March Demons: Wake Forest will try to end years of frustration in postseason play

For all they've accomplished in their time at Wake Forest, seniors Ish Smith, L.D. Williams, Chas McFarland and David Weaver have one order of business remaining before they graduate in May.

And it's pressing.

The charge that faces No. 9 seed Wake Forest when it plays No. 8 Texas tonight in the NCAA Tournament's East Regional is to change the identity of the program from one that can win in December, January and, at times, even February, but not in March -- not in the postseason when it matters most.

It's a well-earned identity forged by the white-hot frustrations from postseasons past, the 48 years since a trip to the Final Four, the inability to reach the Final Four even with Tim Duncan and Chris Paul, the flameouts against Louisville in 1992, Kentucky in 1993, Butler in 2001, Auburn in 2003 and Cleveland State just last season.

The players who return next season will have another opportunity to break from the past, but this will be the last opportunity for Smith, Williams, McFarland, Weaver and very possibly for sophomore Al-Farouq Aminu if he, as expected, makes himself available for the NBA Draft.

And as most people are remembered best for what they did last, a deep run in the NCAA Tournament could send the seniors off as one of the most celebrated and well-regarded classes in school history.

Anything else would constitute just more of the same.

"You've got to understand where they're coming from," Smith said of the program's detractors. "You've got to go out there and try to change some of the tradition.

"Obviously the last time we went to the Elite Eight was when Timmy D was here. With CP and last year, we were supposed to be a Final Four team. So you have all those things."

Athletics Director Ron Wellman extended Coach Dino Gaudio's contract in October to run through the 2013-14 season, but not before the two discussed ways to make the Deacons a better postseason team.

Since taking over as head coach after the death of Skip Prosser, Gaudio is 0-4 in postseason play. The last two losses, the 84-69 debacle against Cleveland State in last season's NCAA Tournament and last week's 82-62 shellacking by No. 12 seed Miami in the first round of the ACC Tournament, have been two of the most devastating setbacks in school history.

So what conclusions did Wellman and Gaudio reach as to what makes one team better than another in the NCAA Tournament?

"We just felt like our staple has to be -- and it's a broken record -- our defense," Gaudio related. "If we're going to be successful, we're going to have to guard. And we didn't do that on Thursday (against Miami). That was the most disappointing thing.

"We know who we are. We don't shoot the ball well. That's a fact. That's who we are. But we cannot, excuse the double negative, not shoot the ball well and not guard.

"At the beginning of the year, the phrase that was attributed to us was ‘winning ugly' because whatever it took to win, that's what we did -- despite not scoring. And that's what we've got to go back to doing and go back to being, because that's who we are."

Experience is said to be at a premium under the bright lights of March, which on the surface should favor Wake Forest. The Deacons' success in the first months of the season -- an 18-5 overall mark and 8-3 ACC record -- was attributed in large part to the leadership and production provided by seniors Smith, Williams, McFarland and Weaver.

That leadership wasn't as apparent down the stretch while the Deacons were losing five of their last six games. Williams said that upon returning from Greensboro last week, the team huddled to discuss ways to make sure that the next game won't be the last until next November.

"When we got back from the Miami game, that was the first thing that Coach Gaudio talked to us about," Williams said. "He talked to us for about 45 minutes to an hour after the game and he was like, ‘You have to have energy, you have to have toughness and you've just got to play with an unbelievable amount of urgency in the postseason.'

"It's a one-game season here on out. If you lose you go home and for the seniors, your season is over forever. You'll never put on Black and Gold again. I know we're going to do our best to try to instill to everybody else how hard we've got to play. We know how it was last year when we came home, and we don't want that feeling again."

dcollins@wsjournal.com


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