HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (11-2) AT WAKE FOREST (9-4) 12PM RSN
Gameday in W-S 😤💪📺 RSN🕛 12PM pic.twitter.com/Rl4jNVldnZ— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 31, 2022
Virginia Tech (11-2, 1-1 ACC)
at Wake Forest (9-4, 1-1 ACC)
December 31, 2022
LJVM Coliseum
Noon ET
RSN
Virginia Tech Sports Network
TV Broadcast
RSN
Play-by-Play: Tom Werme
Analyst: Mike Gminski
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Current Spread: Hokies -1.5
Over/Under: -130
Finding Focus....
The Hokies look to pick up the pieces after their brutal loss to the Boston College Rugby Team before Christmas. This will be another road game in the ACC but against a much larger, more physical team in Wake Forest. This will be the 71st meeting between these teams with the advantage to the Hokies 38 to 32. The Hokies have defeated the Demon Deacons four times in a row going into this contest.
The Demon Deacons are coached by Steve Forbes. He began his college coaching career at Southwestern CC as an assistant coach in 1989. Wake Forest is his fifth college head coaching job, taking over the job in 2020. He has a 40-30 overall record guiding the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest come into this contest fresh off an upset win over #14 Duke. They are 9-4 on the season with other quality wins over Wisconsin and Georgia. Their four losses were Rutgers, LSU, Loyola Marymount, and Clemson.
The Demon Deacons are a team still in transition, getting close to Coach Forbes overall vision of big, physical and fast. They feature five transfers in their regular rotation. This will be the first time the Hokies are truly the smaller team at almost every position, although much of Wake Forest size comes off the bench. Wake will normally be a two guard, two forwards and a center set. There is nothing truly notable about this team in terms of defensive or offensive focus outside of transition scoring. They do everything moderately well. With Coach Forbes focus on a very fast paced game, expect to see ten players on for 10 or more minutes in this game.
This team is led by Tyree Appleby, in his sixth year of college basketball, after prior stops at Cleveland State for two years and Florida for three seasons. Appleby has come in without missing a beat, averaging 18 points, five assists and three rebounds per game. This will be where the Hokies miss Hunter Cattoor (depending on his role/availability), who was injured against Boston College.
Coach Forbes defensively uses as an aggressive mix of man-to-man and zone defense which will stretch to the mid court line in hopes of generating turnovers high up the court. Expect to see quite a few trapping actions outside the perimeter. Wake also allows very few points in the paint, allowing only 24 points per game. The Demon Deacons focus on disrupting passing lanes and turning that into fast points. Wake forces 14 turnovers per game and average 20 points a game off those turnovers.
Offensively, Wake Forest focuses on transition scoring, averaging almost 28 points per game in quick hitting baskets before their opponents are set in a half-court defense. Appleby and Hildreth benefit the most from these odd man rushes since they are usually higher up the court on the defensive side. In the half court the Demon Deacons use a motion offense focused on the inside out game between Appleby and Carr. Scoring though is fairly balanced, with five players averaging 9.3 points per game or higher.
The Demon Deacons Backcourt
Tyree Appleby (#1, SR, G, 6-1, 170) 18.0 Pts, 3.2 Reb, 5.3 Ast
Cameron Hildreth (#2, SO, G, 6-4, 195) 12.3 Pts, 6.5 Reb, 2.9 Ast
Daivien Williamson (#4, SR, G, 6-2, 170) 9.3 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Jao Ituka (#10, SO, G, 6-1, 196) 3.0 Pts, 1.2 Reb, 0.8 Ast
The Demon Deacons Frontcourt
Andrew Carr (#11, JR, F, 6-9, 210) 10.1 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Damari Monsanto (#30, JR, F, 6-6, 225) 10.6 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Matthew Marsh (#33, SO, F, 7-1, 250) 7.1 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.1 Ast
Bobi Klintman (#34, FR, F, 6-10, 225) 4.5 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Davion Bradford (#20, JR, F, 7-0, 265) 3.1 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.2 Ast
Zach Keller (#25, FR, F, 6-10, 228) 2.5 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 0.2 Ast
What to expect from Wake Forest?
Fast paced contest. Wake's goal is to score before you are set on every possession. Expect to see at least twenty possessions of ten seconds or less. Due to the fast pace, Coach Forbes is constantly rotating out his Forwards to keep fresh legs on the court. Not quite as often as hockey shifts but fairly similar. The four staples of the starting offense are Appleby, Carr, Hildreth and Williamson.
The Demon Deacons are 7-2 when they score 70 points or more. They tire opponents out with the pace and finish teams off at the free throw line, shooting 76% as a team. They have had several close wins over teams with late heroics such as a buzzer beating win over Appalachian State and a three pointer with a half second left to beat Utah Valley. Two losses also came down to baskets in the last fifteen seconds of games, losing to Loyola and LSU by two on late baskets. Rutgers and Clemson are the only teams to beat Wake by 10 or more.
Wake Forest holds its own in the rebounding department. They have been a +/- 5 rebounds in ten of thirteen games.
Perimeter shooting is a respectable 36% on 23.5 attempts per game, representing 24 points per game so this is something to watch.
Fouls, while plentiful, will be pretty spread out across the nine or ten players rotating on the floor. The Demon Deacons draw an average of 18 fouls per game but get whistled for 16. Carr is the only one that struggles with fouls for the Deacons at 2.5 per game. Early foul trouble for Carr takes a key component of their offensive game plan off the court.
The Hokies
Sean Pedulla will have the added role of action without Cattoor in his normal role (although he may play.) Rodney Rice is still rumored to be a game time decision so expect to see much more of MJ Collins in this contest.
Virginia Tech's Hunter Cattoor (forearm) will be available for today's game against Wake Forest, per Mike Young. Averages 9.6 PPG and 4.1 RPG.— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 31, 2022
Not sure where the line between available and full participant is drawn here so we will have to wait and see. Either way its a much better outcome than I expected after seeing him on the bench cradling his arm against BC
The Hokies must protect the ball and try to play with a deliberate pace which will limit a significant portion of the Demon Deacons offensive game plan. Getting caught up in the run and gun is a recipe for disaster.
This is a game the Hokies need a huge performance from Justyn Mutts. He needs to body in to Carr underneath to force Carr to either foul or back off. Either way, the Hokies as a whole must score inside three feet unlike the Boston College game, where they missed 18 shots in the paint.
The bench must contribute. The Hokies got ONE point from the bench against Boston College on a free throw by Poteat. Collins, Kidd, and Camden failed to score in 33 minutes on the floor. Poteat added one point in nine minutes. That's over 20% of the games minutes to only get ONE point.
Lowlight of the Boston College game
Hunter Cattoor hitting the floor like a bag of cement.
UPDATE: Early evaluations are encouraging.🙏🙏🙏 @CattoorHunter pic.twitter.com/o91diynxB9— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 28, 2022
In Closing
The Hokies are on the road again so expect early struggles. Its another Holiday season game so likely a sparse crowd with minimal environment energy. The Hokies have to show they WANT to win. Boston College seemed like they were just going through the motions.
Protect the ball and slow the pace. Do not play into Wakes hands by trying to run the floor with them.
Unfortunately I don't think the Hokies will overcome the Holiday sluggishness, the up in the air status of Cattoor or avoid trying to run. Hokies fall 72-67.
This is a Two Popcorn Decision. Just tough to know which Hokies team we will see with the factors of timing, location, and injuries.
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Comments
LETSSSSSSSSS GOOOOOOOOO!!!
It's on the YES network (as usual) here in NJ.
Yup, I'm screwed
Gametime Get Poppin
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Fucking ESPN+ blacks out every VT game.
How does it happen every week and they never fix it. Even when you get it they always have issues until 10 min into the game until you can get it to stream
Sooo many RSN games this year. I understood it for football, but we actually have a bball team worth watching.
yep pretty lame
Anyone see if Rice has his kit on the bench? It looked like he warmed up again based on the socials.
We keep missing 4 footers we're gonna be in trouble.
THATS HOW YOU AVOID MISSING THE SHORT ONES!!! DUNK THAT SHIT!!
Im so fucking sick of RSNs.
Points for Mad Ox. That makes me feel a little better about today's outing.
Completely on Kidds arm there from behind. No call.
Immediately after announcers were talking about how this is similar to an "ACC Championship crew" lol
Gotta settle back down and play our game. Slow the pace too.
Camden with 3 at the line after being fouled....
In the arena for today's game. The officiating is absolutely atrocious. It is so inconsistent. Very frustrating. Can't imagine how you can try to play when it's like this.
Please stop with the unnecessary threes. Go to the rim.
Did Forbes just talk shit to Pedulla? I think he did.
Unfortunately Pedulla said something back. Tech on Coach has zero impact but foul on Pedulla puts him on bench until second half.
Happened right in front of us. Not sure who said something to him, but Pedulla definitely jawed back at someone. Glad they called the tech on the bench. But that's 2 personal fouls on Pedulla. Now a cheap call on Collins on his spin move to give him 2 personal fouls. We don't have enough bodies for the game to be called like this
I'd love to know what was said. That's some punks ass shit from a head coach. Pedulla took the high road and still got an offsetting technical.
I just rewound to see if I could read anyone's lips and when their coach was talking to the ref he clearly says "he can't be calling me that" and then said something along the lines of "if he calls me" some word I couldn't pick up "I'm going to say something"
A coach talking shit to an opposing player is just bad form. If the coach initiated it, the player shouldn't get a T. Low class.
How the fuck is that a foul on Collins?
Full arm extension push off. That was the right call unfortunately.
I guess I just missed it.
Terrible call
Collins with the English....
Travel much?
MUTTTTTTSSSSSS!!!!
That'll be on SportsCenter for sure.......
Omg Mutts that was unreal
Can anyone share a stream link that's good at finding those? I've tried everything even vpn and ESPN won't work for me today like it usually does
Appleby has some serious Adam Smith energy going today
10 pts and 4 rebounds off the bench so far. (13 and 8 if you add Kidd starting in place of Catoor) This is much better. To my untrained eye Poteat's minutes have been really good. I'll defer to the lieutenant though....
Correction.....13 pts off the bench not including Kidd.
Gotta make free throws.
Ugh. We're coming unglued here.
Hope I'm wrong but this game is over and our team looks like hot garbage all around. We are playing 2 for 2 on back to back games. The only glimmer was Mutts 1H and now he's paying like shit. Missing a layup, turning the ball over and causing stupid fouls. Our D is just horrible and that will more than likely be the reason why we lose more games than we originally thought earlier in the season.
Still fighting hard. 6 point game.
That was a bullshit foul call. They are hacking us and no call. Appleby slips and foul on Pedula. Ridiculous.
Downvoted for truth. Nice
FWIW Rice never took off his sweat pants. He looked very ginger in the layup line. He took some jump shots but was not really running or cutting. He doesn't look like who guy who is going to play anytime soon. If he was ready, you'd surely think they would play him today. The guys look exhausted and there is still 10 minutes left in the game. This lack of productive depth is killer.
I sure am happy his jump shits weren't running 😉
9-4 fouls now this half. Pedulla with 4. Here we go.
2 point game.
Cheap one called on mutts now. He's got 4.
Absolutely zero basketball IQ right now. Dumbest fouls ever
Some dumb...but some horseshit. And yet it's a 3 point game. I always say if you're gonna get fouls called on you....make them worth it and foul hard.
Or just don't foul >30 feet from the basket when you're on 3 fouls and one of our most important players and we have zero depth
Put in Kidd and Basille. Take out Mutts. Would be curiou to see a tall line up would do.
Why? Kidd, Basile, and Poteat can't all play together.... there would be a disastrous matchup on defense and no spacing on offense
1 point.
Damn.
Mutts.
Just another in a long line of people who decide to light it up from 3 against us. Fuck.
Mutts no quit.
Probably the dagger. Outshooting us from 3, and it doesn't look like we have enough on offense to overcome it or the legs on defense to chase them off the line.
That's what happens when teams make open 3's and we commit 8 TO's in thus far in the 2H.
Really?
Pedulla 1-7 from 3 and keeps firing. Come on man cut your losses when you're having a bad game and get the 2
No one else can get open for 3. Cattoor is not playing. Maddux is freezing cold. Pedulla should keep jacking it if he's open.
I am only listening so don't know how open he is 😂
No worries bro....he's had good looks.
Pedulla makes half of an easier 2 PT shot he's missed from 3 PR range and we've got a tie or lead
Shooters shoot
Yeah I'm ready for another 2 and 7 start in acc play
WFU is +18 pts from 3. Hard to overcome that unless you are overly dominant in the paint which we are not. We're a team based around motion and shooting. Guys are giving the effort, but this lineup lacks that firepower if Pedulla and Maddox aren't hitting 3's
Mutts again.
I'm not sure that's the shot we wanted.
Basile! Not dead yet!
This team is so so so dumb... Basile foul 35 feet from the basket with 5 left on the shot clock in a pivotal possession. Dude has zero awareness on defense. And this is after a bad three point shot
Cmon boys. Magic mike time.
Couldn't get the rebound twice in the last 40 seconds.
Get a freakin defensive rebound, jesus
This team has no balls
Sorry I can't agree with this take. I saw a team minus a star, with everybody in foul trouble, who never quit and fought to the end when they could have packed it in down by 10 early in the second half, and was still in it in the last minute.
Just so you know- I didn't downvote you bud. Everyone is allowed their opinion, and I respect yours.
I don't care if I get downvoted anyway. I said what i see and if people thinks I'm wrong that's ok
All good on my end. Happy new year bud!🍺
You too🤘
You know what? This is a really good take on the game. Admittedly, I didn't share this sentiment during the game. I was looking at it at "half empty". Your "half full" take puts it in perspective. Cheers my friend and here's a NY's D leg to start it off right.
Leg back at ya bud! Happy new year!
And that's all she wrote
🎶 Hello bubble my old friend, I've come to be with you again 🎶
When you recruit mid major players you get mid major results. Hopefully Mike young will learn his lesson eventually. Basile is a mid major big and had a mid major box out there
Go take a walk with this comment
Back to back losses vs awful teams, we're not going dancing this year at this rate
Another soft as pudding performance
Just don't get how you can play tough against the likes of OK state who are towers and then play so so soft and disorganized against BC and Wake
Showed zero give a S from most of the starters. Last two games looked like they mentally checked out when classes ended earlier this month.
The book is written on this team and everyone in the ACC is good enough to read it
I keep saying it, but this team is way too soft to make any noise. The good news is, we had a sloppy soft team last year and CMY figured out a way when it mattered. The bad news is, it's difficult to count on a historic run every season.
Wake Forest lost to Loyola Marymount and lost by 20+ to both Clemson and Rutgers.
Boston College lost by 16 to Tarleton State, lost to Maine and New Hampshire. All at home.
We've now lost to both these teams. Flukes happen, but losing those 2 back to back is inexcusable.
This is looking dangerously like last year, where we might need a miracle ACC tourney win to make the big dance
Couldn't watch cause of the blackout, but judging from the game cast, not stopping them from 3 was the difference. Not a great start to ACC play...maybe we saw that nice number by our name a few weeks in a row and got soft the last 2 games?
13 to 7 turnover deficit
5 point free throw deficit
6 of 21 from outside vs 11 of 28 for Wake
Didn't defend the perimeter. Too many dumb fouls.
Insane part is they held Wake to 36.5% overall shooting but stillmanaged to lose. Wake was 12 of 35 inside the perimeter.
My two cents:
too many turnovers
gave up too many offensive rebounds (sometimes that's just the way the ball bounces)
lack of game time and situational awareness
My top 4 were:
Pedulla adjusting to no Cattoor... Fail. Probably his worst game offensively as a Hokie. He was 6-18 from the field and 1-9 from 3. He did have 7 assists and went 5-5 from the line.
Protect the ball....Fail 13 turnovers to only 7 created. Wake finished with a 5 point edge off turnovers. Wake also finished with 5 point edge on second chance opportunities.
Big Game from Mutts.... Pass He was 8/12 from floor, 2/3 from 3, 11 rebounds, 5 asst, 3 blk, only ding was 5 turnovers
Bench must score.... Pass 18 points is a huge improvement and should be enough to win any game.
Idk, Pedulla hits his average from 3 and we win. I think we likely win this game with Cattoor, but I was impressed with some of the extended minutes we got from
The post players and Camden today I think will bode well, but I feel like I'm maybe the least pessimistic fan on where this team is currently compared at least to the online segment of the fan base. I mean - we were 10-10 last year at one point.....
Didn't even need his average...just hits one more of any of his shots and it's tied or a win. His average would have given us an easy win.
To be missing Cattoor, turn the ball over as much as we did, getting into bad foul trouble, and to lose by 2....
We really need Cattoor and Rice in the lineup. We'll be okay
So, what is the deal with Rice? He has been a game time decision for what seems like the last 5 games? Is he practicing in full? I really thought after 10 days off he would play today. I didn't watch the game, but was we even dressed today?