HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (11-5) AT SYRACUSE (12-4) AT 7PM RSN
Shots 🆙 in the Dome 🤌 pic.twitter.com/Fu5aWcZAfK— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 11, 2023
Syracuse (10-6, 3-2 ACC)
vs. Virginia Tech (11-5, 1-4 ACC)
January 11, 2023
JMA Wireless Dome
7 p.m. ET
Dreaded RSN
Virginia Tech Sports Network
TV Broadcast
RSN
Play-by-Play: Tom Werme and
Analyst: Terrence Oglesby
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Current Spread: Hokies -2.5
Over/Under: -140
Unpacking or Packing it in....
The Hokies are on the road in Syracuse facing a tipping point in their season while going up against the pack line defense. The Hokies are rumored to have Cattoor back from injury and to expect the debut of Rodney Rice, who has been cleared by the medical staff.Syracuse comes off a loss to UVA but are 7-2 in their last nine games. Tech comes in winning three of the last five contests between these schools but still trails overall 11-6.
The Orangemen are coached by Jim Boeheim. He began his college coaching career in the Stone Age at Syracuse as an assistant coach in 1969 and has been there ever since. He took over at Syracuse in 1976 and has a 1008-431 overall (424-266 in ACC) record guiding the Orangemen.
Syracuse really only has one semi quality win over Notre Dame. All of their other victories are against lower tier ACC and bottom 100 overall teams. They have losses to Illinois, UVA, Pitt and St Johns.
This team is led by guards Joseph Girard and Judah Mintz, who combine for 33 points, 5 rebounds and assists. Jesse Edwards will also play a major factor in defending the paint.
Defensively, the Orangemen employ the Packline Defense, which focuses on taking away an opponents shot while not giving up easy driving lanes. There is also a huge focus on preventing the high post pass and disrupting return passes from the high post to the top of the key, leading to turnovers. The most critical person in this defense is the center Jesse Edwards, who has shown he is able to sag low in the lane to prevent penetration on the baseline as well as when to press up to prevent interior passing.
Also look for Boeheim to employ a significant amount of full to three quarter court defense off made baskets. The Hokies have struggled with pressure which may encourage Syracuse to increase its use as the game progresses.
Offensively, Syracuse usually runs the motion offense, but in the last two seasons have had a greater focus on creating fast break points and moving quickly to get a shot. Their average possession time is one of the shortest in the NCAA. Boeheim relies on creating extra possessions and increasing the overall speed of play to wear down opponents.
The most important part is the amount of movement in the offense. You don't see one guy with the ball while the other 4 guys just stand around and watch. When someone passes the ball, they immediately move to a different spot on the court, and another player moves to replace them.
One common play that Boeheim teams run extensively in the half-court is called the 23 Orange. In this set play, the 4 and 5 start on the blocks with the 3 in the corner. The other two players begin at the top on the perimeter forming the "23" set. As a post flashes high, the ball handler passes to that post and moves to the opposite wing. The post can then pass to the second guard on the perimeter and follow for a ball screen. If the second guard passes out, the post flashes high and looks to make the high low pass to the opposite big. If it's not there, the post dives low as primary brings the ball up, forming the "23 again". This is a common set in Boeheim's motion offense.
The Orangemen Backcourt
Joseph Girard (11 SR G 6-1 195) 16.8 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 2.9 Ast
Judah Mintz (3 FR G 6-3 172) 15.9 Pts, 2.3 Reb, 4.1 Ast
Justin Taylor (5 FR G 6-6 205) 4.6 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Symir Torrence (10 SR G 6-3 200) 3.1 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 2.0 Ast
The Orangemen Frontcourt
Jesse Edwards (14 SR C 6-11 215) 13.3 Pts, 10.9 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Benny Williams (13 SO F 6-8 215) 8.0 Pts, 4.7 Reb, 1.3 Ast
Chris Bell (0 FR F 6-7 180) 6.8 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Maliq Brown (1 FR F 6-8 213) 4.3 Pts, 3.8 Reb, 0.6 Ast
What to expect from Syracuse?
Short possessions over and over and over on both sides of the ball. Boeheim aims to get you caught up in the pace so you lose focus on your game plan.
They may be without Benny Williams who missed the last game due to illness. He will be a game time decision. Regardless this team are lighter, athletic players with no big heavy guys inside.
The Orangemen are wildly inconsistent in overall scoring. They range from 95 against Oakland to 44 against #16 Illinois. Average against the better teams is around 65 a game.
Perimeter shooting is a not a major part of the Orangemen strategy. They average only 17 attempts per game but do shoot 36% so the Hokies still must defend the perimeter. That said, most readers here know the history that some no name deep off the bench usually comes in to hit 50% in a career night.
The Hokies
Will they or wont they again? Rice and Cattoor have both been reported that they will play. Having Cattoor's ability to defend and Rice creating points off the dribble add two dynamic aspects to this team. Expect both to be limited initially with Rice' run determined by how he does.
The Hokies will need big games from Kidd and Poteat along the baseline for backside baskets. Breaking the baseline against this defense needs to add 20+ points overall.
Slow, methodical possessions to find open shots. Expect to see Mutts or Basile alternating at accepting passes along the free throw line in an attempt to draw Edwards high in the lane. This is needed to create baseline opportunities. Maddox may get involved coming out of his deep corner three position to expose open layup opportunities. He cannot be hesitant if this is the case.
Nolight of the Clemson game
Lack of cohesion for a 4th ACC game in a row.
We'll get this turned around. Keep believing 🦃 pic.twitter.com/mAoKvEyuWy— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) January 8, 2023
In Closing
The Hokies have struggled in road game but the return from injuries may temper that a bit. Even IF Syracuse has a big home crowd, the space lends itself to a fairly quiet floor environment. The Hokies have to find a way to motivate each other.
Another team looking to create chaos by pace. The Hokies have been challenged of late to protect the ball in this scenario. Limiting turnovers and lowering Syracuse' overall opportunities is critical to success.
Hokies again are in a close contest but do not allow the streak to reach 5. Cattoor comes back with a hero game on the perimeter to lead the Hokies to a 77-68 win.
This is a three Popcorn Decision. If rumors are true this is a much better overall team and should be able to win but that lingering IF plays big.
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Comments
HOKIES!!! 🦃🏀
TV Broadcast
RSN
This has been a fun series of posts for me.
Cartoor reported wearing sweats in shootaround, so not sure we're going to get that hero game from him. On the flip side, if Rice really does play, would love to see him tear it up in his first contest
TWSS
Can't remember the last bball game I was able to actually watch. FUCK swofford for the mess he left behind.
Is it against CGs to post a pirate stream for those who are blacked out?
http://www.tvsportslive.fr/11949-18/
Mutts looking good early. 2 buckets and a good baseline feed. Looks comfortable setting up just inside the free throw line.
Rice on the floor. Nice dish to basile.
Basile, dunk it plz
Nice Steal, drive, and dish by rice
WOO! TV Teddy!
Maddox, dunk it plz
Kidd very active again. This guy is really growing up quick.
Shit. 2 quicks fouls on poteat.
If he's gonna foul that string bean he should've him think about and foul him hard.
Poteat a walking foul in this game apparently
Pedulla is pissing me off with these NBA range 3s with 25 seconds on the shot clock. You think that shot won't be available again in the next 20 seconds?
Yah I'm not sure why they keep launching its not like he's making them lol ...maybe tryna suck the zone out of the middle?
We seem to be getting the ball to Mutts in the paint pretty consistently. Just feels wasteful to jack from 5 feet beyond the arc when Mutts and Basile are getting open paint looks almost every possession. That deep 3 will still be there at the end of the shot clock.
Rice in the scoring column with a 10 ft. Jumper
MADDOX LONG 2 GRRRR
I said it in last game thread. More minutes for Kidd. He's exploding with confidence now.
Here we go....orange is 4 of 8 from 3. Last second shit goin In.
Unlike the last four games we're getting some rebounds bouncing outto us for once
TV teddy at it per usual
Yep. Shit call on basile.
Why does every fucking team we play get hot at burying three point shots right at the end of the shot clock
Defense needs to tighten up in the second half. I get that Syracuse got a couple lucky shots and bailed out by foul calls, but too many buckets have been easy.
Wow. There's only 3 of us even talking about the game tonight. I guess every everybody has checked out for the season. Oh well. I believe.....
Or no one can watch cause the rsn 🥲
I'm in this boat. Wanted to watch but don't have the channel 🤷
http://www.tvsportslive.fr/11949-18/
My streaming TV service, Fubo, has added Marque Sports Network out of Chicago to my lineup so I have been able to watch all the Mens and Womens games on that channel that have been on RSN. Not sure what qualifies me to get that station since based on my zip code, I get NBCSports Washington for my RSN.
Maybe....does nobody have Verizon? I get accnx standard with mine and can watch on watchespn online if i needed to, despite the fact I get almost all the games on YES (yankees network which is an RSN here as well) on TV anyway...is this cause all you guys have 'cut the cord' and are all doing streaming services?
Same here
The teams recent performances and it being on RSN makes it understandable to me.
I'm just lucky that I can log in to a family members cable to stream it
Yea, I wouldn't say that just yet. Rice has impressed so far and hopefully Cattoor comes back soon. Pedulla can't play 39-40 minutes a game while scoring 20+ points.
I had a work meeting and didn't get home till 9.
Mom was listening on the radio and texting me updates. She said the radio announcers were livid about the shitty officiating and they only even up the fouls some in the last minutes of the game so the numbers wouldn't be too lopsided. She reported Mutts had to sit because of bogus fouls.
Yah seemed like our bigs were getting clobbered down low and no call but Poteat and mutts were getting calls for siping at air? Hopefully it all evens out and they stop getting bailed out. Thought our defense was on top of them forcing tough shots at the shot clock and they kept getting the lucky roll in
Love the popcorn measure of confidence.
Gotta keep Kidd involved. Gotta tighten up on D.
Everything going in for Syracuse in the early going here again. And getting calls inside which were not
Welp. I think we all know how this ends.
Yes. We rally within 2 in the last minute and lose by 3.
Too many clean open looks from outside.
TV Teddy being there immediately pisses me off before he even blows his whistle
Quick someone tell Teddy the game is on RSN!
With these whistles Hokies will be fouled out by 10 min mark
All fouls on hokies only. Total bullshit.
Might be one of those years. Need to go on a run when Cattoor gets back
They're gonna call every whiff on us inside wtf we get arm slapped and no foul I hate basketball
Somebody needs to punch Gerard in the neck. Might as well cause it's a foul if we just look at one of their players.
I'm dead serious. Foul the fuck out of them if this is what they're gonna call. Just fucking tackle them.
Not sure the Hokies can even score 16 more points let alone recover from 16 down
One thing has become abundantly clear last season and this - we do not have ACC level athleticism. We simply cannot guard. Beyond that, we aren't a very good basketball team right now. We don't do the little things. We can't keep up. We can't create shots. We don't get in position for rebounds. I could go on...
Someone is bothering with negative legs in a game thread.... smdh... especially a game like this
Internet cowards....what ya gonna do? I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.
My fault y'all. I turned in the game for the second half. I'll turn it off some can rally.
Even announcers knew that was a kicked ball
6-0 fouls. Yep.
I don't care about the fouls at this point. The team needs to actually play some basketball and act remotely interested in the game. These last few weeks have been some of the worst in the CMY era IMO.
Agreed was really hoping they could shake all the close losses and play a solid game and hopefully get the bounces this time, but they've seemed to regress further.
I know they had a rough stretch last year and turned it around, but you can't bank on winning the ACC tourney to get into the tournament.
Yup the vibe is off. We get a little behind and the team starts panicking; Pedulla starts forcing; no one seems in the zone and the script goes to shit
We have definitely lost our mojo.
How in the fucking hell is that not a foul against padulla there?
They built up to the no call. Pedulla has been out of control multiple times this half so refs just chalked it to him doing too much
Still ridiculous.
I'm not sure I've seen a VT team fail to box out like this current squad.
The fail to list could be its own thread on this team
Take good shots
Make clean passes
Dribble under control
Stay on your man
See dribble under control on Pedulla just now on an easy basket opportunity
I agree with you. This team is just broken. CMY seems lost as to how to fix it. But there isn't a single positive to which we could point atm.
I'd say Basile's energy level in this game (especially 2H) has been good to see. He's been playing slow-footed lately.
Pedulla's aggressive D I like.
Something is wrong with this team. Bigger than just losing Catoor. We looked more "together", faster, smarter, accurate earlier in the year. We just look lost.
How was that not a call on Collins's fast break. The dude literally landed on his back.
Yup
OMG they called an obvious foul on syracuse!
If Basile could show that effort for more than 2 or 3 minutes per game that would help out a great deal
Why can't any of these big guys just fucking DUNK THAT SHIT WHEN THEY ARE STANDING RIGHT UNDER THE BASKET?
Basile getting battered underneath on offense. TV Teddy isn't interested because he can't make a crazy whistle on that down low stuff.
Pedulla had easy pass there for lay in.
Little things.
Basile isn't going to get a whistle because he's soft as $h1t. He's far too finesse to get any love from an ACC official.
Joe is gonna be an outstanding YMCA player
That call was awful and TV Teddy there to emphasize how bad he is for basketball
They really need to call an offensive foul on their PG (#3?). He's elbowing high (face) and pushing off like crazy.
Yet they call a hand touch on Pedulla the next series.
2-16 from 3.
Can't leg this enough. Really poor shot selection early but second half just flat missing
If I wanted to see my dinner again, I'd rewatch to see how many open looks we missed...but I don't. I'll just say half.
It turns my stomach when they talk about Boeheim being such a good coach. He's crooked as dog's leg.
Been cheating his way to victories for 54 years
And I love the way he attacks the accusers.
Makes TV Teddy look innocent ....
Jim Boeheim is a conceited snotty prick who can suck my balls. Fuck him. Somebody else can relate the story better of how he fought us being in the big east and refused to bring Syracuse to play at VT. Fuck that prick.
Night all. Had a solid dose of garbage ball. No need to see these last punctuations.
We'll make 2-straight 3s to make it a single digit loss and feel better about ourselves :)
Night buddy- thanks for the continued write ups and intel.
This is not what Mutts came back for.
Mutts is part of the problem atm. He lacks energy and his shot is flat. Not a single starter is without blame in regards to the $h1t show that we are seeing right now.
Sadly not a stellar debut for Rice....1 for 9 and 0 for 5 from deep. 1 asist and 3 pf's. I really hoped he would be a spark. Maybe he just needs more game time.☹️
So uhh... We aren't a good team this year. 5 straight losses to teams that aren't exactly good in this conference. At this point our resume is probably torched to the point where we realistically need to win the ACC Tournament to make the NCAA Tournament.
It's a good thing that we won the ACCT last year, because we are probably having a very different conversation about Mike Young's future as our coach right now if we didn't...
Eh we could go 11-9 in conf and probably still get a bid with our noncon, but I agree that is going to be very tough for this team to go 10-4 in the next 14 games.
When I first looked at this stretch of games I thought we could win them all to be 6-0 going into the UVA game. Very tough position we've got ourselves into
Got some heat for saying it after BC but we suck. The word is out, we play soft, we don't shoot as well as last year and we don't defend well enough to play this slow pace (which greatly hurts our chances of scoring on a given possession imo).
We're not a bad basketball team ("we suck" is more in comparison to our expectations to start the year). But we get immediately exposed as soon as we play another team with a pulse who has the ability to play physical
Oh gosh I read this and now I'm starting to either go blind or my eyes are filling with tears idk
My thought is: Pedulla keeps deviating from the game plan and forcing too much (ie jacking up deep threes he's not making at even a remotely high clip or driving into the lane out of control) every game. The game plan against cuse is always get it to the free throw line and create. The bigs did their job for the most part but the guard play was lacking
Did the same math. Crazy stat line as you say.
Pedulla just seems out of control, driving into a crowd and throwing up the ball, or just bombing away. Seems likes he just trying to keep his scoring average up.
I sleeped during the whole game 😂
Wasn't able to watch tonight, but looking at the box score I have to say that our poor shooting from beyond the arc is such a downer. I feel like shooting 15.8% from downtown and only losing by 10 to a team that shot 50% on FGs and 3s is pretty impressive, but like in a bad way unfortunately lol.
Until we figure out the guard rotation, I think we should go to a 3 forward lineup with Kidd, Basile, and Mutts.
Kidd may be a liability on defense, but 10 points on 5 shots is the textbook definition of efficient.
CMY has got to stop playing Pedulla 40 minutes every game. Getting less and less productive as the season grinds on.
This shit is becoming borderline unwatchable.
Catoor will make a big difference. Him drawing attention to the 3 and then being able to dish it is going to open up things. When you watch the team right now, they aren't creative. They need the mature guard play from Catoor. Basile has to get more confident. Let Rice mature. And maybe we still aren't a tourney team. But I'd like to see them play at their best.
Feels like a lot of people quickly lost faith in CMY. For what it's worth I'm just ready to see some VT basketball social media trolling. With football as bad as it's been, it's been nice to have a basketball team to cheer for.
Ups and downs. Enjoy it, magic happens. We saw it last season.
I haven't lost as much faith in CMY as some have, but I also get it for the people who have. MBB was supposed to be the good team this year
Good yes, great no. We were losing too much to be great again. Right now we are still a good team with a 2:1 winning ratio.
I generally appreciate this take, but it isn't looking at the whole picture IMO. There are so many more things wrong with this team. CMY seems lost.
I haven't lost faith in him, but he is certainly struggling to motivate the team and make appropriate adjustments this season.
I haven't lost all faith, but the shine is off and the honeymoon phase is rapidly ending. At the end of the day, we did win the ACC Tournament last year and you absolutely have to credit him for that. But, outside of that hot streak, we haven't exactly been a good team in conference play under CMY in his tenure. A lot of play that doesn't meet the expectations of the fans or experts. And this is during a time when the ACC has been far weaker than its reputation.
I really want this to turn around, I like CMY as a person and love his coaching style and his absolute candor when talking to reporters. But the play has to turn around soon or the tough questions are going to start coming.
Not sure who keeps downvoting people (please stop whoever you are), but despite whether or not people agree this is a measured take.
I literally have someone stalking all of my comments and downvoting everything I post
Been going on since the beginning of the football season
I legitimately think someone created a bot to track and DV you which is pretty wild. While I don't support it, you almost have to respect that dedication to "hating on" someone.
lol if that's the case, that's hilarious
Imagine being so upset with someone you create a bot to downvote them on a fan website. Yeesh
Agreed. The ACC is the deepest conference in the country. Teams are talented, long, athletic, strong, etc. Much like the SEC in football. Buzz knew he had to swim in that pond, and I'm sure Coach Young knows as well. Can Sean Pedulla play in the ACC? abso fucking lutley- but he needs some rest and he needs to play his true position. We had no - zero - front court depth last year- and started 2-7 in the league. This year, a team that wins with shooting, can't shoot consistently. We need to continue to recruit better so we don't have to rely on a hot shooting night every night. We are a mid ACC program right now at best.
Yeah I'm in this boat as well. Like CMY, think he's a great fit personality-wise for VT. But starting to question if we will ever be more than middle of the pack in the ACC under him. I know the ACCT win was great, but as you mention that hot streak just hasn't been the norm in ACC play. We wouldn't have made the NCAA last year if not for the ACC tourney win. We appear to be a team that is overly reliant on shooters and play sub par to poor defense consistently. This is kind of the MO from his Wofford teams too. Whew boy, setting up to be a wonderful year for VT sports. Football 3-8 and basketball woefully underperforming.
I've not lost faith in CMY. I think he's a great basketball coach and he's all-in on VT.
But just go look at his record by year starting at Wofford. It's A LOT of seasons around .500 or worse. Sure, he made the NCAAT 5 times, which is impressive, but there are also nine years at .500 or worse. Overall winning percentage at Wofford was .551 and at VT is now .607.
I think the only solution to avoid remaining in mediocrity is to get and keep top-tier talent. We've let so many promising players slip away in just 4 years, it's crazy: Cone, Bamisile, Alleyne, N'Guessan, even Diarra. That can't happen at a program like VT.
Also in last 4 years:
Nolley (15ppg, 4.8rpg, 2.3apg at Cincinnati),
Radford (12.9ppg, 5 rpg, 2apg at T A&M),
Ojiako (6ppg,3rpg at Mason),
Haynes (12.4ppg, 5.6rpg, 1.2apg at ETSU)
P.J. Horne did one season at Georgia then injured his knee
Wilkins (13.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.4 apg at Longwood)
Blackshear
Clarke
That said I don't envy any coach having to manage the whims of the transfer portal especially in this new NIL environment. Have one great season and the $$$ starts talking.
YIKES. Forgot about some of those guys off the top of my head. That number of guys leaving the portal each year is concerning.... that can't be the norm going forward.
Honestly its a minor miracle that CMY found a way to win the ACC at VT even after losing guys we've spent a lot of time recruiting and developing like Cone, Bamisile, Nolley, Radford, etc.
Mood:
It's kinda sad scrolling down the front page of TKP a little bit and seeing the article with the title: "Shooting for Success: Thoughts on the Hokies 10-1 Start."
I wasn't really able to watch, but I think most of what needs to be said has been said. We don't have a particularly good defense. We play soft. We don't rebound. And the one thing you think you can count on from a Mike Young team is shooting and we're a mediocre 3 point shooting team this year.
I have so many problems with the roster construction of our team. We play like a mid-major team. Less athletic and less talent than our ACC opponents, but just hoping we can shoot well enough and execute our plays well enough to overcome. Sometimes we can (ACC tournament last year), but you can also have 5+ game losing streaks and it doesn't seem like a sustainable setup for success.
I was refreshed to see Basile's stat line. 12-17 on only 1 three point attempt. Basile playing as a spot up shooter despite being our center has killed us many times. Granted, I am assuming this is just because you have someone down low to beat a zone.
There is a reason why none of the national pre-season polls had VT ranked highly, and projected us to be in the lower/middle of the pack in the ACC. As fans, we thought we should be ranked higher, particularly after the fast start. The 'experts' might know a little more about this than we do. We are a team with flaws.
Barring injury to any more of our key players, we will be better than we are now. I have faith in CMY.