The Virginia Tech men's basketball team walked into Winston-Salem on Saturday with the confidence of a group coming off of a win. They left, however, a three point loser, falling 70-73 to Wake Forest.
For the third time in a row, this one came down to a Hokie three ball at the buzzer. This iteration was missed by Justin Bibbs as time expired, marking the seventh conference loss for the Hokies on the season.
Everything about the game felt like it wasn't going to go Tech's way. The three pointers weren't falling in the first half, and the officials established early on that any semblance of contact would be called a foul. The combination of the two isn't usually a recipe for success, and would often be considered a death knell for an undersized squad without much of a bench.
Predictably, the Hokies kept plugging away despite everything working against them. They attacked the paint and found more success inside than they're used to. Devin Wilson kept Wake's defense on their heels all day as he probed and prodded with purpose, making plays for both himself and his teammates.
Buzz's bunch had many opportunities to take charge, but a few untimely turnovers and multiple Wake second chances (shocker, I know) ultimately kept a win just out of reach.
In a note that will sound incredibly foreign to Tech basketball fans, free throw shooting was the team's biggest advantage throughout the game. The young team, which shot 61% from the line on the year, drained fistfuls of them with confidence. The Hokies ended the day 17-20 from the charity stripe, finally not leaving a regrettable amount of points off the board.
Saturday also marked the return of Bibbs. After missing four consecutive contests with a concussion, the freshman wing played 20 minutes off the bench. Though there were rocky moments in the beginning, Bibbs never looked hesitant on offense. He consistently attacked the Demon Deacons, trying to draw contact and get to the line.
It was nice to see Bibbs get his feet wet again, and especially nice to know that the head injury wasn't going to make him gun shy (especially close to the basket). As the television broadcasters noted, there was definitely a little rust defensively, but you'd expect that from a player who hasn't played in two and a half weeks.
The Hokies will travel to Syracuse to play the Orange on Tuesday, the rematch of another exciting game that went down to the wire in Blacksburg. It will be interesting to see the way this team comes back off of another close loss, but if recent history has told us anything it's that this squad will be ready to go head-to-head with their next opponent.
Comments
I'm just glad I can expect an A effort from this team night in and night out. As tech fans I feel like we are use to being let down in major ways too frequently, with Buzz i know our players are gonna leave every ounce of energy on the floor. This team is worth the price of admission, regardless of the results right now.
with this squad ill take a three at the buzzer to decide it all day everyday.
Should've been Smith taking that final shot (IMHOP).
Yes it should have, but Bibbs' defender totally left him alone to follow Smith, who was on the other side of the ball handler. Bibbs had a wide open shot, one that Buzz trusted him to knock down. On that note, I'd like to say that the play design down the stretch from Buzz was brilliant. Drew up a great play for Bibbs to attack, same play a few possessions later found Hill for an open attempt from 3 (that he left a little short), and the wide open attempt with seconds left on the clock. Buzz is setting up these guys as best he can, the late shots will fall soon.
This post is 100% Leonard Approved.
Yep. They would have loved to get Smith the ball for the last shot, but Wake actually called a timeout to make sure that wouldn't happen. As a result of their focus on Smith, Bibbs was left open for a shot to win the game. Hard to fault Buzz or the team for that.
I think if Bibbs hadn't been coming back from like two weeks off, he makes that shot
Not to mention, Wake gameplanned to cover Smith, expecting him to get the last shot. Theoretically, who would you rather have take the last shot - your best player who is also your best % 3pt shooter, or the guy you know is going to be covered who has gone 2of8 on 3pt shots this game?
That was the real time situation Buzz faced that some fans are ignoring because they label Smith as our 'designated shooter'. Buzz even alluded to that two games ago in saying everyone expected Smith to take the last second shot, so Buzz switched things up. Two games ago. The right guy took the shot for us, it just didn't fall.
IMHOP. Hmm
In My Honest Opinion...Percival?
I thought he was introducing himself as HOP.
"Hop, nice to meet you. I'm Leonard."
1-6 in games decided by 3 points or less. But these experiences are going to come in handy 3 years from now in those tight Elite 8 and Final 4 games.
The way ACC play started I didn't think there would be any games decided by 3 points or less. Should have won today though.
ACC play started with a 2 point loss to Syracuse???
Wasn't that the game where the ball went it after the buzzer had sounded but ref's said that even though the shooter was in the air, the ball didn't count because he was still touching it? When was that changed? It used to be as long as the player was in the air buzzer balls counted.
Right now I'm watching to see Buzz coach. I'll start paying attention to Ws and Ls next season.
^This.
It seems to me that in the last 2 weeks we are starting to see the coached plan and the implemented plan more in sync. They are staying closer in games and giving themselves a chance. The claw back into the game through the entire 2nd half was well done. Our shooting % went up (field goal and free throw). Good to see, this means we are getting better shot selection and the right guys are getting the ball to get opportunities at the line. As the depth improves these guys are going to light it up - starting next year.
This team has heart and never gave up yesterday and almost pulled it off.
That being said, it was concerning to see the lapses in fundamentals all over the place yesterday.
I read that a few times in the game thread. I don't know nearly as much about hoops as I do about football.
Where were the lapses in fundamentals? I know we had a lot of turnovers, but to me it looked like WF was using their redonkulous size advantage for leverage to force us into some bad passes. Same with the rebound differential; you're gonna lose that battle when you're giving up a foot of height on the other guy going up for the ball.
From the most casual of basketball fans, what were the problems with fundamentals you saw against Wake?
In this game, there were quite a few break downs that we hadnt seen from this team in their last two games. Lackadaisical rebounding, especially on free throw attempts by the Demon Deacons. There were at least three occassions that they allowed Wake to get an offensive rebound on a missed free throw. All three of those led to an additional basket by Wake. Thats seven points. We lost by three.
Taking Offensive fouls or turning the ball over because we are moving too fast, mainly this is Ahmed Hill, cost us at least four possessions in this game. Thats 8-12 potential points.
Very beginning of the game, with a chance to break out, we missed three easy layups, missed three open jumpers and two open looks from behind the arc. Eighteen possible points on eight possessions that we had nothing to show for it. We shot 10-27 in the first half. A majority of those missed shots were uncontested looks.
Then there were little other things like turnovers in key situations, and I am disregarding the fouls, because it was difficult to tell what were really fouls and what was just a whistle happy ref crew.
The most critical of all of them though was with 35 seconds to play, down two, Wilbekin goes to the line and misses both free throws but they allowed Wake to get the rebound, and Wilbekin proceeds to make both free throws the second time. If we manage to get the rebound instead of fighting each other and tipping it to a Wake player, we have the chance to tie the game the next trip down and potentially means our last possession is either tied or with Wake with a one point lead, which means we make any basket we win the game instead of having to have a three.
Oh and surprisingly we didnt have that many turnovers, its just the ones we had stuck out more because they usually led directly to points.
Thanks! It actually turns out that's the same stuff I was seeing. Am I being too generous saying that I thought it was because we were pressing too hard to overcome the size differential?
The offensive rebound on the second missed free throw killed me, but it just seemed the ball was just bouncing off the rim straight to a WF player.
There may have been some press due to size but it doesnt account for sloppy mistakes the entire game. Just too much of them to be able to change a THREE point difference. Sad game to lose.
In better news, UVA just choked big time against Duke.
WOO UVA LOST
ugh Duke won
They just didn't look like the same team that scared LOLUVA and beat Pitt. I'm glad we have Bibbs back though. His production will be very important down the stretch. Buzz just needs to get that same fight out of the team that we've seen earlier in the year.
How about them zebras huh? Even Bill and Mike were chuckling about the 'whistle happy refs.' At least they were calling it like that both ways, but both teams in the double bonus with like 9 minutes left? unbelievable.
Good to see Bibbs back on the court though.
The refs were consistently unbearable.
That crew with Bernard Clinton calls fouls to a completely different standard than any other in the league. Its absolutely ridiculous to the point the players can't adjust their play. Its been like that for YEARS.
I don't think anyone came into this season thinking the Hokies would be contenders for an ACC title. At best we'd hoped for a middle-of-the-pack conference finish (couldn't be much worse than last season, right?). I only recently started following Buzzketball during the UVA game last week and after reading about some of the particularly close losses ('Cuse, UVA, Wake) I've got a good vibe from Buzz and his direction. As someone said above, these kids give 100% effort for the whole game. That's going to bleed to/from practice and the experience will pay off soon. Buzz coaches the right way and that will have national talent pouring into Blacksburg. The past three games could have gone either way for each team. Tech could have won all three, but could have lost all three. Fighting to close finishes is what I like to see from this team; I'll take three point losses all day during the rebuild. I'm excited for next year's NCAA tournament appearance.
Keep in mind, the past 2 years, this year, and possibly next year's team belongs to Jim Weaver and Tom Gabbard.
Tough loss, but I am THRILLED with the free throw percentage. It has gotten progressively better the last couple of weeks. It's so refreshing to see that these guys have worked on an area that they struggled mightily in earlier in the year and are now seeing the fruits of their labor to the tune of 17-20 from the stripe. Well done!
We still need our PG to do WAY better than a .730% because that is WAY too low by any objective standard anywhere. Not to mention way too few attempts. Shaq? Okay. A point guard? Bad. It needs to get better if we want to win ACC games.
Like Buzz said prior to the Pitt game - doing pretty good is not good enough. This is the ACC, the standard is there, waiting to be met.
0.73% man that is low. That has to be the worst in the history of basketball, even Shaq shot about 50% or slightly below, but less than 1% is unbelievable!
Kidding aside, I'm pretty sure Devin Wilson made ALL of his free throws against wake. 6/6 or 7/7, something of that nature. 73% for a true sophmore point guard isn't ideal, but it's only a few made shots from 80%.
and its leaps and bounds better than it was last season. Devin has improved his shooting from the field by 10% so far this season, and his free throw shooting by 7%. He has lowered his personal fouls and turnovers per game. PF by a half and turnovers by almost 1 per game. All that while playing almost five minutes fewer per game this season compared to last.
I'll ignore your sarcasm. Buzz made the point early in the season, with merit, that 'getting better' does not equal being acceptable. When you are horrible at something, and you become only almost okay, that doesn't merit a pat on the back. You can use the totally bogus excuse of youth for not knowing how to shoot a FT when you're a PG if you like, but it has zero merit. A PG needs to know how to shoot, and to draw FT opportunities, for too many reasons to list here. Wilson doesn't do that as much as necessary, and needs to learn how to do that. An occasional FT made here or there is what wins games instead of having last minute losses.
You hit on the crux of the matter here, that while Devin's numbers appear to be better than last season, the biggest issue I have still with him and many of our guards is not getting to the line enough. Devin is only attempting four free throws per game right now. That means he managed to draw two to three fouls at most on shooting attempts. Its a definite indication of how little he finishes around the rim with an attempt at a shot versus the kick out. A top level PG can change the game in a matter of minutes by pushing the pace and driving the lane before the defense is set. Devin doesnt have that gear very often. You could easily argue that Wakes PG did exactly what we are talking about here against us. Miller-Mcintyre in the second half, hit four layups and made four of his five free throws. Almost all his action happened in the lane.
Yeah.. that is frustrating. Don't get me wrong, I like that this team can hit the 3 ball at the clip they do, and that will pay off in the end, but these guys really need to start driving to the basket and forcing the ball into the paint, if only to get the foul. Yes, ok the opponent has a size advantage... that should mean you're a quicker team, which should lead to fouls.
Merit
You are right, age should not be an excuse, but I'm not making any excuses. Nor do I expect VT or any individual players to be great this year. All I'm looking for is improvement because we do not have many options right now and can't recruit as a Kentucky or Duke that gets the best every year.
Anybody else really irritated that the game wasn't on TV in Blacksburg but ESPN3 did a blackout anyway?
VERY irritated because I had planned on watching it periodically during the Circus.
I may have to stop going to see the Hokies play Wake. Worst football and basketball games I have seen in person. I watched the 5-6 year old team my son helps coach, and that game had better flow than this game. The officials absolutely wrecked the game with their over top whistles. All the Wake fans around us knew they were not very good, and were hoping to see a win, but none of them enjoyed anything until the last 1 minute either. While all the touch fouls on Pierce were the only ones with an effect on the game, and I did not see may wrong calls, but still, I do not pay money to hear someone blow a whistle every 30 seconds. That ref crew needs to be T'd up and ejected for poor sportsmanship, and the fans should get a refund or a re-match. Thought I was gonna see a game, not guys standing around waiting for ref to hand them the ball.
Totally agree. I made the trip from Blacksburg with a couple friends and was treated to an absolutely terrible game of basketball. Both offenses were struggling (did we expect anything less? But still, 2-2 at first MTO, ouch), and the officials didn't help by not letting either team get into the flow of the game. They were at least consistent, I'll give them that, but they'd even put NFL referees (the guy behind the QB) to shame for the pitiful level of contact required to draw a foul. This game was never going to be a pretty one, but it could've at least been a much better game if the officials had just stayed out of it for 2 minutes at a time.
Buzz said on the ACC Conference Call today that Will Johnston had his second elbow surgery and could be out for a while.
Darn! What is up with his elbow?
Same injury he had earlier this year.
If "a while" is longer than a month, than he misses the rest of the season. Tough blow for a guy thats worked so hard to be on the floor.