Evaluating Wake Forest Basketball Before Things Get Hot in the Bahamas

The Deacs are four games into their young season and look to keep moving forward this week in a major tournament

Wake Forest forward Marqus Marion against UMass Lowell | Wake Forest Athletics

Wake Forest basketball is four games into the season and now heads to the Bahamas, where they will face their fair share of challenges. The Deacs are set to play in the Baha Mar Hoops tournament in Nassau. The other teams competing include #1-ranked Purdue, #15-ranked Texas Tech, and American Conference preseason #1 Memphis. This will surely be a great test for the Deacs and prepare them well for when conference play starts in January.

So far this season, the Deacs sit at 3-1. They have three wins against mid-major opponents at the Joel, and one heartbreaking loss to Michigan in Detroit. Despite this loss, the Deacs demonstrated that they can compete with highly ranked opponents, even at this early stage of the season, which is a promising sign. Let's examine some positives and areas that need improvement for the Deacs at this week's tournament.

Good: Balanced Scoring Attack

In the offseason, Steve Forbes put a large emphasis on this team's "strength in numbers." He said the scoring attack would be more balanced than what we saw last year. So far, this has turned out to be true. We have already seen multiple Deacs reach double-figures in their first four games.

Juke Harris has taken that sophomore lead we have all expected from him. He is leading the team in scoring, averaging 21.8 points per game. Tre'Von Spillers has also shown his ability to be a consistent post punch for Wake. He is averaging 16.3 points so far. Transfer Mekhi Mason has had some very promising outings, as he is also averaging double figures with 12.5 points. Transfers Nate Calmese and Myles Colvin are each averaging 9.5 points per game as well. This clearly demonstrates a much more balanced attack offensively than a year ago and should lead to good results.

Bad: Turnovers

If there were a concern for the Deacs so far this season, it would have to be their turnover issues, especially in key moments. Wake turned the ball over 19 times in their game against Morehead State. They also had 13 against Michigan, and many of these turnovers came down the stretch in key moments of the game when the Deacs were trying to maintain their slim advantage.

Even though the Deacs' offense is more efficient, turnovers can make it a lot harder on your defense by giving the opponent easy opportunities. Turnovers are especially costly down the stretch of close games when each possession is extremely valuable. It was only one game, but late-game turnovers could certainly hurt this team. They need to show more poise in late-game moments to come out victorious.

Good: Defense Pressure

We knew this team would play fast, but their speed and ball pressure on the defensive end of the floor have been a pleasant surprise. Wake has been able to turn teams over frequently, giving them good opportunities in transition. The Deacs forced 19 against Morehead State, 18 against American, and 15 against UMass Lowell.

You may argue this is just a case of beating up on a weaker opponent. However, against the top 10 Michigan, the Deacs forced 17 turnovers. Many of these came during the Deacs' comeback efforts and contributed to their success. Continuing to force turnovers would be huge for this team defensively and creating better looks offensively. It seems like when Wake forces more turnovers, they can play looser and faster. It would be great to see the relentless defensive pressure continue so the Deacs can fluster their opponents.