Television/Internet
ESPN3 - Adam Witten & Jeff Kleppin
Radio
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network - Matt Chazanow
The Hokies may be forced to employ a slightly larger lineup than normal in this game. Presbyterian comes in depending on scoring from its forwards, center and wing players to do much of its scoring. They work the ball into the lane to take high percentage shots. Its a surprisingly big roster for such a small school, although some of them are just bodies rather than basketball players, hence their four and eight record so far this year.
Buzz may forgo one of the guards on the floor to test out a Henry/JVZ combination down low (this could also mean Beyer or Pierce) just to offset William Truss(#15), the 6'8" center who comes in averaging 11.2 ppg, 8.1 rpg, and 1.8 bpg. Truss is joined by two very active wing players in Jordan Downing(#21) and phenom freshmen DeSean Murray(#3), Downing putting in over 16 ppg and Murray coming in with 13 ppg.
Considering this team is only averaging 60 points per game, if you can shut down two of these three players than Tech should be in for a good night, as these three average over 40 out of the teams 60 points. This is a game where it will be critical for JVZ to stay out of foul trouble. Tech will need his ability to adjust shots against Truss. Henry and Bibbs will likely be called upon to offset Downing and Murray.
If Buzz doesn't choose to go down to three guards than he will likely try to have Tech run these guys out of the gym as Presbyterian prefers a slow methodical game pace and gets into foul trouble early when teams push the pace against them. They also become more turnover prone in these type games turning the ball over 11 or fewer times in their four wins but over 16 times in six of their eight losses. There are no common opponents to compare these teams to each other but Duke beat the Blue Hose 113-44 earlier this year. Presbyterian shoots a respectable 43% from the field, but only 31% from behind the arc.
Expect Bibbs and Smith to have big games offensively as opponents have shot 40% from three point land this season on an average of 22 attempts per game. This says to me that opponents are getting open quite often without much defense behind the arc so expect Tech to hit quite a few treys today.
I could be wrong but I don't expect this game to come down to free throws. Moreover I expect Tech should win this game going away after building a first half double digit lead.
Tech 81 - Presbyterian 63
Comments
Half hour to game time. Great reason to keep drinking and support the Hokies for the rare double win.
Let's go Hokies!
Joey made two free throws!
Looking good so far. 36-21 and very effective from the free throw line for everyone.
Hudson looking good, seems to be getting better every game.
87-65 Hokies win...five Hokies in double figures led by Ahmed Hill and Jalen Hudson. Hill went an impressive 8-11 from the free throw line, as he finally made a concerted effort to create shots deep in the lane so either made a high percentage bucket or went to the line. Hudson hit some key three's, as the team shot better than 50% from the field and from behind the arc. They also managed to shoot better than 70% from the charity stripe. This was probably the Hokies most complete game to date.
Good recap. Way to double down on wins. Good day to be a Hokie. As if there was a bad one.
I believe you meant to say Smith hit some key threes. Some observations I took from this game:
1- Free throw shooting is improving, 19-27 tonight. Even Joey made 3-4!
2- Adam Smith is a plus when shooting well, his defense is atrocious.
3- Hudson is a rising star, Muller is a sinking ship.
4-There needs to be more time for Henry and Pierce as we get into ACC play, some of the big front lines will kill us on boards.
5- Shame we lost two games we should never have lost, could be 10-2 going to WVa.This team has some potential to surprise some teams in ACC.
Hudson's three at the end of the shot clock stopped a mini rally by Presbyterian so I meant Hudson when I said Hudson. He also scored several other times in critical situations to keep the Hokies moving forward. Smith and Bibbs I mentally assume will hit three's in every game. Only problem I had with Hudson yesterday was taking some really bad fouls after getting beat off the dribble.
I still think Smith is too much of a liability going into ACC play and would rather see Buzz go to a bigger squad that plays better defensively. I still hold to wanting to see Henry and JVZ on the court together on a regular basis. Muller is regressing every time he gets on the floor. I think it is a confidence thing at this point. Took four fouls and made several bad turnovers without scoring yesterday.
Bear Fight!
The freshmen are looking great. Adam Smith I think is best off the bench as a spark plug to create offense on his own. With JVZ's new and improved free throw motion/percentage and his ability to stay out of foul trouble recently, I think he needs to be on the court as much as possible. Here's where I see the lineup going into ACC play:
1. Wilson
2. Hudson
3. Hill
4. Bibbs
5. JVZ
I agree with what was said above. Hudson and Hill are improving. Smith seems to be a big liability, and Muller has not been productive. Bibbs has continued to look great out there.
Is it too early to place a bet that muller is the guy who leaves after this season to make room for Robinson, Clarke, and blackshear?
It may be more than one before it is over with.
If I had to put an order on the five potential players to leave after this season, it would likely go like this right now:
1) Malik Muller
2) Devin Wilson
3) Adam Smith
4) Zach Leday
5) Jalen Hudson
Why these five? Well, Muller has been losing minutes seemingly by the game and his performance had dropped significantly as well so he is a no brainer.
Wilson may seem to be a surprise but I think with the style of basketball that Buzz likes to employ, he may more and more be the odd man out, especially with Robinson and Seth Allen being in the mix at Point Guard next season
Adam Smith may likely fall into the same fate, as the number of wing/guards that can both shoot and PLAY DEFENSE ramps up next season so his inability to keep up with even second tier players from the Citadel and Radford may see his minutes evaporate.
Not having seen much of Zach Leday while he sits out I am not sure how much progress he has made but watching the film I could find of him at USF really doesnt convince me he will see much in playing time here, especially adding Blackshear and Clarke next season. He might by experience alone find some playing time early on but I cant see Buzz not getting these two new freshmen phenoms on the court if they are more talented than Leday and I expect that both will be.
Jalen Hudson is probably the biggest surprise on my list, and he is there primarily because he has shown such great improvement as this season has progressed and I worry that the logjam of him, Allen and Robinson may have him looking elsewhere before long. I still hold that I think Hudson is probably more talented than Allen at least and quite possibly both but we wont know until they are all on the same court and the coach decides which works best for him.
If I had to throw a sixth name out there it would be Shane Henry, because like Smith, he seems to lack skills completely on one end, this time the offensive end. Stacking that up against Blackshear might see Henry to the bench depending on how he stacks up against Leday, it might see him two deep. I dont see Pierce being affected since he will likely interchange only with JVZ next season.
Not sure I follow you with the Devin Wilson doesn't fit with Buzz's scheme and the Robinson takeover. I think he does a great job in both transition and half-court offense, and plenty of ability to drive and draw fouls. Watching a few videos of Robinson, I see the same abilities (although he appears more explosive). I would say Wilson's length (6'4") allows for more zone defense and for man-to-man on bigger guards, as opposed to Robinson (6'1"). Not to mention he'll already have a year under his belt in Buzz's scheme, and 2 years of ACC experience.
Unless Isiah Ford comes in and outplays Wilson, it's hard for me to see Buzz going with someone else at the point.
I doubt Zach Leday transfers...from what I've heard from people close to the program (managers) he is the guy they are most excited about next year.apparently he has been dominant at times from what they've seen and is an athletic freak. Also, transferring twice, especially without seeing any planning time, seems unlikely to me. But I guess we shall see