Shameless: Zebras hand the game to Duke in the first half

This game was an embarrassment for the ACC. The so-called "Duke defense" in the first half was basically getting away with murderous fouls and because they could get away with fouls they were able to steal the ball on-demand. It's not hard to have a big run when you can do whatever you want!

From there on, Wake Forest made a brave and glorious comeback, but considering the home-court advantage it was just not enough to win the game for Wake Forest.

And on top of this we had to bear with the total idiot calling the game and "inducing fouls". Yes, that idiot is of course Tim Brando. Thankfully the G-Man, the only fair and balanced Dookie out there, saved the day.

This was also one of a few games where each team had a pair of same-name players, the Williams and the Smiths!

So now onto The Gary and Maryland to avenge this unfair Duke win and set the record straight!

Great touch: The Skip Prosser Classic!

We tip our hat to Wake Forest and Xavier for working together to set up the brand new Skip Prosser Classic. The late Skip Prosser coaches at both places and was one of the most respected college basketball coaches and teachers of all time. The first game in the 10-year series will take place in the 2009-2010 season.

We are all Wake Forest fans this year!

Thank you Wake Forest! Thank you! An awesome with a capital-A win! Despite the fact that Wake started falling apart, they managed to keep it together and win this game by executing with less than three seconds left! Wooohoooo!!!!!!!

Wake grabbed a commanding lead, but a combination of poor free throw decision, bad decisions by their two lead guards, and of course Duke's 6th man (the Zebras), managed to slow Wake's offense and score enough points for the Dookies to make the game competitive and even winnable for you. Even Dick Vitale thought one of those calls should have gone the other way, and Dookie Vitale is a bigger Duke cheerleader than the Duke's booster club :)

Oh what a great game :-) Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go! Go WAKE FOREST Go!


Wake's future in March?
Now the big question for Wake Forest is the future. They look like they could be a team of a destiny with a Final Four run and beyond. However, they also look like a team that could have a deer-in-the-headlights first week in the NCAA tourney and get bounced out. We were certainly disappointed by the decisions made by their two lead guards in the last eight minutes, they were charging ahead on offense as if they were 10 points behind, instead of backing out, reading the defense, and then attacking. I'm sure this is something Dino Gaudio will be working on in the next few days.

And speaking of Dino Gaudio, what an amazing job he has done at Wake Forest, carrying on the tradition of the late and beloved Skip Prosser! And during the half-time interview, one could have easily be hearing Skip Prosser uttering the exact same words.


Goodbye #1 for the Dookies
So what happens to the Dookies from here on? They win a lot more games (thank you Zebras!), and they stumble in the NCAAs to our great excitement :)

I'm not sure what Coach K does to his players in the secret dungeons of Cameron Indoor Cave, but they have that blank stare, as if he has stolen their souls and replaced then with Wojo-clone-souls ;-) And if they are not deemed as "stars", it seems like Coach K de-claws them offensively, and they just can't shoot or make a basket.

Of course talking about Duke, there's also the elephant in the room, the team is a little bit "too milky" and that can obviously raise some socio-political concerns. Perhaps that's why Paulus was benched, so the starting line-up would be a little bit more "diverse".


Wake should really become the new #1
You know, if you are the #4 team and you beat the #1 team, you should take over the #1 spot, instead of UConn who will likely beat easily a couple of non-Top-25 Big East teams.


Silly Rules needing to change revisited
Once again, silly rules that need to be modernized affected the game but not decidedly so. The five fouls is just plain silly and so is the absence of a semi-circle under the basket, something that took away a couple of legitimate Wake Forest baskets.

Again, the game is basketball, not human pinball. Having players stand under the basket and take charges is not a basketball skill, it's a not-basketball skill! Fix it NCAA!


If you missed the game...
If you missed the game or want to enjoy it again and again and again, then head on over to ESPN360.com and watch the replay for FREE :-)

No more undefeated college hoops teams!

It looks like luck has finally smiled at Virginia Tech and Seth Greenberg. After having so many "almost won" moments in high profile games, they manage to de-throne and de-flower the only remaining undefeated college hoops team!

A late comeback by Wake Forest was the proverbial "too little, too late", and the Hokies (DO NOT?) storm the court as they get a very big win - dethroning the #1 team in the country!

North Carolina at Wake Forest recap

While not topping the January 2005 game (Chris Paul vs Raymond Felton in three overtimes), this was a "game of the year nominee" in our opinion. In the grand scheme of things, the outcome may have been favorable for both teams.

Wake Forest gets the big bright spotlight win that now matches their record. North Carolina was able to stay in the game despite horrible performance shooting wise and with some of their stars being invisible/erased by the defense.

Two losses in a row will "open the ears" of the UNC stars to more "coaching" and at the same time lower expectations for the season and post-season.

Wake Forest on the other hand shows that they are indeed for real, this is no Clemson who crumbles the moment they play a Sweet16-capable team. They certainly have a versatile rotation with players they can mix and match depending on the situation.

The unassuming Dino Gaudio has done a great job in carrying on the tradition of the beloved Skip Prosser, and the future looks bright for the Deacons.

The absence of Ginyard and the injury of Zeller actually had an impact on this game, as UNC badly needed a fourth big body when Wake was playing big, and they needed someone taller/longer to harass Jeff Teague who made a lot of future-money today. Ironically adding Ishmael Smith to the line-up allowed UNC to put a taller player on Teague than Lawson, but by the time they figured that out it was too late.

Lawson was once again "exposed" as an NBA prospect and so was Hansbro when facing the trees, although Hansbrough is not likely going to be facing triple-teams in the NBA. The Wake Forest trees simply blocked him and shut off his water.

Danny Green has once again shown why he is the MVP of this team, while from the Wake Forest side, LD Williams is a very versatile player who (because of his size/width) can create mismatch against smaller/bigger players.

But obviously the star of the game, the star with a capital S was ...Jeff Teague!