GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: November 25, 2016 / 5:30 p.m. ET
Opponent: Texas A&M
Site: Fullerton, Calif. (Titan Gym)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: John Ramey
TV/Internet: ESPN2
Talent: Steve Quis, Adrian Branch & Jeff Goodman
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech having its way w/UNM. Hokies picked 10th in ACC preseason poll. Scary, scary idea if this is the 10th best team in the ACC.— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) November 24, 2016
Wooden Legacy Tournament
Buzzketball will meet the Aggies on the campus of Cal State Fullerton in the second round of the Wooden Legacy Tournament. This will be the fourth time Tech has faced Texas A&M on the court. The Hokies are 1-2 all time, with losses coming in 1971 and 1980 and their only win coming in 1965. All previous meetings with Texas A&M have come during holiday tournaments so why should this meeting be any different.
The Hokies come in "favorites" a second time in this tournament but a quick look at the Aggies roster will tell you that Buzz and Company have a "big" challenge on their hands. The Aggies come in with one of the biggest rosters Tech will see this year. Two of their top contributors stand 6'10 and 6'11 and are competent on both ends of the floor in terms of rebounding, scoring and defensive alteration of shots.
The Aggies come in 3-1, just having dispatched Cal State Northridge by 22 points in the opening round of the tournament. Prior to this game the Aggies wins came against American and Northwestern State. They also had a close loss to the USC Trojans. One thing the Aggies come in short on is experience. There are only two seniors and one junior on the entire roster. This can go either way in terms of impact. Get them down early and they might roll over but let them get out to a lead and they might run away with the game.
The Aggies are coached by Billy Kennedy, who took over the program in 2011. He has the Aggies on a four season winning streak and took them to the NCAA tournament last year after winning the SEC. The Aggies made to the Sweet 16 last year before bowing out. This is not a team to count out though if down big late, having last year come back in the second round of the tournament to overcome a 12 point deficit with 44 seconds remaining. Just something the Hokies will need to keep in mind as they try to close out another victory.
Defensively, the Aggies run a high pressure man to man, flexing to full court frequently to create turnovers and ultimately limit the time an opponent has to find an open shot on the offensive end. One way he works to prepare his teams for high pressure man to man is that he runs 2 on 2 full court forcing his team to realize how to pressure but also how to protect the basket by not letting their guy make a long run behind them.
Offensively, the Aggies run a combination of rolling ball screens to create space for shooters while also utilizing their taller interior players to dominate the lane play. Expect to see some pick and roll plays to also create space. Regardless, A&M's approach will always be more defensive oriented so expect them to try to limit the Hokies being able to get out into transition with how they approach the offensive end.
Coach Kennedy brings another form of inspiration to his team and community. At about the same time he took the Texas A&M job he was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease, the same disease Michael J Fox has. He does a lot of work in the community to support work towards a cure and sets an example everyday by having changed his diet and workout regimen to help with long term effects of the disease. As his wife notes, he went from a three time a week McDonalds guy to eating a pound of spinach a day. When other recruiters try to use his disease against him, he counters that by challenging potential recruits to a game of one on one. This saw him bring in a top 5 recruiting class this last season amidst their first trip to the tournament under his tenure.
What does that mean for the Hokies?
The Hokies took the first step in this tournament looking to cross over from upstart to stable winning program. They beat New Mexico handily, a game last year I think they would have been scrapping until the buzzer to find a result. The Hokies again will have to find a way to push the pace against the Aggies. If Tech has one big advantage in this contest it will be speed and athleticism.
The Hokies also need to force the Aggies into fouling situations. Even against teams they blew out this year, Texas A&M has gotten into foul trouble. They committed 21 fouls in their last game even winning by 20. Even more troubling for the Aggies is that its key personnel that seem to have the foul bug.
One other area I would expect to see the Hokies press for an advantage is in creating turnovers, which the Aggies are giving up at 13 per game right now. If Tech is able to get transition baskets that will be a major positive towards winning this game as its something the Aggies specifically try to prevent.
I would expect to see Johnny Hamilton play more than normal in this game, possibly with Leday acting more as a forward while on the court at the same time. Khadim Sy will also be called on to play more minutes than usual. With that said, Buzz will be Buzz so he will likely force the issue of big men vs his smaller lineups, especially later in the game when the legs begin to tell the story. Another piece of this is that it's the first time this season either team will play two days in a row so fatigue of travel and play may become a factor.
Ahmed Hill and Justin Bibbs will have to hit their perimeter shots in this game to keep the Aggies from being able to clog the lane. If the Hokies force Texas A&M to respect their outside shot it opens the floor up more for Leday and Allen to create down low.
Defensively the Hokies have to be prepared for constant movement from the Aggies. So far this season their opponents really haven't run a heavy screen game so being able to stay with their assignments while not fouling will be a critical component to keeping the Aggies off the board. I would not be surprised to see Buzz run some zone defenses to try to counteract the ball movements of the Aggies.
Our 1st '16-'17 'Road Game' pic for 'Culture' wall. Thank you to all who came to support us today!Every blessing we turn back to praise. pic.twitter.com/icMnjeeabA— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 25, 2016
Aggies Backcourt
Admon Gilder, #3, 6'4, 198 lbs plays the point for the Aggies. So far this season he is averaging 10.5 PPG, 5 RPG, 4.8 APG, and 2 SPG. So far this season he has not found his touch shooting the ball from outside where he is managing a lowly 21% but his shot inside the arc makes up for it where he is at a 45% clip. Gilder in this offense is supposed to be more concerned with keeping things moving until they can rotate the ball to an open man.
Senior JC Hampton, #5, 6'1, 192 lbs is also considered a point guard in this offense. Kennedy prefers to have two ball handlers up top to run things. Hampton is putting up 6 PPG, 2 RPG, and 2 APG. Hampton has the better outside shot of the two, shooting 35% so far from behind the arc.
While Gilder and Hampton aim to play the majority of the minutes, when they are off the court, freshman Caleb Smith, #23, 6'1, 178 Lbs spells them by providing 3 PPG, 2 RPG, and 1 APG. If the Hokies are successful in getting these guards in early foul trouble, Smith may have to play some significant minutes in this game.
Aggies Frontcourt
Sophomore Forward DJ Hogg,#1, 6'9, 220 lbs leads all scorers for the Aggies. Hogg is putting up 15.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.8 SPG and 1 BPG while shooting 48% from the field. This is an do a bit of everything big man that could cause havoc underneath the basket. Leday will be giving up another inch but has twenty less pounds of man to deal with down low in terms of this opponent.
Tyler Davis, #34, 6'10, 270 lbs. sophomore Center will be by far the largest opponent in terms of body/height the Hokies have faced this season. So far this season he has managed 12.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.3 APG and 1.3 BPG while shooting 61% from the field in only about 20 MPG. Davis could easily be the tipping point in this game if Sy and Hamilton are unable to contain him while staying out of foul trouble.
Davis counterpart at the Center spot is junior Tonny Trocha-Morelos, #10, 6'10, 224 lbs. He comes in averaging 8.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1 APG, and 1 BPG. He will get roughly 20 minutes of playing time depending on foul trouble to round out the center spot on the floor for the Aggies. Combined you are looking at 20 PPG, 10 RPG, 3.3 APG and 2.3 BPG from this spot on the floor. Finding a way to limit this production is key for the Hokies today.
Rounding out the major contributors is Forward Robert Williams, #44, 6'9, 237 Lbs who is putting up 9.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 3 BPG. Obviously Williams is a major factor on the defensive end with his ability to block or redirect shots.
Names Announcers will Butcher or Love
The Hokies Khadim Sy is only joined by Tonny Trocha-Morelos in this category. The name that these announcers will be saying time and again is probably DJ Hogg.
What to expect from Texas A&M?
The Aggies play predominantly a half court man to man focused on preventing open looks from the floor but they add in a much more aggressive posture in terms of stretching it to full court as well as keeping an opponent constantly between the ball handler and the basket. So far the Aggies are only averaging about 7 steals per game so this is not a major component of their defensive strategy. I will be interested to see how the big men fare in getting back on defense for Texas A&M, especially in the second half. If they are fatigued it could create the opening Tech needs to build a significant lead late.
In a half court set, the Aggies first focus will be to keep the ball moving and it seems with a big focus on getting it to the big men down low for open looks. Their forwards and centers are accounting for about 65% of their total scoring so far this season.
Rebounding wise, the Aggies numbers seem relatively normal, with about 43 per game, the only area that might be an edge is that they are currently bringing down 15 offensive rebounds per game, so that gives them 15 second chances to score.
I am pretty sure what to expect from this opponent, but the Hokies will pose a challenge that may force Coach Kennedy to adjust his roster and go with a smaller lineup than they normally would. I imagine they will start off with their bigs to see if they can press an advantage early before transitioning to a smaller bodied group of shooters to close out the game. This is Buzz biggest challenge yet in responding to size and talent so far this season.
The Hokies
Buzz and Company is going to need balanced scoring again this afternoon just like he did against New Mexico. Spreading the floor against this defense will be critical in creating opportunities especially considering A&M's size down low. Four opponents that are 6'9 or 6'10 to deal with on a constant rotations. Tech's shooters will have to be able to create open looks and make those shots consistently. I would expect a smaller rotation of players tonight to take advantage of speed versus size, likely seeing Galloway and Outlaw limited on the minutes they get.
Staying out of foul trouble for Tech's "bigs" is going to be a challenge in this game. The Aggies will sometimes have three players on the floor taller than 6'9, so unless Buzz counters with Leday, Sy and Hamilton all together, there will be a major size mismatch at least on one position on the floor. Expect to see a lot of in front defensive positioning, trying to prevent the interior pass so it will be interesting to see if the Aggies have the ability to get the lob pass into the interior to counteract the frontal positioning.
Speed and ball control will be the Hokies biggest advantage in this contest. They literally need to try to run the Aggies out of the gym. They need to call upon those Buzz Boot Camp reserves and just wear Texas A&M out. If they are unable to do this than the Aggies have the major advantage just by having capable big men that will likely have no trouble scoring at will.
Highlight of the New Mexico Game
Highlights from last night's win to get you ready for today's game! https://t.co/JeyWMZeXeY pic.twitter.com/zsJlUf5btl— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 25, 2016
Highlight of the game for me had to be Justin Robinson's overall performance. He just did a little bit of everything and seemed to take one more step towards becoming a dominant ACC point guard. 22 Points, 4 rebounds and 8 assists all while going 9 of 10 from the line while also getting credited for a block. His three pointer to end the first half killed some New Mexico momentum and helped the Hokies take an eight point lead into the half.
22 points - career high8 assists - ties career highHAVE A DAY, @5Alive_! pic.twitter.com/k66sF5B2c4— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 25, 2016
In Closing
This game is more like a boxing exhibition where weight class is not taken into account. The Aggies come in the Heavyweight with size and size and size for days. The Hokies come in the Super Middleweight with a bit of size but hands like lightning. Today the Hokies need to rely on those hands to get them past this much bigger opponent.
As much as I would like the Hokies only play their seven man rotation I have a feeling everyone will be called upon to handle some minutes in this game whether because of foul trouble or because Buzz wants to keep a frenetic pace against this opponent and wants to prevent fatigue from setting in on his top guys.
19 assists on 30 made baskets.........is that good?? — VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) November 24, 2016
The assists on almost every shot has to continue in this game for the Hokies to be successful. Against New Mexico, they were able to get an assist on over 60% of their shots.
Multiple outside shooters need to be consistent in getting open and hitting shots this afternoon. This is hopefully where Bibbs and Hill come in to stretch the floor. If they shoot cold like they did in the first half against New Mexico, the Aggies could build an early lead that will be tough to come back against.
Tech finds a way to wear the Aggies down in this one, and continues to hit its critical free throws as they pull away in the final ten minutes to win this one 84-77.
Don't let negative pictures play on the movie screen of your mindYou own the remote controlAll you have to do,is change the channel— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 23, 2016
Comments
Excellent write-up as always!
I love the November/December time frame when we get some roundball overlap with the end of football season.
Thanks again for the article. You do good work. There's been a lot of times when opposing teams will play to a certain strength or give a certain look and I'm thinking: "Yep. ltrepeter2000 told me this was going to happen."
Think you messed up, should say Aggies Frontcourt and Backcourt not Lobos.
OH MY GOODNESS.
THIS TEAM MAKES ME SO HAPPY.
I'm so glad Adrian Brantley isn't mad at Allen for transferring from his beloved UMD anymore.
{rolls eyes}
"...chopping down the trees"
Had to laugh when the announcer used the boxing analogy. If I didnt know better he read my pregame before going on.
This team is so much fun to watch! We have 9 or 10 guys who I'm extremely confident will make a play with the ball in their hands. Our depth is really gonna be nice to fall back on when we get into ACC play.
Got to love how these kids executed in the first half. Simple mathematics with the three pointer. We can hit a third of our shots and they have to hit half of their inside shots to keep pace. Helps tremendously that they went 1-10 from outside in the first half, and even that one was an ugly bank shot affair. Hokies need to be able to keep up the frenetic pace in the second half to close this one out.
I also was impressed with how well we played interior defense without getting in terrible foul trouble. Only Khadim Sy and Chris Clarke have two personal fouls so far. No foul trouble on the other side though either so something to watch. Officials made two terrible calls in terms of not calling the charges on one with Robinson and the second with Leday. Frustrating to see our guys in position and either no calls or calls against us. Who would have thought that we would have a double digit lead if someone told you ahead of time that Chris Clarke would not have a point in the first half?
I hate teams that play zone D. I'm glad we can shoot over it tonight. Also, damn good ball movement out there.
JRob's been playing a man's game all year. Super proud of the way he's turned it on from about halfway through last season to now.
Leday cant buy a foul in this game. Same with Clarke. At least three trips down wasted because the officials swallowed their whistles.
and then they let A&M's biggest guy set his feet and go up and score after a whistle
I dont understand why we seem to have given up on what was our huge competitive advantage in the first half, namely, shooting open threes
Shots have gone cold. Let's close this out men.
These announcers must be on the SEC payroll.
Lack of size will get after ya.
What's the score I can't find it anywhere
63 All
So angry right now that we are trying to go inside for shots. We dont have the size to do it and have no business doing anything but shooting from outside but Buzz has let his guys slow the pace and try to work inside this entire half and its cost us a 17 point lead. Ridiculous.
Clarke may have just cost us this game with two poor shot selections in the last three trips down the floor. He is not going to sky over a 6'11 man with ups. He needs to kick outside there.
Our shots went cold, and their big men started eating. That's a good way to blow a 17 point lead.
all-time choke job
So happy this is Seth's last year.
Major choke jobs by ACC today. Louisville blew 22 point lead. Did sy get any playing time during tam's run?? Buzz makes some real stupid decisions with minutes.
He had 3 fouls and hadn't been playing well. Buzz made the right choice.
I watched the whole game. They needed his length and it's not even a question. It's not like he hurt the offensive effort.
I disagree. Even playing poorly, you put Sy out there against Williams to at least slow him down. How many times did Williams take a rebound away from the behind position because he simply could reach over the top without fouling to do it in the second half? I recall at least four times that he did this, three of them led directly to him putting the ball back in. It should have happened once the lead was down to ten to just break up the A&M momentum.
Sy was getting out rebounded because he's too young and couldn't box out the more experienced TAMU players.
But was he getting out rebounded as much as leday, Clark and whatever wings were out there. No way.
Experience pays off. Didn't really show up tonight, but I would easily take LeDay over Sy any game of the season. His maturity and experience is exponentially higher than what Sy has right now.
I wasnt arguing a Leday versus Sy argument, both of them should have been on the floor with either Clarke, who was ineffective all game or Bibbs sitting. You needed both of our "bigs" in for a stretch to try to disrupt the interior game. Sy several times in the first half managed rebounds simply by position, even drawing two fouls on A&M bigs because they tried to go over him for the ball. They didnt have that challenge in the second half because they had five inches over our guys.
"Virginia Tech has served notice that they will be a tough out"
Hahahahahaha did this guy miss the second half?
Did you? This Hokies team can compete with any team that we line up against.
I saw a blown seventeen point lead which screams the opposite of "tough out"
We just lost by 3 to the reigning SEC champions who made the Sweet 16 last season. Yeah, blowing a big lead sucks, but I think you are being pretty unfair to our guys.
I think we're being too easy on them. These are not inexperienced underclassmen anymore, they should be able to close out that big a lead with that little time left.
This loss falls solely at the feet of Buzz today. Failure to make adjustments in the last ten minutes and get his guys back on track shooting from outside allowed A&M to have exactly the type of game that suits them, slow methodical pace using their bigs underneath to just chip away at the lead. Totally different strategies in the second half blew up in the Hokies face. Even with the A&M stretch to an outside zone we still had men open once we penetrated the lane but instead of kicking out we tried poor interior shots again and again.
No. It doesn't fall with Buzz. It falls at the fact that they have one of the best front lines in the country and they finally started playing the way they're capable of.
By switching to an extended zone, TAMU forced us to go inside. It wasn't a choice by Buzz. Hill won't be 6/8 from 3 every game. We need to put the ball inside as well. Attaching the basket is a good way to get to the free throw line, but TAMU has some of the best bigs in the country and stayed away from fouling and instead blocks dour shots instead.
This is not Buzz or any of the coaching staffs fault. This was a 3 seed last year in the NCAA tournament. These types of game give us the experience we need come March.
This was a three seed last year, when they had top guard play to go with the height down low. They didnt have top guard play today and while the extended zone in the second half worked to take away the corner three, the mid round three and top of the key were open fairly regularly with how fast we were moving the ball at the top of the key.
The bigger problem to me was the pace Buzz let his guys play at in the second half. Gone was the pushing fast paced offense and that allowed A&M's bigs to keep their legs fresh rather than being run down like they were in the first half. Being slow to react was what let us go on that late run in the first half but that wasnt there in the second half because A&M wasnt tired from trying to keep up.
I dont fault the coaching staff from trying to go inside a few times, I fault our staff for not recognizing that we were not going to get calls down low and continuing to try to force the ball inside rather than using the inside movement to get the ball back to our now open outside shooters. Even in the first half it was apparent that these officials weren't going to blow a ton of fouls. There were only 21 free throws attempted by both teams today. Tech usually gets to the line 23-25 times by themselves. It wasn't the game to hope for a whistle, because they weren't coming.
Several times that Clarke pressed in and flailed the ball at the hoop there were at least two perimeter shooters wide open to take clean shots. Clarke finished the game 1 for 5 from inside all in the second half. Leday was 4 for 9. Even Robinson was only 3-7 inside. Too many of those attempts could have been a clean look from the perimeter. ....and we only lost by three.
These are the kinds of games that will cost us an invitation to the dance.
Blowing a 17 point lead is horrible regardless of the team you are playing, and ATM is nothing special
TAMU was a 3 seed last year. They are something special. They have one of the best front lines in the country.
Meh. Don't know what to think about that one. We need a big guy!
Another exciting, energetic game. This team is nothing if not a blast to watch scrap away. It would have been nice to have Sy in there banging around for a few more minutes.
Disappointing 2nd half. Totally went away from what got them the lead in the first place.
I am going to the game on Sunday -- I would've been ten times more pumped for a tournament championship matchup with UCLA. I hope Nebraska pulls off the upset as well, so I can still be pretty pumped for a top 25 matchup.
Oh well, I guess this team is still learning how to play.
Tough loss but the glimpses of a great program are there.
This is a fun team to watch, but we have absolutely zero defense in the paint. I have no idea how good ATM is, but this game could haunt us in March.
This game wont haunt us in March. A&M is a Power 5 school, coming off a tournament Sweet 16 appearance, even with their poorer guard play they have the height down low to be a bad matchup all year for anyone. SEC will likely come down to Florida, South Carolina or Kentucky but A&M will probably be a tournament team again, finishing in fourth or fifth place in the SEC this year. Still not entirely sold on Florida but USCe and Kentucky are legit national title contenders. Another SEC team not to sleep on is Auburn now that Bruce Pearl has had a chance to infect them for more than a year. They will be excellent until something comes out about Pearl violating NCAA policies, which could take years to surface.
I know they don't have many returning starters, but to your point, their front line is really good. I don't think this is a bad loss in any sense, just indicative of how the season might go when we face some good bigs... The KBJ injury is one that the team will really feel on certain nights.
Oh, playing a big team can be our Achilles heel all year if we arent able to finish them off by running them out of the gym. If we do like we did tonight and dramatically slow the pace we play right into a bigger teams strengths.
The zone slowed us down a lot, took our secondary break away.
VT is a 3-pt shooting team who thrives off pressure D. When up late in a game, it is tough to transition to more conservative approaches on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, our secondary approach is driving and getting to the line. The zone took away most of the slashing and the refs swallowing their whistles killed us. How does a physical team like aTm not get to the bonus until the last foul?
Defensively, we got beat by a future NBA wing in Hogg. He made plays, we didn't.
Tough loss, still love what I've seen so far. Good chance to beat Neb on Sunday and can upset Mich next week.