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Deacons raring to play their opener
Wake Forest players eager for redemption after loss to Maryland
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Published: March 17, 2009
Upon receiving an invitation to the NCAA Tournament Sunday night, the Wake Forest Deacons couldn't wait to begin preparing for first-round opponent Cleveland State.
So they didn't.
"After the selection show comes off (Sunday) night the guys come up and say ‘ Can we go practice?' " Coach Dino Gaudio said yesterday. "I said ‘No, no, no. We're off today.'
"They wanted to get going."
So instead about a half-dozen Deacons gathered on their own in the gym upstairs in the Miller Center for a spirited, if informal session. Gaudio said he saw the lights as he was driving home, having watched tapes on Cleveland State until around midnight.
Williams said he walked out of the gym around 1:30.
"After the selection show we took off our suits and ties, got something to eat and came to the gym," junior L.D. Williams said.
Sophomores Jeff Teague and James Johnson played one-on-one for a while, with Gary Clark with some others also working up a sweat..
"Then Al-Farouq (Aminu) and Ish (Smith) came up and were shooting around," Teague said. "I couldn't wait. The Maryland loss was a let-down so we were ready to get back in the gym as soon as possible.
"I was so happy to see guys in here when I came up here. I was like ‘I know we're ready now.' "
The bus ride back up Interstate 85 from Atlanta and Friday's 75-64 loss to was one to forget as soon as possible. The wake-up call was set for 8 a.m. and the Deacons rolled out of town around 9.
"It was terrible," Teague said. "They made it the worst way possible. At eight o'clock in the morning we got up, ate breakfast and we were on the bus for five hours.
"It was painful."
Gnawing on Teague all the way home was his performance in Atlanta, when he missed all five 3-point attempts, scored 11 points and publicly apologized for his play afterward. He said Friday night that he was timid, a confession he repeated yesterday.
He vowed Friday's game in the first round of the NCAA Tournament will be different.
"We played bad against Maryland, and I put it on myself," Teague said. "I was timid that last game. But it's not going to be like that. (Yesterday) in practice I was real aggressive.
"I'm going to continue to be like that the rest of the year."
The Deacons shot 30 percent against Maryland, made three of 25 3-point attempts and were no closer than eight points during the final 17 minutes. Johnson said that the team had stage fright. Gaudio said yesterday that the Deacons, for whatever reason, were tight.
So why is there any reason to believe that the team psyche will be different on Friday in Miami when the Deacons play Cleveland State of the Horizon League, knowing they have to win to prolong their season?
Williams said that the Deacons learned a lesson in Atlanta, and will instead revert to the approach they took while winning the 76 Classic in Anaheim, Calif., in December.
"We put a lot of pressure on ourselves (in Atlanta)," Williams said. "It wasn't the coaches doing anything. It wasn't the media asking us anything. We just put a lot of pressure on ourselves that we had to win the conference, and we couldn't lose. And we were tight in trying to do that, and we got distracted.
"The veteran guys, even though we've never been (to the NCAA Tournament) we kind of took a different approach to it. In the hotel room (in Atlanta) we didn't have much fun like we usually do. In California, we were in each other's room, joking around, trying to get to the park. We took a more fun approach to it.
"This trip down to Atlanta for us was more business."
It has been said many times that the NCAA Tournament is a new season. It's one that the Deacons just couldn't wait to get started.
"Now we're in the tournament," Smith said. "I talked to my mom and she said ‘Ish you've been playing really good the last seven games, now it's a different level. You've got to turn it up to another level.'
"I'm up for the challenge, and I'm ready to go. I hope these boys are ready to go because I'm pushing even faster."
■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com.
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