Hokies fall in the round of 64 to Florida. Lot of encouraging things to take away but we shot ourselves in the foot quite a few times.
Nahiem Alleyne's heroic 30-point effort falls just shy. Virginia Tech was in a good position the entire game, but Florida kept plugging away. Credit the Gators for stepping up in clutch moments & wearing down VT. March is unforgiving. #Hokies will be back. https://t.co/P4Y4cux07W— Matej Sis (@MatejS247) March 19, 2021
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Pretty simple. Hard to win when Aluma basically contributes nothing on the offensive end.
Legs weren't there. Tough when only playing 4 games in 42 days.
Missing our 3rd best player and haven't played in a month in a half. I'm mad but super upset.
A cold and head-scratching offensive second half was the downfall. The use of Pemsl over N'Guess, confused me. Why no Bamisille? God love him, Bede going 0-1, with 1 assist, rb, and steal with two turnovers is basically playing a man down.
With all the important ones returning, plus Storm, it's hard not to be extremely excited about the future of this program.
I was a little puzzled to see no Bamisille or N'Guessan too. Seemed like they were coming on and contributing in pieces towards the last few ACC games. I know there were some long layoffs and the level of competition was a bit higher, but given the foul trouble I would've thought they'd get a bit more of a shot today
Either way, still a way better than expected year and something to really build on
Bamisile thing didn't make sense to me. Only thing I can think of is CMY didn't want to play freshmen in a high pressure environment. But with Cone already out and Bede having his limitations, I would have like to have seen him out there for some stretches.
Takeaway 1: Aluma got outplayed
Takeaway 2: We need more consistent scorers
Takeaway 3: Basketball refs are terrible at their jobs and inconsistent
Also only thing that will make this loss hurt more is if Oral Roberts wins.
Edit: It hurts more now 😬
Don't forget we still have a team in March madness, playing Sunday at noon.
I'm very happy with CMY and the VT basketball team this year. With everything going on, with being picked to finish 14th in the league, with still having a young/new team the staff and players really showed that the program is ahead of schedule. Great season no matter how you slice it!
However, there are some glaring needs that should be addressed in some form or fashion IMO:
1. We desperately need a PG. I know, I know, CMY's system is the PG. And I know that Bede is good on the defensive end. But let's be honest here, Bede simply isn't going to help this team take the next step.
2. We desperately need someone who can get to and finish around the rim consistently. I love what Radford does in spurts, I love how Mutts finished the season, but we need that with regularity.
3. We desperately need consistency from the 5 spot. I love Keve, but he is either very good or completely absent. I know some of that could very well be strategic, but I think we need more consistency from that spot.
Begin addressing those three things and I think VT stands to be an extremely good team.
Agreed, Keve can be brilliant but if his shot doesn't get going early and/or he gets pushed around a bit he just disappears. Armando Bacot (UNC) and Castleton (UF) basically neutralized Aluma in the 2nd halves of both games. Need to find a way to get that consistent threat from him.
Aluma was neutralized in the first half as well.
I think the glaring needs you address have potential answers for next season.
1. Storm Murphy transferring to Tech can provide the offensive boost that was missing with Bede, hopefully without too much drop off on the defensive end. However, it seemed like the offense flowed better with Bede facilitating until opponents doubled teamed down low.
2. Consistency from Aluma can help address finishing at the rim.
3. The development of Ojiako at the 5 spot could help alleviate foul trouble for Aluma and give him better post mismatches on offense.
Out of those 3 players the biggest uncertainty is the health and potential of Ojiako.
If Bede makes his layup we win in regulation.../s
If they don't call the bogus technical we win in regulation.