Note to TechHoops.com Readers: Don’t worry, I’ve doubled my meds and I’m calming down about last night’s win.  Apologies if I came across very negatively.  It is a good sign when people are upset about “wins” from our basketball team, and as a friend pointed out, these are the types of games VT used to find a way to lose.  Maybe the guys’ minds were on the beach last night, considering they are now already on their way to Puerto Rico (left at 6 AM this morning).

Boxscore | Game Film

The Good News: VT won.

The Bad News: Maybe it is time to throttle back the expectations for this season.  Why?  Because this team has struggled to score for the last 60 minutes of play against two nubbins schools.  Tech shot just 33.3% from the field on the night against the #22 ranked Mid-Major team on their way to a come from behind victory.  VT scored just 23 first half points.  The only reason the Hokies won was an amazing 27/32 (84%) effort from the line.

If you watched this game, you may have thought ricky stokes (or Bryan Stinespring) was a guest coach.  Tech looked absolutely inept on the offensive end and only won this game thanks to a spirited effort down the stretch.  Virginia Tech trailed the entire second half (including by as many as 8 with 9 minutes to go) until taking the lead with 1:34 to play on a 2nd-chance three point by A.D. Vassallo.  Following two free throws by the mount, VT took the lead for good when Malcolm Delaney was fouled on a three with 0:52 to play and sank all three free throws.  After falling behind 52-46 with 2:22 to play, Malcolm Delaney led a 16-5 run to close the game with 13 points on 10/11 shooting from the line.

Player of the Game: Malcolm Delaney – He led VT with 18 points.  But he wasn’t so much the player of the game as he was the player of the final 2:20.  He only had 5 points for the first 37 minutes and then took complete control of the game and hit clutch free throw after clutch free throw down the stretch.  He’s the reason the Hokies pulled this game out of their hat.

Tech was out-hustled by a much smaller team.  VT won the rebounding margin 36-33, but the mount had a 13-11 advantage on offensive rebounds and that led to many easy buckets on second chances.  The mount finished with a 28-16 advantage on points in the paint.  Not a good sign against a team with no one over 6’7″. Once again Jeff Allen led VT in rebounding with 9. This is the second straight game he has missed a double-double by just one rebound.

The Hokies did not get out and run at all.  At one point late in the 2nd half, they only had 1 point off turnovers and completed the game with just 6.  This is an athletic team that has shown they are not good yet in the half court set.  They must run more, even if it means forcing the tempo.  VT finished the game with just 3 fast break points.

The Hokies also committed 20 turnovers.  If VT wants to improve their offense, they need to cut this total in about half.

Tech’s leading scorer on the night was Malcolm Delaney, mostly because he did his job and hit free throws down the stretch.  Delaney had 18 points on 13 FTs.  But 13 of his 18 points were scored in the final 2:12 of the game.  He hit 10/11 FTs in clutch time and also nailed a key three after the Hokies fell behind by 6 with 2:22 to go.

The Hokies will have plenty to work on as they head south and east.  They have now looked awful for the last 3 halves of play.  No one is playing well.  The amazing thing is they are 2-0 despite all this.

Tech trailed 24-23 at the half and only had 23 points in the first 17+ minutes of the second half until their late run.

Let’s review tonight’s game:

• The Big 3 is still the Big 3: Allen (13), Delaney (15), and Vassallo (18) combined for 46 of Tech’s 62 points (74%).  All three are averaging over 16 points through VT’s first two games, but no one else is over 4 per game.  No one has stepped up to compliment them yet.
• Davila on the move: Victor Davila, Tech’s only freshman that is playing this year, had the first 8 points of his career in this game.  He actually played the most minutes of him, Lewis Witcher, and Cheick Diakite.   Victor was aggressive on the offensive end but also missed some easy shots.  He may be working his way up in the rotation though.
• The bench is still struggling: Tech’s bench combined for just 11 points tonight, and 8 of that was from Davila.  Thorns and Bell continue to be worthless on the offensive end and Witcher may have seen his playing time dwindle thanks to Mr. Davila.  At least Bell is showing he is a solid defender, and Thorns did a good job on the mount’s best player, Jeremy Goode, who had just 11 points.
• Shooting guards who can’t shoot…: Don’t know what to say here.  After a 1/7 shooting performance in Game 1, Dorenzo scored 2 points to start the game tonight.  He didn’t score the rest of the game and had 3 turnovers.  Terrell Bell only has 2 points on the season.  That’s 6 points total on 2/18 shooting (11%) and 9 turnovers (8 from Hudson) from the two main shooting guards.
• Protect the ball: The Hokies committed 20 turnovers in this game, several of which where “unforced errors” in the backcourt where either a careless pass was made or two Hokies were fighting over the ball and just walked out of bounds with it.
• Zone: Tech employed a 1-3-1 zone some tonight and it looked good.  It really injected some life into the team’s defense pressure and forced the mount into some mistakes.  As a whole VT’s defense looked good tonight, Seth’s bread-and-butter.  The only concern was not boxing out and seemingly being outworked for rebounds.
• FTs: Tech hit 27/32 from the line.  Through two games VT is 37/45 (82%).  Everyone seems to be better from the line this year so far.  This is encouraging. 

Summary: Long story short is VT is a 3 person team right now.  I didn’t predict they would miss Deron Washington this much, but they do.  Missing J.T. Thompson seems to really be hurting the team, too.  They have no offensive flow right now and are not finding ways to push the tempo.  Two wins in Puerto Rico will be a blessing. 

Or maybe I’m being melodramatic.  It is just two games and Seth Greenberg teams are notorious for starting slow.  It is just the offense, which was supposed to be improved this year, has not looked good yet.  And VT found a way to win these two games.  They don’t give style points in March when they pick the tournament teams.

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THE SETUP

• All Time Series – VT 3-0
• Last Meeting: Hokies won in 2005 at VT by a 74-62 score. In that game, A.D. Vassallo had 13 points and Cheick Diakite had 11, which is still his career high and the only time he’s reached double digits.
• Game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet
• The Opposing View

The Hokies want to be dancing in March. Not at the nubbins CBI, or the “Junior Prom” (the NIT), they want to be in the Big Dance. On Monday night the Hokies face a team that is coming off a NCAA Tournament appearance. In fact, the mount st. mary’s mountaineers, or “the mount”, won a NCAA Tournament game. Granted, it was the Opening Round game, against coppin state of the MEAC, but it has given the mountaineers a lot of confidence heading into this season.

THE OPPONENT

The mount returns all but one key cog from last year’s Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship team. They are led by 5’9″ junior Jeremy Goode (finally Hank Thorns can look eye-to-eye at an opponent). Goode was a preseason All-NEC selection after averaging 10.1 points as a freshman and 14.5 points and 5.5 assists as a sophomore last season. Jeremy had 25 points in the mount’s season opener win against loyola. In that game, mt. st. mary’s scored 50 points in the second half, shooting 54% for the game in a 84-75 win.

The mount also returns their third, fourth, fifth, and sixth leading scorers from last season, all of whom averaged over seven points per game. But the team is not deep, playing only seven guys in their first game.

The mountaineers like to attack the lane and push the ball in transition — they don’t want this to be a half-court game. The mount are not a threat to win games from the outside, but they aren’t big, either. There’s no player on the roster over 6’7″, and only two guys are over 215 lbs. Kelly Beidler and the Atupem brothers, Shawn and Sam, are their best inside players. So transition defense is vital for Tech.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Pack it in: No one on the mount’s roster averaged over two three-pointers per game last season, and only one guy, Will Holland, averaged over one three-pointer per game. Jeremy Goode, the mountaineers top player, only made 20 threes last year, although he was 3/4 in their first game this season. Tech must get back on defense and slow down the mount’s transition game. VT should dare the mount to beat them from behind the arc.
• 40 minutes of 0: The Big Donut, #0 Jeff Allen, had 17 points in the first half Friday as VT scored 40 points. In the second half, Allen had just one official shot attempt and four free throws, as gwu dropped into a zone and held the Hokies to 25 points. Tech must continue to feed the ball to Allen, or get him out on the perimeter if necessary to get the rock in his hands.
• Pressure the mount’s guards: The two starting st. mary’s guards had nine turnovers in their opening game against loyola. VT needs to put pressure on them and force them into making bad decisions, which can feed Tech’s fastbreak and get the Hokies easy buckets.
• Better bench: Tech got just six points on 25% (3/12) shooting off their bench Friday (Thorns, Witcher, and Bell). Someone, likely Lewis Witcher or Terrell Bell, needs to step up and give the Hokies some offense off the bench, especially if Dorenzo Hudson continues to struggle (1/7 from the field Friday and a 36% shooter last year).
• Quartet or more instead of a trio: Tech right now is a three man band on offense with Allen, Malcolm Delaney, and A.D. Vassallo. They had 53 of VT’s 65 points (82%). In J.T. Thompson’s absence, another man needs to step up his game.
• Protect the ball: Tech had 10 turnovers in the second half Friday, mainly against gwu’s zone. The Hokies need to do a better job of handling the ball and making good decisions/passes. They also must do a better job of attacking the zone with overloads, finding the soft spots in the zone for threes (usually the corners where Bell likes to shoot), or just getting out in transition and beating the opponent down the court.
• First things first: The Hokies leave for Puerto Rico approximately 10 hours after the conclusion of this game.  Tech needs to keep their minds on the mount, and not on the beach.  mount st. mary’s is talented enough, and experienced enough, to pull off the upset if VT lets their guard down.

Probability of a VT win: 75%

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Stop laughing, there really is a blog about mount st. mary’s university basketball.  And Raff from thefanblog.blogspot.com was nice enough to answer some questions about the mount st. mary’s mountaineers (or “the mount” for short).

Raff also interviewed me and here is a link to that interview: Niemo interviewed by the Fan Blog

Bio about Raff: Raff is a sports fan. He’s been a fan of Mt. St. Mary’s basketball since he was seven years old and he fell through the bleachers in the Old Memorial Gymnasium during the final two seconds of one of the most incredible finishes in the history of the South Atlantic Division II regional finals, in a game versus Elizabeth City State. A graduate of Syracuse University, his venom for the Hokies comes from those many years in the 90′s when the footbal rivalry was intense and of course for the way the Tech administration handled the ACC departure. He blogs regularly about the Mount, Syracuse and anything else he feels like writing about at thefanblog.blogspot.com.

Q&A:

1. Niemo: Tell me about mt. st. mary’s university.  What is the school like?  Good party scene or suitcase college?

Raff: I was never a full-time student there, although I did take a few classes. So I can’t really clue you in on the party scene. The school is the sixth smallest in Division I, so there is a true sense of community there – and the Mount Maniac student section seems to have a good time at games. I’m guessing that there are worse places to be on a Saturday night than on campus.

2. Niemo: The mount is a Catholic university.  Do the ladies wear those sexy, naughty, Catholic-school-girl skirts?

Raff: This isn’t Southern Seminary or anything. And I take my 9-year-old daughter to the games with me – so I’m usually more worried about what she has on, then what the students are wearing. At least that is what I tell my wife.

[Note to Niemo's gf if she's reading this - Daddy likes the Catholic-school-girl skirts!]

3. Niemo: mount st. mary’s won the Northeast Conference (NEC) last year and won the “extra” NCAA Tournament game before being waxed by unc in the first round.  What are expectations for the mountaineers this season?

Raff: Expectations are as high as they’ve ever been with the program at this level. Truly last year’s run came a year ahead of schedule. There was just one senior who got considerable minutes last year, and only two scholarship seniors on the roster this year. The heart of last year’s team were underclassmen. A tough non-conference schedule, as is always the case with the mid-majors, could leave them with a few welts but they should be stronger come conference play and the all-important NEC tournament. Just about every publication has picked the Mount to win the NEC this year and with good reason. But the players seem to realize that without three wins at the start of March, there is no hope to play in the Big Dance.

Click ‘Read more’ for the rest of the interview…

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Let’s review what I stated as the Keys to the Game for Friday and how the Hokies did. Since it was a tale of two halves, I’ll rate each half.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Focus: 1st Half – B+, 2nd Half – D. The Hokies completely lost their focus in the second half and nearly saw this game slip away. I’m sorry, but VT should not be going five minutes without a point against gardner-webb. And Jeff Allen only had one shot in the second half (that he wasn’t fouled on)? That’s pathetic. Get your best player the ball.
• Chemistry: 1st Half – B, 2nd Half – D. Tech got away from the things that worked well in the first half. Maybe you have to credit gwu for making adjustments, but clearly Tech was not. You don’t expect a team to have perfect chemistry the first game, but since almost everyone is back from last year, you had to expect this would have been better than it was. 10 turnovers in the second half point out how poor chemistry was. Tech really struggled with gwu’s zone defense. Luckily, not many ACC teams play zone but VT needs to be better against the zone for key out of conference games like wisconsin.
• D the 3: 1st Half – D-, 2nd Half – A. Grayson Flittner hit 5/9 three pointers in the first half. He’s their best player and he can only score from the outside, so letting this happen is inexcusable. In the second half Tech did a much better job on him and he went 0/5 from long range. gwu as a team was just 1/13 on threes in the second half.
• Guard the Guards: 1st Half – C-, 2nd Half – C. Tech took Flittner out of his game in the second half after scoring 17 in the first, but Aaron Linn and Anton Silver combined for 22 points in the second half. The D focused too much on Flittner and the other guards stepped up.
• Pound it inside: 1st Half – A+, 2nd Half – F. Jeff Allen had 17 at halftime. Jeff Allen finished with 19. Jeff Allen had one shot attempt and just 4 free throws in the second half. There’s your grades. Also, after an 18-6 advantage in points in the paint in the first half, Tech was dominated 24-8 in the second half.
• Up-Tempo: 1st Half – A, 2nd Half – D. Things clicked in the first half and VT got easy buckets. Plus, even though they were forcing threes at times, it was leading to offensive rebounds. In the second half, Tech lost their identity and couldn’t do anything on offense. VT shot just 30% from the field in the second half, largely due to gwu’s zone defense. The Hokies have to find ways to push the ball and get easy buckets… for 40 minutes.

Bonus Item: VT’s Bench – F. 3/12 from the floor. That’s not getting it done. With Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, aka Lewis Witcher, you never know what you will get. Tonight it was very little (2 points and 2 boards in 12 minutes). Terrell Bell and Hank Thorns were both off on the offensive end and were just 2/10. Hank Thorns continues to be a liability on offense with just 2 points and 2 assists in 27 minutes. However, Thorns did have 7 rebounds (really?) including 5 on the defensive end, and Bell had the block to preserve the win at the end. I guess Tech really does miss J.T. Thompson.

The Six Pack Recap (the 6 sophomores; starters in BOLD):

• Jeff Allen (A-): 19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 turnovers – get the turnovers down.
• Malcolm Delaney (B): 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers – Shot just 29% from the field and 3/10 on threes after being red hot at the end of last season.
• Dorenzo Hudson (D): 2 points, 2 rebounds, 5 turnovers – Just 1/7 from the field and 5 turnovers.
• Hank Thorns (C-): 2 points, 2 assists, 7 rebounds, 3 turnovers – Needs to do more on offense; rebounds were a pleasant surprise.
• Terrell Bell (C): 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 blocks – Just 1/5 from the field but had the block to seal the win.
• J.T. Thompson (N/A): injured – out until mid-to-late December

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Recap | Box Score

This clip is from the final seconds of the game as the runnin’ bulldogs were raining threes trying to tie the game. Towards the end of the clip, you’ll see Terrell Bell’s crucial block in the far corner. The crowd turnout wasn’t that impressive, but the fans that did show up were loud and enthusiastic.

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Final:

After coming out like gangbusters in the first half with an explosive, up-tempo, three-point chucking offense and a 14-point halftime lead, the Hokies limped through the second half and barely held on to win 65-62. gardner-webb, who never led in the game, went on a 9-0 run late in the second half to close the VT lead to 63-62.

The Hokies went over 5 minutes without scoring late in the second half before Malcolm Delaney finally broke the ice with 2 free throws with 23 seconds left. After a gwu timeout, the runnin’ bulldogs best player, Grayson Flittner, missed a three to tie the game. gwu grabbed the rebound (their third offensive rebound in the final 90 seconds) and fired to Flittner for another three that was blocked by Terrell Bell with 5 seconds left. Malcolm Delaney, Tech’s best free throw shooter, promptly missed the front end of a one-and-one but Aaron Linn missed a desperation three at the buzzer.

Jeff Allen and A.D. Vassallo led the way for the Hokies with 19 points each, but Allen had just 2 points in the second half and only attempted one field goal. As a team, Tech scored just 25 second-half points after gunning for 40 in the first half. The Hokies finished the game shooting just 39% after hitting 47% from the field in the first half.

Tech’s bench (Bell, Thorns, and Witcher) was only 3/12 from the floor. They must be able to provide more offense in J.T. Thompson’s absence, although Bell did have the key block at the end.

The Hokies must improve if they hope to do well in the Puerto Rico Shootout next weekend, and against wisconsin in 2 weeks. VT returns to action Monday in a game that will be televised on Comcast SportsNet against mount st. mary’s.

First Half Recap: (only includes details from the 1st Half)

The Hokies went into halftime with a comfortable 40-26 lead and never trailed. The game was only tied once, at 2-2.

Expect to hear this a lot this season: Welcome to the Jeff Allen show! He had ACC Player of the Week like stats… in the first half! Allen had 7 points, 2 rebounds, and a steal — in the first 3 minutes. He finished the first half with 17 points on 7/8 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals.

A.D. Vassallo showed no ill effects from his foot injury as he also hit double digits in the first stanza. The Puerto Rican Assassin recorded 13 points on 5/10 shooting, 3 assists (Vassallo passes???), and 2 rebounds.

In case you have been ignoring me and thought you were in store for another season of offensive struggles like we’ve seen on the gridiron from the Hokies, you can forget it! The Hokies pushed the ball a good bit, and figure to feature a more up-tempo, ACC style of play this season.

The most stunning thing was the frequency of three-point attempts. Tech was 11th in the ACC in three-point percentage last season, and 8th in threes made with an average of 5.7 threes made on 16.3 attempts. In the first half, the Hokies chucked 14 threes and hit 5. In fact, 10 of the Hokies’ first 19 shots were threes. Last year only 29% of the Hokies’ shots from the field were three pointers. A.D. was 3/7 while Malcolm Delaney was 1/4. Allen hit his only attempt (yes, he really is doing it all!).

Malcolm played some at shooting guard while Hank Thorns took over the point. Victor Davila made his VT debut but played just 2 minutes. Terrell Bell, who has to really make a statement while J.T. Thompson is out with an injury, only saw 6 minutes of action. Lewis Witcher played 8 minutes, the same as starter Cheick Diakite. I expect that both will see similar minutes all season regardless of who starts.

The only negative was Tech’s inability to guard gardner-webb’s best player, Grayson Flittner. He hit 5/9 threes and hit for 17 points in just the first half. He has no game inside the three point line, but for some reason he kept getting good looks and was the only reason gwu was even within 14 points at the half. No one else had more than 4 points for the runnin’ bulldogs.

Halftime Stats: The Hokies shot 46% from the floor, 36% on threes, and were a perfect 3/3 from the line (Allen was 2/2).

Starters for the Hokies:

• PG – Malcolm Delaney
• SG – Dorenzo Hudson
• SF – A.D. Vassallo
• PF – Jeff Allen
• C – Cheick Diakite

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BREAKING NEWS: The Hokies will be without wing man J.T. Thompson for at least a month due to a sports hernia. VT does not have a December ACC game this year, so J.T. should have plenty of time to heal and get some action in before Tech’s ACC opener at duke on January 4th. In Thompson’s absence, expect Terrell Bell to get extended minutes. This is a huge opportunity for Terrell to show what he can do, especially since he got the least minutes of the Six-Pack last year.

Virginia Tech’s road to the Big Dance begins Friday with a non-conference tilt against the gardner-webb runnin’ bulldogs. The men’s game will follow the ladies and will begin at about 8 PM (probably a little after 8).

I have already detailed this year’s version of the Hokies in great detail in our VT Season Preview, so I will just refer you to that until Tech gets a couple of games under their belts. Instead, this column will focus on Friday’s season-opening opponent, the gardner-webb runnin’ bulldogs (in case you forgot already), and some of the keys to the game.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Focus: Virginia Tech lost their NCAA bid in November and December last year. Potential resume building wins against butler and gonzaga slipped away, and bad losses to penn state, odu, and richmond sealed the Hokies’ fate. Tech needs to play each game like it is for a bid to the Big Dance and not take the gardner-webb runnin’ bulldogs lightly.
• Chemistry: Will the Hokies come out playing as a team or like a scrimmage? With no exhibition games under their belt (other than a scrimmage against georgetown and another opponent), the Hokies need to find their rhythm quickly.
• D the 3: Grayson Flittner, gwu’s top player, loves to jack the trey. He hit 107 last season at a 40% clip. Three other top players for gwu averaged more than a three per game. This is the only way the runnin’ bulldogs can beat VT — by getting hot from three. But with the line a foot deeper this year, it may punish a team like gwu.
• Guard the Guards: gwu’s strength is in their guards. Three of their top four returning scorers are guards and they have a lot of experience on the perimeter. Delaney, Thorns, Hudson, and Bell must do a good job taking away their guard play.
• Pound it inside: (Expect me to say this a lot this season) No one on can guard Jeff Allen inside or outside. gwu’s best low post defender is Auryn MacMillan at 6’8″ and 235 lbs. He has the body, but not the quickness, to keep with Allen. Expect Allen to abuse him inside with moves on the block, or go out to his mid-range game and either shoot or pump-fake and blow by MacMillan. gwu’s leading scorer and rebounder is gone, so they are not strong on the boards.
• Up-Tempo: Greenberg has said Tech will run more this year and they showed that in the practices I attended. gwu has almost no depth so if the Hokies can tire them out, expect a lot of easy buckets and dunks to follow. However, since gwu has experienced guards, expect the Hokies to not use the press.

THE OPPONENT

Whoa, whoa, slow down! Before you chalk up a ‘W’ for the Hokies, keep this in mind: the gardner-webb runnin’ bulldogs went into Rupp Arena last year and defeated the kentucky wildcats in woodshed fashion 84-68. Billy Gillespie was nearly run out of K-Y Kentucky before you could say, “We really screwed up running Tubby Smith out of the state”. That allowed gwu to advance to the semi-finals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic. There, the gardner-webb runnin’ bulldogs lost to connecticut and oklahoma in the self-proclaimed Most Famous Arena in the World, Madison Square Garden in NYC.

So, what does that mean? It means gwu is not afraid of VT and has played big name opponents. It means they can beat the Hokies on their home court. Will they? Ahhhh, I don’t think so.

Probability of a VT win: 83%

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Your Virginia Tech Hokies tip off the 2008-09 men’s hoops campaign against gardner-webb (yeah, the same team that stunned kentucky in Rupp Arena last season) Friday night. Not since the 1995-96 season have Hokie fans looked forward to the start of a basketball season with such anticipation. Those were back in the Atlantic 10 days. Who can remember the days of trying to see who could score tickets for the umass visit to Cassell – or fordham or duquense for that matter?

The ACC looks to be very competitive this year. Carolina is the consensus pre-season pick to win the league and appear to be head and shoulders above the rest with all five starters returning from last year’s final four team. Of course a lot will depend on how long tyler hansbrough is out of the lineup with his stress fracture-like injury that they are saying is not a stress fracture. In addition, wake also returns all five starters in addition to bringing in what most consider the nation’s best recruiting class. The Hokies, duke, and miami return four starters. With clemson, n.c. state, and fsu returning a lot of experience as well the race should be very interesting to see who goes dancing in March.

How does the Balla see things playing out in the ACC this year you ask? Like everyone else with a pulse, I like unc to win the regular season. They will be followed by wake, duke, Virginia Tech, miami, and clemson rounding out the top six. The bottom half of the league is totally up for grabs with these teams competing for NIT and CBI invites so who really cares. Everyone but projected basement dweller uva has a shot at post season play.

The Hokies return virtually every key component from last season with the exception of the human highlight film and defensive stopper Deron Washington. So what will this year’s team look like? Here’s what I think:

Most likely to have a break out season – Dorenzo Hudson. After debuting last season at the semester break with a double digit effort at wake, Dorenzo quickly hit the wall and his biggest highlight the rest of the way was puking on the floor during Tech’s win at maryland. Hudson has all the tools to be a big time player in the ACC.

Most likely to replace Deron on YouTube – J.T. Thompson. Assuming J.T. is not out of the lineup long with what could be a sports hernia according to Coach Greenberg. J.T. showed flashes of brilliance last season as a freshman and threw down absolutely mean dunks against duke and george washington.

Most likely to step up and become the defensive stopper – Terrell Bell. With long arms to go with his 6’-6” frame, Bell has what it takes to become a great defender and check the opponent’s go-to guy a la Washington last year and Jamon Gordon before that.

Most likely to hit multiple game winning shots – Malcolm Delaney. With other teams likely to be keying on A.D. Vassallo, look for Delaney to emerge this season as a deadly clutch shooter. A.D. is not a bad option either or big Jeff Allen down low for that matter.

How will the Hokies fare overall you ask? You heard it here first – they will finish in the top four in the ACC this year and not only will they make the NCAA Tourney, they’ll be a Sweet 16 team, book it.

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This week I spoke to ESPN College Gameday Analyst Jay Bilas on behalf of the TechHoops.com team to preview the upcoming season. You can listen to the conversation by clicking the play button below, but we’ve also included a transcript if you can’t listen at work.

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TechHoops.com: Where do you think the Hokies will finish in the ACC this year?

Jay Bilas: I think Virginia Tech will finish in the top half of the ACC, but last year I didn’t think they would finish anywhere near the top half and they did. So, a lot depends on how some of their younger players matured over the summer. They relied on a lot of young players last year, and those young players certainly treated them well. It was really a good year for Virginia Tech when not a lot of people expected it. So, this year people are expecting more and it’s going to require guys like Jeff Allen to take a big jump and play even better because he’s a known commodity now and people are going to come after Virginia Tech even harder than they did last year.

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