THE SETUP

Virginia Tech no longer has any margin of error.  The Hokies are now in a single elimination situation in more ways than one.  Obviously if they lose in the ACC Tournament, they are done from that.  But a loss in the first two rounds of the ACC Tournament will eliminate Tech from any chance of going to the NCAA Tournament and send them to the consolation tourney, aka: the Junior Prom, the NIT for the second year in a row.  If the Hokies can defeat miami in the First Round (and for the second time this season), and then knock off the #1 (that’s in the nation, not just the ACC) unc tar heels in the Quarterfinals, they put themselves squarely back on the bubble.

But first things first — the Hokies, losers of six of their last seven games, must knock off a pesky miami hurricane team on Thursday at noon in the opening game of the ACC Tournament.   miami is also on the bubble, so call this an elimination game where both teams are playing for their NCAA lives.

The Weekend Warrior and Niemo will be at the ACC Tournament – the first person to recognize Niemo and come up to him and say, “Yahtzee” will get a beer bought for him or her (pending ID check: must be 21 years of age except in Puerto Rico; offer not valid with any other coupons; and assuming they sell booze in the Dome for this).

THE BRACKET

Thursday – First Round

• Noon – #8 Virginia Tech vs. #9 miami
• ~2:20 – #5 clemson vs. #12 georgia tech
• 7 – #7 maryland vs. #10 nc state
• ~9:20 – #6 bc vs. #11 uva

Friday – Quarterfinals

• Noon – #1 unc vs. #8 Virginia Tech / #9 miami
• ~2:20 – #4 fsu vs. #5 clemson/#12 georgia tech
• 7 – #2 wake forest vs. #7 maryland/#10 nc state
• ~9:20 – #3 duke vs. #6 bc/#11 uva

Saturday – Semi-Finals

• 1:30 – Friday afternoon winners
• ~3:50 – Friday evening winners

Sunday – Championship Game  – 1 PM

ACC TOURNAMENT SIX PACK

• Virginia Tech is 2-4 in the ACC Tournament
• The Hokies are 0-1 in the First Round, having received a bye three of the previous four seasons
• A.D. Vassallo scored 22 points against wake in the 2007 Quarterfinals, a Tech game high in the tournament
• This is the first tourney opponent Tech has played in a previous ACC Tournament — Tech has also played georgia tech, uva, wake, nc state, and unc
• Tech has been held under 70 points in five of their previous six ACC Tournament games — the lone time they surpassed 70 was in the win against wake in 2007 (71).  Two VT opponents have passed 70 — nc state with 72 in 2007 and georgia tech with 73 in 2005.
• Malcolm Delaney scored 30 combined points on a blistering 10/15 from the floor and 6/9 from three-point range in last year’s two ACC games.

FIRST ROUND – #9 miami (18-11, 7-9)

How about this for a good omen in this game: Virginia Tech has won their first game in the last eight tournaments they’ve entered.  This dates back to the 2006 Old Spice Classic in Florida, where VT lost to western michigan.  Since then, the Hokies have won their opening games in both ACC Tournaments, both Holiday Festivals, the NCAA Tournament, the NIT, the Great Alaska Shootout, and the Puerto Rico Tip-off (I did not count things like the BB&T Classic or ACC/Big(11)Ten Challenge that are just one game and not true tournaments).

Also, the Hokies should have some confidence knowing they defeated the canes 88-83 in overtime in miami.  The Big 3 went nuts in this one, scoring 74 of Tech’s 88 points.  In fact, only one player other than the Big 3 had more than two points — Lewis Witcher had six.  Malcolm Delaney had 29, A.D. Vassallo 28, and Jeff Allen 17.   Jack McClinton was “limited” to 20 points (he was just 6/21 from the field), and Dwayne Collins dominated the Hokies inside for 23 points.  Brian Asbury, who had been in a shooting slump, got hot and scored 21 points, by far his season high, and mostly against Vassallo.  Tech shot 43% (9/21) on threes, and despite trailing most of the game, took a late lead only to see the game sent to overtime on a Brian Asbury three with 25 seconds left.  The Hokies fell behind by four early in overtime, but scored 11 of the final 13 points to pull away.  After that game, Tech was sitting at 4-1 in the ACC and riding the gravy train with biscuit wheels.  But that was a LONG time ago in a basketball season.

miami comes into this game having won three of four.  But those four games included the bottom three teams in the ACC, and bc, who finished in sixth.  The canes lost to 2-14 georgia tech in their second to last game.  So while the wins may have given them a lift after a 4-8 start in ACC play, they haven’t proven much of anything.  The canes lost six of their final seven games away from Coral Gables, with the lone road win against lowly uva. [editor's note: italics added because its fun.]

Meanwhile, VT was strong away from the Cassell this season.  Tech finished 3-5 away from Blacksburg in ACC action, with wins over wake (wake’s only home loss of the season), clemson, and miami.  The Hokies know they can play in unfamiliar settings. 

KEYS TO THE GAME

• Get a Lead!  Virginia Tech has not led at any point in their last three games, a span of 120 minutes since the end of the clemson game.  The main culprit has been slow starts on offense.  In Tech’s last seven games, they have trailed at the first media timeout in every game by an average of five points.  The Hokies have played up-hill every game, and it has taken a toll on them.
• Malcolm Delaney: Malcolm is the leader of this team, the heart and soul.  And as he goes, so go the Hokies.  When he was putting up ACC Player of the Week numbers (an award he won once) in mid-January, the Hokies were red hot.  But he has been in a slump the last nine games, due in part to the fact his body is extremely beat up from throwing it around, giving each game his all.  By no coincidence, Tech has struggled.  Malcolm must regain the hot-shooting touch he had in the first half of the ACC season, where he was in the Top 10 in the ACC in shooting percentage.   The biggest issue lately has been his inability to hit runners in the lane or on the break.  If Malcolm can get a 10-footer in the paint to drop, and an early three, VT could be in for a good day.  Delaney was hot against miami in the first meeting, hitting 9/19 from the floor and 3/7 on threes.
• Impeach McClinton:  Jack McClinton has insane range from deep.  He must be guarded anywhere and everywhere on the floor.   He finished third in the ACC in scoring and was tops in three-point shooting, hitting an incredible 90/194 threes (46%).  But he has been in a slump the last three games, hitting just 9/37 shots from the field (24%).  The main issue has been, like Delaney, he cannot hit a two-point shot — he is just 3/19 from inside the arc.  And Tech has done a great job on him in the last two meetings.  He was just 6/21 from the field in January (4/12 on threes) and 4/17 from the field (3/11 on threes) in VT’s 63-49 defeat of miami in the Quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament last season. 
• Boo Collins / Yay Allen: As I mentioned earlier, Dwayne Collins dominated Tech inside in January.  He scored 13 straight points for the canes during the second half to keep them in the game.  Jeff Allen managed to play 40 minutes in that game, a rare occasion where he didn’t battle foul troubles.  If Tech is going to limit Collins, they have to keep Allen on the floor and get a big effort from Diakite and/or Davila inside in post defense.  Davila has been playing better in the low post of late on the defensive end, while Diakite can challenge his shots.  And Tech must limit second chance opportunities for the big cane lineup (the goon line).

THE LINEUPS

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The regular season is in the books.  [Harry Doyle would be covering up the microphone and saying, "Thank God" to his partner]  Everyone’s record is 0-0 again.  Well, not really, but VT has to put the last four weeks behind them and hit the reset button.  The Hokies have the talent to make a run in the ACC Tournament, much like nc state did two years ago when they won three games in a row before falling in the ACC Finals.  With three straight wins, the Hokies are back in the Big Dance.  Will it happen?  8-ball says, “Not clear.”

What’s working against the Hokies?:

Transition Offense: Have you ever seen a team that was worse in transition?  A three-on-one break often resembles a pee wee soccer match — everyone is piled up.  How many times has Tech turned the ball over or had to pull the ball back out when they had numbers on the break?  I gave up trying to count.  There’s several factors causing this:

• Spacing is terrible: The guys are too close together on the break, allowing the defender to pick up more than one guy.  Guys need to be farther on the wing. 
• Decision-making: The ballhandler many times is penetrating too deep.  Again, by this point, the defender can pick up more than one guy.   The wings are drawn in too deep.  Also, when you are that close to the hoop a pass is tough to catch and many times sails out of bounds.
• Bad shots: How many times has Delaney shot a pull up three or jumper on a fast break where VT had numbers?  I’d guess around a dozen times and by my count he’s made one. 
• Lack of ballhandlers: VT can’t get out and run until they get the ball to Delaney or Thorns since those are the only guys that can dribble the ball up the court for the Hokies.  That gives the defense more time to get back, and limits the number of opportunities VT has to run.  But, based on their lack of success, it doesn’t matter much.

If you want to win in this league, you have to be able to get easy points.  This is an offensive league and if you can’t find easy points and can only score in the half court, you are going to struggle.  Other teams are going to get those easy points and have finishers and it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on your half court defense to get stops.

Want proof the ACC is an offensive league?  Let’s look at the ACC Scoring Offense numbers (Offensive Ranking in ACC Play – Team – Finish in the ACC Standings):

1. unc – 1
2. wake – 2t
3. clemson – 5t
4. duke – 2t
5. bc – 5t
6. nc state – 10
7. VT – 7t
8. miami – 7t
9. fsu – 4
10. maryland – 7t
11. georgia tech – 12
12. uva – 11

You can see how every team finished near where their offensive rank was except for nc state and fsu which seemingly should be flip-flopped.  But fsu was #1 in Scoring Defense and nc state was dead last.  Other than that, there isn’t much correlation between defensive ranking and finish.

Reviewing the final ACC rankings for ACC games only, you find something interesting — Virginia Tech was extremely average.  Look at their ACC Rankings and you will find that VT finished between 5th and 9th in almost every category except for assists, where Tech finished 12th.  That shows the Hokies’ lack of solid ballhandlers.  In fact, Tech did not finish higher than 5th in ANY category.  When you aren’t really good at anything, you don’t have an identity.  And when you don’t have an identity, you are going to struggle to win games against the better teams.  Though VT started out hot and was 6-3, things evened out down the stretch and the Hokies lost six of their last seven, including five games against ranked teams, and finished a very average 7-9.

So what hope is there?  The hope is Malcolm Delaney.  He was the key at the end of last season that started carrying the Hokies.  This year he has been very banged up in the second half of the season but Tech can’t afford to rest him and he finished #1 in minutes played in ACC games.  Malcolm is a guy that throws his body around like David Jackson and Deron Washington used to, so bruises are going to mount.  This season, that caught up to him.  Let’s hope in the three days VT has off he can regain that magic from last season.

Individually, here’s how some Hokies finished in ACC only games:

Malcolm Delaney:

• Scoring – tied for 3rd with Hansbrough
• Assists – 8th
• FT% – 5th
• Minutes Played – 1st

A.D. Vassallo:

• Scoring – 6th
• FG% – 9th
• 3′s Made - 7th
• Minutes Played – 2nd

Jeff Allen:

• Rebounding – 6th
• Steals – 10th

Hank Thorns – 1st in Assist/Turnover Ratio

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Box Score

Virginia Tech’s Big Three – Jeff Allen (6), Malcolm Delaney (13) and A.D. Vassallo (14) – combined for just 33 points as the Hokies lost their final regular season game on the road to No. 24-ranked fsu, 53-63. Tech’s 53 points was its second lowest output of the season behind its 44-point effort at duke. The Hokies did get a stellar game from Cheick Diakite who pulled down a career high 11 rebounds.

Once again the Hokies got off to an extremely slow start and hit just 1 of their first 11 shots. With less than 8 minutes to play in the first half, the Hokies only had 9 points and trailed by 14 points with less than 5 minutes left in the half. But, they did not quit and fought their way back into the game and cut fsu’s lead down to 7 at the half.

The second half saw the noles push their lead back to double digits. Tech hung tough and kept it close and even got to within 3 points with a little more than 7 minutes to play. That’s when fsu’s Toney Douglas started to heat up. He buried a 3 pointer to push the lead back to six and scored 12 points in the final seven minutes to lead fsu past Tech. Douglas was the only fsu player to score in double digits.

Foul trouble was an issue for the Hokies in the second half as Allen and Delaney sat for a good chunk of time with four fouls each. Turnovers (including several lazy passes) killed Seth Greenberg’s team. Tech committed 17 turnovers and fsu turned them into 18 points. Though fsu is much bigger than Tech, the ‘noles only had a 36-33 edge in rebounding. Diakite played with with the big boys today and more than held his own.

It was another poor shooting performance for Tech as they managed just 30 percent from the field (16/52), 25 percent from three (5/20) and 69 percent from the free throw line (16/23). Next to the duke loss, this was probably Tech’s worst game of the season – statistically speaking.

The loss caps a disappointing end to the regular season for Virginia Tech. Following the Hokies’ 76-71 win against georgia tech on Feb. 11, Tech stood at 16-7 overall and 6-3 in the ACC. Since that game, Tech has won only once, losing six of their final seven games, including three homes games. Their lone win was an upset on the road against #12 clemson on Feb. 25.

The loss gives the Hokies a 7-9 conference record and means the Hokies will need to deep in the ACC tournament. More than likely, the Hokies will need to win the whole thing, especially if last season is any barometer. The Hokies were 18-12 and 9-7 last season and lost on a last second shot to unc in the ACC semifinals and still got snubbed by the NCAA selection committee. Short of winning the ACC tournament, the Hokies appear to be NIT bound.

Next up for Tech is the ACC tourney which begin on Thursday. Tech will take on miami at noon. The Hokies beat the canes earlier this season 88-83 in overtime, in Miami. The entire ACC tournament will be broadcast on Raycom and ESPN or ESPN2.

Notes:
A.D. Vassallo needs just two more 3-point field goals to set a new Virginia Tech career record for made 3-pointers. Wally Lancaster currently holds the record with 257 made 3-pointers from 1986-89. Lancaster also holds the school record for most 3-point attempts (694) and most consecutive games with a made 3-pointer with 73.

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Note: If Virginia Tech wins this game, they finish in 7th place in the ACC and will play nc state on Thursday at 7 PM.  If Tech loses, they finish in a three way tie with maryland and miami.  In that scenario, maryland would be the #7 seed and play nc state, while VT would be the #8 seed and play miami at noon on Thursday.

THE SETUP

Recap of the Weekend Warrior’s trip to Tallahassee back in October

Spread: fsu by 5.5

This is all the setup you need: Virginia Tech must win this game to keep alive any hope of going to the NCAA Tournament.  You cannot finish below .500 in your conference and expect to make the Big Dance.  It is time for the Hokies to put up or shut up.  If VT finishes 7-9 in the regular season in the ACC, no “certifiably insane” speech is going to carry any weight.  With a win though, Tech would have three wins against Top 25 RPI teams (#14 wake, #17 fsu, and #18 clemson), and all on the road.  Unfortunately for Tech, both bc and miami have fallen out of the Top 50, so those are no longer Top-50 wins.  Joe Lunardi of ESPN Bracketology currently has the Hokies on the Big Dance waiting list, five to eight spots out of the tourney.

THE SERIES

• All-Time: 17-23
• At fsu: 5-13
• In ACC Play: 2-4
• Streaks: The home team had won all five games since VT joined the ACC until fsu won in Blacksburg two weeks ago.
• Of Note: VT has won on the road at every ACC school except fsu and nc state since joining the ACC.

Last Meeting: fsu 67, @VT 65 – It all came down to one shot, the ball in A.D. Vassallo’s hands with an open look at a three to give Virginia Tech the victory.  But as has been the case so many times this season, the bounce did not go the Hokies’ way.  Instead, the shot clanged off the iron and out, and Virginia Tech missed out on another golden opportunity for a big win at home. 

Derwin Kitchen was the story in this meeting, scoring 19 points, his season high.  Having hit just seven three pointers on the season coming in, he went 3/3 from long range, including a shot he just hucked up from the corner at the end of the shot clock.  Toney Douglas had a team high 22, but that was no surprise.  His jumper with six seconds left put fsu ahead.  Malcolm Delaney had 25 for the Hokies in his best performance over the last eight games — he took a break from his shooting slump and went 5/8 on threes in the game.

No shock here, but VT fell well behind early in the contest.  It was 25-11 fsu before the halfway mark of the first half.

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One thing you can say about Virginia Tech 2009 signee Cadarian Raines and 2009 verbal commitment Momo Jones is they are both winners.  Friday night #2/3 Oak Hill moved to 38-0 on the season with a 68-62 win over #9 Montrose Christian, while Petersburg improved to 30-0 and advanced to the Virginia AAA State Semi-Finals with a 59-48 victory over Hayfield.

Momo had 10 points for Oak Hill in this nationally televised contest on ESPN2.  In the first meeting against Montrose out in Hawaii, Jones had a career high 40 points and really put his name on the map.  He has since been invited to play in the Jordan Brand Classic Game on April 18th.  Momo showed a nice outside jump shot.  He is also a very good distributor, able to penetrate the key and find an open man.  He did struggle to finish around the rim, but Montrose’s entire low post is going to D1 schools, mainly villanova, so they had great size.  Momo is right around 6′ so he’s not going to soar over people.  He has to get separation and get ahead of the big men, or away from them, to score around the rim like Ty Lawson does.

On defense, Momo is not your typical lazy star.  He works hard and can play tough man defense.  He had a steal in the game that led to a breakaway layup.

In the state playoffs, Cadarian Raines was limited to just 12 points by a vicious Hayfield defense that forced more than 20 turnovers.  Raines, as usual, did have a crowd pleasing dunk.

Petersburg will play the winner of GW-Danville and King’s Fork at Churchland on Wednesday night at the Siegel Center (vcu).  Game time is 9 PM.

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Its that time of year again… time to block out your calendar for the ACC and NCAA tournaments. I’m not talking about the entire schedule, but there are four key days coming when you don’t want to risk having an important meeting scheduled while the Hokies run the floor:

ACC tournament games during the workday:

• Thursday, March 12 — ACC tourney games tip off at noon (8 vs 9 seed) and at 2 PM (5 vs 12 seed)
• Friday, March 13 — ACC tourney games start at noon (1 vs 8/9 seed) and at 2 PM (4 vs 5/12 seed)

March 12 is the key afternoon that you want to keep clear. No matter what happens in the fsu game this weekend, the Hokies will be playing on March 12 for their NCAA tournament hopes. The Hokies will be a 7 or 8 seed in the ACC tourney, which means there’s half a chance they could be playing in the 8/9 game at noon next Thursday (in a near-empty Georgia Dome) against miami or nc state. So you need to clear your schedule NOW for next Thursday from 11:30 AM to 3 PM in case the Hokies end up in the eighth spot. If the Hokies don’t play in that noon game, they’ll play at 7 PM, easily in time to be home from work.

(Or if you’re a student who expects to spend the week in Key West, (1) I salute you, and (2) watch out for Thursday afternoon, it will sneak up on you.)

And if the Hokies do end up slotted in that March 12 noon game, they’ll be playing for a spot in the noon game on Friday March 13 against dook, unc, or wake. The Hokies would play that Friday game for a spot in the NCAA tourney, and would probably be matched up with dook or unc, so you definitely won’t want to be stuck in a meeting while that’s underway. That means you need to clear your schedule NOW for next Friday from 11:30 AM to 3 PM.

NCAA tournament games during the workday:

• Thursday, March 19 — NCAA tourney Round of 64, 12-5 PM
• Friday, March 20 — NCAA tourney Round of 64, 12-5 PM

Whether or not the Hokies make it to the Big Dance, these are two of the finest days in the sports calendar, and fully half of the action takes place during the workday. Tracking scores and brackets on the internet while your friends carouse in the local bar is no way to earn a living. Block your calendar NOW for the afternoons of March 19 and 20.

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Virginia Tech 2009 verbal commitment, http://www.techhoops.com/lamont-jones-guard-60-173-lbs-2009-verbal/, and his 37-0 Oak Hill team will take on 21-1 Montrose Christian tonight on ESPN2 at 7 PM.  Oak Hill is ranked #3 in the nation by USA Today while Montrose is #6.  The game will be played at Georgetown Prep.

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Petersburg High School led by VT 2009 signee Cadarian Raines captured the Virginia AAA Central Region title with a 68-58 win over John Marshall High School. 

Raines was a man-child in the contest, scoring 20 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and blocking seven shots.  Come on down, Cadarian!

Marshall was led by Travis McKie, a VT target and Top 100 recruit in the Class of 2010.  McKie scored 17 in the game.

Petersburg will play Hayfield in the state quarterfinals Friday night at the Siegel Center at 8:45 PM.

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Boxscore

Once again the Hokies were within reach of getting their NCAA Tournament ticket punched, only to have the ticket-taker drift away into the night and leave Tech empty handed.  VT now faces a must-win situation on Sunday at florida state.

The Hokies played uphill all game, trailing most of the contest — VT never led.  But VT cut the heel lead to one with 5:17 to play.  After that, unc went on a 10-0 run to go ahead 73-62 with 2:59 to play and the Hokies never got closer than five after that.  Remind anyone of the duke game and the final five minutes in that contest?

A.D. Vassallo, aka: Mr. 2nd-Half, had another stellar night in his final regular season game at Cassell.  A.D. scored 25 points, including 19 in the second half, and moved ahead of Ace Custis into 8th place on the VT all-time scoring list.  Jeff Allen had his sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds, but 14 of his points were in the first half.  He was the Hokie offense in the first stanza.  Malcolm Delaney added 19 points, but many of them were free throws in garbage time.  He was just 4/16 from the field including 1/7 on threes.  He is 6/28 in his last two games and just 1/13 from long range. 

The heels dominated the Hokies inside on offense.  They were able to score at will in the low post.  Tyler Hansbrough had 22 points while Deon Thompson and Ed Davis added eight each.  On the perimeter, Ty Lawson seemingly could score whenever he wanted to.  He was just too quick for any Hokie to guard.  Lawson poured in 22 points.  Wayne Ellington added 15, hit three big three-pointers in the first half.  He shot over the Hokies when he wanted to, especially Hank Thorns.

For the game, Tech held unc to just 41% shooting from the field and 32% on threes, but gave up 14 offensive rebounds. VT lost the turnover battle by three (11-8).  unc converted more of Tech’s turnovers into points, outscoring VT 15-4 on fast breaks and 18-8 on points off turnovers.  Tech just could not cash in on a couple of 3-on-1s, and missed two easy layups in the game (stop me if you’ve heard that before).

It was deja vu all over again for the Hokies in this contest.  For the fourth straight game Tech started slow and stared a significant deficit in the face by the first media timeout.  As has become the norm, the Hokies started slow from the field and trailed 12-6 at the first media timeout.  This was the fourth straight game the Hokies trailed by six or more at the first TV timeout and 13th time in 15 ACC games Tech has been behind at the first break.

The Hokies did battle back and got to within one in the first half.  But a Tyler Hansbrough three at the end of the half pushed the unc lead to six at the break.

Tech finished their home slate a disappointing 4-4 in ACC play.  The Hokies did play a very difficult home schedule, but Tech went just 1-4 against teams currently above .500 in ACC play.  They went 3-0 against the bottom three teams in the league.  bc is the only team above .500 that VT beat at home, and they sit at just 8-7 in the league right now and were 1-2 in ACC play when the Hokies defeated them.  If you want to make the Big Dance and want to compete for a bye in this league, you have to beat the teams in the upper half of the league at home on occasion.  The Hokies were unable to get that done this season.

Tech finishes the regular season on Sunday at 2 PM at florida state.  VT lost the first meeting, less than two weeks ago, 67-65 at the Cassell.

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THE SETUP

Note: Wednesday is Senior Night.  Please come out to Cassell and show some love for A.D. Vassallo and Cheick Diakite!

Spread: unc by 9.5

If unc was ranked #1, I’d have a lot of confidence coming into this game — Tech is 2-2 against #1′s under Greenberg, with one win over #1 unc in 2007 and a two-point loss to #1 unc in the ACC Tournament thanks to a Hansbrough shot with less than a second left.  But unc aren’t #1.  The heels are “only” #2. 

That aside, Tech obviously still has everything to gain in this game.  A win secures a VT finish of at least .500 in conference play for the fourth time in five ACC seasons, and may lock up an NCAA Tournament bid.  But unc is playing for a #1 seed in the Big Dance, and will want to avoid a slip-up heading into their game at home against duke this weekend.  So don’t expect the heels to coast through this one.  That said, Tech does have more on the line and should come out scratching and clawing, much like they did in the ACC Tournament, playing for their lives (which in some ways they are).  The Hokies cannot afford to wait until the ACC Tournament to make a statement this year.

Stats Six Pack:

• VT is 5-1 on Wednesdays this season including 3-1 in ACC play (the wins over #1 wake and #12 clemson were both on Wednesdays).  Tech is 3-0 at home on Wednesdays. 
• The Hokes are 4-1 against ACC teams that Tech only plays once this season (unc is the last team VT plays once), and 2-0 at home against those teams
• With a win, Tech will clinch their fourth winning record at home in ACC play in five seasons.  Tech has gone 6-2, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 in past seasons, and are 4-3 this year at the Cassell.
• Senior A.D. Vassallo will move into 8th place on the all-time VT scoring list with nine points in this game.  He currently sits eight points behind Ace Custis.
• Senior Cheick Diakite is 5th on the all-time shot block list at Tech with 123.
• This senior class has won 74 games to date.  That’s the most wins for a class since the 1997 seniors finished with 81 wins (that class included Ace Custis).

THE SERIES

• The Series: 12-57
• Since VT joined the ACC: 2-4
• At the Cassell: 1-2

Last Meeting: ACC Tournament Semis — unc 68, VT 66: Yeah, this one stung.  Tech lead most of the second half, but Hansbrough’s baseline jumper with .8 seconds left killed the Hokies’ NCAA Tournament hopes in the ACC Tournament Semi-Finals.  And this was after unc beat Tech by 39 in Chapel Hill a month earlier.

Virginia Tech

 unc

* We’ll have to wait and see if Hank Thorns is cleared to play in this game.  He had to sit the duke game after coming down with the flu on the clemson trip.  His playing status and playing time will depend on how tests go this week.  Since Lawson is just 5’11″, and lightning quick, Tech could use the speedy Thorns on defense.  And it would be nice to rest Delaney some and allow him to play off the ball.  You can be sure his 2/12 shooting performance against duke had a lot to do with tired legs and not running off screens (plus Elliot Williams is a big time defender in the making).

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With the excitement of March Madness also comes the sadness of knowing you will be seeing a couple of Virginia Tech players for the final time.  On Wednesday night, Tech will bid adieu to A.D. Vassallo and Cheick Diakite.  Let’s take a look at their careers here in Blacksburg.

A.D. VASSALLO

Angel Daniel Vassallo, the Puerto Rican Assassin, will go down in Virginia Tech basketball history as one of its best-ever pure scorers when he hangs up his burnt-orange and Chicago-maroon jersey for the final time.  Going into the unc game, he sits in ninth place on Tech’s all time scoring list with 1698 points.  A.D. will finish his career somewhere between fifth and eighth place on this list depending on how far VT advances in the ACC and NCAA/NIT Tournaments.  With 88 more points, he will pass his teammate of two seasons, Zabian Dowdell, and become the Hokies’ most prolific scorer of the past 20 years since Bimbo Coles.

A.D., I like to joke, came to VT as the “player to be named later” in the Tony Dobbins trade.  Tony played for the Hokies for one season under ricky stokes before deciding to transfer to richmond after the 1999-2000 season (Was it stokes or maybe he just really loved the A-10?).  Vassallo signed with richmond, but was denied admission.  The spiders’ loss was Tech’s gain, as A.D. has blossomed in his four years in Blacksburg.

Over A.D.’s four seasons, he has improved in almost every area each season.  He has improved each and every season in:

• Shooting percentage
• Rebounds per game
• Assists per game
• Blocks per game
• Steals per game
• Points per game

That’s an amazing trend.  No off seasons, no drop-off on offense.  His three-point percentage has gone down the last two years after shooting a blistering 41.5% his sophomore year, but that is understandable since he has been the focal point of the Hokies’ offense, and therefore, the focal point of opponents’ defense.  And he’s still shooting 38% from long range this year, along with his highest free throw percentage ever. Vassallo has developed a deadly runner off penetration in the last year or two and has learned to take the ball strong at the rack and flush it at times. He has improved off the dribble with each season and is no longer just a spot-up shooter.

A.D.’s performance his junior season was good enough to earn Second Team All-ACC Honors, and he will likely make the Second or Third Team this season. His 18.7 ppg is good for fifth in the conference and his 6.1 rpg place are 19th best in the ACC. In ACC games he is seventh in the conference in shooting percentage which is amazing for a perimeter player that shoots so many threes, and leads the conference in minutes per game. Ty Lawson and Gerald Henderson are the only other perimeter players ahead of him.

Vassallo is never going to win any defensive honors.  But he does help out in a big way on the glass.  A.D. is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game this season, good for second on the team.  He can always be counted on for big defensive rebounds. He averages 4.8 defensive rebounds per game this season, good for 10th in the ACC. Vassallo has collected five double-doubles (points/rebounds) in his career, with at least one each season.

Vassallo made the Puerto Rican National Team this past Summer and played for them in the Under-21 World Championships.  He averaged 8.6 ppg for Puerto Rico and the experience had to help him adjust to the new three-point line in college ball.

Greatest Game:

January 28th, 2006 – VT 76, @wake 70 – Yes, A.D. had 30 this year against wisconsin, including 24 second half points on 6/7 shooting from long range.  He had 29 in a win against uva in January of this season.  A.D. scored 15 straight points against duke this past Saturday.  But the wake game put Vassallo on the map his freshman year, and in a very difficult setting.  Tech traveled to Winston-Salem sitting at 0-6 in conference.  To add to their degree of difficulty, Deron Washington was suspended for this game and Coleman Collins was on leave dealing with his father’s tragic illness.  That left Tech with six scholarship players, so pretty much 0-7 was a done deal.  A.D. had not been seeing many minutes going into this game, after tapping a shot into his own basket to cost VT the bowling green game early in the season, but in this game he exploded.  A.D. hit 11/19 from the field, including four three-pointers, grabbed 10 rebounds, and willed Tech to victory.  Since that game, A.D. has always owned the deacons, averaging more than 20 points per game against them, his highest output against any ACC team.

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As it stands now, Virginia Tech sits in the eighth spot in the ACC.  They could finish anywhere between fourth and ninth.  Yes, they technically still could earn a bye based on some number crunching I did last night.  But that would involve a LOT of upsets and/or forfeitures this week, the biggest of which would be VT over unc on Wednesday night.

That said, more than likely the Hokies are going to be playing in the 8/9 game at noon on Thursday, March 12th.  The Georgia Dome should be about as crowded as a David Hasselhoff concert anywhere other than Germany.  Good thing I booked my flight for “Butt-Crack-of-Dawn” AM next Thursday so I won’t miss our game, even though my seats I believe are in Gwinnett, Georgia they are so far away.  At least Tech will have some experience with this after playing at 11 AM in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament in front of about a baker’s dozen rabid fans.  Although this will be inside a football stadium.

As it stands now, VT would play miami in the 8/9 game.  The canes are a game up on nc state, but the two play this weekend in miami.  The 9th spot may be on the line in that game.  So, Tech will likely play nc state or miami depending on how this week goes.  But, if VT can somehow pull out two wins this week, then things get interesting.  They could move well up in the standings.

In some ways, finishing 8th might be a good thing for VT.  It would mean they might get two shots at unc in the next 10 days (assuming unc wins the regular season title and the Hokies win their first round match-up which is by no means a given).  Winning either of those games would be huge for Tech’s NCAA Tournament chances.  Although, if VT beats unc this week, I’d probably rather get another crack at duke.

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The duke blue devils used their famous sixth man (seventh and eighth too for that matter) to escape Cassell Coliseum with a 72-65 victory over the Hokies on Saturday. And no, we’re not talking about anyone off the duke bench. This time it was the three man officiating crew of Gary Maxwell, Tony Greene and Bob Donato who decided to buy into this flop fest. Now, anyone who follows ACC basketball knows that duke gets more than their fair share of close calls – pretty much any call that could be perceived to go either way with the exception of maybe when they’re playing carolina. Sometimes however, this gets down right ridiculous.

Let’s make one thing clear, I’m not saying the Hokies lost the game because of the referees. No, the Hokies lost the game because they turned the ball over 19 times (while only forcing duke into 9 turnovers). They lost because they forgot that Gerald Henderson can’t go left but he can go right as well as anyone in the league. And they lost because they simply weren’t able to hit the big shots down the stretch when given the opportunity.

But, man, what an advantage it would be to know that any time a quicker, more athletic player drove past you and to the hole you were likely going to be bailed out by a charge call. Makes playing defense a lot easier. Or, it’d be great to have a guy like Kyle Singler be able to use not one but two hands to push off on his defender (like he did on A.D. with 1:23 to go) then cut wide open for an easy layup. And who could forget Jon Scheyer’s lovely pirouette as he was trapped in the back court with 0:14 seconds to go and the devils clinging to a three point lead – in which he lifted his pivot foot three times by my count. Nice to have that get overlooked.

Quick memo to whoever is planning the white outs and black outs in Cassell: Virginia Tech basketball is two hours of heart pounding excitement on its own. The Atlantic Coast Conference is the most competitive conference year in and year out. We don’t really need any other gimmicks. Not to mention they haven’t worked – loss to clemson in the black out and loss to duke in the white out. Our school colors are Chicago maroon and burnt orange. No black, no white. Orange and maroon effects work well in Lane Stadium for football, why not go with those in the Cassell for hoops as well?

Next up for the Hokies are the unc tar heels Wednesday night. If nothing else, the Hokies should at least be used to the questionable officiating mentioned earlier, because they’re going to see it again against the heels.

It’s Senior night for A.D. Vassallo and Cheick Diakite. Most considered big Cheick as nothing more than a project coming out of Bamako, Mali by way of prep school in Massachusetts. Diakite has become a valuable contributor with his defense and shot blocking abilities, and has shown the ability to hit a jumper out to about 15 feet.

Vassallo has transformed his game from that of simply a stand still shooter as a freshman to that of an all around, complete player. I used to cringe whenever A.D. would try to put the ball on the floor. Now, not only is A.D. a world class shooter, but he’s an adequate ball handler who can drive to the hoop, he’s got an array of nice floaters and jump hooks in the lane, and he’s become one of the team’s better rebounders. I think A.D. definitely has a chance to play in the NBA. Let’s hope A.D. can find the “zone” one last time in the Cassell Wednesday night and get that elusive 8th conference win at the hands of the top 5 heels. Plans for mid March could depend on it.

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Note: the Region Final has been pushed back to Wednesday night.

Virginia Tech 2009 signee Cadarian Raines scored 27 points on 12/14 from the field, added 10 rebounds, and swatted six Henrico shots.  To put it mildly, he was a beast.  Petersburg is now 28-0 and will play John Marshall in the Virginia AAA Central Region Final on Wednesday at the Siegel Center in Richmond.  Tickets are $7.

Cadarian should be able to fill in nicely in the low post next year for the Hokies.  He plays a similar style to Cheick Diakite, who is a senior this year, but Raines has more offensive game in the low post.  Cadarian is very aggressive near the rim on offense and defense, and should be a strong rebounder, something VT sorely needs.

Niemo is not looking forward to having to arm curl this guy next year…

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The pictures from Saturday’s Hokie Celebration are now up in TechHoops.com’s Flickr Site including the ones in this post, or you can see them at our Photo Gallery.  The photos from yesterday are in the first three rows.  Niemo added four new arm curl victims to his ever-growing list of current and former VT players that have been arm curled.  Here’s the list (new to yesterday in bold — all of these pictures are in Flickr):

• A.D. Vassallo
• Chris Tucker
• Coleman Collins
• Dorenzo Hudson
• Gene Swindle
• J.T. Thompson
• Jamon Gordon
• Jeff Allen
• Lewis Witcher
• Terrell Bell
• Victor Davila
• Zabian Dowdell

Cheick Diakite ducked out early, which broke the tradition of the departing seniors getting arm curled.  I believe that means six more weeks of Winter for Cheick.

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Slow starts are killing the Hokies right now.  Tech is having to fight uphill all game and that takes a lot out of a team.  In VT’s last eight games (dating back to the @bc game), the Hokies have trailed by at least seven points in the first half of all but one of those games — georgia tech.  They have trailed by double digits in four of those games in the first half.  Not surprisingly, Tech has lost five of those seven games in which they faced big first half deficits, while winning the georgia tech game easily.

Here’s the biggest first half deficits VT has had to try and overcome, along with the halftime difference.

Opponent – Biggest 1st Half Deficit/Halftime Deficit (Outcome)

• duke – 15/11 (Loss)
• @clemson – 7/3 (Win)
• fsu – 14/10 (Loss)
• @uva – 10/10 (Loss)
• @maryland – 8/5 (Loss)
• ga tech – (never trailed)/+10 (Win)
• nc state – 16/14 (Win)
• @bc – 8/2 (Loss)

Obviously something needs to be done to try and counter this.  How can VT be so bad for 5-8 minutes, then so good the rest of the game?  I’ve noticed during pre-game warm-ups a real lack of intensity.  I’m not saying other teams have much more fire in their pre-game, but they seem to be able to turn it on once the ball is tossed while VT hits the snooze button for 10 minutes. 

clemson was facing a similar situation and cranked up their pre-game drills.  They have subsequently gone 0-2 this week.  The risk is your guys are worn out at the end of games from expending extra effort before the game.  And the tigers did seem to wane as their game against the Hokies went on. 

If I knew the answer, I’d probably actually be a basketball coach instead of writing about it.  But something needs to be done to correct this, whether it be game situation drills before tip-off, opening up in the press to get the blood pumping, or different shooting drills (Tech seems to start out cold every game) with a hand in the face, hopefully this can get corrected and fast.

Other notes:

• A.D. Vassallo passed Wally Lancaster to move into 9th place on the all time Virginia Tech scoring list with 1698 points.  He will pass Ace Custis to move into 8th in the next game with his ninth point.
• A.D. Vassallo now has a double-double in all four of his years at VT with his 26 point, 10 rebound game.  He has five career double-doubles.  Only Jeff Allen (7) has a Hokie double-double this year other than A.D.
• Sad to see Delaney’s double-digit point streak end.  I was hoping to see that number get way up there.  wake’s Jeff Teague is now the only ACC player that has scored in double figures every game this season.
• Malcolm is definitely worn out right now, and was sore after the game.  But, when your shooting guards can’t handle the ball (Bell/Hudson/Vassallo – though A.D. is the best of these three), you can’t ever take Malcolm off the court.  Some of these guys need to really prioritize this offseason — dribble all over campus and shoot until their fingers melt.
• What a gutsy effort by J.T. Thompson.  He was questionable for the game, re-injured his knee during the game, and had an ice pack on his knee after the game, but still managed 13 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes.  He was a lion today.  J.T. took advantage of the refs swallowing their whistles at times and really banged around inside, which is what he does best.
• duke is so good on defense because of what they are allowed to do.  Watch their defenders away from the ball — they grab, grab, and grab some more.  It is practically sexual harassment.  BUT, once an opponent catches the ball, the grabbing stops.  Then they play sound help defense, without a lot of contact.  That is why they get away with it.  Once tournament play starts (ACC/NCAA), refs tend to call games tighter, including the off-ball grabbing, and that may be why duke has struggled in the Big Dance more of late.
• Speaking of defense, after allowing the boo devils to shoot 53% in the first half, Tech held duke to 31% shooting in the second half.  But while the first half was the Gerald Henderson show (17 first half points), the second half was the Kyle Singler movie (19 second half points).  Luckily, I don’t expect to see Henderson in blue (or black as they choose to wear on the road) next year.  This dude is more than NBA ready.  Freakish athleticism and a deadly fallaway jumper that it took Vince Carter years to add to his game.
• Missed one-and-ones continue to really hurt the Hokies.  While VT was an awesome 15/18 from the line against duke, making up for their futility against clemson, Witcher’s miss of a front end of a one-and-one with four minutes to go really hurt.  VT was down two at the time.  Getting back to a tie would have been huge, instead, duke pushed the lead out to four (two possessions) immediately after.
• Lastly, I hate to ever harp on officiating.  To me, it is the whine of the loser.  So all I can say is, I hope after Greenberg has been at VT for 20-something years, he gets the calls duke got in this game.  Consistency is all you can ask for, and that did not happen today.

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