SB Nation - Al-Farouq Aminu

Wake Forest +/- vs. NC State

JoshuaR — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 17:56:54 -0000

This is the first post in a series that will look at the plus/minus stat for each Wake Forest ACC game. Read below for my intro to the stat itself and for data from the NC State game.

Let’s talk about the rarely used plus/minus for Wake Forest. I like this stat, but you rarely see it calculated in box score. It has some drawbacks, but it can show us some interesting game trends.

What I am going to attempt to do for the rest of the season is calculate +/- stats for Wake players in ACC games. At the end of the regular season I'll have a cumulative metric for each player.

Let’s first look at the pros and cons for this statistic when analyzing it game by game.

Pros:

Tells us who had a positive impact on the score
Captures nearly all contributions made by a player

Cons:

Does not show when the contributions were made (Crunch time, garbage time, etc)
Cannot tell us what teammates were on the court or what opponents were on the court, which can skew the data

For an example of a game when +/- data is quite useful for someone who did not watch a game, let's take the Kings-Bulls game from Monday night, when the Kings came back from 35 down in the 3^rd quarter to win the game:

Player name	+/- stat
Omri Casspi	-25
Spencer Hawes	-21
Jason Thompson	+2
Andres Nocioni	-28
Tyreke Evans	+6
Kenny Thomas	-2
Ime Udoka	+13
Beno Udrih	+14
Jon Brockman	+26
Sergio Rodriguez	+16
Donte Greene	+19

Is there any doubt as to which players were ready to play and which were not that night? I went to the boxscore of that game before I read the recap and was astonished by the differences in margins for the players, especially when the game ended up so close. After reading what happened in game, I knew exactly who was on the court during the big comeback.

In that same regard, I'm going to track +/- for the Deacs in ACC play this season. I will make several small inferences from single games but will be able to draw some big picture conclusions when I have a bigger sample size.

Here's the chart from the NC State game. For now, I'm not going to make any major assumptions about the data. But if you want to comment on something or have your own ideas, I would be all ears.

Player Name	+/- Stat
Al-Farouq Aminu	+4
LD Williams	+2
Chas McFarland	+7
Ishmael Smith	+4
CJ Harris	+6
Gary Clark	+4
Ari Stewart	+3
Tony Woods	+3
David Weaver	+2

This is about what I expected for this game. The game was close most of the way and did not feature many big runs by either team. Nice to see everyone making a positive contribution. As the season rolls on, we will be able to see more trends but I am encouraged by the data from the first game.

Deacon Dump 12/22: Slow down Farouq!

MRickman84 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:00:45 -0000

It's a hodgepodge today--that's what Christmas break will do to links. But we've still got some here (and Jake beat me to a lot of them last night). So beat the winter blues with some news on the Deacs.

The Player Hater's Ball: Al-Farouq!
Some of his decisions can be maddening (you're not a point guard with range, so stop playing like it), but when Al-Farouq Aminu does stuff like this, it's worth it:

Calm Influence: Gaudio's halftime chat paid big dividends for Aminu in victory against N.C. State
"Coach is telling me I'm playing too fast," Aminu said. "I'm going to try over the break to work on just slowing down because he said, ‘You can beat people off the dribble. Just take your time. It's not like going any quicker is going to help you out or anything like that.' "Naturally I'm pretty quick. So I'm going to slow down and make sure I do every move and follow through on everything."

Jabarie Hinds on the Radar | The Journal News
Jabarie Hinds, Mount Vernon: The 6-foot junior point guard averaged 12.9 points and 5.5 assists last season and was a Journal News first-team all-star. A monster summer has earned him offers from Wake Forest, Louisville, and many others.

NewsObserver.com | Photo Galleries
More photos from the State game, including some good shots from Weaver's dunk!

My Take on Wake - Grass Not Always Greener | JournalNow.com
Most players who have transferred from Wake Forest over the past few years may have been missed for who they are, but not for what they could have done to help the Deacons win basketball games.

NBA: Who's Hot? Who's Not? - Basketball News & NBA Rumors -
Who's Cold? Eastern Conference Rookie: Jeff Teague, Atlanta Hawks – After Teague showed signs of life a week ago, the former Wake Forest star shot just four of 15 from the field and was 0 for three from behind the three-point line this week, culminating with a scoreless game in just six minutes in the Hawks loss to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

Bulldogs unleash attack - BostonHerald.com
Central Catholic has made four straight trips to the Div. 1 North final and having Wake Forest-bound center Carson Desrosiers back makes the Raiders a good bet to get there again. Joining the 6-foot-11 Desrosiers in the frontcourt is underrated 6-7 junior Jimmy Zenevitch, while Luis Puello and Michael Alvarez are the most experienced guards.

Deacs 67 NC State 59 - Photos by Bob Hebert- powered by SmugMug
Great photos from Bob, as always

North Carolina State Wolfpack's Tracy Smith banned 1 game for comments on officiating - ESPN
After Sunday night's 67-59 loss in Winston-Salem, Smith told reporters that the officiating crew called too many "touch fouls" and "favored Wake Forest all the way."

ACC Power Rankings: 12.21

MRickman84 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:30:13 -0000

by Charlie Neibergall - AP

View full size photo »

It's time for another exciting edition of ACC Power Rankings. We've had some teams really moving around, so let's see where everyone stacks up.

1.) Duke Blue Devils (9-1, W vs. Gardner-Webb, W vs. Gonzaga) - Duke is really playing well right now. Kyle Singler has picked his game up and Jon Scheyer has been almost mistake free. Duke needs to worry a little bit about their starters' minutes as Scheyer, Singler and Nolan Smith are all playing over 33 minutes a game, and that's with the blowouts included. That notwithstanding, Duke has this spot with a bullet.

2.) North Carolina Tar Heels (8-3, L vs. Texas) - I am almost tempted to drop UNC a little bit further, but there aren't any other teams that have really earned the #2 spot. Regardless, UNC has looked awful in a couple games this year and they definitely have some things to work on. The bigs--Tyler Zeller, Ed Davis and Deon "Miss It" Thompson--are playing well, but the Heels do not play good defense at all and there is literally no guard depth.

3.) Clemson Tigers (10-2, W vs. ECU, W vs. CofC) - Clemson has all the pieces. But they're Clemson. Trevor Booker is a very good player and the combination of Tanner Smith, Andre Young and Demontez Stitt aren't pretty, but they get the job done. Plus their defense can keep them in any game.

4.) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (8-2, W vs. Chattanooga, W vs. AR Pine Bluff, L vs. Florida State) - Despite the loss to FSU, Tech is up here because they have a lot of talent and everyone knew they'd have some bumps along the way. Gani Lawal, Derrick Favors and Zach Peacock bring it most of the time, but with Iman Shumpert out, GT has to rely on freshman Mfon Udofia at the point. He's a gifted player, but he's still a freshman. Tech will have big wins and dumb losses (a lot like a certain team from last year).

5.) Miami Hurricanes (10-2, W vs. Stetson, W vs. Florida Atlantic) - The next few teams are kind of a jumbled mess, but right now I feel like the 'Canes have the edge. Their only blemish was the extremely close loss to Boston College. In all their other games they have won by an average of 22.7 points. Dwayne Collins is averaging 13 and 9, and the James Dews, Malcolm Grand and Durand Scott combo of guards are chipping in 31.4 a game.

6.) Florida State Seminoles (10-2, W vs. Georgia State, W vs. Auburn, W vs. Georgia Tech) - FSU's win over GT was a bit of a statement. The 'Noles had a few decent wins but no real statement win to their credit. This win helps them out and solidifies them as a tough, physical basketball team. Solomon Alabi and Chris Singleton are a real force and Derwin Kitchen is a well-rounded player. Ryan Reid is always capable of showing spurts as well.

7.) Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-2, W vs. UNC-W, W vs. NC State) - Ok, I'll move the Deacs up. They are on a four game winning streak and the wins over Gonzaga, UNC-W and State are games they needed to win, but still look pretty good. If Al-Farouq Aminu can hold onto the basketball, he could average 20+ a game, but as it stands right now, he's still a beast. The key to Wake is whether or not they can get solid play out of their bigs at all--right now, they haven't.

8.) Virginia Tech Hokies (9-1, W vs. Charleston Southern) - VT's record is gaudy, but there aren't any wins that really stick out to me right now. But still, I love how Malcolm Delaney plays and Jeff Allen has done a good job so far. The problem is, there isn't a whole lot more there outside of Dorenzo Hudson and Victor Davila.

9.) Boston College Eagles (7-4, W vs. Bryant) - After back to back losses to Harvard and Rhode Island, where does BC stand? There's a good core there with Joe Trapani, Corey Raji and Reggie Jackson. Tyler Roche gives good minutes. Rakim Sanders is an explosive player. But BC needs to figure things out before ACC play before they can move up the list.

10.) Maryland Terrapins (6-3, DNP) - Remember when everyone was slobbering all over Maryland and Greivis Vasquez? Well, he is shooting 34.6% and 28.2% from deep. Sean Mosley and Landon Milbourne are good players and we all know about Eric Hayes, but Maryland has no good wins and they've lost to the good teams they've played. They need to prove something.

11.) N.C. State Wolfpack (8-2, W vs. Elon, L vs. Wake Forest) - State is an ugly basketball team. They almost lost to Elon and then looked just downright bad against Wake. They have no identity and no real players outside of Javi Gonzalez and Tracy Smith. That win against Marquette is still strange, and the rest of their wins aren't anything to write home about. The Wolfpack have a long road ahead of them when conference play gets going.

12.) Virginia Cavaliers (4-4, DNP) - The best thing to happen to UVA last week was that they got snowed in and didn't play. I wholeheartedly believe that UNC-W would have beaten them. This team is Sylven Landesberg and not much else--Mike Scott is ok, Mustapha Farrakhan shows promise and Sammy Zeglinski is Eric Hayes Part Deux, but the Cavs are not good. Their four wins are against Longwood, Rider, Oral Roberts and Cleveland State.

Deac of the Week

MRickman84 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:45:09 -0000

After a two win week, we thought it appropriate to ask: Who shined this week for the Demon Deacons?

Poll

Who is the Deac of the Week for 12/14-12/21

Deacon Dump 12/21: An ugly win for an ugly team

MRickman84 — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:45:08 -0000

Well it wasn't pretty, but Wake is 1-0 in conference play. Despite the sloppy play, it never really seemed like State was going to be able to overcome even when they cut it down to four. The Deacs get their holiday break and all will be quiet for a little while.

Here are today's links...

FayObserver.com - Wiederer: Ugly or not, Wake will take it
"[Ish is] just good," Lowe said. "He's clever with the basketball. Our gameplan was to try to keep him out of the lane, to try to squeeze. But he's good. And sometimes you run up against a guy who's just better than what your guys are trying to do."

Forget about NBA draft's top pick; it's a done deal -- chicagotribune.com
-- Al-Farouq Aminu, 6-8, 218, So., Wake Forest: Would have been top 10 last season but returned, has gone from 13-8 as a freshman to 16-10.

Wake beats Pack in ACC opener - Sports - NewsObserver.com
"We won ugly and we're an ugly team," Gaudio said he told his team after the game.

| StarNewsOnline.com | Star News | Wilmington, NC
"I’m just out there playing, and hopefully, I can go out there and create, for myself and others, wide-open shots for our shooters, which we do have this year," the 6-foot Smith said. "I’m just playing my game, being aggressive and finding open guys."

My Take on Wake - Falling Snow and Falling Jumpers | JournalNow.com
Watching the early shooting drills convinced me that this a better shooting team than the one a year ago. Big deal, you might say. That team finished dead last in the ACC with a 3-point percentage of .316. But L.D. Williams has clearly improved his shot, and the Deacons upgraded their perimeter firepower by recruiting C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart. Harris is a good shooter because he’s so fundamentally sound and always, always, squared up and on balance when he shoots. Stewart is less sound, but he has such great spring that he can get his shot off above the hands, and he also has a really nice touch. But nobody on the team has the touch of Gary Clark, and I guess that’s why teammates call him G$. The ball floats off his fingertips, even when he’s shooting a leaner. And he has range without his stroke breaking down. Clark shot 28 percent from 3-point range last season, and he’s only taken two in his three games since returning from mono. But watching him closely today, I get the feeling he’s going to play a surprisingly big role on this team by the time all is said and done.

Around the ACC: 12.17

MRickman84 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:06:29 -0000

More photos » by Stanley Leary - AP

Browse more photos »

We finally got a few ACC teams playing on the same day again. Finals are wrapping up and we're closing in on conference play. All four ACC teams won by double figures yesterday, but none played anyone in the KenPom top 100, so it was to be expected.

Let's recap the action in the ACC...

Miami 69, Stetson 49

Dwayne Collins beasted it with 20 points and 15 rebounds, and the Canes shot 56.5% from the floor. There weren't really any other spectacular performances for Miami, but defensively they held Stetson to 33% shooting and 20% from 3. Miami owned the boards +12. Pretty basic non-con cupcake win there.

Clemson 80, East Carolina 63

Another ho-hum game. Trevor Booker did what Trevor Booker does--13 points, 12 rebounds and a surprising 9 assists, not to mention 3 blocks. I've said it before and I'll probably say it a lot more, but Booker is one of the two most overlooked post players in the ACC. I'd take him and Lawal against just about anybody. Tanner Smith and Andre Young combined for 30 points on 10-19 shooting.

GT 65, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 53

Speaking of Gani Lawal, he only had 15 and 15 yesterday. No big deal. Derrick Favors looked like the ACC Rookie of the Year again with 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets amped up the D and held the Golden Lions to 29.4% shooting.

Wake Forest 80, UNC-Wilmington 69

We know how this one finished up, but I'm still in awe of L.D. Williams and his career-high 23 points on 6-7 shooting and 11-12 FTs. If L.D. shows those kind of spurts more often, Wake is a much more dangerous team. Ishmael Smith hjad a complete game with 19 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 steals and Al-Farouq Aminu overcame some really sloppy play to provide a highlight reel dunk and 17 points/13 rebounds. It didn't look pretty (16 turnovers) and UNC-W had a number of runs in the second half, but the Seahawks only hit 6-23 from deep and were plagued with bad free throw shooting (15-28).

Deacon Dump 12/16: Facing the mid-majors

MRickman84 — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:30:13 -0000

A couple interesting stories on Ty Walker and Wake's willingness to travel to play mid-major opponents. This is a key game for the Deacs even though it doesn't seem like it. They need to play focused basketball and make the final tweaks they need before their stretch against State, Richmond and Xavier. Keep an eye out today as we are proud to bring you a Q&A with Robbie Allen of StatSheet.

Walker Weapon: 7-footer is an option
In Wake Forest's most recent game, Sunday's 90-50 pounding of Elon, Walker took advantage of his 11 minutes of playing time to make two of five shots from the floor, and score four points to go with his six rebounds, a block and a steal. "He gave us some good minutes," Gaudio said. "He's practicing harder. He's without a doubt, the last three weeks, improving, and gotten better.

Court Visionaries: 2010 NBA Mock Draft (Version 6)
10) Memphis Grizzlies- Al-Farouq Aminu- SF (Wake Forest) Rudy Gay will almost certainly cut ties with the Grizzlies organization this summer, leaving the Grizzlies looking for a dynamic replacement at small forward who can get up-and-down with Mike Conley and O.J. Mayo. Aminu has great athleticism and upside, but many consider him a project.

| StarNewsOnline.com | Star News | Wilmington, NC
"It's smart on their part," Moss said. "It tests them. They're going to go into hostile environments in the ACC. They go into true road environments and play a couple of good mid-major teams."

‘Tis the Season! Well, almost…. | Wake Forest
Anyways, overall what we really should be doing is focusing on that ‘WF/we finish’ mantra. Because the season may be over, but Wake Football surely isn’t. I fully expect to come back in 2010 to find a more focused, more consistent team. The offseason should serve us well.

Three Deacs Named To College Soccer All-American Teams | digtriad.com | Triad, NC | Sports News Article
Winston-Salem, N.C. - The postseason accolades continue to roll in for members of the Wake Forest men's soccer team as Corben Bone, Ike Opara and Zack Schilawski were named All-Americans by College Soccer News.

Game Preview: Wake Forest vs. UNC-Wilmington

MRickman84 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:46:11 -0000

I'll begin with this: say what you will about Dino Gaudio, but he goes out and plays people. Sure a lot of that is a lot of home and homes and the ACC/Big Ten Challlenge, but going to Zaga, Purdue, BYU, etc... is good for a team that has not had a lot of road success the last few years. Hopefully this year it pays off.

That brings me to everyone's favorite beach bums, UNC-Wilmington. Trask is a very difficult place to play, and there is no question that their fans will be up for this game. They go nuts when George Mason comes to play and I imagine that will only be amped up even more tomorrow.

So what can we expect out of the Seahawks...?

You may remember a few years back when UNC-W was an NCAA team with a 9 seed, fresh off their win in the CAA Championship. They got out to a big lead and collapsed. Flash forward and a new coach, recruits not becoming eligible or falling through and injuries and the Seahawks are just not where they wanted to be.

This team seems to have the pieces to be improving. After last year's 7-25 record, they are currently 4-5 and sit at 109 in KenPom with a solid win over Penn State. They've also dropped a few close games--Miami, George Washington, George Mason and USF, so it is evident that this team can compete.

Last year, the Hawks were running pretty well with Wake and showing some good athleticism before Wake completely ran away with it offensively. And this UNC-W team has really changed their defensive philosophy. They are 62nd in defensive eFG% and 7th against 3 pointers. Wake does not take a lot of threes (and really shouldn't against UNC-W since their biggest starter is 6'9" and no significant contributor is any taller than that).

Chad Tomko is the undisbuted leader of the Seahawks. He is shooting 61% on 2s, but just 32% on 3s. Right behind him is Dominique Lacy, an extremely athletic forward who averaged close to 11 points and 6 rebounds last year. They also get good minutes from Johnny Wolf (13.6 points last year).

The biggest plus for the Seahawks has been the play of junior John Fields. Fields transferred from ECU and sat out last year. He was ECU's second leading scorer and has quickly become a dominant presence for UNC-W. He averages close to 15 points (on 61.4% shooting) and 10 rebounds a game in addition to an astounding 3.3 blocks and is 44th in the country in block%. It will be interesting to see how Wake reacts to Fields on both sides of the floor.

Wake fans will recognize Taron Downey's younger brother Montez on the Seahawks. Downey got hurt last year, but is averaging 15 minutes a game.

Plain and simple, this should be a high tempo game. The Hawks play at the 85th fastest speed, while Wake is at 40. Look for the Deacs to try to get as many fast break opportunities as they can off of blocks and defensive rebounds. Outlet passes by the bigs will be very important, as well as getting the ball inside early and often in half court sets.

Al-Farouq Aminu has not been playing his best basketball as of late and hopefully he can turn that around in Wilmington. CJ Harris and Ari Stewart should get significant minutes and if they can continue their hot shooting, this may be a quick night. The Tomko-Ishmael Smith matchup will be interesting to watch as well.

And of course I have to mention the fact that Ty Walker is from Wilmington. Coming off his arguably th best performance of his career against Elon, the question is how many minutes and what contribution Walker can make in this game.

It is imperative that Tony Woods and Chas McFarland have good games. Chas was extremely efficent last game in limited minutes and Woods showed flashes early on, but Wake needs to work on getting consistency inside. It is something they have struggled with all year.

All in all, this should be an entertaining game and I expect the home crowd to be rowdy during the ESPNU telecast. I don't see Wake taking the Seahawks lightly after what happened against CAA William & Mary. So I think Wilmington will keep it close early, but Wake will pull away.

Wake 75, UNC-W 62

Game Preview: Wake Forest Demon Deacons vs. Elon Phoenix

MRickman84 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:00:35 -0000

After their exam break, the Demon Deacons are back in action Sunday against the Elon Phoenix. The news of Konner Tucker's transfer was sudden, but not surprising. With C.J. Harris's breakout start, the return of Gary Clark and next year's incoming class, minutes were going to be hard to come by for Tucker. We wish him well.

Sunday's game at the Joel will give Wake a chance to catch their breath after a three game stretch that saw them lose at home to an upstart mid-major, travel to West Lafayette to play a top-10 Purdue team and grind out a win at one of the hardest places to play in the country.

So what should we make of the Phoenix?

Southern Conference foe Elon booted former head coach Ernie Nestor, who had some success but could never really break through or establish any consistency. They brought in Davidson assistant Matt Matheny, who was on staff when Davidson made their magical run with Stephen Curry. Matheny hopes to spark some life into the Phoenix, but he has a tough road ahead of him.

Elon lost their top two players from last year who combined for 27.1 points and 11 rebounds and are still trying to figure things out. They are currently 3-6 with wins over Lipscomb, FDU Flordham (I did not know Farleigh Dickinson had another campus) and Chattanoga, with losses to Samford, UNC Wilmington, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Hofstra and Yale.

The Phoenix's biggest problem is that they just are not a good basketball team offensively. They are 324th in offensive efficiency and 347th (dead last folks--good for a DARK red on KenPom) in FTA/FGA. They play mostly around the perimeter and take a ton of 3s (38.4% of their shots). If you're going to take that many threes though, you really should be hitting more than 31% of them.

Their 4 guard lineup makes them extremely succeptable to shots inside, which the Deacs should be able to exploit with no problem. This is the game that Al-Farouq Aminu will use to break out of his slump. It also should give Tony Woods a chance to get some productive minutes. I also see C.J. Harris and Ishmael Smith using high screens to run screen and rolls with all that space in the middle open.

Teams are only shooting 31.5% against them on 3s, but 54% on 2PTs, so Wake really needs to avoid getting in a shootout with Elon. They need to run their sets and play within 10 feet of the hoop the whole game. Elon has 9 players who log at least 10 minutes and 7 who pick up at least 20, so they will be fresh. Wake won't exactly be getting the Phoenix in foul trouble, but there is no excuse not to get to the line at least 20 times tonight.

This will gave the Deacs a good chance to get a lot of long rebounds and run their fast brake, something they haven't had a ton of time to use so far this year. And it's very well possible that they'll log at least 10 blocks.

I see Wake winning this one fairly easily

Wake 75, Elon 48

Deacon Dump 12/11: Finally back in action

MRickman84 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:39:12 -0000

It feels good to know that we'll have a game again. With college football on hiatus and this being exam week, it's a bit slow. But at least the Browns won! That's about as rare as an eclipse. So here's some links on your Friday while you try to sneak out for the weekend. The college cup starts tonight and the Deacs' matchup against UVA should be a great game.

True Blue: NBA Stock Up/Stock Down
AL-FAROUQ AMINU, Wake Forest: Aminu was already getting heavy consideration in the Top 5 before the season started and his play thus far has confirmed why. Aminu has had three straight 20-point games and is averaging a double-double this season (16.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg). The only thing that is going to hurt him is that he’s not that great of a shooter so he will have to put on a lot of muscle if he wants to play the 4 in the NBA. Either that or work on his outside shot so he can be converted into a 3 man. Conclusion: Stock Up

Atlanta Hawks 118, Chicago Bulls 83 or sometimes you just get to eat the whole pint of ice cream - Peachtree Hoops
Teague! Teague! Teague!

Akron Zips, North Carolina Tar Heels, Wake Forest Demon Deacons and Virginia Cavaliers face off in men's College Cup - ESPN
"We were a decimated team, very young and inexperienced," Vidovich said. But there's little athletes love more than adversity, and thanks to the senior leadership of Zack Schilawski (leads all ACC scorers with 11 goals, 27 points on season) and the net-stopping dives of Akira Fitzgerald, the Deacs are making their fourth straight College Cup appearance. And for those with some sort of memory loss, they also took home the title in 2007.

The Rapids Undercurrent: College Cup Preview #2
Coach Vidovich has done an outstanding job with this group considering the loss of some great talent plus the absence of Opara in the middle of the season. This team has it all. It is built with great athleticism, experience and is really electric going forward.

Top-seeded Akron plus 3 ACC teams make College Cup - USATODAY.com
"We appreciate the ACC inviting us to their conference tournament this weekend," joked Caleb Porter, the coach of top-seeded Akron, the only non-ACC team among the final four. "No, we're aware that even though we've been ranked No. 1 in the country all year long and we have the record that we have, people are probably putting us as an underdog."

Familiar faces in College Cup | Charlottesville Daily Progress
"Any time you play a team three times — getting a result three times against a good opponent is not the easiest thing in the world," said Virginia coach George Gelnovatch. "But I don’t think there’s anything I lose sleep about or dwell upon with them. Our focus is on us. Certainly, we have respect for Wake, but most of what we’ve been doing is getting ourselves ready."

Texans' Cushing, Seahawks LB Curry rock rookie wall | Houston Texans Football | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
He's an impressive kid," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said about Curry. "He's big, fast, smart and talented. "When he came to our room at the combine, he looked like a defensive end. When he walked out of the room, I looked at (general manager) Rick (Smith) and said something like, ‘Gosh, that kid's impressive.' And Rick said, ‘Don't worry about him. He'll be long gone before we draft.' "

More Postseason Honors for Wake Forest Football | digtriad.com
Steele's publication selected defensive tackle John Russell to its All-ACC second team along with wide receiver Marshall Williams. Quarterback Riley Skinner was named to the All-ACC third team along with freshman cornerback Kenny Okoro.

College Sports | Zags Men's Hoops: Elias Harris, freshman from Germany, feels at home with Bulldogs | Seattle Times Newspaper
Right about then, that's what Harris did to Wake Forest's Chas McFarland. As a three-point shot went up, Harris pivoted and forearmed McFarland in the neck. McFarland tumbled backward, Harris was assessed a flagrant foul and ejected and Wake swung the momentum toward an eventual 77-75 victory. "I just think it's somewhat confusing to him," says Few, who took issue with the ejection. Meanwhile, Harris said afterward, "My feeling is, I did nothing wrong."

Soccer Notebook: Keeper Fitzgerald says Deacs play extremely well as a team
"Obviously last year's team was very special with the talent we had," Fitzgerald said. "But I think this team, everybody plays for each other, and that's big. Last year's team was the same way, but we have all made a difference in each practice this season." The Deacons finished 21-2-1 last season but lost eight starters. "I think obviously when you lose players like Sam Cronin, Marcus Tracy and Mike Lahoud, talent-wise last year's team might have been better. But we always talk about maybe not being the most talented team, but we talk about being the best team."

Suspense, but no Cinderellas, at Final Four - NCAA - ESPN Soccernet
The Demon Deacons boast the best of the best in the ACC, led by the conference's coach of the year (Jay Vidovich), offensive player of the year (Corben Bone), defensive player of the year (Ike Opara) and two more first-team all-conference players (Zack Schilawski and Austin de Luz). Wake Forest clearly has the experience a team needs to be successful in December, but while having been there before is definitely an asset, it's not enough to carry a team.

J.T. Terrell - ESPN Video - ESPN