There are games that allow a coach to make mild tweaks to his roster, and then there are games against a team like Alabama A&M that allow for an overhaul in approach.
The Hokies beat the Bulldogs 65-55 in Cassell Coliseum on Sunday. Tech used an odd and deep rotation that saw Christian Beyer lead the team in both points (13) and rebounds (9).
Buzz Williams played the walk-on Beyer and little used Will Johnston for the entire first half, while a gaggle of players never took off their warm ups. Devin Wilson, Malik Mueller, Jalen Hudson and Satchel Pierce didn't see a minute of action in the opening 20, while Joey van Zegeren played a mere two.
"We've got to figure out how to play better, we've got to figure out who plays best together and we've got to figure out who plays hardest the longest," Williams said. "And that's not any name specific, that's just our program. We have to establish that regardless of the final score and regardless of the opponent. We've got to figure that out."
It was quite apparent that Williams wanted to mix things up after last week's debacle against Radford. What better time to do it than against a Bulldogs team that was 1-5 and hadn't won a game against a division one opponent all year?
Eventually, every active player on the roster eventually saw the floor, with Wilson and Mueller playing the final 11 minutes. But it was easy to notice that Tech was doing a ton differently and much of it worked.
The most noticeable change for the Hokies was the decision to play freshman Justin Bibbs at point guard for the majority of the game. Bibbs has had a small ball handling roll at times this season, but it was clear that his coach was throwing him into an entirely different position this week.
"I don't think Bibbs has a position," Williams said. "And the history of my career says those are the guys that are the best in how we play."
Though it looked awkward at times, Tech had the majority of their success when Bibbs was running point, including closing the half on a 17-0 run. I'm going to write about this more this week, but Buzz experimenting with his point guard spot is very interesting and possibly telling.
The Hokies moved the ball incredibly well in the first half as Bibbs ran alongside Beyer, Johnston, Ahmed Hill and Shane Henry. Those five were whipping the ball around, making Alabama A&M chase them all around the court. It was a clinic on not over dribbling and it lead to a slew of layups and close shots (including a driving layup for Johnston).
Another interesting move was that the Hokies played more zone than I've seen them play all year, especially with the five players mentioned above. Tech forced nine turnovers in the first half as a combination of the zone and their athleticism caused big problems for the Bulldogs.
Though zone is not particularly comfortable for Williams, his team was trying some different things to see what worked defensively. They played some man, some traditional 2-3 zone, some pressing zone and a hybrid zone/man. I'm not sure there's an answer as to which one worked the best, but it's clear that Buzz is trying to put his players in the best position to succeed, even if it makes him uncomfortable.
What should have made him comfortable, however, was the final tally. The Hokies were able to come away with a victory and still let Buzz experiment with many different looks on offense and defense. Williams doesn't have many more games to do this, so hopefully he was able to see a few things that can be successful down the road.
It's hard to take much away from this game; playing time was heavily dispersed, the opposing team was dreadful and I have absolutely no idea which changes will stick moving forward. Basically what I'm telling you is not to bombard me with questions about Beyer being the missing piece of the puzzle.
However there was enough in Cassell on Sunday to make you wonder exactly how all of these puzzle pieces will fall into place. But if the future holds any changes like we saw today, we may not find out what those all of those pieces look like for quite some time.
Comments
I wish this would have been against a better opponent so we would be able to draw some conclusions from it. Hopefully Buzz saw what he needed to.
Blah, blah, blah..."beat Alabama" blah...
#drunkposting
WE WANT BAMA
So is Beyer the missing piece of the puzzle? /s
Apologies for the awful quality, but I think it speaks to Beyer's qualities as a player. It won't always be pretty, but it get's the job done:
I mean, clearly the highlight of the day was the halftime entertainment. I really don't know why they even bother with anything other than bumper soccer.
Oh, and something about rebounding and Beyer and freshmen and stuff.
So do you Brian, or anyone reading this who's watched all the games, agree with the announcers that Bibbs is our best player?
I dont know if he is right now but he is certainly close. To me its either JVZ or Bibbs and honestly if I had to choose who's hands I wanted the ball in with the game on the line right now, it would probably be Bibbs. That said, with all of his time at the point yesterday, he failed to take the ball to the hoop very often, which is what I had been hoping for when I saw him in this role. I had really hoped to see a score first, pass second type player but rather we saw him kick out to Johnston and Hill on at least six occasions.
There just isnt anyone else on the roster with his all around balanced game. He has played anywhere from the 1 through 4 positions on the court this season depending on the surrounding players. He has the size to go inside but is deadly from behind the arc. If Buzz can find a couple more like Bibbs than we will be pretty well off in the coming seasons. Kind of scary to think that JJ was able to get this kid to commit to Tech back when we were a dumpster fire.
That echoes a lot of what Buzz said after the game. Also, I'll remind everyone that before the first game, Buzz singled out Bibbs as great in all facets of his game and in all facets of life - and anyone that knows the least bit about Buzz should understand what weight that comment holds. I posted about it before the first game. Buzz knows that Bibbs is the guy on the team. The one he wants in the lineup no matter what.
Buzz knows that Bibbs - not Wilson - is the guy that moves the ball, is the go-to player in clutch situations, and will be the star of the team. He may very well also be one of the team leaders already, it's hard to tell the pulse of the locker room. Based on what Buzz continues to say about him, it is obvious that Buzz recognizes Bibbs doesn't just play one end of the court, he plays full court. Bibbs is the guy. Buzz said so before the season, and he said so after this last game.
For sure they were really moving the ball when Bibbs was running point against Alabama A&M. I know its only Alabama A&M, but its still a thing of beauty to anyone who has watched this program in the past.
From game one Bibbs has made a believer out of me. I really hope his metatarsals stay healthy.
This is the post-game interview with Buzz. I would suggest you go back and re-watch it to especially listen to the several points Buzz makes extremely clear.
It's clear that Buzz was sending a message to his team, and proved it by ignoring whether he won or lost, as long as his point was made. This season is NOT about wins & losses. people need to get that imprinted in their minds. The importance of building the program culture is more long lasting than this season's W-L record, and Buzz is trying to imprint that point.
This season is NOT about wins & losses, it is about building the program culture.
The points Buzz makes about Beyer & Bibbs should be remembered & recognized by Hokie fans. Clearly in Buzz's mind, Bibbs is the guy. Not Wilson. Not JVZ. Bibbs is the guy. We all could learn from that. Bibbs plays offense AND defense. He plays whatever spot Buzz wants. Bibbs is all in.
The same goes for Beyer. He just proved to Buzz that he will take whatever he can get. Beyer, the slow unathletic guy, played out of position and recorded 13 & 9 in 27 minutes of play! Wouldn't it be great if our big men averaged those, since that is less playing time than a starter typically records? Buzz tells us why & how Beyer accomplished that. Watch Buzz's face light up when describing how his (Buzz's) point was made by Beyer.
Click on the A&M followup.
http://www.hokiesports.com/index.html
Yup... Sometimes going through a complete rebuild means you have to go through a year where you sacrifice wins in lieu of doing whats in the best interests of the future of the program. We will be a better program from top to bottom because of this year, regardless of our wins and losses.
We're already better, and by year's end we will be FAR ahead. Buzz did what many coaches fear doing - he risked losing what should have been a 'sure win' in order to drive home his message. Players will test a coach, and most coaches break & give in because they[re afraid to lose a game to make a point. Buzz showed he isn't. I wouldn't be surprised to see this occur in ACC play, too, this season. Buzz sets high standards, and the players will eventually come to better understand those standards. Some already do - like Bibbs, Beyer, Johnston. Others will, in time. That's what makes me so unflaggingly certain Buzz is the right fit here.
The other thing of note that Buzz spoke to on Tech Talk Live about Bibbs is the term "switchable". He said thats his term for players like Bibbs. That you may not know exactly what spot is the best fit for them but you know that they have to be on the court at all times if possible. He said its incredibly important that he find a few more players that fit this category as he develops the culture of the program.
He also went into more depth about how Beyer is the most unathletic and least talented player on the roster for sure. He pointed it out directly and then flipped it over and said, so if my least talented player thats fully bought in can be my leading scorer and leading rebounder than imagine what my more talented players should be able to accomplish. A little more of that message being driven home.
The other thing that was a great little tid bit from that segment was when he discussed recruiting. He specifically said that we are recruiting every day, whether its in sending a message on the court or the enormous amount of days he spends on the road. He was not at Tech for seven of the last fourteen days due to recruiting trips. Its so great to hear a coach completely bought in to molding this program. He even impressed me by not only not throwing the previous coaching staff under the bus when set up for it on a question, but rather reversed that and was able to name by name more than 80% of the previous staff and how much respect he had for them (with a little extra thanks to the assistant coach that signed Bibbs and Hudson thrown in). He spoke about how he deals with his frustrations by writing it all out so that its out of his system so he doesnt take it out on the team when he goes to practices. Just an all around good session to hear if you get a chance to catch the TTL podcast.
I can never find the podcast. Link?
Unfortunately I couldnt find one either but I have sent an email to Hokiesports.com so hopefully I will get a response shortly on how to access these.
Frequently, either Bill Roth or Jimmy Robertson will tweet a link to clips or a summary. I haven't found one today, though. I don't listen to it live, but I do like to listen to select highlights.
The response I got back to access these directs you to:
http://www.hokiesports.com/videos/
where you should be able to select the show you want to watch. I was unable as my browser at work doesnt support the HokiesXtra functionality so hopefully it works for you.
Following up on the 'speak no evil' by Buzz - he refused to say that he had benched his starters for lack of effort. He made the point repeatedly, but he refused to actually say it. He alluded to it, and they heard it behind closed doors, I'm sure. But in public, he wouldn't go there.
I've seen Buzz quote the old saying - 'Recruiting is like shaving. If you miss even one day, you look like a bum...' He obviously is a firm believer in finding the players who will buy in to his philosophy. If that means turning over half the team to get the right guys in there, Buzz will do it. From the standards he sets (tough, but completely attainable), it won't be surprising to see player attrition every year. Of course, part of that is the whole college hoops environment. Every program is losing/gaining more transfers than ever before.
I think the 'versatility' Buzz relishes is indicative of his version of the ideal player - someone virtually unnoticed by the recruiting analysts, disadvantaged background, not the most talented, absolutely the hardest working.
As to the recruiting and turnover, he specifically said that we recruit when we have no open scholarships and we recruit when we have open scholarships and seem to have filled them all because you never know what is going to happen. I think that was his way of saying I expect turnover and so I will keep recruiting to make sure it makes the program better.