wakemeup707's blog

Instead of focusing on what went wrong in the first half, the focus instead should be put on how the Hokies responded offensively in the second half.  The team scored a mere 19 points after the first twenty minutes of the game, and opened the second half with a crisp, new offensive look.  Marquis Rankin played point for a large portion of the second half, which let Erick Green shift over to the off-guard slot. With Green lining up as the shooting guard, he has more opportunities to score, which is what he is best at.  Rankin is a better ball handler and a better passer than Green.  The team looked much better offensively with those two in the game, with Hudson, Eddie and Davila being the other key parts of that line-up.  The Hokies scored 50 points in the second half, more than they scored during the entire game against UVA. What the Hokies were doing offensively in the second worked, and hopefully they established some momentum on this side of the ball, as it will be needed against Duke on Thursday, February 2nd. 

The first ten minutes of the game involved some of the worst offensive basketball played by the Hokies in recent memory.  Reffing notwithstanding, the Hokies missed many opportunities to score and only managed one point through the first 8 minutes of the game, virtue of starting the game 0-16 on field goals.  But the Hokies battled back to get the deficit down to 2 before getting down by 4 at the break. 

The second half featured a couple different Hokie teams on the court, ones that started to pull away, got down by 6, and then played even with a BYU team that they should have dominated.  The last five minutes of the game were as close as two teams can play each other. Each basket scored was answered; both teams competing to the very end. With 10 seconds to go, the Hokies got a quick layup to cut the lead to 2. When the Cougars went to inbound the ball, the pass got deflected off of another Cougar and landed out of bounds; the Hokies got the ball back down by 2.  The ball got passed out to Green, who drove it in for a lay-up that rimmed out.  With only a second left, Brown took a very long 3 for the win, which also bounced off the rim.  The final score was BYU 70, VT 68.

This team can’t make any excuses about losing this game.  It was one that they easily could have won, despite the questionable calls by the refs.  The team blew it in the opening eight minutes of the game; here’s to the Hokies winning the next one at Maryland on Saturday, January 28th at 2:30 pm.

Going into the game as big underdogs, Virginia Tech looked to get its first win in the ACC this season (0-3 going into the game).  UNC started off the game well, with a 15-9 lead after the first few minutes of the game.  Then the Hokies turned it on from 3-point range, hitting eight 3’s in the first half.  Dorenzo Hudson was 4-4 from 3-point range in the first half as the Hokies had a five-point lead at the half, 39-34.  The lead was a bit misleading, as the Hokies were shooting well from beyond the arc and UNC was not playing up to par.  Even when the shots were falling in the first twenty minutes, the Virginia Tech offense is stagnant. The offense consists of Erick Green passing the ball around the perimeter, maybe passing it inside, and then kicking it back out. About ten seconds are left on the clock after this and the Hokies force themselves to take a bad shot.  The team just happened to be making the shots in the first half, which is why Virginia Tech had a five-point halftime lead.

UNC started off the second half like a house on fire: they were getting into transition, which made the good VT half court defense irrelevant.  This caused UNC to score points in bunches and blow what as a close game wide open with a 19-0 run. The shots that were falling for Virginia Tech in the first half did not fall in the second; what kept the Hokies in the game led to fast break points for UNC. North Carolina won the game 82-68 as the Hokies fell to 0-4 in the ACC and 11-7 overall.

Notes on the game:

• Dorenzo Hudson was playing well in the first half. Why didn’t he play many minutes in the second?

• Boxing out is something this team needs to practice more if we want to win in this conference.

• We need actual plays on offense. Dribbling around the perimeter and not penetrating into the paint will not help this team.

• The freshmen need to hit the weight room, and fast. This team needs to bulk up due to not having a real center on this team.

Florida State's defense is pretty good. Against our less than average offense, that defense stifled us all night. We were are to come back and almost tie the game at the end.  Every time we threatened, Florida State had an answer. Our inability to box out and rebound definitely hurt us in this game.  We need to put ourselves in a better position to win these games; in short, we are not helping ourselves.  

Boston College is not a good basketball team. In fact, they are pretty bad.  I felt good about this game until Erick Green was not going to play.  Our team which was already not playing well took a major hit to potential success without Green.  If we hadn't already hurt ourselves by starting 0-2 in the ACC, starting 0-3 would be a backbreaker.  We let Boston College bully us around (minus the 2 point loss, it wasn't nearly as close as that). We can't let the little guys of the ACC do that to us.  Fortunately, this is a very young team and they can only get better.  Erick Green needs to play against UNC so we don't get embarrassed at home. We have to prove that we do care about basketball.

Next game: VT vs. UNC at 9 pm on ESPN. Show up and be loud. Cassell needs to be rocking.

The Virginia Tech Hokies took on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on January 7th after almost a week off, last playing December 31st against Oklahoma State. Wake Forest's previous game was a loss to Wofford the previous Monday. Virginia Tech showed an incredible amount of rust from the tip off, which resulted in a quick 20-8 lead for the Deacons. One of the most surprising factors of this quick lead was how Wake out-rebounded the Hokies. Virginia Tech must not have looked at the scouting report, as they let themselves get embarrassed on the boards all night. In the early going, Wake Forest could do no wrong, and built a large lead from the get go. The Hokies battled back, through Eddie's sharp three point shooting and a lack of turnovers.  The Hokies had only one turn over in the first half and trailed by eight at intermission.

The second half showed some sharp defense and missed possesions by Virginia Tech. Three point shots are an important part of the offense and should be used as such; however, these shots should only be taken by those who shoot above thirty percent. Dorenzo Hudson should not be shooting three's. When the right people take the right shots is when an offense flourishes. Even with these miscues and untimely turnovers, the team battled back and took the lead by one on an Eddie three late in the game. The Deacs took a three-point lead on a Harris three pointer with eleven seconds to go. Robert Brown's last second shot rimmed out at the buzzer. 58-55 was the final score. This loss hurt the Hokies, as any NCAA tournament chances took a severe hit because of this loss.

Season Three Point Percentage

As a general rule of thumb, a player typically should not attempt a three point shot unless his percentage is above thirty percent.  From this graph, only four players on the team should be attempting a three: Eddie, Green, Finney-Smith, and Brown (in that order). Hudson took way too many three point shots in this game, and the team needs to play within the offense (which goes for every player, even a reshirt senior). 

Analysis of the Final Wake Possession

The possession went as planned by Virginia Tech, up until Harris made his move. The screen was set at the top of the key, and Erick Green chose to go under the screen, which gave Harris space for a clean shot. Had Green gone over the screen, Harris would not have gotten a clean shot off.

Miscues

• Dorenzo Hudson made a number of offensive miscues that hurt the Hokies, but his defense was spectacular. Had he not made the offensive blunders, the Hokies might have won this game.

• Dorian Finney-Smith was a no show in this game. He will be needed on Tuesday when we play Florida State.

• Second half turnovers cost the Hokies as well. Crisp passes and smart decisions with the ball will greatly help us on Tuesday. 

After a slow, slow start, the Hokies ended the first half with some stellar defense and some good shots.  Freshman Robert Brown hit a very contested three point shot to give the Hokies a strong 16-0 spurt to end the half.  The defense was the most spectacular portion of the half, holding the Eagles to a mere NINE points at halftime, which saw the Hokies possess a 27-9 advantage. 

The start of the second half saw the Hokies put up six unanswered points to effectively put the game away. Erick Green led the Hokies with twelve points and Dorian Finney-Smith had a strong outing, racking up six points, eight rebounds, four assists, and two steals.  The Hokies had a rebounding advantage of 15, and after the first half the Hokies didn’t really need to play that hard to end the game. Hokies won 71-50.

Points of Concern:

• Dorenzo Hudson – For two reasons: He really hasn’t played very well recently, and appears to be in a bit of a slump.  Secondly, with what happened off the court Wednesday night with the breaking and entering at his residence, we don’t know his status for the future as he could still be charged with something. 

Bright Spots:

• Robert Brown – He has played very well recently, and is quite a shooter.  This freshman class is playing very well of late. We need all of them to step up during ACC play if we want to make the NCAA Tournament. 

Happy Holidays Everyone! 

Semi-final vs. #5 Syracuse

Defensively, for the first 28 minutes of the game, the Hokies looked very stout.  Syracuse could not hit a shot. Virginia Tech turned the ball over too many times and could not take advantage of their hot shooting and their tough defense.  Despite this, the Hokies led 29-27 at the half.

The second half started off similar to the first, with teams trading baskets and Virginia Tech building a 7-point lead.  However, at the 12-minute mark, Syracuse could not miss.  They went on a run that crippled the Hokies chances, and took an 11-point lead after a big run.  The Hokies cut it down to 5, but fell short and lost 69-58.

The Positive

• Defense – Defensively this was one of the better games Virginia Tech has played. The defense shut down Syracuse in the first half and for the majority of the game.  For 80% of the game the Hokies were the better team on the floor. 
• Shooting – The Hokies shot great.  The problem wasn’t making the shots; it was getting shots up.

The Negative

• Turnovers – This plagued the Hokies in the game, as Virginia Tech could’ve taken a big lead during its hot shooting, but could not capitalize due to the amount of turnovers.
• Offensive Production – The team did not move the ball well enough against the zone, and it showed in the limited points scored by the Hokies.

Overall, the team did play well, and showed that we can defend against the top 5. It was a good game to have played, and the team should get better offensively as the year progresses.

Well, we won. Have to get that out of the way.  In this review, it is important to note that starting PG Erick Green did not play, which had a significant outcome on the game, as we did not play any true point guards besides him. On that note, we are thin at that position, which could be a problem if we were to lose Green for the season. Now that that is out of the way, here is the review:

Synopsis

After coming out of the gate extremely slow, the Hokies pulled it together with decent defense and by making free throws, coupled with some key three's by freshman Robert Brown, who shook off early jitters to have a good debut. The Hokies, who now have length for the first time in ages, got key rebounds and blocks to stop several ETSU possessions.  Freshman Dorian Finney-Smith had a very good debut, even if against a less than spectacular team in East Tennessee State.  The Hokies did let the lead slip away near the end before closing it out to win by 11. For the first game without Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen, while also being down our point guard, the Hokies did play well enough to win, and that is what matters in the end.

Freshman Class

Overall, the freshman class looked spectacular.  They are long, fast, and can shoot.  Finney-Smith will fill the gap of losing Jeff Allen, as he looked every bit capable of being dominant within the near future. Dorian Finney-Smith looked as good as advertised, if not better.  He will be an immidate impact player. Robert Brown looked to get into a rythem after starting off slowly by hitting back to back three's, which was a good sign. C.J. Barksdale had a good debut as well; he looked to be big and strong, and considering that we lost J.T. Thompson for the year, he will be getting more playing time than originally anticipated.  The freshman class had a big impact on the opener, and we would have likely lost had it not been for their contribution.  We will see how they look with one game under their belt tomorrow, Monday, November 14th at 7 pm.  

Upperclassmen

Garland showed problems handling the ball, and it took Dorenzo Hudson handling it to get it past ETSU's full court pressure.  Past the obvious of Erick Green's absence causing major ball control problems, the team did play relatively well during the abcense of their play-maker and ball handler.  it was good to see Hudson back in action after missing last year.  Victor Davila still has no ups; that has not changed, especially after missing an easy dunk.  Boxing out was a bit of an issue at a few times in the game, as Davila needs to assert his presence in the paint.  Ball movement was key in this game, as there was no Erick Green to drive the ball and dish out.

Overall

Ball movement was good at time, poor at others. Rebounding for the most part was good, but the team needs to box out better against higher quality opponents.  Ball handling was suspect at best* and shooting was poor. The shooting was most likely due to poor ball movement and bad shot selection. The team did better at this in the second half, which showed in the amount of points scored.  Free-throw shooting looked much better as a team than last year, which is a good sign.  Overall, a win is a win, and a win without your starting point guard is even better.  The real evaluation of this team will be when Erick Green takes the court.

*Erick Green did not play.