Of Note: Dorenzo Hudson became the 42nd Hokie to reach the 1,000 point mark for a career in the oklahoma state game, Part III.

Welcome back, VT football fans.  I wish we were reuniting under better circumstances, but let’s just pretend like Tuesday didn’t happen and move on.  The bball team is doing well!  Hey, we might make the NCAAs this year!  Ugh, forget I said that.  Seriously, though, if you haven’t been following us so far, we have a lot of changes.  This should catch you up…

• Midseason Video and ACC Preview
• Midseason Report Card

On Saturday the Hokies open ACC play with a trip down to Winston-Salem to face the demon deacons of wake forest.  wake finished last year 1-15 in the ACC and were probably the worst team in ACC history.  Tech beat them by a combined 43 points last year.  Their #2, 3, and 5 scorers either graduated or left school — J.T. Terrell and Ari Stewart both left wake for the usc trojans (Terrell had a DWI) and Gary Clark, a deadly 3-point shooter but horrible defender, graduated.  The deacons just lost to wofford earlier this week.  So this should be a cake walk, right?  Well, maybe not.  I do think the Hokies will win, but I’m only 67% confident of that (i.e. if they played at wake 3 times, VT would win 2).  I’ll get to why I feel that way in a few moments in “THE opponent” section.

Looking at the bigger picture, the Hokies can, and need to, get off to a fast start in the ACC.  VT has 2 very winnable ACC road games sandwiched around a trip by a struggling fsu team to the Cassell next week.  But after that, the Hokies play unc, @uva, byu, @maryland, and duke before the schedule gets easier.  We’d obviously like to be 3-0 in ACC play heading into that tough stretch, with 2-1 a must at the very least.  And that all starts Saturday.

THE SERIES:

Virginia Tech has owned wake forest since joining the ACC.  Check out these numbers:

• In ACC action: VT 8-2 (their best winning percentage against any ACC team – LINK)
• Overall: VT 28-26 (1 of just 3 ACC teams VT has a winning all time record against)
• At wake in ACC play: VT 3-1
• Last February at wake: VT 76, wake 62 (LINK)
• Last January at VT: VT 94, wake 65 (LINK)

This will be the ONLY meeting of the regular season between the two schools.

NOTE: This marks the 3rd time Tech has opened ACC play with wake, choking a hearbreaker back in 2007-08 77-75 at wake (Dorenzo Hudson’s debut), and winning 63-60 at home in 2006-07.

STARTERS:

STATS:

THE opponent – wake forest:

As I said earlier, don’t just chalk this up as a Hokies win like we could last year, even with wake coming off a 1-15 season and having lost to wofford.  Why?  Simple – C.J. Harris.  Harris is averaging 18.7 ppg, 2nd best in the ACC behind maryland’s Stoglin.  He’s shooting an amazing 54% from the field and 53% from behind the 3-point line (24/45)!  And this is as a guard!  To shoot over 50% is amazing for a perimeter player.    If the season ended today, I’d pick him over Erick Green for 1st Team All-ACC (I’d also have Stoglin at the guard spot, with Barnes (unc), Henson (unc), and Scott (uva)).

Big deal, you say, they just lost to wofford… well, will you let me finish?  Yeesh.  I know you are upset about Tuesday, as am I, but can you let me get to my point?   Thank you…

Harris didn’t play against wofford.  He sat with a strained groin, but is expected back for the VT game.  That means he has 5 days to heal.  Personally, I’ve never pulled a groin (I leave that for the ladies), so I cannot say how close to 100% he might be.  wake must have Harris near 100% to have any chance.  Harris can shoot from deep as I said, but is also excellent at attacking the rim and scoring or drawing fouls (91 FTs, hitting 78%).

wake isn’t a one man band, though.  Travis McKie, a sophomore from Richmond and an old high school rival of Cadarian Raines (Petersburg), is averaging 17.9 ppg, 3rd best in the ACC.  McKie is a tad undersized as a big man at 6’7″ and 210 lbs, but he can shoot from the perimeter, too.  He’s hit 16/41 3s (39%), so you have to respect him out there.  Doe Doe should match up with him well with Doe Doe’s reach and athleticism, but McKie is a good low post player and could muscle Doe Doe.  Raines could do a good job on McKie and/or VT could put Doe Doe on the 6’8″ Mescheriakov (or Davila could guard Mescheriakov if the 7-foot Desrosiers isn’t in).

Tony Chennault will also handle the ball a lot in addition to Harris, and the 6’2″ sophomore averages 11.4 ppg.  Tony is an awful 3-point shooter (5/22) but does get to the rim a lot and can dish or get to the FT line.

Both Harris and Chennault will look to drive and either shoot, or dish to McKie or the other post players.

Chase Fischer, a freshman guard, is wake’s best bench player.  He is exclusively a 3-point shooter.  75% of his shots are 3-pointers, so Tech must keep an eye on him outside when he’s in.

All that being said, the biggest advantage the Hokies have is on the bench.  Tech has Seth Greenberg, while wake forest has the new sheriff in town in terms of Worst ACC Coach.  With Sidney Lowe gone from nc state and Paul Hewitt history at georgia tech, Jeff Bzdelik is the new low in terms of suits.  Jeff went 36-58 at colorado (10-38 in the Big 12) in 3 years before getting fired, yet somehow leveraged that into the wake job.  It is eerily similar to the ricky “Program Bomb” stokes hiring at wake — Bzdelik has a close relationship with the wake A.D.  The deacons went 8-24 last year including 1-15 in conference.  They’ve already managed to win 9 games this year, and I think they’ll improve on that 1-15 record in the league, but Jeff is still the pits.  He looks brain-dead on the sideline with no emotion.  We’ll see if Steve Donahue can give Bzdelik a run for his money at worst coach, but with bc having gone 9-7 last year and tying for 4th, bc has a long ways to fall.

HO-KEYS TO WINNING:

• Pound the glass: wake is an AWFUL rebounding team.  They are 11th in the league in defensive and offensive rebounding percentages.  In other words, they give up a lot of 2nd chances and don’t get many themselves.  Look for VT to dominate the boards like they did against oklahoma state.
• Defense: When Fischer is in, overplay him on the perimeter.  Play off Chennault on the perimeter – take away his dribble drive and dare him to shoot 3s.  Harris will require help – you need to be on him outside, but when he beats his man off the dribble, the D must rotate without giving up easy looks inside (Rankin may get time on Harris).
• Get easy buckets: wake is not a good defensive team.  They are slow in the post.  Get out and run and get transition buckets.  Tech is 8-0 this year when they shoot for a higher FG% than their opponent (3-3 when they shoot a lower FG%).
• Hot from deep: The Hokies are 10-1 when they shoot for a higher 3-Pt% than their opponent (if you remember this stat from last year, this stat determined the winner of Tech’s final 17 games I believe).  VT is 1-2 when shooting a lower 3-Pt % than their opponent, so obviously that stat is again a big determining factor this year.  The key is stopping Harris from deep, and then Fischer off the bench.  Given the fact VT has been, or near, #1 in this stat in the nation most of the year, you have to like our odds here.
• Protect the ball: Both teams average 13 turnovers per game.  I thought Tech had cured their issues here, but then they had 16 TOs vs okie state.  The Hokies have had more turnovers than their opponent in all of their losses.  With how bad wake is on the glass, if VT can limit turnovers, the deacons have no shot.
• Urgency: Hey, this is a big game.  VT has lost their last 4 ACC openers, and are 1-6 all time in ACC openers.  It is hard to come back from a 0-1 hole and have a big year in the ACC.  If Tech wants a top 4 spot in the league, they need to get some wins before the stretch of unc, uva, maryland, and duke.  And let’s get Zo (0-4) his first ACC opener win.

BORING FACTS ABOUT wake forest (“For humanity”):

Popularity: 15% [?]

On Saturday the Hokies play… wait, this has to be a typo… the oklahoma state cowboys?!  Seriously?!  Didn’t we just play them?  Well, that should make this preview easy.  The Hokies took down okie state 59-57 to capture the NIT Bronze Medal a month ago (RECAP).

On New Year’s Eve the Hokies will head to Stillwater to battle the pokes for the 2nd time in 5 weeks and 3rd time in 13 months.  As luck would have it, the two teams met in the Preseason NIT 3rd Place Game over Thanksgiving and already had a game on the schedule at osu for this month.  By comparison, VT will only play wake, unc, maryland, miami, georgia tech, and nc state once this season, but will face the cowboys twice.

This will be the Hokies last out of conference tune-up before starting ACC play next Saturday, January 7th, at wake forest.  Tech has one more out of conference game, home versus byu later in January, after ACC action has geared up.

Can the Hokies get the 3-game sweep of the pokes?  We’ll see.  This will be a tough road challenge at what used to be a very tough place to play.  But with the pokes recent success in football, struggles in basketball, and the fact it is during a holiday on New Year’s Eve, we’ll see how tough the environment actually is at the 13,000-seat Gallagher-Iba Arena (wear your ponchos and look out for sledgehammered fruits!).

SERIES:

VT 2-0

• 11/25/11 – VT 59-57 (Recap)  |  Highlights
• 11/26/10 – VT 56-51 (Recap)

Can a team actually break the 60 point mark in this one?  We’ll see.  The Hokies offense has been in high gear of late, averaging 78 ppg during their 5-game winning streak.

PROJECTED STARTERS:

STATS:

THE opponent:

okie state is yet another offensively challenged team.  They average 68 points per game, but had just 49 at the end of regulation against smu on Wednesday before their 68-58 2 OT win.  alabama held them to 52 the game before that, new mexico held them to 56 before that.  They’ve scored less than 60 points in regulation in 5 of their last 8 games.

I fully expect the pokes to attack the Hokies off the dribble drive on Saturday.  After struggling offensively in the first half, Markel Brown just destroyed Tech in the second half.  The 6-3 guard helped okie state score their first 28 points of the 2nd half either in the paint (20 points) or from the line (8).

Markel Brown is the cowboys glue guy.  While 5-star stud freshman Le’Bryan Nash is their 2nd leading scorer at 12.3 ppg and senior Keiton Page leads them with 13.1, Brown fuels a lot of that with the ball in his hands.  He is a freak athlete.  Brown is a terrible 3-point shooter (under 22%).

Keiton Page is their best outside shooter.  But at 5’9″, he has had trouble shooting over the tall Hokie lineup.  He had 11 points in the first meeting this year, but 5 of those were in the final 11 seconds after the game was decided (he had just 3 points in the first 35 minutes of the game).  Page had just 2 points last year against VT.  If he can get hot from deep, he can light it up (he’s 26/74 – 35%) and had 27 in their 2 OT win over smu on Wednesday.  But again, big teams give him fits.  Expect him to shoot from deeper than normal to get his shot off.

Le’Bryan Nash was rated a better recruit than Dorian Finney-Smith.  Nash put up a big goose egg vs VT in the first meeting in the scoring and rebounding columns.  Expect him to have a chip on his shoulder in this game and really attack the hoop, with Doe Doe likely guarding him.  Doe Doe had a great game with 10 points and 14 rebounds the first go-around.

Jean-Paul Olukemi also beat up the Hokies inside in the 2nd half of the first meeting.  He’s an undersized, but physical 6’5″ forward.  Jarell Eddie needs to do a better job on him than he did the first time.

Philip Jurick is a goon inside.  The 6’11″ center’s job is to rebound (6.4) and block shots (2.3).  In fact, he averages more blocks than points (1.9) per game.  Tech does not have to respect him on offense.  The post players need to rotate off him to help when guards get beat off the dribble, or to double Nash or Olukemi in the post.

Freshman Cezar Guerrero is their best bench player.  He’s a decent 3-point shooter and likes to drive with aggression, but scored just 3 points in the first meeting.  Tech really shut down their diaper dandies.

Unfortunately, Tech isn’t playing osu at the Garden.  okie state is 0-3 at MSG this year, but 7-2 away from the self-proclaimed ‘Most Famous Arena in the World’.  That said, they are 0-5 against RPI top 100 teams.  VT obviously can win this game, but the cowboys have an idea how to beat the Hokies now and have the advantage of playing at home.

HO-KEYS:

• Dominate the Glass: VT killed osu on the boards in the first meeting, snagging 20 offensive rebounds.  The cowboys are undersized inside, with Brown (a guard) their 2nd leading rebounder.  osu plays solid defense so Tech needs to get 2nd chance points to win this game.
• Protect the Paint: Expect Marquis Rankin to get Markel Brown at times (Rankin was injured for the first meeting).  If Rankin can keep Brown from driving and either getting easy buckets, or dishing for easy buckets, that will limit what osu did successfully on offense in the first meeting.
• Change the Diaper Dandies: The Hokies held Nash and Guerrero, who average over 20 ppg, to just 3 combined points in the first meeting.  If Tech can shut them down again, it will really limit the pokes offensively.
• Green: Erick had 18 points in the first meeting but has scored exactly 12 in each of the last 4 games.  Tech does well when their scoring is balanced, but I think the Winchester Rifle has to have a good game, and start hitting 3s again, to stretch out the osu defense.

BORING FACTS ABOUT oklahoma state:

Popularity: 14% [?]

On Thursday night the Virginia Tech takes on the eastern chapter of the directional michigans.  The eagles complete their tour of SW VA, having defeated radford 52-48 at the Dedmon Center on Tuesday night.  That win snapped a 5-game losing streak for the eagles that included an 84-48 loss to syracuse (michigan state also beat them by 32 and purdue beat them by 25).

While Tech will be heavy favorites in this game, it is also very important that the Hokies have a good showing:

1. VT won’t play for another 9 days (@okie state in the ‘Rematch’).
2. The Hokies only have 1 game in the next 15 days.
3. This is Tech’s next to last out of conference game before they start the ACC slate.

Playing well will send the Hokies into their Christmas break with momentum.  It is important the players feel they are playing well going into this lull to build confidence.  And the Hokies have been riding the gravy train with biscuit wheels lately, so let’s keep that rolling.

Please note highlights will likely not be up until Monday, December 26th (hey, I’m allowed a vacation, aren’t I?).

Popularity: 12% [?]

On my birthday the Hokies take on the north florida… Do you know their nickname?  If you do, you got me beat.  They are the ospreys.  Hold on a minute while I look up what the heck that is… “sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle or fish hawk, is a fish-eating bird of prey.” (Thanks, Wikipedia)

Tech looks to win their fourth in a row and keep building momentum as the non-conference slate nears its end and ACC play begins.  After this game, the Hokies have just two out of conference games left before opening the ACC slate on Saturday, January 7th.

• Thursday, 7 PM – Home vs. eastern michigan
• Dec. 31 (Saturday), Noon – @oklahoma state (the rematch)

Popularity: 13% [?]

Some people were warning Tech to look out for the campbell camels.  They were 8-1 on the season… until Wednesday… when they lost… to houston baptist.  I know what you’re thinking, “What’s a houston baptist?”  As usual, your wish is my command:

• They are Division I
• They are in the Great West Conference (If you can name another team in the conference without looking then you have too much time on your hands… n.j.i.t. is in it (they are in New Jersey… in the Great ‘West’))
• Their nickname is the ‘huskies’… yeah, lots of huskies in Houston
• campbell, like norfolk state, has already played a team twice this year (houston baptist)… seriously, they played a home-and-home???  Is this some rivalry I don’t know about?  campbell won at home easily in their opener before losing at hbu.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Sunday figures to be a very emotional day as many of us in the Virginia Tech community will honor VT policeman, Deriek Crouse.  But, a game must be played, trivial as it may seem at this time with Crouse’s family and memory heavy on our minds.  Here’s a look at it…

What if I told you the norfolk state spartans are 40 spots higher in the RPI than Virginia Tech?  Well, you’d probably tell me I’m a big, fat liar then, since I said I was going to stop looking at the RPI and talking about the NCAA Tournament (OK, I snuck a look).  spartan spirit, a member of the MEAC, sits in the high 20s while VT is in the high 60s, so don’t assume this game is going to be a laugher with Joey Racer playing most of the second half.

That said, the RPI is a bunch of bull this time of year (and most of the rest of it), especially in this case.  norfolk state is listed as 5-2 in the RPI and allegedly has the 22nd toughest schedule to date because they only count games against D1 opponents.  But the spartans also beat a D3 team and LOST to a D2 school (more on that in the next paragraph).  norfolk state has played RPI #3 marquette twice — first in a regularly scheduled game at marquette, then again a week later in the semi-finals of the Paradise Jam Championship Game in the Virgin Islands (Did you hear Chuck Norris went to the Virgin Islands?  Now they are just called ‘The Islands’).  The spartans shocked the islands by beating drexel then tcu (who had just beaten uva thanks to our old buddy Hank Thorns) to advance to the title game.  After losing by 31 to marquette in their opener, norfolk state lost by just 2 points this time around.

So, more about that D2 loss — the spartans lost at home by a 69-57 score to elizabeth city state (country world universe) university in NC.  Guess who their leading scorer was that night with 18 points… seriously, guess… I’ll wait… Marquie Cooke.  Yes, THE Marquie Cooke.  The same Cooke that came to VT as a huge recruit in 2004, only to be kicked off the team after one season.  Then he was kicked out of colorado state faster than you can say elizabeth city state university.  He was a Hokie 7 years ago, yet is still in college, listed as a senior (“Lots of people go to college for 7 years.”  “Yeah, they’re called doctors.”).  So norfolk state has managed to play Hank Thorns and Marquie Cooke this year.  Odd.

Update: norfolk state will play against Darrion Pellum of hampton this year.  Darrion, a shooting guard, signed with VT as part of the Hokies 2G class but was not admitted and ended up a pirate.  As Ryan pointed out, maybe they’ll get udc and Nigel Munson on the schedule… is Phillip McCandies playing anywhere???

Anyway, my point is I’m not buying into their RPI.  And considering the MEAC is awful, a win for the Hokies here won’t mean much later in the season… crap, there I go again… never mind.  I think the Hokies are going to win.  Nuff said.

SERIES:

First ever meeting

THE opponent:

I should just call this section “THE ONE GUY WE NEED TO WORRY ABOUT”.  norfolk state’s success in this game is completely dependent on 6’10″, 240 lbs. senior Kyle O’Quinn.  He’s averaging 14.4 ppg and 10.8 rebounds.  Kyle had a double-double in 7 straight games until south carolina state ‘held’ him to 18 points and 8 rebounds on Monday.  He averaged 3 blocks per game to boot.  Tech must keep him off the offensive glass.  This is a chance for Victor Davila to step back into everyone’s good graces.  Even if VD doesn’t score all game, if he can shut O’Quinn down like he shut st. bonnie’s Nicholson down, that’s a big deal.

O’Quinn is prone to foul trouble, but since VT has shown they are not good to date at attacking the tin in the half court, I’m not holding my breath on this happening.

McEachin, Tamares, and Williams can and will shoot the 3, but this isn’t a big 3-point shooting team.  They shoot just 31% from deep (5 makes per game) and hit 61% of their FTs (that’s bad).

The spartans get a lot of steals (almost 8 per game), but they also turn it over a ton.  They had 34 turnovers in their loss to ecsu.  And you thought the Hokies were bad in this department.

PREDICTION:

The spartans average just 65 ppg, so expect this to be a half court game.  If the Hokies reach the 70 point mark, they’ll win.  If they don’t, this is going to be a nailbiter.  I think Tech wins this by 11-15 points thanks in large part to turnovers.  If VT can actually convert those turnovers into easy transition buckets, it could be a much bigger margin, but again, I’m not holding my breath.  11-15 point margin.

PROJECTED STARTERS:

Brandon Wheeless is norfolk state’s best bench player.  He’s the only guy that produces much off the pine (6.4 ppg).

STATS:

BORING FACTS ABOUT norfolk state (“Achieving with excellence”):

Popularity: 16% [?]

Spread: Hokies by 5-1/2

FYI: There will likely be no highlights for this game… likely.  We’ll see if I can pull a rabbit out of my hat, though.  You can watch the game for $9.95 though via Cox Sports Online.  For more info, CLICK HERE.  Just make sure you cancel the service after a month, that it doesn’t auto-renew.

The Hokies look for their first road victory of the year on Wednesday against a once, pretty good rhode island basketball program.  Ever heard of Lamar Odom (and the Kardashians)?  He played there… for a year… and led the rams to a 76-67 win in Blacksburg in 1999.  Cuttino Mobley played at uri and so did about 20 other NBA players past and present.  But if you want to find the ram program now, you have to scroll ALL the way to the bottom of the Atlantic 10 standings… and they have 14 teams.

Quite simply, this is not going to be a quality win for the Hokies.  And if they lose?  It will be a bad loss.  But you know what?  Let’s stop talking NCAA Tournament and this and that.  Hokies 3G.1 shouldn’t be about the tourney.  It should be about getting better.  About young guys growing and the veterans going out with a bang.  So I’m going to stop talking quality this and RPI that.  The Hokies simply need to play a good game for (close to) 40 minutes, and they need a win after losing 2 straight and 3 of 4.  If Tech can’t win at uri, they sure as heck are going to have trouble winning on the road in the ACC.

SERIES:

• Overall: uri 6-4
• Last Meeting: 2010 NIT Quarterfinals: uri 79-72 (RECAP)

I’m sure you all remember our last meeting with the rams… it was two seasons ago in the ‘Burg with a trip to MSG and the NIT Semi-Finals on the line.  Tech blew a 12-point second half lead and fell to the rams.  That one still stings.  Hudson had 19 for the Hokies (that’s when he was THE MAN) and Davila/Green had 2 each (Green hit his first jumper in about 2 months in that game, sending the crowd into a riot).

And who doesn’t remember our glory days of battling the rams in the A-10?  Well, I only remember one of those games… the A-10 Tournament Quarterfinals in Philly in 1996.  Cuttino Mobley led the rams to an upset of the West Division #1 seeded Hokies were knocked off by the East #4 seed rhode island rams.  That loss knocked the 15th-ranked Hokies all the way down to a #8 (or #9, I can never remember) seed in the NCAA Tournament and a Second Round date with the eventual champions, k-y kentucky.  Well, it’s payback time!

PROJECTED STARTERS:

STATS:

THE opponent – the rhodey rams:

How bad is it this year for the rams?  After losing by 22 to cleveland state, Head Coach Jim Baron benched their entire starting lineup for the next game, which they lost to brown university by 9.  So did the starters answer the call in the next game?  Nope.  They lost in overtime to maine (apparently they struggle with teams that have bears as their mascot… black bears… ROAR!).

It didn’t look like rhodey would be this bad.  They are just 2 years removed from a NIT semi-final appearance, which they lost in OT by just 1-point to unc.  And they followed up that 26 win season with 20 wins last year, including a 9-7 record in the A-10 (they lost in the quarterfinals of the CBI Tournament).  They also started this year off seemingly OK.  They lost in overtime to a george mason team that made the 2nd round of the NCAAs last year (albeit coached now by Paul Hewitt).  And they led at texas with 13 minutes to go before fading and falling 100-90.

If you remember two years ago, the Baron loves to press and really push an up-tempo game.  While I haven’t seen them play since the texas game, I’m wondering if he’s scaled that back a bit after giving up 92 to gmu, 100 to texas, and 83 to nebraska (they lost that game by 20).  After beating hofstra 85-73, they to boston university, cleveland state, brown, and maine, all either on campus or in Providence.  Baron also is only going 3, maybe 4 deep on his bench at this point, so pressing a ton and having guys go 35-plus minutes doesn’t work too well.  We’ll see, though.

But, expect them to be fired up on Wednesday.  Teams get fired up for ACC teams.  It will be interesting to see if their crowd shows up, though.  Depending on where they are at with finals, they may just mail this in.

Outerbridge is the only guy you’ll remember from that NIT game.  He scored 8 in that contest and averages over 13 ppg this year.  He is their best rebounder but isn’t overly thick.  This is one of the few games Doe Doe should be able to match an opponent’s size inside if he plays the 4.  Orion does have 17 blocks on the season so watch for him to try and challenge shots inside.

Jamal Wilson is their best player.  The senior guard played just 1 minute in that game 2 years ago, but is averaging 18 ppg this year.  He’s a solid, but not great, 3-point shooter who also gets to the line a LOT.  Look for him to drive and attack the rim.

Nikola Malesevic is your classic European import at forward… he likes to shoot the 3.  Have to get out on him.

Jonathan Holton is their most physical player, but that’s not saying much – he’s a 6’9″, 220 lbs. freshman.

Powell is your typical freshman point guard – he makes a mistake for every good play he makes.  Mike averages as many turnovers (3.6) as assists and shoots under 30% from the field.

The rams LOVE to shoot the 3.  Problem is they hit less than 30%.  But all 5 of their starters have at least 6 makes and 19 attempts.  They hit 6 3-pointers per game… but that’s on over 21 attempts.  They also commit a lot of turnovers – almost 40 more TOs than assists.

So how are they so bad?  They don’t shoot well… just 40% from the field and 28% on 3s, they turn it over a lot, and they give up a lot of easy buckets on defense.

HO-KEYS TO THE GAME:

• Tech matches up very well with this team (read: they aren’t that big).  But they do get a LOT of offensive rebounds since they jack up so many 3-pointers.  VT needs all 5 defenders getting a body on someone and cleaning the glass.  I’m not sure we’ll see the 2-bigs look we saw Sunday (where 2 of Raines, Davila, or Barksdale were in at the same time).  If they press a ton as we expect, VT will likely go more athletic with better ballhandlers.
• Attack: You can’t just advance over half court on a press, you have to burn it.  We’ve yet to see that from this lineup.  Pass the ball up the court and get at the rim.
• Create: uri turns it over a lot.  Again, help this fuel the transition game.  Why a team that cannot run a half court offense and hides Dorenzo Hudson in the corner all game doesn’t push the ball, I have no idea.  Tech needs to get out and run.
• uri must be hot from deep to win since they aren’t big inside and turn the ball over a ton.

BORING FACTS ABOUT rhode island (“Think Big, We Do”):

Popularity: 13% [?]

Pathetic.  No, I’m not talking about the Hokies on Wednesday night.  Or in big games.  I’m talking about you, John Q. Hokie Fan.  And I’m referring to your effort last year at the VT basketball game the day after the ACC Championship.  That day, VT was hosting uva in their ACC opener.  The stands were mostly full (but not packed like it should be for uva), but you’d have thought it was a wake.  You, Mr. Fan, were pathetic.  You sat on your hands all night, and it rubbed off on the Hokies.  The crowd was dead from the start, and Tech fell behind big early and were never to dig out.   People — we won the ACC title the day before!  Sure, we were all hungover, but I’d have expected us to fire up the emotions for uva!  End result — bad loss.

My point?  The Hokies are playing a huge game at home the day after the ACC Championship again this year.  And win or lose Saturday, we need to bring it on Sunday.  We need to be ‘All Together’ or whatever our ‘All’ slogan is for this year.  Stop whining about VT not making the NCAA Tournament and let’s make a difference… let’s be loud and nasty and rough on the visitors.  Who are we gonna beat?  The wildcats!

Oh, and it’s a WHITE OUT, people!!!

SERIES:

kansas state 1-0, winning 73-57 (Recap). Tech hung tough in Manhattan for most of the game but faded down the stretch, struggling to score (shocker).

THE opponent:

I watched the kansas state vs george washington game (ksu won 69-56) and here were my thoughts (FYI: ksu hadn’t played for 16 days so they were a tad rusty early, especially shooting).

This is supposed to be a rebuilding year for the cats (they aren’t getting any votes in either poll) after making the Big Dance 3 of the last 4 years.  They lost their star in Jacob Pullen, who averaged more than 20 ppg a year ago.  But this is a solid team and would be a huge win for Tech were they to pull it off.  ksu has 6 guys averaging over 8 ppg, so they have a lot of options and talent.

Rodney McGruder (no relation to MacGruber!) had been their best player so far this year, averaging over 14 ppg at the off-guard.  But he was off Thursday against gwu, scoring just 7 including 0/4 from deep.

So, point guard Will Spradling really picked it up on Thursday, especially in the second half for the wildcats.  He helped turn a modest 3-point halftime lead over gwu into a blowout quickly in the second half with 11 points in the final 20.

ksu likes to play 3-guard lineups, and Martavarious Irving is the other starter.  He has doubled his per game point output from last year, up to over 8 ppg.

Shane Southwell is also a good glue guy at guard off the bench.  He averages over 3 assists and 5 rebounds per game, and is a pass-first guy.

ksu has four guys that will launch it from deep at will (in order of ability: McGruder, Spradling, Rodriguez, and Irving).  None of them are lights out shooters, which McGruder historically the best at 40%.  Tech has to dare ksu to beat them from deep.  If someone is hot, VT is in trouble since Tech really needs to focus on defending the paint, their bugaboo so far this year.

As for the ksu post players… did you see what Elliott Eliason, an unproven, unathletic, freshman did to VT inside on Wednesday?  Well, kansas state is a lotta bit better inside.  The x-factor is 7′ junior Jordan Henriquez.  He’s had at least 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in every game this year, and is averaging more than 3 blocks per game.  He’s an eraser around the hoop.  Oh, and he comes off the bench.  He’s scrawny but won’t be pushed around inside and is a very good rebounder.

The wildcats start freshman Thomas Gipson.  He was just a 3-star recruit, but packs a wallop at 6-7 and 245 (he’s a beast… probably closer to 260).  He’s already the co-scoring leader on the team with 12.8 ppg as a rookie, and went for 17 points and 13 rebounds against gwu!  Keeping him off the glass will be key for Tech.  Gipson is a left and prefers to go left, so overplay him to that side.

Then there’s mercurial senior star Jamar Samuels.  He’s spent more time in the doghouse than Fido.  Samuels was suspended for the first two games of the season, but has since returned and scored in double digits both games, including a double-double Thursday.  He may be the most talented player on the team.  Even at 6-7, Jamar can step out and shoot from deep (though he’s not very accurate… you’ll gladly let him do that).  But Samuels is a freakish athlete and can really do damage around the rim.  He gets to the line a lot.

ksu does miss Curtis Kelly inside (he was the previous star of the doghouse), but believe me, this group will give VT fits if Tech cannot play better inside than they have so far this season.  And boy can they rebound.  They had 47 rebounds Thursday, including three guys with 10 or more boards.  They make teams miss a lot, and then don’t give up many second chance opportunities.

On defense, Frank Martin will employ man D.  They’ll go full court at times, employing straight man full court, or a trap, but this seems to be more about slowing you down than creating turnovers.  ksu can be lazy at times guarding the perimeter and are susceptible to giving up 3s off the ball, although gwu is the best at hitting 3s in the nation at it (%-wise). Tech should have open looks and need to hit them.  That said, the cats really work hard on defense inside the arc.  All four of their opponents have shot under 40%, including three at 32% or less, so they do not give up many easy buckets.

Virginia Tech must avoid the big runs that kansas state can go on, usually fueled by their defense and transition game.  Luckily, those are harder to do on the road when you don’t have the crowd behind you.  But ksu ran VT out of Manhattan last year with a wild run midway through the second half.

6 PACK OF HO-KEYS:

• Senior-ity: Hudson has been more up and down this year than the Grizzly at Kings Dominion.  Here are his points totals: 9, 18, 31, 13, 7, 8, 0.  Tech needs him to be on in a big game like this.  He may have been tired, getting his game legs back, the last few games.  With 3 days rest, let’s hope he’s ready.  Also, Davila really needs to step up and play like the guy we saw versus the bonnies.  He was good on defense and offense.
• Green-burg: I’m not talking Seth, I’m talking Erick!  The Winchester Rifle is finally living up to his nickname.  Dude is an unbelievable 15/26 on 3-pointers on the year!  For Tech to have any chance Sunday, let’s hope his should and Achilles are OK and he’s still unconscious from deep.  As I said above, ksu isn’t great at guarding the perimeter, so Hudson and Green (and Brown) should get some looks from deep.  Tech needs to drain them to draw the D out.
• Doe Doe not extinct: Dorian Finney-Smith has to find ways to assert himself on offense.  He needs to find ways to create shots, other than 3s or putbacks.
• 5 on the glass: Tech must get after it on the boards or ksu will dominate them inside.  At times minnesota had 4 guys in the paint to just one or two for VT.  That cannot happen.
• Be on the ball: Tech’s on-ball defense on the perimeter has been awful this year.  Guys are getting beaten like rented mules, allowing easy layups, and when help comes to defend, that opens up more offensive rebounds.  The Hokies must do a better job at stopping this.  2-3 zone?  Dare the cats to shoot from deep, in my opinion.
• Speaking of which… How many dribble-drives lead to any easy VT buckets?  The offense is either 3s or putbacks or Davila hooks.  We keep hearing VT will do more in transition, yet it never happens or VT gives up on it in the first half.  ksu will want to run.  So what?  Tech has scored less than 60 points in 3 of their last 4 games.  The Hokies struggle in the half court, they need to find ways to get easy buckets even if it means pushing the tempo and playing someone else’s game.  We need to make it more of our game.  VT is going to struggle to score inside 16′ as Frank Martin teams always play great D.  The runners have been nice, but where have been the backdoor cuts?  VT needs to pull out all the stops in this one.  ksu, as I’ve mentioned, has held every team they’ve played to under 40% from the field.  So the Hokies must hit their open looks from outside, and find ways to get points in transition, even if it is from the line.

STATS:

BORING FACTS ABOUT kansas state:

Popularity: 19% [?]

Spread: minnesota by 2 (Hmm, I wonder if they haven’t been reading the injury reports)…

Update #2: It goes from awful to worse for minnesota – senior Ralph Sampson III, their now best post player, is battling an ankle injury and is questionable for tonight (thanks for the heads up, Goad!) gopher Injuries  – I bet he plays, even if hobbled, due to their lack of depth now inside.

Update: minnesota’s star player, forward Trevor Mbakwe, is out for the year with an ACL injury.  Perhaps playing Virginia Tech causes the injury bug to bite you, too?  This is a devastating blow to the gophers, and I expect to see them struggle on offense Wednesday while they adjust to not having their star player.  This now becomes a game the Hokies really need to win, and should win, even in their first road tilt of the season and in the career of these freshmen.

November comes to a close on Wednesday.  This is the time of the year where most ACC schools, after a rough fall, finally get excited with basketball season kicking into high gear with the ACC/Big(12)Ten Challenge.  Well, as usual, the Hokies aren’t quite done with their gridiron business, with their game against clemson in the ACCCG looming Saturday (VT has not lost in the Carolinas in an ACC game since joining the league).

But enough about football, this is a HUGE week for Hokie hoops.  Let me say that again… HUGE.  The Hokies managed to get one of two in New York, something they had to do, then beat a solid st. bonaventure team in a trap game Sunday.  This week the Hokies face two solid, resume-building teams in minnesota and kansas state.  As with last week, Tech must win one of these two games to keep their NCAA drive hot, but I’m greedy and want a 2-0 (well, 3-0 counting football) week.  Both games are very winnable.  Let’s focus on first things first… at minnesota.

SERIES:

First ever meeting.

VT in the ACC/Big(12)Ten Challenge:

• 2010 – lost to #22 purdue 58-55 in OT (@VT)
• 2009 – won @iowa 70-64
• 2008 – lost to wisconsin 74-72 (@VT)
• 2007 – lost @penn state 66-61
• 2006 – beat iowa 69-65
• 2005 – lost @ohio state 69-56

THE opponent:

minnesota collapsed at the end of last year.  Near the end of January the gophers stood at 16-4, 5-3 in the Big(12)Ten.  They then proceeded to lose 10 of their final 11 games to finish 17-14 (6-12) with no postseason bid.  minnesota also lost their second leading scorer, Blake Hoffarber (he was a deadly 3-point shooter and the only guy still on the team at the end of the year to make more than 13 3-pointers… in other words, he was their ONLY option from deep.  They also lost their starting PG and best on-ball defender in Al Nolen, plus Devoe Joseph transferred to Nike U.

Consequently, the gophers were picked to finish just 7th in the league this year, but they’ve looked solid so far.  Trevor Mbakwe was their leading scorer last year and was averaging 14 ppg this year before tearing his ACL.  Trevor was projected to be a Big(12)Ten First Teamer this year.  He’s a marquette transfer that has been around the block and will really battle inside (he has no perimeter game).  Mbakwe averages over 9 rebounds per game, and 1.7 blocks.   At 6-8, 240, he is a beast inside, something Tech has struggled with other than the great job Davila did on Nicholson in the st. bonnie game.  So losing him eliminates a huge advantage the gophers had over VT.

The gophers have found solid production from two A-Hols: sophomore guard Austin Hollins and freshman guard Andre Hollins (no relation best I can tell).  The two are combining for almost 19 points, 3.5 assists, and 3 steals per game.  Andre is the better outside shooter – he’s 8/16 from deep.

minnesota does not have a deadly 3-point shooter, and that’s not their game.  They average a little over 4 makes per game and shoot a decent 34% from deep, but they want to go inside…

minnesota also sports a familiar name – Ralph Sampson III.  The senior is struggling a bit out of the gate, though, averaging just 5.8 ppg (down from 10.2).  That can probably be explained by the fact his minutes are down 10 per game, and he is a 53% shooter from the field so he’s not struggling there.  Ralph has those good genes, and stands 6-11 though he’s not nearly as physical as Mbakwe.  In fact, Ralph has attempted just 4 free throws on the season (how does a 6’11″ guy only have 4 foul shots in 118 minutes of play???

Oto Osenieks (I’ll just say ‘passes to the man’ if he gets the ball in my highlights) and Rodney Williams play solid minutes on the wing for minnesota.  They are cut from the Terrell Bell-type mold – long but not thick.

With Mbakwe out and a lack of any real 3-point threats, minnesota will go one of two ways.

1. Shorten the game: They simply don’t have the guns on offense without their big man inside and can’t light it up from outside.  So they may milk the shot clock a lot to take the air out of the ball and reduce possessions.
2. Run: Since they can’t shoot from outside, and lost their best half court threat, they may push the ball to try and get points in transition.

HO-KEYS:

• Stay hot: Can VT keep shooting 40% from behind the arc?  Will Erick Green ever get cold (11/18)?  Hmm.  Shooting in the ‘the Barn’ can be tough…
• Williams Arena is a raised court that can seat up to 14,600.  So it is cavernous, and odd in it’s setup.  The team benches are two-feet below court level.  Shooting on the road is always tough due to unique shooting backgrounds, but this place is especially weird.  This is also Tech’s first road game of the season.
• R-E R-E-B R-E-B-O-U-N-D Rebound, that basketball [clap clap clapclapclapclap]: Tech has allowed 87 offensive rebounds on the season, over 14 per game.  The Hokies have just 64 offensive rebounds.  Tech’s opponents are snagging 36%* of their misses.  That’s too many.  st. bonaventure got 11 offensive rebounds in the first half alone, and 17 for the game.   VT must limit second chance opportunities and complete stops on defense.
• Protect this ball early: I’m not bored enough to research this stat but I’m betting VT is averaging close to twice the number of turnovers in the first half as the second.  VT had 10 first half TOs against st. bonnie.  That worked out OK at home, but in a hostile environment, that spells trouble.
• Play like it’s March: If I have to say this one more time, I’m going to throw up — you cannot earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament in November, but you sure can lose it.  Year after year Tech loses these early season quality match-ups to teams not named oklahoma state then whines when they don’t make the Big Dance.  Well, listen up folks, the ACC looks awful again this year except for unc and duke.  So Tech is not going to earn a bid by going 9-7 in this league (heck, we won 11 total ACC games last year, and 10 the year before that and didn’t go).  VT HAS TO WIN THESE GAMES.  And this is a winnable team against a middle of the pack Big(12)Ten team that just got waxed by dayton.

STATS: (I removed Mbakwe, who was leading them in points, rebounds, and  blocks)

BORING FACTS ABOUT minnesota:

Popularity: 21% [?]

Spread: VT by 7 1/2

Look, I’m not going to lie to you all, just like I assume you all aren’t lying when you tell me how great I am (I do assume you are lying if you tell me I stink).  For the next 24 hours I’m focused on one thing — winning a Coastal Division title.  I’ll worry about the bonnies on Sunday, either in a great mood full of Wild Turkey and victory Scotch (Glenlivet), or really depressed.

Here’s what I will quickly tell you about the game…

• LAST YEAR: VT won 76-68 (RECAP) in overtime in Rochester (technically a neutral site game).  Erick Green had 15 points and 5 steals, Victor Davila had 9 points and 4 rebounds.  Tech had 11 steals in the game.
• SHORT TURNAROUND: While this could certainly be a trap game where the Hokies overlook st. bonnie after their big win over oklahoma state in MSG, the Hokies are great in this situation.  When Tech has less than 48 hours to prepare, like they did in their win over osu, or in ACC play, they are money.  They are 6-1 in ACC regular season games when they have less than 48 hours to prepare, and have been similarly successful in tournaments in other short turnaround games.  VT will be ready to play and I think win this comfortably.
• st. bonnie returns 4 of their top 6 scorers, including stud Canadian Andrew Nicholson.  Nicholson is expected to be an Atlantic 10 First Teamer this year.  He’s averaging 19 points and 7.7 rebounds so far this year.  He had 21 points and 8 rebounds last year against VT.
• In addition to Nicholson’s 21, Davenport (6’5″ guard) had 14, and Conger (6’6″ wing) had 10.  st. bonnie did not score a single bench point.
• st. bonnie was picked to finish 7th in the 14 team Atlantic 10 (can any of these conferences count?)
• Dorian Finney-Smith has 3 double-doubles on the season.  He’s averaging 10.8 rebounds per game.
• Hudson is averaging 15.6 ppg on the season.
• Erick Green is averaging 13.8 ppg, is hitting 69% of his 3s (9/13), and 54% of his shots overall.  Star!

Popularity: 13% [?]

HAPPY HOKIE DAY!  Tech will try and lock up 3rd Place in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Friday when they play the oklahoma state cowboys.  As fate would have it, Virginia Tech also plays okie state on New Year’s Eve in Stillwater.  Yep, the Hokies play osu twice this regular season but play six of the ACC teams just once.  Go figure.  Add in the fact VT played osu in the 76 Classic last year, also on the day after Thanksgiving, and that means the Hokies will have played the pokes three times in just over 13 months.

This is a critical game for the Hokies.  While it is disappointing for the team to have played so hard Wednesday against #5 syracuse, and led the entire first 27 minutes, but lost, Tech has to rinse that from their minds.  It’s easy to say ‘this is just a 3rd place game’ and take it for granted, but it is much bigger than that.  Virginia Tech needs to stockpile quality out of conference wins, something they haven’t been able to do the last four years.  While okie state is not a great team, and certainly not a lock for the Big Dance (they also lost in the 2nd Round of the NIT last year), it would be a quality win and almost certainly a top 100 win, if not better.  VT cannot afford to leave the Big Apple 0-2.  So eat your turkey and re-focus on tomorrow.

oklahoma state lost to stanford in the first NIT semi-final on Wednesday.  The game was tied at 29-29 before the cardinal used a 17-6 run to close the half and lead 46-35 at the break.  stanford then scored the first 12 points of the second half to go up 58-35, and it was a laugher after that.  The cardinal led by as many as 28 before a late, meaningless, osu run made the final score stanford 82, osu 67.

Tech will not have to deal with Marshall Moses this year for the okie pokeys.  The big man has graduated, taking away their leading scorer from a year ago.  Moses had 14 points and 11 boards against VT last year.  Jean-Paul Olekemi, who led osu with 17 against VT last year, is back.  As is sharpshooting Keiton Page, though he comes off the bench now and really struggled against the Hokies last year.

None of the returning Hokies reached double digits in points last year (Erick Green was out with an injury).  But Davila chipped in 9 points and Tyrone Garland had a key 6 points and a steal to help VT win 56-51.  The game was tied with 2 minutes to go when Seth switched to a 1-3-1 half court trap that gave osu fits, leading to turnovers and a Hokie win.

VT 56, osu 51 – Recap  |  Boxscore

This year, okie state is young just like the Hokies.  The cowboys’ two leading scorers are freshmen – Cezar Guerrero (14 ppg) and Le’Bryan Nash (13 ppg).  Guerrero is a 6′ guard who can hit from deep and slash to the hoop.  Nash is a 6’7″ wing who does most of his damage from 16′ in, and gets to the line a lot.

osu has some size inside, but not like they usually do.  Their big men, other than Nash who is a specimen for a freshman, are mostly space-eaters and don’t produce a lot in terms of points or rebounds.  Markel Brown is their best rebounder and he’s a 6’3″ guard.

This is a solid match-up for the Hokies.  If VT comes out and plays hard, I think they are the slightly better team.  Tech needs a win and needs to play that way… this game isn’t for a NIT title, but it could be for a NCAA bid.

Last of all, let me say my thoughts and prayers go out to the osu community and the victims and families of their latest air disaster that took their women’s basketball head coach.  It is the second time in 10 years their basketball programs have been badly hit with an air disaster.

Popularity: 23% [?]

The day many Hokie hoops fans have been waiting for, in some cases for over a year, is almost here.  You’ll need a program Saturday to recognize this squad, as the Hokies welcome several diaper dandies and also welcome back a couple of guys from injury (assuming they don’t get hurt between now and then).

We’ve dubbed this squad Hokies 3G.1, the third generation of players/major recruiting classes under Head Coach Seth Greenberg.  And like with gadgets, this new release promises to be the best bet.  That’s high praise compared to the senior class that just wrapped up their orange and maroon days, winning 87 games (tied for the most ever in a 4-year span), but also failed to get a NCAA Tournament bid.  This game reminds me a lot of that first game in the 2007-08 season – lots of excitement and promise.  But the guys will still be getting to know each other and likely this Beta version will have some bugs.

SERIES:

• VT 13-3
• At Home: VT 9-1
• Trend: VT has lost 2 of 3, but the teams haven’t played in 10 years (yes, ricky “program bomb” stokes was the coach for one of those losses)

PROJECTED STARTERS:

Hokie Notes:

• Erick Green, Tech’s starting point guard and (IMO) their best player, may miss this game with an Achilles injury.  VT is already without freshman point guard Marquis Rankin, whom Seth called the team’s best on-ball defender.  And forward JT Thompson is out the year (again) with an ACL injury.  Tech could have Dorenzo Hudson play point, as he did in relief of an injured Malcolm Delaney two years ago (all he did was score 41 points in that game).  Sophomore Tyrone Garland will also see minutes at the point.  Garland, to be frank, did not demonstrate the ballhandling skills necessary to run the point last year, but does have confidence and is strong off the dribble drive.  And if you need a 3-pointer banked in, he’s your man.  Tech could use Hudson, and freshman Robert Brown, at the same time at the guard position.
• Both the Hokies and the bucs return less than 40% of their scoring from a year ago.
• VT can, and needs to, dominate the glass.  etsu is not a good defensive rebounding team, a by-product of their  press (see below).  The Hokies need to limit turnovers via the press, something they always did really well against clemson’s Purnell press (though those guys are gone), and extend possessions with second chance opportunities.

etsu Notes:

• etsu was without three key players in their final exhibition game this past Saturday: two projected starters, Adam Sollazzo (9.2 ppg) and Lukas Poderis (1.3 ppg), and a Juco transfer that averaged 24 ppg last year and had 30 in their first exhibition game – Marcus Dubose.  Their status is unknown for Saturday but having Sollazzo and/or Dubose would be a big lift to the buccaneers.
• etsu likes to use a very aggressive full court press.  We’ll see how the Hokies respond to this.  etsu outscored their first exhibition opponent 40-6 in points off turnovers.  This has been a key stat to Tech in the past and they must protect the ball Saturday, while also exploiting their press.  With Green possibly out for this game, the Hokies will have a lot of question marks at the point.  This will be the key for VT if Green cannot play — can they limit their turnovers and advance the ball into their offense?
• etsu lost their top three scorers from last season, who combined for 42 ppg.  That was over 60% of their scoring.  So similar to Tech, they will be rebuilding to an extent.
• Cooley averaged 16 ppg and Brown 15 ppg in their two exhibitions.  Brown is their leading returning scorer.
• Isiah Brown is a Preseason First Team Atlantic Sun pick.
• etsu is picked to finish 4th in the Atlantic Sun this year.

STATS:

PREDICTION:

Hokies win, but it will be sloppy.  Tech will turn the ball over more than we’d like and fall into the bucs’ game of run and gun too much.  In the end, Tech has too much talent compared to the also inexperienced etsu team, and will get lots of second chance points.  I see a win in the range of 8-12 points.

BORING FACTS ABOUT etsu:

Popularity: 15% [?]

Unlike the White Stripes, we are not going to Wichita. wichita state is coming to Blacksburg for Round 2 of the Virginia Tech Invitational. It’s Brunch in Blacksburg as the Hokies host the shockers at 11 AM Sunday in the Cassell!  Yep, the shockers come to town as the Hunt for 69 rolls on.

With a Hokie win, the current senior class will pick up their 88th win and post the most wins in a 4-year span in VT basketball history.

Both teams enjoyed woodshed beatings in their NIT openers on Wednesday. VT scrambled bethune-cookman 79-54 (Recap).  wichita state popped the cornhuskers of nebraska by a 76-49 margin.

The big question for the Hokies will be the status of Victor Davila.  He has what has been diagnosed as either a torn labrum, a rotator cuff, or a deep bruise in his right shoulder.  He actually hurt it in the georgia tech game last Thursday and has logged 84 minutes of action in three games since.  But he couldn’t even lift his right arm above his shoulder earlier this week.  I bet he’ll play, but he’ll be battling it.  It doesn’t help that this is his dominant arm.  That sweet hook shot of his will be even more of a baby hook.

Erick Green also has an ankle injury from practice on Tuesday, but looked solid Wednesday.  Could we be down to six scholarship guys on Sunday?  We’ll see.  Heck, I might be suiting up by the time we get to New York if we can win two more.

I usually talk about how Virginia Tech will have an advantage with this game being at 11 AM, which is 10 AM Central where the shockers are.  But after baylor killed VT in an 11 AM game two years ago, I’ll just let that one go.

SERIES: VT 1-0 (Won 91-90 in 1965)

STARTERS:

Talk about a contrast – the shockers will go five deep on their bench.  Tech can likely only go two deep at most.

STATS:

When I say the shockers have a balanced attack, I mean they have a really balanced attack.  They have 10 guys averaging between 4.5 and 11.3 points per game.  Seven of those guys will shoot the three, so you have to defend almost their whole lineup on the perimeter except for Gabe Blair, one of their big men (he transferred from ecu).  David Kyles off the bench is their best shooter — he’s hit 72 3′s at 40%.  J.T. Durley is an inside-outside forward who will step out.  Luckily for VT, he isn’t that aggressive and doesn’t get to the line a lot.  Toure’ Murry will slash and look to get to the rim.  VT may play man if the shockers are hot from deep.

The shockers are in the top 60 in the nation in offensive and defensive efficiency.  They also are the 4th best defensive rebounding team in the nation, holding opponents to 26%.

Note: Malcolm Delaney needs just 8 assists to become VT’s all time leader.

BORING FACTS ABOUT wichita state:

• Colors: Black and yellow (another Wiz Khalifa fan)
• Established: 1895
• Type: Public
• Conference: Missouri Valley
• Mascot: WuShock
• Tragedy: 31 football players died in a 1970 plane crash… but they didn’t get a movie with Matthew McC.
• Baseball: Winningest team in the NCAA over the past 31 seasons – 1989 national champs and 3 time runner-up.
• Willie Jeffries became the first Division I black head coach at wsu in 1979.
• Bill Parcells played at wsu.
• Co-foundes (and brothers) of Pizza Hut went to wsu.

Popularity: 23% [?]

The Hokies get a third shot at bc on Wednesday, only this time it is the [I have no idea what their nickname is] of bethune-cookman from [no idea... not even the state] rolling into town!  Get ready for some super-sized fun, it is the big MEAC against the team that doesn’t get treated like they are in the ACC!

Welcome home, Hokies!  Back to the Virginia Tech Invitational for the fourth straight year!  LOL – seriously, that logo cracks me up every time. >>>>>>>

OK, enough saltiness.  Here’s the 411 on b-c since, a) I am curious and figured I’d look it up, b) well, A is really the only reason.

• Who? bethune-cookman university wildcats… WHO ARE WE? “The Wildcats!”  Who are we gonna beat?  ”The wildcats!”  [Simpson's reference]
• Mary Bethune started the bethune educational and industrial training school which later merged with the cookman institute of Jacksonville to become a co-ed high school in 1924.  Became a JC in ’31, and a 4-year school in ’41.
• Where?  Daytona Beach, FL
• Why? Regular season champs that don’t make the ncaa tournament get an auto-bid to the NIT… b-c won the MEAC regular season title at 13-3 but got upset by morgan state in the MEAC semi-finals.
• What?  As in ‘what the heck are we doing playing a MEAC team instead of some #5 or 6 seed in that other tournament.

Jake Taylor said it best in Major League – “I guess there’s only one thing left to do… win the whole [bleeping] thing.”

SERIES: VT 1-0 (Hokies 69-58 in B’burg on 1/12/2005)

STARTERS:

They only have 10 guys on their roster… got us beat.

STATS:

WHAT’S LEFT TO PLAY FOR:

• The senior class has 86 wins (86-49).  A win Wednesday will tie the Dell Curry class of 1982-86 for most wins in a 4-year span at 87.
• With 1 block, Jeff Allen becomes the first ACC player ever with 1500 points, 1000 rebounds, 200 steals, and 150 blocks (I’m guessing he’s the first to 1500-1000-200-149 though either way).
• Malcolm Delaney needs 13 assists to become VT’s all time leader.  He needs 12 steals to crack the top 10 there.
• Playing in MSG is pretty cool.  Although these seniors played a combined four games there their freshman and sophomore years in the Aeropostale Somethin-or-other.

I’m not going to post ‘HO-KEYS TO WINNING’.  We all know we ‘should’ win this game and win it easily if the guys hearts are in it.  b-c ranks in the bottom 100 in the nation in offensive efficiency, and bottom 35 (of 350) in defensive efficiency.  So they cannot score or stop decent teams.  They’ll play mostly man and probably haven’t seen much zone against them this year.  What they do do well is not turn the ball over, which the Hokies need to get transition opportunities.

Will VT be focused?  I’m not sure, and I’ll give them a pass if they aren’t.  I think they’ll react one of two ways:

1. The seniors will realize their dreams of playing in the non-VT Invitational are over and basically have a tee time setup for Thursday.
2. Come out on a mission to finally make it to the self-proclaimed ‘Most Famous Arena in the World’… I’m talkin’ ’bout in the streets of New York!  The revolution has to start, don’t waste no time in the streets of New York.

We shall see Wednesday night if the guys have a New York state of mind.

Popularity: 24% [?]

SATURDAY:

• Head to your local Hard Times (Web Site Link) to watch the game!  It will start 20 minutes after the conclusion of the first semi-final at 1 PM.
• The Hokies are in the semi-finals for the third time in five years.   They were unable to advance to the title game in 2007 or 2008.
• The big news is duke may be without ACC Player of the Year Nolan Smith.  He injured his toe midway through the second half on Friday and did not return, and looked to be in a lot of pain.  But I should note duke outscored maryland 22-11 without him to blow open a close game.
• Losing Smith would be a huge deal as he was the best player on the court back in Blacksburg two weeks ago (other than maybe Jeff Allen).  But he has been the star of stars for duke.  Don’t feel too bad for them though if he cannot go, they have a lot of stars (tic).
• Seth Curry had a horrible game in B’burg but I bet he’ll have a better day Saturday being away from Tech and the Dell Curry legacy.  He needs to step up for the devils… let’s hope his shot is off again.
• VT won last time because of great effort, and duke being off from deep (4/20).  With the Hokies having tired legs Saturday, they will have trouble getting out on three-point shooters which means if duke is on, this could be a long day.  And I’d expect to see duke pound it inside and crash the boards like fsu did to get the Hokies in foul trouble.  But Nolan is by far their best penetrator.
• Let’s hope Malcolm Delaney can be the best guard on the floor Saturday.  He was just 4/15 (1/6 on 3s) against duke the first time.  Without Smith guarding him (perhaps), let’s hope he can get things going.
• And I have checked with the ACC officials, and Allen, Davila, and Delaney will start the game Saturday with 0 fouls (phew).  Let’s keep it that way and not force David Jackson to start stretching Prince Parker on the bench.
• I hate to say it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see VT blown out in this game with or without Smith playing.  The Hokies had such an emotional victory, and have to be back on the court 15 hours later.  Jack Bauer, anyone?  This seems like an episode of 24 and VT (CTU) will have a tough time taking down Starwood/Jonas Hodges (duke).   They have to be exhausted after two straight days of playing (although uconn will be playing for a fifth straight day Saturday).  But this team continues to amaze me, so maybe they have a little bit more magic dust in their bag left for Saturday.

STARTERS:

If Smith cannot go, look for Tyler Thornton and Andre Dawkins to fill in his minutes.  Thornton is more of a point guard than Dawkins, but Thornton is a freshman.  But duke is down to three guards (Seth Curry, too) if Nolan cannot go — boohoo, welcome to our world.

STATS:

Note: Team stats are from ACC games only along with the team’s ACC ranking, player stats are from all games this season.

LAST MEETING:

• Preview
• Recap – VT 64, duke 60
• Highlights

FRIDAY WRAP-UP:

• WOW!  What a roller coaster.  The end was like a movie.  I mean, did you think VT had any chance of winning with Delaney, Davila, and Allen having four fouls with about 7 minutes to go?  I wasn’t sure we were still going to have enough guys on the court by the end.  Yet they found a way.
• I said we’d be out of fingernails by Selection Sunday.  Well, it turns out our bid may have come down to the fingertips of Derwin Kitchen.  The ball was still on them at 0.0 and VT had their win.  Reminds me of Al Pacino’s speech in Any Given Sunday — and the noles were a few inches too late Friday (thank God).  It’s crazy to think that if there had been 4.8 seconds left when fsu got the ball instead of 4.7, they’d have won.
• I was screaming for us to foul with 30 seconds left.  But Seth going to the 1-3-1 trap after fsu’s timeout was brilliant.  Got us the steal that led to Green’s go-ahead shot.
• Speaking of which, hats off to the Winchester Rifle.  He was mis-firing all game, just 1/12 from the floor.  But he stepped up and took that go-ahead shot with confidence and nailed it.  Erick didn’t let the miss at the end of at bc scare him today.  Boy has balls.  And he played great D on Kitchen’s run.
• Manny Millions looked like the only Hokie playing hard in the first half.  Credit him with keeping us competitive.
• Yes, for the 16th straight VT game, the team that shot better from 3-point range won.  VT’s 6/22 (27.3%) was good enough to beat 4/15 (26.7%).  Maybe that got us that extra tenth of a second!
• Have to think VT locked up their invitation to the NCAA Tournament.  11 ACC wins has to get us in, but we seem to find new ways to get shafted each year.  But I’m confident now.  Congrats to these guys.
• WOW!  That’s all you can say.  Now on to Saturday.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Spread: VT by 1.5 (wow, wasn’t expecting that — clearly Vegas doesn’t think Singleton is playing).

The Hokies kept themselves firmly on the bubble Thursday by beating georgia tech, now they have a chance to punch their ticket to the Big Dance with a win over florida state.   A loss means a lot of anxiety between now and Sunday evening.

The big question is: will Chris Singleton play?  fsu’s lone star (he’s to the noles what Toney Douglas was two years ago) has been out since February 12th when he suffered a foot stress fracture against uva.  He’s been shooting and warming up lately before games.  Personally, I don’t think he’ll play.  I think they’ll save him for the NCAA Tournament next week (they have a bid locked up) to protect his future and give him more time to heal.

Even if Singleton cannot play, don’t think this game will be a walkover.  The noles have been playing surprisingly well since their franchise man went down.  They beat uva despite the fact Chris went down early in the game while fsu was behind, and they’ve won three of five since.  One of those losses was to unc (yes, the unc that has won 12 of 13) where fsu led with under 10 seconds left before Harrison Barnes hit a 3-pointer to win it for the heels.  So these guys can still play… though I’m not sure how.  And to be fair, five of the six teams they played without Singleton (including uva) had losing ACC records.  Friday will be a test for the noles, who won’t have the hunger VT should have.

Note that teams playing on consecutive days tend to have an advantage early in games since they tend to be in the flow more quickly.  All you have to do is look at Tech’s record on short turnarounds (6-1) in ACC regular season games to see that.  Or look at the Big East marathon ( I mean Tournament) — there have been tons of upsets where teams that played the previous day upset a higher seed that was resting.  That will be key to Tech to jump up early.

HO-KEYS TO WINNING:

• 3-Pt%: In VT’s last 15 games, the team that shot a higher percentage from behind the arc won.  (Though in the first meeting between these clubs, VT was just 1/8 from deep — FTs won them that game).
• Transition: fsu plays great defense.  That’s how they win with or without Singleton.  They aren’t going to drop 80 or 90 on you.  So the Hokies have to find ways to get easy buckets.  Push the ball like they did against georgia tech and attack the rim, Green and Delaney.
• Protect the ball: The noles need turnovers to fuel their offense.  They are good in transition.  The Hokies need to make smart passes, and avoid giving up a lot of steals (fsu is #2 in the league in steals).
• Urgency: Tech needs to play like they did Thursday, or like they did against duke — like they were playing for a NCAA Tournament bid.  In many ways, they are.  Win Friday and I feel they are a lock.  Lose, and again, they are the mercy of the Committee, which hasn’t worked out too well the last 3 years.
• Battle Inside: The noles aren’t a team that’s going to bomb you out of the gym from deep (8th in the league in 3s made per game).  They want to penetrate.  VT has to work hard to cut off noles on the dribble, while being smart and not fouling, then box out and deny fsu second chance opportunities.

SERIES:

• All-time: fsu 25-18
• In ACC Play: fsu 6-3

EARLIER MEETING:

• at VT 71, fsu 59 (Recap)

Jeff Allen scored 24 and snagged 11 boards on his way to ACC Player of the Week honors.  VT hit 34/37 free throws to fuel the win.  Chris Singleton had 22 points and 8 rebounds for fsu.

STARTERS:

*Singleton would play for White if he plays.

STATS*:

*Team stats are from ACC games only (and ACC rank), player stats are for all games.

# Since my thought is Singleton won’t play, I’ve listed their second leading ‘whatever’.

BORING FACTS ABOUT fsu:

• f-l-o-r-i-d-a s-t-a-t-e! florida state, florida state, florida state… WOOOOO! [Sorry, but guys should not be yelling 'Woooo' at the end of your school cheer]
• Established in 1851
• 31,000 undergrads, 8,500 post-grads
• Was an all women’s school from 1906 to 1947 when it became coed. Lee Corso (ESPN Gameday personality) joked that when he went on his recruiting visit to the florida gators, he barely saw any women, but when he went to fsu, he barely saw any men… he went to fsu.
• Burt Reynolds went to fsu.
• Jim Morrison attended fsu for a stretch and got arrested for a prank after a football game.
• Richard Simmons went to fsu (chuckle)
• Ted Bundy killed two fsu Chi Omegans during his serial killing spree back in the late ’70s.
• fsu has 2 titles in football (as Hokies know all too well) and 3 title game appearances in the College World Series, but lost all 3.
• 2 Heismans – Charlie Ward and Chris Weinke
• florida state is the only school VT hasn’t beaten on the road in football OR basketball.  0-1 in pigskin, 0-4 in hoops.

Popularity: 21% [?]