Yardbarker: Virginia Tech Hokies

ACC Basketball Teams as Car Companies: Teams 7-12

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:43:54 -0500

Here is the rest of my teams as car companies review/revision for the remainder of the alphabet.

Miami- Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi is all over the place. They make decent cars that few people buy because they charge too much. They are the sole provider of rear projection- old school- large screen TVs. They are all of these things and simultaneously none of them. They are a conglomerate of independents working as a unit under the tri-diamond umbrella of the name. They operate much the same way under The U at times. This year they don't have the steady scoring and leadership of Jack McClinton. They will, instead, be lead by James Dews. Miami seems to still be selling the brand of 1990s football that brought Miami into the national media spotlight. They play decent basketball, have some decent players, but can't break through. It might be difficult this year as well; they were picked to finish 10th by the ACC Media writers.

North Carolina State University- Jaguar.
Jaguar, I think, was once a luxury car brand. They have a proud heritage that extends back to 1922. But last year, they were sold by Ford to Tata Motor Company, an Indian company. They have retained some of their essential British-ness, but little else other than the name still exists. NC State has long played the step-child to UNC in basketball, and really most other things as well. And while they haven't sold themselves to the enemy, that might have to be an option soon. The fan base seems to have a chip on their shoulder, but the players, at least under Sidney Lowe, lack this conviction. The athletic department hired Sidney Lowe in an attempt to bring NCSU back to its Valvano glory days and their national championship. That has not happened. It will not until NC State atones for its Sendek sins and admits it was wrong. The athletic department and even the fanbase is too stubborn to do that.

University of North Carolina- BMW.
BMW is the more sensible German car choice, at least when compared to a Mercedes. Their prices are much more reasonable and their cars have been consistently reliable, less a few hiccups - see the BMW redesign controversy-along the way. UNC is the same- think the Doherty era. This year, however, UNC will be reloading after their national championship run, but are still picked by the ACC media to finish first (tied with Duke) in the ACC. What UNC lost is more than most teams will ever have and what they have now is more than most as well. While UNC loses Hansborough, Lawson, Ellington, and Green, they have Thompson, Ginyard, Davis, Zeller and then the freshmen: Henson, McDonald, and the Wear twins, plus wild card Larry Drew II. It looks like another successful season in Chapel Hill.

Virginia- Dodge.
Ok Dodge, you need to stop making everything except trucks. I mean it. Everything else you make is sub-par- not in a good, golfing way. You have a niche; exploit it, carve it out, get comfortable. Virginia, I suggest you do the same. Find someone/something which you value, be it character, talent, or whatever and stick to it. The Cavaliers need to find an identity- fast. And though last year's ACC ROY Sylven Landesberg is returning with a new coach, Tony Bennet, who loves the glacially-paced offensive attack. And while it might not sell in the ACC just yet, at least UVA is looking. Hopefully they find the focus and identity they have been looking for since, oh, I don't know, Ralph Sampson.

Virginia Tech- Jeep.
Jeep is sort of in a class all its own. When they have tried to adapt to the times with smaller, less powerful vehicles, they have often failed. When they have stuck to what they do well, they have been successful. Much is the same with Virginia Tech. Seth Greenberg has found a strong guard in Malcolm Delaney and a powerful forward with Jeff Allen. With the departure of AD Vassallo, and little else in between Delaney and Allen, if someone else doesn't step up to fill the rest of the slots, VT could be on the outside looking in in March.

Wake Forest- Volkswagen.
I guess Volkswagen, why not? VW's have been around, they are associated with hippies and tie-dye, Wake Forest has that lame black and yellow tie-dye logo, ergo, VW. Beyond that, Volkswagen has tried to position itself as the people's car/wagon/whatever, but then put out the $90,000 Phaeton. Which one is it? The sleek VW that wants to be the Mac of the car world or their bubbly heritage driven by middle-aged women? Wake Forest, to me, is in much the same place with their identity. While they have a much stronger product than NCSU, as far as the "big four," German cars or NC-ACC teams, are concerned, they are usually a distant third, or sometimes fourth. Wake has had some strong years, but have also had some flame-outs. This year, the Deacons could be ready for a breakout with the return of Al-Farouq Aminu and Ish Smith. Additionally, they bring in a strong recruiting class lead by Ari Stewart. With this nucleus and Chas MacFarland, they could have what it takes to make a run in the Sweet 16. The OP: Clemson Basketball.

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The ACC hates the NCAA's new taunting rule

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:19:50 -0500

Sunday wasn't just a day for NFL football, Liverpool-Manchester United, and "Mad Men." (And who are you supposed to be? Oof.) No, Sunday was also ACC media day, and the conference's players and coaches made at least one thing abundantly clear: No one likes the NCAA's new taunting rule. First, the rule, which college football fans will know all too well. Since we last played college hoops, the NCAA has outlawed excessive celebrations or anything else that might be consid...

ACC Basketball Media Day Predictions

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:09:41 -0500

The ACC held their annual basketball media day today, and have released their preseason predictions...

Predicted Standings

T1. UNC *
T1. Duke *
3. Clemson
4. Georgia Tech
5. Maryland
6. Wake Forest
7. Florida State
8. Virginia Tech
9. Boston College
10. Miami
11. Virginia
12. NC State

* This marks the first time ever that two teams have tied at the top of the preseason standings

Player of the Year

Kyle Singler, Duke

Rookie of the Year

Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech

All-ACC 1st Team

Greivis Vasquez" target="_new">Greivis Vasquez, Maryland
Trevor Booker" target="_new">Trevor Booker, Clemson
Kyle Singler, Duke
Malcolm Delaney" target="_new">Malcolm Delaney, Virginia Tech
Ed Davis, UNC

Quick Thoughts

Boston College will be higher in my predicted standings, as experienced Al Skinner teams typically perform very well
Jon Scheyer and Gani Lawal" target="_new">Gani Lawal were probably the next two closest players for All-ACC 1st team

Malcolm Delaney is a “LeBron-Got-Dunked-On” Witness

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:27:00 -0500

Charm City’s native son and Virginia Tech standout guard Malcolm Delaney was one of hundreds of witnesses to the “LeBron James-Got-Dunkes-On” Internet sensation of yesterday. YES LEBRON GOT DUNKED ON… FACE @ FACE WIT @ HANDS N IT WAS NASTY.. I had front row seats cuz I was playin.. Lmao.. Unfortunately, you can’t see the Tweet [...]

Game Notes: UNC @ Virginia Tech

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:44:36 -0500

UNC at Virginia Tech Date 3/4/2009 7:00:00 PMLive StatsCheck At Gametime.TV ESPN Team Stats More Stat ComparisonsMore Team StatsEfficiency Predicted Final ScoreVirginia Tech 75 UNC 92

Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, VA
When: Wednesday, March 4th, 7:00 PM
TV: ESPN
Livestats: ACC
Records: UNC 25-3, 11-3 ACC; Virginia Tech 17-11, 7-7 ACC

Time to take care of business.

UNC has but one option before them and that is to win out. As fans we wanted the pressure to be off and a FSU win over Duke would have done that. As it is UNC needs to do what they are more than capable of doing and that is beating Virginia Tech then handle Duke. First up the Hokies who will be playing desperate since they would like what Maryland got ten days ago, a win at home over UNC to jumpstart a run for the NCAA Tournament. UNC has a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in mind and the easiest path to that is taking the ACC regular season.

For the Heels, a continuation of what they did versus Georgia Tech would be the best way to go. UNC got a lot of balance in the offense on Saturday but possibly of greater importance the offense was routed through the interior players which opened up other aspects of the offense. Tyler Hansbrough had a “standard” game for him with a nice mix of jumpers and inside shots plus trips to the foul line. Ty Lawson, who must walk the fine line between facilitating the offense and stepping up, will be a key in this game. It will be interesting to see if VT can check Lawson and with the game on the interior likely to be physical, the offense could get bogged down. That is where a healthy dose of good shooting from Wayne Ellington and Danny Green might be very helpful.

This is the point of the season the Heels need to get focused. Duke is waiting so the Heels should not be caught looking ahead but rather make a statement that they are more than ready to take on Duke this coming Sunday.

UNC 89 VT 75

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UNCNameGPMinsPtsAstsRbdsStlsBlksTOsFG%3P%FT%Off Eff Tyler Hansbrough 24 29.7 21.3 0.9 7.8 0.8 0.4 1.9 53.2 40.0 84.9 98.7 Ty Lawson 28 29.0 15.8 6.5 2.6 2.1 0.1 1.9 54.5 49.4 81.5 149.8 Wayne Ellington 28 29.1 14.9 2.6 4.9 1.2 0.1 1.6 45.6 37.8 83.7 108.7 Danny Green 28 26.5 14.1 2.9 4.7 1.8 1.4 1.9 51.6 45.0 81.3 113.3 Deon Thompson 28 25.8 11.1 0.7 6.2 0.9 1.1 1.3 49.6 0.0 65.6 88.8 Ed Davis 28 19.0 6.4 0.7 7.0 0.3 1.7 1.2 50.4 0.0 60.6 92.2 Bobby Frasor 28 15.9 2.7 1.5 1.7 0.5 0.1 0.7 31.5 24.2 40.0 108.6 Will Graves 20 11.2 4.0 0.8 2.6 0.4 0.1 1.2 43.7 27.8 88.9 88.7 Larry Drew II 28 10.1 1.6 2.1 1.2 0.5 0.0 1.5 38.6 25.0 50.0 114.1 Tyler Zeller 5 13.8 6.4 0.4 2.2 0.6 0.4 0.8 40.0 0.0 85.7 103.1 Justin Watts 21 3.0 0.8 0.1 0.8 0.1 0.1 0.3 24.1 0.0 42.9 51.6 Patrick Moody 18 2.3 1.2 0.0 0.7 0.1 0.2 0.1 63.6 0.0 61.5 112.6 J.B. Tanner 17 2.2 1.4 0.0 0.4 0.1 0.0 0.1 50.0 41.7 33.3 97.2 Jack Wooten 17 2.0 0.6 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.1 40.0 20.0 25.0 92.5 Marc Campbell 17 2.0 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.4 50.0 0.0 100.0 136.4 Mike Copeland 11 2.5 0.7 0.1 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.2 28.6 0.0 100.0 94.3 Marcus Ginyard 3 12.3 1.3 1.3 2.7 0.7 0.0 1.0 25.0 0.0 50.0 100.6 Greg Little00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0Virginia TechNameGPMinsPtsAstsRbdsStlsBlksTOsFG%3P%FT%Off Eff AD Vassallo 28 36.5 18.8 2.5 6.1 0.8 0.8 2.5 45.9 37.9 80.4 79.5 Malcolm Delaney 28 36.4 18.4 3.9 4.1 1.5 0.3 2.9 41.2 37.3 86.8 95.3 Jeff Allen 27 30.6 14.0 1.4 8.7 1.8 1.4 2.9 48.3 42.5 61.0 77.6 Dorenzo Hudson 28 19.6 3.9 1.2 1.8 0.5 0.1 1.0 31.7 30.2 78.3 88.9 Victor Davila 28 12.7 3.3 0.2 2.1 0.1 0.3 0.6 55.4 0.0 53.8 85.7 Cheick Diakite 26 17.7 3.9 0.3 4.0 0.1 1.3 0.3 53.8 0.0 53.1 100.7 J.T. Thompson 18 20.3 5.2 0.8 3.4 1.1 0.3 1.5 46.3 0.0 56.7 78.9 Terrell Bell 27 13.3 2.5 1.1 2.9 0.4 0.3 0.9 34.2 18.5 50.0 89.8 Lewis Witcher 26 9.7 2.2 0.0 1.7 0.2 0.3 0.3 54.2 0.0 40.0 74.0 Hank Thorns 24 18.9 3.0 2.7 1.7 0.6 0.0 1.3 30.9 21.2 62.5 117.8 Terrance Vinson 6 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Paul Debnam 3 1.0 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 100.0 0.0 100.0 84.1 Chris Panneton 2 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Evan Synstad 2 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Tom Amalfe00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0 Gene Swindle00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0 Darrion Pellum00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.00.0

Will's World: Eight teams in the NCAA tournament?

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:00:56 -0500

With just a handful of games left in the regular season, things have taken shape in the ACC. UNC is the leader in the conference, a game clear in the loss column of Clemson and Duke, and two games ahead of Wake Forest and the surprise of the season, Florida State. As far as I'm concerned, those five are locks. It gets a little dicey after that. Boston College, Maryland, and Virginia Tech are all in the mix.

I like Boston College's chances to get in. They have been playing very well this season, and it hasn't completely been the Tyrese Rice show. The Eagles have also been getting some solid contributions from Joe Trapani, the team's leading rebounder, Rakim Sanders, and Corey Raji, among others. They have some big wins against UNC, Duke, and Florida State. They have also shown the ability to win on the road, with a 5-4 record away from their home court. Plus, they also have a neutral court win against UAB, who is also on the tourney bubble. Overall, the Eagles are 20-9, with two games left, at NC State and home for Georgia Tech, which to me equals a 22-9 record and a 10-6 conference record. And 10 conference wins should get them in, even though they have that really bad loss to Harvard.

Maryland is right behind them in the conference at 6-6 and 17-9 overall, and just like Boston College, have a really bad home loss on their schedule, which was to Morgan State. The Terps do have the big win at home against UNC, where Greivis Vazquez basically put the team on his shoulders and carried them to the upset win. Aside from that, Maryland also has a neutral court win against Michigan State when they played a non-conference tournament early in November. The problem with Maryland is that they have failed to show up quite a few times, in particular a 41 point loss to Duke and a 29 point loss to Clemson. If Maryland is going to get in to the NCAA tournament, they will need to win their remaining four games on their schedule: home for Duke and Wake Forest, at NC State and at Virginia. With the way Maryland has played, they could just as easily go 4-0 or 0-4. If they can win out and go 10-6, then they're a lock. But lose out, and there's no chance. If they split those reamining four games, they will have to have one of those home games to help boost the resume.

Virginia Tech is also 6-6 in the conference and 16-10 overall. Unfortunately, the Hokies have lost three straight, and are falling out of the NCAA tournament picture, and need wins fast. They don't have many impressive wins on their schedule. They did beat Wake Forest on the road when Wake was ranked number one, and did beat Boston College at home, but that's really it. They had a bad loss against Georgia, who fired their coach not long after that win. I've been a little disappointed in the Hokies this season. I though they would be a sleeper team in the ACC. Aside from Malcolm Delaney, A.D. Vassallo, and Jeff Allen, no one else scores for them. The fourth highest scorere on the team doesn't even average five points per game. And when Jeff Allen missed the Virginia game, they weren't really in the game at all.

As for the remaining schedule for the Hokies, they have four really tough contesets: at Clemson, Duke and UNC at home, and at Florida State. I have a hard time thinking they can win at Clemson, but I think they have a chance in the other three games. I think they will need to at least split to be a thought in the tourney picture. They might have to win three to be in the mix.

I think it is possible for the ACC to get eight teams into the NCAA tournament. Right now, I think it's more likely for seven teams to get in, but if Virginia Tech can get hot and win some games, then eight teams from the ACC is certainly possible.

Florida State Hangs On To Beat Hokies

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 08:49:15 -0500

FLORIDA STATE 67, VIRGINIA TECH 65 ? Toney Douglas scored 22 points, including a tie-breaking runner with 6 seconds remaining, and Florida State beat Virginia Tech 67-65 on Saturday night. Derwin Kitchen added a career-high 19 points and Uche Echefu had 12 for the Seminoles (21-6, 8-4 ACC), who ...

Virginia Tech: The Zen of Coach Seth

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:43:02 -0500

Sidney Lowe's wardrobe hasn't worked all that well with in-state rival North Carolina, but it does still posses some magical powers. In the weekly ACC coaches conference call, Seth Greenberg gave an explanation for Virginia Tech's six-game losing streak to N.C. State. 'It's that damn red ...

Boston College Wins Hoops Dr. Pepper Bowl Rematch

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:42:54 -0500

AP - Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg saw it coming, and he wasn't able to stop it. "The last thing we talked about coming out of the timeout was, 'The shot's not going to beat you. It's going to be the second shot," Greenberg said after Rakim Sanders scored the go-ahead basket on a putback ...

What to Make of Virginia Tech

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 08:59:09 -0500

We're three weeks into the ACC season, and the surprise so far has to be the Hokies. They've shot out to a 4-1 record and have two road wins against upper division teams, including handing the Deacs their first loss. Still, they've been outscored on the conference season (-25 against Duke, +23 combined in their four wins, although they hold a positive efficiency margin thanks to having 6 more defensive possessions than offensive) and are only a few weeks removed from a thoroughly unimpressive non-conference slate where they lost to every team they played that was better than they were (and even one or two - Georgia, Seton Hall - that are worse).

So far, the reason for their success has been offense. After being dismantled by Duke in the ACC opener to the tune of a 70.18 offensive rating, Tech has put up four performances of 107, 120, 112, and 121. As is traditional with Seth Greenberg teams, they don't cough the ball up - only 17.7% of their possessions end in turnovers, and that number is even skewed downward by an aberrant 28% performance against Duke. Their ability to hold onto the ball has been key - in non-turnover possessions, VT has the 7th best offense in the ACC, but when all possessions are included, they jump to 4th. They've also been solid with their interior scoring - 50% from 2 in ACC play and 56% in their last three games. Overall, Tech's converted well from the field - their .511 efg% is second only to Wake. This seems unlikely to last. They've actually been better shooting the ball in conference than out, despite playing better opponents.

Leading the charge has been the Hokies' big three, who all have been playing exceptional basketball of late. Delaney, Vassallo, and Allen have combined for 276 of the Hokies' 367 ACC points. Delaney and Vassallo in particular have excelled. The sophomore point guard scores 32% of Tech's points, and has put up a 114.73 offensive rating while using over 27% of the possessions. The senior 2 has had slightly less usage (23.31% of possessions) but been even more efficient, posting a 120.23 offensive rating. In the four conference wins, Vassallo is 23 of 39 from 2 and 9 of 23 from 3 - that's lights out shooting.

The question now is whether this is sustainable. There are plenty of dubious signs - this is, in many ways, a run driven by hot shooting, which has a tendency to revert to the mean. VT doesn't do the other things (rebound, shoot free throws) well enough to overcome a poor shooting night. Plus, with so much pressure on Allen, Delaney, and Vassallo, the inability of their teammates to play at even an adequate level could prove problematic. However, there are positive signs as well, first and foremost being the schedule. The Hokies' next 6 games look like this: Clemson, @ BC, NCSU, Georgia Tech, @ Maryland, @ Virginia. Aside from the Clemson game (which is in Blacksburg), that's a list of the worst teams in conference. It's entirely possible that they could be staring a 9-2 record in the face after their trip to Charlottesville. The finish gets tougher: FSU, @ Clemson, Duke, UNC, @FSU. And thanks to the pre-conference performance, 9-7 could put the Hokies on the wrong side of the bubble, particularly if their last 5 games feature 3 or 4 losses. But all of a sudden, the Hokies, despite again performing poorly before the calendar turns, have made themselves relevant in conference play. If they keep stealing upsets and holding court at home, they could be one of the most surprising NCAA tournament teams of the season.

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What Virginia Tech Taught Us About Wake Forest

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 13:43:24 -0500

Box Score for Virginia Tech/Wake Forest

First, the simple way to win a game is to come out ahead in more of the following categories than your opponent...

Turnovers
Def Reb %
Off Reb %
FG%
Three Pointers Made

Keep in mind, that if you lose 4 out of the 5 categories, but make 10 more three pointers than your opponent, you still have a good chance of winning. So, there is a cumulative effect amongst these areas.

Wake tends to take care of their opponents in the first 4 areas due to their size and athleticism, but Virginia Tech played them even on Wednesday night. The Hokies were outrebounded by only 3, and even forced the Demon Deacons into 3 more turnovers. Virginia Tech took care of the ball thanks in large part due to the tempo of the game.

The most important thing that the Hokies did, and it may sound obvious, is they made shots. Perhaps more importantly, they made 2 point shots. With their length Wake Forest has made teams take a higher percentage of three point shots to avoid the size in the paint. While the Hokes took 21 three point shots (making 6 or 29%), they shot a remarkable 66% (19-29) on their 2 point shots and attacked the rim getting to the free throw line 39 times. By making shots and getting to the free throw line it allowed Virginia Tech to control the tempo.

Seth Greenberg knew he had to counteract the length and athleticism of Wake Forest and did so with a packed in zone. If there is one weakness Wake Forest has, it's perimeter shooting. Outside of Jeff Teague and Harvey Hale, Wake has no real threat from beyond the arc. Further, the zone helped the Hokies in defensive rebounding. Wake Forest managed to grab 15 offensive rebounds, but the poor shooting numbers and large field goal attempt advantage suggests that those numbers were padded by the Wake big men playing volleyball with the rim.

Wake Forest now has a week off until they host Duke. The Blue Devils will not do anything more than show zone for a possession, which will be beneficial to Wake Forest. We'll have more on that one as the game approaches, but looking at the matchups against Duke I have a hard time seeing Wake with back-to-back losses. That said, the Hokies may have just etched out a roadmap that teams will be using against the Demon Deacons all the way through March.

So to recap, here's what we came up with...

Roadmap to beating Wake Forest

Attack the Rim and Finish
Force Wake Forest to take the perimeter jumpshot
Control Tempo
Rebound

It may just be easier said than done.

Duke Puts Away Virginia Tech 69-44

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:01:41 -0500

Enhanced Box Score

Last night I got home just in time to catch a great BC/UNC game that has been covered in 3 articles already on this site. As a result, I'm not going to create a fourth.

Let's talk about the Duke win over Virginia Tech though. The Blue Devils were impressive for most of the game with the exception of a 8 minute stretch at the end of the first half where the Hokies slowly got back into the game. When Virginia Tech went on a 4-0 run to start the 2nd half they closed the score to 39-35 and forced Coach K to call a timeout.

At the point of this timeout, the Hokies led in the offensive and defensive rebounding percentages and had forced the Blue Devils into more turnovers per possession. After the timeout the Blue Devils addressed all three areas, and with their exceptional defense opened the game up.

Here are a few points I took from the Blue Devils' win...

Brian Zoubek has become an integral part of the Duke offense. After Virginia Tech closed the lead to 4, the Blue Devils ran every offensive set through Zoubek. Another way to see this is that Zoubek led the Blue Devils in usage % last night, meaning he was involved in the highest % of possessions when he was in the game. Of course, Zoubek wasn't in the game when the Hokies went on their first half run. The 7 footer sat on the bench for a large part of first half after grabbing 3 fouls in 5 minutes of action.
Jon Scheyer's defense on AD Vassallo was superb, not sure if he can be considered an underrated defender anymore.
The fact that Virginia Tech scored just 13 points in the 2nd half is absurd. The Duke defense was suffocating, but Virginia Tech got away from their strengths in the 2nd half. Just as Zoubek starts the Blue Devils offense, every possession should go through Jeff Allen in the post. Duke simply had no answer for his quickness and physicality in the post.
Malcolm Delaney was impressive for moments last night, but needs to be more selective when he takes over and when he gets others involved.

Over at Duke Basketball Report, here's what they're saying...

Duke got out of the gate quick, and Virginia Tech looked a bit intimidated in the opening minutes as the Devils rushed out to an 11-2 lead. In the first few minutes in particular, Brian Zoubek was terrific, and Virginia Tech had trouble countering him. But after that, it turned into a very physical game, and when it gets there, it’s pretty much to Tech’s advantage, and at halftime, Duke’s lead was six, and Tech was clearly playing with more confidence. Duke saw Zoubek and Lance Thomas each saddled with three fouls, which made things a bit dicey.

In the second half, though, after Tech cut the lead to four, Duke called at timeout, stepped up their own physical play and popped Virginia Tech in the jaw, holding Jeff Allen, A.D. Vassallo, and Malcolm Delaney to - this is from the radio crew - a total of five points. Actually, they held Delaney and Allen to five; Vassallo was shut out in the second half. Defense clamped down, in other words, and of the next 39 points, Duke had 30 of them.

Over at TechHoops.com...

Tech really dug themselves a hole in the first four minutes of the first half, something VT often did last year (not a good sign for this season). duke jumped out to an 11-0 lead as Tech started 0/9 from the field. The Hokies were unable to get closer than six the rest of the first half and trailed by eight at the half, 39-31. Tech would never get closer than four the rest of the game. The Hokies need to figure out a way to jump start things. As this game showed, you can lose a game by the first media timeout.

The Big 3 were the JV 3 tonight as they were not ready for primetime, at least not in the second half. At the break Delaney had 10, Allen 8, and Vassallo 7. They finished with 12 for Delaney, 9 for Allen, and 7 for Vassallo. For you non-math majors, that’s just three second half points for the “Big 3″. Vassallo seemed invisible in the second half.

The guys seemed to forget what was working in the first half - catch the ball on the perimeter, penetrate the key and pull up from 8-16 feet. In the second half the Hokies couldn’t figure out a thing on offense. Tech started the game just 1/12 from the field and finished the game shooting just 37%. Tech hit just one three-pointer, going 1/9. Tech just could not find easy buckets, and when they had them, they often missed them. The Hokies had just 7 assists on 18 made shots and Delaney did not collect an assist.

Trevor Ferguson Out 3-6 Weeks; Vassallo's "Steal"

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:15:47 -0500

This just in from ACC Now...

N.C. State guard Trevor Ferguson is out three to six weeks with a non-displaced fracture of the bone behind the ring finger his left (non-shooting) hand, team spokesman Brian Reinhardt said Tuesday afternoon.

Trevor Ferguson">Trevor Ferguson had been playing quite well for NC State after joining the starting lineup the past few games. Ferguson was arguably NC State's best perimeter defender.

I would anticipate several players getting a chance to replace Ferguson in the starting lineup. CJ Williams likely has the best shot, although I would lean toward getting Dennis Horner">Dennis Horner more playing time at small forward and shifting Fells to the shooting guard.

AD Vassallo With the Steal

In other ACC News, AD Vassallo and former Hokie Chris Tucker">Chris Tucker have been implicated in shoplifting charges. Here are the details from roanoke.com...

Both have been charged with petit larceny shoplifting, a misdemeanor involving an item worth less than $200. The item was a 12-pack of Dr Pepper soda, police said. The trooper was in the store at the time of the incident, police said.

We'll have to check our records but with Vassallo's relative lack of defense on the court, this could be the first steal of his career.

Another Close Loss for Virginia Tech

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 08:01:01 -0500

Box Score

We weren't able to catch this game, but we've seen the recipe...

Jeff Allen">Jeff Allen foul trouble
AD Vassallo is the only consistent scorer
Malcolm Delaney">Malcolm Delaney disappears for a half
No other VT player steps up

Those 4 bullet points were the exact recipe for a loss to Wisconsin in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge, and the Hokies were at it again in their 67-66 loss to Georgia. If there is any consolation its that the Hokies didn't lose at the buzzer once again. Georgia's Albert Jackson hit the go ahead basket with 30 seconds remaining and Virginia Tech took a few contested, bad shots that didn't fall.

The guys at TechHoops.com do a great job breaking down games, so let's see what they had to say...

This game was about as tightly played as any I’ve ever seen. The Hokies’ biggest lead of the game was five, and that was early in the first half at 5-0 and 15-10. georgia never led by more than four. Tech led 60-56 with 8 minutes to play, but seemed to run out of gas waiting for the under-8 media timeout. It never came and Greenberg finally burned a timeout with 5:21 to play after the game had been tied. The game was a see-saw battle after that with neither team leading by more than two.

Tech lost this game on the defensive glass, just like against mississippi in the NIT Quarterfinals last season. The SEC is a “man’s league” and VT looked like boys again inside. The dawgs had too much strength inside. Though the bulldogs 14-9 edge on the glass doesn’t appear that dominating, it led to numerous second efforts for the offensively challenged dawgs. Had the Hokies cleaned the glass on the defensive end, they win easily. At one point with 3 minutes to go, georgia missed both free throws, got the offensive rebound, missed the second of the next two free throws, and got another offensive board. That was the story for much of the night.

Another critical issue for the Hokies tonight was turnovers. They struggled mightily with georgia’s tough denial defense all night and led to the dawgs getting more than 20 points off VT turnovers. Jeff Allen had several bad passes.

....

The announcer said at the end that, “You don’t have to worry about Virginia Tech, they’ll be alright.” I disagree 100%. While there is plenty of basketball left to be played and plenty of chances to punch a ticket to the Big Dance, VT has dug themselves into quite a hole. The Hokies are now 0-4 against big conference opponents, and only have potentially st. john’s left before conference play begins. This basically means VT will have one quality win at best heading into ACC play, and st. john’s is not a quality team right now so that might not even matter.

I’m sorry, but this season is already stinking of 2005-06. Let’s hope the guys get as fed up with this as Greenberg was at the end and start taking care of business, instead of finding ways to lose. I think if I had a thermometer right now, it would read over 100 on me (and Greenberg). This loss really stung as you sensed most of the way VT would win. They didn’t… yet again.

Trying Something New

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:45:02 -0500

Instead of addressing how angry I am about tonight's game and pointing out problems (is there even enough time?), I'm going to try something different. I'm going to put all the titles for this post/headlines for this game that I considered.

Keys to Beating the Hokies

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:43:36 -0500

A breakdown of the VaTech-Maryland game tonight at 9, whittled down to 3 easy keys for the Terps.

ACC Flop Champion: Deron Washington

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 22:54:21 -0500

In a game against Duke, Deron Washington proceeded to "flop, trip players, try to get into the Duke huddle, start a fight with Paulus, and undercut Demarcus Nelson on a dunk attempt." Video included.

The Hokie Highlight: Deron Washington

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 01:58:31 -0500

Deron Washington dunk highlights video...

2007 Football Recruiting Roundup: Virginia Tech Hokies (ACC)

Thu, 03 May 2007 11:14:09 -0500

Fantasy College Impact: After a pretty good season (2097 PaYd, 11 PaTD, 8 PaINT) rising redshirt junior Sean Glennon is the projected starter in Blacksburg. The backup postion is up for grabs with Ike Whitaker & Cory Holt battling during spring practice. Whitaker has a some real-game experience (119 PaYd, 1 PaTD), but this job will be won on the practice field. It looks like Ike has the edge after the final spring scrimmage, but this could be a revolving backup role all season. Also, r...

The Mighty Hokies

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 17:37:52 -0500

The ACC expanded their conference by adding Miami, Virgina Tech and BC with the sole purpose of improving the conferences football, aka cash cow. What they didn't expect was for BC and VaTech to emerge as front runners in their Men's Basketball league and for VaTech to go out and sweep their matchups with UNC.