Hokie Hoops Central:
Virginia Tech (12-2)
at
Wake Forest (9-5)
Noon ACCN
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV | ACCN
Jay Alter, PxP
Randolph Childress, Color
RADIO | VT Sports Network
Zach Mackey, PxP
Mike Burnop, Analyst
VIDEO STREAM LIVE STATS
ESPN.com and ESPN app stats.hokiesports.com
Wake -5.5
O/U 150.5
ESPN Analytics Wake 74.3%
Another Game of Walking Wounded
Hokies pulled off the "gritty ass win" over UVA to move to 12-2 without Lawal, Johnson and Dorn. They will be facing the same issue today compounded by Avdalas being a game time decision after turning his ankle late in the UVA game. Thats potentially 4 starters out and 42 ppg/21 rpg/8apg on the bench.
On to Wake Forest. They are 9-5. Losses to #6 Michigan by 1 in OT, #15 Texas Tech by 1, Oklahoma by 18, #13 Vanderbilt by 31, and NC State by 13. In their wins, they had quite a few blowouts but also a couple nailbiters, like beating Longwood by 3. Wake seemed to have every advantage in that game but it stayed close throughout.
Wake will be without Isaac Carr, but he is a minor bench player at best.
They are led in scoring by Juke Harris with 19.7 ppg. The good news is he is a volume shooter to get his points, shooting just 45% from the floor and 32.6% from outside on almost 7 attempts per contest. The bad news is he is adept at getting to the free throw line, averaging over 8 attempts per game.
They have two others in double-digit scoring. Purdue Transfer Guard Myles Colvin is putting in 13.7 ppg and Forward Trevon Spillers is adding 12 ppg. Colvin and Mekhi Mason seem to alternate starts with the top six guys all over 20 mpg averages. After that it falls off significantly with only Akins, Schweiger, and Marion over 10 mpg.
Coach Forbes in his 6th season at Wake Forest is using a seven to eight man rotation with some minor bench support beyond that. His bench as a whole isn't very productive.
Offensively they shoot 54% (35 APG) inside and 33% (27 APG) outside. They get to the line around 23 times per game and shoot 75%. Wake doesn't run many set plays as its a continuous motion offense employing alot of screening actions to free dribble penetration
Defensively, Forbes "Dynamite" defense is mostly man-to-man but employs traps and emphasizes hands in the passing lane to lead to transition offense. Forbes wants to go fast or faster so methodical offense like Coach Young employs can frustrate his team if opponents protect the ball which is something the Hokies have done really well this season.
They have turned over opponents 15.6 times per game leading to 18 points per game. They also hold opponents to just 30% from the perimeter.
Demon Deacon Starters
Juke Harris
#2 SO F 6-7 200
19.7 Pts, 6.7 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Tre'Von Spillers
#25 SR F 6-7 205
12.0 Pts, 5.9 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Nate Calmese
#1 SR G 6-2 170
8.0 Pts, 2.0 Reb, 4.9 Ast
Omaha Biliew
#0 JR F 6-8 225
6.9 Pts, 2.6 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Myles Colvin
#6 JR G 6-5 200
13.7 Pts, 4.4 Reb, 1.2 Ast
OR
Mekhi Mason
#8 SR G 6-5 195
8.4 Pts, 3.7 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Demon Deacons Bench
Sebastian Akins
#10 SO G 6-2 175
5.4 Pts, 1.6 Reb, 1.6 Ast
Cooper Schwieger
#13 JR F 6-9 210
3.5 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.8 Ast
Marqus Marion
#11 JR F 6-8 210
1.9 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 0.9 Ast
Jaylen Cross
#23 FR G 6-4 185
2.6 Pts, 1.7 Reb, 0.4 Ast
Vincent Ricchiuti
#9 JR F 6-6 195
2.0 Pts, 0.0 Reb, 0.0 Ast
The Hokies need to attack the Wake defense exactly how they did against UVA. Hammond driving to score or create opportunities for Hansberry and Gurdak. Wake can ill afford starters in foul trouble although neither can the Hokies if Avdalas doesn't play.
I wont count them out but its a road game with a ton of production missing. Not sure what to expect.
Comments
Looks like Lawal, Johnson, and Dorn are all out today per Jeff Goodman.
Don't feel great about this one. Early tip, relatively quick turnaround after an emotional 3OT slog of a win, on the road, missing 3 key guys and a 4th not at 100%. Just seems to have all the key ingredients of a loss.
regardless, LET'S GO
edit: hate that I called it. Flush it gents. On to the next one
HOKIES!
This floor makes watching hard. Looks awful on TV with glares everywhere
Not great bob.
Get Neo out the game
Yeah might have been better with him sitting. Did they call a Technical at same time as timeout? Looked like near sideline official signaled a T.
Deacs with moving screens at top of perimeter every time. Going to be something to watch. Got to stop the turnovers.
And we've been called for it twice now
Hansberry was moving, but the moving screen on Gurdak was bullshit.
Agreed. Hansberry should have had another right before he got the technical instead. He snow plowed a guy across the top of the key
11 of their 19 points off turnovers
Neo needs to sit. He's been lazy on both ends. Likely still hurt and being asked to do too much.
Neo is going to have double digit turnovers in the first half. He is hard to watch.
11 turnovers now with the shot clock violation. These guys look exhausted.
Not sure how Gurdak gets a moving screen call with what's going on at other end
We may foul out of this game in first half. Might not have 5 guys left to put on floor.
Wake being allowed to hip bump and drag every screen and pull our guys coming off of screens.
This game feels over and it's a 3 possession game with 28 minutes to play.
This is the kind of game you need to play high motor guys and get some valuable minutes (Jones, Schutt, Pasha)
Going to be the game Peterkin, Solomon Davis and Brett Freeman may get 15 minutes each
Who do I need to sacrifice for a decent FT shooting team?
Bedford almost didnt even get rim on those free throw attempts
Sincere Jones saving our bacon
Hammond decided this is his team
The brightside is we should be down by 25 already.
Will absolutely take being 4 down after that monstrosity of a half.
These tip outs to threes killing us
Love the fight from these guys. I'd have lost a LOT of money if you'd had bet me, in the middle of the first half, that the Hokies would be up with 7min to go!
What's up with Wake having front courtside seats directly behind both coaches boxes? Don't think I have seen that anywhere else
No T on that pull up dunk on the breakaway is a bad look
should have been a technical on the wf break away dunk. He did a pullup on the rim with nobody close to him!
Hammond is an absolute dawg and Hansberry has been clutch in the second half
Should have been offensive goaltending there
How was no foul called there?
Home cooking is a bitch
Welp, a moral victory ain't going to help us come March.
We didn't deserve to win this game. We played our hearts out, but how many times in the 1H did we hold them scoreless and then miss several shots on the other end?
Ugly hangover loss.
Really feel any foul outside perimeter should be three shots. Would end that bs strategy being an option.
If you don't make a play on the ball early in the game, the foul is a technical. They should call them as technicals the entirety of the game...not just when it's generally agreed it's a strategy to get back in the game.
Agree but unfortunately they never apply it that way even at the end of games. Would definitely clean up playing basketball versus Foul and Free Throws if it was foul shots plus the ball.
I'm not gonna complain about a close loss when we're still without 3 key players.
19 turnovers... end of story
This team has been playing with fire lately and finally got burned. Wake's a good team - 3/5 losses have come to ranked top 20 or top 15 teams. Still need to win but sloppy lazy basketball doesn't help.
Wake didn't beat us, we beat ourselves.
Bingo!!!
Great end of the game from Spillers, I was very impressed by that
The Good... three starters out and still only lost by three. (unfortunately, a lost is a lost is a lost, 3 or 30 it's still a lost)
The Bad... giving up 13 offensive rebounds. Everybody is going to get some, but they outscored us 19-9 on second chance points. Just take half of those points away.
The UGLY... 19, that's right NINETEEN turnovers! Unacceptable! The sad part is that 3 to 5 of those were because of laziness, sloppiness, or inattentiveness. Nothing that the other team did.
And I don't want to hear anything about being tired after three overtimes on Wednesday. These are what, 18 to 22 year old kids? Basketball players are some of the most conditioned athletes in the world. They'd play three games like that in a day if you'd let them.
And lastly, the referees. We all know that ACC refs suck! But what grinds my gears is when they miss obvious calls. Hanging on the rim, back court, goal tending, and worst of all, when the ref furthest from the play or with the worst angle makes the call. I think coaches can turn in plays to the league office, but dang, it don't get no better!
Rant over. See you Wednesday night at 7 on the ACCN.
I would put the lazy on us turnovers higher. More like 8 or 9 from the first half. Neo was a sleepwalking turnover in the first half.
Not going to disagree. I was trying to be generous. lol