Wake Forest Athletics
Forbes and the Deacs Prepare for Tough Louisville Squad
1/13/2021 7:30:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Les Johns
The Donut Hole Cafe and Bakery is described as a "homey option featuring breakfast all day, fresh-baked donuts, Key lime pie & hearty comfort food."
That's where Northwest Florida State basketball coach Steve Forbes met Xavier coach Chris Mack, who worked as an assistant at Wake Forest with Skip Prosser, nearly a decade ago, after Mack called Forbes while on family vacation in the Destin, Florida area.
Though they share the same agent, it was the first time they'd met or spoke to each other. The meeting lasted more than two hours.
"We just talked and got to know each other," Forbes said. "He's a Twitter guy and likes Dunkin Donuts like I do (coffee), so we go back and forth every now and then on Twitter."
The next meeting between the two was memorable for Forbes as well, but for all the wrong reasons. As coach at East Tennessee State, Forbes had No. 5 Xavier on the ropes, leading 51-29 early in the second half. The Buccaneers led 55-35 with 11:56 to go, but a furious 33-11 to end the game delivered the win to Mack and the Musketeers.
"We were whipping them, and then things changed," Forbes said. "It was probably the hardest loss maybe I've ever had. It was the most helpless feeling I've ever had watching that thing disappear and not being able to help our guys. They beat us right at the end, but after that we won 16 in a row."
Now the two coaches square off again as No. 16 Louisville (8-1, 3-0) visits Joel Coliseum at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday to face Wake Forest (3-3, 0-3).
Louisville opponents are shooting less than 40 percent from the floor and have connected on just 31.6 percent of attempts behind the arc.
"Louisville is a really good basketball team," Forbes said. "They defend at a high level. They play an aggressive type of pack line defense, like Virginia. They don't give up easy baskets or offensive rebounds. They contest shots. They do a great job of keeping the ball out of the post.
"They mix up their ball screen coverages. They have a lot of activity on the ball. We're going to have to really move the ball, take good shots and make them in order to have a chance to beat them."
Leading the charge offensively for the Cards are guards Carlik Jones and David Johnson. Jones leads the team with 16.5 points per game and 39 assists on the season. Johnson is the leading long-distance threat for Louisville, hitting 45.7 percent of his shots behind the arc, while averaging 14.7 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. The Cards pound the glass from all five spots on the court, and hold a 7.2 average rebounding edge over their opponents.
"Carlik Jones is one of the premier guards in the league," Forbes said. "He's really good. He's high usage. I think he's fourth in the league in usage, which means the majority of possessions end with the ball in his hands. David Johnson is an outstanding 3-point shooter. They just have a lot of 6-foot-7, long, athletic guys."
In six games played this season, the Deacs have six different players tie or lead the team in scoring: Tariq Ingraham, Ismael Massoud, Daivien Williamson, Ian DuBose, Isaiah Mucius & Jonah Antonio.
The Deacs have four averaging double digits, and seven at 8.6 points per game or higher. They've made great strides since the loss at Georgia Tech, but have not yet put together a full 40-minute game to grab a win in conference play.
"I think they're doing a lot of great things," Forbes said. "This is the whole problem with not playing non conference. When you're putting in a whole new style of play, culture, system, identity — when practice is really hard, they need some success. They have to see that this works. When we didn't have the opportunity to do that in December, that really stunted our growth.
"Now to their credit, they made a lot of changes and got a lot better in six days against really good teams. I'm proud of them for that. But there are no moral victories in this thing. I want to win for them more than anything. I want them to feel good about themselves."
After breaking down tape from the first three games of the conference slate, Forbes believes the difference could be in rebounding and 50-50 balls.
"That doesn't mean they don't take pride in their performance, and they should," he said. "They're just learning what it takes to get over the hump. But they haven't won a lot around here in awhile. It's not something that's ingrained in all of them. What it comes down to in the end is just making those 50-50 plays.
"If you don't give Duke all those offensive rebounds and instead come down and score, the game changes. I don't think it really had a lot to do with our execution."
The next opportunity to fix that comes tonight against Mack and the nationally-ranked Louisville Cardinals. The two coaches were texting each other late night during the weekend.
"We were both watching our game against Duke, comparing notes," Forbes said. "I'll just leave it at that.
"I think he's a helluva coach, but he's an even better person. He's really a good guy. He's smart and funny, and not afraid to make fun of himself, like me. I like him and think he's going to do great things at Louisville."
That's where Northwest Florida State basketball coach Steve Forbes met Xavier coach Chris Mack, who worked as an assistant at Wake Forest with Skip Prosser, nearly a decade ago, after Mack called Forbes while on family vacation in the Destin, Florida area.
Though they share the same agent, it was the first time they'd met or spoke to each other. The meeting lasted more than two hours.
"We just talked and got to know each other," Forbes said. "He's a Twitter guy and likes Dunkin Donuts like I do (coffee), so we go back and forth every now and then on Twitter."
The next meeting between the two was memorable for Forbes as well, but for all the wrong reasons. As coach at East Tennessee State, Forbes had No. 5 Xavier on the ropes, leading 51-29 early in the second half. The Buccaneers led 55-35 with 11:56 to go, but a furious 33-11 to end the game delivered the win to Mack and the Musketeers.
"We were whipping them, and then things changed," Forbes said. "It was probably the hardest loss maybe I've ever had. It was the most helpless feeling I've ever had watching that thing disappear and not being able to help our guys. They beat us right at the end, but after that we won 16 in a row."
Now the two coaches square off again as No. 16 Louisville (8-1, 3-0) visits Joel Coliseum at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday to face Wake Forest (3-3, 0-3).
Louisville opponents are shooting less than 40 percent from the floor and have connected on just 31.6 percent of attempts behind the arc.
"Louisville is a really good basketball team," Forbes said. "They defend at a high level. They play an aggressive type of pack line defense, like Virginia. They don't give up easy baskets or offensive rebounds. They contest shots. They do a great job of keeping the ball out of the post.
"They mix up their ball screen coverages. They have a lot of activity on the ball. We're going to have to really move the ball, take good shots and make them in order to have a chance to beat them."
Leading the charge offensively for the Cards are guards Carlik Jones and David Johnson. Jones leads the team with 16.5 points per game and 39 assists on the season. Johnson is the leading long-distance threat for Louisville, hitting 45.7 percent of his shots behind the arc, while averaging 14.7 points and 6.1 rebounds a game. The Cards pound the glass from all five spots on the court, and hold a 7.2 average rebounding edge over their opponents.
"Carlik Jones is one of the premier guards in the league," Forbes said. "He's really good. He's high usage. I think he's fourth in the league in usage, which means the majority of possessions end with the ball in his hands. David Johnson is an outstanding 3-point shooter. They just have a lot of 6-foot-7, long, athletic guys."
In six games played this season, the Deacs have six different players tie or lead the team in scoring: Tariq Ingraham, Ismael Massoud, Daivien Williamson, Ian DuBose, Isaiah Mucius & Jonah Antonio.
The Deacs have four averaging double digits, and seven at 8.6 points per game or higher. They've made great strides since the loss at Georgia Tech, but have not yet put together a full 40-minute game to grab a win in conference play.
"I think they're doing a lot of great things," Forbes said. "This is the whole problem with not playing non conference. When you're putting in a whole new style of play, culture, system, identity — when practice is really hard, they need some success. They have to see that this works. When we didn't have the opportunity to do that in December, that really stunted our growth.
"Now to their credit, they made a lot of changes and got a lot better in six days against really good teams. I'm proud of them for that. But there are no moral victories in this thing. I want to win for them more than anything. I want them to feel good about themselves."
After breaking down tape from the first three games of the conference slate, Forbes believes the difference could be in rebounding and 50-50 balls.
"That doesn't mean they don't take pride in their performance, and they should," he said. "They're just learning what it takes to get over the hump. But they haven't won a lot around here in awhile. It's not something that's ingrained in all of them. What it comes down to in the end is just making those 50-50 plays.
"If you don't give Duke all those offensive rebounds and instead come down and score, the game changes. I don't think it really had a lot to do with our execution."
The next opportunity to fix that comes tonight against Mack and the nationally-ranked Louisville Cardinals. The two coaches were texting each other late night during the weekend.
"We were both watching our game against Duke, comparing notes," Forbes said. "I'll just leave it at that.
"I think he's a helluva coach, but he's an even better person. He's really a good guy. He's smart and funny, and not afraid to make fun of himself, like me. I like him and think he's going to do great things at Louisville."
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