Wake Forest Athletics
100% COTTEN
1/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 30, 2005
Cotten Briefs: News and Notes as the Deacons near the halfway point of their ACC schedule following the win over Miami.
Perhaps Chris Paul said it best following the downing of the Hurricanes: "If we have to lose to win, it's not going to be a very good season."
Paul was pointing to the fact that the Deacs have not lost two in a row this season and have found a way to follow each of the three losses to date with a victory. Maybe the will to avoid bad streaks comes with experience. Last season the Deacs lost at least two in a row three times. This season, Wake Forest has chased losses against Illinois with a near 20-point win over always tough Richmond, Florida State with an impressive win on the road against Bob Huggins' Cincinnati Bearcats, and Georgia Tech with the silencing of the Hurricanes and their offensive-minded backcourt triumvirate of Diaz, Hite and Harris (these guys were terrific, but you get the point).
Sometimes the ball just doesn't go in. All of us were shocked when Taron Downey's free throw bounced out with four seconds left and the Deacons tied with Florida State in Tallahassee. I had a similar feeling after Chris Paul missed two straight free throws in the waning seconds of overtime at Georgia Tech. The following day I arrived at the Miller Center on campus 45 minutes prior to the start of practice and there was Paul - shooting, shooting, shooting. I watched for quite a while and don't remember many misses. Most of the time he stripped the net. I would have bet the mortgage when he stepped to the line against Miami. My jaw was on the table when his first two attempts missed their mark. I started to think that perhaps it had gotten into Chris' head. Wrong - it had gotten into mine. His next two shots were dead center perfect.
I asked Coach Prosser prior to the Miami game if he thought he would use some zone against the Hurricanes given the talent of their guards and their ability to wiggle for good shots. As we know, Skip isn't that fond of playing anything but man-to-man. We also know that he hates losing more than he loves winning.
Enter the half-court zone trap.
Miami entered the game next to last in the ACC in three point percentage but had hit an amazing 10 of 11 at intermission. Not long into the second half the Deacs employed the 1-3-1 trap at midcourt and choked the Canes into only 3-14 from long range in the second half. Remember that little tidbit for sometime later in the season.
The three losses to date for the Deacs have all come with the opponent shooting over fifty percent for the game. Against Miami, it wasn't looking good early with Frank Haith's team hitting just about everything it was throwing at the rim. But so were the Demon Deacons. About halfway through the first half I looked at the stat monitor and saw that Wake was hitting 80% of its shots and was losing! At the break, both teams had cooled off into the mid-fifties. The aforementioned zone trap helped the Deacs squelch Miami into a .361 percentage in the second half and .457 for the game. The recipe for success.
Wake Forest has won enough games to secure yet another winning season - its 15th straight. Six wins following the Miami victory would give the Deacs their 90th in a four year span under Skip Prosser. Winning with that level of frequency has happened only three times previously in Deacon history.
It was great to see Skeeter Francis' family at the Miami game. It was recognized at halftime - a little over a year since the longtime publicist for the Deacs passed away. I still expect to see Skeeter rounding the corner, dressed to the nines, with a smile and a kind word. We miss you, Skeeter.
