Buzzketball Central: Virginia Tech Hokies (14-4, 3-3) at Clemson Tigers (11-7, 1-5) 630PM ESPNU

IT'S GAMEDAY! #BeatClemson Littlejohn Coliseum 6:30 PM ESPNU pic.twitter.com/1ch7hHfK8z— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) January 22, 2017

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: January 22, 2017 / 6:30 p.m.
Opponent: Clemson
Site: Clemson, South Carolina (Littlejohn Coliseum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ESPNU
Talent: Anish Shroff & Cory Alexander
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
XM Radio: XM 193 (Internet 955)

On the Road Again, Needing to win, Control the Tiger by his Tail

Buzzketball goes back on the road for four of the their next five contests. First up are the Clemson Tigers. Looking at their record you would think that this is a game the Hokies should handily win. This is the ACC though and records can be a bit deceiving. Clemson has won only one of its ACC contests so far, a 73-68 win over Wake Forest. Now for the deceiving part, Clemson's five losses have come to four ranked teams with only a close loss to Georgia Tech on the road to an unranked team. Clemson has lost to #14 UNC, #23 Notre Dame, #19 UVA, and #12 Louisville. As for the out of conference schedule, they have P5 wins over Georgia, Nebraska, Alabama, #22 South Carolina and losses to #11 Xavier and Oklahoma, who just took down the cousins this week.

On the road, on a Sunday night, with what appears to be a packed home for Clemson by ticket availability. This is also Military Appreciation Night at Clemson so that helps with the crowd. So far according to the poll on ESPN, Clemson is a 73-27 favorite in this contest and several of the major basketball analysts have also chimed in in favor of the Tigers at home. Even Vegas has the Tigers a six point favorite.

This will be the Thirty Second meeting between the Hokies and Tigers. Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 16-15. Virginia Tech won last years matchup 60-57. This is the epitome of a trap game for the Hokies. On the road, against a "lowly team", with #9 UNC looming on the horizon has all the makings of little to no focus from this Hokies team since they seem to suffer from that regardless of opponent in the beginnings of almost every contest. Only saving grace is that the game is nationally televised and Leday and Allen usually come up with huge games when the attention is highest.

The Tigers are coached by Brad Brownell, who has been at Clemson since 2010. He has finished with winning teams in all but one year guiding the Tigers. They are a consistent middle of the ACC team throughout his tenure.

Defensively, the Tigers focus primarily on a smothering man to man defense. The Tigers have forced opponents into over 15 turnovers per game. Their perimeter defense is also very stout, holding opponents to 35% shooting from the perimeter.

Offensively, Clemson runs a constant motion offense which Coach Brownell has expressed is becoming more and more difficult because with the growth of AAU and these singular player focused offenses its becoming harder to find the players willing to buy into the selfless requirements of a motion offense. So many players are used to being the center of attack and always touching the ball that its counter intuitive to them to give the ball away. Big men want the ball down low rather than to come high to set screens, essentially removing them from the offensive play. This said, Clemson has struggled all season offensively, especially in ACC play where they are in the bottom four in multiple categories. Their strength seems to be in turnovers leading to transition baskets and beyond that its difficult for the Tigers to get a real rhythm offensively.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

The Hokies have a chance to dominate inside. Clemson so far this season has not been able to deal with tough interior play and allows opponents to shoot 52% on the interior this season. This needs to be a focus of getting baskets or getting to the line today. The Tigers are fairly well disciplined when it comes to committing fouls but two of their bigs have issues here so that should be a focal point for the Hokies offense.

The Hokies have a second opportunity in a row to essentially lock down a team tonight which will force all kinds of issues offensively for the Tigers. They struggle mightily offensively so if the Hokies come out with their energetic defense it should create a large gap between these two squads. I would hope that Buzz has his guys turn the pressure all the way up, especially coming out of the gate. This would be where he reminds his guys that they are underdogs to a 1-5 team in conference.

I would expect a high paced game, Tech needs to get out and run early and often. Change the pace of play so that the Tigers are forced to constantly reach for opponents. If the Hokies come out and stand around on offense like they have in other recent games they play right into the Tigers hands, as they are great defensively when they can sit on their assigned offensive player.

Today, the Hokies perimeter players must find a way to make their shots even being a bit uncomfortable. Buzz needs to get in Bibbs ear that he needs to shoot if he has a sliver of a chance, rather than just passing it around. Too often in the last few games we have passed too much and ended up rushing things at the end of a shot clock rather than take a better shot opportunity earlier on.

Tigers Backcourt

Avry Holmes (#12) 6'2, 195 Lbs Senior Guard is averaging 11.1 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.6 APG and 1.1 SPG. He is shooting 39% from behind the arc and 40% overall. This is the perimeter shooter the Hokies most need to account for as he averages almost six attempts per game.

Marcquise Reed, (#2) 6'3, 185 Lbs Sophomore Guard comes in averaging 9.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.4 SPG. He is shooting 42% from outside but only attempts two per game. He also shoots better than 88% from the free throw line. This is his first season in the lineup for the Tigers after transferring in from Robert Morris

Gabe Devoe (#10), 6'3, 210 Lbs Junior Guard is averaging 9.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.6 SPG. Moore comes in averaging 25 MPG. He is almost a real threat to score from outside, shooting 38% on over 4 attempts per game.

Shelton Mitchell, (#4), 6'3, 195 Lbs Sophomore Guard is giving the Tigers about 25 MPG while averaging 8.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 3.3 APG. Mitchell is the closest thing this team has to a point guard with how much rotation the top of the key sees in their motion offense. This is also Mitchell's first season with the Tigers after transferring from Vanderbilt.

Tigers Frontcourt

Jaron Blossomgame, (#5), 6'7, 215 Lbs Senior Forward is in contention for ACC Player of the Year. He is averaging 17.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, and 1.1 BPG. Blossomgame is almost the complete focus of the Tigers offense and he is difficult down low. His interior scoring is at 52%. Leday will need to keep him from having a season day to keep the Hokies in this game. If he gets his averages, the Hokies should be able to more than account for several of his teammates.

Donte Grantham, (#15) 6'8, 215 Lbs Junior Forward, is averaging over 30 MPG and comes in putting up 9.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.2 APG. He is shooting 39% from the field, 33% from behind the arc and a solid 80% from the line. Grantham likes to step outside to shoot the three. He is averaging almost 5 per contest. The Hokies can't afford to let Grantham open like they did Stephens of Georgia Tech.

Elijah Thomas, (#14) 6'9, 230 Lbs Freshman Forward seemingly was granted a medical redshirt for last season at Texas A&M and then granted permission to play immediately at Clemson. He has played in the second half of this season after dealing with an early injury this season. He is averaging 7.3 PPG, 3 RPG, 1.1 SPG, and 1.8 BPG so far in his limited time.

Sidy Djitte, (#50), 6'10, 240 Lbs, Senior Center is averaging 6.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG, .9 BPG, and 1.1 SPG. His Achilles heel though are personal fouls. He is averaging over 3 per contest. Too often guards get him off his feet and are able to draw contact for the foul. Expect to see Seth Allen and Chris Clarke go right at him today. He does have the ability though to have a game like Lammers if we make it easy for him.

Names the Announcers will Butcher
Sidy Djitte seems to be the winner on this roster.

What to expect from Clemson?

The Tigers rely on a rotation of eight players. Six of those players average more than 1 steal per game so far this season. This says that the Tigers across the board will be looking to get their hands on the ball. Expect to see the Tigers disrupting passing lanes and creating transition opportunities.

Blossomgame, Blossomgame, Blossomgame. Beyond that the Tigers have pretty balanced scoring from about four other players. That's really where Tech needs to focus their energies. Blossomgame is likely going to get his but if he is the only one than it's a big swing in momentum.

The Tigers will stretch the floor several times defensively, ramping up the pressure by putting the full court press on. It will be aggressive and looking to force turnovers more than looking to shorten the shot clock for the Hokies.

Offensively, Brownell has this team bought in to moving without the ball. The big men especially will get high on the perimeter to set screens or run a pick and roll motion to the basket. Its going to take high energy all game to defend this constant motion.

The Hokies

Tech needs to be focused and moving around on offense to limit the Tigers ability to get in passing lanes and creating turnovers. No sloppy interior passing like the Georgia Tech game or they will be giving their opponent exactly what they want. Not sure what Buzz needs to do to get through to these guys but the standing around and the lackadaisical play have to stop. Ever since the Duke game, this team just doesn't seem to be able to focus on the task at hand for even 30 of 40 minutes.

Tech needs to be able to get to the basket frequently but doing so intelligently. Don't overcommit so much that you essentially hand your opponent the ball at the rim (See Lammers, Eight Blocks). Get into the body of the Clemson bigs and they will respond by fouling. Its been their one big weakness defensively this season.

The Hokies are back to having five players in double figures per game average. It works when they spread the ball around, without letting a defense focus in on just one or two guys. Today needs to be a bounce back game for Ahmed Hill. He needs to stay out of foul trouble, especially on contact of players moving without the ball. If he stays on the court than his shooting touch is bound to show up. Two straight games under five points after eight straight double digit performances. Time to mount up.

13 games in double-digits46 three-pointers248 points#ShootersShoot pic.twitter.com/rcWHGVsPfh— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) January 21, 2017

Bibbs is going to be wildly inconsistent on offense but he is going to remain on the court because we don't have a better defender. He likely will be called upon to guard Blossomgame for stretches of this contest when Leday has to go head to head with other bigger forwards on the court.

Highlight of the Georgia Tech Game

It seems like a broken record, but critical baskets by Clarke and Allen late in this game made the difference in a Hokies win.

In Closing

Clemson will look to kick start their offense through the Hokies turnovers primarily by stealing the ball cutting off passing lanes. The Hokies have to limit these opportunities but most importantly they have to get back to defend the basket when they do make these mistakes. Don't let the Tigers hand around. The closer the Hokies let this game be towards the end, the more likely it is to go Clemson's way. Tech fans don't want to be pointing to officials or a Clemson miraculous play after this one is over.

40 MINUTES OF BASKETBALL. Not sure where this team lost that focus but Buzz needs to get these guys back in the mindset of playing from whistle to whistle. Taking even a few minutes off has shown this fan base how quickly things can turn, especially early on in contests. The Hokies seem to have a penchant for coming out flat and letting teams build early BIG leads on them. That trend needs to stop.

Energy is the key to this game. Who has it, who wants it more, who finds it over the last five minutes likely will make all the difference in this contest.

The Hokies win 71-67 by coming to play defense today. Shutting down the Tigers offensively has been the blueprint for teams beating the Tigers all season. The Hokies have shown they can dissect a man to man defense because of their speed and athleticism. Today they need to put both of those traits on display and win a critical ACC road game.

"True confidence can only come from your work and from your work you should be prepared."@TeamCoachBuzz #getB3TTER pic.twitter.com/EqKnJKdDPO— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) January 19, 2017