HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: #16 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (12-3, 6-2) AT PITTSBURGH PANTHERS (8-5,4-4) 7PM RSN
It's gameday!#StoneByStone | #Hokies ๐ฆโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 3, 2021
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Feb 3 2021 7 PM
Opponent: Pittsburgh
Site: Peterson Events Center
RSN, Tom Werme (play-by-play) and Mike Gminski (analyst)
Virginia Tech Sports Network.
Excited to join Cameo!If you would like a personal video message from me for yourself or your favorite Hokie, hit me up!๐ Greetings โ ๐ or ๐จโ๐ Announcements โ Life PxP ๐ โ Donating a portion of proceeds to help raise mental health awareness!https://t.co/Bu5wdAm3AIโ Jon Laaser (@LazeVT) February 3, 2021
Jon Laaser (play-by-play) and Mike Burnop (analyst)
Where you at CavMan?? pic.twitter.com/OHXszBxPUmโ HokieBird (@TheHokieBird) January 31, 2021
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What did one Pitt fan say to the other Pitt fan?
Trick Question, as Pitt has one more fan than UVA Spring Games...Dad Joke 101
The Hokies take on the Pittsburgh Panthers after a complete dismantling of Virginia, using a 19-0 run to win decisively. The Hokies Keve Aluma put on a one man show early on and the Tech defense held Virginia to its lowest shooting performance on the season. Any question of who the better team was, was answered spectacularly by the Hokies Social Media team.
Our State. pic.twitter.com/EpyarrD8Xgโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 31, 2021
The Hokies are 9-7 against Pittsburgh going into their 17th meeting. The Hokies beat Pittsburgh last February and come in on a five-game win streak over the Panthers. This game is on the Regional Sports Networks.
"This big"
The Panthers are coached by Jeff Capel III, who has been at Pittsburgh since 2018. The Panthers are 38-41 under Capel III, who is now 213-151 as a Head coach with ten years as a head coach at VCU and Oklahoma before spending seven years in the Duke Dungeon as an assistant. The Panthers have not reached the post season under Capel even with last year's tournament cancelled, they likely would not have received a post-season invitation. He has an ignominious 13-32 record in the ACC. His Panthers are also 2-14 in February.
Pitt started the season quickly, jumping out to an 8-2 start, but has struggled for consistency, having had four game postponed by Covid protocols. They face the Hokies on a three-game losing streak and then will be paused again due to Florida State postponing three games, including the Hokies.
Coach Capel III's Panthers come in 8-5 and 4-4 in the ACC. They lost early in the season to St Francis PA, but seemed to right the ship with eight wins in their next nine games. They then won games over Drexel, Northern Illinois, Northwestern and Gardner Webb before entering ACC play. Pittsburgh then beat Miami, lost to Louisville and then went into the first of three pauses due to Covid precautions. The Panthers then returned to beat Syracuse, sandwiched a two-game pause with another win over Syracuse. Their last win came over Duke on January 19th, before their third pause. After this final pause, Pittsburgh embarked on a three-game losing streak to Wake Forest, UNC and Notre Dame.
Gone from the Panther's are Eric Hamilton, Kene Chukwuka, Anthony Starzynski to graduation. Trey McGowens transferred to Nebraska. KJ Marshall transferred to Garden City Community College. Samson George transferred to Central Arkansas. Ryan Murphy transferred to Tulane. These departures represented nearly half the Panthers scoring in 2019-20.
The Panther's brought in the 27th ranked recruiting class in the form of two four-stars, Center John Hugley IV and Forward William Jeffress Jr. The class is rounded out by three three-stars, Forward Noah Collier, Center Max Amadasun, and Guard Femi Odukale. Outside Hugley, who is now suspended, the freshman have had minimal impact. The Panthers only had one transfer in in Nike Sibande, who came over from Miami(OH). Sibande has also had limited impact.
Justyn Mutts will see a familiar face when he meets up with Ithiel Horton, who was Mutts teammate at Delaware for two seasons before transferring to Pitt.
Defensively, Pittsburgh's main point of emphasis is their match-up zone. Capel's zone applies pressure on the basketball, takes away the corner drives and covers the elbow and supports help side defense. He uses "41 Hot" press that puts pressure on the teams ball handlers in the full-court, trying to force the ball to a poor ball handler.
Capel's defense, similar to the Pack-Line, is especially focused on denying the baseline. Defenders are taught to position themselves to not allow any baseline penetration, relying on help defense to close an adjusted drive to the center of the lane. The key weakness of this defense, much like UVA, is shooters on the perimeter AND hit those shots, the integrity of this defense begins to fall apart. The Pitt early success was more about opponents missing open shots rather than the defensive pressure from the Panthers. The number of baskets on open shots have steadily increased during their current losing streak.
Offensively, the Panthers run a very up-tempo, attacking offense. Pitt averages 1.5 attempts per minute, or about 60 shots per game. They are very efficient, averaging 1.2 points per attempt. Nothing spectacular jumps out at you in this offense outside Justin Champagnie, who is an ACC POY candidate. The Sophomore Guard is a tall wing player with enough bulk to bang down low on both ends. There will be times where Coach Capel runs out five although large Guards to try to gain advantage in transition.
They create offense by stressing the importance of defensive rebounding, where they average pulling down nearly 70% of opponents missed shots. "We were just trying to find five guys to play hard. So it didn't matter whether it was big, small, or whatever," Capel said. "We've got to figure out who our best guys are that are going to be able to do what we need to do to give ourselves the best chance to win
The Panthers are shooting 19.4 three-point attempts per game in ACC play, hitting 6.5 of them. This means the Panthers do not really rely on perimeter scoring.
Which Hokie would you like to see on this cover? ๐ค#StoneByStone | #Hokies ๐ฆ pic.twitter.com/LXzxcCkHyMโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 3, 2021
Panthers Backcourt
Justin Champagnie
#11, SO, G, 6-6, 200 lbs
Brooklyn, NY Bishop Loughlin (NY)
20.1 Pts, 12.1 Reb, 1.7 Ast
Shoots 53% from the floor, 40% from the perimeter and 66% from the line.
Au'Diese Toney
#5, JR, G, 6-6, 210 lbs
Huntsville, AL - Trinity Christian Academy
14.7 Pts, 6.0 Reb, 2.4 Ast
Shoots 45% from the floor, 30% from the perimeter and 68% from the line. Toney, now in his third year with the program, is the team's best defensive player, who, at 6-foot-6, is also capable of guarding several different positions.
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Xavier Johnson
#1, JR, G, 6-3, 200 lbs
Woodbridge, VA - Bishop O'Connell HS
13.2 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 6.1 Ast
Shoots 38% from the floor, 30% from the perimeter and 79% from the line.
Ithiel Horton
#0, SO, G, 6-3, 200 lbs
Vauxhall, NJ - Roselle Catholic HS
8.6 Pts, 2.5 Reb, 1.7 Ast
Shoots 38% from the floor, 36% from the perimeter and 83% from the line.
Femi Odukale
#2, FR, G, 6-5, 185 lbs
Brooklyn, NY - Springfield Commonwealth Academy
4.5 Pts, 2.1 Reb, 2.0 Ast
Shoots 41% from the floor, 17% from the perimeter and 38% from the line.
William Jeffress
#24, FR, G, 6-7, 205 lbs
Erie, PA - McDowell HS
2.2 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Shoots 22% from the floor, 13% from the perimeter and 50% from the line.
Nike Sibande
#22, SR, G, 6-4, 185
Indianapolis, IN - Crispus Attucks High School
3.2 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Shoots 33% from the floor, 40% from the perimeter and 33% from the line.
Panthers Frontcourt
Karim Coulibaly
#12, SO, F, 6-8, 215 lbs
Bamako, Mali Scotland Campus (PA)
5.3 Pts, 4.2 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Shoots 54% from the floor, 50% from the perimeter and 80% from the line. Coulibaly rarely shoots from the perimeter.
CAPTION THIS
Terrell Brown
#21, SR, F, 6-10, 235 lbs
Providence, RI Tilton School
2.3 Pts, 1.8 Reb, 0.0 Ast
Shoots 37% from the floor, does not shoot from the perimeter and 61% from the line.
What to expect from Pittsburgh?
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starters | I. Horton | X. Johnson | A. Toney | J. Champagnie | K. Coulibaly |
| Rotation | F. Odukale, Jr. | N. Sibande | W. Jeffress | ||
| Lim PT | O. Ezeakudo | G. Drumgoole | A. Fisch | T. Brown | M. Amadasun |
| Lim PT | C. Aiken, Jr. | C. Smith | N. Collier | ||
| Lim PT | J. Hughley | ||||
| Lim PT | J. Nixon | M. Poindexter |
The Panthers come in with four players averaging 8.6 or more points per game but the Panthers bench contributions are spotty at best. Those four players take over 73% of the Panthers shots. That said, Pittsburgh relies too heavily on their starters and any time they substitute, opponents typically surge. Johnson and Koulimbaly both average more than 3 fouls per game and spend critical moments on the bench.
The Panthers commit 16.4 fouls per game. Opponents shoot 17 free throw attempts in ACC play but luck has been on Pitt's side here, as opponents have only shot 62.5% from the line. The Hokies average 19.2 attempts per ACC game, so expect somewhere in the middle in this game. Pittsburgh does excel at getting to the free throw line but they too struggle significantly at the line.
Defensively during the losing streak, Pitt has allowed 76 points to Wake Forest, 75 to North Carolina and 84 to Notre Dame. Those opponents' shooting percentages gradually have risen from 46.4 to 52.5 to 56.1. I do not expect much improvement considering the Hokies are much more efficient than those recent opponents.
"This is not about X, this is about us," Panthers coach Jeff Capel said when asked about Johnson's performance. "We were bad. We were bad collectively as a group. One person wasn't bad. Everyone on our team was bad. And so, it's correcting everyone, not just X. He was not the only one out of control, we were out of control. This is not about one guy."
ACC opponents are averaging a 70.4 points per game against this defense, or about middle of the pack in the ACC. ACC opponents are shooting 44% from the floor and only 31% from the perimeter against the Panthers.
Pittsburgh's assist ratio is close to 66%. Xavier Johnson leads Pittsburgh's passing game with 6.1 assists per contest, but then only one other Panther is averaging more than two per game.
As a team the Panthers are shooting 34% from the perimeter on 19.4 attempts per game. Only Champagnie and Sibande shoot better than 40% with more than 1 attempt per game. Four different shooters average 3.6 attempts per game from the perimeter.
Pittsburgh holds a slight rebounding edge in ACC play. They average 38.8 rebounds to opponents 36.6 in eight ACC contests. Champagnie far and away leads the Panthers averaging more than 12 rebounds per contest. During Pitt's three-game losing streak they are averaging 34.3 rebounds compared to 43.1 before the streak started.
The suspension of Forward John Hugley has played a role in this decline as Pittsburgh is not deep in the Frontcourt. Hugley was third on the team in rebounds but is now facing three felony counts relating to an incident involving a stolen car.
The Hokies
The Hokies will have their hands full with the Champagnie, but the Hokies have shown they have the ability to shut down a single contributor, especially one that Mutts or Aluma can body up defensively. Aluma was able to guard Laszewski and Hauser alone last game and will likely be called upon to guard Champagnie for most of this game. "The mantra around here is defense travels," Young said. "We should be really good in that regard, night-in and night-out."
While Pittsburgh plays solid defense, they allow opponents a significant number of open looks. This is the contest that Pitt has to choose between getting burned inside or out. I would expect them to focus inside on Aluma but this frees up Cattoor and Cone to do significant damage. "To think that kid was at Wofford (before transferring to Virginia Tech)," Jeff Capel said. "He was absolutely dominant in the last eight minutes against Virginia. We're going to have to figure out a way to try to slow him down a little bit." They create about an equal number of turnovers as they give back.
Hunter was on @accnetwork's #PackerAndDurham this morning and spoke on our big win over UVA, his 'shot-clock' dunk & more @CattoorHunter's full interview ๐#StoneByStone | #Hokies ๐ฆ pic.twitter.com/JrKRpDHJbaโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 2, 2021
The one area the Hokies excel that they must be able to continue is in offensive rebounds. The Hokies being able to create additional opportunities is critical to beating Pittsburgh. Opponents right now average more than ten offensive rebounds per game on thirty-three missed shot attempts. The second chance scoring has been a significant edge for Pitt's previous two opponents.
If the Hokies shoot to their ACC averages of 44% from the floor and their 32.7% from the perimeter with at least 55 attempts, they will have done enough to win this game.
YOU HAVE TO HIT YOUR FREE THROWS. Pittsburgh opponents so far only make 11.7 free throws per game, but that's on 63% shooting. The Hokies currently shoot 71% which would give them almost two more points toward the final results. The Hokies usually make 13.7 free throws per game.
Pitt knows how to get back in games, so the Hokies cannot afford to relax. Give Pitt a few minutes of undisciplined basketball and they will surge back into the game. They staged comebacks against Duke of 11 and 18 points to win. Their loss to a difficult Wake Forest team was by a single point with several lead changes late in the game.
Pitt though seems to have struggled to play cohesive basketball with all their schedule changes. The fact the Hokies have managed to not have much of their schedule disrupted has helped. "I say this as I knock on wood for the 3,000th time this year," Young said. "We haven't missed a practice."
Highlight of the Virginia Game
Keve also picked up some national awards as well, earning weekly honors from @espn & @NaismithTrophy ๐#StoneByStone | #Hokies ๐ฆ pic.twitter.com/nD4Wy0BTejโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 1, 2021
So many things to like but Aluma gets the nod. He has had his struggles and seemed to be "Angry Birds" in this one and everything worked. He was recognized Nationally for his efforts.
In Closing
This game is going to come down to the little things, generate turnovers, force contested shots, offensive rebounds, and execution at the free throw line by the Hokies. In these four area, the Hokies need to generate at least 25 points to be successful. Twelve to fourteen at the line, ten or more between turnovers and second chances. The most critical though is the one that lessens Pitt on the scoreboard by making them earn their points.
Pitt allows too many open looks for the Hokies not to make them pay. The perimeter shooting alone likely decides this game. The more Jalen Cone, Naheim Alleyne and Hunter Cattoor shoot cleanly from outside, the harder it will be for the Panthers to focus on Aluma inside.
Hokies get the ACC Road Win 81-69.
Confidence Factor: Four Popcorns, Pitt is hit or miss on showing up, I expect a close first half more from Pitt adrenaline but the second half should be mostly one sided. My only hesitation is that two of the Hoies three losses are on the road.
Four Popcorns
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Love this quote from @CoachMKYoung ๐๐ฃ ๐ง๐๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐๐ง๐จ:"They're great people. They're about the right stuff. They make it fun for this old boy, I can tell ya that."Easy to play hard for a guy like that โ pic.twitter.com/4ix59rhvK1โ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 1, 2021
Comments
Virginia Tech, an ACC school, plays Pitt, an ACC school on a Wendnesday evening. At the same time on ACCN they are showing ESPN Films. What is the point of the ACCN if they won't show ACC games?
Virginia Tech, an ACC school, plays Pitt, an ACC school on a Wendnesday evening. At the same time on ACCN they are showing ESPN Films. What is the point of the ACCN if they won't show ACC games?Let's Go!!
FTFY
HOKIES!!
I'm on pace to view the least number of VT league games since joining the ACC thanks to the fucking ACC network.
Edit: looking at their schedule, it looks like the 7pm slot will have Louisville vs Syracuse
Louisville Syracuse was postponed. Would be nice if they slid our game over or at least broadcast on both, but that won't happen.
This would require a competent, cohesive staff but they are likely prevented by contract to do both in any area an RSN is paying to broadcast it.
When regional sports networks do halftime shows that do nothing but stroke the massive ego of the outgoing idiot that runs the conference its no wonder they get these broadcasts. Let's hope the next guy has a brain cell or two and changes up this mid 90's television arrangement.
Ah gotcha
Not only that but it is the only acc game at seven tonight. Yes, it is blacked out for people in Blacksburg.
I've got DISH (I'm in Cburg) and it was blacked out on RSN. However, MASN is showing it - channel 412-22. Maybe see if you pick up MASN?
MASN is the RSN for most of Virginia...
Positive of living in Wisconsin, no Hokie games are blacked out
The ACC network is stupid and the conference is stupid for allowing this to happen. Fuck Tobacco Road their nepotist asshole Raycom shit that continues to fuck over the conference.
Edit: Go Hokies!
We've had what 1-2 games on ESPN this year? The rest on ACCN or nothing at all. In one of our most exciting seasons, while Duke and UNC suck turds, and we still can't get a national broadcast. Burn the fucking thing down.
LET'S GO
I'd complain about not watching but it's a good excuse to listen to our kick ass radio team call a nice win hopefully!
F@$# PITT
F$@# ACCN
The ACC network in combination with my cable cutting means I have listened to a lot more of Laze and Burnop. They are fantastic. Just enough homerism, but they give credit where it's due to the opponents (and officials). I also find I can do other productive stuff while listening.
For any of us in the New England area, it's on NESNPlus.
LETS FUCKING GO!!!!
EAT SHIT PITT!!!
If anyone gets a working like will you post
From cbb streams. Open on incognito. Try this: LINKY
COOOOOONE
Doesn't matter how it goes in, love seeing Jalen hit his first shot.
Got it streaming here
https://sports24.stream/ncaab/virginia-tech-hokies-at-pittsburgh-panther...
I don't like how aluma isn't taking those open 3s. I know that's not his game but they are dating him to shoot. I'd rather have him shoot then bede
Did I just hear Laze reference David Cunningham and the Charge-O-Meter?
Should have been a travel before the foul on Cattoor.
Two points to the Zebras already on the Aluma shot
Not sure why they blew the whistle before the horn. Weird
What foul was just called on the Pitt guy tripping over his own feet? Should have been another travel.
I think ACC officials secretly have a Who can call a worse game and keep a job game amongst themselves
Five fouls to two, are we actually playing that sloppy?
Not defensively, no
Some were phantom calls
Every 3 Pitt has made is a result of us going under the screen.
We are not playing the screens well tonight.
HE'S ON FIRE
Alleyne is 0-5 thus far. Hopefully he can heat up in the second.
Aluma gets thrown down, official looks right at it, lifts arm with shoo play on, nothing to see here
Wow, officials are really calling this one sided.
Cattoor block giftory
If we make a couple of threes in the second half we will be fine. If not, it will be a tight game
Guy bends Alleyne over, foul on Alleyne
Guess we can't even box out anymore
How bout that bullshit foul
We would be up 12 to 15 points if we could just hit our open shots....wide open shots
Naheim missed long two; wash rinse repeat
All 31 points have been from three guys. Need production elsewhere to pull away.
Mutts is bringing that radford energy tonight. Love it
Mike Young about to tear the team a new one for the lax perimeter defense.
Hopefully we find our shooting stroke in the second half and the officials start calling it straight.
One or the other makes a huge difference.
I love CMY. He better make some defense adjustments at halftime... but he is a good dude and will make us a good/great program for years. That interview was great... even as short as it was
is struggling to play in true road games just going to be a thing for this team?
Who was the Hokie faded out on the guys wall interviewing Coach Young in that Driven segment?
Pound the rock inside!
Bede just magically fell backwards six feet, no foul
Refs are letting Pitt play awfully physical this game. We are really missing Radford tonight though.
Game is live on YouTube. Just search on vt basketball. It is the NESN feed.
nice
Failed to whistle the lane violation on Pitt on the free throw. Another point to the officials.
The officials are killing us tonight.
These refs are pure dog shit tonight.
I take that back, my dogs got offended. They are pure taco bell squirts shit.
Refs playing favorites out here
Every time they fall it's a foul.
how many offensive rebounds do we have? i feel like we are struggling there
We have 8 but they have only scored 4 points from them.
16 fouls to 10, 15 ft attempts to 4
And it isn't like they aren't beating the shit out of our guys
Refs backs must be killing them for carrying Pitts fat ass
I'm pretty sure it's their knees....
I understand that we are fouling, but call them both ways!
Get bede out if he won't shoot that.
So many screen violations not called on Pitt it is crazy
So much for covering the perimeter...
hard to cover the perimeter fighting through a moving screen
Go up 6 refs start calling everything on us๐ค
Ugh, curse of 16 apparently tonight. Still time but we need to do a complete 180 if we want to pull this one out.
Going to have to convince the refs that the check won't clear
How was that not a moving screen?
I thought moving screens were a point of emphasis, but I guess not when we play.
Why does the screener get to push the defender towards the basket when the defender tries to go under the screen? If that's not a moving screen - I guess I dont understand basketball.
Can't beat these fucking refs man. When do we get the game where refs make up shit for us?
It's over can't overcome 8v5
Hey ACC refs - for your reference:
Noun. moving screen (plural moving screens) (basketball, informal) An offensive foul committed when a player executing a screen moves in order to block the defender and makes contact.
Ref probably got knock over by a Pitt moving screen.
Can't be an ACC contender losing games like this
Official falls down, surprised we werent whistled for it
Was thinking the same thing.
Refs aren't the reason 2/5 of our starting lineup has combined for 3 points.
Plus Pitt is just shooting lights out in the second half
Well they can't get shots off half of the possessions lately because they are getting reached in on, mugged and beat up
Bede seems to have a lot of space to get shots up
Because of our foul trouble...
Exactly. When you are playing with four fouls because of terrible calls, you have to be less aggressive on defense, and it impacts your confidence on offense. IT doesn't happen in a vacuum. Poor, uneven officiating goes beyond the individual calls.
Alleyne is 1/8 and has played 30 plus minutes. Bede is 0/4 in over 20 minutes. They're just not hitting them tonight. It happens. Not the end of the world
They both have four fouls. Changes how you play.
On offense? I could see it making you more hesitant to attack the basket but idk about just not hitting your shots. Though I'm obviously on my couch (and haven't played basketball since 8th grade)
I'm just saying Tech can lose to Pitt without "getting screwed by the refs" which seems to be everybody's consensus. Pitt isn't a bad team and they were hungry to get after it after getting waxed by ND. Looks like Tech had a bit of a letdown and not having Radford tonight hurt
Absolutely changes how you play on offense when you have four fouls. You cant be aggressive to push through a clutching, grabby defense. You can't take chances on a drive. IT gets in your head that one bad play and you are done. On top of that, you ride the bench for long stretches and can't get into the flow of a game. 100% impacts both ends of the floor.
There were a lot of calls in Pitts favor when they were on offense. Those extra points lead to pressing to try to score. Taking questionable shots, and pushing hard to score instead of letting the game come to you. The number of no calls against Pitt was significant, and played a role in their victory.
Yeah we are done. too much to overcome in this half.
We haven't scored in over 3:00. Top that with suddenly getting whistled for 5 fouls during that span.
Dumb foul. If he didn't foul the shot pitt would've been called for over the back.
No comeback when Pitt cant miss.
Welp looks like that 19-0 run from last game is going the other way tonight... Wish the team could follow up big wins by winning the supposed easy ones...
Hopefully this is just a blip and not a sneak peak of the rest of the season. Maybe Radford will get the Grayson Allen treatment and get reinstated from indefinite suspension after a loss.
I hope the refs are ready for their blowjobs after the game
I think they just got McDonald's bags to go........
We are ugly on offense too often to win consistently outside of Aluma we are way to streaky. Poor display tonight and a good example of why we stay ranked in the 20s.
Why waste 27 seconds if you are going to foul?
Three of Hokies four losses on the road.
They didnt need a comeback but this made it a blowout.
Fucking give him a technical. If you are going to send him off the court. Wtf
That Mutts miss sums up the whole night just about.
Welp... Aluma played good. Another double double... 30 points, 10 rebounds.
How do you run an offense where your guards aren't a threat to score on the perimeter?
1. This was the first game where radford's perimeter defense & tenacity were missed.
2. The refs were bad. They need instructional videos on moving screens.
3. Alleyne needs to go the cup more like earlier in the season. It's in his game.
4. Mutts and Aluma play well together. N'guessan is too athletic to go soft to the rim. He gets there but goes lightly.
5. Pitts rim was a large lake.
6. Relax. If we are basketball school then understand tough losses happen. They were gonna lose one of the next two road games so....
Remember that the point is not to be ranked but to make the Dance. Rankings are nice but there is no BCS in basketball.
Alleyne really has gotta stop pulling up for long twos; he's a big kid and has shown he can get to the rim. I don't know if he lost his confidence during buts it's been driving me mad the last five games
One of VT men's basketballs main problems since joining the ACC
And I'm not even going to bring up FT shooting
Of course. I don't get it but I expected it.
In the ACC, you CAN NOT have your starting senior point guard end up with ZERO points. It was clear that it was a 4 on 5 offense from the way Pitt just said I dare you to shoot. Look around the ACC and see if this happens anywhere else. I get loyalty but there comes a time where it's liability.
If we're being brutally honest here, its pretty much always 4 on 5 on offense any time Bede is out there. The difference is if everyone else can pick up the slack enough make up for it. Tonight we couldn't. But we also don't really have another guard to play. Cone can get really really sloppy in his decision making so he's not ready to handle it yet. The freshmen apparently aren't ready either since CMY doesn't give them much, if any, minutes.
Houston, Creighton, Villanova...nothing to do with us, but one of those nights I guess?