Since I brought Wake analysis to you last, I have had exams, nights full of studying, and a couple hard drive failures.  Nonetheless, regular updates should be on their way, as Wake has entered ACC play, and much will be analyzed.

Alright, where do we start?  Wake played a very tough mid major in Xavier, and won in overtime 96-92.  Jordan Crawford and Jamel McLean went off on the Wake defense, scoring 30 and 21 respectively, but Al Farouq-Aminu and Ishmael Smith answered the call with 26 and 28 points.  Aminu grabbed 18 boards and Ish dished 9 assists.  Xavier was a good benchmark for what we should expect from Wake in the ACC season, and showed that this young Wake team might have matured enough to play with the big boys.

However, how many times have we seen Wake win an important game, only to barely lose in a squeaker in which Wake was favored?  Wake did just that, going into Miami against a ‘Canes team that had only been challenged once this season.  In a defensive battle, Dwayne Collins of the Hurricanes scored the game high 23 points in a 67-66 win over the Demon Deacons.  LD Williams played well, with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists, and Gary Clark added 3-3 pointers, but it wasn’t enough to topple the streaking ‘Canes.

Maryland then came into town, and we all started to wonder how Wake would rebound from its loss to Miami.  Greivis Vasquez could not be stopped, with 30 points to his name, but Aminu, Smith, Harris, and Chas McFarland all came up big.  Aminu put up 24 points and 13 rebounds, CJ Harris nailed 4-3 pointers on his way to 18 points, Chas McFarland snatched 12 boards and layed in 8 points, and Ishmael Smith scored 16 points, 2 of them proving to be the game winners.

Wake was looking good, and we all expected big things from them against Duke.  But alas, we’ve seen this too many times…and what else could have happened but a 20 point loss to Duke in Durham?  Aminu put up his usual 22 points, and McFarland and Ari Stewart both had nice games, but little production was given anywhere else.  Kyle Singler, Miles Plumlee, and Nolan Smith put up 21, 19, and 20 respectively, and toppled Wake easily.

Wake plays UNC in Chapel Hill tonight - the 20th, then Virginia comes to Winston Salem the 23rd, and Wake will go to Georgia Tech the 28th to close out January.  If the trend is correct, Wake should take advantage of a UNC team that has lost its last 2.  Virginia is a dangerous team that has beaten both Georgia Tech and Miami this year, and Georgia Tech has a ton of talent.  Wake will need to do what they do best-out physical all 3 of their remaining January games, and letting Ish Smith, CJ Harris, and Gary Clark get what they can from beyond the arc.

We’ll know how Wake sits amongst the rest of the ACC after the Georgia Tech game.  One thing is for certain-after Duke, the ACC is wide open, and unpredictable.

But we’ve come to expect nothing less.

Four games up, four games down.  Wake is looking like they haven’t missed a beat since losing Jeff Teague and James Johnson.

Al Farouq-Aminu has gracefully stepped into the role of playmaker for the Deacs, and his supporting cast has been more than viable.  Ish Smith and LD Williams have been great in the backcourt, and Ari Stewart and CJ Harris have given Wake great scorers off the bench.

However, most teams can look great against Oral Roberts, ECU, High Point, and Winston Salem State.

I am perplexed why Gary Clark hasn’t played a single minute yet.  Does anyone know why?  He was recruited for his pure shooting, and was thought extremely highly of as a freshman.  He could give Wake a dimension they don’t have- a pure three point shooter.  Stewart, Harris, and Aminu shoot the three ball, but they don’t do it very often.

This week, Wake plays William and Mary, and then faces their first test of the season: Purdue.  Purdue is one of the best teams in the nation, and could put Wake away early if Wake doesn’t bring their A game.

That’s right, it’s basketball time, and for Wake Forest fans, it couldn’t get here soon enough.

The 2008-2009 Wake Forest basketball season was one for the ages, including wins over Carolina and Duke, a week at number one in the nation, and a third seed in the NCAA tournament.

However, what Wake fans remember are the severe downs of the season: the opening round loss to 14th ranked Cleveland State, and losing Jeff Teague and James Johnson to the NBA.

After eight months of experiencing the sour taste left in our mouths, we are ready for this season to begin!

Although Wake is returning many players, the losses of James Johnson and Jeff Teague severely hurt the team.  Can Wake recover?  Yes, but several players will have to step up.

The starting five should include star forward Al Farouq-Aminu, defensive specialist LD Williams, lightning quick point guard Ish Smith, and center Chas McFarland, with the last spot to be decided by committee.

Even if Al Farouq-Aminu wins the Naismith and LD Williams is spectacular defensively, this team’s fate rests in the hands of Ish Smith.

Smith will need to dish out assists and be the offensive catalyst Jeff Teague was all of last year for this Wake team to be as good as Carolina and Duke, plain and simple.  If he plays well and leads this team, we may be seeing them go a long way in March.

Wake’s frontcourt is extremely solid, with Aminu, highly touted freshman Ari Stewart, and big men McFarland, David Weaver, Tony Woods, and Tyler Walker.

Like Smith, Wake’s backcourt will have to step up to compete with the big boys.  Smith and LD Williams don’t do a lot of scoring, so their bench, made up of the highly touted freshman point guard CJ Gaddis, pure shooting senior Gary Clark, and sophomore Konner Tucker.

Watching Gaddis will be interesting, as he is the future of the point guard position in Winston-Salem, but Gary Clark could come off the bench and be a three point threat for Wake, which is something they severely lack.  He would give them an extra dimension that would keep other teams honest.

So what can we expect from Wake this year?  Well, they won’t be as good as last year, and they will probably lose some games they shouldn’t, but they will be in every game.  A 20-8 record is about the floor for this team.

Coming into Saturday, many thought the Deacs would come out and give Miami all it could handle.

Not to disappoint, they did.

Wake Forest got out to a quick 17-0 start with a field goal and two touchdowns by Riley Skinner, shrugging off his slump that had plagued his performance for the past two weeks.

However, the Wake defense couldn’t quite finish the half the way they started it, and Wake led 20-14 going into the break.

When Riley Skinner found Chris Givens for a 44 yard touchdown strike in the 3rd quarter, the upset seemed to have been sealed.

But just when you thought Miami was out, Jacory Harris went to work, with a touchdown pass early in the 4th quarter.  Wake desperately needed a score to give themselves a little bit of a cushion, but that just wasn’t happening, with a Riley Skinner interception, and a punt on their next posession.

Starting with 2:40 left on the clock, Jacory Harris completed six of eight passes, capping his outstanding drive with a touchdown to Travis Benjamin, putting the ‘Canes up by one.

Unable to play because of an injury he sustained on a hit on his previous drive, Riley Skinner had to watch his team try to march down the field one last time against Miami without Skinner engineering it.  Ryan McManus played pretty well, but ended up only getting Wake to the Miami 43, setting themselves up for a 60 yard field goal, which they inevitably missed with time expiring.

The Wake defense played extremely well against the run, allowing a sparkling 1.2 yards per carry.  Defending the pass was an entirely different issue, allowing 330 yards and three touchdowns.

My stat for the preview of this game was extremely indicative, with Riley Skinner completing 29 of 43 passes for 349 yards and two touchdowns.  I did not expect the Wake running game to play well, but they did manage 4.5 yards per carry.

In the end, Wake just couldn’t sustain 60 minutes of good football, no matter how good the first 45 were.  They will need to play all 60 minutes against Georgia Tech to compete against this national championship darkhorse team.

The Georgia Tech attack of Josh Nesbitt, Jonathan Dwyer, and Anthony Allen will be a lot for Wake to handle, so Skinner will need to find Marshall Williams, Chris Givens, and Devon Brown early, and often.  Miami was a better shot for Wake to snap their skid, so unless Georgia Tech collapses, expect Wake’s losing streak to climb to four in a row.