GREENSBORO— The National Invitation Tournament is not an option this year for the
Wake Forest men’s basketball team.Two straight nail-biting Sunday evenings watching in vain as the NCAA
brackets were announced count as two too many for the Demon Deacons. Wake finished fourth
in the Atlantic Coast Conference the past two seasons, going 15-13 in 1998 and 16-14 in
1999. Neither mark proved good enough, and Wake lost in the third round of both NIT
appearances.
“Not making it was definitely
a disappointment. We felt we were good enough to get in,”Deacon guard Robert
O’Kelley said. “We feel good about our team and our chances right now.
That’s the past.”
Similar feelings abound, as Wake
was picked to finish third in the league this season by media members at the ACC Operation
Basketball meeting. NorthCarolina and Duke earned those top two spots.
“I think we’re a team
that should be in that upper echelon,”O’Kelley said. “It’s going to be
wide open and we feel like we’re a team that can finish at the top of the ACC.
That’s our goal and that’s what we’re going to strive for.”
O’Kelley can back up those
big words. The junior started every game for Wake last season and led the team in scoring
at 17.5 points a game. His 18.3 points in ACC games ranked third behind Georgia
Tech’s Jason Collier and Duke’s Elton Brand.
O’Kelley still must improve.
He turned the ball over 79 times to go with 63 assists last season and shot 40 percent
from the floor.
“I think we’ve got as
consistently good a player as there is in our league the last two seasons in Robert
O’Kelley,”head coach Dave Odom said. “What you’ll see this year is
he’s better in other areas. Things like assist to turnover ratio. Defensively
he’ll be much better.”
Odom also said O’Kelley will
take on more of a leadership role even though he won’t always be playing point guard.
Sophomores Craig Dawson and Broderick Hicks will help out some, but O’Kelley will
lead even when the ball is in someone else’s hands.
“I’m asked to be more of
a leader this year, definitely,”O’Kelley said. “I believe Coach wants me to
play big more and score, he wants me to play defense, get more steals, more rebounds.
He’s expecting a lot more from me and I’m expecting a lot more from
myself.”
Niki Arinze loaded up on
expectations after a breakthrough freshman season but played only five games in 1998-99. A
shoulder injury forced the 6-foot-5 small forward to redshirt after averaging seven points
and six rebounds a game the season before.
Now he’s back and completely
healthy.
“He gives us things that we
sorely missed last year and had to play around,”Odom said. “If you look at last
year and say, ‘What was wrong with WakeForest? One thing is, they didn’t defend
at the small forward spot.’ Two years ago, who was there? Niki Arinze. He’s
back.
“ ‘What was wrong with
Wake Forestlast year? They didn’t rebound at the small forward spot.’ Who was
there two years ago? Niki Arinze.”
Rebounding remains a sore spot for
the Deacons, who were beat on the glass in conference games by an average of three per
game.
Arinze’s size at small
forward will help in that area, as will Wake’s bolstered front court. JuniorTate
Decker, a 6-10 transfer from Missouri, and sophomore Antwan Scott (6-8) give Odom five
legitimate post players. That figure moves 6-5 guards Ervin Murray and Dawson to the wing
positions for added size and strength. Freshman Josh Howard, at 6-6, adds to the increased
depth.
The best of the frontcourt class
comes from Wake’s foreign connection. Spanish junior Rafael Vidaurreta, a 6-9 center,
averaged seven points and rebounds a game while shooting 50 percent from the floor.
Lithuanian Darius Songaila burst
onto the scene in his freshman season. The 6-9 forward started 24 games and averaged 12
points and five rebounds a game. He also led the team in steals with 39.
“Our post players have really
improved,” Odom said. “I’m very comfortable with our post game right now.
We’ve got two quality players at every position, and three at some.”
And that’s something Odom
definitely looks forward to. Wake plays only two seniors — reserves Tim Fuller and
Jim Fitzpatrick — and his young team is an experienced one.
“We’ve got the most
depth we’ve had in the last six years,”Odom said. “The freshmen we’ve
been playing with over the last two years are now sophomores and juniors. We have a team
that has a lot of positive experience, but still it’s young.”
For that reason, Odom wants a
start similar to last year’s 11-2 mark. Only this season, the Deacons can’t
afford a five-game losing streak early in the ACCslate. Losses to weak Virginia and
Florida State teams probably made the difference between the NIT and the NCAA.
“We should have a better team
sooner, but that’s not the idea,”Odom said. “The idea is to have a better
team later. I want to be as good as I can as early as I can because I think that gives you
something to build on.”
And he obviously likes what
he’s seen so far.
“Things are going well —
Coach is not screaming as much as he’s had to in the past,”said O’Kelly
with a laugh. “We have total confidence, we’re excited and hopefully we’ll
be blessed to have a great season this year.”
One that ends in the NCAA
Tournament, and later rather than sooner. |
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