HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: 10 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (15-6) VS 7 FLORIDA (14-9) 12:15PM CBS

HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: 10 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (15-6) VS 7 FLORIDA (14-9) 12:15PM RSN

It's gameday!We're the first game to begin the first round of the NCAA Tournament 🙏#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃#MarchMadness (» @flyROA)— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 19, 2021

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Mar 19 2021 1215 PM
Opponent: Florida
Site: Hinkle Fieldhouse

CBS with Jim Nantz (play-by-play), Bill Raftery (analyst), Grant Hill (analyst) and Tracy Wolfson (reporter)
The game will be streamed on NCAA.com and on the March Madness app.

Virginia Tech Radio: FM-105.3
The Virginia Tech Sports Network, with its flagship station of FM-105.3, will carry the live broadcast. Play-by-play man Jon Laaser and color analyst Mike Burnop will be on the call. For a list of all affiliates, click here.

The Tech broadcast of the game will also be available via TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app.

My guys are war ready 😤 https://t.co/cC4KrhKnFd— Justin Robinson (@5Alive_) March 19, 2021

1-0 Everyday....
The Hokies have the difficult task of facing Florida after another week away from games. The Hokies are 5-4 against Florida going into their 10th meeting.

The Gators are coached by Mike White, who is in his sixth season as head coach at Florida. White is 122-74 overall guiding the Gators. Prior to Florida, White had a four-year stint at Louisiana Tech and is 222-113 overall as a head coach.

Coach White's Gators wins and losses have come in spurts and are 14-9 with wins over Army, Boston College, Stetson, Vanderbilt twice, LSU, Ole Miss, #6 Tennessee, Georgia twice, #11 WVU, Auburn, Kentucky. Their nine losses are against #20 Florida State, Alabama, Kentucky, Miss St, South Carolina, #24 Arkansas, Missouri, #22 Tennessee twice. The Gators are 2-4 against ranked opponents. The Gators experienced two Covid pauses although they were at two very different points of the schedule. One was mid-December for three games. The other was early January for two games.

The loss of Keyontae Johnson when he collapsed on the court in late December played a major role in how this team performed. Before that happened he was their leading scorer and second best rebounder.

Defensively, Coach White loves to use a Up-tempo, high-energy, man-to-man press defense that forces opponents to use up shot clock to even advance to the half court. The match-up press is a more complicated "system" of presses, more difficult to learn than a zone press, and involves a fair amount of practice time. But it has the advantage of always having pressure on the ball no matter what press-breaker the offense uses. In the half-court Florida uses the "cut and double" tactic along the sidelines. They will force the ballhandler to speed-dribble up the sideline, and then the initial defender sprints ahead of and "cuts" the ballhandler somewhere along the sideline. This could happen either before or beyond the half-court line. A second defender runs along with his/her man, even with the ball. As soon as the ballhandler is stopped, the second defender sprints over to trap the ballhandler. Oftentimes, the ballhandler will spin backwards away from the first defender and toward the sideline, creating an opportunity for the second defender to trap or steal the ball, since the ballhandler while spinning is "blind" to the trap coming from behind.

Another press rule Coach White employs is to run at and stop the ball anytime the ball is being speed-dribbled toward you. This happens in the middle of the court, or along the sideline. Ordinarily, they only trap along the sidelines, not in the middle of the court. So, in the middle, it's usually a "run and jump" causing the ball handler to adjust course or stop. The advantages of running at the ball when it is being speed-dribbled at you are that it may cause the speed-dribbler to turn the ball over with a ball-handling error or a bad pass, it helps slow-down and contain the dribbler, it could result in a dead ball and a trap, and it gives the defense a chance to "turn" the ball back to the sideline or the opposite direction.

Another variation Coach white uses is the "run and double" which also occurs when the ball is being speed-dribbled at someone. This is typically used to trap along the sidelines in the half court defense, especially in the corners.

Offensively, Florida runs a 4-Out Ball Screen motion offense. Four perimeter players space out on the 3-point arc. There is one post player, who starts either low or high (free throw line area). The post player moves as the ball moves, using the low blocks, anywhere up and down the lanes, paint area, elbows and high post (free-throw line area) - basically anywhere he/she can get open for a pass inside. Perimeter players also attack with a dribble-drive. This is often easier when the post player is located on the opposite (weakside) low block. Florida uses the drive and kick quite a bit since they have several good 3-point shooters, ballhandler can go "inside-out" where a guard dribble-penetrates, draws in the helpside defenders, and then kicks the pass out to a perimeter player spotting up for a 3-point shot. Expect to see guards setting picks on the perimeter in this offense as well to free up their ballhandler.

Gators Backcourt

Tre Mann
#1 SO G 6-5 190 lbs
Gainesville, FL The Villages (FL) 22 (2019)
16.0 Pts, 5.7 Reb, 3.4 Ast
45% shooting, 40% three point shooting, 85% free throw shooting

Tyree Appleby
#22 JR G 6-1 170 lbs
Jacksonville, AR Jacksonville High School Transfer from Cleveland State
11.4 Pts, 3.0 Reb, 3.3 Ast
41% shooting, 36% three point shooting, 82% free throw shooting

Noah Locke
#10 JR G 6-3 203 lbs
Randallstown, MD McDonogh School 77 (2018)
10.4 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.7 Ast
41% shooting, 41% three point shooting, 76% free throw shooting

Scottie Lewis
#23 SO G 6-5 189 lbs
Hazlet, NJ Ranney School 9 (2019)
7.9 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 1.5 Ast
44% shooting, 30% three point shooting, 67% free throw shooting

Gators Frontcourt

Colin Castleton
#12 JR F 6-11 231 lbs
Daytona Beach, FL Father Lopez Catholic HS 100 (2018)
12.0 Pts, 5.9 Reb, 1.1 Ast
58% shooting, doesnt shoot three pointers, 76% free throw shooting

Anthony Duruji transfer from Louisiana Tech
#4 JR F 6-7 220 lbs
Germantown, MD St. Andrew's Episcopal School
5.9 Pts, 4.3 Reb, 0.6 Ast
42% shooting, 29% three point shooting, 54% free throw shooting

Omar Payne
#5 SO F 6-10 230 lbs
Kissimmee, FL Montverde Academy 46 (2019)
3.7 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 0.3 Ast
77% shooting, doesnt shoot three pointers, 57% free throw shooting

What to expect from Florida?

Even with the loss of Johnson, the Gators roll out five Top 100 Recruits in their limited seven-man primary rotation.

The Gators commit 18.5 fouls per game so they are apt to get in foul trouble, especially since they prefer to only go 2 deep on their bench. Six different Gators average more than 2.2 fouls per game.

As a team the Gators are shooting 35.7% from the perimeter on 19 attempts per game. Mann, Locke and Appleby are their consistent perimeter shooters and take 13.6 of the teams 19.1 attempts per game.

Florida's five starters all average 7.9 ppg or higher. Mann leads the way at 16 points per game followed by the trio of Castleton, Appleby and Locke, who all average double figures. Only seven players are getting 10 or more minutes a contest, so a starter dominated workload.

Florida is essentially even in the rebounding department. Outside of Castleton their starting lineup are all 6'5 or smaller. Six of their seven player primary rotation average at least three rebounds per game led by Castleton with 5.9 with Mann close behind at 5.7. Castleton, Lewis and Payne average 4.7 blocks per contest.

Mann and Appleby are the primary distributors, averaging more than 3 assists per game each.

The Hokies

One shining moment today was giving back during March Madness. @cpemsl35, @Wabissa_B11, @JM_Squarepants & @J15Cone read to elementary schools while in Indianapolis. Thank you South Putnam Central Elementary, IN & Glade Hill Elementary, VA for the invite! @marchmadness GO HOKIES! pic.twitter.com/twSY5EfKve— MY TURN (@MY__TURN) March 18, 2021

The Hokies need to focus on getting Aluma or Mutts the ball down low, especially on a low block when the Gators attempt to trap the ball in the corner. The Gators smaller lineup outside Castleton will make it hard for the Gators to protect inside against the Hokies two bigs.

The Hokies will need to find their way to the rim and avoid turnovers. That is the critical factor in most of Florida's wins this season. They average forcing 14.2 turnovers and are 11-4 when forcing more than fourteen turnovers. The Gators commit 14.6 turnovers per game and allow 18 points off those so the ability to retain possession tips a major factor in the Hokies favor.

The Hokies will be without Jalen Cone for this weekend so the perimeter scoring will have to come from Hunter and Naheim. There will also be a single Bede Bomb just to keep Florida guessing. Crisp passing to the open man and hitting open shots especially with how often Florida attempts to double team will likely be the single most important aspect of this game.

Florida opponents right now average 11.5 offensive rebounds per game on 34 missed shot attempts. The Hokies must be able to position themselves inside to get offensive rebounds and second chance points. Florida opponents are averaging 15.2 second chance points per game. In a game likely to come down to a couple baskets, finding these extra buckets will be huge.

Florida opponents so far make 14.3 free throws per game. This is 20.4% of opponents scoring against the Gators. The Hokies are averaging 13 made free throws on 18.7 attempts. YOU HAVE TO HIT YOUR FREE THROWS.
As part of this the Hokies need to be relentless in forcing the Gators starters into fouling situations. While Florida doesn't foul a lot as a team, four of the starters average 2.3 fouls per game, so fouls hold more significance as they typically only go two deep on the bench for significant minutes.

In Closing

Stayin' ready 👊#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/nwzosarfAm— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 17, 2021

The Hokies must slow Mann and Appleby on the outside. They can survive a game from Castleton but if the Gators get hot from outside, it will be much like the Pittsburgh game. Castleton struggles defensively so Aluma should have a good afternoon. Mutts though on the backdoor catch and layup will probably be the Hokies biggest weapon against the Gator double-team.

Hokies start fast especially inside to open up the outside shooters in the second half. The key though is to continue pounding the ball inside to pull away in the second half. Hokies win 77-71.

Some more honors for Coach & Keve 🙌#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/kTgLv7fUf7— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 16, 2021

Confidence Factor: Three Popcorns, there are too many little things that can go either way in this game. The Gators are arguably the better starting five but get very little from their bench. If they are forced down the roster that greatly favors the Hokies.

Confidence Factor: