BUZZKETBALL CENTRAL: Grambling Tigers (2-8) at Virginia Tech Hokies (7-3) 6PM ESPN3

Just finished our party with everyone involved @VT_MBBall.Thankful for all the lessons these guys are teaching me. pic.twitter.com/OMILqEmqkk— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) December 18, 2015

Radio
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
Also available on:
Satellite: Sirius: 119 XM: 193
Digital: Hokies Xtra & TuneIn

Internet
ESPN3
Andrew Allegretta & Mack McCarthy

Congrats to @kjblack15 for being named @accmbb Rookie of the Week!(KJ:Monday is the 1st day of the next week pal) pic.twitter.com/fAIGSLdPUA— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) December 15, 2015

Big shout out to Kerry Blackshear for being named ACC Freshmen of the Week! He had back to back solid performances against Radford and Lamar, putting up 24 points and 18 rebounds in the two games.

Second shout out to the team, as the Hokies have four players averaging double digit scoring now in Leday (15.3), Allen (14), Clarke (12), Bibbs (10.9). I cant recall the last time I saw a Hokies team with such balanced scoring. Three other Hokies are scoring at least five points per game in Hudson (6.4), Blackshear (6.3) and Hamilton (5.9). In the case of Hudson and Blackshear, those numbers are trending upward, having both scored in double digits multiple games in a row coming into this contest. This kind of balance will be crucial come the ACC slate when people start to experience foul trouble more than they have against the lesser opponents on our OOC slate.

We were able to see several Hall of Famers prior to our game, to make sure we had their list right!
#BuzzsBunch pic.twitter.com/ksJtGpt7mV— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) December 14, 2015

Hold on to your seats Hokie fans!! This one will be another barn burner, at least from the Tech side of the house. Tech finds itself up against another really bad opponent in the Grambling State Tigers. The Tigers have ZERO wins against Division I opponents this season. Their only victories came against Selma and Mid-Atlantic Christian this season. In the only common opponent between Tech and Grambling, they each played NC A&T, which Tech beat by 30 and Grambling lost by 14 in their latest loss. The Tigers come in having lost three in a row.

This is a game, as Buzz likes to say, where Tech is its own biggest opponent in this game. This is where they need to work on areas that are uncomfortable both offensively and defensively. They will likely run quite a bit of pressure defense. They will probably try to get guys that are struggling to shoot free throws to the line. Expect to see unusual lineups and other things that may make you scratch your head. Buzz only has this game remaining where he can afford to experiment before the ACC slate. Our final two OOC games are against St Joe's (7-2) and #20 WVU (9-1), which will not allow any room for experimenting.

The Tigers are led in scoring by Nigel Ribeiro (#2), 5'10 Freshman Guard, who so far is putting up 13.3 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 2.7 APG as well as 1.5 SPG. He is a Chesapeake, VA kid so this will be as close to a home game as he gets this season so look for his best effort to be on display. He doesn't shoot particularly well, under 40% from the field and even struggles from the line at 67%. This is the kind of team and scorer that you allow them to find him the ball, because its going to take quite a few shots for him to score enough to matter. By that time his team is likely buried under a 20 point lead.

The only other Grambling player in double figures this season is Remond Brown (#4) 6'4, 200 Lbs Junior Guard, who has put up 10.3 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.6 APG, and 1.1 SPG. He shoots much better than Ribeiro, but has no perimeter game, so expect to see him drive the ball as often as he can to create an open look.

Ervin Mitchell, (#0) 6'4 Junior Guard is the Tigers only other remaining threat, especially from outside, where he is averaging over 41%. If Tech plays perimeter defense like it did in the first half against Lamar, than Mitchell and his 8.2 PPG and 5.2 RPG will be marginalized at best.

After these three players it's a platoon of eight other players that provide at least thirteen minutes per game. Much of this is because of personal fouls, where the Tigers have five players averaging more than 2.5 personal fouls per game. This is definitely a tough season so far for Grambling and likely only going to get tougher against Tech but they are at least better off than their 2012-2013 team which became the eighth team in NCAA history to go winless.

The biggest challenge I see for tomorrow is Buzz being able to get his guys up for this game, a lot more than I have done with this write-up. Tech can't afford to sleep walk and waste a great opportunity for development of the entire roster that this game provides.

I see Tech winning this one by 28, going 80-52 or something quite similar. Tech will likely have five or six players in double digit scoring after this one is over. Look for Blackshear and Leday to possibly put up another double double even with sharing time on the court with the other bigs.