Dorian Finney-Smith came to Virginia Tech as the school’s most heralded recruit since Dell Curry almost 30 years ago.  But his freshman season has been, to be blunt, a disappointment.  He’s missed 25 consecutive shots from the field over the last 6 games, and has scored just 12 total points in 8 games in 2012.  That said, I will NOT label him a bust or give up hope on him.  The simple fact is it is very difficult to make the adjustment from high school/AAU to the ACC.  The examples are endless.  Look at a guy like John “Beanpole” Henson for unc.  He arrived at Chapel Hill as a high 5-star recruit, but averaged just 5.7 ppg and 4.4 rpg on a team that finished under .500 in the league.  Now he’s in the top 10 in points and #1 in rebounds and blocks as a junior.

From Tech’s point of view, lots of guys that started off slow eventually became stars.  For example:

• Zabian Dowdell show under 38% from the field and just 30% on 3s his freshman year.
• Erick Green made just 2 shots between 1/31/10 and 3/24/10 his freshman year (and one of those shots he banked in fading away from 3-point range against uva).  The Winchester Rifle went just 2/33 over that span of 14 games and shot under 30% for the year.  Green is now shooting 47% from the field and 39% from deep this year.
• Jarell Eddie was a lousy outside shooter last year.  He missed 11 straight shots in one stretch and finished the season shooting under 37% overall and just 22% on 3-pointers.  You would have hardly guessed he’d turn into a sharpshooter that is hitting 46% of his 3-pointers this year.

My point is, for every Kevin Durant, or in Hokie history, Jeff Allen, there are lots of guys that struggle their freshman year.  A guy like Malcolm Delaney was allowed to develop his freshman year, actually coming off the bench the first half of the season.  Doe Doe was not afforded such a luxury and the spotlight was on him from day one.

Dorian has to work on some things to make the leap guys like Dowdell, Green, and Eddie did.  Here are my thoughts on what he needs to do:

1. Shoot, shoot, and shoot some more: He really needs to get in the gym and work on his shooting this offseason.  The team is trying to tweak his stroke, and he needs to perfect it this offseason.
2. Midrange game: I can’t think of more than 2 or 3 shots Doe Doe has made all season from 10-16 feet.  He simply has no midrange game.  He’s all 3-pointer or all drive, or offensive rebounds, but we haven’t even seen that lately.  JT Thompson could do nothing but grab offensive rebounds and power it up off the glass his freshman year.  He became a much better player when he developed a solid jumper from the baseline from 10-16 feet.  That forces teams to come out on you, and opens up penetration options (see Ryan Kelly for duke for that).
3. Dribbling: Doe Doe has one move right now when he’s on the perimeter — that’s go to his right and drive to the baseline.  He can’t break people down off the dribble right now.  He needs to be able to go right or left.
4. Strength: Dude needs to bulk up, too.  Piggybacking #3, when he does drive, defenders have no trouble muscling up to him and forcing him out of bounds and having to pass.  If he’s stronger, he can get to the rim and at least draw a foul.  Plus, he’ll be able to bang on the boards even more and get more putbacks.

Doe Doe is a solid rebounder.  Problem is he doesn’t have the strength to bang inside with ACC caliber post players.  And he’s a good defender when he’s not grabbing on screens.  The tools are there.  He just needs to elevate his offensive game, and that will come first and foremost from getting in the gym and shooting until the nets tear apart.

I believe he can become the high 4-star recruit we thought we were getting.  But it will take work.  Let’s hope he’s disappointed with this year, and puts the effort in to take the step forward that Dowdell, Green, and Eddie did with hard work.

Popularity: 5% [?]

2012 VT signee Montrezl Harrell dropped just over 2 quarters on Fishburne Military Academy Thursday night, scoring 51 points and adding 17 rebounds and 6 blocks in a 122-119 overtime win for the Hargrave Military Academy Postgrad team (ARTICLE about the game). The win propelled Hargrave to 28-0 on the season.

You can see all of Montrezl’s stats on his PERSONAL PAGE (LINK).

Harrell is averaging over 22 ppg and just under 10 rebounds on the season.  He will no doubt provide a post presence for the Hokies next year, bringing a similar style as Cadarian Raines into the paint, but with slightly more offensive skills in the post compared to Raines at the same age.

Popularity: 7% [?]

The Hokies lose their 4th straight at home for the first time in the Seth Greenberg era and fall to 1-6 in ACC play, falling 75-60 to duke.

Popularity: 4% [?]

1. 0/4 at the Cassell: Tech has lost 4 straight at home for the first time under Coach Greenberg
2. Tech is now 0-3 in ACC play at home. In their 7 previous ACC seasons, Tech had 2 losses or less 5 times. In other words, with 5 home games to go, Tech has more ACC home losses than in all but 2 seasons.
3. Dorian Finney-Smith has missed 25 consecutive shots. That’s right, 0/25. He hasn’t made a field goal in his last 6 games.
4. VT’s 1-6 start ties the 2005-06 team for the worst ACC start in team history. That team won their next game, so VT can at best equal their low of 2-6 at the halfway mark.
5. If you bet $1000 against Tech each game so far in 2012, you’d be +$6000 (Tech is 1-7 overall and 1-7 against the spread).
6. The Hokies have been held to 60 points or less in 5 of 7 ACC games this year.
7. Tech hasn’t reached 70 points in 2012.
8. VT hasn’t won a game that I have NOT been wearing a pint uva hat at.

SCORES AT THE MEDIA TIMEOUTS:

1st:

• Under-16: duke 7-4
• U12: duke 14-10
• U8: duke 21-19
• U4: duke 34-25

HALF: duke 38-28

2nd:

• U16: duke 51-38
• U12: duke 62-40
• U8: duke 66-51
• U4: duke 70-61

FINAL: duke 75-60

Popularity: 9% [?]

Well, this should stop a lot of the speculation, barring something more drastic happening (players leaving, a 2-14 ACC record, etc.).  Athletic Director Jim Weaver states in this ROANOKE TIMES ARTICLE that Head Coach Seth Greenberg will be back for at least one more season.

Personally, I’ve come more and more in this direction, even as the losses continue to pile up.  I was foolish for thinking we’d be a NCAA team this year.  The simple fact is when you have a lot of youth, and depend on youth, you are in big trouble.  I used to base my ACC predictions solely on experience (and production of that experience) with a high degree of accuracy.  I even started out this season on that path, not talking about the NCAA Tournament or RPI.  For some reason, I bought into our 11-3 start and forgot my learnings.  So, that was a long-winded way of saying I’ll give Seth a pass on this season based on our youth.  He has done a lot.  But I’ll state very firmly that if we don’t make the NCAA Touranment next year, with added experience and Green’s senior year, I’ll want a change.  Period.  No excuses.

In another note, this article has some nice data on ticket sales and season tickets.  Definitely worth checking out for that, too.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Spread: duke by 4.5 (seriously, Vegas seems to have a lofty opinion of us… yet we are 1-6 against the spread in 2012).

It’s two previews for the price of one!  Double your pleasure!  (“Normally you pay extra for that, Cotton.” – Dodgeball)  Since the Hokies play two full games in less than 48 hours, I figured kill two previews with one post.  Each year each ACC team plays a back-to-back in approximately 48 hours (the Short Turnaround Sequence, as I call it).  This year, the Hokies have to do it twice (again in mid-February).  Yep, our schedule keeps getting better and better (sarcasm).  At least both of these games are at home.  In fact, Saturdays game against clemson is Virginia Tech’s first weekend ACC home game.  That’s right, we didn’t get a weekend home game until February (see my note above about our schedule).

The Hokies have actually been dominant in the back end of their ACC Short Turnarounds.  While Tech is just 3-4 in the first game (3 of which have been against duke), VT is 6-1 in the second game of a Short Turnaround.  Keep in mind their opponent usually doesn’t have the same turnaround.  That tells you the Hokies have been able to quickly recover and focus on the back end.  I also think the short turnaround boosts your shooting — you tend to get into the flow of the game more quickly since you played so recently.

So what does this all mean?  I’m not predicting anything in the duke game, but I fully expect to see the Hokies beat clemson on Saturday and push their record to 7-1 in these ‘doubleheaders’, so to speak.  Oh, by the way, Hokie Guru has GUARANTEED A WIN OVER duke!  No, he hasn’t promised to wear pink uva stuff if we lose.   And no, he hasn’t gone crazy (at least any more so than usual — just messin’ with ya).

While I will not guarantee a win, this duke team is beatable… and yes, by the Hokies.  They are mostly roll players, not stars.  Granted, they are very good roll players, some of which are McDonald’s All-Americans, but they are simply not as talented as in past years.  Yes, they are #5 in the country, but ohio state blew them out by 22 at osu, and temple won by 5 over the blue devils at temple.  duke struggled at clemson, although they did pull away at maryland late in the game last week.  Still, we all know the Hokies can take down a highly ranked duke team in the Cassell, we’ve done it twice:

• 2/26/11 – VT 64, #1 duke 60 – HIGHLIGHTS
• 2/17/05 – VT 67, #7 duke 65 (maybe my favorite win of all time after losing by 35 at duke a month earlier)

The question is, can the Hokies slow down the duke attack and keep pace with them on the scoreboard?  We shall see.  To beat a dead horse, the key is getting off to a decent start.  Since the Hokies will no doubt be juiced playing the #5 blue devils, we might see the level of energy we’d like to have seen all year, and that could help at the get-go.

clemson simply isn’t that good.  Yes, they are 3-3 and we are 1-5, but I’m telling you, they aren’t that good (yes, I realize neither are we… but we are at home and we are NOT falling to 1-7).  c-l-e-m-s-ohhhhh-n is just 11-9 on the season overall.  They also lost by 2 at bc, so they have the same black eye VT does.  They have lost 3 games to teams from south carolina — the gamecocks, of course, but also college of charleston and coastal carolina (the latter two were at home).  They also lost to utep and hawaii.  In the ACC, two of their wins are over wake and georgia tech, both at home against ACC bottom-feeders.  The one good win they have is a 20-point win over fsu in their ACC opener.  Yep, you read that right, they blew out fsu by 20.  And it wasn’t even that close — it was 32-10 with 6 minutes to go in the first half… but that was apparently before the noles figured things out.

Update: I watched clemson lose to uva by 4 on Tuesday night, and I’ve seen them play several times this year now.  They just don’t impress me offensively.  They don’t have good jumpshooters other than Smith.  Young shoots for a decent percentage but he’s so short he has to be wide open.  The game itself was very similar to the VT @ uva game — clemson led by 4 at the half just like the Hokies, only scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes of the 2nd half just like the Hokies, but couldn’t contain Mike Scott or Joe Harris like VT did.  The tigers battled back but still lost.  But they can pressure the ball out by half court and that could give the Hokies fits (especially Rankin).  clemson gets 3 days of rest before  facing VT.

Did you know… VT was favored on Saturday at maryland?  In fact, Tech has been favored in every game but the unc and uva games this year.

THE SERIES:

vs duke -

• All Time: duke 37-8
• At VT: duke 8-6
• In ACC Play: duke 8-3
• At VT in ACC Play: duke 3-2
• Last Year: VT won at VT, duke won in the ACC Tournament Semi-Finals

vs c-l-e-m-s-ohhh-n -

• All Time: VT 12-11
• At VT: VT 7-5
• In ACC Play: clemson 6-4
• At VT in ACC Play: clemson 3-2
• VT’s first ACC win game on 1/15/05 against clemson at the Cassell (59-57)
• Last Year: clemson won 69-60 at clemson in the ACC regular season finale, locking up the #4 seed for clemson and dropping VT to the #6 seed.

STARTERS:

*6’9″ Milton Jennings had started up until the uva game Tuesday.  He has been suspended for academic reasons and is doubtful for Saturday.  He was averaging 8.9 ppg and was good in transition, though he’s a lousy shot like most of the tigers.

My quick breakdown of the teams:

duke:

• Rivers is no Irving.  The son of Doc is a good slasher and a solid 3-point shooter (38%), but he can’t pick you apart like Irving could and isn’t as good of a passer.  He averages more turnovers than assists.  He’s averaged less than 8 ppg in 3 ACC road games.
• Kelly isn’t as soft as in past years.  Still, he’s a 6’11″ guy that can burn you from the outside.  But he’s getting to the line a lot more this year than in past years.  He can kill you with the shot-fake, and drive to the hoop.  And he is a solid rebounder on the offensive end, using his height (and ACC officials have NOT been calling over the back this year).
• Mason Plumlee is a beast inside.  But he is AWFUL from the foul line.  He makes Shaq look like Reggie Miller.  He went 2/11 from the line in one game, and 2/10 in another.  He hits 62% from the field and 48% from the line… so foul him (“Thumb a Plum”???)
• Curry likely wants to avenge the goose egg he posted in Blacksburg last year with his father, VT legend Dell Curry watching.  He did have 10 against the Hokies in the ACC Tourney, but can he step up in the arena where his dad’s jersey hangs?
• Dawkins is a lot like Moseley was for maryland.
• Bench: Miles Plumlee, Thornton, Cook, and Hairston provide minutes off the bench, but none of them are spectacular.  Thornton is good defensively and can drill 3-pointers when open, Miles is soft, Cook is learning how to play in the ACC, and Hairston just provides depth inside.

clemson:

• Milton Jennings, the former 5-star recruit and current huge bust, has been suspended for academic reasons.  Don’t expect him to play Saturday.  He missed the uva game.
• Young is what you expect/want from a 5-9 guy – loves to bomb treys (36%, 45 makes) and can really drive and dish (he has an almost 3-to-1 assist to turnover ratio… that’s awesome).
• Smith is a solid outside shooter who has really developed his mid-range game.
• Booker is no Booker… as in even though Devin’s improved over the years, he just even close to the talent Trevor (with the Wizards, I believe) is/was.
• Narcisse is JT Thompson without the talent.  High energy, and that’s it.
• Hall and Sapp are freshmen guards in the ACC, which means lots of mistakes and learning on the job.
• Yes, they do have a 7-footer like every other VT opponent (he’s actually 7’2″).  Catalin Baciu averages 4 points and 2 rebounds in 10 minutes… oh, and he isn’t much of a shot-blocker.
• clemson has a veteran lineup but they simply aren’t that talented.  They have the type of veterans where you hope your stud recruits take over for them… but the tigers don’t really have any big recruits in the last few classes.  Their only 4-star from the past 2 years is freshman Bernard Sullivan, who averages 1.3 ppg.  Jennings was a 5-star and Booker a 4-star, both of which appear to be a joke (especially with Jennings).  This is a team that way overachieved last year and is coming back to reality this year.

STATS:

Note: these stats are for ACC games ONLY.

The ACC quit showing a lot of the stats they used to show, so that’s why this is a bit leaner than in the past.  Not sure why they changed it mid-season.

MY THOUGHTS ON duke:

Take the biggest nerd from your school, then from 4,999 other schools, and you have duke.  I’m still waiting for Fox to produce a reality show where they take a florida state frat and move them to duke for a semester and let them run wild.  Those nerds wouldn’t leave their dorm rooms for three months.

MY THOUGHTS ON clemson:

They beat us in the ACC Championship Game in football back in December.  They beat us in our ACC regular season finale last basketball season, effectively driving a stake into our NCAA Tournament hearts.  I saw it is time to exact some revenge.  Who’s with me?!

Popularity: 11% [?]

TechHoops.com just recently celebrated its 5th anniversary.  This site was launched back in January of 2007 after the Hokies took down #1 unc.  We realized there just wasn’t a lot of coverage related to Hokie hoops, and decided to try and change that (Davey likes to take credit for the idea but I’m pretty sure it was the Wick’s brain-child). Hopefully we’ve accomplished our goal of giving you the Hokie bball info you crave, at least to a degree.  And while three of the people in the pic below no longer do jack squat for this site (and another isn’t pictured), they did help us get off the ground, and we later added Sir Cope to the team (pictured 2nd from the left).  Will we have 5 more birthdays?  Will my back hold up, allowing me to continue to arm-curl the team?  Will I ever lose to a woman in bar room arm wrestling?  We shall see.  But here’s to a fun and wild 5 years to date.  BRRRRAHHHHH!

Popularity: 10% [?]

I thought I’d pull together some data on our slow starts, comparing 1st and 2nd halves.  I looked at a few stats:

• Points by half (the 2nd and 3rd column)
• Field Goals by half (made/attempted/percentage for the 1st and 2nd)
• Free Throw attempts by half

So what does this tell us?

• Teams do normally score more in the 2nd half than the first, so that’s not a surprise.  There is a greater sense of urgency in the 2nd half since that’s it, so you will foul quickly and call timeouts, leading to extra possessions.  But the 10 point difference is a concern…
• The bigger concern is 25 points on average in first halves.  Tech has surpassed 27 points just once (and that was against unc, of all teams).  So the Hokies are averaging just 1.25 points per minute in first halves.  And that’s a 50 point pace (though, as I said, you tend to average more in the 2nd half anyway).  That’s pathetic.
• The Hokies are shooting just 32% in first halves… hence the 25 point average.  VT is 14/56 (25%) on FGs in the last two games in the first half.  That’s pathetic.
• Tech is shooting 46% in 2nd halves.  If the Hokies were shooting 46% for games, they’d be 6-1 this calendar year, instead of 1-6.  The Hokies have shot for a higher percentage in the 2nd half in all but two games (we stunk in both halves against bc).
• The Hokies are averaging 3 more free throws per game in the 2nd half than the 1st.  You can see Tech’s attempted more FTs in the 2nd half in all but one game.  But I’d have actually guessed there’d be a bigger difference.  Often FTAs are higher in the 2nd because you get fouled at the end of games if you are ahead.  That is NOT the case with VT, since Tech has attempted only 1 free throw in 2012 as a result of a team fouling us from behind (the attempt with 1 second left against uva).  I do feel Tech is more aggressive in the 2nd half, driving to the hoop more, but this stat isn’t as big of a difference as I thought it would be.

SUMMARY: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein.

We see the same thing in first halves game after game – the same pass-motion offense around the perimeter, resulting in rushed shots at the end of the shot clock.  Resulting in a lot of misses.  Resulting in a low FG% for the half.  Resulting in a deficit.  Let’s get crazy!  Let’s try something different.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Blue Collar asked why we always seem to start slow in games, which I agree we do, and I have a few ideas/theories why that I’ll present here.

Before I get to that, I’d like to announce the launching of cougarHoops.com. Geez, those guys must be starved for info and highlights. I’ve gotten more responses on the byu/VT video than any before. I haven’t received that much attention from cougars since the last time I went to 80s night at an Arlington bar.

Anyway, here’s my thoughts on the slow starts:

A) Energy: When you go to the ACC Tournament you get to see how other teams prepare. Teams like unc and duke always sprint on and off the court in warm-ups, every single time. Our guys stroll. Yes, they jog out for the smoke right before introductions, but they walk every other time. As a result, I’m not sure we have a sweat going when a game starts. We are still getting loose and in the flow.

Against unc we came out of the gates hot and I bet thats because our intensity was up for the heels. While you simply can’t get up for every game like that, you can get the blood pumping more in the pregame. I like our swagger, but at times it seems like indifference.
2) No Offensive Identity: What is our offense? What is our gameplan? What do we do? I cannot tell you and I doubt anyone other than Seth could either (although I wouldn’t buy into what he said on this matter anyway).

My sources tell me we spend a lot of time on defense in practices. A lot! And you see the results – we are a very good defensive team year after year, and that’s been with guards that aren’t good on-ball defenders (since Gordon/Dowdell). We aren’t slow starters on defense.

The offense is another story. Game after game we start out passive, feeling out the other team, passing the ball around the perimeter.

What I’d like to see, and other teams do, is form a real identity. That means running sets right off the bat. When we had Jeff Allen, we should have made it a point to feed him early to get him involved. We could do the same with Davila. We should have our shooters running the baseline, rubbing off screens. We should run high pick and rolls (we do this but we are too hesitant to feed the rolling screener). And with guys like Green, Brown, and Hudson, we should be pushing the ball right out of the gate. Green is a great penetrator in transition and can finish. Hudson is good on the run at finishing. And Brown has a sweet runner. Eddie would be a fantastic trail man, setting up for a kick out for a 3. And running would have to help a guy like Doe Doe.

In the half court, Eddie can be a threat with the ball. Teams fear his outside shot so they are out tight on him. When he then drove inside the arc, it forced the D to react and led to a couple of good looks for Davila. And when we attacked in games (usually not until the 2nd half), we get to the line a lot which is a positive since we shoot free throws well. I’m sure our free throw attempts are way higher in 2nd halves, and not just because teams are fouling at the end, but because we come out with a point of being aggressive. That should be our attitude from the get-go.

Point is, we have to establish something, and I don’t see it. The result is a stagnant offense to start game after game, holding the ball until the shot clock runs down and forcing a 3 or a tough runner. Also, our teams seem afraid to try and ever force passes inside. Every now and then you have to take chances to get a layup instead of settling for jumpers.

iii) Well, I think #2 covered most of it. Something we could do on the defensive end to help our O is use that full court press a bit early. I’m not saying 40 minutes of hell, but employ it after a few makes early (if we actually make a shot) to try and create transition opportunities. Or simply pushing the ball after the opponent scores with a quick inbounds with EG already headed up-court.

Let’s hear your thoughts.

Oh, I was kidding about cougarHoops, don’t get your hopes up, non-Turkey drinkers.

Popularity: 14% [?]

The Hokies head to the Communist Center on Saturday to take on the maryland terrapins.  This marks the fourth straight weekend Tech has been on the road to open ACC play (total BS… that would never happen to unc or duke).  We’ll see if the Hokies can build off of their road win Sunday at uva and get the ball rolling as they close out the season with 11 straight ACC games.  And the Hokies are getting the terps at the right time — Wednesday night maryland lost to their big rival, duke (as if duke cares about them), while naming the court for former coach Gary Williams.  They had a packed house and shot their wad.  They will not have a packed house, or that level of energy, on Saturday after dropping their third straight game.

But there’s no reason to fear these turtles, their talent has dropped off quite a bit.  That said, the Hokies cannot take anyone for granted, and maryland has exceeded my expectations, largely due to new Head Coach Mark Turgeon.  Turgeon is really solid — he was 20+ games all four years he was at texas a&m before this, and won 20+ three of the final four years he was at wichita state before that.  He led the aggies to the NCAA Tournament all four years in College Station.

maryland is led by sophomore guard Terell Stoglin, the ACC’s leading scorer at 20.9 ppg.  And there’s been no drop-off for him in ACC play, he’s averaging 20.4 ppg in their five ACC tilts.  Stoglin shredded the Tech defense in the meeting in Blacksburg last year, scoring 25 points on 7/12 FGs and 10/10 FTs.  He regularly blew by the Hokie defense who either had to grab and foul him, or let him go for layups.  Stoglin is more versatile this year, becoming a deadly 3-point shooter.  He’s shooting 40% from deep with 2.5 makes per game (2nd best in the ACC).

The terps recently added Alex Len, the 7’1″ Ukraine train.  He had to wait until the end of the semester to play but has averaged over 7 ppg since.  He missed the temple game and only played 12 minutes against duke on Wednesday, so we’ll see how hard and long he can go.  We all know how 7-footers give the Hokies fits, so this will be key.  Len is good in the post and has a solid midrange game.  He’ll drift out and shoot from midrange at times.  He’s hitting 62% of his FGs, so you know he’s got a nice stroke and has good post moves.

Other than that, the terps have no one else that concerns me.  Sean Mosley is a veteran who averages 10 ppg and 5 rpg, but doesn’t scare you.  He can be invisible for entire games.  He has improved his 3-point shooting and hits 42%, but doesn’t attempt a ton.

James Padgett would be a role player if they had more depth inside, but instead is forced to play a lot.  He averages 9 ppg and 6 rpg.

Pe’Shon Howard reminds me of a Terrell Bell — he’s out there for his defense.  But while Bell became a decent outside shooter, Howard hits just 24% from deep.

Nick Faust was their top recruit, but dude is struggling (I know we feel their pain).  He’s shooting just 32% from the field, 54% from the line, and 20% from behind the arc.

With all that, I’d say Turgeon has squeezed every drop from these guys to get to 12-7.  They are a middle of the pack ACC team at best, and Turgeon has them playing well.

For the Hokies, let’s hope Erick Green continues his dominance of the terps.  EG dropped 24 points on 12/16 shooting at maryland last year (he’s sort of from the area so no doubt gets hyped with the extra family and friends).  That helped EG snag ACC Player of the Week.  Green followed that act with 20 points in the game in Blacksburg.

Dorenzo Hudson has scored 42 points off the bench in three games, and he’ll need to give a similar spark Saturday.  It did not work well when Zo had to play the point Wednesday with Rankin out and Green in foul trouble, so let’s hope Marquis is back to spell Green at times and allow Hudson to work off the ball.

The big key is can Dorian Finney-Smith get going.  While he’s still working very hard, diving for loose balls as he did at the end of the uva game and getting steals as he did against byu, it seems like the other team has a power play when he’s on the offensive end.  Since the start of 2012, Doe Doe has made a field goal in just ONE game.  He was 4/9 against florida state, but 0/19 in the other 5 games.  He’s tallied just 11 points this calendar year.  The Hokies have to find a way to get him going.  The problem has been he hasn’t been able to get the offensive rebounds and put-backs he was getting earlier in the year against smaller post players, and he really only has one move to the basket… drive with his right hand straight at the baseline, get forced deep, and have to huck it to the left corner while falling out of bounds.  And his 3-point shot has disappeared.  We know he can do it, it is just about getting confidence.

Another key freshman, Robert Brown, is also hitting the wall it seems.  In 2012, he’s hit just 14/45 FGs (31%), 5/23 3s (22%), and most disappointing, he’s just 4/9 from the free throw line.

The great sign of late has been Jarell Eddie.  JE has 20 points and 24 rebounds in the last two games, including his first career double-double against byu (12/14).

HO-KEYS TO WINNING:

• Suck the air out: Like I said, Wednesday was an emotional game for maryland, this won’t be.  If the Hokies can get up early like they did last year, they’ll take the crowd out of it… I’ll believe it when I see it as Tech has really struggled in the first half in every game this year on offense except for the unc game.
• Stifle Stoglin: Stoglin is the only guy you really fear.  If Rankin is back, he can give you a few minutes on him.  But it is going to largely be up to Green, Brown, and Hudson to get out on him on the perimeter, and the other defenders to rotate and help.  He’s their scariest player so do what you can to limit him.
• Push it real good: maryland is not a good defensive team.  They can be beaten in transition and they get lost on picks.  If Tech actually runs some picks, they will have guys open on backdoors or pick and rolls.  But we’ll see if VT does this, or just passes around the perimeter.  The Hokies also need to drive at the tin early.  They get teams in foul trouble and get to the line when they are aggressive.  Don’t settle for 3s.

THE SERIES:

• All Time: maryland 27-10
• At maryland: md 16-4
• In ACC Play: VT 6-4
• At maryland in ACC Play: maryland 3-2

VT swept the twerps last year:

• 2.16.11 @ VT: VT 91, md 83 (Recap)  |  Highlights
• 1.21.11 @md: VT 74, md 57 (Recap)  |  Highlights

STARTERS:

*Alex Len will start if he’s healthy.  He missed the temple game and only played 12 minutes against duke while working back from an ankle injury.  Len would start over Pankey if that’s the case.

maryland, like VT, has a highly touted freshman who is struggling.  Nick Faust is averaging 7.2 ppg, but hitting just 32% of his FGs, 20% of his 3s, and 54% of his FTs.

STATS:

Note: these stats are for ACC games ONLY (5 for both teams).

What these stats tell me is maryland is awful at transition defense.  Teams shoot low 3-point % against them, but a very high percentage inside the arc.  That has to mean transition points, and poor post defense.  They also don’t have many steals which means they aren’t taking away what you want to do in the half court (not sure what that is for VT).

Neither team is very strong at rebounding, and if Len doesn’t play big minutes the terps don’t have a height advantage on VT.

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The Hokies fall to 1-5 in 2012.  Here are your highlights from the loss Wednesday night at the Cassell (Tech’s 3rd straight loss at home)…

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Boxscore

Wow, what a rollercoaster game that was. The Hokies started the game 0/16 from field, falling behind by 12 early, battled back to go up 6 in the 2nd half, fell behind by 4 with 20 seconds left, but still had an Erick Green shot at the end to tie the game (blocked) and a 3-pointer by Robert Brown to win it at the buzzer (off the mark). Virginia Tech falls to 1-5 in 2012, with four of those losses by 4 points or less, and in three of which Tech had a shot to tie or win in the final 10 seconds.

This marks Tech’s third straight loss at home, the first time that’s happened since 2008-09 when VT lost to fsu, duke, and unc in a row late in the season.

The story of the game was free throw shooting. In a tightly called game, which this was, you have to make your FTs. Tech was the better team coming in, and were at home, but byu just could not miss. They finished 21/24 (88%) from the line, while VT went 15/23 (65%). There’s your difference. Davies and Hartsock were a combined 18/20 from the line, and those are their bigs!

This game started out uglier than a Proactiv before video. I mentioned the Hokies started 0-16 from the field. byu wasn’t doing much better, starting 2/10. But as they got going the Hokies kept missing. Tech did not make their 1st field goal until the 10:20 mark of the 1st half. VT trailed 13-1 before that make.

Virginia Tech did improve after that, hitting 8/15 the rest of the half. Tech used a 9-0 to turn a 15-3 deficit into a manageable 15-12 margin with 6:40 left in the 1st half. VT fell back behind by 10 at 27-17 but back-to-back 3-pointers by Eddie and Hudson got the Hokies within 2. byu went into the half up 29-25.

The Hokies were already thin at guard with Marquis Rankin out with an illness. That further became an issue when Erick Green picked up his 3rd foul with 4:39 left in the half. Dorenzo was forced to play point and committed a couple of turnovers, leading to 9 first half giveaways for Tech. Green had 0 points at the half while Brandon Davies had 12 on 8/8 FTs for byu.

Tech exploded offensively in the second half, attacking the rim. They were in the double bonus by the halfway mark of the half. Tech shot 64% for the 2nd half and jumped to a 45-39 lead with Davies on the bench with 4 fouls for the cougars.

But Noah Hartsock, byu’s leading scorer, took over the game. He scored 16 2nd half points (22 overall to lead byu) and was just dominate in getting byu back in the game. The cougars went on an 11-0 run with Davies on the bench to turn that 45-39 deficit into a 50-45 lead.

The Hokies battled back to tie the game at 55 on a Zo jumper. The teams would trade baskets after that for a while. VT went ahead 59-57 with 4:20 to play on a Green layup, but byu seemed to control the game after that.

The shot of the game was a 3-pointer by Brock Zylstra with 26 seconds left to break a 66-66 tie. It was Brock’s only points of the game.

Hudson turned the ball over with 20 seconds left and Anson Winder put byu up 4 with 15 seconds to go. Green easily drove and scored with 11 seconds to go to make it 70-68 cougars. Tech forced a turnover on the inbounds (it actually went off VT but we were due a call). That gave the Hokies the ball out of bounds with 10 seconds to go. VT launched a pass into the backcourt that was nearly picked off. Green ran it up court, drove inside, had his layup blocked, gathered the loose ball, kicked it to Eddie in the corner, but he was off balance so he threw it to Robert Brown at the left wing. Brown had a good look, but he was fading away slightly and was out at NBA range. The shot clanked off the rim and Tech had another devastating defeat.

Hudson paced the Hokies again, with 14 points off the bench. Davila and Eddie each had 12, while Erick Green scored 11 extending his double-digit point streak to 21.

byu had 22 by Hartsock and 17 by Davies (their two main low post players). VT just could not handle their bigs inside. byu started 1/14 from behind the arc (just like uva), but unlike the hoos, they hit 4/9 down the stretch and that helped them win.

Tech, who had 10 offensive rebounds in the 1st half, had just 1 in the 2nd.

Not to pick on Dorian Finney-Smith, but Doe Doe put up another no no. The kid went 0/8 from the field tonight, including a missed dunk. Here are his numbers in 2012:

• wake – 0 (0/1)
• fsu – 9 (4/9)
• bc – 0 (0/4)
• unc – 2 (0/5)
• uva – 0 (0/1)
• byu – 0 (0/8)
• That’s 11 points in 6 games, going 4/28 from the field.

But hats off to Jarell Eddie – he grabbed a career high 14 rebounds to go with his 12 points, his first career double-double. He now has 20 points and 24 rebounds in the last two games.

Well, congrats to all you cougar fans out there. Have a victory Scotch on me… Well, go enjoy whatever it is you do.

Tech heads to maryland for their fourth straight ACC weekend road game (total BS!) on Saturday afternoon.

SCORES AT THE MEDIA TIMEOUTS:

1st Half:

• Under 16: byu 4-0
• U12: byu 11-1
• U8: byu 15-8
• U4: byu 23-15

HALF: byu 29-25

2nd half:

• U16: byu 34-33
• U12: VT 43-39
• U8: byu 50-47
• U4: Tied at 62

Popularity: 17% [?]

For those of you interested in the progress of next year’s two signees, here is an update:

Montrezl Harrell (Link to his page):

• I’ve updated his stats from all of the 23 Hargrave post-grad games this year (check the Game Notes section).
• Averaging 21.4 ppg and 9.6 rebounds.
• Recently had 31 points, 12 rebounds, and 6 blocks against Rise Academy.
• Has led his team in scoring in 12 of the 23 games.
• The team is 23-0.

Marshall Wood (Link to his page):

• I’ve updated his stats from all 14 of the Rustburg Red Devils’ games this year (check the Game Notes section).
• Averaging 24.4 ppg, 12.3 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game.
• Had a triple-double (21 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 blocks) against Glass back in December.
• Exploded for 49 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks in a win over Liberty (Bedford) in mid-December.  He hit 7/8 3-pointers in that game.
• Led his team to a Holiday Tournament championship in late December and made the All-Tourney Team.
• Has led his team in scoring in all but one game.
• The Red Devils (AA) are 10-4.

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Spread: VT by 2.

The Hokies go on a cougar hunt Wednesday night in the Cassell, hoping to knock off the byu cougars in Tech’s final out of conference game of the regular season.  Tech is 11-3 away from the ACC, and had won six in a row to close out 2011.

byu is coming off a 32-5 season that saw them make the Sweet 16, losing to florida in overtime.  But All-American Jimmer Fredette, who was open from the time he walked in the arena, is gone, averaging 7.6 ppg for Sacramento in the NBA.  Their second leading scorer, Jackson Emery, is also gone.

This year 6’8″ senior Noah Hartsock has really stepped up his game, up from 8.5 ppg last year to 17.5 this year.  He’s shooting 58% from the field and can tear it up down low, or with a nice midrange shot.  Brandon Davies (their third leading scorer last year), Matt Carlino (their PG and leading assist man this year), and Charles Abouo all average between 11.5 and 14.1 ppg.  The final starter, wing Brock Zlystra, averages 9.0.  They score a lot and will push the ball, averaging 80 ppg.  But they don’t get much off their bench, especially with Stephen Rogers battling injuries.  They also shoot a lot of 3-pointers, averaging 7.4 makes per game.  They have eight players that average more than one 3-point attempt per game (VT has just five with more than nine attempts).  Let’s hope they come out uva-cold from deep.

byu, as always, has good size (see below for more on that).  The Hokies will have to battle on the boards.  Tech’s allowed 32 offensive rebounds in their last two games while grabbing just 15 themselves.  byu has not been a great offensive rebounding team this year, despite their size.  But they are in the top 10 in the nation at defensive rebounding, so the Hokies have their work cut out for them trying to get second chances.

Neither team has a big time win this season.  Both teams are 0-for against top 50 RPI teams* (VT is 0-5, byu is 0-3).  But both teams are undefeated against teams ranked 51-100.  (VT 3-0, byu 4-0).  Well, guess what – both teams are ranked between 51-100 (VT at 68, byu at 56).  So something has gotta give there.

*VT’s win over uva knocked the hoos out of the top 50 in the RPI.

SERIES: First ever meeting

STARTERS:

The cougars always have great size… think about it, who are they competing with?  For members of the LDS Church, the answer is no one.  So they get the best and biggest Mormon players in the land and world.

STATS:

BORING FACTS ABOUT brigham young:

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You gotta love hating the hoos… during one timeout at the game Sunday, they had a contest where students competed by naming celebrities/famous cavaliers as they flashed their pictures on the Jumbotron.  The female student couldn’t identify Mike London, their head football coach.  Classic.  I guess uva football still has a ways to go, and we all know so do their students.

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Just like in football, the Hokies head up the road to uva and take down the cavaliers, winning 47-45 to pick up Tech’s first ACC win of the season and first win of 2012.  Here are the highlights with commentary from yours truly (minus the pink hat and homemade shirt)…

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