HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: VIRGINIA TECH (15-10, 5-9 ACC) AT GEORGIA TECH (9-16, 2-13 ACC) 7PM ACCN
Gameday in the ๐ ฐ๏ธ๐บ ACCN๐ 7PM pic.twitter.com/Vp7zYpUn75โ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 15, 2023
Georgia Tech (9-16, 2-13 ACC)
vs. Virginia Tech (15-10, 5-9 ACC)
February 15, 2023
McCamish Pavilion
7 p.m. ET
ACC Network
Virginia Tech Sports Network
ACCN
Play-by-Play: Mike Monaco
Analyst: Randolph Childress
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Current Spread: Hokies -8
Over/Under: -141.5
Injuries/Absence:
GT: None
VT: Rodney Rice (Finger)/ Darius Maddox (Personal Matter)
โค Husbandโค Fatherโค Leaderโค Mentorโค Hokie Legend@acustis20 is someone our guys look up to daily. Read more about the journey of a young man from Eastville, Va., who produced a Hall of Fame career and continues to impact lives on and off the court.#BlackHistoryMonthโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 14, 2023
Technically speaking....
The Hokies look for their second consecutive road win tonight against Georgia Tech. The Hokies are 22-8 against Georgia Tech. The Hokies are coming off a road win over Notre Dame while the Jackets suffered a close loss to Wake Forest 71-70
The Yellow Jackets are coached by Josh Pastner, who is in his seventh season as head coach at Georgia Tech. Pastner is 102-111 overall guiding the Yellow Jackets. Prior to Georgia Tech, Pastner had a seven-year stint at Memphis and is 269-184 overall as a head coach. The one area that continues to surprise me is the seemingly limited footprint that Georgia Tech recruits from. Only one of Pastner's top seven is from outside Georgia or a state that borders it. In today's game even small schools have a much larger footprint.
Coach Pastner's Yellow Jackets wins have been few and far between in the ACC this season with a recent win over Notre Dame and an early January win where they shocked Miami. In both wins the Jackets were especially effective on perimeter defense. Only a handful of the losses were close with ten losses by double digits.
Defensively, Coach Pastner loves to use a pressure defense that forces opponents to use up shot clock to even advance to the half court. Once in the half court, the Yellow Jackets have used a variety of defenses, especially zone defense to confuse opponents so far this season. They will vary from a 1-3-1, to a 1-2-2 and also a more traditional 2-3 zone. Defensive pressure though is what they really focus on. This is a team that relies on its defense to make its offense go. Creating turnovers and limiting possessions is what keeps this team in games. Regardless, Georgia Tech has been pretty dreadful in conference play, allowing opponents to shoot 54% from the floor. Opponents have especially focused on offensive rebounds though so that may limit what they accomplish based on their norm of fire and forfeit.
Offensively, Georgia Tech runs a constant motion offense. One thing Pastner does not like to hear is that his team is running, he insists his teams sprint, especially off the ball. They are not a prominent offensive team but playing slightly above average offense and exceptional defense is a good recipe for winning at this level. Prior to conference play, the Yellow Jackets were only averaging 18 attempts from outside, but in ACC play, with how they have struggled to stay in games, that number has increased to nearly 24 attempts per game. The Yellow Jackets have struggled all season though and are shooting a woeful 31% from outside in conference play. That said, any teams fifth bench guy is nearly guaranteed to hit 4 or 5 against the Hokies. They lean more towards transition scoring, and drives to the basket to create shots, where inside the perimeter as a team they are making 45% of their shots.
Yellow Jackets Backcourt
Miles Kelly
13 SO G 6-4 171
Liburn, GA Hargrave Military Academy
12.7 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 1.2 Ast
Dallan Coleman
3 SO G 6-6 215
Callahan, FL West Nassau HS 56 (2021)
9.3 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Deivon Smith
5 JR G 6-1 165
Loganville, GA Grayson HS 56 (2020)
8.0 Pts, 5.6 Reb, 3.7 Ast
Lance Terry
0 SR G 6-2 180
Newnan, GA The Heritage School
8.8 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 1.0 Ast
Kyle Sturdivant
1 SR G 6-2 198
Norcross, GA Norcross HS
7.2 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 2.6 Ast
Yellow Jackets Frontcourt
Javon Franklin
4 SR F 6-7 220
Little Rock, AR Parkview Magnet (AR)
8.3 Pts, 6.3 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Jalon Moore
14 SO F 6-6 211
Gardendale, AL Gardendale HS
8.0 Pts, 5.2 Reb, 0.8 Ast
What to expect from Georgia Tech?
The Yellow Jackets strength is defense and forcing opponents into extended shot clocks. That said their zone has had a backside weakness all season so that complements Mutts controlling the lane with an option to go to Basile.
As a team the Yellow Jackets are shooting 31% from the perimeter on 24 attempts per game in ACC play. Only Lance Terry is shooting better than 35%. While an area of weakness, the Hokies cant shrink in from the perimeter based on usage.
Only Miles Kelly of Georgia Tech's five starters is averaging double figures. My initial thought was that Pastner must be using more bench guys which is somewhat true as nine players are getting 10 or more minutes a contest but production is extremely limited the further down you go.
Georgia Tech has been consistently out-rebounded in ACC play, mainly due to their size. The entire top seven are all 6'7 or smaller. Rodney Howard at 6'10 may be called on for more minutes in this contest to contest the Hokies bigs. Howard has had foul trouble though so his time may be affected by that.
๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฅ#VTGivingDay begins now!๐ค https://t.co/L8522lGRRD pic.twitter.com/YLIBygsXhoโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 15, 2023
The Hokies
The Hokies need to focus on getting Basile or Mutts the ball down low. The Yellow Jackets smaller lineup has made it very difficult for them to protect inside. They are giving up 44 paint points on average this season in ACC play.
The Hokies will need to keep Georgia Tech honest by hitting their open shots on the perimeter. The Jackets are pretty good at getting a hand in the face of shooters but have struggled with teams that can play inside out.
The Hokies need to protect the basketball. Georgia Tech forces opponents into 11.2 turnovers per game, third best in ACC play and convert 15 points per game in transition. In addition they must force Georgia Tech into mistakes. The Jackets commit 9.7 turnovers per game and allow 15 points off those. If it goes as normal the turnovers and points average out.
Georgia Tech opponents right now average 8 offensive rebounds per game on 30 missed shot attempts. Hopefully the Hokies coaching staff notes this and makes it a point of emphasis in this contest. Getting a second chance on 30% of your misses is a huge opportunity.
Highlight of the Notre Dame Game
Basile 30 pointer streak....
1๏ธโฃ3๏ธโฃ๐๐GB set our program record for FG made in an @accmbb game ๐ซก pic.twitter.com/cF3jKI5ugIโ Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 12, 2023
In Closing
The Hokies continue much of the script used to beat Notre Dame by scoring 45+ points in the paint. Scoring inside frees up the perimeter and keeps the defense from focusing outside.
The pace in this game will not be like the Notre Dame game as the Jackets will work to slow the game by extending the defense, even just as a single guard to slow the ball crossing halfcourt.
All the Hokies starters finish in double figures as long as Young doesn't start an odd five like Kidd, Camden or Poteat.
Comments
LET'S GO
HOKIES!!!
Gametime. Get Poppin
Good seats to be had at McCamish Pavilion.
Starting to think Maddox might be gone...
Pedulla picking up his dribble before he got off the bus in Atlanta....smh
Camden ๐คฆโโ๏ธ
You can't let the junk defenses dictate your offensive execution. Carless passes and bad shots are a gift to GT and make their offense too easy
Yep. Our gameplan is seemingly to dick around until their offense heats up.
Defense is sub par and GT is shooting lights out
Lol not to mention everyone all of a sudden makes their 3 pointer per game average in the first ten minutes every game against us
Cause we're not good at defending the 3 maybe?
Certainly appears that way after this many data points ๐
Cause we're not good at defending
the 3 maybe?I don't think the defense has been bad. Maybe a few poor closeouts, but they've made some shots with hands in their faces fading away
Basile can't be the only one who scores guys
Also gotta rebound the ball guys
Can we not block out and get a dad gum rebound?!
They don't have a tall player on the court, and we can't keep them from getting an offensive rebound. 6 and counting
I'm a 6'2" white guy. I think I can help out with the defensive rebounding!
They're playing harder.... This can't happen
Basile ๐
OH COME THE FUCK ON TEDDY
How does replay get used to say no basket? Thats not how it works.
They said TV Teddy was clarifying who the foul was on
He also told the bench it was a and one
That's an allowed use of replay. Determining if a foul was comitted during or before the shot is not. That should not have been changed via replay. The rule book doesn't call out replay for that.
And that is why TV Teddy is not going to be working in the NCAAs again this year.
The rule book only calls out reviewing an off ball foul against a shot to determine before or after a shot. It also specifically calls out that replay "The officials shall not use such available equipment for judgment calls" with the exception of flagrant fouls. If the ACC is going to tell coaches to stop complaining about officiating, they should start holding their officials accountable for not knowing the rules. This isn't as egregious as the end of the Duke UVA game, but it still impacts the score.
Mutts into his "I'm a hero but really a driving turnover" mode
If anybody wants to join Basile from our team that would be great.
Basile with 15 mutts with 6 idk who has the other 2๐
We can be so good, and soo fucking bad
Our offense looks moribund and even worse, most of the team looks like they are just going through the motions.
This season has been incredibly disappointing.
4 guards, 7 offensive rebounds.... Fantastic. If this team does not play at elite offense level they lose... Simple as that. MY better figure it out and quick
This team is so frustrating to watch.
And I'd rather drag my bare ass across a bed of hot coals than watch TV Teddy officiate.
At Half: Scored 31 pts...given up Eight 3's to a GT team that has 2 ACC wins.
It's hard not to think this team has thrown in the towel on this season already.
I honestly don't think that it is that the team has thrown in the towel already. I think it is 100% this team is looking for an "it" guy to put the team on his shoulders and run them down the stretch. Basile is carrying the load right now with scoring, but he is NOT a leader. Our team lacks that leader that can pick things up no matter how badly the game is going. And what is worse, none of our coaches seem to be able to do anything either. Sorry guys...we showed up with ammo, but we forgot the gun.
Another game, another opponent hitting 3's at a season high percentage.
It's not a coincidence
This team's defense is terrible. There are some good individual plays, but they do not play together on defense. Thus, the late closeouts, no pressing, and they don't even pickup their man until the 3pt line.
All I want to do is type curse words after that half.
Allowing 53% from perimeter will get you beat eight days out of seven.
Will three point shooting revert to the mean in the 2nd half? (for both teams)
And here I was, glad that a Virginia Tech basketball game was finally on a TV network that more than 5 people on the east coast have access to.
So if we had made three more threes that would put us four for nine, above our season average and 50% overall from the field... And we'd still be losing
Even when we have hands in their face on a step back three they make it
Mutts with a single handed 4 point swing..sheesh
If in mid-December you would've told me that men's basketball would be MORE disappointing than football, I wouldn't have believed you at all...but we are. Maybe we just caught lightning in a bottle for 4 days in Brooklyn last year, that sadly makes more sense when you look at the totality of the men's program the last 2 seasons. This sucks
Didnt we run off like 11 out of 13 prior to the acc tourney? Not saying we didn't catch lighting, but we were on a heater well before then last year
WHAT ARE THESE TERRIBLE LOB PASSES INSIDE ALL DAY JESUS MAN WE LOOK LIKE A REC LEAGUE TEAM
It's sad hours rn๐ฅบ
I'm gonna be a doomer and listen to nu metal ๐ค
Mutts Collins everyone wtf this team looks like absolute trash
CMY has zero tricks in his bag.
We give up 3s because we cant stop a drive without help and then the kick finds an open 3 repeatedly... hunter the only one who can stop a drive alone
That pretty much Nails it. We help off Shooters on the strong side and they have step in threes they'll typically shoot at 50% Plus
It's true, but it's not a bad strategy against a weak shooting team from outside. It's sad though. It's not a strategy for us - it's the defensive reality for this team.
Mutts - No Ma'am
This teams biggest problem is they have a bunch of passengers. Mutts and Pedulla will step up and take over for short periods of the game, but the rest seem to content to let everyone else do it,
Now they call the foul on the wrong guy. This isn't block/charge stuff, it's basic officiating.
Best guy on the floor should have 4 fouls but nope...let's call it on a guy watching the play
Too bad there's not a transfer portal for officials.
Too bad there are not standards for ACC officials...oh wait
The lob passes should not be needed to get the ball inside on a team with no one above 6'7
Where are the coaches on that? (on the foul call)
Seven staffers sitting there and not one goes to Coach Young to ask for review?
That review has to be initiated by the official. You think Teddy is going to call for a review of his call?
Mutts thrown to floor but it's "letting them play a little bit"
I've never seen a team pass directly into the defenses arms more than us this season.
40 footers shouldn't even be a thought but hey how many 3 footers have we missed too
Scratches all over Basiles arms.
Wow. Basile gets tackled. No call. Call offense on Kidd for swinging his arm.
Are we aware that Lynn Kidd is not good at basketball
Can't tell if this is sarcasm (I assume it is), but he definitely needs more minutes!
The man cannot hold onto the basketball and does not know what to do underneath the basket
I agree, offensive liability if he has to dribble. He is a defensive player who can only score if he's catches the ball within 5 ft.
He has the 2nd highest FG% on our team this season at 67.8% just behind poteat at 68.3%. I've been clamoring for Kidd to be getting more minutes for months now.
I understand why that's a foul, but I haven't seen the ACC officials call it all season long.
"Letting them play" has been code all season for letting small teams play overly physical but it doesn't go both ways
We get killed with this on the road, and it never happens in Blacksburg. We get home cooking in those close home losses and they might be wins.
Twelve seconds is not nearly ten
Paging Mike Young! It's time to start coaching!
And that's unfortunately probably game...just dumb basketball
Remember when Mike Young inherited a bare cupboard for Year 1? We went 7-13 in ACC.
We're likely going to finish Year 4 with a nearly identical ACC record after having tons of time to get "his guys" into the program. I don't know how he thought it would be a good idea to go into this year with only 5 guards (2 out - missing Rice and Maddox).
No excuse for Year 4 to be on the level of Year 1, even with an unfortunate injury.
We still have not replaced Tyrece Radford - we need an efficient guard who can get to the basket and take a defender 1v1 from the perimeter.
Yeah, I'm trying to figure out the Mike Young experiment atm. He has a really good roster that, when they are actually doing the little things well (playing defense, boxing out, hustling for loose balls, ect.), can play with just about anyone. Then on the other side of that coin, we can't beat the worst teams in the league.
If we don't make the tournament in Year 5, the (metaphorical) pitchforks should come out
12 months after winning the ACC? For the team that had never won a conference championship?
Be careful to not let luck cloud the perception of sustainability.
We were one Maddox miracle from losing in the first round and not even being on the bubble.
This is our 2nd bad regular season in a row. If it becomes 3 bad regular seasons in a row, we have a serious problem.
So yes, he should be on the hot seat if we have another bad season next year imo
Mutts is a turnover machine
Has been for 3 years
Mutts throws his own ball out of bounds. How about the foul on his hand that caused his to loose the ball?
epic choke job across the board, there goes the season. beaten by an inferior opponent again. so many bad plays, this team has a huge problem playing down to their opponent and losing
Exactly. This was supposed to be around a 10 point win. The refs are giving a little home cooking but we're making bonehead play after bonehead play.
Love the "spin cycle" move...dude took 5 steps after he picked up his dribble.
Lol you cannot tell me there were zero fouls down low there with Pedulla getting arm slapped laying up
We're not playing well...but man these refs are epic trash. Guys slapping each other in the face and no calls.
At least four fouls in that sequence
7-8 seconds to inbound and no 5-second calls.
Why let the time run down???
Held ball my ass bro wtf
Just can't put back to back solid possessions together all game
Great strategy to not even try to rebound on that 3 point attempt.
That's a held ball?
Not that the game isn't already over but a lob pass to Mutts 12 ft from the basket with 25 secs left?
I just...have no idea what we are doing...
Basile trying to tip drill again
Yes the officials suck. Teddy pulling the foul reversal on the review is inexcusable. GT is shooting 50% from the 3, but our team is the only reason why we are losing, will lose this game and have lost too many games like this one. Pick the stat. Pick one and there you have it. You can pick our overall shooting %, our 3pt %, turnovers, etc. Add in a piss poor defense and whammo, you have this season.
What's truly sad, is this season could be the total opposite and we are sitting in the top end of the ACC, most likely dancing in March and maybe in the upper part of the Top 25.
It's sad. It's super frustrating. It's disappointing. It's unfortunate.
Maybe CMY is one player away from doing the opposite. A player like JRob would probably have changed the outcome of 75% or more of our losses.
Sorry...more and more I am putting this on the coaches. This team never seems ready for the basic execution against opponents. By this time in the season there are no secrets about what each ACC team is, strengths and weaknesses and how to attack them and yet game after game we see this team come in and do basically the opposite of what has worked against each opponent all season.
If we hadn't won the ACC Tournament last year we are probably calling for a coaching change right now. We have not been a good team at all in conference play under Mike Young. It's been one of the few constants
How come they don't ask hard hitting questions in the basketball post games like they do football? Is there less time allowed or something
Definitely a real head scratcher that the coaches haven't seemed to have figured shit out. I'm not associating blame on either players or coaches, but rather the team. The team is comprised of both. Both are real head scratchers. Both are responsible. Two could debate if it's more on coaches or players. That's futile. This is on all of them.
Mr Pastnor, It's 2000 on the phone. They want the sideburns back....
Had to turn that shit off. Absolutely pathetic effort from this team tonight. Playing so far shy of their potential.
This was the opposite of finding a way to win. We did not have it tonight, and didn't seize it. We lost 50/50 balls, rebounds that fell right to our guys were taken away, we missed a few easy layups late in the 2nd that could've made it a close game.
Maybe maybe we can turn it on in time for the tournament but there will need to be some major coaching arjustements
ACC tournament sure, there is no NCAA tournament for this team
Seriously, we need to be focused on "turning it on" to even make the NIT at this point.
ACC for sure, only way we could make the dance this year is catching lightning in a bottle in Greensboro. Super unlikely because we'd have to win 5 games rather than 4 this time
When you're 3-19 from beyond the arc, maybe it's time to stop shooting from beyond the arc
No excuses...just another bad effort. Coaching staff should be embarrassed with the game plan and preparing these guys. Pretty over it.
TV Teddy staying at the top of my Biggest VT hate of all time.
GT goes to line for 26 attempts. The Hokies go to line for 8 attempts. No way that was close to "right"
I'm not sure this team wins more than one more game this year. I don't see any way they beat Pitt or Miami the way they are playing.. At Duke forget it. Maybe a road win at Louisville but they played UVA tough tonight. FSU at home... Who knows
With 15 offensive rebounds, did we even get 10 points from them?
With how we are playing lately, do you think we even make the NIT at this point? Also I'm really starting to have a bad feeling about next year when Basile and Mutts both graduate...our current roster composition leaves a lot to be desired.
Believe if Basile wants to he can play another year due to Covid. Not positive on that but Mutts is on Year 6. Cattoor also will have an option to return.
Whew, yeah looks like Basile can come back next year! Well that makes me feel better about next season. Getting Cattoor back would be nice too, but I'd still like to see him take another step forward and ramp up to around 15ppg, kinda like a mini JJ Reddick who can play defense lol.
Agreed on the game management/strategy comments. We just flat out look unprepared and without a strategy. If we shoot well we compete and if not we lose. We've been unable to put together anything resembling consistency and cohesiveness on either end of the floor. Basile and Collins are improving, Cattoor is Cattoor and everybody else feels like they are regressing and there are no answers off the bench. Cant believe I'm saying this but for the first time I am questioning CMY's ability and just don't remember feeling this way under Buzz.
I feel like with buzz teams you knew the strategy they were going to run, they were going to run it well, and they were going ti fight for every loose ball or rebound.
Felt so guaranteed every game with him and I miss it
Absolutely spot on... Was just thinking how much I appreciate Buzz and how good he was at adjusting, getting guys to defend, fight and grind, play the spread/ small ball that is hoops today.
And Yet Buzz has been struggling to my knowledge.
Nah they're 19-7 NET in the low 30s and going to tourney
Yeah A&M definitely turned it around in SEC play. They went 8-5 in nonconference but are 11-2 in SEC and are currently second in the SEC only to Alabama's 12-1.
Couple of early season head scratchers against Murray State, Colorado, Boise State and Wofford but have turned on the jets in conference. To be fair though, Boise State is 20-6 and none of the others have losing records.
Buzz is a genius with in season adjustments. He switched up our D mid season I think 2019 with a huge jump in efficiency. He called it his cover 2. Looks like he's done the same this year with A and. M
I followed A&M a little more last season and early this season. I am glad they turned it around.
Yeah, Buzz is a very good coach. People just don't like him now because he left us which I don't even get because he was never gonna stay with us long term if you knew anything about Buzz Williams. I was ecstatic when we got him but would basically hold my breath every time a P5 school in the Oklahoma/Texas region even floated the idea of exploring a coaching change. Oh, he was basically recruiting for his next job knowing he probably wasn't staying at VT? The horror. Welcome to 21st century college sports. I'll fill you in on the other details you missed over the last 20 years. It worked out very well for us. Would have been nice if it was longer but it showed we can win at VT. We know we can reach that standard and what to look for.
And don't forget the paint touches! lol I remember reading that Buzz had read some statistic about how if the ball got into the paint on offense, then that increased the chance of scoring by a good amount, even if the ball then left the paint area. I remember that being a very popular staple of Buzz's offense.