Television/Internet
ESPN3 - Andrew Allegretta & Mack McCarthy
Radio
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network - Bill Roth & Mike Burnop
Also available on: Satellite: Sirius 134, Digital: Hokies Xtra & TuneIn
Another Southern Conference foe, another game on the internet. The Hokies come in on a two game winning streak, having dispatched the Citadel in a close contest on Saturday, 64-61. They will need to switch gears to get ready for the Keydets, where the Bulldogs played a slow paced game for the most part, VMI will want to run and gun all day. They come into tonights contest averaging the second most points in Division I basketball at 88.9 points per game. They do this by bombarding the basket with three point attempts in almost every game. They average 37 attempts per game right now, making about 35% of them. They prefer a fast paced, shoot first, mentality that calls for a very aggressive defensive nature as well. This to me is the key to stopping the Keydets.
Tech needs to come out in this game and constantly drive the ball to the rim, forcing VMI to commit fouls early and often. They also need to have Adam Smith and Justin Bibbs locked in to counteract some of the three point shooting. JVZ should be able to dominate the paint in this game because VMI lacks size at almost every position on the floor. JVZ will probably be matched up against a trio of players that top out at 6'7", and about 215 lbs so as long as he is not sloppy with his fouls he should have a big game. VMI may decide it makes more sense to foul him and send him to the line unfortunately since they will be using a rotation of players.
Everyone else from VMI on the court will likely be a guard, led by Q.J. Peterson (#22) who is fifteenth in the NCAA in scoring with 21.4 ppg with 4.7 rpg as well as 4.4 apg. Two other Keydets average in double figures so far this season, Tim Marshall (#23) with 11.7 ppg and Brian Brown (#3) with 10.2 ppg. Other key contributors are Julian Eleby(#35), Jordan Weethee(#40), and Craig Hinton(#25) who all put up 7-9 ppg for the Keydets. VMI gets very balanced scoring though, as they have at least ten players averaging more than 4 ppg.
The Hokies will need to protect the ball as VMI turns their opponents over almost 18 times per game. Similar to the Citadel, they get their hands up and cut off passing lanes to the interior but are very susceptible to larger guards driving into the lane. If Tech gets to the line and actually hits its free throws, they should come out of this game with a decent win, considering VMI opponents go to the line 24 times a game so far.
Tech should have the advantage down low, especially if they find a way to have JVZ and Henry on the court together which could also prove a significant advantage in changing VMI's style of play. Tech needs to dictate the pace and control the shot clock to limit VMI's opportunities. They must get out to the perimeter to play strong defense, counting on the big men to be able to redirect shots if a guard is beaten on the perimeter to the lane. Henry could be huge in this regard with his innate ability to get his hand on the basketball.
I expect that Buzz will have the guys ready to prevent perimeter shooting and force VMI to try to create inside, which is definitely not their strong suit. This game could easily come down to free throws again like the Citadel game, so expect to see a much smaller lineup in the game towards the end to close out on the line.
Tech 75, VMI 70
Comments
The Hokies will be wearing their gray uniforms tonight. Military tribute...
Almost game time folks
Not gonna lie: I'm leery about this one. If we can't pressure their shooters they're going to get hot and that's definitely not a good thing for us. Anyway, Gooooo Hokies!
This is my face whenever I see Ahmed Hill on a fast break.
LET'S GO HOKIES!!!
Not to jinx it but can we play VMI every game? 70% FG% for VT right now? Insane!
My dad would appreciate VMI winning a few games each season, so he wouldn't approve
I saw VMI put up 133 points on a "Mid Atlantic". I'm guessing they're not D1?
Well, that was fun.
Talk about things going better than expected. Wow.
I was not expecting to see a 51-27 halftime score. We have held their shooters down for the first half, lets keep that up.
From 24 to 13 in no time. This is more like what I'm used to.
More and more impressed with Jalen Hudson every game.
He's improving. Not as quickly as Bibbs & Ahmed, but he's improving. Just as we knew before the season, they'll have growing pains. We have the foundation for a good team, though.
Hudson's ability to play defense is very impressive. The dude hustles and extends really, really well.
These free throws actually going down make me feel strange feelings inside.
Where's Malcom Delaney when you need him, right?
Russia making that real money...Starting Point Guard for PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban, leading them to a 17-5 record right now, averaging 13.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.6 apg while shooting over 50% from the field and almost 45% from behind the arc. Having another pretty fantastic year.
He's also on a one year contract there, so he can capitalize again post-season!
Nice way to finish. Over 70% FT shooting for the game is always a benefit. Good shooting all round. Bibbs got 20 points which is a nice reward for his effort. Survive and advance.
Good clean game. Nice win. Would have liked to have seen Bibbs pull the trigger from behind the arc a couple more times. He had open looks and would let them close. The other thing was that now that these guards are getting to the basket, they have to be able to get the shot up. VMI had 12 blocks on the Hokies tonight, which is ridiculous with our height and size advantage at EVERY POSITION.
Buzz got his 80 possessions, on the nose. 50 points came in the paint, 23 points came off turnovers.
Do folks realize that if we hadn't been in a fog against AppState & Radford, this team would be 9-2 right now? That's the margin that Buzz always talks about, the importance of doing those little things right every time, not just some of the time. We're getting there, it is a process.
Agree, but it sounded like in the post game that Buzz was REALLY pushing paint touches in this game, so I think there was that thought in the back of their heads.
Thoughts:
Wilson's shot looked much better tonight. I sat real close and the improved rotation on his shot was clear. Not that goofy knuckleball from before.
And Mueller made one. A Festivus miracle. But his TO's drove Buzz crazy. He immediately went to the bench for a sub at least twice after bad TO's.
Ahmed Hill needs to be more unselfish. Should have given up to teammates several times on the break. But he plays with great energy.
I'm becoming a huge Jalen Hudson fan. Dude is electric, as is Henry.
Clarification, just to be sure - Buzz's definition of paint touches does not mean shots taken from the paint, it means when the ball goes into the paint. Following that could be a kickout for a 3pt'er, as Rob was mentioning above, or a dunk or a layup or a pass for a midrange shot, etc.
The importance of paint touches is that taking the ball into the paint forces the defense to collapse, thus providing better spacing for teammates to be open. In a way, paint touches is as much about not shooting from inside the paint as it is about shooting from inside the paint, because of the emphasis on getting teammates open looks for shots from outside the paint.
You nailed it, that is Buzz' definition for sure!
I'd never heard of paint touches until about 2-3 days before Buzz was hired, when I heard a rumor that he was probably the guy. I watched YouTubes of his practices & interviews and must have heard 'paint touch' 12-15 times. I never fully understood it until this summer when he explained it (to Bill Roth, I think) in an interview.
Now it makes great sense. I heard a discussion this week about the Atlanta Hawks success this season. One guy said that was because Budenholzer (the coach) was a Popovich protege who utilized the same offensive philosophy in many ways. He keyed on ball movement, penetration and creating spacing & openings from that. I thought - 'Paint Touches!'
Henry needs to be on the floor as often as they can get him out there. His ability to disrupt the opponents shots and his all around hustle are infectious. I was really surprised at how well he was able to play defense on the perimeter yesterday preventing guards from penetrating the lane and reducing the three point threat. He is a slight disadvantage offensively but that is more than made up for on the other end.
Man, do I agree with this. I hate to say this but Johnston and even Muller should never be on floor ahead of him.
Different positions, and different uses of the players, though. The discussion with Henry is more about JVZ, Satchel, and Beyer.
The discussion is more about what format is Buzz going to run the court in. I personally would like to see us go to more of a three guard, two big set rather than the four guard, one big we seem to run predominantly. I want to see Henry and JVZ together for longer stetches, or Henry and Pierce. Even Henry and Beyer would be a good tandem. This probably does impact guards getting floor time though so right now it would appear Muller would be the odd man out in the rotation.
Great to see us start a game strong and finish it out without making it interesting... We do have a solid foundation for the upcoming years which is exciting. We all knew this year would be a tough go, but I am ready for ACC play!
The great thing is that the team is showing progress. We are now beginning to see glimpses of what many of the new players can offer down the road. Sure, it would be great to be 9-2 or 10-1 right now, but like Buzz has said from day one - this is about building a culture in a program, not about winning a specific number of games. The wins come as a result of the culture being in place. The wins will come eventually. If not this year, then next, or the year after that. They will come, though. We see the evidence of that when we realize the potential of these players.
I would still call having a 26 point lead and allowing it to fall to single digits making it interesting. Essentially, other than the first five minutes of the game, it was even basketball for the remainder of the game, but we jumped out early on them and were fortunate to cruise from there.
I think Buzz is settling in on his starting 5.
Devin, Adam Smith, Bibbs, Hill, Henry/JVZ.
First off the bench as Henry/JVZ, Hudson, Beyer.
I think Buzz is souring on Mueller, which is why Bibbs was getting some looks at PG.
I dont think Buzz has even considered Muller as a PG this season, he was almost predominantly in rotation with Smith. Devin and Jalen Hudson are the two PG and next year we have two more in Justin Hamilton and Seth Allen so Muller may end up being odd man out of all of this and I wouldnt be surprised to hear he has requested to transfer at the end of the season so he can find somewhere that will give him playing time.
I think you mean Justin Robinson.
Yep, brain recall on a couple hours sleep is at minimal functioning level right now.
I had hopes for Mueller, but as soon as Seth Allen decided to xfer, I knew the writing was on the wall.
I forgot all about Robinson though.
I thought Mueller looked so good in his first few games, but he continued to play out of control and the shots stopped dropping. Meanwhile Buzz was super complimentary of Seth Allen in the offseason and Jalen Hudson is coming along nicely.
I think Hudson is going to keep taking minutes from Mueller, and at the beginning of the season I thought it would have been the opposite.
It is a hunch, but it seems as though Buzz is as impressed by Seth Allen as he is by Bibbs, which is to say off the charts. Next year will be interesting. This year is already interesting.