Virginia Tech Men's Basketball: Wake Forest Q&A Preview

The 14th seeded Virginia Tech Hokies (10-21, 2-16 ACC) face off against the eleven-seed Wake Forest Demon Deacons (13-18, 5-13 ACC) in the first round of the ACC Tournament Tuesday afternoon at 3 PM. This will be the second matchup between the two teams this season. In their first matchup in Winston Salem, Wake narrowly edged the Hokies 73-70 after Justin Bibbs missed a game-tying three point attempt as time expired. I had an opportunity to exchange questions and answers with Robert Reinhard of Blogger So Dear ahead of Tuesday's game. Robert's answers to my questions are below, and you can find my answers at Blogger So Dear.

As the first season of the Danny Manning Experience wraps up, how have Wake fans responded to the team's performance thus far?

I think for the most part, Wake fans have been very enthusiastic about what they've seen from Danny Manning this year. The last two results have been woeful, but there have been a lot of positive takeaways from this season. First, Wake Forest signed a top-20 recruiting class before the season even started. That gives Wake fans a lot of optimism moving forward. Additionally, he managed to land freshmen Mitchell Wilbekin, Dinos Mitoglou and Cornelius Hudson after his arrival in April. Those additional players were unheralded at the time, but have proven to be solid foundational pieces for the Deacs.

We have competed much harder on the road than during the past four seasons. We still emerged with zero road ACC wins, but damn near had wins at Syracuse, Florida State, Clemson and Virginia. I'm not one for moral victories, but that's clear progress. Year Two has to translate into actual wins, however. Manning still lacks head coaching experience, but his track record of turning around Tulsa and developing big men at Kansas are positives. I think Wake fans understand the situation Manning inherited and will give him the benefit of the doubt moving forward. That said, I think most Wake fans expect wins and to compete for an NCAA Tournament berth next season.

Despite a clear size advantage against the height-deficient Hokies, Wake nominally out-rebounded Tech in their first matchup. Was this more of an anomaly, or should the Hokies feel confident that they can once again hold their own versus the Wake frontcourt?

Tough to say. Rebounding used to be a strength of this Wake Forest team, but the Deacs have been outrebounded in each of their past four games. Wake has a decided advantage in both size and rebounding percentage in this game, but we'll see on Tuesday how interested Wake Forest is in boxing out and attacking the glass. I don't know if the Hokies should feel confident, but Wake's rebounding is trending in the wrong direction. I'm hopeful Wake Forest can literally and figuratively rebound in this game.

Where would you say the Demon Deacons are most vulnerable against the Hokies?

I believe Virginia Tech's ability to knock down three pointers is a huge concern for our team. We have had good 3 point percentage defense on the season, but we haven't necessarily faced the best shooting teams. In our game against Duke we allowed the Blue Devils to go 13-25 from deep. We allowed Boston College to go 9-21. I'm far more concerned about the attempts we allowed than the actual makes. The first time Wake played Virginia Tech, Wake allowed the Hokies to attempt 26 threes. That cannot happen. I feel that if Virginia Tech starts nailing threes, then our young players will try to force shots and catch up too quickly without realizing how much of a game is actually left.

With the exception of Codi Miller-McIntyre, who is the one guy Virginia Tech fans should be worried about on Wake's roster?

I will go with Konstantinos Mitoglou, a.k.a. the "Greek Deac." He had 15 points and 5 rebounds in the first game between these teams, and I believe he presents a matchup problem. He has the size to bang inside and can also knock down the 3. A big game from Dinos will go a long way for the Deacs in this one.

Wake came away victorious from the regular season matchup between these two teams. How do you see Tuesday's First Round tilt shaking out?

As bad as Wake has played over the past two games, it's encouraging to me that they did defeat a physical Pitt team on March 1st. Admittedly, I wouldn't be surprised if Wake lost by double digits, but I'll take the Deacs to win 70-65.