2023-24 Hokie Hoops Statistical Notes: Volume 3

The Men's Team

So while my last edition failed to remember that there was an early season tournament, my prediction of 2-2 with Auburn being one of the losses was accurate. Now 5-3 on the year, the Hokies are starting to look like what they will actually be.

Not sure if gusto

Scoring

Hunter Cattoor led the team in this window with 16 ppg, up 2.25 from the last frame, while both Lynn Kidd and Sean Pedulla have disappeared in the offense, dropping 5.75 and 3.75 ppg, respectively, to 11.75 and 12.5 ppg. We've also seen drops in production from MJ Collins (4.5-2.0), Robbie Beran (4.5-3.0), Brandon Rechsteiner (4.5-1.25), Tyler Nickel (9.33-6.5), Mylyjael Poteat (7.5-3.75), and Mekhi Long (4.75-3.75).

Jaydon Young remained about the same scoring-wise (2.67-3.0), while the only player who saw a full basket improvement in scoring was John Camden (3.0-6.0). Patrick Wessler rounded out the remaining point scored by the Hokies over this four-game window.

Rebounding

Long lept his way into the rebounding lead with 7.25 per, this frame, while Kidd dropped back from 9.75 to 5.75. As a whole, the Hokies pulled down 4.25 fewer rebounds per game over this stretch.

Assists

The Hokies did a miserable job protecting the basketball as their ATO dropped from 76:31 to 45:58. Turnovers were also down from 29-24, so even the AATO looks pedestrian at 45:34.

It is still worth noting that even after missing a game, Collins is still the top ballhawk, accounting for 12 of the Hokies 53 steals on the year. Only Rechsteiner averaged an assist per game, paired with a positive ATO.

Experience/Depth

All 12 scholarship Hokies saw the floor, with Cattoor (31.5) and Pedulla (31.25) leading the way. Following them were Kidd (27.0), Nickel (25.75), Beran (18.25), Collins (13.5), and Poteat (11.5). Rechsteiner and Young both netted 8 minutes per game, while Camden gained 4.75 and Wessler contributed 1 minute per game.

Next Window

Returning home, the Hokies start off ACC play with the Louisville Cardinals. Currently 4-3 with a shared win over Coppin State, Louisville is still very much in flux. Also fielding a ten man rotation, the Cardinals have two quality scoring guards who have at least 100 points scored on the year. The Cardinals, as a whole, rebound well but are very careless with the ball. They also don't shoot from range particularly well, nor from the charity stripe.

Next up on the homestand, the Cassell Guard will welcome the Valparaiso Beacons, who are 4-4 on the young season. Led by 18ppg Jr Guard Isaiah Stafford, Valpo doesn't score a lot, and are not a threat from beyond the arc, with only Stafford having hit more than 10 on the season (though he is accurate). They also don't particularly threaten from the line at less than 69% (not nice).

Third we have VT vs VT, as the Hokies welcome the Catamounts who are 6-2 at the time of this writing. This is a team that could give the Hokies problems as they have 4 players averaging 34% or better from beyond the arc, and they handle the ball well. They do, however, suck at hitting FTs, coming in at 307th. The one big that the Hokies will see does not have a height advantage over Kidd, so that should be a point of attack for the Hokies. Looking at their roster's size, the Hokies should attack the post early and often, with every big they have.

Rounding out the non-conference schedule is the patriotically named American University and appropriately nicknamed Eagles. At 4-5, American put up a surprising challenge to Georgetown, Harvard, and St. Francis (PA) earlier this year, but their only big wins have been against Siena, NJIT, and Hood College (which they trailed at the half). Nothing really jumps off the page from the stat book, however, they do have a freshman SF named Matt Mayock, who is the son of NFL Draft guru Mike Mayock.

Prediction

I am predicting VT will go 4-0. The Hokies' record may not be, however.

The Women's Team.

The Hokies went 2-1 with the loss coming against defending national champion LSU, meaning the only two losses suffered have been at the hands of the two teams who played for last year's national championship, so I wouldn't exactly say the sky is falling.

Scoring

Liz Kitley led the Hokies once again, with 21.67 ppg (slightly down from her 24.25 from the first window), followed very closely by Georgia Amoore's 21.0 (above her 16 from the first). However, outside of them, there has been a precipitous collapse of anybody else to score consistently. Michaux dropped 2.5 ppg from her 6.5; Ekh down 4.5 from her 10.5; King down 2.17 from her 8.5; Baker, Strack, and Suffren went scoreless; and Wenzel dropped by 5 ppg. Only Olivia Summiel increased her scoring (1.5 to 5.33). Even though this frame was one game less, the Hokies scored 148 fewer points than in the first window.

Rebounding

There was also a power outage in the rebounding department, as the Hokies pulled down 62 fewer boards. Kitley improved to 12.33 from 10.75, while Micheaux (4.67) Amoore (3.33) and Baker (0.67) remained around where they were, and King improved from 1.25 to 3.33 per game, the rest all dropped, Ekh by 3.42, Strack by 3.17, Suffren by 1.5, Wenzel by 2.08, and Summiel by 2.67.

Assists

As shots weren't falling, neither were assists being tallied. Amoore only had 1 more assist in these 3 games as she did during her record setting game last month, and she coupled that with 16 turnovers. With 36 assists to 44 turnovers, the winning record in the frame is surprising. Even adjusting for turnovers (9), the AATO is barely in the black.

Experience/Depth

I hope to whatever deity exists that we can get Amoore, Kitley, Ekh, and King some breathers coming up after they went 39.67, 35, 33.67, and 31 mpg respectively over this frame. No other Hokie put up more than 17.33 minutes (MIcheaux), while Wenzel (13.67), Summiel (13), and Baker (10.67) put up at least 5 minutes per half. Suffren (5.5) and Strack (2.67) rounded out the remaining minutes.

Next Window

The Hokies return home to take on Long Island, who's only win was a 7 point win at home against winless Hampton, which was a 1 point game with 2 and a half to go in the game, which was also their only game where they scored more than 59 points. They scored 60. They only have one player in double figures, and the team as a whole is only scoring 54.6 a game. They don't shoot well from range (23.7%), from the line (64.2%), from the field (36.3%), rebound (33.4 rpg) or hold on to the ball (12.2:20.3 ATO). They do, however, play good defense with 9.7steals per game, so passes need to be crisp. With their stating big only being 6-1, expect a big day from Hokie bigs. Hell, the only regular contributor for the Hokies who couldn't conceivably play as a big in this game is Amoore.

Next comes Radford. The 2-7 Highlanders are losers of 7 straight, are similar to Long Island in that they don't score much (56.1) don't shoot well (37.5%), don't shoot well from range (28.1%), nor from the line (62.5%), nor do they handle the ball well (10:16.9 ATO). They have one scorer in double figures, but another that is close. They have a 9 player rotation, and they also will only have a 6-1 big, so, again, almost anybody on the Hokies roster could play the 5. They do have a 6-4 Center, but I wouldn't task somebody who only has 21 total minutes in 12 games played in their career to guard Kitley.

Making their last out of conference roadtrip, the Hokies head up to Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights already have a record of 5-5, either smoking or getting smoked in every game, save their losses to Boise St and Texas Tech and win against Monmouth. They are a better scoring team than the others in this window at 68.3 ppg, and they are a solid rebounding team at 41.4 boards per. They shoot well, but not from range (30,8%) nor from the line (66.7%). They are careless with the ball (13.4:20.3 ATO) but do play solid defense (9.1 steals per game). The Knights have an 8 player rotation, which features two 6-3 guards, to go along with their 6-3 and 6-2 center. Their length may give the Hokies some fits.

The Hokies will also be rounding out their non-conference schedule for their last pre-Christmas game, welcoming the Tribe to Cassell. The 2-5 Tribe come in scoring 61.3 ppg, shooting poorly from the field (37.2%) and from range (21.1%), don't rebound well (34.1) and give up more TO (19.1) than get assists (14.6). Two scorers are in double figures of this 8-9 player roster, which is very "big"-heavy, as 5 of those 8/9 are listed as forwards or centers, but they will be playing a F that is 6-2, a C that is 6-1, and another F that is 6-0, so again, most Hokies could line up at the 5, or at least the 4.

Prediction

None of the teams the Hokies will be playing to round out their non-conf schedule will have winning records by the time they play the Hokies. None of them will beat the Hokies.

The Hokies will go into the Holiday break at 9-2. Hopefully, the team will gel more and get into fighting shape in time for the conference schedule to open up on New Year's Eve