THE SETUP

Spread: VT by 3 1/2

From Hokiesports.com: “The Virginia Tech Hokies will play the University of Georgia on Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in Stegeman Coliseum in Athens, Ga. The game will be televised live by regional sports networks.  Below is a listing of networks airing the game.

Fox Sports Net South

Comcast SportsNet Plus (Mid-Atlantic)

New England Sports Network

Fox Sports Network Florida”

On Tuesday night the Hokies will look to get their first win of the 2008-09 season against a major conference opponent when they take on the defending SEC champions, the georgia bulldogs.  This will also represent Tech’s first road game of the season, having played four home games and four neutral site contests.

Speaking of SEC champions, chew on this - the Hokies face the following opponents this year:

• The reigning Big(11)Ten Champions: wisconsin (Lost 74-72)
• The current SEC Champions: georgia
• The ACC Champions: #1 unc

That is a solid slate.  The Hokies need to win some of these games, though.  This game is very winnable.  georgia is not all that talented.  In fact, they were a pretty lousy team last year, too.  The dawgs finished the regular season at 13-16 with a 4-12 regular season record, good enough for last place in the SEC East.  But over the next four days, georgia weathered the storm, literally, and won the SEC Tournament by winning four games, including a doubleheader on Saturday.  That is not a typo, they had to win two games on the same day after a tornado damaged the Georgia Dome on Friday.  The games were moved to georgia tech’s home court and played basically in front of an empty arena as only select friends, family, and school officials were allowed to attend.

Tech started out 0-4 on the road last season, but finished the season by going 3-4, all in ACC play.  That is respectable and hopefully will give the Hokies confidence heading into their first road game. 

THE OPPONENT

Series: uga 4-1, including four wins in a row and a win over VT in the 1982 NIT.

As I said above, georgia is not very good.  They have a similar record to the Hokies at 5-3, but have beaten no one of note.  They have also lost to loyola of chicago by 21, western ky kentucky, and illinois by 34!  Ouch!

The dawgs biggest weakness is on offense.  They are averaging just 62.3 ppg.  georgia has been held under 56 points in four of their eight games and the illini allowed them just 42 points.  Terrance Woodbury, a 6’7″ wing player from VA Beach (757!), leads the team with 13.1 ppg.  Howard Thompkins is their only other serious offensive threat.  The freshman has averaged 11.8 ppg after missing their first four games.

The bulldogs are not going to beat you from the outside.  In fact, their leading three point shooter, 6’3″ senior guard Corey Butler, has just 10 makes on the season in 20 attempts.  A.D. Vassallo has more made threes (21) than Butler has shot.  Only two dawgs have more than five made threes.

uga shoots just 41.5% from the field, 31% on threes, and 62% from the line.  Like I said, they are not an offensive juggernaut.  Extreme Makeover: Home Edition has started attending their games to collect bricks to build houses for the needy.  Their offense would make mike groh sick to his stomach [too soon?  too soon?]  But I digress…

georgia will go deep into their bench, playing up to 10-11 guys, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing.  It just means they haven’t found enough guys to step up and contribute consistently, a similar thing VT was struggling with early in the year.  Only one guy, senior Woodbury, plays more than 26 minutes per game for them.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Just Win, Baby: Enough excuses.  Enough horseshoes and hand grenades (close games).  It is time to win one of these games against a name team, especially given their lack of talent level.  The Hokies need to find a way.
• Big Donut Stale?: Jeff Allen tweaked an ankle early in the game against Navy Sunday.  With a short turnaround of just 48 hours, we will have to see if there is any residual effects.  He did play 31 minutes in the game Sunday and looked very strong in the second half, including the dunk of the year to date, so hopefully he is fine.
• Tired Legs: Tech has had big gaps in their schedule since leaving Puerto Rico.  They have played just three games in the two plus weeks since leaving the island.  There is a chance Tech could be tired after having to travel to DC and then down to Athens, GA for a game just 48 hours later.  Hopefully Puerto Rico conditioned VT for this situation.
• Play 40 Minutes: Every game Tech seems to have a stretch where they struggle on offense and are lazy on defense.  Against Navy, that led to an 11-0 run in the first half.  The Hokies need to avoid these stretches.
• Bury Woodbury: Woodbury is the only georgia player that can really hurt Tech.  Take him away and force the supporting cast to beat you.  The man guarding him should not leave him to double others.
• Build on Momentum: The Hokies played their best half of the season in the second half Sunday.  They scored 51 points and used a 21-3 run to turn a halftime deficit into a sizeable lead.  Tech got out and ran more and found ways to push the ball.  The result was some easy buckets for the Hokies.
• Swagger: VT is better than this team.  Come out, play hard, and expect to win.  Take it to the dawgs.

BORING FACTS ABOUT georgia

• georgia is currently on Uga VII.  This is his first season at the English bulldog mascot of the dawgs.  Uga VI passed away earlier this season.  The georgia bulldog may be the most recognizable mascot in sports, and was rated as such by SI in 1999.  Uga V was made famous for launching at an auburn WR who ventured too close during a football game.  You can see the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foGHh14uvKk
• The other mascot of georgia is Hairy Dawg, a bulldog costume with a person inside.
• SEC fans are by far the most annoying fans in the world (on a conference level).  They basically think no other conference has ever beaten a “SEC skoo”, as they pronounce it.
• georgia fans LOVE to wear red pants, no matter how ridiculous they look.  Although they are better than the purple camo pants Baltimore Ravens fans wear.
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The Weekend Warrior made one of the shortest road trips of his life, heading from his palacious castle in Arlington to the Verizon Center (the “Phone Booth”) to see the Virginia Tech/Navy and gwu/maryland basketball games.  He was accompanied by DuffHokie and Nickles, who have been part of various articles along the way on here.  Here are some of the highlights:

• It was nice being able to go to a game without use of a car – just walked to the Metro, took a train on the Orange (Bowl) Line, and pow, at the arena.  On the way, we loaded up our socks with airplane bottles.  The trick is to wear big, wintery socks (or soccer socks).  Just stick an airplane bottle on each side of each sock down around the lower calf region, but above the ankles.  Assuming you aren’t wear spandex (and I pray that you are not), your pants hide the bottles from over-molesting security guards.  Plus, it is still comfortable to walk.  Never say TechHoops.com didn’t teach you anything (like how to use a double negative).  Helps you save on those outrageous beer prices at the game. 
• While waiting for a second train at Metro Center, some dude on the other side of the tracks was basically putting on a dance show for his friends on my side of the tracks.  Except he couldn’t dance.  It was like watching a bad 80s dance video, and even worse, it lasted about as long as one.  I was completely creeped out.  Clue to this guy: you are not invisible, we can all see what an idiot you are.
• On my way in I ran into TechHoops.com regular ‘vatechhokies50′.  It was nice to finally meet you!
• Early in the game, they put the three of us on the Jumbotron for at least 20 seconds.  It actually got pretty awkward after a while.  We screamed and yelled at first, but then eventually relaxed and sat back down.  But they kept us on… and on… and on.  Finally, I figured I better come up with something to keep the crowd entertained, so I figured out how to make a ‘VT’ with my fingers after some trial and error.  I felt like we were on a reality show we were up on the screen so long.
• [Added per DuffHokie's request] Watching the timeout shooting contestants was like watching Paris Hilton do long division – it wasn’t pretty.  It looked like these guys had never touched a basketball before, similar to how it looked like the Dr. Pepper passing contestants at the ACC Championship game had never thrown a football before.  Seriously, can they not have a screening process for these things?  I almost think the guy dancing at the Metro station would have done better.
• At some point late in the game they announced the “McDonald’s Winning Row”.  Guess what – it was our row!  That’s right, female dogs, we won!  Now you may be asking yourself: What does a McDonald’s winning row get?  I’ll tell you what: a coupon for a free filet-o-fish and a Southern style chicken sandwich.  That’s it.  Two lousy items they cannot sell because no one wants them.  They wouldn’t even give us extra coupons.  Are you [blanking] kidding me???  They pay all this money to the Verizon Center to have this prize, and then this is all they give out.  Let’s just say the boos started raining down on the poor event staff girl that handed them out.

After our game, I got to really focus on what I came to do: make fun of maryland fans.  I know, I know, Hokies Respect and ACC Sportsmanship and all that crap.  But come on, md fans are known as easily the worst and most obnoxious in the ACC.  Yet all we did is give them the business.  Why?  We own them and they know it. 

Since joining the ACC, VT is 3-0 against the twerps in football and 4-2 in basketball (including 3 in a row).  We have won 3 ACC football titles and gotten a first round bye in the ACC Tournament 3 of 4 years (they have 0 football titles in that span and just 1 ACC Tournament bye).

During the maryland game, a chorus of “Boooooooi-se, Boooooooi-se” was common on twerp free throws from our section (maryland is headed to the Smurf Turf for their bowl game in Boise, Idaho).  On others we would chant, “NIT, NIT!”  We made fun of anything and everything about them.  And what did they do?  Not one thing.  They had to just sit there and take it because we are their daddies and they know it.  I did get enough evil eyes to fill a sack, though.  But I have to admit, it was fun bullying the bullies.

One final note to the Verizon Center people: having alcohol sales until the final 15 minutes of the second half of the second game is probably a bad idea.  I think this is what led to getting lost inside a restaurant after the game.  Their alcohol policy meant you basically had 4 hours of drinking time.  That is not a good thing, especially when you are wearing 2 stockings overflowing with gifts of Wild Turkey!

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Let’s look at how VT did per my Keys to the Game from the preview:

• Defend the Three: (Grade: B) On paper, Virginia Tech did a good job defending Navy from behind the arc, especially in the first half.  But reality is the Middies had a lot of good looks.  It is hard shooting in a new environment, and Navy clearly struggling adjusting to the cavernous Verizon Center.  They hit just 2/14 three-pointers in the second half, many of which were uncontested.  In the second half, they hit 6/15 (a respectable 40%).  Some of those makes were with hands in their face, so give Navy credit there.
• Swallow the Whistles: (Grade: B+) Foul trouble for Tech’s low post players killed them in the elon and wisconsin games.  Jeff Allen, who committed a foul 17 seconds into the wisconsin game, waited until 38 seconds into this one to get called for an offensive foul on an illegal screen.  He left the game for a bit with an ankle injury.  But Jeff only committed one more foul in 30 minutes of additional playing time, so he did a good job of avoiding foul trouble.  Only Malcolm Delaney had 2 fouls in the first half, and the second came late in the half.  Navy actually was the team that had foul issues, committing 10 in the first half and 26 for the game (VT was only called for 14 fouls).  VT was in the bonus before the 10 minute mark in both halves.  Navy’s best player, Kaleo Kina, ended up fouling out.
• Intensity: (Grade: B-)The Hokies played hard early, going up 20-10, then seemed to take most of the rest of the half off.  Navy went on an 11-0 run to take the lead and finished the half outscoring Tech 24-8.  But Greenberg stoked the guys fire at halftime and VT came out and played their best offensive half of the season, scoring 51 points (a season high for a half) in the second stanza.  Kudos to the guys for their play in the second half.  They took control of the game quickly.

Other Notes:

• Hank Thorns had his best game of the season and hit double digits for the first time this year.  However, he is still struggling to get assists (he had two).
• Lewis Witcher also contributed positively against the Middies.  He had 4 points and 4 boards in 13 minutes.
• Malcolm Delaney hit all 11 of his free throws.  He is now 60/70 (86%) on the season.  An amazing 46% of his points are from the charity stripe this season.
• Allen did a good job battling through his ankle injury.  He played 30 minutes after spraining it, even though he was struggling with it at times.  We will see if he has any ill effects in Tuesday’s game against georgia considering the short turnaround.  Allen’s dunk midway through the second half was just plain awesome as he flew through the sky and threw it down with one hand.  Very Jordan-esque.
• While Tech forgot how to make threes since the wisconsin game, they won this game at the line.  The Hokies hit 29/34 (85%).  Navy had just 10 points from the line.
• The Hokies used a full court trap (1-3-1 with Witcher at the top) for the first time this year to my knowledge (not counting at the end of games when Tech was behind).  I think that was a great idea by Seth, considering VT’s struggles to get their fast break going.  Navy seemed to beat it fairly easily, and got some good looks on threes out of it as VT fell back.  But with time Tech should get more adept at it.  We shall see if they break it out for georgia, also.
• VT did a tremendous job on the glass against the smaller Navy lineup.  The Hokies held the Midshipmen to just 6 offensive rebounds, while collecting 11 themselves.
• It continues to be a block party for the Hokies.  They had 7 rejections on the game, to just 1 for Navy.  VT is averaging 6 stuffs per game on the year.

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Box Score | Recap

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Box Score

The Hokies used a strong second half and a 45-28 edge in rebounding to hold off a gritty Navy squad, 79-70, in the BB&T Classic. Malcolm Delaney led all scorers with 21 points – he also had six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal. Niemo texted me immediately following the game; “Delaney player of the game.” Jeff Allen and A.D. Vassallo both had 17 points and Hank Thorns gave Tech 10 points off the bench.

Tech started off sluggishly and their first half shooting was abysmal. They were 0-8 from behind the arc in the first half and finished 2/13 for the game. Vassallo couldn’t find his rhythm until the second half.  Even with an improved shooting effort in the final 20 minutes, he finished 0-5 on threes.

The Hokies built up a 20-10 lead in the first half with the help of an 11-0 run. But, the Midshipmen used a a gnat-like defense to force Tech into some costly turnovers and closed the half with a 24-8 run putting Navy up 34-28 at the half.

The second half was a completely different story. Tech finally found its stroke and ripped off an 18-2 run to start the half and didn’t commit a turnover until six minutes into the half. Though Navy would use some stellar three-point shooting to keep the game respectable, the Hokies dominated the boards and shot 85 percent from the charity stripe (29/34) to put the game away.

The Big Three (Vassallo, Delaney and Allen) scored 55 of the team’s 79 points. Seth Greenberg did get 20 points from his bench tonight. True freshman Victor Davila had a quiet game with just 4 points in 14 minutes. When he was in the game, Navy double and tripled teamed him down low as part of their very physical style of play.

The win at the Verizon Center snaps the Hokies two-game losing streak in the “phone booth” as well as Navy’s seven-game winning streak. Next up for Tech, a road game against lowercase georgia, 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

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Recap | Box Score

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THE SETUP

The Hokies travel to the Verizon Center for the third time in five seasons on Sunday for the first game of the BB&T Classic.  Keep in mind, this is not a tournament — that would make too much sense and make the games too interesting.  Instead, this is just two games on Sunday with Navy/Virginia Tech leading things off and then gwu and maryland in the nightcap.

Since joining the ACC, the “Phone Booth” (the nickname for the Verizon Center) has not been kind to Virginia Tech.  The Hokies have dropped two in a row there, losing to georgia tech in the quarterfinals of the 2005 ACC Tournament, and losing to george washington in the 2006 BB&T Classic.  Tech did defeat georgetown at Verizon back in March of 2004, while still a member of the Big East.  The Weekend Warrior put on quite a show in his luxury suite at that game (“The suite on the right, the suite on the right, the suite on the right SUCKS!”) and he will be making an appearance at this Classic.  All time, VT is 1-3 at the Phone Booth, including a 96-68 loss to georgetown in 2001 that included the worst half of basketball I’ve ever seen the Hokies play.  Tech went almost an entire media timeout stretch (four minutes) without being able to get the ball across half court against the hoya press.  Who was VT’s coach back then?  Oh yeah, ricky stokes.  Let’s move on…

[Editor's note: Daveywoods was in a not-catered suite for the '01 gtown game, possibly with The Wick. The Hokies stunk it up bad and we paid something like $100 for a case of warm canned Heineken. Whee.]

THE OPPONENT

All Time Series: Navy 3-2 (but the teams haven’t played since 1964)

Streak: VT – 2 in a row

Navy comes into this game riding the gravy train with biscuit wheels.  Since dropping their opener to towson, the Midshipmen have reeled off seven straight victories, including wins over bill & mary and radford.  Navy also defeated penn on Friday night.

Navy generally scores in the high 60s to mid 70s, but put up 102 on w&m in a triple-overtime thriller.  Kaleo Kina had 10 points in the third overtime alone as the Middies mercifully ended the 55-minute affair.  The radford game also went to overtime.

Kina is Navy’s best player.  The 6’4″ senior guard leads the team in scoring at 19.4 ppg, is second in rebounds with 5.9 rpg, and third in assists at 2.4 apg.  However, he turns the ball over 4 times a game, so pressure can rattle him into bad passes or mistakes that can feed the Hokie fast break.

Kina is joined in the backcourt by 6’2″ junior Chris Harris.  Harris is originally from Mechanicsville, VA.  He scores 16.3 ppg and is a better three-point threat than Kina (34% compared to 29%).  Harris loves to shoot it from deep, averaging close to 10 three-point attempts per contest.  Twice this season he has attempted 14 in one game. 

Navy is not deep — they may only use two or three reserves for significant minutes.  Jordan Sugars plays sparingly.  Sugars was a teammate of Erick Green, a VT 2009 signee, on their Virginia AA State Championship team last year at Millbrook HS in Winchester, VA.

Navy may have as many as four guards on the floor at one time.  They love to go small ball.  The Naval Academy used to have a *height restriction at 6’8″ upon enrollment, but this may have been lifted, especially considering their centers are 6’10″ Jeremy Wilson and 6’11″ Mark Veazey.  The only forward that sees any quality minutes is 6’8″ Adam Teague, who averages 11.0 ppg.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Defend the Three: As I mentioned, Harris for Navy will launch a lot of threes.  Considering how poorly VT defended the three against wisconsin (the badgers hit 12/18), this could be an issue.  The man guarding Harris must either not drop down into the post to double team low post players that get the ball, or the other guard on the perimeter must locate and rotate to Harris if his man does leave him to double the ball.
• Swallow the Whistles: In each of Tech’s last two games, fouls have been called very tight on the Hokies’ low post players, leading to early foul trouble.  Against elon, Jeff Allen, Cheick Diakite, and Lewis Witcher each had two fouls in the first half.  In the wisconsin game, Allen had two fouls before the first media timeout and sat the rest of the half.  The result was Tech digging themselves into holes in both games and not having all their weapons at their disposal.  Let’s hope the officials Sunday are a little less whistle happy.  Allen can help that to happen by being less aggressive on high screens.
• Intensity: The Hokies need to treat each game with relative importance.  If they want to keep hope alive for a NCAA Tournament bid, they cannot afford a bad loss.  Despite Navy’s record, this would be a bad loss.  Also, Tech has only had one blowout, fairfield, which was VT’s only double-digit win.  It would be nice to come out and bury a team early instead of having to scratch and claw their way to victory.

BORING FACTS ABOUT NAVY

• TechHoops.com has decided to capitalize “Navy”.  This is one of the few opponents TechHoops.com will do this for.  That is because of our respect for those individuals that serve our country.  The reason we do not capitalize other opponents is because we are jerks and like disrespecting other, lesser schools.
• Location: Annapolis, MD
• Undergrads: ~4400
• Mascot: Bill the Goat
• Colors: Navy (duh!) and gold
• Conference: Patriot League
• Founded: 1845 by Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft
• Rank structure: Somewhat similar to uva (only better), Middies are classified as fourth, third, second, or first class.  Fourth class, or “plebes”, is actually the lowest class. 
• The campus is known as “The Yard” and this is where the expression “Stomp the Yard” came from… just kidding.
• The movie Annapolis is pretty crappy, I don’t recommend it.  It is about a poor kid who goes on to the Naval Academy and tries to be the school boxing champ.
• Women were not allowed in until 1976.
• Daveywoods attended wrestling camp at Navy in 1985 and Summer Seminar at Navy in 1987.
• Famous Alums: Too many to name, but David Robinson is obviously their most famous basketball player.  The Admiral attended Osbourn Park HS in Manassas, VA before heading to Navy.  He grew from 6’7″ well past the Navy’s 6’8″ height limit to a robust 7′.  Navy does not deny admission to students who grow past the height restriction after enrollment.  He was a two-time NBA Champion with the San Antonio Spurs and was the 1995 NBA MVP.
• OK, here’s some other alums: H. Ross Perot, President Jimmy Carter, Roger Staubach, Alan Shepard, Charlie Wilson (yes, of the movie), John McCain, and more.
• Army/Navy Football Rivalry: On Saturday, my favorite football rivalry is renewed as Army takes on Navy.  The all-time series is in Navy’s favor at 52-49-7.  Navy has won six in a row, the longest winning streak in series history, thanks in large part to Paul Johnson who is now georgia tech’s head coach.

 * I could not verify if the service academy height restriction is still in place.

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Hidden Valley star and Virginia Tech recruit Ben Boggs will miss the remainder of his senior season after breaking his leg during tonight’s game against Northside. According to WDBJ7.com, Boggs broke the Fibula and Tibia in his leg and will have surgery to repair the damage next week. Boggs led Hidden Valley to the state final four each of the last two season. Boggs should be healed in time for his freshman season with the Hokies.

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The Hokies are now halfway through their out of conference schedule and just short of the quarter mark of their 30 game regular season slate.  Let’s breakdown their grades to this point.

• Overall: C-  |  Preseason Expectation: B | Here’s all you need to know for why Tech got that grade: The Hokies are 0-3 against the major conferences.  This time last year the Hokies were also 4-3 and 0-3 against the major conferences.  You don’t make the Big Dance beating the stags and phoenix of the world.  You make the dance by beating musketeers or badgers or pirates.  Unfortunately for VT, they don’t have many quality opportunities in the second half of their out of conference schedule.  st. john’s, if Tech even plays them, is sitting at #122 in the latest RPI.  richmond is at #164 and georgia, who just lost to western kentucky, is in the 220s. The Hokies need to take care of business in their next six out of conference games, winning a minimum of five, and then go at least 9-7 in conference with two big wins from this point to entertain a tourney bid.
• Offense: C+  |  Preseason Expectation: B+  | At this point last year, the Hokies were averaging 67.6 ppg.  This year they are averaging 69.1.  Considering the focus Tech put on offense in the offseason, this is a disappointment to date.  VT stressed using their athleticism more and getting out and running.  Hasn’t happened.  After getting 16 fastbreak points in the opener and running a good bit, Tech has just 6 fastbreak ppg since.  The biggest problem has been the guards.  Terrell Bell, Dorenzo Hudson, and Hank Thorns have seen their ppg average drop, despite increased minutes for everyone but Thorns.  Even Malcolm Delaney’s 15.7 ppg is misleading: 45 of his 110 points have been scored in the last 3 minutes of games or overtime.  That is 41% of his points in just 26 of his 239 minutes played (11%).  Delaney is also just 8/27 on two point shots (30%).  Malcolm needs to find ways to be involved earlier, such as when he split the badger defense for a layup in the second half the other night.  Meanwhile, A.D. Vassallo and Jeff Allen have just plain been awesome except for one stinker each, but you have to expect one off night per player at this point.  The problem is they came in big games (xavier for A.D. and wisconsin for Allen).  J.T. Thompson’s return should be a huge boost.
• Defense: B+  | Preseason Expectation: B+  | The Hokies were giving up 62.6 ppg last year after seven games and have given up 65.3 ppg this year.  Opponents are shooting just 40% from the field and 32% on threes (even with wisconsin’s 12/18 effort the other night – opponents were shooting 27% before that), so the defense is still there.  The big difference this year is Tech has only forced 84 turnovers this season (12 per game).  In their last three games, VT’s opponents have committed just 23 turnovers and stayed in single digits each game.  Last year, Tech forced at least 10 turnovers in every game all season except two.  The lack of turnovers has prevented Tech from getting out and running on offense.  Perhaps more trapping, such as the 1-3-1 zone VT briefly ran against wisconsin, might help.  Tech also really misses Deron Washington, who was their best man defender and helped created turnovers with his charge-causing flops.  Again. J.T.’s intensity will help but the question will be: Is he quick enough to guard other teams’ shooting guards to allow A.D. Vassallo to guard small forwards?

Players:

• A.D. Vassallo: A-  | He has been everything you could ask for on offense and more.  His points are up from 16.9 last year to 18.6.  A.D.’s shooting percentages are solid at 47% from the field and 38% on threes.  His performance against wisconsin was one of the greatest ever conducted by a Hokie.  A.D.’s only weakness is his defense.  He is slow off the ball and doesn’t react quickly to cuts.  Vassallo can also be beaten easily off the dribble.  But he already has 8 blocks, halfway to his career high after just 7 games.
• Jeff Allen: A-  | I believe he is Virginia Tech’s best player right now, even with A.D.  The Dunkin’ Donut can do it all: score, rebound, steal, block, and even pass.  Look at these improvements:
• PPG: 11.8 -> 14.7
• RPG: 7.6 -> 9.4
• APG: 0.9 -> 2.4
• 3-Pt: 4/19 for the season -> 7/12
• The only negative is he still commits dumb fouls.  But they are fouls committed because he hustles and gives his all.  Jeff just needs to be more under control, especially jumping out on high screens 30′ from the basket, or reaching in needlessly.
• Malcolm Delaney: B  | Chew on this: Delaney averages 6.5 ppg in the final 3 minutes (or overtime) of games!  If he could keep that pace for a whole game, he’d average 70 ppg.  But, reality is he only averages 7.9 ppg in first 37 minutes of games.  Malcolm needs to develop a better midrange game, and find ways to slice and dice his way to the hoop.  He is shooting 39% behind the arc but just 30% inside it.  Malcolm is Tech’s best free throw shooter and has, for the most part, been clutch from the line late in games.  On defense, he is Tech’s hardest work, but can be beat off the dribble.  Delaney is also Tech’s unquestioned leader.  Look at him in a huddle some time.  He is the epitome of intensity.
• [Click Read more for the rest of the Grades...]

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Well, no one ever said it was easy to be a Virginia Tech hoops fan. Just when the pain of feeling like you had been kicked in the nuts was beginning to ease – i.e. the xavier game – the wisconsin badgers came to town. No sooner did the badgers’ Trevon Hughes connect on his double clutch, off balance one hander in the lane with 0.9 seconds remaining, Hokie fans everywhere had to be wondering what we had done to tick off the basketball gods to this point. I’m now hearing rumblings within the Hokie Nation that this basketball season is a lost cause. This is utterly ridiculous.

Let’s all take a deep breath and lighten up here. While wins over sharp-shooting Big Ten power wisconsin and a xavier squad one year removed from an elite 8 appearance would certainly look nice on the resume’, there are no – repeat no – must win games in November or December. As Coach Greenberg said after Monday’s game, “No one gets eliminated December 1, and no one makes the tournament December 1.” Greenberg figures to get plenty of cracks at top-50 wins during ACC play alone this season. Look at it this way, even with all of the Hokies’ futility last season against out of conference and top-50 teams, if Tech could have squeaked out one more league win (such as reversing the loss to last place n.c. state for example) and with a 10-6 ACC record, compared to 9-7, there is no damn way we wouldn’t have gotten a bid.

The Hokies have seven non- conference games left this season (six before the ACC opener at duke). With the exception of the georgia game, Tech will be favored in each of the six. Win them all, and the Hokies will be at 10-3, their best mark going into conference play since 1995-96, when the A-10 member Hokies were in the top-25 virtually all season. Not bad position to be in. The key is to remain focused, avoid losses to bottom-150 RPI teams, get J.T. Thompson back into the rotation, then let’s take some more cracks at those marquee wins.

I have to give a shout out to A.D. for his remarkable career-high 30 point effort Monday night, which included 6 of 9 shooting from three point range. His clutch shooting down the stretch was nothing short of astounding and pretty much single-handedly got the Hokies back into the game, with Jeff Allen saddled with foul trouble the entire game.

Speaking of Allen, there were some very curious calls against the Dunking Donut, starting with a touch foul just seconds after the opening tip. I have to say that I was very impressed with Big Jeff’s ability to keep his cool after each of these calls, especially considering last season’s ref-bumping incident at georgia tech. Expect to see Allen on the other end of these calls, and on the free throw line even more, as he continues to mature.

Another encouraging note from the wisconsin game had to be the continued fast paced development of freshman Victor “Don’t Call Me V.D.” Davila. The Hokies’ other Puerto Rico native scored 13 points in 25 minutes and continued to impress with his footwork and quick moves around the rim. Victor is showing an ability to get the ball up on the glass quickly around the opposing big men. Personally, I can’t wait to see Coach Greenberg go with a front line of Thompson, Allen, and Davila.

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Boxscore | Game Film

For the second time in four games, the Hokies nearly drank in a huge out of conference win, only to find out victory was just a mirage, losing on a devastating buzzer-beater. The last time it was xavier hitting a half court shot after being down two at the end of overtime. This time it was Trevon Hughes of the wisconsin badgers (6-1) hitting an off-balance 14-footer with 0.9 seconds left to break a 72-72 tie, erasing an All-American effort by A.D. Vassallo, including a three-pointer to tie the game with 7.0 seconds left. wisconsin became the first Big (11) Ten team to win a road game in the ACC/Big (11) Ten Challenge since 2005. The Hokies are now 1-3 in the challenge, having lost at ohio state (2005) and penn state (2007), and having beaten iowa at home (2006).

After Vassallo tied the game with 7.0 seconds left, Hughes took the ball the length of the court and wedged between Thorns and Hudson. He lept into the lane and shot the ball from straight on. The shot hit nothing but net. Vassallo inbounded the ball to Hudson behind half court, but his shot, which would have counted, fell short and the Hokies were left with another sick feeling in their stomachs.

This game featured the best combined three point shooting I have ever seen by two teams — or the worst perimeter defense ever, depending on your outlook. wisconsin finished 12/18 (67%) on threes, while the Hokies hit 11/16 (69%). Marcus Landry hit all four of his attempts from behind the arc for the badgers, while Vassallo drilled 6/9 from deep.

A.D. hit clutch shot after clutch shot in the second half, keeping Tech in the game. He finished with a career high 30 points, 24 of which were in the second half. His previous game high was back in 2006 at wake (29 points). Vassallo was 6/7 in the final 20 minutes from behind the arc. Vassallo is now just two points behind Jamon Gordon for 24th place on the all-time scoring list at VT.

Despite the final score, the Hokies trailed by a sizable margin most of the second half. In fact, the Hokies never led in this game, and fell behind by as many as 13 in the final 20 minutes. wisconsin went up by nine (67-58) with 1:14 left, but Delaney, Hudson, and Vassallo hit four threes down the stretch to tie the game.

The biggest disappointment of the game, other than the Hokie defense, was Jeff Allen. His play, or lack there of, put the Hokies in a big hole early. Jeff committed a very questionable ticky-tack foul 17 seconds into the game and then picked up his second foul with 16:24 left in the first half and sat the rest of the period. He was done before the first media timeout. In the second half, the badgers did a great job of collapsing on Allen. He finished the game with just two points and fouled out with 1:35 left, playing just 15 minutes for the game. Two of Allen’s fouls were on high screens were he stepped out too aggressively and bumped the screenee. Two of the other fouls were very questionable, but that’s the breaks. His final foul was a fluke as he tripped and took out a badger guard’s legs. You have to love his intensity, but he must learn to play more under control.

After Allen’s second foul, VT hung tough for a while until the badgers took advantage and went on a 10-0 run to jump out to a 23-12 lead. Tech would close the gap throughout the half (and game), but whenever the Hokies got close, you could guarantee wisconsin would hit a wide open three.

On a more positive note, Victor Davila continues to play lights out. After scoring 16 in his last contest, Davila filled in nicely for Allen with 13 points in 25 minutes. He showed an array of low post moves. The sky is the limit for this kid.

Dorenzo Hudson also did a nice job tonight. He finished with 8 points on 3/6 shooting and looked comfortable hitting two three-point shots. Hudson had averaged just 2.7 ppg coming in.

Malcolm Delaney continues to struggle in the first 38 minutes of games. He had 12 points, which sounds good, but once again several of those points came late (five of them). Delaney was just 3/9 from the floor and 1/7 on two point shots. He is shooting an impressive 39% on threes (15/38), but just 30% on two pointers (8/27). Malcolm seems hesitant to go at the rim and settles for off-balance jumpers.

Tech’s defense ultimately cost them this game. They could not defend the perimeter shooters of wisconsin. The badgers were just more fundamentally sound then the Hokies, which you would expect from a veteran team. wisconsin had better positioning on rebounds and slid to open spots on offense that led to loose balls and open looks. Tech can learn a lot from this game film.

With the loss, the Hokies missed out on another big opportunity for an NCAA Tournament resume-building win. But once again you have to love the effort and never-say-die attitude. Greenberg was as intense as I’ve ever seen him, and the players gave him 100%. But at some point you have to find ways to win these big games, and of late the Hokies have come up short. Here’s hoping this is the last time I have to write one of these recaps feeling like I got punched in the gut. The way these guys are working, and with J.T. Thompson back soon, that might just happen. At least my heart hopes so.

Stat of the Game: The 11 made three-pointers for VT was their highest total since 11/10/06. The Hokies beat coppin state 94-43 in that game and hit 12/29 threes.

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