Wake Forest Postgame Thoughts

[gocuse44]

Replacing a Hall of Famer is always going to be a leap into the unknown.

Hall of Fame 100 percent created this mess the last ten years... malpractice

 

[Trueblue25]

Start from scratch with Starling and Westry next year. Have Brown and Copeland off the bench.

Recruit over all the other players.

 

[MadNY3]

I’m in disbelief, but how we respond the next two games (even w/ Louisville at home) will tell me more than this game did. I hope.

 

[Cuse181]

Start from scratch with Starling and Westry next year. Have Brown and Copeland off the bench.

Recruit over all the other players.

Westry has played 105 minutes of college ball, he should be considered a bonus at best. There’s no guarantee he’ll ever be a high level player.

 

[Dinkyspond]

Start from scratch with Starling and Westry next year. Have Brown and Copeland off the bench.

Recruit over all the other players.

Westry has proven to be injury prone. Cannot be counted on.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Taylor finally got open and started shooting. He missed them in the first half but made a quick ten points in the second half to bring us within 12. Then Red pulled him out, and he never saw the floor again, while his teammates shot bricks and gave Wake lay-up practice. Inexcusable coaching,

 

[gmoney44]

Williams has some major issues. He acts like he’s in another world. I think he has 3-4 technicals this year. It’s ridiculous his lack of discipline. He acts like a punk. He’s a 6’9” spoiled brat that thinks he knows everything. He’s a cancer on this team and needs to be sent packing. If he went to the locker room without shaking hands that’s reason enough to remove him from the program. At some point, enough is enough. Play guys that want to play the right way. If you’re going to get killed, at least have players on the court trying to play the right way. We will learn a lot against Louisville. They will either come out guns a blazing or quit on the season. I feel bad for Red. He wants it more than the players.

Sometimes the best thing you can do for a young man is to move on. Wish him the best and walk away. JB and Red have each given him multiple chances. What he needs we obviously don’t have.

 

[FrancoPizza]

At least he didn’t deck someone.

Seems like that might be what it takes to get him off the team. He’s had 4, 5, 6 chances over the last couple years.

 

[Dinkyspond]

Taylor finally got open and started shooting. He missed them in the first half but made a quick ten points in the second half to bring us within 12. Then Red pulled him out, and he never saw the floor again, while his teammates shot bricks and gave Wake lay-up practice. Inexcusable coaching,

was wondering why he was pulled too, started to do something and then yanked, maybe his D was bad?

 

[Cheriehoop]

He clunked 3 wide open 3s in a row then added a forced fadeaway and bad drive after we had closed the gap killed our first half. He also go abused on d. Nobody was food tonight but need to figure out a plan for next year

Taylor was guarding that Carr kid who’s a 6’11” senior, quite a task for a 6’6” guard/small forward. Awful mismatches in this game. Maliq was guarding their 7’ junior center, Reid, and giving up a number of inches himself. Sadly we are playing some of our players out of their normal position. Both of these Wake players plus Sallis and Miller are all transfer portal players who start for Wake Forest. (4 of their 5 starters were portal additions) Red switched quickly to the taller Benny against Carr which made sense especially defensively against Wake.

2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster - Wake Forest University Athletics

The official 2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster for the Wake Forest University Deacons

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[Red2003]

Taylor was guarding that Carr kid who’s a 6’11” senior, quite a task for a 6’6” guard/small forward. Awful mismatches in this game. Maliq was guarding their 7’ junior center, Reid, and giving up a number of inches himself. Sadly we are playing some of our players out of their normal position. Both of these Wake players plus Sallis and Miller are all transfer portal players who start for Wake Forest. (4 of their 5 starters were portal additions) Red switched quickly to the taller Benny against Carr which made sense especially defensively against Wake.

2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster - Wake Forest University Athletics

The official 2024-25 Men's Basketball Roster for the Wake Forest University Deacons

godeacs.com

Exactly. The weight disparity is what's brutal too. I feel like I'm watching our banged up and injured football team limp through November again. Guys that are 20/30/40 pounds smaller and 2-3 years younger than their matchups every 3-4 days are going to get worn down so much quickly. Soaking wet Brown is 220 and our meatiest player on the court which is insane to think about.

 

[sufan59]

That was tough to watch and the Jim Boeheim built Syracuse program is in jeopardy. UCONN went through something similar, though they even found some success very early in the transition with Ollie, but they eventually needed a complete reset by hiring Hurley. Autry showed me last night in the press conference that he gets that this game felt more than just a loss, but that we have a massive culture problem and that he needs to take swift action if he wants to prevent the complete reset that plenty of fans called for at the end of last season. There is two things that I like to see happen right away and third thing moving forward for the culture of the team:
1. I saw this in another thread on it being mandatory again, but we should jump back on this trend. Autry and coaches should wear suits again. It’s one little thing right away that we can do to inject some professionalism that we need back into this program.
2. Talk back to the coaches or leave the bench during the game. Immediate ejection and back to the locker room. I can’t imagine any other program putting up with that behavior.
3. We need to schedule the toughest schedule possible moving forward. If we need to play Big East teams as every non conference game, we should do it. Even if we have to play on the road. We need to challenge ourselves to be the toughest program we can be, that means putting in the work in the weight room and eating right.

This mindset may cost us some top recruits in the short term, but we need to start recruiting those willing to put in the work over the stars a player has. Maybe then we will start to get the 5 star recruits that are willing to put the work in as well.

 

[MikeSU02]

Justin Taylor has a PER of 8.2 and a TS% of 43.3%. And starts.

But here’s my point by showing that — I’m not sure where on the list of the program’s issues this falls.

Honestly. I have no idea.

 

[Trueblue25]

Westry has played 105 minutes of college ball, he should be considered a bonus at best. There’s no guarantee he’ll ever be a high level player.

So we just give up on him now?

The kid had an injury and needs to recover. He’s still a much better prospect than Taylor and Bell. Its not comparable. He’s a positive player Red brought in.

 

[Trueblue25]

Westry has proven to be injury prone. Cannot be counted on.

Rather count on what remains to be seen than the crap we’ve seen for years with other players.

 

[Millhouse]

I have never, until last night, turn off a game. I could not stand to watch the continuing horrific play. I sure hope Coach Autry can turn this team around.

I watched the whole train wreck, I find it oddly intriguing. And I leave games early all the time. It horseshoed into something so bad, I had to watch

 

[Dinkyspond]

Rather count on what remains to be seen than the crap we’ve seen for years with other players.

I don’t count on the other players either, it's got to be blown up

 

[Lukeyloo]

Start from scratch with Starling and Westry next year. Have Brown and Copeland off the bench.

Recruit over all the other players.

Have to hope Westry can get - and stay - healthy. By all accounts he’s much more of a PG than Judah, which is what this team desperately needs.

Will definitely need to get a hired gun at the 3 spot in the offseason as we need a floor stretcher and someone who can replace Judah’s points.

 

[Trueblue25]

Have to hope Westry can get - and stay - healthy. By all accounts he’s much more of a PG than Judah, which is what this team desperately needs.

Will definitely need to get a hired gun at the 3 spot in the offseason as we need a floor stretcher and someone who can replace Judah’s points.

We need to raise the talent depth significantly. Boeheim tanked Syracuse standards the last 6-8 years. Westry, if healthy, helps with that. Many here choose to forget the very familiar names Chance shut down in HS before he spurned us. We’re lucky to have him.

A competitive, proud team starts at practice and intersquads.

 

[Trueblue25]

I don’t count on the other players either, it's got to be blown up

Starling, Copeland and Brown are good pieces. Fine with them. Surround them with players without crybaby attitudes and who want to win.

 

[phil77]

Justin Taylor has a PER of 8.2 and a TS% of 43.3%. And starts.

But here’s my point by showing that — I’m not sure where on the list of the program’s issues this falls.

Honestly. I have no idea.

It is all the same issue. TALENT. We do not have it at all. Like none. If Red could let every player go in the off season and just start over with no returning players except the 2 recruits he can put together a better team.

We need a PG - SF - C in the portal. The PG and SF need to be able to shoot and create shots.

 

[Willy75]

The kid has had multiple fits since the second suspension. He did some of the same garbage just the other night at Boston College. Did you see him brush by red on his way back to the bench? Have you been watching the games all year since the second suspension? Doesn’t seem like it judging from your post.

It would have been a whole lot better for him and SU had he left for the MAAC two years ago. He’s a Marist/Iona kind of guy.

 

[M2MPrinciples]

It was nice to see Autry show his frustration in the postgame presser, even if he's the one who's ultimately accountable.

It's in games like these where players and coaches reveal their true selves. Get everything into the light so you can plainly see what's broken, then take steps to fix it. We all agree that the talent issue is what it is, but lack of effort and mental toughness keep coming up too.

It's one thing to get blasted by UNC, quite another to get blown out by a bunch of unheralded guys who are playing well because they've been coached up and bought in.

 

[Dave]

Hall of Fame 100 percent created this mess the last ten years... malpractice

Because of course success beyond our recruiting is guaranteed to us. It is our birthright! Wake up to reality, welp.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I’d sit the guys who don’t play hard. We will take lumps, but Red needs to show he’s business. Benny should not be on the team. Bell and Mintz are hit or miss with effort. I think some of this stuff is infecting the entire team. Play Peter Carey with Maliq if we have to, I don’t care. Just get guys on the court who won’t quit.