There should be no mistaking the identity that Wake Forest wants to develop during the 2009-10 basketball season, which will start with tonight's home game against Oral Roberts.
With last year's two leading scorers, Jeff Teague and James Johnson, now in the NBA, Coach Dino Gaudio said it will take stiff defense and relentless rebounding to keep the Deacons from sinking in the ACC standings.
"That has to be our identity -- it really does," Gaudio said yesterday. "And if it is, we have a chance to win every game that we play."
Tonight's game will start at 8 at Joel Coliseum and will be preceded by the Wake Forest women's opener against Jacksonville at 5 p.m.
Oral Roberts, entering its 11th season with Scott Sutton as head coach, lost its top two scorers -- Robert Jarvis and Marcus Lewis -- from a team that finished 16-15 overall and 14-4 in the Summit League. The Golden Eagles are expected to start 6-2 junior Roderick Pearson and 6-5 sophomore Kyron Stokes in the backcourt, 6-6 sophomore Dominique Morrison and 6-5 Michael Craion at forward and 6-9 junior Kevin Ford at center.
"They're a very good halfcourt defensive team," Gaudio said. "Sutton does a great job of running motion offense."
Wake Forest has made great strides in field-goal percentage defense, improving from 12th in the ACC in 2006-07, to sixth in 2007-08 and to third last season. But as good as the Deacons were last season in holding opponents to 39.8 percent from the floor -- and a league best 30.4 from 3-point range -- Gaudio is convinced that they can be better in their third season playing a Pack-Line style defense.
"There's a lot of room for improvement," Gaudio said. "This is the third year we've implemented this defense, and the seniors have done it for three years now. I think there's a tremendous belief out of these guys in the defense. I really believe they buy into what we're doing. The seniors have seen the results from where we've gone defensively."
Teague and Johnson, for all their offensive abilities, weren't exactly known for their prowess on defense. Gaudio said he thinks that he'll put a better defensive team on the floor -- most likely with Ish Smith and L.D. Williams in the backcourt, Al-Farouq Aminu at wing forward and Chas McFarland and Tony Woods in the double low post.
"We're going to miss those two guys immensely in other aspects of our team," Gaudio said. "But I think this group right here collectively can be a better defensive team than we were last year."
Gaudio said he expects immediate contributions on defense from freshman guard C.J. Harris, who played for Coach Andy Muse at Mount Tabor High School in Winston-Salem.
"It is amazing how quickly C.J. Harris has picked up the stuff," Gaudio said. "I think C.J. comes with really strong fundamentals. He had a terrific high-school coach, and he came in really, really prepared. And some kids, they're just better listeners than others.
"I really think that's a skill. He's a terrific listener."
The Deacons ranked second in the ACC last season with a rebounding margin of plus-5.9. Although Johnson led the team with 8.5 rebounds a game, Gaudio said that his team has to remain dominant on the backboards.
"I really think we can be a better rebounding team," Gaudio said. "Not just because of our size -- which no question aids us greatly in that area -- but I think these guys have the mentality that one of the ways we can impose our will on teams is on the backboard."
dcollins@wsjournal.com.
727-7323
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement