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Unbeaten Deacons home to Tribe
Gaudio concerned about William & Mary's Princeton offense
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Published: November 28, 2009
Wake Forest's basketball season is getting ready to get harder in a hurry.
The only question is whether the Deacs' first stiff test will come at home today against William & Mary or Tuesday at Purdue.
Coach Dino Gaudio, whose Deacons are 4-0 after steamrolling Oral Roberts, East Carolina, High Point and Winston-Salem State, is bracing for a challenge in today's 7 p.m game at Joel Coliseum.
"I'll be surprised if it's not a scrap," Gaudio said. "And it's not coach-speak. I'm telling you, it's going to be a dogfight."
The Tribe of the Colonial Athletic Association didn't exactly bolster Gaudio's case with Wednesday's 62-61 home victory over Hampton, secured only after a 3-point attempt by Darrion Pellum of Hampton missed at the buzzer.
But William & Mary, after opening the season with a 77-66 loss at Connecticut and an 87-85 triple-overtime loss at Harvard, improved to 3-2 with its third straight victory.
Although Coach Tony Shaver played at North Carolina in the 1970s, his offensive schemes are derived from those refined by the legendary Pete Carril of Princeton.
With 6-1 senior Sean McCurdy and 6-3 senior David Schneider in the backcourt and 6-6 senior Quinn McDowell, 6-7 Danny Sumner and 6-9 Marcus Kitts along the front line, the Tribe will be far from the smallest team the Deacons have faced this season. But William & Mary attacks defenses by spreading the court and looking for back-door cuts to the basket and open 3-pointers.
The Tribe made 13 of 34 3-point attempts against Connecticut, 11 of 30 against Harvard, 10 of 22 against Richmond, 12 of 27 against Manhattan and 12 of 27 against Hampton.
"We've guarded (the Princeton offense) a lot the last nine years," Gaudio said, alluding to games against N.C. State under Coach Herb Sendek and Richmond and Air Force.
"But I don't know if anybody that runs it has been willing to shoot a three as much as those guys."
Schneider is averaging 17.8 points and shooting 38 percent from 3-point range. Sumner is averaging 15.2 points and shooting 45 percent from 3-point range. McDowell is averaging 14.6 points and shooting 41 percent from 3-point range.
The key matchup probably will be at power forward. To guard Sumner, Gaudio will have to either play a big lineup or move to a smaller lineup with Al-Farouq Aminu, an active 6-9 sophomore, in the post.
"It will be a challenge again as to who is going to exert their will on the other team," Gaudio said. "Their (power forward) is like a (wing forward) who can shoot. That's how it's going to be.
"We're either going to have to match up with our bigs or we're going to put Farouq at (power forward) and match up with them.
"I hope I'm sitting here (tonight), and we've killed them by one."
dcollins@wsjournal.com.
727-7323
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