HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: OLD DOMINION (2-1) VS VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (3-0) 2PM ESPN2
Tourney Timeโผ๏ธโผ๏ธ๐ ODU๐ TD Arena๐ Shriners Children's Charleston Classic๐บ ESPN2#StoneByStone ๐ฆ๐ pic.twitter.com/tAv5V5jDBPโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 17, 2022
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Thursday, Nov. 17 | 2:00 p.m. ET
TD Arena (Charleston, S.C.)
vs. Old Dominion
Series: VT leads 14-10
TV Broadcast
ESPN2
Play-by-Play: Derek Jones
Analyst: Perry Clark
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Stream option: fuboTV
Current Spread: Hokies -14
Over/Under: 131
ODU: The Monarchs are 0-4 against the spread in the last four neutral-site games
VT: The Hokies are 4-4 against the spread in the last eight neutral-site games
Do it for the Kids....
The Hokies (36th in AP Poll/32nd Coaches Poll) open their trip to the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic with a matchup against Old Dominion. This is the Hokies first time back at the Charleston Classic since 2018, where Nickiel Alexander-Walker led the Hokies to bringing home the trophy. The Hokies are 14-10 against Old Dominion going into their first meeting in 15 years. The Hokies lost the previous meeting with Old Dominion on Dec. 16, 2007 in Norfolk โ a 72-69 ODU win. The Hokies are coming off a 94-77 win over William & Mary.
๐๐ช๐ฃ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐The last time we were in Charleston, we collected some hardware!๐ Team champion๐ Tournament MVP (NAW) pic.twitter.com/VZoHBseET2โ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 16, 2022
The Monarchs are coached by Jeff Jones, who began his college coaching career at UVA as an assistant coach in 1982. Old Dominion is his third college head coaching job. He coached UVA from 1990-1998 and American from 2000-2013. He took over the Old Dominion position in 2013 and has a 181-113 overall record guiding the Monarchs. He is 538-400 overall. He has led teams to the postseason in 13 seasons. Last season the Monarchs were 13-19.
The Monarchs are 2-1 to start the season after wins over MD Eastern and VA Wesleyan and a loss to Drexel. The Monarchs had three players in double figures in the last game with very little contribution outside the starters.
The Monarchs come into this season with three new Freshman. None of the freshmen appear to factor into the Monarchs strategy this season. This is a fairly seasoned roster with four Seniors and four Juniors. The team is led by two transfers, Senior Forward Ben Stanley, (Xavier) and Senior Guard Tyreek Scott-Grayson, (Northeastern). The duo combine for 28 points per game.
Other returning players that will impact this game outside Stanley and Scott-Grayson are Junior Guard Mekhi Long and Sophomore Guard Chaunce Jenkins.
Defensively, they play a situational morphing zone strategy, shifting between a 1-3-1 Zone and a 3-2 Xone. Coach Reed drills into his players the situational approach of his zones. The 1-3-1 will typically have a guard up top at the point to harass the ball handler as they approach the perimeter. The other intent is to prevent direct passing and create transition basket opportunities after turnovers. The Hokies will look for open three point opportunities in the corners as this is a significant weakness to this zone. ODU may be forced into more of their 3-2 zone to counter how well the Hokies shoot from the perimeter. This is a game where Basile' shooting ability from outside is a big plus as it will impact how ODU switches in the zone.
Offensively, Coach Reed uses the Motion Screen Offense which tries to create mismatches of personnel utilizing speed to separate either to create dribble penetration openings or open looks on cuts to the basket. The Hokies should focus on preventing interior scoring as Old Dominion struggles from the perimeter. Currently shooting 27% from outside, now that I typed this, as many Hokie fans can attest, it guarantees someone, probably off the bench will have a career night from outside.
The Monarchs Backcourt
Tyreek Scott-Grayson (#11, SR, G, 6-5, 180lbs) 11.0 Pts, 8.0 Reb, 2.7 Ast
Chaunce Jenkins (#2, SO, G, 6-4, 175lbs) 9.0 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 2.0 Ast
Charles Smith IV (#22, JR, G, 6-5, 185lbs) 5.3 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Imo Essien (#3, SO, G, 5-11, 170lbs) 5.0 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 2.3 Ast
The Monarchs Frontcourt
Ben Stanley (#12, SR, F, 6-6, 230lbs) 17.3 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 0.3 Ast
Mekhi Long (#0, JR, F, 6-7, 195lbs) 10.3 Pts, 9.3 Reb, 3.0 Ast
Dericko Williams (#23, JR, F, 6-8, 220lbs) 8.3 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
What to expect from Old Dominion?
As a team the Monarchs scoring focus is primarily inside, either by getting the ball down low to Stanley and Long or by guards finding layup opportunities on backdoor cuts. They have struggled from outside on the limited number of attempts, shooting 27% on less than a quarter of their offensive attempts.
Old Dominion roster is designed around speed and defense. They tend to run a three guard two big rotation on the floor and focus on zone defense leading to transition offensive opportunities. The Monarchs forwards are capable rim protectors averaging over 4 blocks a game.
Coach Jones team has not yet faced an opponent of the Hokies caliber so expect there to be some openings for the Hokies to exploit. That said the Monarchs have held opponents to 39% shooting from the floor so this contest will likely be lower scoring than the Hokies first three games.
The Hokies
The Hokies need to focus on finding holes in the zone coverage. The corner three tends to be a major weakness which is an area the Hokies excel in. Creating space at the free throw line by getting the ball in to Mutts or Kidd likely collapses the zone to leave openings on the perimeter.
The Hokies should utilize Basile' shooting ability to disrupt the zone coverage which may create 1 on 1 situations down low for Mutts or Kidd.
Pedulla driving in from the perimeter will also create open opportunities by drawing the zone out of alignment. Cattoor is the primary beneficiary in this situation allowing him open looks from the perimeter elbow.
The Hokies face the strongest defense of any team this season. Not allowing the zone to dictate the offensive sets is crucial to success in this contest
Highlight of the W&M game
Cattoor gets his groove back
Darius is all of us rnWhen you know, you know ๐๐ฅH๐nt has a 20-piece (4th of his career) pic.twitter.com/kr3EENCZNeโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 14, 2022
In Closing
The Hokies look to drive on or shift the zone coverage by forcing a big to the perimeter. Mutts finds more 1 on 1 situations down low and transitions from assist monster to scoring machine.
The Hokies will need to score on primary possessions and not count on second chance or free throws to buffer their scoring margin. The Monarchs are a consistent rebounding team and do not commit an abundance of fouls to this point but they also haven't faced an opponent as strong as the Hokies.
I expect Cattoor and Mutts to lead the Hokies in scoring in this one. Pedulla will flirt with a points/assist double-double. Basile stretching the perimeter will be an X-factor in the final result.
Hokies don't fall into the ODU Curse and get Cattoor a birthday present in W #4 in the opener of the Charleston Classic. 75-54 win.
Gameday and a Birthday ๐ฅณโผ๏ธLet's get it H๐nt pic.twitter.com/BnFzbHrdWmโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) November 17, 2022
Comments
Thanks, appreciate the information and the efforts. Go Hokies!
Let's Go!
HOKIES!!!!!
Not trying to look ahead, but the Penn St / Furman game has turned into a good one in the second half. Penn St absolutely dominated the first, but Furman has come storming back. The line on the game was Penn St -2.5.
yeah have been less than impressed with Penn State so far. Their defensive transitions have been terrible in second half
A team with bad defensive transitions you say.........
Good
Red Five standing by. Let's do this!
Kidd just murdered a man.
Hatin' on Jeff Jones: looks like chubby Roger Goodell.
Lotta whistles here early, not sharp
This is sloppy
If the refs don't loosen up on the touch fouls, we're going to see how good our bench is
Mad Ox back again
Better
Basile block to 3 was hugeeee
No foul? Refs gonna let them hack us
HC just got knocked into next week and no foul, then comes back and drains the 3 a few seconds later.
Some of these whistles or non whistles are... questionable
TV Teddy at his best.
Right. They're consistently inconsistent to both teams.
Unpopular opinion: i know that the logo front unis have gotten some flak in the other thread, but I kind of like the white ones for the Hokies. The ODU crest works well too
Too many second chance opportunities. Really poor lane positioning so far defensively.
Otherwise this one is going about how I expected
So much more fun watching this basketball team. Love the effort even on defense this team puts in. Poteat moves around everywhere on defense while hardly getting the ball on offense those things are invaluable to a team that wants to make a run
Did they just start playing sloppy when I tuned in or has it been this way all game?
It's kinda been on and off, started sloppy, tightened up to put us up around 20, got sloppy again
Hokies just got Top 10d on that dunk
All in all good half, defense strong, offense well cookin'. Need to clean up on the glass.
Last 1.5 min was a little weak
Our C position has 4 fouls. Fortunately, that's spread between 3 players. So nice to have depth there!
I'm mostly okay with that first half with the exception of giving up offensive boards and how we defended inside. We need to shore that up ASAP.
Didn't close out the half well, but I mean, it feels like we're pretty much in control.
Up by 14 after a lackluster half, I'll take it, esp with Pedulla and Cattoor in a bit of foul trouble.
Let's extend the leads and spread the minutes out so we aren't gassed for the game tomorrow too
I'm still tickled by the "Hunter Cattoor 2022 ACC Tournament MVP" banner that flashed periodically in the 1st.
Everyone take a drink when the commentator mispronounces a VT player's name.
are you trying to get me drunk or something?
Brazil?
Really terrible rebounding. Guys just completely out of position defensively down low. Obviously not a big deal in this one but against a UNC or Duke that's 20 more points
agreed.
it just seems to me that Virginia Tech has historically been a poor rebounding team.
Our rebounders have been about a step too close to the basket too much today, lots going over their head
the more I watch basketball, the more I realize I don't understand the rules of basketball
Just remember that fouls are called based on how the ref woke up feeling that day.
I can't believe Teddy TV was going to call that a block
Does it seems like we really need to see Mutts take control.
Ask and ye shall receive.
Gotta play better than we are if we make it through, but the refs aren't necessarily bad, just making bizarre ticky tack calls that have made the flow seem a bit odd.
That's how I personally define bad refing though?
17 offensive rebounds allowed and there are still 9 minutes left. Yikes.
ODU is the more physical team right now. It's like we got burned on some calls in the first half and backed off. Then the refs stopped calling everything. I agree too - the game has a weird flow to it. No rhythm at all which definitely hurts us.
only 14 pts so far this half.....not good
Basile about to earn his
payHardee's coupons the rest of the wayWasn't sure who the zebra were going to call the foul on there. Feels like the player in white gets mugged and he gets the foul for bleeding on the floor.
Pedulla's ability to get to the rack and create for himself when everyone else is shooting cold is clutch.
How is that not a foul on ODU coming over the back?
Any of the last 12?
When Ted Valentine retires I'm sending him a lifetime supply of Hardee's coupons.
What does that mean?
the hardees coupons will be expired so....
And most of them stuck together.
It's not what he needs, but it's what he deserves.
Yuck
Not feeling good about the final few mins
I'm so tired of old dominion
Our boys are getting outworked and pushed around underneath and it's very not great.
That's more 3s in the last few minutes than ODU has made all season... what happened to our defense???
They have 11 more shots and 16 more rebounds than us. Defense is not good.
We look tired and slow. Obviously didn't anticipate the zone coming out of that timeout
Went out off us, but they missed obviously O goal tending
"It went off Virginia Tech"
Well...okay, but it was clearly goaltending before that. So it doesn't matter.
๐
Cheers, I'll drink to that ๐ป
๐ป
It didn't even go off us, the ODU player knocked it when we had possession, and as such it was the right call.
I haven't been able to watch the game since I'm at work but I just checked the box score. 18 offensive rebounds by ODU? holy crap
Our defensive positioning on rebounds has been poor today.
We are slow out on the shooters....
Basile needs to take some notes on flopping from Perkins.
Mad-dox is an assassin
That possession was beautiful.
Love that he was wide open and stared down the defender then casually shot it.
Padula is a baby-faced man
The hit list keep growing
Never will get tired of seeing this.
Fuck after ND, UNC, and DOOK I always forget how close those almost came to not happening.
F I N I S H !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yet...two consecutive empty possessions.
That's the opposite of finishing...
Their coach looks like he's never run a wind sprint in his life
At home I call that a mirror :)
No words for how bad the lane defense and rebounding has been. Getting manhandled by a much smaller team.
Man this announcer sounds a bit like Bill Roth, to be honest
Very frustrating inability to close this out. The rebounding is atrocious
We have this knack of always letting one player get really hot in a game. 22 off the bench so far, sheesh
Mutts gets called for standing still.
lol that's not a blocking foul
wow
Preceded by three straight arm bar push offs from Jenkins.
Teddy v doing his thing ๐
Love CMY. He screams "he wasn't shooting that ball". Ref comes over and he smiles at him.
These refs are a joke.
He's not in the arc, he was planted, not moving.
That's the definition of a charge. But TV Teddy gotta keep the game close
And was not in the act of shooting.
I smell a ref with money on this game.
its TV Teddy. He's been doing this for 30+ years now
Has anyone considered that maybe TV Teddy has been betting on games for 30 years?
Ron Cherry and TV Teddy. How many other referee's do you know by name...
It is not a good thing when you know the Ref by the name.
For VT, it is not a good thing when we see TV Teddy either, yet he seems to call a LOT of our games.
"The right heel was on the line". What a joke
Yet Mutts has the presence to lift his foot and take it out of the arc.
What's infuriating was that the contact knocked him back to where his foot went down on the line.
We only have 5 team fouls. Why is he shooting free throws? He was not shooting the ball when the foul was committed.
Pedulla please
Pedulla tanking his FT% today
Not able to watch, but our free throw percentage is pretty bad today.
That oughtta do it
They need a TD and the XP.
Who else was sure their last 3 was going in?
W T F
lol holy shit, guys... GUYS
Situational awareness today is.... ummm.... poor
Pain
You're kidding, right?!?!
**heart rate increasing**
How did we turn the ball over with 10 seconds to go???
5 seconds call on the out of bounds.
And we had a timeout to burn. Just poor
Dang, this wasn't supposed to close. The guys needs to get their heads screwed on tight for the next game.
I take a W and the lessons on finishing strong / rebounding / etc over an L and the lessons
I called the timeout; guess they didn't hear me through the TV
Me, too. Did you hear me?
DO.
NOT.
FOUL.
What did the hokies do to upset all the sports gods?
Mutts has to have the internal clock going. Call the TO 3 seconds in. Don't push it to give the ref a chance to make the call
Thank God for Hunter...
FAM
Whew!
I love Mutts but he goes into vapor lock sometimes. Gotta run the baseline to improve the angle against man to man pressure. (and have that clock in your head)
fam
/
/
?
Uhhh. We got a win and a lot of film room material!
I'm upset it ended up being that close but I like that we battled and still got the W. We aren't going to blow every team out so learning to win close ones is important. Still, FAM! ๐ฆ๐
Survey says...another one for the good guys.
"The Hokies should focus on preventing interior scoring as Old Dominion struggles from the perimeter. Currently shooting 27% from outside, now that I typed this, as many Hokie fans can attest, it guarantees someone, probably off the bench will have a career night from outside."
Sometimes you hate being right....
I think CMY just wanted to work on some EOG strategies.....that's all.
Hope CMY uses this to light a fire under everyone's ass for the rest of the tourney.
Glad we got the dub
FTFY
A little worried about Mutts having to play 36 minutes against ODU in November....
46 opponent rebounds aint going to cut it. That was why they hung tough
Though we have shot pretty well so far, we have faded in the second half every game. Is that lack of focus, conditioning, depth? Hope we tighten up our second halves as we get to tougher comp or things could get ugly. Having said that, I'll take the W!
I feel like today was lack of rebounding coupled with some uncharacteristic good shooting from ODU.
The other games were more about the rotation and who was playing
Me yesterday afternoon:
"Hey Siri, what time does Virginia Tech play Old Dominion today?"
Siri: "Virginia Tech held on to pull out a win over Old Dominion 75-71 today."
Thanks for the spoiler.