After last season’s break out, Waves return a team loaded with scorers and playmakers. But the question remains–can they stop anybody on D?
By Kyle Jorrey
Sports Editor
Wake Forest did a very bad thing.
When the No.7 seeded Demon Deacons knocked off No. 10 Waves 83-74 in the
first round of the NCAA tournament, they didn’t take away their confidence — all
they did was make them mad.
Frighteningly mad.
And they are looking to take out that anger on this year’s opponents. “That loss,
it hurt bad, real bad,” said Waves junior forward Glen McGowan about Wake Forest.
“This year we’re coming out and take no prisoners. We’re trying to kill everyone.
No mercy.”
Senior forward Jimmy Miggins, a first-team All WCC selection and probably the
conference’s most surprising impact player,feels the same way.
“I took it to the heart,” Miggins said. “I wanted to play them again that same night …
This year we’re making sure that doesn’t happen again.”
It’s clear when talking to members of the team that they want to prove that last
year’s 22-9 record (13-1 in WCC), in which they once held the nation’s longest
winning streak at 14, wasn’t a fluke. And not just by equaling their accomplishments
– but by going even further.
“Everyone is working extra hard,” Miggins said. “We want to teams to know that if
they come to this gym they’re going to get blown out … we’re pushing 24/7. We’re
going all out.”
Miggins, the team’s top scorer last season (14.9 per game), is surrounded by what
some think is the quickest group of players in the conference. For most of them,
putting points on the board is second nature.
Players like last year’s WCC “Freshman of the Year,” sophomore forward Terrence
Johnson. A potent scorer from all over the floor, he was the team’s top three-point
shooter and one of it’s biggest crowd pleasers.
And senior point guard Devin Montgomery, who can find the open man but isn’t afraid
to take the ball to the hole or shoot the long three. An All-WCC honorable mention,
he averaged 11.7 points per game and was the team’s biggest playmaker, dishing out
110 assists (3.8 per game) during the season.
He also led the Waves in scoring in four out of their last five games, including putting
up 27 points in their loss to Gonzaga in the final round of the WCC tournament, and
18 in their loss to Wake Forest. Head Coach Paul Westphal called him “the best point
guard in the conference.”
Rounding out the Waves plethora of offensive weapons are senior forward Boomer Brazzle, McGowan (who is recovering from knee surgery but should be healthy by the start of the season), senior guard Mike Westphal, and redshirt
freshman Alex Acker.
Despite all of the squad’s gifted individual scorers, it proved last year that are willing
to play as a team. Coach Westphal expects the same results this season.
“We’re going to play together because if they don’t, they won’t play,” Westphal said. “Everyone has a role, and players have to be willing to sacrifice for
the good of the team.”
Johnson said the team knows it’s simply a matter of getting the ball to the guy that’s hot.
“Everyone knows we have a lot of weapons, so everyone just takes their turns,” Johnson
said. “We just say if you got the shot take it.”For me, I just want to do whatever it takes
to help this team win, if that means stepping down, than that’s fine,” he added. “The main
thing is getting those wins.”
Paul Westphal said he’s “not against scoring a lot of points.” He encourages his players to take shots when they’re open and run the fast break whenever
they get the opportunity.
The team is again looking to play an up-tempo style of basketball on offense and defense,
hoping to use its quickness and athletic ability to their advantage.
“We want to play fast,” Paul Westphal said. “We’re picking up full court every possession
of every game.”
With their offensive attack well in place, the challenge for this year’s team, according to
the players and their coach, will be defense and rebounding. This may be a difficult task
considered the loss of senior center Cedric Suitt, the team’s top shot blocker and second
-leading rebounder.
“The key to our success is whether or not we play up to our potential defensively,” Paul Westphal said. “We’ll score a lot of points and win a lot of games if we get teams to play the game we want to play, as long as we make the defensive stops to get our offense the ball.
Last season, the Waves were out-rebounded by an average of 1.4 boards a game, and often gave up crucial offensive boards. Paul Westphal expects players like McGowan, Acker (the team’s top preseason rebounder) and junior center Will Kimble will help sow up the problem.
“It’s a concern, but we have that as a goal to be a better rebounding team. But it’s also a mindset, and our players need to have that mindset,” Paul Westphal said.
A lot of the responsibility will fall on Kimble, who will start this season at center for the Waves.
“He’s statistically a better rebounder than Suitt was, especially on the offensive glass,” Coach Westphal said.
The Waves out-of-conference schedule is a bit lighter than last season, but the team is still facing big-time opponents like Utah and Oregon.
Oregon, who went to last year’s Final Four, is ranked No.11 on the AP’s preseason
poll.
Two glaring absences from the schedule – USC and UCLA – refused to take on the Waves on their home floor. Coach Westphal said he thinks it might have something to do with last year’s losses by the Bruins and Trojans at the hands of the Waves.
“The fact that Oregon, who is a great team, agreed to play us at home tell us two things,” Coach Westphal said. “One, they are not afraid to play a tough road game, and two, that the rest of the PAC-10 is. They just wish we’d go away.”
As a former USC basketball star, he is especially disappointed that his alma mater didn’t agree to the rematch in Malibu. “It makes me ashamed to be a Trojan because of it,” the coach said. “They’re just running for cover.”
In the WCC, the Waves expect to see a much-improved conference. In addition to Gonzaga, who boasts what some have said is the nation’s best frontcourt, the team should face stiffer challenges from teams like Portland, University of San Diego, and Loyola Marymount.
“With the success that Pepperdine and Gonzaga have had … the rest of the conference doesn’t like that, and they’re gearing up and trying to keep pace,” Coach Westphal said. “This conference is doing nothing but getting better.”
The Waves, who open their season Friday, November 22nd against Bradley, say their sights aren’t just set on earning a bid to the NCAA tournament. Coach Westphal said they want to go as deep in the tournament as possible, Miggins was more specific.
“It’s not just about getting there any more,” Miggins said. “If we go anywhere less than the Sweet 16, I’m going to consider it a disappointment.”
October 31, 2002