Hokie Hoops After Eight

Last time we checked in, our heroes were on their way to Brooklyn in order to play the best team in the country. Did I have confidence in them? Of course not! But that game happened, and then they played three more games after that. Let's look at a few quick game summaries before we break this team down.

Michigan State 96, Virginia Tech 77: This was probably many of y'all's first endeavor into watching this team. Well, what you witnessed was somewhat of a bipolar game in which some things went incredibly right, and others went "Oh God, just burn it all down" wrong. What went right? Jarell Eddie was unconscious in the first half, knocking down a ton of jumpers, and with the help of Adam Smith, kept the Hokies competitive for most of the opening half. In fact, an Eddie three-ball cut Sparty's lead to three with just three minutes left in the half. That, however, was when the wheels fell off the bus (which, apparently, was on an elevator). State went on a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 13 going into halftime, capitalizing on a few poor turnovers and bad perimeter D (two of the things that went extremely wrong, another being the eight shots taken by Devin Wilson and Ben Emelogu combined, but I'll get to that).

Tech never really had a shot in this game, but will also never play a team quite like it again. No team, not even Duke, can quite replicate the pro-style ball movement and the matchup nightmare of Adreian Payne.

Seton Hall 68, Virginia Tech 67: This one hurt. Despite the score (the Pirates led for most of the game), Tech was the better team. The Hokies played decent offensively and showed signs of life on defense. That being said, this game came down to the wire, and any of those games are 50/50. I think, however, the thing that stands out most about this game was the play drawn up for Eddie with just over 20 seconds to go (22.7 to be exact).

01:30:59–01:31:11

Here's the situation: Tech is down by one, with the shot clock off. The basic design of this play was to isolate Eddie at the right elbow, and let him take it to the rack. I know that most of you were calling for Emelogu to take this shot, and while I don't disagree with you, I understand James Johnson's thinking in letting his senior have the ball in his hands at the end of the game. You may not have liked it, I definitely didn't, but I understood it. Now, while I say that, asking Eddie to attack off the dribble was...interesting. He's not the most effective player off the bounce, and it basically eliminates his best asset (he's a very good jump shooter).

Here we see Jarell take it one-on-five, with literally the entire defense collapsing on him. The basic problem with this play isn't that it was a bad shot (which it was), but that there was no threat of a pass. Seton Hall defenders left both Smith and Emelogu WIDE open, which should be beneficial considering that those two guys shot 7-10 from three for the game. Not only that, but the defensive collapse also took away any chance for C.J. Barksdale to grab an offensive rebound (which is part of the play design, should his man go for the block). It wasn't a bad play, it was just ran for the wrong player. If this situation occurs later in the year, I guarantee you that it's run for Wilson, and that he makes the right decision on the pass/shoot option.

Virginia Tech 156, Furman/Radford 110: There's not much to say about these games, other than I'm glad White Lightning got to double digits this season (12 against Furman). Actually, I'm going to take the three primary points from these two games and start my observations.

Are teams starting to figure out Devin Wilson? Okay, here's the deal. I really like Wilson, he's an awesome playmaker and the first real point guard that's been in Blacksburg since Zabian Dowdell in 2006 (and to be fair, Zab wasn't necessarily "pass first" either). The problem is that he has a jumper that's shakier than when you combine the words "Jeff, Bzdelik" and "job, security". Teams are already starting to play off of him, preventing him from getting to the hoop as much (he's shot the ball a TOTAL of 14 times in four games). I love his decision making, and I love his selflessness, but it will be a lot harder for him to make plays for other people if he can't make them for himself from time to time as well.

Don't mess with James Johnson: Cadarian Raines did, and Big C played a total of four minutes against Furman and Radford. You can speculate as to what he actually did, but whatever it was, it allowed him the privilege of earning his way back into the rotation. I think that this is a very important part of coaching that often gets overlooked at the college ranks, equal accountability between parts. It doesn't matter how important you are to the team, each player is held to the same standard.

Adam Smith can get buckets, but that's not the most important part of his game: It's actually the developing ability to be a primary ball handler. I've talked about this problem before, but I'll keep saying it as long as Marquis Rankin doesn't take the floor. Wilson can't play all 40 minutes, and hasn't over the past four games, so Smith's ability to get points for others will only increase his importance to the team.

The frontcourt rotation will vary: I know that will probably be frustrating for the players to hear, but there are only two spots on the floor for Raines, Joey van Zegeren, Trevor Thompson, C.J. Barksdale and Marshall Wood. Sure, Wood can also play some three (theoretically, at least), but he's primarily a stretch-4. While I'm sure it would be nice to have a set rotation of minutes for each guy, they will have to be used differently per situation. They can play bigger (Raines/JVZ and Barksdale/Thompson), or they can play smaller (Barksdale/Wood, Thompson/Wood). This will be one of JJ's biggest tests this year. Can he balance his big men? Will he be willing to experiment (possibly going super small or playing the rangy Thompson more)? Will he give me a stroke by playing Raines and van Zegeren at the same time? It will be something to watch all season long.

The offense isn't the same without Emelogu: He missed the last two games with post-concussion symptoms that he got in Brooklyn. I wouldn't think that he'd play tonight either (another Big South opponent, Winthrop this time), if only because he will be sorely needed against Miami on Sunday. It doesn't show in the offensive statistics, primarily because the two games he missed were against inferior opponents, but losing him just takes an element away from the team. This guy is important, and will only continue to be a bigger component of the offense. He has deep range, and is a focal point of the opposing defenses every second that he's on the court. Post-concussion syndrome can be bad, and I just hope that he doesn't rush back and make it worse. The last thing that this team needs is another big time player to go down for an extended period of time.

Okay, so I may have been wrong: Before the season started, I guessed that this team would win a grand total of nine games. Well, they're currently 5-3 and very well could be 7-1. They still have games against Winthrop, UNC Greensboro and UMD-Eastern Shore, and could definitely win a few conference games. Not a ton, don't get too excited, but they'll probably get to double digit wins.