Welcome back Hokies fans, hopefully the football team comes through today to give us something to cheer about. Buzz and the boys definitely did nothing for us last night except drive us crazy. Bad turnovers, bad perimeter defense, bad shots, bad free throw shooting, just pretty much bad all around. It was obvious Iowa State decided to make a statement in last nights game, finishing off the Hokies 99-77.
This afternoon we face a much closer talented team to our own roster. Tech and UAB have two similar opponents faced and are each coming off a loss last night. UAB comes in having beaten Alabama State by one possession and also having beaten Jacksonville State by a handful. The Blazers also have the support of former Hokie, Robert Brown, helping to lead their team this season. I am sure he would love nothing more than to get a win in his senior season against his former squad.
The Blazers are led in scoring by Sophomore forward Chris Cokley, (#3) 6'8, 218 Lbs who is scoring 15.8 PPG, while pulling down 8.6 RPG. He is a very athletic and likely will match up against Leday for most of the game. Currently, he is shooting 57% from the field and 73% from the line. Cokley is the only Blazer currently scoring in double digits per game. He takes most of his shots within eight feet of the basket, so keeping him out of the lane with possession is critical.
Former Hokie Robert Brown, Senior Guard, (#4), 6'5, 190 lbs comes in as a do a little bit of everything for the Blazers. He is averaging 9.6 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 3.6 APG. He is considered their top defensive player, so I would expect him to match up with Clarke when he is on the court. He is still fairly ineffective from the outside, which was one of the knocks on his game when he was at Tech.
After these two, the Blazers basically are balling by committee, having nine players averaging between 3 and 7.2 PPG. Lewis Sullivan (#7), Sophomore forward, 6'7, 195 Lbs is scoring 7.2 PPG but doing so in only 13 MPG. I can only speculate that fitness is why he is only playing such sparse minutes as his contribution rate in almost every category is at the top and he does not appear to be in foul trouble often.
Guards Nick Norton (#2) 5'10, 175 lbs and Hakeem Baxter (#0), 6'2, 170 lbs round out the rotation for this team, putting up about 6.5 PPG and 3 or so RPG each. Norton is more of a facilitator with his 4.3 APG.
The Blazers are usually playing two forwards and three guards since they don't have much in terms of size. Expect UAB to try to push the pace to try to score in transition rather than have to run a half court set where the Hokies will be able to put their size to better advantage. This is going to mean high intensity defensive play from the guards of UAB. Our young backcourt will need to be ready to break that first trap with a solid pass to the open player.
The good news is that this season so far, the Blazers are terrible perimeter shooters, averaging 25% as a team. This could essentially wipe out one of Tech's biggest weaknesses so far. Tech opponents have averaged about 40% from the perimeter so far through five games. Last night certainly didn't help, with Iowa State shooting 62% from outside. Take that in, the Hokies allowed the Cyclones to shoot 13 of 21 from three point land. Not a number you ever want to see as a coach.
Buzz will have his hands full getting these guys focused again after the beating last night. The bright spots continue to be Leday, Clarke and Bibbs. Henry continues to progress and we finally saw some contribution from Hudson with seven points.
Seth Allen, even in double figures again, continues to struggle. He just seems to be trying to do too much rather than rely on his teammates. Its worrisome as we are now five games into this season, rust is one thing but habits are another. These are beginning to seem like habits.
If the Hokies play to their talent level, this game should be a nice 10 point win but if they succumb to their inexperience than we could be in for a long night. These teams are very close in terms of playing ability so whomever wants it more and executes their game plan will win this game. I expect that this game will come down to Leday executing in the lane. If he goes for more than 20 points tonight, the Hokies win. Tech 71-UAB 68.
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