Buzzketball Central: Maine Black Bears (0-0) at Virginia Tech Hokies (0-0) 11NOV16 9pm ACC Network Extra

SOLD. OUT. See you tonight, #HokieNation!#ThisIsHome pic.twitter.com/TAsZH1qms0— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 11, 2016

Radio
Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop

Also available on:
Satellite: Sirius: 134 XM: 194 Internet: 956

Television/Internet
ACC Network EXTRA = WatchESPN
Andrew Allegretta & Mack McCarthy

#MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/mDWf5OnGJJ— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 7, 2016

Turnover and Loss

In a highly anticipated return, Buzzketball gets to face the Maine Black Bears. Maine comes in off a difficult 8-22 season that saw two seniors graduate and four other top performers leave the program at years end. The Bears are trying to replace over two thirds of their scoring from last year as well as their top three interior defenders in terms of blocked shots and defensive rebounding.

Its tough for me to predict who will be on the court for the Bears considering all of the turnover from their roster the previous season. The Bears suffered one more blow at the beginning of October when they lost Troy Reid-Knight, a 6'1, 190 lbs Senior Guard to a broken ankle. He brought the Bears 4.8 PPG, 2.2 RPG, and 1.2 APG last season and was expected to see his role dramatically increase this year.

This news was bad enough, but then you look at the Maine preseason exhibition schedule, which had Maine losing to UMaine-Fort Kent 80-75. This is a Division I program losing to a Division III program in preseason.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

This is the kind of game that can haunt you all season if you don't come out and treat the game with the respect it deserves. Fortunately, Buzz Williams only has to reach back to last year to remind his players of what impact the loss to Alabama State had on the Hokies all season to hopefully get his players focused for this game. If that isn't enough reminder, Buzz only has to reach back to last Sunday when the Hokies lost a scrimmage to ***George Mason.****

Buzz Williams on Tech Talk

Buzz Williams spoke this week on Tech Talk Live about where we stand as a program and as a team. He warned fans that the team so far isn't as advanced in terms of plays and schemes because he spent much more time working on culture and program structure with the players during the preseason. I believe his line was that the team is basically running on four distinct plays and all of those are the ones you learn when you are playing in 7th grade.

It was pretty evident that he is frustrated by the NCAA structure for the preseason. Apparently the coaches are allotted 42 days prior to their first game to work in up to 30 practices or other team activities. Buzz didn't come straight out and say it but it was apparent that he would prefer a larger window of time to work with the team preseason rather than having to cram things in during the season on top of school and game load for the players.

Other notes from Buzz on Tech Talk

Buzz touched on the injury to KJ Blackshear and how tough a balancing act it is between doing what's right for the team and doing what's right for the player and his future. Buzz seems to question whether KJ will be able to return this season at all before he would hit the point of diminishing returns, similar to Hill last season on whether to redshirt this year or not. It was a refreshing segment to hear a coach care more about a player and what he promised that players parents than putting the player at risk in hopes of winning a couple more games.

Buzz also addressed where Zach Leday stood at least at the last scrimmage. The medical staff had allotted Leday a maximum of seven minutes to play in the scrimmage and Buzz said he used about six of those minutes. Considering Leday played about 30 minutes a game last season for us, that will be a tough void in the center of the court until he is back to full speed.

Lastly, Buzz touched on how Maine came to be added to the schedule this year. Apparently Coach Walsh, the Maine head coach has run a leadership conference for the last ten years in the off season. Buzz touched on how he has been sending Devin Johnson every season all the way back to when Buzz was the head coach at New Orleans. That led to discussions that ultimately led to Maine being added to our schedule.

Here are the likely impact players on this game.

Aaron Calixte, #1 a 5'11, 175 lbs Junior Guard is a double digit scorer returning. Calixte averaged 10.8 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2.7 APG while shooting 38% from outside the arc. He also had the highest turnover margin on the team so the Hokies should aim to get significant pressure on Calixte when he has the ball. To give you an idea of the lack of experience on this team, Calixte played 813 minutes last year and his closest returning teammate played 507 minutes.

Garet Beal,#55 a 6'6, 215 lbs Senior Guard averaged 8.5 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 1.2 APG, and shot over 40% from beyond the arc. Beal also averaged more than 2 turnovers per game last season. Beal is expected to play mostly a winger role and is known for his stout defense on the perimeter. Expect to see him match up with Bibbs and Allen outside when they are on the floor.

Marko Pirovic,#4 a 6'7, 205 lbs Senior Forward, playing only 10 minutes a game contributed 2.1 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and has a poor shooting percentage all around is expected to play a starting role at least in the beginning of the season. Pirovic is coming off foot surgery so his playing time against Tech may be limited by his recovery.

Freshmen I expect to see play significant roles for Maine

Danny Evans #5 is a 6'4 point guard from England comes to Maine through Phillips Academy, where he averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.2 steals as a prep student. Evans is also a member of Englands U-19 program. He is expected to rotate minutes with Calixte and Beal in terms of running the point.

Vincent Eze, #50 is a 6'8, 202 lbs Redshirt Freshmen whose nickname is of course "The Big" Eze. He comes to Maine from Nigeria by way of Putnam Science Academy. He is a raw talent as he came to the game of basketball after coming to the United States four years ago. His offensive talent is very limited but he is expected to make a significant contribution on the defensive end of the floor.

Dennis Ashley, #32 is a 6' combo guard that went to prep school in Maine at Bridgton Academy but is originally from Santa Monica, California. He is an excellent outside shooter, averaging better than 42% in his last year of prep school. He is expected to come off the bench in spot situations, especially set plays that create an open outside shot.

Andrew Fleming, is a 6'7, 222 lbs forward that was Maine's Gatorade Player of the Year last season where he averaged 16.6 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.9 steals as a senior for Oxford Hills High. He is expected to contribute immediately on both ends of the floor, possibly as a starter but more likely as the sixth man to insert some energy to the lineup.

What to expect when Maine is on the court?

Maine plays a heavy man to man half-court defense and is allowed offensive freedom on the other end fueled by the strengths of the players on the court. Coach Walsh expects 100% commitment on the defensive end and essentially rewards his players for that commitment by allowing them the freedom to determine what works best on offense amongst themselves with some guidance of course.

This could be difficult for the Hokies if as Buzz alluded to, they are not ready with plays and are forced to react to multiple pressure situations throughout the game. This game could get sloppy in terms of Hokies offense so expect to see Buzz rely on his better ball handlers especially early in the game to try to establish a tempo and reduce turnovers.

Also expect to see Buzz continue to have this team attack the rim as they did last season, especially with so much youth on the floor for Maine. Early foul trouble could sway this game significantly.

In Closing

No KJ, limited Zach but fully healthy Hill and Outlaw makes for a very small but very fast lineup at least for these first few games. Speed and attacking angles will have to make up for big bodies down low. Fortunately, Maine doesn't really have much size on their roster so we likely see a very similar opposing lineup from the Bears.

One other area that I am going to be interested to see is how much if any impact the two freshmen have on this game. Does Buzz play Khadim Sy to give him some size down low?

By the largest of margin yet, our 3rd 'Belt Stat' Winner for the 2016-2017 season: @khadimsy1 pic.twitter.com/8tBlVEAc3I— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 8, 2016

Does Tyrie Jackson get some minutes when Justin Robinson needs a breather or do all those minutes go to flexing our other guards through the lineup?

I think this game comes down to basic talent level and drive. I feel the Hokies may struggle early but with the intensity and difficulty of getting through preseason preparation they will outhustle this game away from Maine in the second half. Final score of something like 87-66 as the Hokies close out their first win of the season at Cassell.

pic.twitter.com/ymW9wimBn9— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 3, 2016