Not trying to toot my own horn (especially because I wasn’t that accurate – I picked unc to finish 2nd), but before the season I predicted unc and georgia tech wouldn’t live up to their lofty expectations. Why? They were too dependent on freshmen, many of which don’t really contribute until their second or third years, if ever (e.g. Woods and Walker of wake).
The teams that are at top all have experience galore. Take a look at the ACC standings:
duke – returned 4 of their top 5 scorers from last season, all of which are juniors or seniors.
VT – also returned 4 of their top 5 scorers, all of which are juniors. VT’s top 5 scorers this year are juniors.
maryland – I was big on them in the preseason because they had their top 4 scorers back (all starters), both guards, and 7 of their top 8. They responded, sitting tied for 2nd in the ACC.
wake – while they lost their top 2 scorers to the NBA, their next 4 returned. They have 3 senior starters to go with their stud soph (Aminu) and freshman (Harris).
fsu – they are sort of the exception here, but they are also just in 5th place. The noles lost Toney Douglas, by far their leading scorer by 13 points, and their #3 scorer in Echefu. Their top 3 scorers this year are sophomores or freshman, so they are the youngest team in the upper half of the league. Their stud recruit, Snaer, has been solid with 8.8 ppg.
clemson – They did lose their #2, 3, and 5 scorers from last season. Thus, they are sitting in 6th and not higher. But Booker is back for his senior year as their star player, Stitt at PG is a junior and their #2 scorer. Their #5 and 6 scorers are a senior and junior respectively. FYI: their stud freshman, Jennings, hasn’t panned out yet (3.2 ppg).
Notice who is not in the top half? You’ve got it – georgia tech and unc, two teams that were extremely dependent on inexperienced players this year. georgia tech still has a good shot at finishing in the upper half since they are 6-6, but their freshmen have faded. Favors is still the odds on bet to win Rookie of the Year, but his production has dropped off. He’s reached double digits in just 2 of his last 6 games. Freshman guard Udofia, who was averaging 10+ going into ACC play, has scored just 19 points in his last 10 games. So much for a 2-14 team from a year ago storming to the top of the standings.
Then there is unc, who sits at 3-8. Injuries haven’t helped their cause with Zeller and Davis out (both sophomores). But guys like Ginyard and Graves were mostly bench players before. So even though they are upperclassmen now, they aren’t that “experienced”. And freshmen like Henson, Strickland, the Wears, and McDonald just aren’t that good yet. Neither is sophomore Larry Drew.
Experience, especially in the backcourt, is the name of the game and it shows in the standings.
Other news:
Pretty fair article by ESPN’s Andy Katz about Virginia Tech’s schedule with some insight from Head Coach Seth Greenberg: Article
He messed up some of the data, like Tech’s nonconference and overall schedule ratings, but otherwise has some good info.
Also, I read today where CBS’s Jerry “Hairy” Palm still has Virginia Tech OUT of the tournament, even with their win against wake. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had them in even before that game.
This goes to show how much star power, especially at guard, the ACC lost after last season. If you look at three-point shots made by ACC players from last year, the top seven are all gone (Scheyer was #8, Delaney #9). Sharp shooters like McClinton, Oglesby, Douglas, and Ellington have all moved on. I was surprised to not see Greivis “Greasy Face-quez” Vasquez on the list.
Hokie fan-favorite and all-time human highlight film legend Deron Washington was waived yesterday by the Detroit Pistons. Deron is guaranteed a cool $250,000, which should ease the pain, but that falls well short of the millions that Deron is achingly close to if he can pick up a more permanent spot on an NBA roster somewhere.
What’s especially curious about this move is that Detroit apparently has a 15th roster spot available, which they have chosen to leave open, even though they’re paying Deron whether he’s on their roster or not — he was essentially available to them into January for nothing more than travel costs and meal per-diem. With flu tearing teams and organizations everywhere wide open, an extra young player seems worthwhile to have around.
Hopefully Deron will be able to pick up with someone, or perhaps more likely, find a nice spot overseas and continue to develop his game. Since he was waived, Detroit has no ongoing rights or ownership — Detroit will have to pay, but Deron is free and clear to go anywhere.
According to Virginia Tech men’s head basketball coach Seth Greenberg’s Twitter feed, 6′9″ freshman forward Cadarian Raines will miss the first eight weeks of the season after breaking his foot today. I’m not sure how much the Hokies were planning to rely on Raines and his size this season, but at the very least, he’s out eight weeks of valuable practice and conditioning.
No, A.D. Vassallo did not sign with uva, but he did sign a one-year contract to play for paris-levallois in France, which is basically charlottesville. Vassallo was not selected in the NBA draft and tried out for the Chicago Bulls. After failing to make the summer roster, Vassallo accepted the one-year deal for $230,000.
The team posted a news release mentioning Vassallo on its Web site, but it is entirely written in French and I don’t know about you, but I don’t speak wahoo – I had to use Google’s translator tool. I’ll save you the trouble:
From 26 August to 6 September Levallois Paris will have a representative in the Americas qualifying tournament for the championship of the world. In fact the new recruits came from Virginia Tech, Daniel Angel Vassalo, is part of the host team, the Puerto Rico. Currently in preparation, he and his team fell in Group A with Canada, Uruguay, Mexico and the Virgin Islands. Solid but it is perfectly playable for AD Vassalo and his teammates. At home, the goal is of course to qualify for Turkey. They can rely on values as the leader NBAer Arroyo and the solid backbone stamped Euroleague Santiago. During the preparation matches, Puerto Rico has not shone, bowing including twice against the Republic led by Francisco Dominincaine Martin (Sacramento), Villanueva (Detroit), Al Horford (Atlanta), but by the Greer brothers (Nancy ).
Daniel Angel Vassalo? C’mon Frenchies! You just signed the guy that you plan to put into your starting five immediately and you can’t even get his name right? Keep that up and you might end up working for the Washington Nationals or even the Washington Redskins.
Congratulations to A.D. on his first professional gig – can’t wait to see him light up the the Ligue Nationale de Basket (said with a Inspector Clouseau-like French accent). Wait … did I read that right? The National Basket League? No wonder Vince Carter can teabag their seven-footers, they’re not even playing the right sport.
I know I’ve been a bit snarky today, but I have just one more question: When Vassallo goes baseline for a dunk, will the french (I’ve made the exeuctive decision to lowercase the french from now on) simply surrender and let him through?
Oh, and Seth Greenberg’s favorite Roanoke Times reporter – Mark Berman – had a little writeup about A.D.’s signing. Remember their little feud? Refresh your memory with round 1, round 2, round 3 and round 4.
The Weekend Warrior has been whining about getting some pictures of the new Virginia Tech basketball practice facility, so while I was on campus this afternoon I snapped a few pics. For the most part it is complete, at least on the exterior. Check out our Facebook page for more pictures and while you’re there, become a fan! We only need three more people to become fans so that we can reach 100!
MaxPreps.com is reporting that Tyrone Garland, a 6-foot-1, 165-pound point guard from Bartram High in Philadelphia, will announce his decision to attend Virginia Tech at a press conference later today at 5pm. Read more about Garland at maxpreps.com. (Thanks for the tip, @hokieguru)
Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg posted on his Twitter account that former Hokie standout Deron Washington has signed a guaranteed contract with the Detroit Pistons, who selected him 59th overall (second round) of the 2008 NBA Draft. Washington played in Israel last season.
Greenberg, @HeadHokie on Twitter, posted 6:41 p.m. (eastern):
“congrats to Deron Washington for signing a guaranteed contract with the Pistons Great to have a Hokie in the league!”
I have yet to see this confirmed in any news reports, but I’ll take Greenberg’s word for it. Way to go, Deron!
Those who remember former Hokie basketball player Coleman Collins remember him as one of the great ambassadors in the history of Virginia Tech’s basketball program. The guy may be the smartest player to ever come through the athletic department at VT. He enrolled at Tech when he was 16 and graduated with honors in three years. Oh, he also got a master’s degree before he could legally drink.
Well, old Coleman is up to his usual well-spoken ways again with a very thoughtful commentary on the events happening in Iran following last week’s disputed election. Read Collins’ feature Democracy Matters at ESPN.com
“Considered one of the NBA Development League’s standout athletes and most civic-minded contributors, Coleman Collins, a native of Stone Mountain, Georgia, is a 6′9″ center for the NBA D-League’s Fort Wayne (Indiana) Mad
Ants. The former Chamblee High School athlete and academic standout enrolled in Virginia Tech at the remarkable age of 16. He graduated with honors in just three years — by the age of 19 — staying an additional year to play basketball and complete a Master’s degree program in Public Health. A fixture in Virginia Tech’s starting line-up, Collins led the Hokies to a 20-win season in 2007 and into the NCAA Tournament. After college, Collins played for the German club EnBW L’burg during the 2006-07 season and, last summer, participated in the Toronto Raptors’ Summer League and in the Phoenix Suns’ training camp.”
Virginia Tech men’s basketball coach Seth Greenberg hired former virginia assistant Bill Courtney last week to fill the vacancy left by Stacey Palmore, who left to be an assistant with georgia. Courtney was an assistant at virginia for the past three seasons, but left after Dave Leito was fired. He took an assistant job with virginia commonwealth and had been there two months before Greenberg came calling.
Courtney is apparently a top notch recruiter, responsible for signing the core of the george mason Final Four team in 2006. He also recruited uva’s Sylven Landesberg, who was named the 2008-2009 ACC rookie of the year. He has strong ties to the Baltimore – D.C. corridor where a ton of talented players are recruited every year. Perhaps that will pay off soon. One thing is clear, Courtney is by far the best recruiter Greenberg has hired in his six year at Tech.
The Hokies prized recruit for the 2009 class officially announced that he has withdrawn his verbal commitment to Virginia Tech and will reopen his recruiting. According to the Richmond Times Dispatch, Jones is taking a visit to southern california in April. If he does indeed leave, that gives the Hokies four players in the ‘09 class: Ben Boggs, Erick Green, Manny Atkins and Cadarian Raines. But Jones was the marquee point guard Seth Greenberg was counting on.
Virginia Tech has announced that unused student section seats will be made available to students on a first-come, first-served basis for the next three Virginia Tech men’s basketball home games, hosting virginia, richmond, and the newly minted giant killers from boston college (I’m still celebrating that fantastic upset in Chapel Hill).
In a related move, a program to enable electronic transfers by public season ticket holders for all games throughout the season has been announced. “Hokie Share” will reportedly allow ticket holders to transfer tickets to the recipient of their choosing. This sounds like a brilliant, much-needed solution to the empty seats often seen in out-of-conference games in Cassell — but there’s a tragic catch: each ticket transfer will incur a $4 fee.
So if you want to give a couple tickets to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club you’ll just have to dig out your tickets, log in, figure out how to use Hokie Share, and then pony up $8 to give away your tickets. I looked at it for a few minutes, in two different browsers, and I can’t figure out how it works. So, hooray for ticket transfers, and boo for the fee and the confusing website.
Here’s a link to the full article on HokieSports.com: click here
Hey #Hokies ... defense much? Good grief, that dude just walked down the lane. Even he was surprised it was that easy.about 14 minutes agofrom HootSuite
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