MBB at Wake Forest, NIT 1st round, Wednesday, March 20, 2024, 8:00 p.m., ESPN+, LJVM, Winston-Salem, 421 Warfare

[pop5app]

We’re not even close and it showed. That should tell you everything.

we would lose 9- 10 games against the Acc

Oh no! With 9 losses in the ACC, we’d end up like NCAA tournament 6 seed Clemson. The horror!

Quote Kerns offense is awful

You don't win 27 games with an awful offense. Bring some evidence to back up your claim or GTFO. Nobody wants to deal with your negativity as you navigate your emotions after a tough loss.

I think the most comprehensive weakness of Kerns teams has been the offensive production. It is rare the we pick and roll, Pass and cut thru the lane, very few back screens. Too much standing around looking for threes. Many times too much dribbling and not enough passing. Just my opinion but I agree the offense is awful. Can’t score can’t win. Great year. Hope it’s the beginning of a tradition in basketball. Oh and by the way nobody wants to deal with your desire to smash someone because of their opinion. Try not to get your feelings hurt or GTFO.

[AppFan11]

Offense has averaged 10 -12 pts per game more this season while still playing very good D… lots of assists .. really good interior passing… that is not indicative of an “awful offense.”

[Bigdaddyg1]

I don't know what some of you dudes have been watching the past 25 games or so. I've seen for the most part a very fluid offense that scored a good bit. Like every team we had some rough shooting nights. We had our shot last night especially when we cut it to a one possession game but it got away from us. Guys that criticize our "lack of offense" are probably the same ones who aren't happy with football unless we are averaging 40 a game. And it's way too easy to say after the fact that we didn't deserve a slot in the NCAA tournament. Probably 20 spots are taken by lesser teams who won lesser conferences. Most of them will probably get boat raced today or tomorrow but that doesn't mean they didn't deserve a spot. If that's the case just cut the whole thing down to 16 teams and be done with it. Geez

[WataugaMan]

Is it possible to congratulate an App team for a hard fought game & a great season that has exceeded the level of success for a program that has struggled, while also acknowledging the fact that there is a talent gap between the ACC & the Sun Belt.

Being at the game, I wouldn't argue with you that Wake has more overall talent than we do. What was so frustrating is that they didn't need the officials to give them an even greater advantage.

If it be football, basketball, or whatever we can always count on this type officiating at Wake. Always!!

[HurricaneYosef]

Proud of Donovan and the team this year, incredible run. Glad I was able to see this team in action multiple times. We took many stairs as a program this year!

[Saint3333]

Our interior passing is excellent and our flow outside in is solid (when we do it).

The shot selection from outside the arc is questionable at times. This isn't a Harcum only issue, but last night he took 3-4 shots that weren't high percentage shots (off balance, fading the opposite direction, etc.).

The truth of our offensive scheme is somewhere in the 3rd quartile of efficiency, it isn't as bad as some are saying, but there is opportunity to play more to our strengths.

[BambooRdApp]

We run an offense with the skill set we have. We do not have the Jet that can also score ..so as to play up tempo. Personally feel Kerns is running an offense that goes with our skill set ...this next statement is not negative to last night..just overall wish going forward..my wish is to see more rotation by guards without the ball...but the offense we are trying to run is somewhat dictated by skill sets. If we had a 20 a night scorer down low, I bet we would be dumping into post on a regular basis, etc. kerns has done a great job with the talent level on the floor. Coaching matters and he has been very good.
People want an offense for something we do not have in the skill set to run.. IMO

[Stonewall]

And the talent level is improving.

[AppSt94]

we would lose 9- 10 games against the Acc

Oh no! With 9 losses in the ACC, we’d end up like NCAA tournament 6 seed Clemson. The horror!

Quote Kerns offense is awful

You don't win 27 games with an awful offense. Bring some evidence to back up your claim or GTFO. Nobody wants to deal with your negativity as you navigate your emotions after a tough loss.

I think the most comprehensive weakness of Kerns teams has been the offensive production. It is rare the we pick and roll, Pass and cut thru the lane, very few back screens. Too much standing around looking for threes. Many times too much dribbling and not enough passing. Just my opinion but I agree the offense is awful. Can’t score can’t win. Great year. Hope it’s the beginning of a tradition in basketball. Oh and by the way nobody wants to deal with your desire to smash someone because of their opinion. Try not to get your feelings hurt or GTFO.

We made 31 FGs to their 28 last night. We made 7-6 3pt shots. We were abysmal from beyond the arc. Take those out of the overall numbers and we shot 60% from inside the arc. FTs were clearly the difference last night.

[AppStFan1]

31 free throws to 8

Wait... so all those folks early in the season were right. Free throws DID make a difference come tournament time. Just not in they way they meant.

None of us said free throws dictate every game because some games aren't close or the other team is shooting so bad it does not matter but in a close game they are often the difference. Wake had more talent but if free throw chances were equal and we hit 24 of 30 that game is very different.

[Saint3333]

And the talent level is improving.

Also depth of the talent.

Kerns had Ike Johnson, Forrest, Lewis, Delph, and Lewis Jr., Gregory (as a freshman), but not much depth. The real improvement is in the post depth since that first year. I wish Lewis had worked out better, could have used him last night.

Today we've got a higher caliber player at four of the five position (Delph being the exception) and three guys coming off the bench that are solid.

I'm excited to see Marsh continue his growth and if Hayes and/or Wilson can contribute next year. Five hungry seniors return.

[AppFan11]

94 can you get the link to Coach Kerns presser last night?

[QueencityApp]

Great season and was engaging week in and week out to watch! If I had a wish list for a few things I think would get us to that next level these would be it:

1. Inside post scorer. Love Abson and Spillers but we lacked consistent production of a post presence.
2. A true scorer. Someone like a Delph, Noah Brown, Shawn Hall type. Have a guy like that plus our current foundation of players to feed off of. Really liked the depth we had this year but didn’t feel like we had that one “dude” that you just knew was going to get his.
3. Guards that can stop dribble penetration. Each game we lost this year I felt like the other team had aggressive guards that beat our guys off the dribble and we’re able to penetrate to the lane fairly easily. Tx St, Arky St and Wake all seemed to have aggressive guards who really challenged us driving to the paint with success.

Already looking forward to next year and hoping the core stays together along with Kerns/staff. See if some upperclassmen from the portal can step right in and help in any of the areas above. Would absolutely love to run it back with another 20+ win season next year.

[Mikeyosef1]

I was at the game last night sitting with a friend who's a Wake grad, he was able to get us great seats which I really appreciated. However, to my right I had a a father and son who were the absolute nastiest fans I've ever had the displeasure to sit near. I think they were both hammered though the father said his son was only 17 . While these two were not the norm for the Wake fans around me, as the game wore on it seemed they were pretty representative of more than a few of the Wake players. It's a tournament and Joel was supposed to, technically, be a neutral site; neither the officiating, nor the announcers were neutral. The slanted court wasn't needed, Wake is the better team overall and has some really great players. We had some nice runs and at times it looked, even with things stacked against us, there was a reasonable chance of pulling off an upset. Sadly it wasn't to be.

What I really liked seeing was, our guys never gave up, there is NO quit in this team. Hands down, this has been the best season the team has ever had. More importantly, the team got the fans onboard, especially the students. Holmes was rocking this year and I think Basketball at App State has really turned the corner. Kearns has done a fantastic job of more than righting the ship and I hope we can keep him for a another season or two to solidify the new found fan base. I am really looking forward to next season, which I don't think I've ever said for App State Basketball. Thank you to the guys on the team and coaches, you guys are all Rock Stars!

[PoplarHillApp]

Tough game last night. Their size was difficult for us, and the free throws (31 to 8) did certainly make a difference in my opinion.

My wife and I had the misfortune to be seated around the most obnoxious and rude fans I have been around at any basketball game I have ever attended. We both ignored it, rose above it, and acted with class and grace. Even through the insults and nastiness towards us from the moment we took our seats until the game was over.

I have to say that the behavior was certainly unexpected at WF, as I’ve attended numerous football, baseball, and basketball games at WFU over the past three + decades and people were nice and welcoming. Very disappointing.

The only worse I have been around prior was a football game in Statesboro. But you sort of expect it there.

[Mikeyosef1]

Tough game last night. Their size was difficult for us, and the free throws (31 to 8) did certainly make a difference in my opinion.

My wife and I had the misfortune to be seated around the most obnoxious and rude fans I have been around at any basketball game I have ever attended. We both ignored it, rose above it, and acted with class and grace. Even through the insults and nastiness towards us from the moment we took our seats until the game was over.

I have to say that the behavior was certainly unexpected at WF, as I’ve attended numerous football, baseball, and basketball games at WFU over the past three + decades and people were nice and welcoming. Very disappointing.

The only worse I have been around prior was a football game in Statesboro. But you sort of expect it there.

I think you must have been sitting near me. There were two fans who made the whole Wake fan base look really bad. They say it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch and there were at least two bad apples in that crowd.

[RadioNeer98]

Beyond proud of this team this year. HISTORY year for this program. Now we embark on the unknown. Alot of talent can be back here next year. The question is will it? The state of the game now is quality players at mid-majors get calls and $ to move up to the ladder. Alot to pick from off this team if I am Clemson, NCST, WF etc. We also have the largest elephant in this room.... Will DK be on the sideline come NOV? So many questions to be answered over the next 6+ months. All I can say at the end of the day that "It's A Great Day To Be A Mountaineer"!

[ASU2012]

Great season. Great atmosphere last night. Love the direction the program is heading.

3 weeks ago, I would have bet my house that Kerns is gone. Not so sure now. Finished the season 1-2 and got outcoached (by a wide margin) in all three contests. We will see what the future holds.

I've heard the team is waiting to see what happens before making portal decisions. Sounds like Abson may be gone either way. He is a force on defense but a liability on offense. Not sure that stock is as hot as they think it is but we will see. If Kerns does get poached, I don't think we return a single starter next year.

[CoachRob]

We run an offense with the skill set we have. We do not have the Jet that can also score ..so as to play up tempo. Personally feel Kerns is running an offense that goes with our skill set ...this next statement is not negative to last night..just overall wish going forward..my wish is to see more rotation by guards without the ball...but the offense we are trying to run is somewhat dictated by skill sets. If we had a 20 a night scorer down low, I bet we would be dumping into post on a regular basis, etc. kerns has done a great job with the talent level on the floor. Coaching matters and he has been very good.
People want an offense for something we do not have in the skill set to run.. IMO

This is very key. The talent level has risen at App State. Yet, there is still a ways to go. Abson would be P5 if he had an offensive post game. His development in that area would make him a dominant force on the court vs any team. They matched up with our guards to create at least a wash, did a great job shutting down Don. Truth is we don't have a Post scorer that we can go to when offense is struggling and we need a basket. Thought that was a big difference between App & Wake last night.
Problem is, on recruiting trails, guards are in an abundance. Post are not. Like Lineman in football, the post game is usually the biggest difference between P5 schools & mid majors.

[AppSt94]

94 can you get the link to Coach Kerns presser last night?

Have you tried “Googling” it?

I kid. I kid.