GAMEDAY INFO:#BeatCuseWatch: @theACCDN - https://t.co/XDpRhUs8rvStream: https://t.co/FowGc1luCA pic.twitter.com/XCESyZDa0S— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) February 2, 2016
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It's GAMEDAY, #HokieNation!! 8 PM on @theACCDN #BeatCuse pic.twitter.com/6g72khSv0C— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) February 2, 2016
Hokies fans, Tech hopefully gets off the bus tonight ready to play, unlike their latest debacle at Pitt, which saw only Seth Allen play the entire game the way the rest of the roster should. The Hokies came out flat and stayed that way most of the evening en route to a 19 point loss at the hands of the Panthers. Tonight gets no easier as the Hokies have to go into the Carrier Dome and take on the Orangemen, who have been a different team since Jim Boeheim returned from suspension. Syracuse comes in winners of five out of their last six games, with only a loss to UVA in that stretch. The game that really stands out in that run is how they manhandled Notre Dame, 81-66. They had the Irish confused all night and never let up. If that team comes to play tonight, the Hokies will be in trouble early and often.
The Orange are led in scoring by Senior Forward Michael Gbinije (#0) 6'7, 200 Lbs. He is Richmond product that so far is averaging 17.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 4.4 APG. Listed as a forward, he plays mostly from the wings, getting involved in the rebounding from the baseline primarily. Shoots 37% from outside so is a threat to score if the Hokies leave him open. He averages almost two steals per game and is very active on the defensive end. He is also their primary ball-handler so expect to see the ball in his hands coming up the floor most times.
Senior Guard Trevor Cooney (#10) 6'4, 195 Lbs is putting up 13.7 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 2.4 APG. He is the Orange leading attempts guy from outside, shooting 36% though, so challenge and he may have trouble, leave him open and its another big contribution against Tech from outside.
The third leading scorer for the Orange is Freshmen Guard Malachi Richardson, (#23) 6'6, 195 Lbs who brings 13.4 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.7 APG as one of the most dynamic freshmen in the ACC. He is another perimeter shooter, shooting about 36% from outside. These three have combined for 464 attempts from outside in 23 games, or about 20 attempts per game between them. That kind of gameplan unfortunately puts their focus against one of our biggest weaknesses. The scary part is that these three arent even the Orange sharpshooter from outside.
That falls to Freshmen Forward Tyler Lydon (#20) 6'8, 205 Lbs, who very much like "LeTrey", is knocking down perimeter shots at about 44% on two to three attempts per night. He contributes 8.7 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 1.4 APG
Junior Forward Tyler Roberson (#21) 6'8, 212 Lbs makes up the last of the starters for this team. He so far this season is putting up nearly a double-double in 9.7 PPG and 8.8 RPG.
Syracuse only runs one other player out there every game, trying to stick with a six man rotation as much as possible. Senior Center Dajuan Coleman (#32) 6'9, 255 Lbs who contributes 5.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG and an assist. This is about as big as the roster gets right now until next season when the Orange have a 7'2 transfer that will be eligible.
Another team with a bunch of tweeners size wise but big enough man bodies to knock us around underneath. This being the case, Tech has to find a way to do the things it hasn't recently. Bigs have to stay out of foul trouble and we have to guard the perimeter on every play. I would prefer to see Buzz use a zone defense against this roster to cut down on the open looks from the perimeter. This team attempts nearly 25 three's per game right now. Even if they only shoot 35%, they will make EIGHT threes against us at that rate. 24 points on eight possessions is always going to be challenging to keep up with.
The other thing the Hokies need to hope for is the normal consistency on officials calling fouls so they are able to build an early point base at the line while also getting the Orange into trouble, forcing them to go down their bench.
After the last game, these Hokies are going to have to prove something to me going forward. They have to show they have the resiliency to keep moving in the ACC slate rather than putting their heads down. Until then, my vote goes the other way, Orange put Tech away with about ten minutes remaining and arent really close down the stretch. 77-63 bad guys.
Comments
Standing by. This is a game that the good guys definitely need to win so that they can get some of their confidence back. It feels like its been forever since we had a hoops victory.....and you know it has to feel longer for the players.
As long as we find a way to keep it close in the first half we will have a chance. Otherwise, with the home court advantage of the Carrier Dome, I don't see a late second half comeback happening.
Wow in the House way to go Big Daddy! More Mo for the Good Guys Go Hokies!
You're doing good work there!
Sorry if this is a bit OT, but I couldn't find a basketball ticket exchange thread that existed. I live in NOVA but am interested in attending the Feb 20th game against Florida State. I'm looking to see if someone on here has good season tickets and can't make it, or would have one left over that I can snag from them. Willing to pay face for a great seat.
Big surprise, 4 guard line up with LeDay at the five. Make sense to get more shooting against Syracuse's zone.
Already a significant increase in defensive intensity compared to a couple of nights ago.
Cooney has missed a couple of open looks. Just to me our rotation still looks a little slow on penetration.
Definitely missed that first closeout and got lucky, but overall I think we look improved.
The intensity looks like it's there. I just hope we can get some hard close outs on penetration.
Nice D!
We need to get Bibbs more looks like that one.
To have a lot of people in the dome, it feels like they're playing this game in a library.
Sloppy. Stop it!
So Allen 7-7 his last 7 threes...
Was that a bank shot?
Wow bailed himself out with the 3.
I have a feeling Bibbs is going to get a lot of open looks tonight from three with Allen's dribble penetration ability and the 2-3 zone
ALLEN the three!
Hopefully we can keep up the hot shooting. It seems that Syracuse's zone has worked in our favor over the past few seasons by allowing us to cash in from the 3 point line.
Related: I'm guessing Syracuse doesn't put their students on the floor. Hell......does Syracuse even have students? I'm not seeing anyone under the age of 40 in the crowd yet.
Can someone ANYONE explain why ACC basketball games are in my local weather channel but UNLV/New Mexico, Gtown/Butler and a special on Duke Basketball are all on major cable channels?
Ok now the refs have woken up and want to get In this game, we cant make too many mistakes.
So how many games in a row has Jalen completely taken himself out by getting 2 early fouls?
Worried about VTs ability to attack this zone.
Why? We're carving it up so far (halfway through the first). Obviously that could change, but Buzz's gameplan is fantastic.
We have done ok so far but looks like a tough to me over long hall we better be able to hit from outside throughout entire game and that worries me.
Nice Uncle Rico stache, dude.
Devin Wilson as the ball distributor in the middle of the zone is a fantastic idea.
Holy hell Galloway is in.
They're bringing him as a decoy.
There's been some damn good defensive possessions for the good guys tonight. Just need to stop slopping the offense.
Where is Blackshear? We are running super small and getting killed on the boards.
Saving his 5 fouls for the 2nd half?
Yeah, he always picks up a few stupid fouls early trying to guard ball screens on the perimeter.
Wow these charge calls are going our way! Bout time!
We are having no luck attacking the rim right now
We have to rebound better if we are going to win. Too many offensive boards for the carrots
Refs are asserting themselves except when we are on offense. Lots of charges for us and ticky tac little calls against us on the defensive side.
Big Satch is out there playing Point Center feeding LeDay down low.
Love it, looks like Jason Kidd in there.
Never thought anyone would ever say that sentence.
It looks like it's been the same play all night just flipping the right or left side of the court
Running the offense through Big Satch at the top of the free throw line is doing us a world of good here.
May need to get Blackshear in there for when the post defense doesn't crash as fast and that center spot needs to make them pay
Cuse are cold for outside tonight!
It's a nice change of pace after having teams set their school record for 3pt% against us in these past few games.
No!
Isn't it nice (at most times) looking like the more athletic team vs. a team like Syracuse?
Minus Wilsons Larry bird bank from 3
Looks like it still counted for 3 as ugly as it was.
Man. We are getting a lot of breaks right now. Devin for the bank 3. Hopefully that will continue.
Banked it home!
Knew that was going to happen
How many buzzer beater 3's are we gonna give up before halftime this season?
I've personally seen at least 6 or 7 so far.
Yes
Jesus. Get your shit right announcing crew.
I don't hate it. Great game plan against the zone; we're getting good looks. Gotta figure out how to get a rebound. Also, I like our energy.
So far we have done well we are hot from outside and Cuse is cold except for close of half and that is the difference in this game.
We might need the six point advantage going into the second half if those Cuse OPEN looks from three start going down. The rotation still looks slow on the perimeter, but energy is great on the boards and the loose balls.
Man, this seems familiar... outplaying opponent but making just enough mistakes to keep it close, opponent manages to make just a few big shots... sure would be nice to see a different ending written to this one.
Sadly if we had made half the shots we should have inside we would be blowing these guys out. Too many misses right at the rim.
That was a terrible foul call on Leday. How it wasn't an over the back call on Syracuse I have no idea
That's just how it's gone all year. Any time we're up on an ACC opponent, officials do just enough to nudge the score closer.
Can someone explain the Leday foul after half?
They basically said that the Syracuse big rebounded the ball cleanly and then attempted to shoot at which point Leday fouled him because he wasn't in a defensive position when they made contact. They just ignored over the back while it was going on.
Looked like Leday had position all day here in person and was getting mugged.
That was terrible on offense. Grinding my teeth right now
These misses at point blank range are going to raise my blood pressure.
How Satchel Pierce can be that close to the basket and miss so consistently is something I will never understand.
More misses inside 3 feet! We have 10 points missing in the paint.
I think Buzz needs to run some dunking drills. We've missed more easy dunks in one season than I've seen missed in the rest of my life combined.
Should be winning by 20+ right now. Hope that doesn't haunt us
It's VT Basketball. It'll haunt us.
It's VT
BasketballSports. It'll haunt us.FTFY
*sadness*
Taking the Louisville game into consideration gotta say you're dead on.
Ludicrous level foul call on Leday right after half, but love seeing them stave off that 5-0, and not only just hold it off, but come back and go on a run of their own
Got to attack that zone better than last possession.
That looked like a flashback to the Johnson years.
Frustrating that Wilson won't make the pass to the top of the key to Bibbs. Have to have that pass to open up the zone. Bibbs is clearly open and can hit that shot all day
I don't think Jalen can play any worse than he has tonight.
Don't tempt him.
Toldja.
We need Tyrone to make an appearance.
"ACC officials suck"
"ACC officials suck"
"ACC officials suck"
- Buzz Williams on his notecard, probably
We have to start hitting our shots in the lane
I have no idea what is and is not a foul.
It's okay. No one does.
Don't worry. ACC refs don't either.
Terrible pass by Hudson
Can't remember you don't get shot clock reset on kick by defense?
No one wants to win this
These types of games have not favored VT Basketball.
haha wow. here we go, bonus bball
Every one of these opportunities gone makes me cringe. It's like doing everything right until it has to be right than doing everything wrong over and over again.
Lol at the Syracuse crowd complaining about foul calls.
that was a quick one second on the inbound
Allen letting frustration force that shot up with 27 seconds on shot clock
He may be our best creator, but he definitely takes the award for most possessions wasted this season.
I'll forgive him, considering he's keeping us in this game this half.
Seth giveth and Seth taketh away.
THAT WASN'T A SHOOTING FOUL?! IT'S SO MADDENING.
Those are the terrible fouls that piss me off from Blackshear. He had no business even being near the guy and now we give up the one and one
.... Like that one?
Not good. Allen is gassed right now
Yes Mr. Blackshear. Do more of that. Good things happen when we drive hard to the rim.
Terrible just terrible. Another wasted chance.
"Stupid mistakes doom Hokies"
We haven't seen this before, have we?
Can not keep making fastbreak turnovers!
Well that was a fun National Parks commercial.
Blackshear again.....they have to keep himy under the basket somehow
At this point I think teams are just running at him whenever they see him on the perimeter.
Wouldn't you?
My question is why it is a foul when a guard drops his shoulder into a hedging defender?
Oh, but is it a foul???
Of course. If teams watch tape of any of our games this year they will see those type of fouls from him.
I know...I am forced to write about it two to three times a week. It's that the coaching staff hasn't seemed to work on it with him that's frustrating. It really worries me that amongst our bigs we have seen little improvement all around as a group. It makes me wonder who is responsible on staff for developing our bigs.
How on earth did LeDay break that double team?
I'm not sure I've ever seen someone who hates to lose as much as LeDay.
That's how he broke that double team.
Grrrrrrr....Blackshear takes bad shot and follows with bad foul...driving me crazy because we need him out there
I am amazed we are still in this game, so many points left on the court
When Allen came back into the game when Cuse was shooting Free Throws why did that ref say something about "looking good on TV"?
We are not allowed to play defense yet again. I'm getting really tired of this shit.
Bibbs needs to step into one.
Needed to that 3!
Nice ball movement as they say.
Would love to see the average distance from the basket of Blackshear's fouls. He's always committing fouls on loose balls in the backcourt and on ball screen hedges 30 feet from the bucket. Frustrating.
Nice to have a big guy with hands. Keep it going SHEAR
Yes bshear!
Getting close to having to win this one at the line
I love Blackshear's "was that me?" face when a foul is called.
Ok got to.make our free throws down the stretch!
Why would he drive it there!!
JUST. MAKE. LAYUPS.
Just when I thought we were putting it all together.
We lost.
And the other side of the coin
God I hope we don't royally shit the bed here.
Finish!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!! Please, just finish at the rim!!! Come on Hokies!! You can do this!!
Seth... You gotta dump the ball off there... It was 2v1
Or turn it back out and use some clock.
Exactly. I love when he drives to the basket, but he has to know when to turn that switch off.
Oh Seth Allen...
Anyone know what happened at 1:01? Preceding the Cuse timeout?
Refs are debating on who actually called the timeout
They are trying to figure out who called time out.
Clutch time
And guess what? We make just enough stupid mistakes to lose.
You gotta be joking. A 30 footer.
Of course he hits a thirty footer after we miss the most important free throw of the game and failed to get rebound on five touches
Welcome to VT sports, may I take your order?
Wow, respect for that shot
Allen to the rim has to be the call here
S my heart can't take this!
Oh and he hit it with four fouls that he has been playing with for the last four minutes
This is my biggest knock on Buzz. He doesn't get that high-foul player out of the game.
Well, hopefully Syracuse's foul trouble and shallow bench will work against them in overtime.
I'm not banking on it.
Well. I don't know about you guys but I have zero confidence going into this overtime. Can't believe we didn't have Allen attacking the rim there.
...so he could miss yet another layup?
wow if he had taken it to the hoop he probably could've beat us with a layup
Time to crack another brew.
This has been the most frustrating game. We should pie run them out of the gym (dome), but make just enough stupid mistakes to let them hang close enough to make a late run.
Lydon and Gbinije both have four fouls. Got to take advantage of that
Blackshear has got to be able to corral rebounds first touch
As far as I'm concerned, this game is already over. We lost and we have no one to blame but ourselves.
I've felt the same way since that kid hit that corner three after Allen missed that layup.
Welp. They have made two 25+ footers down the stretch and we have missed 2 layups and a free throw. Wonder who will pull it out?
Out scored 13-3 in last 1:29 of regulation. That's amazing...both being out score that much and giving up 13 points in 1:30!
Wonder if these announcers know 80-90% of the viewers don't understand the boxing reference with Cooney?
Well its the end of game and we can't hit a three against the zone surprise.
This is brutal.
What a great shot by Cooney. I hate him.
I hate him I hate Lydon and his porn stache
Both players with four fouls get them that bucket
Welp
Triple welp
How that isn't a foul on Robinson is beyond me
Dammit we gotta get a stop. We've been helpless on defense for so long now.
In all fairness they have made some ridiculously difficult shots. It sucks but I mean there isn't a lot to do about it except execute on offense which we just haven't done.
Bibbs has to kill a three. Has to. Ridiculous that he isn't shooting right now. Buzz has to shake it into him.
This sucks. Another game they completely gave away. I didn't expect we would force OT vs them at the Carrier dome but still, goddamn
Worst loss of the year...even worse than Alabama State
That last 1:30 of regulation was the definition of the word "choke."
Wow. Just wow. This team just folded down the stretch. Completely lost their focus and composure.
This loss has almost as much to do with Syracuse hitting 3 deep 3s late in the 2nd and early in overtime.
But yes, we missed a ton of opportunities to close it out.
We scored 3 points over the last 1:30 of reg and 2 in all of OT.
I know. I said almost as much and acknowledged our own shortcomings.
Sorry. Wasn't arguing with you. Just pointing out how inept we were don the stretch.
No biggie, but yeah, hard to watch all around.
Gonna to be a long trip home.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
We absolutely blew that one... Missed three layups in the final minute
Man was this a frustrating loss
Watching this team squander late leads is beginning to get frustrating. I'm aware of the youth around the roster, but we have to better down the stretch.
Beginning?
I was willing to accept UVA because we ended up winning. Notre Dame was frustrating but they were a good team at home. Night in and night out, though, is tough to accept.
We lost this one more than they won it. Their prayers were answered from the 3 pt line late.
All the Hokies running away from the ball in the last minute. Embarrassing.
I knew it... I saw it coming a mile away. There wasn't a damn thing we could do about it, but this was going to end the same exact way as it always does. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it and it fucking sucks. Dammit.
this one hurts... a lot.
I keep coming back to two possessions in a row Seth Allen blew. First, he's gotta finish at the rim. Second, he's gotta make the open pass to LeDay or pull the ball out. No reason to rush a contested lay up.
His aggressiveness is such a spark at times... but other times it loses us games.
Yes he took contested layup. However if he was a Duke, Carolina, or 'Cuse 5 star guard he would be standing on the foul line after both of those.
It's true.
ACC Officials are great, huh?
Well... Youtube "one hitter quitters" vids for the rest of the evening until I run out of miller. Love the fight we have, hate the "never been there" factor. Love the fight in buzz and the squad and looking forward to the future of VT basketball.
I haven't seen a game all year, (thanks ESPN for blackouts on Long Island), and boy, am I frustrated...just by reading your comments! What a tough pill to swallow.
Here's a game recap: it sucked ass.
Really bad loss... Two observations:
1) We lost the game with about 1:00/1:3ish left when Allen tried to take it to the rim on a break away instead of dishing it off or pulling the ball out. If we pull the ball out, run 30 seconds off the clock it doesn't matter if we score or not, the game is over. Terrible decision.
2) I cannot understand (maybe you guys can help me out) why in this game, as well as the Louisville game, we pass around and drive to the rim when we are down multiple possessions with under a minute left. Why aren't we looking for an outside shot? Why won't guys take a tough shot outside?
Unfuckingbelievable
I'm glad Buzz is our coach and hope he stays at VT as long as Beamer. Haven't enjoyed watching Hokies BBall in long time this program is a Buy Buy Buy. We will getem next time!
This will not be popular, but that was a terrible job of coaching in the last 90 seconds and S. Allen is just to loose in critical times to be successful. Check the video, bad on offense and defense down the stretch. Let's hope they can turn it around fast.
The only takeaway I have from this game is that I have no concept what a foul is anymore after years of playing basketball.... Gbinije and their center played 9 minutes with 4 fouls despite being involved in half of the 'blocked' shots on the collapsed zone. When we touch a guy in white they are standing at the foul line; our guys are getting mugged on the other end any time the ball is in the air.
No one knows what a foul is. It's just like football: Too many run plays, gotta throw in some passes. Refs try to balance it but it often time results in the team that's playing better, especially in a road situation, getting screwed over.
There is a myriad of ways we could have won this game. Make a layup. Pull the ball out on a fastbreak with 1:00 left instead of missing a layup. Make a free throw. It's extraordinarily frustrating to lose a game like that. We absolutely just fell apart mentally. Young team or not, that is not acceptable this late into the season.
So I'm at Buffalo Wild Wings, watching us milk this game away and the damn game blacks out with 1 minute left. So I finally get it on my phone just in time to see the game tying three. This one hurts about as bad as a football loss. Fuck.
Players are just not finishing I think they are well coached, beats Greenberg.
I agree. Especially in the first half, we were so patient, working the ball inside out, getting good looks. I think Buzz had them prepared for the game. It's just when momentum starts getting away from us, we struggle to get it back.
And even that isn't necessarily true. They started making buckets in the second half and we were able to get stops and go on runs of our own. Hell, there were times they would go 4:00 without a field goal (although they racked up points from the foul line).
Someone smarter than me is going to have to diagnose the "problem" this team has. It may just be "too many stupid mistakes" and "ya gotta make all your layups".
Anyway, go hokies. We'll remember this feeling when we're winning ACC championships in a few years. I'm gonna go watch some HGTV.
Gotta like that Jo from Fixer upper ready retire in Waco.
I'm too invested in this team. This loss hurt. A lot.
I'll take this over apathy any day though.
Nothing a little (lot) bourbon can't fix!
Hell Buzz is taking notes during game so he seems invested, I'm all in! Go Hokies!