Virginia Tech Basketball Defeats Maryland-Eastern Shore 71-46 in Buzz Williams' Debut

"Take up space! Take up space! Take up space!"

That's Buzz Williams in action. Be it yelling and flapping his arms on defense or turning his back on the game to coach a player up, he's always teaching. Williams' courtside schooling was prevalent in nearly every second of action during game one of the Buzzketball era, a 71-46 Hokies win over Maryland-Eastern Shore in Cassell Coliseum.

It wasn't always pretty, and there's plenty for Buzz to build on throughout the year, but it was a start. Freshman Justin Bibbs showed flashes of a well rounded offensive game, Malik Mueller showed total control offensively and the team as a whole had long stretches of tenacious defense.

There were cringe-worthy moments as well, as can be expected from a young team playing its first game. Poor free throw shooting, mid-range bricks and youthful mistakes were all prevalent at different times.

Mueller was the biggest surprise of the game. He played the part of total point guard, showing a scoring flair as well as a nice ability to see the floor. It was also very telling that he ended up playing more than counterpart Devin Wilson (27 and 24 minutes each, respectively). That's not necessarily a condemnation on Wilson, simply an observation on how well Mueller played. This is going to be one of the more interesting subplots of the early season. A year ago, it didn't matter whether or not Wilson had a bad game. He had to play an absurd amount of minutes regardless of his play, because there simply wasn't an alternative. Now there is.

Don't think it was all roses and glory for Mueller, though. What The Umlaut (now his official nickname) takes on offense, he gives a lot of it back on the other end. He's smart enough to get into some passing lanes and provide some stress on the defense that way, but he's a little flat-footed and getting around many of UMES' off-ball picks proved to be a problem.

Another player who could be, let's just call him a defensive adventure, is Adam Smith. Smith has a very nice first step, and is quick both on and off the ball. However, the problem is Smith knows how quick he is, and ball watched frequently. I think it was an attempt to jump passing lanes, but he often was found frantically scrambling to find his man who had gotten behind him. With all that said, he's going to single handedly swing a game this season on offense. The same quick step that tempts him to cheat on defense also allows him to blow past opposing defenders and get open shots.

My biggest concern about this team came terrifyingly to fruition in game one, as both bigs Joey van Zegeren and Satchel Pierce got into serious foul trouble. van Zegeren moved his feet well, but picked up a cheap fifth foul diving on the floor after a loose ball. That's great effort that you like to see from any player, but it also highlighted that the big men simply can't play like the rest of the team. Lack of size will haunt them, and they will never be able to afford either one picking up fouls away from the hoop. Pierce looked better than I anticipated, but he wasn't always in the right place on either side of the ball, and I'm not sure how he'll translate come ACC play. Still, the team needs one of the two big men on the floor at all times, because when both are out things get pretty wonky defensively. When they both foul out? Yikes, things could get ugly.

Shane Henry isn't scared. Seriously, he may have gone 1-6 from the field but all of those shots were confident. The Georgia Perimeter College transfer also had eight rebounds and roughly 100 hustle plays that made his coach clap emphatically. Oh, and he did all of this in 13 minutes. His shot needs to improve, but he showed confidence in himself and he at least showed an ability to be an energy rebounder. That's something that will be very important to a team with size issues like this one.

Just a short blurb on the freshman trio of Bibbs, Hill and Hudson. They're all fun to watch, even if they don't always necessarily know what they're doing. They're bouncy, they hustle and they all pose different little problems to opposing offense. I already briefly broke down Bibbs' game, but Hill and Hudson each showed how they can contribute this season. Hill moves well, both without the ball and on defense, and I can easily see him becoming a defensive stopper. Hudson was asked to handle the backup point guard duties when both Wilson and Mueller were on the bench. I'm still not quite sure what his role will be on the team, but he rebounds well and attacks the rim.

It was only game one, and there will be a lot to learn between today and the team's first real test at Penn State on December 3rd. But there were positive signs, from a team and a coach that looked excited to take the floor on Friday night.

Tech hosts Liberty at home on Wednesday, and it will be very interesting to see what Buzz can teach his team between now and then.