Box Score

A.D. Vassallo notched his first double-double of the season with 26 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Hokies’ poor first half, the absence of Hank Thorns, an injured J.T. Thompson, and of course, the duke factor, i.e. questionable calls as Tech fell to No. 7 duke, 65-72.

The Hokies managed just five points in the first 10 minutes of the game and fell behind 20-5 midway through the half and trailed by as many at 16 (16-32). Malcolm Delaney only scored 7 points on 2/12 shooting from the field and 0/6 from 3-point range; but he played all 40 minutes, had 8 assists and only 3 turnovers. Thorns missed the game because of illness (still dehydrated from the clemson game apparently) and duke took full advantage of his absence by denying Delaney the ball the entire game.

Thompson sprained his knee on a dunk in the win over clemson and was slightly better than 80 percent (his words) before this game. He came off the bench and scored 13 points, just two shy of his season high of 15 vs. charleston southern. Cheick Diakite recorded a DNP (did not play) in this game – only the second game in which he has not played this season.

Vassallo, who is 10th on Tech all-time scoring list, scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half, including a streak of 15 straight Tech points during a 15-4 run that pulled the Hokies into a 58-58 tie. Vassallo was simply unstoppable during that run and the Cassell was going nuts. But, after knotting the game at 58 with 5:59 to play, Tech went without a point for 4 minutes, 47 seconds.

The dookies only scored one field goal in the final six minutes, but hit 10/12 free throws to put the game away. The Hokies, without Thorns, couldn’t get a good open look for Delaney or Vassallo in the final minutes.

As has been par for the course when playing the evil empire, the officials gave duke just about every call and then some, let coach k manipulate them and allow their players to get away with so much holding, reach-ins and over-the-backs, it was laughable. I couldn’t find any official stats, but I counted SEVEN charges called against the Hokies including two in the final minutes that killed the their momentum. At one point, head coach Seth Greenberg slammed a water bottle to the floor and came dangerously close to getting a technical.

Additionally, with the Hokies trailing by four with about 22 seconds to play, dook inbounded the ball along the baseline and the Hokies swarmed trying to get the foul. Two Hokies were trying to get a held ball call and in the process were mugging the dook player, but the refs didn’t call anything. Finally, after 8 seconds ran off the clock, coach k called a time out. Again, Greenberg was livid. After calling ticky-tack calls all night, the Hokies were trying to foul and the refs decided to let them play.

The bottom line is the the Hokies came back from a 16-point deficit minus Hank Thorns who was coming off his best game of the season and a key contributor, Thompson, playing hurt. Add to that Jeff Allen’s foul trouble and it’s amazing the game was as close as it was. Now Tech needs to win at least one of their final two regular season games to ensure at least a .500 record in conference play.

With today’s loss the Hokies have been officially eliminated from getting a first-round bye in the ACC Tournament and will play on day one. Their next game is Wednesday, March 4, at home against unc, which crushed georgia tech today, 104-74. Game time is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.

Random Notes:
Delaney attempted a Hail Mary three pointer at the end of regulation in an attempt to keep his double-digit scoring streak alive … he missed. His 7 points marks the first time all season he has failed to score 10 or more in a game. The last time Delaney scored fewer than 10 points was March 9, 2008 at clemson when he had 3 points. Since that game, he had scored in double-digits in 32 straight games.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Niemo’s Tallest Arm Curl Victim – 6’11" Swindle, originally uploaded by techsports.

At the 2009 Hokie Celebration

Popularity: 19% [?]

Add Bell to the List, originally uploaded by techsports.

At the 2009 Hokie Celebration

Popularity: 19% [?]

Niemo’s 2nd Puerto Rican Arm Curl Victim – Davila, originally uploaded by techsports.

At the 2009 Hokie Celebration

Popularity: 19% [?]

Lewwwww Gets Arm Curled, originally uploaded by techsports.

At the 2009 Hokie Celebration

Popularity: 19% [?]

Off-Topic: ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has VT back in the tourney as a #11 seed out West heading into the Hokies’ game with duke today.  The Hokies are not one of the last four in (ie: somewhat secure).  A win today would really cement their tournament standing, while a loss would put Tech firmly back on the bubble.

THE SETUP

Note: It is a White Out, people!  Don’t forget to wear white, in accordance with the university making up a new “-out” each year.  Since we wore white jerseys for the black out, what jerseys will we wear for the white out?  What happened to maroon or orange outs???

The Hokies are back in the NCAA Tournament picture with their win at clemson.  But forget all that.  Tech knows they need to win more games to stay in the hunt.  So they need to focus on this one game and give it 100%.  At clemson, every Hokie left everything on the court, and the result was a ‘W’.  The Hokies can’t forget that and coast in this game, because it doesn’t get any easier.  The Hokies need to play with confidence and determination.

On Tech’s side is the fact they are at home where they are 24-14 all time in ACC play.  Sure VT lost to duke by 25 in the first meeting almost two months ago.  But let’s not forget that in 2005 duke beat Tech by 35 in Durham, only to lose in Blacksburg.  Expect a wild (turkey) crowd, too.  If you don’t hate duke basketball, you are either: a) a duke fan, or b) oblivious to basketball.  duke is the Evil Empire of college basketball.  They are to roundball what notre dame is to college football — 90% of their fans have probably never even been to Durham (nor would anyone want to go there).

This game also marks the annual Hokie Celebration!  Will the arm-curl tradition continue?  Find out next week.

THE SERIES

• The Series: 7-34
• Since VT joined the ACC: 2-5
• At the Cassell: 1-2

Last Meeting: @duke 69, VT 44  –  Tech fell behind 11-0 but worked their way back into things.  They cut the lead to four early in the second half, but after a coach k timeout, duke went on a 30-9 run to finish the game.  VT managed just 13 second-half points and the 44 total points are the lowest in the Greenberg era and the fewest points scored since a little man named ricky stokes stood dumb-founded on the VT sideline.  There were no bright spots in the first duke game. Tech managed just one three-pointer for the contest.  But VT has hit 10+ threes in each of their last two games, so they come in hotter than one of my dates after I’ve had 10 beers!

Virginia Tech

 duke

* Nolan Smith suffered a concussion in the maryland game Wednesday and it is uncertain if he will play.  He got drilled by the terps’ Neal (picture Jeff Allen’s pick on uva’s Baker in the game in Blacksburg).  Of course, Smith was coming off a knee injury before the game at duke and it didn’t bother the blue devils one bit.

For VT, I expect Greenberg will start Hank Thorns for the second game in a row.  duke likes to press, and Elliot Williams is a fantastic one-on-one defender that can steal the ball with ease.  Tech will need the extra ballhandler, and duke does not have a very big lineup anyway.  This will create some defensive match-up nightmares for the Hokies due to the height difference Hank will give up.

THE OPPONENT

This is not the same duke team Tech saw in Durham eight weeks ago.  First, Nolan Smith got benched in favor of senior Greg Paulus, one of the all-time overrated players / busts in duke history.  Then Paulus got benched three games ago after duke had lost four of six.  They decided to insert freshman Elliot Williams into the lineup with Scheyer, aka: “Crazy Face”, running the point at times.  Since these roster moves, duke is 3-0 with wins over maryland and wake forest.  Williams has scored in double digits in all three games, and has five steals, two assists, and four turnovers.

Also, Gerald Henderson has really stepped up his game.  He has scored in double digits in 20 straight games and has taken over the team’s scoring lead from Kyle Singler.  Gerald could probably best be called a poor man’s Vince Carter.  He is a freakish athlete, but is developing into a great all around player.  He has a fantastic midrange game and is nailing 37% of his threes (32/87).  Henderson exploded for 35 against wake.  Expect him to be in the NBA next year.

Singler is still a stud on the court but he has taken more of a back seat to Henderson in recent games.  His shooting percentage has fallen well off of late.  Allen can limit Singler, but Allen needs to avoid the dumb fouls that will force him to the bench.

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Push It: In the first game I said Tech had to keep the game in the 70s or less.  I was wrong.  VT needs to attack, to be unafraid to run at these guys.  duke is deep and talented, but VT has plenty of bodies, too, if they need rest.  VT is 12-1 this season when scoring 75 or more points, and duke has averaged giving up over 81 points in their five losses.  If you take it to duke, they can get rattled, too.  And if Smith is out for duke, they lose their best setup man to their uptempo offense.  But duke is #1 in the ACC in scoring defense, so sticking it to them is easier said than done.
• Attack their Guards: When Smith and Paulus are both on the bench, duke does not have a true point guard on the court.  While Tech is unlikely to press, they can do what they did against nc state — extend man pressure out to half court.  Force Scheyer or Williams to pick up their dribble 30-40 feet from the basket.  This can slow duke’s offense down with feeds off of penetration and kicking the ball out.
• Wrap it up: duke is #1 in the ACC in turnover margin in conference play (by far).  VT needs to protect the ball and limit giveaways.  duke really doesn’t jump out in any other stat.  They win with solid fundamentals and intensity.  As I said to begin this article, Tech should have the intensity with their postseason life on the line, but they also must play sound, smart basketball and protect the ball.
• Rotate: duke may be the best team in the country at penetrating and kicking the ball out for open threes.  If Tech gets beaten off the dribble, and they have been quite often this season, others will have to help to stop the driver (often another player guarding a perimeter player).  That means the other remaining players have to identify the open perimeter players and rotate out to get a hand in their face.  The down side of this is often you lose who you were supposed to check on the defensive glass…
• Party of Five on the Glass: All five players on the floor for the Hokies must help on the defensive glass.  duke spreads you out and likes to shoot from deep.  That means long rebounds and often switching defenders.  The Hokies must do a good job of finding someone to block out on shots and limiting the blue devils to one attempt. 
• Pump and Go: duke’s trademark is a very aggressive half court defense.  They run at you very hard, sometimes out of control.  Tech’s perimeter players, if they use a pump fake, can get duke players coming out them to fly by and then penetrate the lane.  The Hokies can then hit pull up jumpers, pass to a sliding perimeter player on the opposite wing for a three, or go at the hoop and hopefully draw a foul.  Scheyer is duke’s weakest defender.  If Jon and A.D. are matched up, expect big numbers for both, though I expect Gerald Henderson, duke’s best athlete, will match up with Vassallo.
• Matchups or Mismatchups?:  Henderson and Singler will present real challenges to VT to guard.  If Thorns is in, that means Tech will have to put Allen on Singler and possibly Thompson/Bell/Hudson on Henderson.  Delaney is probably too small to guard Henderson.
• If it Feels Good, Keep Doing it: In the second half of the game at duke, Tech forgot what was working — penetrating the duke defense to get midrange jumpers.  The offense became stagnant and the Hokies were settling for contested shots.  The Hokies must keep driving, as well as running multiple screens to get their perimeter players open.  Also, when duke goes small, Allen can take these guys in the low post.  Feed him the ball.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Jarell Eddie of the Cannon School in Concord, NC (near Charlotte) scored his 2000th point for his high school in a 72-59 win over Providence Day School.  Eddie had 25 points in the contest.

It is amazing to think Jarell is over 2000 points already considering he is just a junior.  By my best guess, this means he has averaged around 20 points per contest over this three years at Cannon.

Eddie is a top 70 recruit in the Class of 2010 by most services.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Recap | Breakdown | Box Score

Popularity: 9% [?]

So you’re sayin’ there’s a chance!  The Hokies NCAA Tournament pulse, though faint, starts beating a little harder again.  Wow, I need a shower after that game…

Had to love the effort from everyone tonight.  Every Hokie played hard.  Tech wanted this game more.  clemson played hard, but VT played desperate.  They fought and clawed for this game.  And on clemson’s final possession, when they had to hit a three, VT played amazing defense, forcing Stitt to throw up a wild shot that I believe was inside the arc anyway.  Gold star to everyone.  Tech must keep this desperation in every game from this point.  They didn’t have it at the beginning of fsu and we all saw what happened. 

This game was all but a reversal of the first one.  Home team jumps out to a lead.  Road team takes the lead in the second half and holds on.  Road team kills the home team from 3-point range — clemson was 14/25 in the game at VT while the Hokies were 7/19.  In this game, VT was 11/19 while clemson was 7/20.  Tech was a lights-out 7/11 on threes in the second half tonight.  A.D. and Delaney were on fire!

Tech has now beaten the #1 and #12/13 teams in the nation on the road.  Overall, VT is 2-2 against the upper half of the ACC away from home but just 1-2 against the lower half.  Frustrating.

Other tidbits:

• The Hokies are now 12-1 on the season when scoring 75 or more points.  The one loss?  clemson in Blacksburg.
• VT moves to 11-10 all time against clemson, one of just two ACC teams the Hokies have a winning record against all time (gt is the other).
• Tech’s 11 three-pointers ties a season high.  This marks the third time VT has hit 10 or more threes, including the last game against fsu, but was the first time the Hokies won the game (they hit 11 threes against wisconsin and lost).
• The Hokies had an eye-popping 12 steals tonight, tying a season high.  Tech is 7-1 when getting eight or more steals, including seven wins in a row since losing to georgia.  Thorns and J.T. Thompson each had four steals.
• Speaking of which: Was that really Hank Thorns out there?  He came into the game shooting 24% in ACC play, but hit 3/4 shots and tied his season high with 10 points.  He also played a season high 30 minutes and got his first start.
• Tech, once again, did a great job against the tiger press.  They didn’t destroy it like they did in the first meeting, but by my count VT only had three, maybe four at most, turnovers as a result of the press.  Greenberg could certainly live with that. 
• If you love whistles, you loved this game!  46 fouls and 52 free throws!  Yippee!
• The Hokies got 28 points from the non-Big 3.
• Speaking of turnovers, VT had just 12, which is great against a full-court press defense.  Tech won the turnover battle — 12 compared to clemson’s 15.  That was a key to this game.
• Did Greenberg really break that pad on the scorer’s table in the second half?
• Delaney had 63 points combined in the clemson games this year and was 10/17 from long range.  He also battled through a nasty fall as part of a three-point play in the second half.  Gutsy effort as always from the VT leader.
• PLEASE tell me Booker has declared for the NBA Draft.  I already know half his highlight film is going to be against the Hokies.  And how is this for creepy — Booker had 21 points and 13 boards exactly in both games against VT this year.  And, he has scored exactly 21 points in five of his last eight games.  He had 15 in the first half tonight and was absolutely dominating the low post.  But I compared it to when Mr. T fought Rocky the second time — he seemed to get worn out in the second half from dominating too much!  Tonight marked the first time clemson lost when Booker got a double-double — they were 9-0 before tonight.
• Tech gave up 40 points in the paint — way too much — and gave up many easy looks off the drive.  But VT did outscore the tigers in second chance points 14-12.  In the first meeting, I mentioned VT only got 53% of the defensive rebounds.  Tonight I predicted it had to be at least 65% for Tech to win.  It was 63%, so pretty much right where it needed to be.
• Oglesby is now on my short list of ACC players I can’t stand.  Seriously, did he hit a three from the fifth row tonight?  Where does his range end?  He had 22 points tonight and all but carried the tigers in the second half with 14 points, including a 7-0 run all by himself that tied the game with seven minutes to go. 
• Tech limited K.C. Rivers’ looks tonight.  He scored 11 points and shot for a high percentage, but he killed VT in the first match-up for 29 points, including 7/10 from downtown.  He only seems to have big games in Blacksburg.
• Anyone else feel like going out and shooting some free throws?  Tech’s 59% effort from the line was simply pathetic.  Victor Davila led the futility with an 0/4 performance, including missing the front end of a one-and-one.
• Allen was just 2/11 from the field for five points and eight rebounds, but he did a solid job on Booker in the low post, and he was VT’s best rebounder.  He did enough to help Tech win.
• Congrats to Vassallo!  He is now firmly cemented in Hokie basketball history now that he has entered the Top 10 in career scoring.

OK, beat duke or unc (I know, I know… ) and then win at least one ACC Tournament game, and I like VT’s chances for the Big Dance.  Win at fsu and then win two in the ACC Tournament, and I like VT’s chances.  Just need to keep accumulating wins.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Box Score

The Hokies finally got a close game to go their way with a gritty 80-77 win against clemson Wednesday night in South Carolina. Malcolm Delaney struggled early, shooting just 2 of 7, but he kept shooting until he found his groove and went on to lead Tech with 26 points.

A.D. Vassallo added 21 points, and in doing so he moved into 10th place on Virginia Tech’s all-time scoring list. Hank Thorns made his first start of the season and played extremely well in helping the Hokies break the clemson press, giving Delaney more room to find open shots on the wing. In all, 10 Hokies scored.

Jeff Allen struggled offensively, but led the team with 8 rebounds, including a crucial defensive board with 1:09 to play with Tech leading 78-75. Allen was just 2/11 from the field and 1/4 from the free throw line for 5 points — his third lowest point total of the season.

Allen picked up his fourth foul with 10 minutes left in the game and Victor Davila came in and played brilliantly, giving back everything clemson’s bigs were dishing out. He only scored 4 points, but they were key buckets. Davila helped the Hokies maintain their low-post presence, forcing the tigers to tighten up inside, which gave the rest of the Hokies some better looks from the perimeter. Victor also added 5 rebounds.

The Hokies grabbed an early 5-2 lead before the tigers used a 12-2 run to take a 7-point lead, 7-14, but that’s as big a lead as either team would see in the game. Tech came back to tie the game at 16, and from there it was a seesaw battle the rest of the first half. Trailing 32-37, Dorenzo Hudson drained a trey with 50 seconds to play. Clemson added a free throw to take a 35-38 lead into the break.

The Hokies came roaring out in the second half behind four big three pointers from Delaney and Vassallo who had two each. clemson opened with a pair of foul shots for a 35-40 lead before Delaney answered with a trey. Trevor Booker got a tip-in to put clemson up 38-42, but then the Hokies got five quick points from a Delaney three and then a Thorns steal and fast break layup to put the Hokies on top 43-42.

Tech surrendered the lead again, falling behind 43-47. But then Vassallo stepped up with two big long distance bombs to push the Hokies back to a 49-49 tie with 15:50 to play. For the next nine minutes the lead changed hands seven times and there were three ties. The Hokies finally grabbed the lead for good with 6:44 to play, but it wasn’t without drama (what else is new).

The Hokies were in complete control of the game and had a 68-61 lead with 9:21 to play. Delaney had just hit a pair of free throws, and the tigers just couldn’t solve the Hokies stingy defense. But as we have come to expect in every Tech game, the Hokies went without a FG for nearly three minutes and allowed clemson to come back and tie the game 68.

Despite the nearly three-minute drought, which is actually pretty short compared some of the other scoreless stretches we’ve seen this season, Tech managed to regain its composure and retook the lead on a Delaney foul shot.

The game came down to the final seconds. Tech had a 78-75 lead when Jeff Allen missed a wide open layup on the baseline. K.C. Rivers pulled down the board and fed Booker for the fast break layup to cut Tech’s lead to one, 78-77, with 22 seconds left.

On the ensuing inbounds play for Tech, clemson did not foul immediately and instead let 8 seconds run off the clock before fouling Vassallo. A.D. hit both free throws to give Tech an 80-77 lead. The tigers took the ball upcourt, but couldn’t get a good look for a trey to tie the game thanks to Tech’s D. Demontez Stitt took the three at the buzzer but missed. There was a lot of contact on the shot, but the official did not blow the whistle and the game ended with the Hokies 80-77 winners.

It was yet another physical ACC game that left both sides exhausted. Tech returns to Blacksburg to host the dookies Saturday night at the Cassell. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ABC. The Hokies are looking to avenge their worst loss of the season, in which they were torched on dook’s home floor, 44-69 in what is undoubtedly Tech’s worst game of the season. Can you say “payback?”

Popularity: 3% [?]

THE SETUP

Spread: clemson by 10 1/2 (ouch – obviously Vegas doesn’t realize how close these games usually are… and doesn’t care)

Rerun of an article from before the first meeting: The Opposing View 

If the Hokies are again left out of the NCAA Tournament this year, they are going to look back at one point in time as to why they are headed to the Junior Prom: the 16:30 mark of the second half against clemson on January 29th.  At that time, VT led 63-48 over the highly ranked #12 tigers.  Tech stood at 4-1 in conference and were about to enter the “easy” part of their schedule.   A win would have put the Hokies at 5-1 with five winnable games against teams in the bottom half of the ACC upcoming.

After that point, clemson went on an 18-0 over the next seven minutes.  Tech would regain the lead in the final three minutes, but were unable to get key stops down the stretch and lost 86-82.

 You could easily argue that the Hokies have been in a tailspin ever since, losing five of their last seven games (including that game) and were lucky as heck to have won the nc state game after trailing by 18 in the second half.  Tech has had their opportunities, but just have not been able to finish games at the end.  And they were blown out in their last two road games against teams no where near as good as clemson.

The Hokies no longer have any margin for error.  If they want to get to the NCAA Tournament, they have to win either this game or the game at florida state, and steal either the unc or duke game at home.  Plus, they will have to win at least their First Round match-up in the ACC Tournament and maybe even win in the Quarterfinals.  It is time to put up or shut up.  No Greenberg plea to the NCAA Committee will mean anything if the Hokies don’t start winning games.

Of Note: A.D. Vassallo will move into 10th place on the VT all time scoring list with six points in this game.

THE SERIES

When the Hokies and tigers play you know one thing – the game is going to come right down to the wire.  Greenberg joked before the first meeting that whomever led with 30 seconds to go was going to lose.   Unfortunately, he was wrong.

For more on the series since VT joined the ACC, check out Wick’s article from three weeks ago (before the last game): Hokies and tigers: An instant classic

• All-Time: 10-10 (georgia tech is the only ACC team VT has a winning record against all time)
• At clemson: 4-5
• In the ACC: 2-5
• Streak: clemson – 4 in a row

Last Meeting: In the first half, the Hokies absolutely torched clemson’s full court trapping press.  Tech committed three early turnovers against it, but then started finding easy bucket after easy dunk after easy wide-open three.   The result was a 53-44 halftime lead, Tech’s largest first half output of the season.  Malcolm Delaney had 22 points in the first half alone, including a 3/4 court shot at the buzzer.

The second half saw the Hokies build their lead back up to 15 as I mentioned above but then the wheels came off.  The tigers stopped pressing, something they never do, and forced the Hokies to beat them in the half court set.  clemson went on an 18-0 and went on to win the game.

The key for clemson was their three point shooting.  The tigers hit 14/25 from long range (an astounding 56%), including 7/10 from K.C. Rivers, the Hokie-killer.  He is the guy that hit the shot in Blacksburg to give clemson a win over the Hokies in the final regular season game of 2007 that cost the Hokies a share of the ACC regular season title and the #1 seed in the tourney.  In other words, he loves Blacksburg.  He had 29 points in the game.

Inside, Trevor Booker dominated as expected.  He had 21 points and 13 rebounds.  Tech really struggles with big, athletic low post players, and Booker is as good as you will see in the ACC.

Delaney added 15 more points in the second half, giving him 37 for the game which is still the season high in the ACC and the most points ever scored by a Hokie in an ACC game.  He was 11/17 from the floor and 6/10 on threes.  But, it was all for not in a losing cause.

Click ‘Read more’ to see the rest of the preview…

Continue Reading

Popularity: 3% [?]

Virginia Tech 2009 signee Cadarian Raines was named the Central District Player of the Year.  He has led Petersburg High School to a 27-0 start to the season and the #1 ranking in the state among Virginia AAA teams, the highest classification in the state.

Petersburg defeated James River 76-55 Monday night in the first round of the Central Region Tournament.  Raines scored 20 points in the game. 

On Tuesday, the Wave hammered Douglas Freeman 78-58 in the Regional Quarterfinals as Raines once again scored 20 points.  They will play Henrico Friday night at 6 PM in the Semi-Finals at the Siegel Center.

Popularity: 1% [?]

ACC Notes:

• The Hokies currently sit in 8th place in the ACC and would play… wait for it… nc state in the First Round of the ACC Tournament.  I don’t think any Hokie fan wants that, even if Tech did exorcise some of the wolfpack demons two weeks ago.
• VT has had a three game losing streak in the second half of the ACC schedule in four of their five years in the league (every one but 2006-07).
• Tech has only once had a three game or more losing streak in the first half — that was in 2005-06 when they lost their first five ACC games.
• The Hokies are 2-5 against the five ACC teams they play twice this season, including four losses in a row.  The five teams VT plays twice were picked to finish 2nd (duke), 5th (clemson), 10th (fsu), 11th (bc), and 12th (uva), but currently sit tied for 2nd (duke, clemson, and fsu), 6th (bc), and 11th (uva).  In other words, Tech has ended up with a very difficult ACC schedule, thanks in part to VT’s inability to beat these teams.
• Tech is 4-1 against the six teams they only play once (still have to play unc).

NCAA Tournament:

Selection Sunday is less than three weeks away and once again the Hokies are firmly on the bubble.  Well, firmly might be a tad optimistic.  The Hokies have gone from solidly in the Big Dance to sliding off the bubble like they were on a Slip-and-Slide greased with KY jelly.  The good news is VT has three games in a row against RPI Top 8 teams: clemson (8), duke (4), and unc (3), followed up with a rematch against RPI #17 fsu.

Let’s look at VT’s wins and losses from a RPI perspective (Team – RPI):

• wake – #18
• miami – #46
• bc – #55
• nc state – #90
• uva – #100
• fairfield – #105
• mount st. mary’s – #124
• richmond – #138
• navy – #147
• st. johns – #149
• georgia tech – #161
• gardner webb – #220
• longwood – #258
• elon – #264
• columbia – #269
• charleston southern – #316

As you can see, some of VT’s big wins don’t look so big anymore.  wake has more problems on the road than a blind squirrel, having lost four straight away from home.  miami is in the Top 50 but sits at just 5-8 in conference, not exactly a marque win.  And bc recently fell out of the Top 50 with three losses in four games (the one win was against duke, of course, since the eagles only seem to play when it is someone really good).  After that, VT has no other wins that are going to impress anyone.  But, like I said, these next four games give them that opportunity since all four teams are higher in the RPI than wake.  Just have to get-r-done.

Just for the heck of it, and maybe to depress you further, let’s look at the losses (Team – RPI):

• duke – #4
• clemson – #8 (Led by 15 with 16:30 to go)
• xavier – #14 (Ugh, that stinking half court shot!  This would be VT’s top win!)
• fsu – #17 (Shot at the buzzer to win it)
• wisconsin – #27 (Tie broken with less than a second to go)
• maryland – #52
• bc – #55 (Tip in turned a win to a loss with less than a second left)
• uva – #100
• seton hall – #101
• georgia – #209 (uga went ahead with 30 seconds left and Thorns/Diakite missed shots to win the game in the final 3 seconds.  uga’s coach has since been fired and they are just 1-11 in the SEC.)

Obviously these teams’ RPI would drop if they had lost those games to VT, but you can see how close Tech was to having some big time wins.  Well, can’t cry over spilled milk.  Just have to grab the [tiger's/blue devil's/tar heel's/seminole's] boob and make fresh milk, starting this Wednesday, if the Hokies want an invite to the Big Dance.  Two wins in these last four games and one to two wins in the ACC Tournament, and the Hokies give themselves a shot.

Popularity: 1% [?]

The Heartbreak Kids, otherwise known as the Virginia Tech Hokies men’s hoops team, were back in action on Saturday night, and wouldn’t you know it, yet another gut wrenching, rip your heart out and stomp it defeat. This time 67-65 at the hands of the florida state seminoles. And this one really hurt. The game of basketball is a game of inches and they say everything evens out eventually. That being said, with the Hokies down by two on the final possession, I’ve never in my life had more confidence in one shot going in than when A.D. Vassallo launched that three from the top of the key. Reality struck when the ball hit nothing but the back of the rim as the final horn sounded. Another game, another heartbreaking loss. Though this one seemed a bit more cruel than the others. This was a must win and the Hokies appeared to have put themselves in perfect position to bring home the all important W.

To say that the ball just doesn’t seem to be bouncing our way this season would be the understatement of the year. Kind of like saying the economy is not very good right now. With the roles reversed, give any other player on any other team on Tech’s schedule the open look at the buzzer that A.D. had and you just KNOW that sucker is going in, much to the dismay of Hokies everywhere. Give credit to Greenberg for drawing up the play to get an open look. The execution was flawless, with the one obvious exception.

The amazing thing is that this team continues to battle. The second half against fsu was a very gutsy performance just to get back into the contest. With 25 points, including 5-8 from 3-point land, Malcolm Delaney showed that he is out of his recent shooting slump, which is certainly somewhat of a silver lining in an otherwise devastating defeat.

For the first time in his coaching career, a team coached by Seth Greenberg opened up in a zone. Interesting move, but to say this move backfired would be yet another humongous understatement. As usual, a team that had been a statistically poor shooting team coming in, shot lights out. Before you knew it, the Hokies were down 25-11 and clearly looked like they hadn’t yet recovered from back to back road losses to maryland and uva.

Zones have worked throughout this season when used from time to time during games to stem opponents’ runs. For some reason though, the Hokies didn’t show the fire defensively that they did after they eventually settled back into their man to man. My guess is that this will be the one and only time that you see the Hokies open in a zone under Greenberg.

Outside of back to back wins over duke and unc and stealing a win on the road in rematches versus clemson or fsu, the Hokies are the longest of long shots now for the NCAA Tournament. The good news is that it’s right there in front of them. If they want to get in, they can certainly go out and earn it, however much the odds are stacked against it. Three games in a row against top 10 teams is a golden opportunity for a team searching to show they belong in the field. But how can they possibly muster up the mojo to have a shot at any of these games?

Anything besides a blowout loss at clemson on Wednesday night would be a total shock to me at this point. But on the other hand, if there is one team that is all too experienced at recovering from these types of losses, it’s the Hokies. If there is one thing that’s been shown this season, it’s when the Hokies are at full strength they can compete with any other team. Will things finally start to even out for the Hokies and their much distraught fans? Or will this team continue to be snake bitten? The season’s not over and there is still a chance, however small that chance may be.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Box Score

fsu senior guard Toney Douglas hit a runner in the lane with 6.2 seconds remaining to lead the noles to a 67-65 win at the Cassell on Saturday night. Malcolm Delaney, who was guarding Douglas, tried to fight off a screen at the top of the key, but Douglas decided to dribble away from the screen which allowed him to beat Delaney to the lane for the game winning shot. The Hokies did have a legit chance to win it at the buzzer, but A.D. Vassallo’s three-ball at the top of the key hit the back iron. Game over. Hokies lose their third in a row.

The hangover from the uva game lingered into the first half of tonight’s game as the Hokies got off to a horrible shooting start. 10 minutes into the game, Tech was down 25-11. Finally, the Orange & Maroon caught fire, specifically Malcolm Delaney. As Niemo put it earlier this week, VT will live by Delaney and die by Delaney. Malcolm scored 13 of the next 22 points, but the Hokies still trailed by 10 at the break.

fsu executed their offense to near perfection in the first half. They made 8 of 19 threes, including a prayer by Derwin Kitchen as he almost fell out of bounds. Afraid he was going to be called for a travel as he stumbled (or was pushed) towards the Hokie bench, Kitchen hurled the rock toward the basket and hit nothing but net. In the end, that shot was the difference. Kitchen ended up with a career high of 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting (3 of 3 from behind the arc).

The Hokies picked up where they left off in the first half by shooting the ball well in the second, especially from three point range. The noles finally cooled down, and Tech used an 11-2 run to even things back up. Malcolm Delaney’s three pointer with 14:18 left gave Tech its first lead since 3-2. It didn’t last for long though. At the 9:03 mark, Tech held a 51-47 lead, but couldn’t keep the noles down any longer. fsu turned to their senior stud, Toney Douglas, to halt the Hokie run. Douglas scored 12 of his 22 points in the final 6 and a half minutes, including the game winner, to stun Hokie nation once again.

Jeff Allen returned to the lineup after his one game suspension, and came out on fire as he nailed a three-pointer. Allen was really hustling on both ends of the court, scoring 12 and hauling in 11 boards. A.D. Vassallo scored 15 and is now 5 points away from cracking Tech’s all-time Top 10 scoring list.

Next up for Tech is a trip down to clemson on Wednesday night to face the 13th-ranked tigers. clemson has won 4 in a row against the Hokies, including a 86-82 win at the Cassell less than one month ago. Game time is 7:30pm. TV is ESPN2.

Popularity: 2% [?]

THE SETUP

This is all the setup you need: Virginia Tech must win this game to keep alive any hope of going to the NCAA Tournament.

BONUS, LESS DRAMATIC SETUP

Spread: VT by 3

Note: This game is on CSN+ (Channel 77) for you NOVA Comcast subscribers.

History Watch: With 20 points tonight, A.D. Vassallo will move into the Top 10 on the all time Virginia Tech scoring list. He currently sits in 12th place with 1,636 points. He will pass two Matthews, Bill (11th) and Bryant (10th), in the next game or so.

The Hokies, having just pooped the bed during their “easy” five game stretch of ACC games, now enter the murderous part of their schedule.  In their final five games, Tech faces the #18, #8, #5, #3, and #18 teams in the RPI.  That’s fsu, @clemson, duke, unc, and @fsu.  Not exactly the uva and georgia tech’s of the world.  This game coming up is by far the most winable.  florida state is good, but certainly the least talented of the four teams Tech has left to play.  Plus, this game is at home, and barring any last minute surprises, VT will have their whole roster at their disposal for the entire game.

The Hokies need to go 3-2 to finish the regular season.  That might be enough to get them into the Big Dance based on the number of quality wins that would give VT.  And if Tech wants to entertain any thoughts of going 3-2 to close the regular season, they have to win this game.  Even if they do win this one, they will likely have to steal either the duke or unc game at home.

THE SERIES

• All-Time: 17-22
• At Cassell: 11-6
• In ACC Play: 2-3
• Streaks: The home team has won all five games in this series since VT joined the ACC

fsu

THE OPPONENT

Four things to watch for from florida state:

• They are tall
• They are athletic
• They LOVE to shoot the three (almost all of them)
• They are the Toney Douglas show

The seminoles are an odd mix — they are very young and veteran at the same time.  They start two seniors and three players that are in their first year at florida state (Derwin Kitchen originally was slated to go to florida before ending up at iowa western community college).  Their bench is also very young except for Ryan Reid.

fsu presents match-up nightmares for opponents due to their size.  They will run five big men that are 6’8″ or taller at you, similar to wake forest.  In the VT/wake game, Tech neutralized this by getting the deacon big men in foul trouble, or beat up, early. 

Just like wake and Jeff Teague, fsu has a tremendous combo guard in Toney Douglas.  Douglas averaged almost 17 points as a freshman and is just 35 points away from 2000 in his career.  He is the only nole averaging in double digits, scoring 20 a game, good for second in the ACC.  Toney is a streaky shooter from deep.  He is currently on a cold streak, having hit just 9 of his last 36 threes in his last six games.  Let’s hope the cold Blacksburg weather keeps his shot icy.

Even though Douglas has been struggling from deep of late, he has averaged 23.5 ppg over those six games.  He is tremendously quick and can beat teams up the court if the guards don’t fall back.  He is next to impossible to stop on the drive.  As with Rice of bc, he will get his points.  In fact, his biggest scoring nights are often in fsu losses.  He only had two points in a win against rival florida and the last two times he’s scored 30 or more, the noles lost.  The key is to limit the fsu big men.

The difference between wake and fsu is the noles’ big men are no where near as talented as wake’s.  Chris Singleton is a very athletic freshman who will be a star in this league, especially once Douglas’ shots are gone next year.  But he likes to wander out on the perimeter and shoot threes.  He is 24/77 on the season from deep.  He reminds me of James Johnson of wake last year in this respect — a talented big man who hasn’t yet figured out he needs to be inside.  On the offensive glass, or in transition, Singleton can dunk with the best of them.  Tech must box him out.

Uche Echefu is another big man who is better facing the basket than with his back to it.  He has also tried almost 50 threes on the season.  While Uche is not extremely physical, he is an excellent foul shooter, hitting 83% (even better than Douglas’ 80%). 

Soloman Alabi is a big body inside.  At 7’1″, he can be a shot blocking force.  His 2.1 blocks per game is #2 in the ACC.  Most of his points will come on the offensive glass or when teams overcommit to Douglas and leave him wide open inside.  Tech has had an issue with switches of late, so this could be an issue.

The final starter is Derwin Kitchen.  Despite being their “shooting guard”, he is seventh on the team in three-point attempts.  He has shot just 20 on the season.  He is more of a what I call a filler — similar to Dorenzo Hudson.  You have to have five guys on the court, so there you go.  He is a decent defender.  But he is not strong on the dribble on offense.  He will pick and choose his shots carefully. 

Off the bench, Dulkys, Loucks, and DeMercy all like to stroke it from deep.  None of them shoot particularly well though.  Reid is an energy guy to rest some of the other big men.

Overall, fsu is not an offensive juggernaut.  They are ninth in the ACC in points per game in ACC play.  But with their size, they are very stout on defense.  Their 68.2 ppg against and 41% FG%-Defense are both good for second in the ACC (not good considering VT’s struggles against two of the worst defenses in the ACC).   This game will likely be a low scoring, drag-it-out type game. 

KEYS TO THE GAME:

D the 3, then Box Out: fsu attempts 20 threes per game.  They hit less than 30% of them in ACC play, second worst in the league.  That means a lot of misses.  The noles don’t care since they are so tall, they are counting on getting offensive rebounds.  Tech has given up more than their fair share of second chances of late.  The Hokies must go out and defend everyone but Alabi on the perimeter and get a hand in their face, then find a body to block out and put a butt on them.  Once the shot is up, it all comes down to desire — The Hokies have to want that ball.  Despite their size, fsu actually has a negative rebounding margin in ACC play.  Tech must out work and position the noles.

Pray for Whistles: I forget what that awful whistle rap song of a few years ago was, but whistles on Saturday will likely be music to my ears.  With fsu’s length, you have to hope the officials call a tight game, especially on over-the-back calls on the boards.  If the refs let them play, fsu might get a lot of second chance points.  Plus, when VT drives, foul calls instead of blocked shots can help get their bigs on the bench.  Let’s just hope the whistles aren’t 80 feet from the basket and on Jeff Allen.

Urgency but not Pressure: Like I said, this is all but a must win for VT.  It is not for fsu.  Tech has to come out and play like their season is on the line.  They have to fight and claw for every 50/50 ball.  They have to play with intensity.  But they can’t stress out.  It is just one game.  Putting too much pressure can lead to missed assignments or forcing shots.  Play hard, leave it all on the line, and let the chips fall where they may.

Live by Delaney: Malcolm has been in a shooting slump of late.  If he misses his first couple of shots, he needs to find other ways to score — either by finding his runner to avoid the fsu big men, or getting fouled in transition.  With the size of the noles inside, let’s hope he can hit an early three.

Dunkin’ Donut: Jeff Allen needs to play this game with a chip on his shoulder.  He needs to come out and say I’m sorry to his teammates for missing the uva game.  He will be key to VT getting boards and scoring inside.  He has to attack the fsu big men, and if he can hit an early three, he will force them to come out on the perimeter and help open the lane for Delaney and Vassallo.

Greatest VT/fsu Moment:

The famous “Henson Heave” by Les Henson. An 89’3″ world record shot to win the game at florida state on 1/21/80 by a 79-77 score.

Popularity: 3% [?]