News-Record.com

Deacs coach Jim Grobe discusses football's role in Wake Forest's general athletics success.

Wake Forest QB Riley Skinner says the Deacs are accustomed to being disregarded.

... what do you expect from a show about nothing? And hey, it was on the Sports Illustrated web site if I need to justify it. Which I don't. It stands on its own merit.

Peter McEntegart is my new hero. In this epic post on the 10 spot, he compiles a top 10 list of all-time cameos on Seinfeld.

Some of them will just make you smile with the fond memory - Teri Hatcher saying, "They're real and they're spectacular," or Marcia Cross as pimple popper M.D - others will make you go 'Wow, I didn't realize that!' Like Jon Favreau, of Swingers fame, playing the role of Eric the Clown. "You're livin' in the past man!" Or Megan Mullally as George's girlfriend in the Double-Dip episode.

I could go on and on, but unfortunately they don't pay me to microanalyze Seinfeld - as SI apparently pays McEntegart. Did I mention he's my new hero?

The folks who would know, 850 the Buzz, just put up an update on their blog announcing that former ECU coach Steve Logan will become the new offensive coordinator at Boston College. (second item down)

There has been speculation about Logan's future for several weeks down. He was a hot item at UNC, BC and Duke, depending on which message boards you were reading. But he winds up at BC where he'll be working for one of his former assistants, Jeff Jagodzinski.

I'm not surprised that Logan's back in college coaching. Just from talking to him last week it was clear that the itch was still there, despite all of his on-air complaints about the headaches involved in coaching 18 to 22 year-olds. But it's interesting that a guy who has carved out a nice post-ECU career as a beach bum part of the year and an NFL Europe offensive coordinator for the rest of the time will now head up to frigid Boston for full-time work in the college game.

Having said that, never, ever, underestimate the power of personal relationships when it comes to putting together a coaching staff. Oh, and money.

Amy Yakola, public-relations director for the ACC, discusses the league's revenue-sharing system.

** Wake Forest scored the game's first points on a Sam Swank field goal, an effort that capped a 1-yard drive following a Louisville fumble. That was the Demon Deacons' third scoring possession of that distance this year.
** Wake managed 24 yards of total offense in the first quarter but was a plus-2 in turnover margin. The first fumble recovery killed off a promising Cardinal drive; the second set up the field goal.
** Arnold Palmer and Muhammad Ali participated in the coin toss as honorary captains.
** The pregame show included a military fly-over.

** Wake's tying score with 11:34 left in the third quarter ended a streak of 100 minutes, 47 seconds without a touchdown. The Deacs' previous TD was a fourth-down plunge by Richard Belton that sealed the win at Maryland and the ACC's Atlantic Division title on Nov. 25.
** The Deacons stopped Louisville on three plays to begin the second half.
** The halftime show, in case anybody is curious, featured Gladys Knight and Taylor Hicks. There were no wardrobe malfunctions.

At the pregame meal before tonight's UNCG-N.C. State game, one of my fellow friends in the media business - who shall remain nameless - said he planned to spend the second half in the press room watching Wake Forest in the Orange Bowl.

"You might need to stick around and watch the game," I told him. "This game might be pretty close."

Pretty close? Turns out I underestimated the Spartans as well. The G was oh so close to pulling off the upset tonight, before falling 95-93 in overtime. You can read all about it in tomorrow's paper, but here are a few notes that I couldn't fit into my story.

1) Because UNCG SID Mike Hirschman (actually his intern) spent so much time looking this up, I feel you should know that the Spartans had three guys (Kyle Hines, Ricky Hickman and Kendall Toney) score at least 20 for the first time since UNCG went Division I.

2) Kyle Hines scored in double-figures for the 34th straight game. In 17 of those games he has scored at least 20. And for the record, the folks in the N.C. State locker room have a ton of respect for him.

In my previous post I talked about why UNCG appears to have the ingredients to make a run at the SoCon title. Tonight the Spartans show all of those elements - save one. They got big games from their two big guns (Hines and Hickman) and a huge contribution from a third source (Toney). They kept their turnovers down - just 13 in 45 minutes.

But, unlike in its win at Georgia Southern, this time UNCG just couldn't clamp down on defense and get the big stops it needed. Essentially it held on to the lead for much of the game by hitting big shots, getting a huge game from Hines and hoping that State would miss open shots. The 1-3-1 zone that UNCG likes to run just wasn't aggressive enough, allowing State - Ben McCauley in particular - to carve it up with pinpoint passes.

Still the G probably leaves Raleigh with a win if not for one critical defensive mistake. After Toney's two free throws gave UNCG a 3-point lead with 20 seconds remaining, State threw the ball down low to McCauley. The plan was for UNCG's perimeter defenders to feint toward McCauley and then quickly return to State's shooters. Instead, they sagged too low, giving Gavin Grant just enough time to get off a game tying 3-pointer.

If you're a UNCG fan, it's a disheartening loss, to be sure. But it's also not critical. Win or lose, UNCG still needs to win the SoCon tourney to make the NCAA tournament. If the Spartans learn from its last-minute mistakes and apply those lessons during the SoCon tournament, Tuesday's heartbreak will have been worth the trouble.

... where everyone is crowded around the tvs in the media room, waiting to see if Va Tech pulls off the upset of Duke. Could be an empty press row at tipoff.

Seen in the minutes before the game: Tom O'Brien, who slipped into the press eating area to say hello to his former BC beat writers. He seemed genuinely glad to see them. I'll take that as a good sign.

State fans may take this as a good sign: Marques Johnson, a point guard from Tennessee who's looking to transfer, is courtside today. If all goes well for the Wolfies, he may go ahead and enroll with State.

Is Johnson the PG State's been seeking for next year? Hard to say. But getting a guy who was a four-star recruit in the Class of 2006 can't be that bad.

UCLA's loss on Saturday and North Carolina's victory over Florida State on Sunday should elevate the Tar Heels to No. 1 in the polls. The appearance would be the program's first in six years.

At the risk of appearing to pile on a guy who's already getting it from all sides right now, I'm adding this link to an analysis of Greg Paulus by hoops stats guru Ken Pomeroy. It's titled Special Report: We win! It's under the Sunday, Jan. 7 header.

His basic conclusion: there's a wide discrepancy between announcers who sing the praises of Paulus and the stastical performance Paulus puts up.

It's a bit wonkish - but the stat that says the most is Paulus' Turnover Rate. Basically, it's calculated by taking the number of turnovers a player commits and dividing by the number of personal possessions - (aka 'touches') a player has. According to Pomeroy, anything under 15% is fantastic. Paulus' percentage is 35.6%. Not good.

No Engin Atsur out on the floor warming up in the pregame. Given that State's opponent tonight is Clemson - No. 1 in the ACC in turnovers forced - that's very bad news for the Wolfpack.

Also a bad sign is that Clemson is No. 4 in the ACC in rebounding margin - +7.7. State, fresh off getting pounded by BC, is No. 11.

Having said all that, I still think State's gotta shot tonight. They're just going to need to shoot very very well and get a huge effort on the boards from either Brandon Costner or Ben McCauley. Or both.

I can see why this Clemson team has taken a major step forward this season. They've got waves of athletes who are able to play the up-tempo full-court pressure style Oliver Purnell has wanted to put in since he came to Clemson four years ago. They also pound the offensive boards relentlessly.

But the biggest difference may be that the Tigers can actually hit open shots when they get them. K.C. Rivers in particular.

That said, it's still just a four-point game. And State's playing without Atsur and, essentially, Courtney Fells. Fells is continuing the spotty play that plagued him against BC as well. He just seems to be two notches below the intensity of everyone else on the floor.

So how is State in it? Well, it helps that Dennis Horner is having a career night. He's hit all three of his 3's and he's playing hard on the defensive end. Ben McCauley is at it again with his passing as well. When State can make it past half-court against Clemson's pressure, they're finishing more often that not. That's translated to a good scoring half for Gavin Grant (13 points, 5 of 5 shooting).

So the upset's still very possible. But I wonder how State will keep from tiring out if Clemson keeps playing at its high pace.

Mike Vega of the Boston Globe made the trip down to Raleigh this weekend for the N.C. State-BC game and also sat down with former BC (and brand new State) coach Tom O'Brien, who expanded a bit on his reasons for leaving the Eagles for the Wolfpack.

Here's the link.

Here's my very brief summary: He wanted to be at a place where college football matters a heck of a lot more.

I don't know why I didn't see this before, but UVA forward Jason Cain actually resembles Killers front man Brandon Flowers. Flowers with the moustache, of course.

Speaking of Cain, I have an uncontrollable urge to give him the nickname "Big Daddy." Does that make me hopelessly out of date? Hello?

How do I connect The Smiths to SoCon basketball? Simple, through the Davidson Wildcats. As Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer points out in this Sunday column, some folks expected Davidson to be down this year after losing so much off of last year's squad. Instead, the Wildcats are - yawn - once again one of the teams to beat in the SoCon.

Is Davidson the favorite? Well, App State certainly has staked its claim as well. But given the Wildcats track record, and their expectation of league dominance, I'd give them the edge right now.

As for the G? Well, as our Ed Hardin pointed out in his column today, the Spartans are a good team (albeit one still waiting for a bigger fan base). I still say Hickman's the key to this team. That and more intensity in that 1-3-1 zone.

Finally, there's Western. They sort of snuck up on me their 4-1 record. But I can't help its a combination of a) the Cullowhee trip is sort of like South American soccer teams traveling to La Paz to play Bolivia. It's just brutal and b) aside from the home win against the G, the Catamounts haven't exactly played a murderer's row in the conference.

UNCG's junior rolls to the hoop for a basket against Virginia Tech.

UNCG forward Kyle Hines discusses his participation in the Pete Newell Big Man Camp this past summer.

From SI.com's Mid-Major report.

I gotta tell you, about a four years ago, back when I was on the UNCG beat, you were much more likely to talk about giving Fancher a little sympathy, or even pity. He'd replaced a very successful, personable coach in Buzz Peterson and, as Bill Trocchi recounts, had a ton of personnel losses in his first season. He also - and still does - looked like he was about 18. As the losses mounted, it seemed like Fancher was having a hard time gaining the respect of his players. I thought if it he didn't turn things around in his third season (2002-03) he'd probably get canned. I didn't think that was likely - and neither did many other SoCon observers. We picked App to finish last in the North Division.

Instead, the Mountaineers won 19 games that season. Granted a reprieve, and a little more time to make the App program his own, Fancher is now flourishing. There may be a lesson in there somewhere.

The good news for UNC is that x-rays taken on Sunday revealed that Bobby Frasor’s right foot is not broken. The bad news is that the Tar Heels are once again trying to figure out what’s wrong with their sophomore point guard’s foot. After missing six games earlier this season, Frasor reinjured the foot late in the first half of the Tar Heels’ loss at Virginia Tech on Saturday.
“It’s not broken,” said UNC coach Roy Williams. “That’s the only information we have.”
So once again - as N.C. State has been doing with its point guard Engin Atsur, who is trying to recover from aggravating a hamstring injury – UNC is left to wait and wonder when Frasor can return.
“We have no set timetable whatsoever,” Williams said. “We’ll just have to step back and see what happens.”

OK, the Wake Forest secondary will have some big holes to fill, two wideouts are gone and Jon Abbate's early departure to the NFL will hurt, but can the 2006 ACC football champions get a little national love?

Of the three preseason Top 25s I've seen (College Football News, SI.com's Stewart Mandel and espn.com's Mark Schlabach) only Schlabach has the Deacons ranked.

Mandel has the Deacs "On the cusp" of his Top 25, but CFN's staff drops Wake all the way to No. 51, saying, "Fine, this is way too low for the defending ACC champions, but the rest of the league is far better this year." Oh, really? Based on what evidence? Does anyone know that new staffs at BC, Miami, UNC and N.C. State will have an immediate, positive impact? Will Chan Gailey stay at Georgia Tech or go back to the NFL? Can Al Groh get Virginia turned back around or will the huge extension he got a couple of years ago come back to haunt the program? Will the offensive staff purge turn FSU back into a national power? Will Clemson and the IPTAY crowd ever be truly happy with Tommy Bowden? The only team besides Wake with any kind of stability is Virginia Tech, which did get its due in the early 2007 picks (No. 13 CFN, No. 10 Mandel/SI.com, No. 7 Schlabach/espn.com). But unless the Hokies suddenly find a quarterback their fans won't find lacking when they inevitably compare him to Michael Vick, Tech's got some questions to answer, too.

I guess the Deacons will go into next season still feeling like they have to prove something, not only to the nation but to the ACC. Oh, well. I'm sure coach Jim Grobe wouldn't have it any other way.

If you watched Peter Laviolette's third-period meltdown and screaming match with Don Koharski during the Hurricanes' 3-2 overtime win over Florida last night, and if you have any appreciation for hockey history, you had to reminded of the great "Have another donut, you fat pig!" line that former New Jersey Devils (and a few others) coach Jim Schoenfeld lobbed at Koharski in the aftermath of a 6-1 playoff loss to the Bruins in the 1988 playoffs.

Why was Laviolette so mad? And why didn't he at least get a penalty for his tirade? A local guy who runs a Canes blog (Red and Black Hockey) breaks it down very well on his site.

Basically, Koharski screwed up and, in an attempt to correct that screwup, screwed up even more. But hey, at least the Canes won anyway.

Granted not many Tobacco Roaders pay much attention to the NBA, but it is interesting to get a read on how much the NBA is paying attention to Tobacco Road.

To that end, check out Seth Davis' piece in SI.com in which he gets anonymous reviews from NBA scouts on the viability of some of the top college players.

Of particular interest, of course, are the comments about the local guys - Josh McRoberts, Brandan Wright, Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington.

McRoberts is described as being a "blend guy" who "maybe" can be Toni Kukoc. Not exactly high praise. While I agree that McRoberts' probably lacks the ego to be a No. 1 guy on an NBA team, I'm not sure the Kukoc comparison is quite right. Kukoc was much more of a perimeter floater.

Wright is called "the best pro on that team, without a doubt," and a lock for the lottery if he comes out. No argument here.

Hansbrough gets bashed a bit. He's called "unathletic" and the scouts claim that the things that work for Hansbrough at the college level - his insane effort and intensity - won't be equally translatable in the pros. I agree, to an extent. You just can't spend five seconds in the low post, pivoting and pivoting until you can get a shot off, as Hansbrough often does. On the other hand, while long athletic types in the NBA are a dime a dozen, guys that will bring intensity and effort, as well as rebounding and power, every night are always prized. Just look at the career of Kurt Thomas. Don't you think Hansbrough's at least better than him?

Ellington's review is the least conclusive. The scouts basically tell Davis that they like Ellington and think he's very smooth, but every time they watch they him, they can't figure out why more of his shots don't go down. Join the rest of the club guys. I don't think a shooting slump should hurt Ellington's future NBA status though.

There are plenty more intersting reviews in the piece. Take a look.

It wasn't shocking that UNCG beat Appalachian State 80-76 on Thursday in Fleming Gym. Here's what was odd: The Spartans did it while allowing 65-percent shooting (71 percent in the second half) and while making only 14 of their 28 free-throw attempts.
Video to come.

The Mountaineers score from outside, but UNCG gets out in transition and Kyle Hines finishes for two of his 33.

Further proof that college basketball has followed the pros' lead and has become a transcendental "entertainment experience." This is the intro at Virginia's new John Paul Jones Arena.

... by now you've probably heard all about how Tennessee men's coach Bruce Pearl showed up at the women's game against Duke without a shirt, with his chest painted orange and with a big V across it (he was the V in VOLS, by the way).

Just because we care, we wanted to make sure you saw this as well. Parents, you may want to make sure your kids are in another room.

This whole episode raises several troubling questions that simply must be asked:

1) Will Pat Summitt repay the ... umm, favor? ... at a big Vols men's game?
2) How did the paint stay on Pearl's chest? This guy makes Gary Williams look like a sweating amateur.
3) We get the whole "raising the profile of the program through flashy antics" bit. Hey, we had the red shoes and shades of Chuck Amato. But is this really the image of Tennessee men's basketball you want emblazoned on the minds of every potential recruit in America?

Without further ado, we let you decide ...

... but Engin Atsur has been spotted on the floor shooting during the pre-game warmups. That's got to be at least a hopeful sign for State, right? Right?

Wake Forest football coach Jim Grobe welcomes the start of construction on Deacon Tower.

36-25 Duke at the half.

Not that I'm a genius or anything, but that half of defense Duke just played made my story on the Blue Devils today look pretty well-timed. Not that a story about how Duke's D is good this season is exactly breaking news.

Here's the thing: Clemson's half-court offense hasn't been that bad. They haven't taken poor shots; they haven't made poor decisions. Yet at the half, they've scored just 25 points.

Duke's positioning and switching has been incredibly precise and its intensity has been at peak level.

As good as that defense has been, the offense has also played pretty well for Duke. 36 points in 20 minutes won't break any records, but this Clemson defense is pretty darned ferocious. Points in this game have only come on either a) courageous drives to the hoop or b) a string of pin-point passes. Duke's hit almost 50 percent of its shots and has had just eight turnovers so far. Again, not record-breaking stats, but considering the opponent, pretty impressive.

20 more minutes to go though. If Clemson's pressure gets cranking and Duke loses its composure, things could change in a hurry.

Hey, tonight's win over Clemson was well-deserved. And it was a fantastic game. But you might want to check out this video on YouTube.

It shows that the clock started slowly on Vern Hamilton's steal and game-tying 3-point shot. Thus, Duke probably should only have had 3 seconds left for its final play, not 4.4.

Before y'all go Oliver Stone over this, keep in mind how highly doubtful it is that the clock operator deliberately did this. To do so, he would have to think "Hey, Hamilton just stole the ball. But wait! Rather than start the clock, I will pause for a second, so that - just in case Hamilton's 3-pointer goes through - the Blue Devils will have enough time to get off a good shot on their possession. Highly unlikely. More likely is that the clock operator, like everyone else in the arena, was so stunned by what had happened, that it took him a second before he realized the clock needed to be started.

Nonetheless, it is clear, as K said, that the basketball gods were good to the Blue Devils.

I know I shouldn't be surprised by what sometimes eminates from ESPN (home of Sean Salisbury and his below-the-belt camera phone), but my eyebrows did rise just a tad last night at the comments of college basketball analyst Stephen Bardo.

Bardo was on the college hoops tonight where the closing seconds of Duke's 68-66 win over Clemson were being talked about. The replay that showed that the clock failed to start on time on Vern Hamilton's steal and game-tying 3-pointer was aired. Then the host, Rece Davis, asked Bardo what happened.

"Home cooking" Bardo glibly responded, getting a knowing chuckle from his studio colleagues.

Whoa, whoa, whoa there big fella!

First, let's not dispute that the failure to start the clock on time helped Duke. The Blue Devils ended up with 4.4 seconds to work with, instead of just, say, 2.4 or so.

But it's a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge leap from human error to home court conspiracy.

But I'll play along. According to Bardo - as well as the irate Clemson fans who have written me this morning - here's what must have happened.

The clock operator watches as Josh McRoberts inexplicably passes the ball right to Hamilton. Rather than starting the clock there, the operator makes the cool, calculated decision to hold off for a second or two, just in case Hamilton's 3-pointer goes through the basket, so his beloved Blue Devils will have more time on their next possession. Never mind that, if Hamilton's shot had not gone in, the late-starting clock would have actually given the Tigers more time to get the rebound and hoist up another last-gasp shot. Nope, apparently the clock operator also judged the arc of Hamilton's shot, judged it to be on its way in, and started the clock just before it went through the basket.

Riiiiiggggght.

What about the refs, you say? Why didn't they put more time on the clock? Bardo's more rational collegeague, Jay Bilas, says they made a mistake here. But I'm not so sure.

Originally the clock ran down to 1.8 seconds before Duke was credited with a timeout. So the refs naturally went over to the video replay to determine how much time was left WHEN HAMILTON'S SHOT WENT THROUGH THE NET. They correctly got the time as 4.4 seconds.

It's not part of their job description at that moment to go back to the previous play - the steal and Hamilton's shot - to make sure that was timed correctly as well. If that was the case, why not go back to the play before that, Hamilton's layup, to make sure it was timed correctly? The slope gets a big slippery here folks. The mistake was human error by the clock operator, not in how they refs handled the situation.

Does any of this make Clemson fans feel better? Of course not? Does it make Duke any less lucky? Nope. But let's lay off the pro-Duke conspiracy theories for at least a day.

Okay, at least a few more hours.

Don't you hate how every controversy since Watergate gets "Gate" added to it?

Well, this won't do Clemson any good, but the ACC has acknowledged that a "timing error" was made at the end of the Duke-Clemson game.

Here's the statement from John Clougherty, the league's supervisor of officials.

“The league acknowledges that a timing error was made in not starting the game clock at the correct time, when the ball was stolen by Clemson’s Vernon Hamilton off the in-bounded pass from Duke’s Josh McRoberts.

“We came to this conclusion after completing a review of the game film as well as internal conversations with the crew of officials, both head coaches and conference office staff. At this point, as with most league officiating matters, this situation has been handled and resolved internally.”
--

There's not a whole lot of detail here, but it seems by acknowledging this error, that Clougherty is implying that the referees were at least partially at fault here (Yes, I'm aware that I originally absolved the refs of blame. Mea culpa).

Basically, then the refs should have gone back beyond just when Hamilton's shot went through the net (correctly ruled as 4.4 seconds) and realized that there was no way that just 0.6 seconds elapsed on the previous play - Hamilton's steal and shot.

Of course, you could also make the argument that Clemson coach Oliver Purnell should have called that to the attention of the refs.

I suspect though that Purnell, as well as the refs, had so many other things going on that he just didn't notice that lapse by the clock operator. I noticed that only 0.6 seconds elapsed but though to myself, "Wow, that all happened really fast." It wasn't until later, after reviewing the tape, that I concluded along with everyone else that the play took about 2.5 seconds or so.

That's about all there is left to say on the topic. Conclusion: 1) a mistake was made 2) Duke benefited 3) there was no conspiracy or home cooking.

Let's all feel free to move on with our lives now.

I made this comment on the blog a few weeks ago, but back then I didn't have the technological know-how to back it up.

In a bizarre twist of fate UVA's stache sporting big man Jason Cain has gone from looking like one of the guys who used the smoking section in high school to bearing a resemblance to Killers' front man Brandon Flowers.

Is this a good thing for Cain or a very bad thing for Flowers? Probably both.

Judge for yourself. Later this week I will explore the previously unreported Tony Dungy - Hamid Karzai connection.