IT'S GAMEDAY! #BeatHPU Cassell Coliseum 7 PM ACCNetwork Extrahttps://t.co/1kvpWgumJv pic.twitter.com/APKoARGqOO— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 15, 2016
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: November 15, 2016 / 7 p.m.
Opponent: High Point University
Site: Blacksburg, Va. (Cassell Coliseum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ACC Network EXTRA
Talent: Andrew Allegretta & Mack McCarthy
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner
Buzzketball gets to face the High Point Panthers in their second matchup of this early campaign. High Point comes in looking for its third-straight 20-win season, after going a combined 44-22 the last two seasons. It also has won four-straight Big South Regular Season Championships. This allowed the Panthers to advance to the postseason for the fourth-straight year, going to the NIT for the second time in school history. High Point started out this season's effort with a 74-41 drubbing of Division III Averett.
The Panthers do have to replace their top three scoring threats from last season that accounted for 42.8 of the teams 77 points per game. The depth of this roster though simply means next group up.
Coach Scott Cherry has been at High Point since 2009, where he has steadily improved their overall program, especially in terms of offensive production. Prior to his arrival, the Panthers had never averaged above 70 points per game and have now done so in six straight seasons under Cherry's leadership.
Cherry is known for a coaching style using traps and double teams in terms of high pressure defense transitioning to a fast moving offense designed to get the ball in the hands of an open shooter. Expect to see high ball rotation and quick passes to find the weakness in a defense. Shots from outside the perimeter are a critical aspect of their offense so closing out on these shots is extremely important. They were 8 for 21 in their first game of the season from outside.
What does that mean for the Hokies?
This is another game that could follow the Hokies all year if they don't come out ready to play. Even though High Point is a stronger mid-major at this point, a loss here could hurt the Hokies all year as High Point will likely finish somewhere north of 200 in terms of RPI. Buzz will have to balance how well the team did against Maine with some obvious areas of concern. The biggest area of concern for me is that Tech allowed Maine to shoot 9 of 30 from outside the arc. That number may be a little deceiving though, because Maine had an open look on at least two thirds of those shots, so with High Point being a much better outside shooting team, you could see the made three's nearly double.
Allan Chaney being honored pregame
Allan Chaney is going to be honored pregame. Considering the opponent, this is the perfect opportunity to do so considering Chaney continued his playing career at High Point after being medically disqualified at Virginia Tech.
Excited and appreciative that I will be honored at the VTech vs High Point basketball game Tomorrow. I'm truly blessed and humbled— Allan V. Chaney (@AllanVChaney) November 14, 2016
Panthers Backcourt.
At Point Guard, we will see a combination of Jamal Wright, #3 5'11, 175 lbs freshmen that was All Metro for the DC Area last year and First Team All State for Maryland who put up 8 points, 4 assists and 3 steals in the Panthers first game
and Jalen Williams, #4 6'2, 170 lbs JUCO transfer who contributed 6 points, 2 assists and 1 steal against Averett.
In terms of Shooting guard/Wing, we will see a trio of players led by expected to be top scorer Anthony Lindauer, #24, 6'3, 195 lbs, a senior who put up 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists while shooting 44% from outside. He plays the game a bit similar to Seth Allen in terms of driving the ball while also shooting from outside. He just shoots better from outside than Allen.
Joining Lindauer is sophomore Andre Fox, #22, 6'4, 185lbs, who contributed 14 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. He is more the winger, willing to get down low and fight for rebounds and does well in following the arc of the shot for good body position.
Last in this group is Austin White, #2, 6'1, 190 lbs Junior who we may or may not see play as rumor is he has an injury from practice keeping him off the court right now. He did not play against Averett but averaged 13 points per game in the post season last year when he assumed a starting role after an injury. He is another outside shooter to be concerned with if he does make it on the court.
Panthers Frontcourt
Senior Forward Miles Bowman, #33, 6'6, 220 lbs will lead the way underneath the basket for the Panthers. Bowman is very similar to Zach Leday in terms of using a bigger body to muscle up bigger opponents so it should be interesting to see the two pair off down low tonight. Bowman put up 11 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal against Averett.
Joining Bowman down low will be Ricky Madison, #25, 6'7, 215 lbs sophomore who put up 8 points, 12 rebounds and 1 steal but was also a turnover machine with 5 for the game against Averett. I can imagine Chris Clarke giving this guy nightmares all night if he is as prone to the turnover as he seems.
Tarique Thompson, #10, 6'5, 215 lbs senior rounds out this group down low. Thompson had a bit of a quiet game against Averett, contributing 4 points, 1 rebound and 1 assist while also giving up 4 turnovers, which likely played a role in his playing time being limited in this game.
Surprising Freshman Performance
The Hokies had Khadim Sy come out with a pleasant surprise in his first game in a Hokies uniform but High Point also got a pleasant surprise from freshmen forward Cliff Thomas, #15, 6'8, 215 lbs who gave them 3 points, and 10 rebounds over 15 minutes in his first game against Averett.
What to expect from High Point?
High Point plays a varied zone and man to man approach concentrated on traps and the opportunity to double team, leading to turnovers. They had 10 steals in their first game against Averett so something to be aware of as the Hokies bring the ball up the court. They utilize the steals to fuel a quick response offense that looks to push the pace and find the open man.
In a half court set, don't be surprised to see constant passing around the perimeter to find the open shot as the Panthers rely on their shooting ability to equalize what they cannot make up in size down low. They shot around 40% from the field as well as outside the perimeter in their game against Averett.
High Point really only has five guards so Buzz may look to cause foul trouble early on to limit who the Panthers can have on the court. A lack of depth was the major concern listed by Coach Cherry as he summarized what to expect this season from his team.
Taking into account opponent, one other thing of note though was the High Point grabbed 59 rebounds in their first game. That's right, 5-9. The Hokies need to ensure that they are getting good open looks and or finding a way to draw the fouls to offset this presence on the boards or it could be a long night in terms of offensive performance for the Hokies.
The Hokies
Another season, another double double night for Zach Leday, putting up 20 and 12 against Maine. Leday was joined by three other Hokies in double digit scoring and I would expect that to continue in this game as well if not more. The Hokies seem to have found a way to create well balanced open opportunities for everyone on the court and its up to each player to finish. The first game easily could have seen two others in double digits if they had managed to finish better around the rim. Its great to see very unselfish basketball being played in Cassell.
Highlight of the game for me had to be Clarke using amazing body control to take the ball directly down the lane to slam it home in the second half. He basically broke the ankles of the primary defender on this play.
Second for me, even though its not as sexy, is the improved free throw shooting we saw in the first game. 76% as a team?? If we manage to shoot like that all year it could be a great season.
In Closing
High Point is another smaller lineup coming into Cassell. The big difference between the Panthers and the Black Bears though is their outside shooting ability. The Hokies can ill afford to leave the Panthers unattended outside or this will indeed be a close game.
Will Khadim Sy continue to get the minutes he got in the first game? I think yes and I think he continues to deliver.
Another big driver in this game will be who wins the foul contest between Leday and Miles Bowman. If either of these gentlemen are forced to the side, it could open up a big day for the other.
This game should be closer than the Maine game but I do expect the Hokies to pull away late to finish with at least a double digit lead. It will also likely be a high scoring affair so something along the lines of 84 to 72 isnt out of the question. Still will require great perimeter defense and finishing shots the first time to limit defensive rebound for the Panthers.
If your habits don't line up with your dreams, then you need to either change your habits, or change your dreams...— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 15, 2016
Comments
59 rebounds! What in the hell did Everett shoot from the floor, 15%?
I am interested to see how Sy is used against a team who's tallest contributor is 6'7" - Does Buzz play small ball, feature Leday at the 5 and we dont see much of the big fella tonight? Or do we press the issue down low and use our height advantage to own the paint?
EDIT:
I have never listened to the radio stream and watched the game. Is it that much better than the ACC network rolling out Mack and some random young kid for every game?
Uhm...you're pretty close. 21.7% Box Score/Link
Averett (Had to correct myself) shot a lowly 21.7%, including 14.3% from outside.
I think it will be something similar to the Maine game. Leday will be featured but Sy will continue to get somewhere in the 12-18 minute mark depending on how he is performing and where we are in terms of lead, etc.
Radio stream will be more Hokie-centric and be able to say certain things correctly (See last football game, do we have Jordan or Jerod playing QB?) The announcers really havent been terrible for these games. The biggest complaint is the video crew that is supporting them being terrible. There doesnt seem to be any cohesion on switching between cameras and even the ability to follow the game is difficult due to the angles and such used by the cameramen.
Well done, thanks for the breakdown!
You are correct on the audio and video. I can ignore the announcers or turn the volume down and enjoy the game. But if the video guys can't seem to keep the camera on the game, it is hard to enjoy the show. And my favorite pet peeve: Why do we have to follow the shooter after every made shot? I would much rather see the ball coming up the court and see how the offense and defense are setting up than have a close up of the last shooter running back up court or worse his coach or some random fan(unless she is cute).
I remember going to a Seth Greenberg basketball camp as a kid, and Allen Chaney was one of the players who helped out. He would always be yelling for me to shoot the ball and had some funny nickname for me -- it always made my day when he and talked during camp.
I also remember hearing about his heart condition and how much that sucked to hear. I'm so happy to hear that he is being honored, and can't wait to be there tonight. What a great move by Whit and co.
How often is it that a player will be medically disqualified from one team and go somewhere else and play?
I really like Allegretta, I had kind of hopes he would replace Roth when he left. Enjoy his style and tone a lot for basketball.
Would have been a much better choice.
TRIGGERED.
Nice work, look forward to these prior to every game.
If you are watching, then you should be getting your computer hooked up about now so you are ready to go. Almost Game Time. Lets Go Hokies.
I like the looks of this game. It is not a gimme and will give us a good idea of how this team will play during non-conference. It's important that we don't come out flat like we did against Maine.
Go Hokies!
TV is lined up. The bike is on the trainer and I'm ready to burn some calories along with the Hokies! Go get 'em, guys!
Fantastic write up. Thanks again for the hard work. Pulling up the feed now. Go Hokies!
Beautiful ball movement and 3 in the corner. D seems to be rotating out a lot better than last game so far
What a great start to this game! Up 18-8 with LeDay at the line
#22 for High Point has some really High shorts on
This teams potential is insane compared to the past few years.
Just saw someone rocking the TKP Buzzketball shirt in the stands. That's almost as satisfying as the score.
Zach Leday is going to dunk on some unsuspecting ACC bigs this year
Halftime reaction:
daaaaaaaaaayuum
It's great to see Med back better than ever. Sy had a few nice plays and his shot didn't look half bad from the line. Great half by the entire team. Now they just need to keep that energy up for the last 20 minutes.
Went to grab something to eat when we were up 13-8, came back to a 60 point half. I will now be going out to eat the first half of every game this season.
We are winning by many points so I won't complain a lot. But these refs are butts.
Bear fight anyone?
Definitely cooled down and slowed the pace here in the second. Three pointers like ice in second so far.
As I typed Med said Fu U
Cassell really needs a remodel to a smaller venue. Way too many empty seats.
I agree with you, but to be fair it's a Tuesday night against a small ooc school.
Right but NCAA basketball plays a lot of games, a lot,of weekday games and games during student breaks. With alumni base being in NOVA, 757 and Richmond they are not going to drive to Blacksburg for many games. Get a smaller more modern venue with boxes that companies will buy take seating down 2-5k and make it a real loud venue. Look at what VCU did.
Fewer seats would make those season tix much more in demand and valuable. I would love to see a 6500 seat arena with boxes and wider, more comfortable seats.
Season tix demand is definitely going up. I know several friends of mine tried going to both the Maine and High Point game just by doing the lottery but couldn't get tix for either. Sure there were empty seats at both games, but I think the buzz around campus is gaining momentum. With that said, the week before Thanksgiving break is never a fun one academically speaking, so getting students to show up for a cold Tuesday night game is always a challenge. Not making excuses beacuse tonight's crowd was half full at best, but that's just the way it is at this time of year against a team most people have never heard of.
You sly dog.
Ha! I was hoping someone would pick up on that.
And this is where VT has failed miserably in getting butts in seats for basketball games over the years. Even 10 years ago when I was a student this was a rampant problem, with students getting tickets in the lottery and not bothering to show up with others desperate to attend and essentially locked out. Not only does it eventually turn students apathetic because they feel like there's no hope of going to games, but it also makes our student body look terrible for viewers and recruits.
well, if you don't use your ticket, doesn't that eventually keep you from winning again? Not that this is a good fix, but it's their attempt.
Oh? I hadn't heard about that, is that new this year? I hope so, and I hope they strictly enforce it.
They've fixed this for this season. If you win a lottery ticket in "Wave 1" you have the option of saying that you won't be able to make the game.
Then other students can win lottery tickets in "Wave 2"
If you win a lottery ticket in Wave 1 and don't indicate you can't make it, you get a warning. 3 warnings and you can't enter the lottery for the rest of the season. If you do indicate you can't make it in Wave 1, you give your ticket back and don't get a warning.
Wave 2 lottery winners don't get a warning if they can't make it however -- because they get notified within 24 hours or so of the game.
Unfortunately looking at the stands for the High Point game, most of the empty seats had nothing to do with the lottery or the student section which appeared not as full as possible but relatively heavy compared to the rest of the arena. It was just not as big event for the town and those paying full price for tickets, meaning some season ticket holders didnt show and other seats just went empty because there wasnt enough crowd. Most simply put - Friday night when most dont have to be up the next day vs Tuesday night when everyone has work the next morning bright and early. Also limits the younger kids attendance as well I would wager with school the next day.
Bingo. I was super excited to go to the Maine game, but that was a Friday night. I live in Shawsville, so I'm almost a local, but I work in Lynchburg. No way I'm going to be able to make a Tuesday night game without paying for it severely the next day at work.
I'm all for filling the place game in and game out, but it's just not going to happen for weeknight games against smaller out of conference opponents.
wow. Shawsville to Lynchburg every day? I do not envy your commute.
I do have a small place I rent in Lynchburg to stay several nights a week, usually. Will eventually move a bit closer but this is a somewhat recent job change so right now I'm kind of in transition.
At least that route generally doesn't have any traffic!
I'm guessing you have to go all the way out to mt athos? That's a haul traffic or no. Find yourself a nice place in my neck of the woods. Houses are cheap in Campbell county.
Yep you're right. And yeah once the other half finishes up her time at Tech we'll be moving somewhere closer, and I'm pretty excited about the cost of housing in that direction.
...and I thought my DC commute was terrible but that commute looks just awful on a map.
It can be bad because it's boring, but I really don't mind the drive most of the time. Just the time lost at home is a killer.
They should go back to the lottery system from when I was in school (TT years):
- You enter the lottery
- They email you a .pdf if you win
- You bring the .pdf to Cassell between 9am and 4pm one of the next two days
- They scan the printout and hand you a ticket
If you don't go to Cassell during the ticket pickup times, they put it back into the lottery and run it again a day later, excluding anyone who won on round 1. If still not enough people pick up tickets, they have a standby line at the side door to Cassell, and start letting students in at about the 15:00 mark of the first half to fill any empty seats in the student section.
Why did they ever stop that? To not have to pay a guy to hand out student tickets a couple days every week?
I would be ok with a policy that stated that if your seat is empty (ticket not scanned in) 20 minutes after tipoff, the school reserves the right to reallocate those seats as they see fit - standby line or whatever other means to get the place as full as possible.
The ticket office really needs some kind of system where out of town season ticket holders can cash in their tickets to weeknight games (and other games they can't attend) so that those seats can go to students or someone else local. Not talking about a full price refund but a little carrot to make it worth the effort. Something like $5 per ticket which then can be re-sold to the public or re-issued to students
It's called Stubhub.
Stuhub doesn't issue free tickets to students
The students don't take advantage of the free tickets they already have access to against these no-name non-conference opponents, and during conference season Cassell will be pretty full every game.
Sounds like we need to get Frank and Seth Greenberg in costume and out in the town to make shady ticket sales to promote the ACC-Hokies-Ticket-Exchange
I feel like criticizing defensive errors in a 99-73 game might be going overboard, so I'll just say I'm glad this was an easy W and it will also provide film of things to work on.
That was fun.
Caught the last 8 minutes or so of the game. Hope we don't depend on crosscourt passes all season or I can see a lot of silly turnovers in ACC play. That said, our guys had decently active hands, I saw a few steals and a block. Our 3-point shots definitely need work late in the game when shooting arms are fatigued. It always seems to come down to 3's vs. Duke and I'd like to upset them a few times this year.
Too bad we didn't hit 100+ but 26 point margin of victory over a team used to winning isn't something to sneeze at. Good game. Let's beat those Notre Dames!
Really like how Seth Allen Iverson played tonight other than one bad pocession that ended with a long 3 pt miss. He kept attacking the rim. Ahmed Hill led the way with 20 points on 6-11 3 pt shooting. Most of them coming from the corner.
Still need to work on free throws. We finished that game 13-23.
Free throw % was the thing that stuck out to me as well.
I only caught the last 8 min as well after their foot was off the gas. I noticed Clarke seemed to be playing PG again. Buzz hoping to get him ready to start running offense through they wing?
Through two games these are my observations. Take it or leave it.
1) Ahmed Hill is our best scorer. I believe he missed one shot the entire 1st half (although he was ice cold for most of the 2nd). He can shoot the 3, midrange, and drive. Not to mention he is also a complete defender as well. He's a smart player and doesn't jack up shots that are unnecessary, which is a nice in between of Bibbs and Allen.
2) Zach LeDay is better than he was last year, and that's saying something. I remember last year's opener against Alabama State (sadly) and came away blown away by LeDay's motor. Well he's even more fired up this year. He does it all down low, isn't flashy, and seems to be the leader behind this team. It's nice to have a guy on your team who is more than willing to do the dirty work. At times in the Maine game, it seemed he was the only guy on the roster who was even attempting to grab an offensive rebound. Of course against inferior teams like Maine and High Point, it's easy to pad your stats against a smaller lineup, but I won't be surprised at all if LeDay can keep this up going into conference play again like last year. He is truly a joy to watch, and not much has changed at all from the big man. We're gonna need that motor all year if we want any chance at playing deep into March.
3) I don't understand Justin Bibbs' role at all on this team. I don't know if he's lacking confidence or simply just not getting enough touches, but he is the forgotten guy in the starting lineup. He seems to strictly be a catch and shoot threat, which is a bit unneeded on this team with scorers like Hill, Outlaw, Allen and even Robinson lighting up the scoreboard on any given night. This team has an abundance of guards who can score, which is nice, but I feel like the development of Bibbs may be a huge question mark this season.
4) Khadim Sy looks like a real threat. As the amazing BUZZKETBALL Twitter handle pointed out, Sy looks comfortable out there through his first two collegiate starts. Again, understood the schedule has been soft thus far. Nonetheless, it is nice to see this type of comfort from a raw big man like himself who looks to be improving by the game. Like LeDay, he doesn't seem to mind to clean up the mess, and at the same time doesn't seem to be concerned in how many points he puts up any given night. He's definitely raw and needs to put on a little weight, but the future looks very promising down low whenever Blackshear gets back.
5) Seth Allen has finally hit the relax button. He looks much more poised on both sides of the ball, and doesn't seem to be forcing anything major. I think bringing him off the bench is a very smart move going forward. We all know he can put points up in a hurry, but if he can limit his TOs as he has so far this season, there's no telling how many games we can stay in. When he and J Rob are on the court at the same time, they make for a relatively seasoned backcourt that doesn't force much. This time last year, he seemed to be making Buzz and fans tear their hair out, but I think Buzz has finally gotten the message across that this team has a ton of scoring threats and not one guy has to do everything for this team, at least scoring wise.
I'm scratching my head on Bibbs as well. hoping he is just slow out of the gate, because we all know how he can score.
I think Bibbs role can be a spot up shooter on this team. He's never been an alpha dog. He's never been one to take over. It's just not who he is as a player and we don't need him to do that. He's a smart player that can find the open space on the floor and knock down an open jumper. That's what we need if he's out there with Med and Clarke--he doesn't need the ball in his hands.
I know it was late in the game but Johnny Hamilton had a very positive contribution and had some nice put backs and slams too