ETHAN HYMAN - ehyman@newsobserver.com
GREENSBORO -- After Wake Forest’s third straight ACC tournament collapse, and perhaps the worst of the three in a dismal 83-62 loss to last-place Miami on Thursday, the NCAA tournament is now officially a referendum on Dino Gaudio.
Put simply, there’s no excuse for losing to a Miami team that went winless on the road in the ACC, while playing at a so-called neutral site close enough that the Deacons stayed on campus this week.
Perhaps, in a vacuum, the loss could be written off as an isolated incident. Unfortunately for Gaudio, now 0-4 in the postseason since taking over for the late Skip Prosser in the most tragic of circumstances, it’s the latest in an uncomfortable pattern of underachievement.
Thursday, with Al-Farouq Aminu struggling, Wake closed to seven points late in the first half, but let Miami go on a 9-2 run to close out the half, then score the first eight points of the second to run the lead to 22.
After all the discussion about whether fans would show up in Greensboro -- they could have dropped the curtain during the afternoon session if they had liked -- only half the teams have so far. After watching Boston College flame out against a Virginia team missing both Sylven Landesberg and Calvin Baker in a most disinterested fashion, it was certainly worth wondering whether Wake Forest had another flame out of its own in store.
Two years ago, Wake lost to Florida State as the No. 8 seed in the 8-9 game. Last year, the Deacons stumbled out of the ACC tournament with a Friday loss to Maryland before suffering a first-round upset at the hands of Cleveland State in the NCAA tournament.
Wake closed out that regular season on a 6-1 run before fading in the postseason; this year, the Deacons finished 1-4 with only a five-point home win over Clemson on Sunday preventing a five-game skid.
So what happened Thursday wasn’t totally unexpected. To Wake’s more pessimistic followers, it was anything but.
Despite the obvious flaws -- outside shooting, with the Deacons relying on freshmen C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart, the most obvious -- there’s talent here. There isn’t a team in the league that wouldn’t want Ish Smith and Aminu. (And let’s not forget last year’s version had Jeff Teague and James Johnson as well.) L.D. Williams can play defense, and there’s enough material to work with inside -- at the least, 15 fouls to give.
But yet again, the Deacons are making the shortest possible stay at the ACC tournament, and while their resume is enough to get them into the tournament field even after Thursday’s loss, there’s nothing to suggest this team is suddenly going to develop that magical ability to play its best at the end.
There’s an easy way to identify the best coaches: Their teams get better throughout the season and peak in March. The converse may not be true, but Gaudio’s teams have certainly done the opposite.
If he’s the guy for the Deacons in the long run, the guy to carry on Prosser’s legacy, he’s long past overdue getting the most out of his team when it matters most. That makes Wake’s next game the most important of his career.
Luke has worked for The N&O since 2000. He covered the Carolina Hurricanes and the NHL before becoming a sports columnist in August 2008. A native of Evanston, Ill., he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. He can be reached at 829-8947 or 
