BUZZKETBALL CENTRAL: Arkansas Pine-Bluff Golden Lions (2-6) at Virginia Tech Hokies (4-3) 3PM ESPN3

Some throw back photos in this one in support of the Men's Basketball Alumni Weekend at Virginia Tech this weekend.

Radio

Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
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Television/Internet

ESPN3
Andrew Allegretta & Mack McCarthy

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Hokies fans, this should be the game where you invite everyone over, hook the computer up to the Television, sit back and not imagine a stressful thought all afternoon. Also note the early afternoon time, rather than a 7PM start like most of our games. The Golden Lions come in with two point wins over Seattle and SE Louisiana. Their losses include a 28 point debacle to Hawaii and a 21 point loss to Army. There is also that 49 point loss to Cincinnati. The closest they have come in a loss was 14 points to Oklahoma State in their second game of the season.

As long as the Hokies come in ready to play, their pure athleticism should be enough to run Pine-Bluff out of the gym. The average differential in their games this year is -22 points per game. They have ten players playing more than ten minutes a game right now. The primary reason is that they are consistently in foul trouble and are forced to go deeper and deeper into their bench. They have eight players averaging more than 2 fouls per game, and as a team are averaging over 25 fouls per game. Given the Hokies penchant for drawing fouls this season, this could be a game where they shoot 40 or more free throws.

Therein lies to the two edged sword, and whether the Hokies can make their shots. Have a decent 70% night and run away early enough that Joey Galloway and Greg Donlon get 10 minutes a piece on the floor. Shoot poorly and possibly let the Golden Lions hang around. Hopefully we get the Tech feel good story and the end of the bench cleans this one up late. If you haven't been keeping track, Tech is currently leading the country in free throw attempts still at 33.3 attempts per game average. The unfortunate part is that their shooting percentage is still 64% on the year from the line.

I would expect to see Buzz experiment in this game, using a ton of different defensive looks more to get our players used to them in game rather than the effect they may have on Pine-Bluff. I would look to see Clarke at the top of a full court press early on, trying to force early turnovers and getting this team down early.

The one area that is a concern is that this team does have a couple of perimeter shooters capable of hitting threes so the Hokies can ill afford to leave them open outside. They also are an experienced team with five Seniors and five Juniors on the roster. You don't want to give a team with that kind of mix hope or they might seize it and win this game.

The Golden Lions are led by Jovaughn Love (#22) 6'9, 220 lbs, listed as a Senior guard, he is averaging 11.6 PPG and 5.8 RPG. It appears he plays mostly a wing type role, similar to Chris Clarke, taking advantage of his height and size to overpower smaller wings.

He is joined in double digit performance by Ghiavonni Robinson (#23) 6'3, 190 lbs Junior guard. Robinson is putting up 10 PPG and 2.9 RPG to go along with 2 SPG. Robinson is as much in the way of defensive glue as this team seems to have as well as their primary ball handler on the offensive side.

After these two, it's just a group effort both in playing time and production. Looking at their roster and game logs, they will likely play with a bigger lineup than most of the other teams we have faced, going with a mix of Thaddeus Handley (#3) 6'6, 200 Lbs Senior Forward, Trent Whiting (#15) 6'7, 205 Lbs Senior Forward, and Deshon Bayless (#30) 6'8, 220 Lbs Junior Forward. These three combine for about 45 minutes a game, usually two out of three being in at any one time. They manage 14 points and 10 rebounds amongst them each game.

In everything I have seen so far on Pine-Bluff, there hasn't been a consistent offensive or defensive identity for this team. Mainly, to be honest, it seems that their lack of talent means that their identity is dictated to them by far superior teams, forcing them into different styles of play almost every night. It struck me that this might be the perfect landing spot for Mike London, although not his primary sport to coach, because in lieu of sending out recruiting flyers that said YOU, London here could put out APB's to all his recruits (bad teams make for bad jokes).....Arkansas Pine-Bluff if it didn't hit you over the head by now.

This is a game that Leday needs to step up early, showing that the Northwestern game was a fluke, against decent sized opponents. We will also need a good showing from our bigs, with Pierce probably playing a very similar role in this game late like he did against the Wildcats. The rest of the team needs to make this game about utilizing their talent and not falling into a battle of bodies down low. It will be important that our guards hit their open shots to stretch the floor, making Pine-Bluff come out and have to react to our player's ability to drive the ball rather than letting them pack the lane. It would also be nice to see Chris Clarke extend his double-double streak to three games.

Even with their size, the Golden Lions have been getting out-rebounded by over thirteen boards per game, especially on the offensive end. Our team needs to continue to improve in this area and get those easy put back baskets in the lane. Tech should outscore Pine-Bluff by at least 20 points in the paint, control this game from the very start and finish this game winning 84-57, or something very similar. The amount of scoring may depend on how experimental Buzz gets in this game with his roster and his defensive alignments. Let's Go Hokies!