Television
ESPNU - Clay Matvick & Tim Welsh
Radio
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network - Bill Roth & Mike Burnop
Also available on:
Satellite: Sirius 84, XM 84
Digital: Hokies Xtra & TuneIn
The Hokies travel to State College to take on the Nittany Lions. Both teams come in on wins, the Hokies having dispatched Morgan State 83-63 and Penn State having beaten Bucknell 88-80. The Nittany Lions also went 2-1 over the holidays in the Charleston Classic, losing in the first round in a surprising 106-97 double overtime loss to the Charlotte 49ers.
Penn State offensively goes as D.J. Newbill(#2) goes, who comes in averaging 25 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.1 apg in over 38 minutes a contest. Newbill is a 6'4 Senior Shooting Guard who packs a wallop at 210 lbs. Fortunately, Tech sports several similar sized guards so expect to see alot of Mueller and Bibbs guarding Newbill this evening. There are two other Nittany Lions averaging double figures. Both Shep Garner(#33) and Brandon Taylor(#10) come in averaging over 10 ppg so far this season. Taylor will likely be the responsibility of our big men to keep off the boards and getting easy buckets as that appears to be how he contributes most. The remainder of the starting five for Penn State will likely be Geno Thorpe(#13) and Ross Travis(#43) giving them a three guard/two forward set on the floor at most times.
Offensively, Penn State tries to create a lopsided court, shifting four away from the intended shooter, typically trying to get Newbill an open look or the option to drive the ball into the lane in a one on one situation. They also look to alternate the position of their big men to create passing lanes down low to also create layup or easy shot opportunities.
Defensively, they will likely spend much of the game in a 3-2 zone, spreading out to the perimeter to contest open shots. Their coach has a very similar mindset to Buzz in regards creating offense from defense by creating turnovers and ensuring there is someone between the ball and the basket at all times. They play a very up tempo style which should mesh well with how the Hokies like to approach the game.
Penn State so far is averaging 76 points per game, with a very similar Points Per Possession as the Hokies at 1.08 compared to 1.06. They get 70 possessions a game, slightly higher than the Hokies 66 so far this season. One major area of difference is in 3 point shooting, where the Hokies have an almost 10% edge (46-36) so look for the Hokies to take advantage from the outside. In most other statistical categories, these two teams seem pretty even.
I think the challenge tonight will be how these young Hokies fare being at a true road location for the first time this season. If they are able to work through it and shoot the ball the way they have done the last two games, then the Hokies could win by double digits. If they struggle, this game could get UGLY with Newbill having a superb night. I expect Buzz to have the kids ready for tonight's contest, with a good plan on limiting Newbill. The Hokies can not afford a second half mental lapse in this game like they managed to overcome in the previous two games. This game is very much a litmus test for the lower tier teams in our ACC slate so win or lose, hopefully Buzz learns where he needs to work with this team throughout the holidays to prep for conference play. The WVU game will likely be the test of what they have accomplished towards that end. I expect big games from JVZ and Mueller today that likely tip the difference in our favor.
Hokies win 75-67 in a game that is closer than it should be.
Comments
Great summary! It sounds like Newbill will be quite a test for us. Good analogy on the ACC team comparison. Do you know what the line is on the game tonight? The ACC needs to gets some wins in the Challenge.
PSU -10
It looks like the big10 has it this year
Thanks! That would make it a sweet win, and probably the kind of line we'll see in several of our ACC games.
I have to assume that Vegas is leaning towards us not being able to stop Newbill and that we wont be able to perform on the road with that number.
Big 10 needs to win two games out of six tonight to win the challenge. Right now it stands at 6-2 towards the Big Ten. Couple of surprise losses in there, biggest one to me was how Pitt laid down against Indiana. The parts I watched were ugly. Pitt couldnt seem to put anything together. Also of note, I would not expect us to beat Miami this year with how well they seem to have been playing so far this season. They beat Florida earlier in the year and now crushed Illinois. If things go as I expect tonight, the ACC will probably win 4 out of 6 and lose the challenge 8-6. I dont see Duke beating Wisconsin at Wisconsin and I also dont see Notre Dame beating Michigan State, all the other games I expect to go the ACC's way.
It's amazing how Miami basketball has surpassed Miami football down there. Their basketball program is on the rise, while their football program is struggling big time to be what they once were.
Wait, are you talking about Miami or Virginia Tech? I just made myself sad with that joke :(
It helps that the basketball program is able to sell recruits on all their facilities being on campus, student attendance is much higher for basketball, and they have a well respected older coach to keep themselves above the fray of NCAA violations. Al Golden has to fight the sanctions issue every time he faces a microphone. Larranaga hardly is ever asked about it. Al Golden has to fight an empty stadium because of how far it is from campus. Some challenges arent going to be overcome in todays battle for recruits.
Jim Larranaga :-(
Was it just me, or did Miami look to have a full crowd last night? I had to do a double take.
Larranga is doubling down on his strategy of collecting transfers to be competitive every few years. I mean, it worked a couple years ago, and it appears to be working now, but I'm not sure how sustainable that kind of process is, and I'm not sure the fans are going to be willing to deal with that kind of year to year standings rollercoaster ride.
Miami is definitely benefitting from having Angel Rodriguez but even without him I think Miami would have been middle of the ACC this year at worst. That said, Miami also doesnt have much in the way of expectations regarding basketball so any good news is great news compared to the football team. Larranaga also had a Top 25 recruiting class this season, with five freshmen coming in that are contributing 27.7 PPG so far of Miami's 76 PPG. 1/3 of scoring from freshmen while continuing to win big games, led by Deandre Burnett, who is putting up 10 ppg and 3.5 rpg in just 16 minutes a game so far. I dont think Larranaga will be relying on transfers very long if his recruiting classes continue to contribute like this.
Yeah, I went back to the schedule & was disappointed to see that we only play F$U, Clemson, BC, Wake & Pitt once each. The conference schedule didn't work in our favor this year. That's okay, it will cycle back around.
We play FSU twice, January 6 at FSU, and Feb 7 at home.
Our four doubles are LOLUVA, FSU, Miami, and Syracuse.
Good, that is one we might be able to catch early. It's not entirely out of possibility that we split our home/homes. It's going to be an exciting season...
Luckily all four of those teams stink. No, wait, they are all really good. Damnit.
For someone who doesn't know everything about roundball but loves to watch the hokies play when near a tv, can any of you guys describe how much of an effect gameplanning can have on the outcome of a game? Or does it really just come down to skill/talent level and which team is having the better night? For example, in my opinion on football, we shouldn't have beaten Ohio State this year based on talent alone, but Beamer had one hell of a game plan and I think it really was the difference that faithful night. I guess what I'm getting at is, now that the season is going on, can we expect Buzz to lead the team to victories they wouldn't already get based on better talent than the opponent? Obviously, we should win a few games we're not favored in just by chance, but can we expect that from Buzz's coaching alone?
Talent eventually determines most of what happens but game planning is certainly a big factor.
Football on defense, you make a pre game decision to focus on stopping the run or the pass to force a team to be one dimensional. This may make you vulnerable in other areas if the other team is prepared for it.
Buzz tonight will probably focus our guards defensively to harass Newbill to no end. An earlier example was in the UNI game, where JVZ focused on limiting Seth Tuttle to his worst game of the season. If we stop Newbill from contributing his normal 25 points and say he gets 12 instead, that lowers their team expected point total from 76 a game to 63 roughly.
The concern of course is does someone else from Penn State step up. In the UNI game, Tuttle struggled but three other Panthers stepped up to more than make up the difference. The bigger difference there was our lack of rebounding and turning the ball over.
Game planning doesnt end there though, even the roster Buzz starts a game with will likely have a purpose. People asked why JVZ and Smith werent starting with how they have been playing and Buzz explained that both players seem to benefit from sitting early to identify weaknesses and opportunities available on the court before going in and then putting them to our advantage once they are on the court.
The bigger thing in basketball because it is much more a momentum sport than football are the in game decisions by the coaching staff in regards to change of defensive style, when to call a timeout, seeing who is on the court and making substitutions to give you the advantage on the court. Offensively noticing a weakness of the other team and exploiting it until they adjust. When to create additional pressure by going to a full court press. Example was at the end of the Morgan State game, it became clear they couldnt stop Devin from driving the lane, so four straight times down the court Devin took the ball straight in. End result was eight points in four trips. Game planning though would be to make sure your players know who on the other team is really bad at free throws when it comes to strategically using your fouls or trying to get back into a game late.
Game planning also comes in when you review an opponent and notice they employ something unique whether on offense or defense. Think GT and the Triple Option in football, being able to make sure that your team is ready to adjust when they see it is critical.
It is more difficult to do in basketball because of how little time you have between games alot of times.
I'd give ten legs on that if I could. Sorry, but I can only give you one.
Thanks, just glad to be able to provide some basketball education in such a football dominated space.
Nice post.. and it explains why I would be a terrible basketball coach.
My game plan would be full court press for 40 minutes, and spraying three pointers all day long.
The surprising part is that if you could do both of these well regularly, you would win more games than you lose. More so the full court press but hitting three's is a big part of the game. This has been one of the reasons that VCU has had so much success in recent years. Shaka employs the press more than any coach I have ever seen as part of his HAVOC defensive scheme. You are starting to see more of it as his tree spreads out. Will Wade has taken it to Chattanooga and renamed it CHAOS, Derek Kellogg has worked with it at UMASS under the name PAIN after facing VCU a couple times, several other assistant coaches have implemented parts of it at their new schools as well. The biggest problem is being able to game plan for those teams that excel in exactly what can beat this defensive style and adjust enough to win. If a team passes well, has good ball control, and knows where on the court to be based on the press than they can get easy buckets dicing up a press. Those kinds of teams are rare though. Wisconsin is one team that comes to mind that could regularly beat the press because of how methodical they are on offense, Princeton is another.
Dang it. I was this close to coaching VCU, and I never even knew it.
My game plan would be full court press for 40 minutes, and spraying three pointers all day long.
Is your name Shaka Smart?
Edit: I just completely copied what ltrepeter2000 said before I even read it. Can I get a hoops wiz next to my name? Kidding, kidding. I do find it pretty funny other coaches are going with the generic versions of HAVOC to describe their press. PAIN... come on now lol
PAIN = Pressure. Agitate. Interupt. Neutralize. It at least had some thought into it regarding the tenets of the defensive style.
Plus it makes for a great wrasslin' type promo.
'So, Coach, what can we expect to see in today's game?'
(Randy 'Macho Man' Savage voice) - 'PAAAAIIIINNNN!!!'
In game adjustments are so huge. Thanks for highlighting that.
Very excited for tech to bring home a good road win!
LETS GO HOKIES!!
Yes, we can. Buzz's tactics and the toughness he has instilled in the team should be enough to win a handful of games alone.
Combine that with the youthful talent that should get better and better as the season progresses, and the future is bright.
Talent is huge, but X's and O's have proven to be a big thing in college basketball over the years. Lesser talented but better coached teams win in basketball far more often than football.
With only 5 players on the court at a time, there are less variables than in football. A well coached unit of 5 can rise up and play better than its talent, much easier than football.
A well coached team that gets hot from 3 pt range always has a shot against anyone.
Go Hokies!
I'm really jacked about tonight's game. I think our defensive hustle and effort are going to cause more problems than it should, and we will be able to get hands in the faces of players taking 3s. I'm a little nervous about how we run our O tonight. If we're undisciplined and sloppy, it can be a long and frustrating night.
Is this game available at all on the interwebs? Audio? Video? Both? Either?
Looking pretty good except for free throw shooting. Come on,Joey!
Joey is 0-4 at the line. C'mon maaaaaaaaan.
Great defense being played, especially on Newbill who has only managed to get up 2 shots at the under-4 timeout. The two-man game on offense is working extremely well and hopefully we can start to knock down some open looks from deep (Bibbs/Smith have each missed a couple). Encouraging start so far.
Doing a good job on turnovers but Joey going 0-7 is killing us and the lack of any perimeter shooting is the difference from going in losing here compared to going in with a 10 point plus lead. Penn State goes 9-13 from the free throw line and we are shooting 37% from the field and 14% from behind the arc. Cant have that again in the second half. Have to get other guys drawing fouls.
What a terrible finish after a great start to the half.
No joke. That fell apart fast.
I don't like Joey's free throw tick before he shoots. Your always supposed to find something that is routine and repetitive to make yourself comfortable for your shot, but he does some weird rotation of the ball one handed into his shot. I'm sure it's not a deal breaker on what's wrong but to me it just looks awkward to do right before his shot.
The worst part tonight is he is hitting the same spot on almost every one of the shots, its been the back of the rim, about three inches to the left too far to get it to roll in. He needs to slide over or change his target to correct it.
It's new to Joey's free throw shot this year, but I imagine the coaching staff has been working with him on it since they arrived in Blacksburg. As long as you're consistent with your pre-shot preparation, it doesn't matter if you're spinning the ball on your finger before you shoot free throws.
Hey we don't suck! #progress
Any player should love this style of play, continually attacking the basket and very fast action. None of that hesitation BS we've had to put up with for awhile. Fans should love it,too.
I'm a big fan of how Buzz wants this team to play. A lot of drive and kick, taking 3's and getting JVZ involved on easy tip-in/dunks...I've had a couple of small quibbles with his rotation (I thought he could have waited to put JVZ until after the 12 minute time...the guy already has three fouls, no reason to have him on the floor and possibly get a cheap foul) but so far, I've liked it....especially like how aggressive the team has been in transition, such a welcome change from years past
No calls happening when the guards drive the lane but its at least been consistent on both ends. Hill definitely got popped in the face with no call on that inbound pass to shoot.
The other thing that was bothering me and hadn't put a finger on it is that typically when a team is going to wear the Jimmy V pink uniforms they let the visiting team know so they can also wear their visiting pinks. Maybe we didn't select one this year but it definitely is an odd look.
Apparently pink and black were Penn State's original colors. I don't think it has to do with Jimmy V. Either way, it is not pleasing to my eyeballs
Yeah, it's like when we decide to go 'retro' a century-plus ago and wear grey uniforms. Way back in the day, VT didn't have the most 'unique' color combo in the land, Penn State did, with pink & black. I wonder why they would ever have decided to switch from that?
Penn St. isn't even guarding Devin Wilson on screens. He needs to at least become a threat to shoot.
Anybody needs to become a threat to shoot before this gets away from us.
I'm just saying, in general, the one glaring aspect missing from Devin's game is being a threat to shoot. Penn State isn't the only team that will refuse to guard Wilson outside the paint this year. Film doesn't lie.
Get JVZ back in the damn game. Paige (edit: corrected, I have been calling him satchel pierce this whole season, oops) is in over his head. We are getting killed in the paint.
His name is Satchel Pierce. Paige is his middle name.
Satchel Paige is a much better name than Satchel Pierce
Indeed. I hope he was named after the famed pitcher. Must be.
Maybe we should follow the lead of van Zegeron and just refer to him as SPP.
Mueller is pissing me off. He has had at least a half dozen open easy looks and we have nothing to show for it.
The lack of whistles is now going one way. Refs are giving in to the star player Newbill on some pretty questionable calls.
Pierce has got to man up down there. Joey being out is the biggest difference here. Worst case Buzz needs to get both Pierce and Henry in together to try to make up for Joey.
There have been too many misses close to the basket all around. They are getting in the paint and getting good looks, but can't finish. May be some of the contact you are alluding to. Also did not see much contact in Newbill on that up and under.
Wow Penn State being allowed to get away with murder under the hoop on both ends.
Penn State is more aggressive than us right now, especially on the OREBs, we need to get it together
I think we're watching different games? Refs have been fine from my perspective. Pat Driscoll is one of the best in the business.
Anyone know the conference affiliation of the officials?
Many college refs work more than one conference. I started watching the game late and only recognize Pat Driscoll, who works mostly Big Ten games but has already been at Cassell once this year for an OOC game.
Well, that's true. I didn't think about that - college hoops is different than football. You get some guy like Ted Valentine (I think he's the one) and he spreads his poison all over the country.
Ha. Valentine is...passionate. He actually works a large number of games with Driscoll in the Big Ten.
You're very diplomatic on that one. Valentine's problem is that he wants to be the star of the game. That's an especially bad tendency for an official. I've seen him deliberately and overtly bait coaches just so he can T them on numerous occasions. All while he ignores the game around him. I just have no respect for him, obviously!
Yeah, he can be painful to watch. He's actually pretty good until he decides that he needs to make sure everyone knows that "the one and only" Ted Valentine is working the game. I think he may be a distant relative of Joey Crawford.
and suddenly we can't get a rebound, a bucket, or a stop. Tough couple minutes for us.
Now I am not an expert on these sort of things, but isn't the objective to put the ball through your basket more than the other team puts the ball through theirs?
Depends on who you ask. Some people will say the objective is to stop the other team from putting the ball through the basket as many times as you do. Kind of a philosophical thing from what I've gathered.
Bad free throw shooting is the difference right now. Absolute lack of rebounding as well.
Bibbs fouled by running his face into the Penn State player's elbow
Can your girlfriend start running races midweek as well?
#GirlfriendOnATreadmill
Pretty ugly second half so far. Shooting period has been terrible from anywhere. Not just the line. We are 35% from the field, 25% from three and 25% from the line.
25% from the FREE throw line is inexcusable.
"Tough guys make free throws."
- Buzz Williams
Zero tough guys on this team. Very disappointing to see mental weakness. Weak team. Can't hit free throws and can't finish a game. And now can't rebound on a free throw.
Justin Bibbs gets my vote for the Kyshon Jarrett "Balls of Steel" Award
Unbelievable. If Bibbs locks his feet down there that's definitely a charge. Smith has the bad feet position. Only a two there. Frustrating little mistakes.
Freshman...
JVZ trolled the PSU students/fans so hard after fouling out. PSU does a similar foul-out chant to us and he paced around the bench and then acted like he was going to sit down 2 or 3 different times, letting the student section waste their breath.
I wish he had focused as much on his FT shooting as he did faking the PennSt fans. JVZ went 0-7 from the stripe. Had he hit 4-7, less than 60% on FT's - still a horrible number - we'd have won.
Amen. I didn't know there were teams out there that could shoot free-throws worse than VCU until our performance last night.
O...
Well this is disappointing.
To even have a chance to tie was incredible.
Ouch Just painful to piss this one away.
Agreed, that was a very winnable game. Too many misses at the stripe and in the paint. Defense played well enough to keep it a low scoring affair, but too many scoring droughts cost the Hokies this one.
Hell of a look to end the game, can't ask for anything more than that. Fitting way to end the game though. Didn't play poorly at all, just couldn't make shots.
Can't ask for more than that? I'm sorry, I respectfully disagree. 25% from the free throw line is absolutely inexcusable for a division 1 basketball program. Hell it's inexcusable for a varsity high school team. That is a lack of mental toughness. Coach Williams said it himself.
I believe he was referring to the last shot, not the overall performance
Indeed.
I gotcha..re-read it and I think you're right.
Tough L but I loved how the players never gave up when it looked like they were done for good. Honestly this season is more about improvement for me and hopefully we can improve from this one.
Agree! I enjoyed this one even though it was a loss. Good looking defense and offense! Hudson and Hill can really play some tough defense and push in transition. We could have blown Penn State out had we shot better free throws and made half of our easy lay-ups. These are easy things to work on.
Was a little upset with a few no-calls that seemed pretty text-book, but it happens.
Bottom line-If we continue to play like we did last night, there is no way we will be last in the ACC like we have been for the last 3 years. The future looks exciting, which is how good basketball should be.
Knowing we shot as poorly as we did on FTs as well as not earning that many FTs, we can translate this type of game into ACC play and know that we have already made solid progress towards moving out of the basement. That's a key difference for fans this season - we now have hope! We can see progress already with the players, and that they have bought into Buzz's plan for success. Frustrating loss, but lots of encouragement for the future.
This. It was a frustrating loss for sure, but unlike seasons past, you feel like the team will learn from it and get better.
OMG when the ball left Hill's hand I just knew it was good. Then it wasn't. I went from massively excited to feeling like I got kicked in the balls in less than a second.
Kinda fitting with your username?
NO MENTAL TOUGHNESS. An extension of football season. Very disappointing. Thought I would be happy to see them competing, but in not. Cannot shoot 25% from the free throw line and get a free education. Inexcusable.
You see a lack of mental toughness in a lot of young teams. Be patient, that will come in time.
Arron Rodgers says "RELAX"
Lose by 3. Shoot 4-14 from the free throw line. Virginia Tech Basketball
Half of that was JVZ. He shot 0-7 while the rest of the team shot 4-7 from the foul line.
That makes what could have been a stolen win on the road into a frustrating loss. These types of games are the ones that we need to convert into wins. Just looking at the scoreboard, one would say - 'Oh, we had a close one! At least no blowout...' Looking at the stats, that was a game we wasted our opportunity.
Such is life with a young team. It won't be the last time we do this. The objective is to lessen the number of times we do this. Ah, well. Time to move on to the Radford game on Sunday!
Blah. First game I have watched this season. Gutsy performance, kudos to the coaching staff for giving our guys a chance in the end, and props to the young guards for making the tough end-of-game shots. What a close finish, good look by Hill, just rimmed out. Bummer.
Two takeaways:
1. There is a huge drop off between JVZ and Satchel. Satchel needs to be coached up on D.
2. Free throw shooting is terrible. Make a few more, and we're not the ones shooting deep threes to end regulation. If Buzz can demand improvement, this teams ceiling is much higher than preseason expectations.
Oh, and one more; Bibbs is the purest shooter I've seen since Delaney on VT's roster.
Satchel is a non-factor to me. I agree that he needs major work on the defensive end. He just looks lost out there and a little too tentative, but I guess that will come with experience.
Also, you might have felt differently about the "purest shooter" category of you saw the Morgan St game. Although it was a weaker opponent, the drive-and-kicks by DW had Adam Smith looking like Ray Allen
He certainly looked like Ray Allen against Miami (Ohio) the other night as well. Live by the three, die by the three
If one thinks back to JVZ's freshman year, Satchel is about at the same level as JVZ was back then. Paige will become a solid player by his Jr & Sr seasons. Until then it will be a learning process.
He does show glimpses of being a potential terror for the opposition in the paint. it will just take time. What Satchel needs more than anything else, is self confidence that he can dominate. He even knows that, but it's hard to get young guys to remember that sometimes.
Free throws unfortunately were the bottom line:
Shooting percentage: 38.5% for Tech/37% for PSU
Three Point: 28.6% for Tech/16.7% for PSU (only thing I will say here is that Tech took so many fewer threes than in other games it made a significant difference in the bottom line.) We had been averaging about 7 made a game and only hit four tonight.
Free Throw: 28.6%(SAME AS OUR THREE %) / 56.7% for PSU
As good as Joey was, his 0-7 from the line killed us but others on the team also have to find ways to get to the line. Shooting only 14 attempts is piss poor for any game. We turned them over nine more times than we turned it over. We got out rebounded badly though which was critical in the second half.
Yeah, overall, very encouraging. Defense was fantastic. Defensive gameplan on Newbill was even better. Got to the rim consistently. Jvz was active and confident.
But defense. That's what I will take away from this.
I don't usually watch games this early in the season, but I heard there was a "Buzz" about this team.
While I'm certainly no basketball guru, I thought there were several promising signs.
Only troublesome thing about JVZ's free throw shooting is you can't really decrease his playing time. Don't want Satch out there more than you have to and there aren't many other options.
Well, you never want to bench a guy for not hitting FTs to begin with, but instead have him focus his free time on being in the practice facility improving his technique & results. As for limiting Satchel, that's more a case of knowing that he has a learning curve to conquer, just as JVZ did as a freshman. JVZ as a freshman was targeted by some internet posters as a wasted scholarship, despite the fact that his coach and every objective analyst said he would 'grow into a solid role player' by the time he graduated. JVZ's done just that as a Junior. Now he is a rock for us in the paint, and a team leader.
Satchel will grow into a defensive presence and a solid big man overall, but it takes time. Buzz is wisely not throwing him into the deep end of the rapids, but instead maximizing his minutes without Paige getting too frustrated or overwhelmed. That's the key, feed Paige minutes at a rate he can handle until he grows as a player. With confidence, he'll do just that. It's not about keeping him off the court, it's about knowing how much to keep him ON the court. He'll get there. When he does, he has the potential to dominate the paint defensively. In a couple of years.
Not hitting free throws is definitely a way to get in the doghouse.
Other than not hitting free throws, JVZ has been playing very well this year. Why he would he get in the doghouse or lose playing time when he is without a doubt our most important player?
As bad as JVZ's FT shooting was, the bigger problem is that when JVZ drew enough fouls to get VT into the bonus, the guards were not drawing penetration fouls to get to the free throw line.
PennSt employed the strategy in the second half and got a couple of and-1's out o fit.
Speaking on 1 and 1's. I know I'm not the only one who thought that 1-1 free throw by PSU was supposed to be 2 shots because the player was in the act of shooting... You'd think the refs would have made that clear before the shot, but maybe they did and no one was paying attention except that one player.
That was bizarre.
Even the FT shooter didn't know. Typically the ref will let the teams know, but it is not required.
Buzz was probably the most pissed about that. More than the actual loss.
We lost by 3, not allowing those two points could have been the difference between a win and a loss. Completely unacceptable by the ref not letting them know it was a one-and-one
And it's the butt of the joke on ESPN saying the Hokies were clueless.
I think exactly one person on the floor knew it was a one and one, and he scored.
It tells you that the refs blew this, even the other team was confused.
The problem is, looking at what he did, I don't think he knew it was a 1 and 1. He just did what I've seen players do numerous times before, catch the ball and put it up. Maybe they're taught to do that just in case, but he certainly wasn't looking around like "WTF is everyone just standing around for a 1 and 1 for?"
He even went back to his place on the blocks.
Tragically, my kitchen remodel prevented me from walking over to this game last night.
I did have it on the radio, though, and had a few friends over there, and the general consensus was that these teams are both not good right now.
What the hell do you need a kitchen for!?! You should be spending those oats on a new barn or fancy horse shoes.