This time last week, the hottest two teams in the ACC were the Hokies and the UNC Tar Heels. But, as things go in the nation’s toughest conference, things change quickly. Now the hottest duo in the league are……the UVa Cavaliers and believe it or not, NC State. The ‘hoos have won six ACC games in a row (look for that to change in a hurry with road games dead ahead with Maryland and VT) and NC State followed up their unexpected victory over the Hokies in the Cassell with an even more surprising win over UNC in Raleigh. Not even the most die hard Pack fan saw that coming a week ago (with Engin Atsur back at the point, keep an eye on NCSU).

The point is this, for all of those “the sky is falling” attitudes I’ve heard toward this season’s Hokies hoops squad since being beat down by BC last Saturday in Chestnut Hill, realize this: in the ACC, EVERY team is going to go through hot and cold streaks. It’s like that every single year in this brutal conference. Every year or so a UNC or a Duke steps up with a supposed team of dominance and even those teams will drop a conference game or two, often consecutively.

Check your calendars folks, this is the first week of February. No team wants to be peaking right now. Going through a struggle right now, such as the Hokies are, is certainly no big deal. If anything it should highlight some of the things the team needs to work on to get back to playing like they were a few weeks ago. Namely, refocusing our defensive effort, especially on the ball, and simply getting to the boards faster on both ends of the floor. The Hokies were painfully slow to almost every rebound and loose ball against both NC State and BC.

The week off should take care of that, and in that regard it seems to be coming at the perfect time. Remember this is a senior dominated team, and the next few games will speak volumes as to the leadership of this year’s senior class. The re-re-re-emergence of one Coleman Collins certainly wouldn’t hurt either.

This is a very capable team and it’s a must that we protect the Cassell by winning our home games. Remember this team is going to drop a few more games without a doubt, but also remember the stretch run is still a few weeks off. Ride the wave of highs and lows – like every other team in the league. Stay focused mentally, keep the faith, and continue to build to a strong finish.

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