the odds of him heading off to the Queen City, Ohio, division, seem substantially longer than often assumed.

If he stays, though, completing the puzzle could require more pieces than Wake Forest has in the house or on the way. Gray, Eric Williams, Chris Ellis and Trent Strickland will exhaust their eligibility, which means that only one of last night’s starters will hang around, walk-on Michael Drum.

The rest of the current cast - Hale, Kevin Swinton, Cameron Stanley and Kyle Visser - will get help from 6-10 redshirt David Weaver and five recruits. Among the newcomers, point guard Ishmael Smith of Concord, wing guard Anthony Gurley of Massachusetts and forward Jamie Skeen of the Charlotte suburbs could figure in the equation.

But who can figure recruiting? Who could have figured that all these veterans from the Chris Paul glory days would sink to the ACC bottom?

Maybe they will show signs of life the rest of the way, but the lethargic performance in the sometimes dead building last night suggests otherwise.

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[B]Rice hits targets to deflate Deacons[/B]
[I]By Bill Hass, Greensboro News-Record Staff Writer [/I]

WINSTON-SALEM – Tyrese Rice, who canceled a visit to Wake Forest last April, finally got to Joel Coliseum on Wednesday night.

And boy, did he like what he saw.

The Boston College freshman lit up the Deacons for 23 points to lead the Eagles to a 72-66 victory. The outcome boosted 17th-ranked Boston College into a third-place tie in the ACC standings with Miami at 6-4.

Wake assured itself of staying in the ACC cellar for awhile at 1-9 because its next game is a nonconference one against Charlotte on Saturday.

“I don’t have too many speeches in my bag for a team that’s 1-9,” said Wake coach Skip Prosser. “I’m trying to make them up as we go along.”

Prosser told his team about Rice’s shooting skill before the game, but the left-hander burned Wake’s zone anyway. He hit 6-of-8 behind the arc and made his only two-point attempt, a breakaway layup.

“We thought zone would be good,” Prosser said. “We didn’t do a good job of finding Rice in the zone and when we did find him, we sort of looked at him while he handed us a 3.”

Rice, who was born in Salisbury and lived there nine years before moving outside of Richmond, Va., had some family members looking on. He might have had a chance to play close to home if Wake had been quicker to offer a scholarship.

By Rice’s account, which Prosser confirmed, Wake began recruiting him about the same time Boston College did “but Boston College really put it out on the table and Wake Forest didn’t really offer off the jump.”

Rice committed to Boston College after his visit there and canceled a trip to Wake. Prosser said the Deacons didn’t offer immediately because they thought there was a chance Chris Paul might opt to return to school instead of declaring for the NBA Draft.

“We felt with Chris and Justin (Gray) we would be OK at that position,” Prosser said. “We were involved with several other point guards in the junior class. We knew he was a very good player, and obviously he showed that to us again.”

Eagles coach Al Skinner said Rice brought ballhandling, quickness and perimeter shooting, and “we had a tremendous need for the package he had.”

Oddly, Rice didn’t feel comfortable in Joel during Tuesday’s practice.

“It was kind of weird because I wasn’t sure if I could knock down any shots,” he said. “My teammates told me to focus in and take shots, so that’s what I did.”

Rice said hitting three free throws after being fouled by Gray with 10:48 left in the first half got him settled in.

“When I made those three free throws, it kind of got me in rhythm,” Rice said, "and I said ‘OK, maybe it won’t be a bad day.’ "

Then he began hitting 3-pointers from all over floor, from range rivaling that of Miami’s Robert Hite. He scored 14 points in the first half, propelling the Eagles to a 28-22 lead, and fired in three more crucial 3-pointers in the second half.

“In the zone we lost him and he hit them, it’s plain and simple,” said Wake’s Harvey Hale.

Rice’s shooting enabled BC to build enough of a lead to survive a meltdown at the free-throw line. Wake fouled 12 times in the final 1:49 and the Eagles hit just 10 of 24 attempts.

The Deacons, as has become their pattern, couldn’t take advantage of the chances afforded them.

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Watch the Deacs have their game of the season against us.

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[B]Deacons’ slide continues
Boston College deals Wake its sixth straight loss[/B]
[I]By Steve Phillips, High Point Enterprise Sports Writer[/I]

WINSTON-SALEM – With the schedule showing four of its next five games at home, Wake Forest hoped to start turning around its dismal basketball fortunes on Wednesday night.

Instead, Boston College prolonged the misery with a 72-66 victory at Joel Coliseum, and a player from the Demon Deacons’ backyard did much of the dama ge.

Salisbury native Tyrese Rice poured in 23 points as the Eagles sent Wake to its sixth straight Atlantic Coast Conference loss. It marked a careerhigh for the 6-foot freshman guard, who came in averaging 9.3 points per game.

The Deacons (12-11, 1-9) are now assured of a losing ACC record after being picked to finish third in preseason.

“As I told the players, I don’t have too many speeches in my bag for a team that is 1-9,’’ Wake coach Skip Prosser said. “I’m making them up as I go along. But the mystifying thing is we practice hard, and we prepare hard.’ ’ Boston College (18-5, 6-4) has won seven of eight overall and currently shares third place in the ACC standings with Miami.

Rice, who moved to the Richmond, Va., area with his mother when he was 9 years old, scored 14 points off the bench to spark BC to a 28-22 halftime lead after a sluggish start. Wake led briefly in the second half – on a Justin Gray 3-pointer that put the Deacons up 34-33 – but Rice countered with a 3-pointer moments later to put the Eagles back in front.

Rice hit another 3 with 9:40 left in the game to give BC the lead for good at 45-42. Rice finished 7-of-9 from the floor, 6-ofÂŹ8 from 3-point range. Most of his long-range bombs came over a Wake zone.

“He was in the scouting report as an X-factor guy,’’ said Gray, who led all scorers with 24 points. “We watched film, and he made shots. On most of his shots tonight there wasn’t a hand in his face, so he did what any Division I basketball player is going to do. He stepped up and made them.’’

The Eagles shot just 45 percent from the floor but outrebounded Wake 41-27 and held an eye-opening 18-4 edge in secondchance points. The Deacons compounded their woes by shooting 41 percent as a team.

BC built a double-digit lead, but almost let Wake back into the game with shoddy freethrow shooting in the closing minutes. The Eagles went to the line a Joel Coliseum-record 50 times but converted only 30 attempts.

Trailing 69-63, Wake had a chance to make it a one possession game when freshman Harvey Hale pulled up for a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 18 seconds left.

But the shot missed its mark and BC’s Akida Mc Lain rebounded to kill Wake’s final hope.

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[QUOTE=VA49er;153315]Watch the Deacs have their game of the season against us.[/QUOTE]

drum will go off for 34

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[B]Rice burns Deacs twice[/B]
[I]By Steve Phillips, High Point Enterprise Sports Writer[/I]

WINSTON-SALEM – Wake Forest got a good look Wednesday night at what might have been.

Boston College’s Tyrese Rice wasn’t thinking in those terms following the Eagles’ 72-66 win over the Demon Deacons at Joel Coliseum. After leading his team with 23 points and dazzling Wake with his outside shooting touch, the freshman point guard was happy to dwell on the reality of the present.

As much as media in attendance allowed him to, anyway. The Salisbury native, who played his high school basketball in Virginia, spent much of his postgame time recounting the events of last April, when he chose Boston College over Wake late in the recruiting process.

Point guard issues have plagued the Deacons since preseason practice opened last October. Wake (12-11 overall, 1-9 ACC) could clearly use a player of Rice’s caliber in the backcourt.

But the picture wasn’t that clear last spring. All-America point guard Chris Paul had not yet announced his intentions to forego his junior year at Wake and enter the NBA Draft. The Deacons showed interest in Rice, but not early enough.

“They didn’t really offer from the start,’’ Rice said. “They weren’t really sure what Chris Paul was going to do. Once they found out (Paul was headed to the NBA) I had made my commitment to Boston College.’’ Rice, who set a Virginia high school record with 314 career 3-pointers, had visits to Boston College and Wake Forest planned on back-toback weekends last April. He never made it to Winston¬ Salem.

“Boston College pretty much put it out on the table,’’ Rice said. “Wake Forest didn’t really offer at first. I committed to Boston College after my visit there.’’

Would Rice be a Deacon now had Wake coach Skip Prosser and his staff moved f aster?

“Maybe,’’ Rice said. “Who knows?’’ Prosser said Rice’s account of his recruitment was “accurate.” “It’s sort of a long story,’’ Prosser said. “Part of it was we thought Chris (Paul) might be coming back, and we thought with Chris and Justin (Gray) we’d be OK at that position. And we were involved with several other point guards in the junior class.” Rice finally made his visit to Wake on Wednesday night. He had 14 points by halftime. Then, after the Deacons staged a run to take the lead early in the second half, the 6-foot freshman connected on a pair of 3¬ pointers to put the Eagles ahead for keeps.

“We knew he was a very good player, and obviously he showed that to us again,’’ Prosser said.

Rice’s shooting eyes widened when Wake went to a zone defense early in the game. He responded by going 6-of-8 from 3-point range.

“We didn’t do a good job of finding Rice,’’ Prosser understated. “When we did find him we sort of looked at him while he handed us a 3. We went man-to-man in the second half because of his shooting ability.’’ Wake had other problems besides Rice on Wednesday night. The Deacons were hammered on the boards for the second straight game. Their poor shooting and lack of offensive execution prevented them from taking full advantage when the Eagles missed 14 of their last 24 free-throw attempts.

But Rice, the Deaconmight-have-been, remained the man of the hour.

“I just happened to have my best game here,’’ he shrugged. “There was no (extra) motivation. The motivation is already there, just playing the game.’’

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Their players will be up for this game. Williams and especially Gray since he’s going against his hometown buddy and former HS mate in CW.

We need to flood Prosser with calls to his coaching show pleading with him to put Gray at the point guard for this game.

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[QUOTE=VA49er;153315]Watch the Deacs have their game of the season against us.[/QUOTE]

Believe it: the acc refs will see to that. They always have.

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I don’t see a single reason why Wake should beat us. We are a very good rebounding team and Wake has a serious problem with rebounding. As long as we can play D like we have in the 2nd half vs Temple and Dayton, we can beat Wake.

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[QUOTE=HappyCamper49;153329]I don’t see a single reason why Wake should beat us. We are a very good rebounding team and Wake has a serious problem with rebounding. As long as we can play D like we have in the 2nd half vs Temple and Dayton, we can beat Wake.[/QUOTE]

What does Williams do all game? Just stand around? He’s huge!

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heh…

I thought the subject was “Wake Hoes” :frowning:

anyway…carry on…

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[QUOTE=Savio;153341]heh…

I thought the subject was “Wake Hoes” :frowning:

anyway…carry on…[/QUOTE]
Been there, done that Savio.:clap:

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[QUOTE=HappyCamper49;153329]I don’t see a single reason why Wake should beat us… [/QUOTE]

See 49er1’s post.

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Over40, you and I are likely the only ones here that will remember Melvin’s final minute phantom charging call when Skip Brown hit the deck on January 22, 1977.

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Oh, I remember that well. Ranks right up there with this one:

Kentucky beats UNC Charlotte in the finals of the 1987 UKIT. Ed Davender and the referees conspire to give UK the victory. Davender pushes Charlotte's Byron Dinkins out of bounds rather than surrender the go-ahead layup in the final seconds. The referees called Dinkins for walking.
Link: [b][url=http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/sports/columnists/12267687.htm]Kentucky.com[/url][/b]
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[QUOTE=HP49er;153350]Over40, you and I are likely the only ones here that will remember Melvin’s final minute phantom charging call when Skip Brown hit the deck on January 22, 1977.[/QUOTE]

Every Niner that was a part of the sellout crowd in the Greensboro Coliseum (& there was lots of Green in Greensboro that night) should remember it.

Justice was served though. Wake had to play Marquette one game before we did in the tourney, giving Wake a Final 8 appearance while we went to the Final 4. I’ll stop right there.

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Eric Williams is a decent post player but has fallen off terribly his best chance of getting into the league was last year while he could have hung on Chris Pauls tailcoat, but now he has no chance for the league Justin Gray is the only star on this team and I think we can handle him.

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[QUOTE=run49er;153353]Oh, I remember that well. Ranks right up there with this one:

Link: Kentucky.com[/QUOTE]

The arena was renamed to Rape Arena shortly thereafter.

[QUOTE=Over40NINER;153356]Every Niner that was a part of the sellout crowd in the Greensboro Coliseum (& there was lots of Green in Greensboro that night) should remember it.

Justice was served though. Wake had to play Marquette one game before we did in the tourney, giving Wake a Final 8 appearance while we went to the Final 4. I’ll stop right there.[/QUOTE]
Correct, there was a lot of green in the Lee Street Barn that Saturday evening. And gentleman Carl Tacy was sweating it out.

As for justice, we lost again in the Omni on an offensive interference no call. :ticked: