Since nobody has created a thread for a recap of the scrimmage, I thought I'd lead off. Some general thoughts about the team:
-I don't know if Buzz wants to run a fast paced game, but this team looks to want to get out on the fast break and finish in transition. Not surprising with some of the additions to the roster.
-These freshmen are studs. None of them absolutely blew me away, but they all seem to fit in well with the makeup of the team. Chris Clarke is best on the fastbreak and attacking the basket. Justin Robinson looks to want to attack off the dribble on offense, but in warmups had a pull-up jumper that hardly seemed to miss. Blackshear is a stretch 4 with a nice outside stroke, but is also physically strong inside. He may have impressed me the most.
-Jalen Hudson seemed to have improved his offensive game over the offseason. Maybe this was an instance where he was on, but if he continues this pace, he can be a force.
-The post play didn't really stand out to me for good or for bad. Johnny Hamilton made some good plays on offense, but he's still a little raw.
-Seth Allen and Zach LeDay both look like they can ball. Allen was disruptive in passing lanes, and scored in a plethora of ways. I don't want to call him our best player yet, but it's looking like the hype about him was warranted. Zach LeDay played his nuts off. He made a ton of hustle plays, made a good percentage of his threes, and attacked the rim well. I'm not quite sure where he will be playing, but he is strong enough to guard the 4 spot and athletic enough to guard the 3 spot. Was pleasantly surprised with him.
-Some things I'd like to see Buzz establish at the start of the season are cutting down stupid fouls and turnovers, and establishing a half court offense. Some plays were downright sloppy or mistakes by learning players, but these issues look easily fixable. The half court offense didn't look like it was running as smoothly as it could go, ball movement seemed to be an issue at times and some pick and roll plays broke down before they started.
-I didn't really get a feel for the defense we were going to run, as it was a controlled scrimmage, so I didn't get a chance to pull a set defense out of all that was run. I'd like to see us stick to man-to-man defense or a fullcourt press/trap. That seemed like what we ran most effectively.
-Most of the returning players I did not pay attention to, since I generally knew what I was going to get, but Shane Henry looks improved, Devin Wilson knocked down a fair amount of 3's in warmups, and Bibbs looked pretty good defensively in addition to making some nice shots.
All in all, I am definitely excited for this season, although realistically, I don't think this is an NCAA tourney year. We do have depth at all positions, even with the injuries to Ahmed Hill and Ty Outlaw. Our size inside is much better, and we can opt for a small ball approach when needed by putting Blackshear at the 5. This team is still growing, but I see a lot of potential and this team is definitely a sleeper in the ACC.
Comments
We also seemed to be making a higher percentage of free throws than we did last season, hopefully this will help us finish out more games on the positive side.
This is the best news about our basketball team in a decade
I dunno...this is sounding mighty good to me....mighty good!!
Solid post. +1
Well done, thanks for the update!
Buzz has been known to favor an up tempo offense. I think a lack of size has really made it a necessity, but I would like to see the team be able to set up a half court after inbounding the ball.
Agree with your point about being able to set up, but I didn't see a ton of structure in the halfcourt. After reading an article (I think it was written by Mike Barber), Buzz seems to want a free-formed offense. With the variety of offensive threats we have, I'm on board, I just don't want ball movement to stagnate as a result of running a free-form offense. These players seem to be able to run an offense better high tempo, or with drives and kick-outs. When ball movement stagnates, the offense seems to lose its rhythm, and shooters are seemingly not in the "flow" of the offense.
running and gunning is good for recruiting
but yes solid ball movement is good for winning games when the other team forces you into halfcourt
Usually depth factors into whether you employ an up-tempo offense. If you can rotate players in with little drop or teach a team to have ridiculous stamina and endurance, you can effectively run an up-tempo offense. Either Buzz believes he's got the team conditioned well enough or that everyone there is capable of being the starter if he's going to commit to up-tempo.
My takeaways pretty much echo everything you mentioned, but the biggest surprise for me was Seth Allen on defense. He spent most of the scrimmages matched up against the bigger Jalen Hudson and I want to say Allen had at least three or four steals and at least double that in pass deflections. I knew he could score in bunches (which he certainly demonstrated) but I was worried coming in he would be another Adam Smith defensive liability. Very pleasantly surprised.
I felt very good about the offensive weapons we have throughout the whole rotation. Slashers (Hudson, Clarke, Wilson), Shooters (Everybody but Wilson, Pierce, Hamilton, and Henry) and touch inside (Pierce, Hamilton). The one thing I would have liked to seen more of is feeding the ball inside.
Overall, incredibly excited and optimistic about Buzz's squad this year. Everyone seemed to be playing hard and definitely at a higher level than last year.
After having season tickets and attending all the games the last two years, it's incredible the difference in talent already. This team just looks like they can play basketball, taller and faster. That said, I'm not as optimistic as most people. Played very young today, lots of bad turnovers, not very disciplined. I'm not sure if it was because Buzz wasn't coaching and it was a relaxed scrimmage but when you watch a tournament team play and this team play they aren't close. We will win some games and continue in the right direction, but don't expect a huge increase in wins.
If "playing small" is 6-10 Blackshear at the 5, then I can accept small
Well, I'm pretty sure Buzz would prefer to stick with Satch and Hamilton at the 5, and I don't think Shane Henry or LeDay would ever be played there. Blackshear just seems to be a good fit for small ball since he can stretch the floor with his shooting range, and can also attack the basket from the perimeter (but that's not his strength). Blackshear will probably stick at the 4, but play the 5 if Satch/Hamilton get in foul trouble
This^. For the past two years, playing small for the Hokies meant putting a 6'4 SG in Will Johnston in at the 4.
I read a comment about our new offense being read/react. That concerns me a bit. I prefer to enforce our will, hoops or football.