What's Up With Wake?

No team in college basketball is disappointing me more right now than the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. After starting out 16-0, 3-0 and climbing to #1 in the rankings, Wake Forest has gone 2-4 in their last six games and are now 5-4 in the ACC.

The ACC is traditionally a very tough basketball conference and this year is no different. UNC, Duke and Clemson have all been in the top 10 at one point, Florida State currently sits at #25 and Boston College and Virginia Tech are in decent shape as they make a run at a spot in the field of 64. But Wake is not losing to very many top teams. They are getting beat by the bottom half of the conference. Their 4 losses have come to:
-Miami(FL): 15-8, 4-6
-NC State: 13-9, 3-6
-Virginia Tech: 16-7, 6-3 (only solid team)
-Georgia Tech: 13-10, 1-9

The Demon Deacons are a young team as three of their top four scorers are either freshmen or sophomores. But there aren't many teams that shoot the ball better-49.1 team FG% ranks 6th in the country- and there more than likely isn't a bigger team in the country as 6 of their 13 players are 6'9" or bigger, including two 7 footers. Perhaps the Waukegan School for the Incredibly Tall has a bigger team but Wake Forest is at least #2.

Going back to shooting percentage, because Wake is so big their overall percentage is going to get a boost because of their low post game. In turn, their outside shooting hasn't been so good. As a team, they are shooting 33.3% from 3 point land. Though, Jeff Teague is money shooting 51.5% so they have a lethal outside shooter. But their guard depth isn't very strong as Teague is the only player over 33.3% shooting 3's.
However, a team with their dominating low post game shouldn't be getting beat by weak teams as often as Wake Forest has been. They are shooting themselves in the foot as the ACC Tournament nears and a 5-6 seed in that tourney looks like a possibility.

Not long ago I thought Wake Forest's great size and ability to own the boards would continue to overshadow their deficiency from the outside and would help propel them deep into the big dance, possibly to the Final Four. Now though, I'm questioning that thought. Their big men continue to get in foul trouble- Al-Farouq Aminu, James Johnson and Chas McFarland have each fouled out 3 times this year- and not many guards outside of Jeff Teague and L.D. Williams are stepping up.

I guess the good news for Wake is that it is early February and that there is time to get it going. But they have some big issues to address going into the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.