The Virginia Tech men's basketball team had a full week off to lick their wounds after their loss to Virginia last Tuesday. The rest, however, looked like rust in the Hokies' clunky 65-49 loss to Miami on Wednesday night.
In a matchup as herky-jerky as it was sloppy, Buzz Williams' group could never find a groove offensively. And though they ended the first half up 22-21, the lack of consistent scoring came back to haunt Tech as they watched the eleventh ranked Hurricanes race away with a comfy victory.
It was the second consecutive game where nothing seemed to go right for the Hokies. The team hit a chilly 29.6% of their attempts, turned it over 16 times and added about 50 head-scratching moments on top of it all. Not a single player could see their shot fall, and by the time a few found their way through the rim it was already too late.
Juniors Zach LeDay and Seth Allen battled foul trouble throughout, and then were both completely ineffective in limited action. The transfer duo combined to go 3-15 from the floor, as Allen added five giveaways and LeDay only grabbed three rebounds.
"I thought Miami was good," Williams plainly stated in his press conference. "We didn't make shots either half. 25 percent of the time we turned the ball over, that's really hard to overcome, but particularly on the road."
The stonewalling of Tech's two top scorers meant extra pressure on everyone else to carry the load. Although different guys have previously stepped into the score's role, no one could take charge in Coral Gables. Even though Tech's showing was peppered with positive moments, (more impressive minutes from Chris Clarke on his way back from injury, Justin Robinson's 12-point performance), the squad could never put enough together to keep it close once Miami heated up. Jim Larranaga's guys buried looks at a nearly 70 percent clip after intermission, and scored nearly as many points in the final period (44) as Buzz's bunch did all together (49).
To give credit where credit is due, Williams and his staff came in with an excellent defensive game plan. The Hokies switched schemes more times than Buzz switches shirts, successfully confusing their opponent into mistakes and bad looks. And while the idea worked wonders for 20 minutes, it wasn't going to last.
"I thought our effort defensively in the first half was good," Williams said, "and then obviously diametrically opposed to that in the second half for sure."
The Hurricanes are a top-12 team for a reason, and adjusted to the tactic accordingly. Guards Angel Rodriguez, Sheldon McClellan and Davon Reed flew to the ball, deflecting passes and wreaking havoc on Tech's sputtering attack.
Rodriguez was particularly lethal, as he finished with 14 points and three steals. The senior looked to run at every chance after intermission, and the Hokies gave him plenty of opportunities to do just that.
And now after the loss, Buzzketball finds itself at the first real crossroads of the season. The group is 13-13, with five remaining before the ACC Tournament. Though they've already passed last year's win total and almost every realistic goal set for them in November, this last handful of games are important.
Three wins means a return to .500 and could signify a potential NIT berth, both for the first time since 2010-11. But if this bunch goes on another slide like we saw at the end of January they could wind up just ahead of their pace from last season's dreadful campaign.
Up next is Florida State in Cassell Coliseum on Saturday. The Seminoles are a bubble team whose fate lies on victories heading into March, and will be a tough test. The Hokies have already played similar mid-tier programs, with mixed success (Clemson at home, Syracuse on the road). But if Williams and company want to prove they've turned the corner, a win this weekend is vital.
Can they do it? Possibly, if the past two months have taught us anything it's that Tech has the ability to run with anyone. But to get the bad taste of Miami out of their collective mouths, the Hokies must shake this funk which has plagued them now for two straight outings.
A few quick notes
Bad LeDay means bad Virginia Tech. The Hokies can do their best to mix and match with others at the power forward spot, but no one person can do everything he does. The junior brings an excellent combination of rebounding, toughness and inside presence, and acts as a comfort blanket when things start to go awry.
It's not a coincidence Tech has had back-to-back horrid offensive outputs with the transfer from South Florida on the sideline with the foul bug. Even when he doesn't score, LeDay makes an opponent work on every possession, be it chasing him on the perimeter or attempting to box him out on the boards.
It'll be interesting to see how teams approach him to end the year, because one of the most obvious paths to success against the Hokies is to make him foul conscious early on. Even when he was on the floor against Miami, there was an extra moment of hesitation on both ends. It's only natural to ask "can I really draw this charge?" when you're one 50/50 block-charge call away from disqualification.
With both LeDay and Allen on the bench for extended periods of time, Buzz had to get weird with his lineups. This included playing the offensively halting combo of Devin Wilson and Shane Henry, and sliding Clarke down to "center".
In fact, the combo of Wilson/Robinson/Jalen Hudson/Justin Bibbs/Clarke was interestingly effective for stretches. The lack of a big man makes it unsustainable to use for long periods of time, as Miami showed when they torched it at the beginning of the second half, but it's a creative way to use some of the most explosive athletes on the floor to create mismatches.
Traditional post players can't keep up with Clarke, Bibbs opens the floor for others to drive and there's enough firepower to let Wilson do his thing without crowding the lane. When executed properly, the unit can get up and down in the blink of an eye. And while they couldn't capitalize on nearly enough chances to punish the Canes, they were also the reason Tech hit the locker room with a one point lead.
The development of the freshmen this year has been fun to watch. Each have had their moments individually, and have grown in their own ways. Kerry Blackshear Jr. got the start in South Florida, and though he struggled with veteran post player Tonye Jekiri, he still made his mark on the glass.
Robinson has already developed into the best pure point guard on the roster, and the difference Clarke makes since he's been back from injury is apparent within 30 seconds of watching. Though the youngster doesn't always seem to be in the right place at the right time, he still finds his way to both the ball and the rim.
And though Buzz wasn't necessarily happy with anyone afterwards, he seemed pleased with the growth the trio is making.
"I think those freshmen are continuing to improve," Williams said. "It's just a steep learning curve when you're in the second semester of your college career and you're playing at number 10. But that's also good for them."
And these lumps they take today? They'll help far more down the line than they hurt right now.
Comments
Currently, we do not have the horses to run with a UVA or a Miami team. They both are very talented and very deep and more importantly, their guard play is outstanding. I don't think Allen can be that guy, he makes makes too many mistakes and doesn't get his teammates involved. Robinson could be that guy but he is not there yet. In the ACC, you CAN NOT go almost 11 minutes without a bucket from the floor and expect to beat anybody. Turning the ball over 25% of the time, combined with ice cold shooting is a formula for disaster.
We are at a critical part of the year and should be interesting to see how the team plays out now that the other teams in the conference have figured out which buttons to push with our guys. We still need height, but more importantly we HAVE to play smart in order to win. Last night, that didn't happen. Breathe in, breathe out and let's move on.
All good points. Please allow me to add to your thoughts (and the thoughts above) about Robinson... I agree, he has the potential to be a really good point guard here in the ACC. To add, I think that if he could become a more consistent threat with his outside shot (he has already shown the ability to get to the rim on occasion), he will be more than really good.
Thanks for expanding. I agree with you 100%. I think he can be that guy like Rodriguez or that dude from UVA (name escapes me). Very high upside with the right coaching, which I believe we have.
I think it's safe to say we are still feeling the effects of the disastrous retention of the 2012 and 2013 recruiting classes. Yes, the current players were more highly regarded coming out of high school, but the lack of upperclassman leadership is telling. Not counting transfers, only Wilson was on a roster prior to Buzz's hire.
All that being said, if we see any noticeable player development over the next year, we should be a threat.
Says obvious guy: we need more and better players.
...I wish we could start scoring more than the other team.../ns
Other teams have figured out how to make us a eunuch.
1. Keep VT off the foul line.
2. Make LeDay and Allen foul early.
3. Realize that Allen doesn't pass much once he decides to drive the basket. Just be in his face and he will miss more.
4. If Wilson is on floor, double team other guys.
Our tendencies are there to see. The stats the last several games show that this is what they are doing - and, unfortunately for us, its working. We need to shake this up some or the rest of the season will be tough for us.
I have been very critical of Wilson's play the month or so (and it's not popular with some folks) but this is the second game in a row where he has a big goose egg in the scoring column and this team is not that good to absorb an offensive liability like that. The anouncer last said, he doesn't score but he does the other things well. If you are 6' 10'' I might buy that statement but at 6' 3" you are just a liability on offense.
To build off of 2. - Allen and LeDay have become predictable in going at the basket hard. Teams are crowding the charge line early, and getting them in foul trouble. LeDay gets cold from the three when he has to sit, and Allen gets to anxious, and can be counted on to rush his play and turn it over a few times when coming off the bench when we are behind. When they get in foul trouble early it affects the rest of their game when they get back in, and really hurts us.
I would add a #5. Take it to Blackshear when attacking the D. He is not strong enough to hold his position yet, and gives up fouls or lay-ups. We give too many open 3 looks when we help him out. Announcers even noticed it this game. Would have been great to have the depth to redshirt him this year, but he learning to hard way this year.
I agree with your #5 if you are a team that has some really BIG bigs in your lineup. Miami has that, Louisville has that.
I love Justin Robinson, believe he will be one of the great point guards before his career is over. Clarke is a decent jump shot away from being a Hokie great.
Clarke's rebounding energy is amazing. Reminds me of Ace Custis.
I love the potential of all of these freshmen. Clarke needs even a serviceable jump shot, Robinson needs a better outside shot and to adjust to the physicality of the college game, and Blackshear needs to put on some weight and keep working on his shot. There is no doubt and my mind that Buzz is thinking the same thing and will push them to improve in these areas. If it goes well, any of them could be All-ACC performers.
I admire your endless naive optimism (serious, no insult), and
heard this a billion times before.
Naive optimism? Hey, I resemble that remark. I do prefer it over dour and depressing, life is better that way. :-)
It is true, the line between realism and negativity can easily be blurred.
It is so frustrating to see how unable we are to actually get the ball in the basket in games like this. We get decent looks and just cannot score, or we attack the rim, only to rim out or miss badly, often whether the shot is seriously contested or not. It is easy to see that we are outmanned, it is also easy to see that if we had the players, Buzz's coaching would have them in contention pretty much every game. I love the guys we have, and I do think they will improve with age and experience, but it is sometimes painful to watch the process. The next couple of years' recruiting will tell the tale, though. We need more firepower!
We really need to stop using our training aids during the games themselves....
Thanks, Alum. I really needed a laugh this morning. Thing is, in less than a year, my tight group of Hokie friends has lost three of our best friends, top notch Hokies all, and two more peripheral (to that core) friends, also top notch Hokies and I'm adding sorrow to the already hard to take February blahs. While it is natural at my age to lose friends and family members, it is no less difficult to deal with. The humor on this site has helped me each and every day lately and I really appreciate the quick and sharp minded posts this community is known for. Not trolling for sympathy, my friends have that covered in-house, but I did want to let you know how much it means to have a laugh out loud moment these days, something I can count on happening here at TKP. Again, thanks.
Anytime! Its part of what I like about TKP so much, in that we just don't take ourselves too seriously.
That said, I will say with this team, you just have to kind of take seasons like this as they come. I wouldn't necessarily say we're out-manned, as we do get pleeeeenty of open looks per game, and we do a good job of helping to contain the opponents most of the time, its just that our shots aren't falling. That's it, the shots aren't falling. And they're not falling for players who have shown throughout their careers that they do fall. So to me, it just looks like we're rushing our play as a team right now, and we're just playing too fast. That makes sense when you consider how young the roster truly is. Once the game starts to slow down, and they're used to the speed and style of the ACC grind, the shots will return, and once that happens, we're going to be a very tough team to beat. As you said, we get a lot of open looks. Imagine what the games would look like if half of those shots or more fell through the hoop.
Yeah, I guess when I say out manned, I am referring to maybe out talented. I think any good basketball player can hit shots, but when you are playing in the ACC, you are playing against guys who can hit those shots in hotly and ably contested situations. The difference between good and really good lies in the finish. I do believe we have guys who will develop into better players who can actually score consistently, but we need guys that can do it, not just guys who might be able to do it at some point. It's the difference between the best teams and the rest of us, the ability to score points, night in, night out. I think we have a good coach and the beginnings of a good team and am very much looking forward to games when we're hitting half or more against ACC competition.
Very sorry to hear of your losses....a good laugh truly can help (even if only for a short while) even in the darkest times.
This is going to be a little out there but having a brother who went to UNC from 2010-2013, Justin Robinson reminds me of a very raw Kendall Marshall. Not the best at scoring and at times looks like he doesn't want to. Makes some phenomenal no-look thread-the-needle passes but certainly has his fair share of turnovers. The way he commands the floor and looks to push with passes rather than dribbling is probably the biggest parallel for me. I really think that Robinson's junior year (after Seth leaves) and he can average 32ish minutes a night he will be an outstanding point guard. I'm talking 8+assists a game.
Plus they both wear No. 5
Agreed, Marshall is a good comparison. I'm not sure Allen is blocking Robinson. They really don't play Allen at the point that often. Buzz really seems to have decentralized the PG position this year, we often play 3G's and any of them bring it up. Seems like when Robinson is in the game, he's the PG but when he's not in the game, it could be Allen, Wilson, Hudson or even Bibbs at times.
Robinson has a lot of moving parts in his jump shot. His lower half isn't streamlined and it seems to take a lot of effort/time to get the shot off. He's got a nice stroke, but it's just a wonky form at this time.
I wasn't saying that Seth is necessarily PG but that when he's on the floor with Robinson he commands the ball a little too much and takes it away from J-Rob.
Yeah, not PT but ball. Allen and LeDay were brought in to be the upperclassmen shade for the younger players, but we are seeing and will see more of the freshman stepping into that light.
We are blessed and cursed with Seth Allen. When he's awful, as he was last night, we have no chance of winning a game. He just takes up too much of the offense for us to overcome his bad nights. When he's on, he draws enough attention that it makes everyone else better. But maybe a strong PG hand like Robinson is growing into can help mitigate that ebb and flow some.