Nothing exceptional happened Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum. Sure, Chris Clarke stuffed the stat sheet for forty minutes, and granted, Ahmed Hill came up clutch when it mattered most, but nothing exceptional.
And yet, despite a largely forgettable performance against a formidable SEC foe, Buzz Williams' squad notched their eighth win of this young season, withstanding a late Ole Miss run to dispatch a feisty Rebels team with an 80-75 victory.
"I think Ole Miss is tough...They're not gonna go away," said Williams. "They're a good team, and you have to embrace that. I think good teams do...they know how to absorb a run from an opponent when they're ahead and they know how to execute regardless of the circumstance."
Clarke led the way for the Hokies with the definition of a versatile performance, finishing the afternoon with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. The wiry sophomore wing flashed his unlimited potential throughout the game, giving the Rebels headaches on both ends of the floor. Clarke's jump shot still leaves plenty to be desired — an end of shot-clock heave represented just his fourth-career made three — but it was clear how dangerous a 6'6" athlete can be leading the break for a team full of knock-down shooters.
Hill matched his season-high with 20 points, just one shy of Sebastian Saiz' game-high 21 for the Rebels. And most importantly, as Tech's lead evaporated late courtesy of a number of sloppy offensive possessions, Hill buried a short floater before connecting with Zach LeDay for a transition dunk to hold off a furious Ole Miss rally in the game's final minutes.
The aforementioned Saiz proved quite the handful for this undersized Hokies team, his nine rebounds leaving him just one short of yet another double-double. The 6'9" forward forced Khadim Sy into early foul trouble just minutes into the first half, and LeDay provided little in the way of resistance when Saiz received the ball in scoring position. But the Rebels, sporting a guard-laden lineup much like the Hokies, proved stubborn in their efforts from the perimeter, limping to a 8 of 27 clip from behind the arc despite having a force inside who shot nearly 70% from the field.
It was far from pretty early, an Andy Kennedy 1-3-1 zone abruptly halting any semblance of tempo for the latter portion of a choppy first half. The Hokies seemed largely content to hoist up shots from the perimeter against the extended zone, but despite their fair share of decent looks, nothing was falling as Ole Miss climbed back into the game thanks to a stagnant Tech offense.
But Williams and the Hokies went back to the drawing board at halftime, reappearing in the second determined to work the ball inside against a defense that struggles to guard the interior by its very nature. Sy rewarded Tech with six straight points to start the half, lending a desperately needed spark inside that forced Ole Miss to abandon the 1-3-1 that had previously stifled the Hokies' offense.
Unsurprisingly, Tech enjoyed far more success in transition as the Rebels went back to man, building out a double-digit lead midway through the second half as the tempo picked up considerably. The Rebels rallied late, remarkably pulling within one with under 90 seconds to play, but the Hokies regained their poise when they needed it most to earn yet another resume-building win.
A Few Other Thoughts
Balance, Balance, Balance LeDay and Seth Allen, Tech's two leading-scorers from a year ago, were both unspectacular against the Rebels. But Hill and Justin Bibbs were more than ready to pick up the slack, joining forces to knock down six of the Hokies' ten three-pointers. And Khadim Sy, despite a miserable start to the game, rebounded with the biggest six points of the afternoon to start the second half. The point, in short, is the balance and versatility of this team. Gone are the days of watching Erick Green being forced to shoot the basketball 20 times a game. Rather, Buzz's offense is content to take what they're given, eager to share the basketball, and perhaps most importantly, egoless on how it may affect their stat lines.
Free Throw Woes The Hokies went 4 of 11 from the charity stripe in the first half, and despite seeing improvement as the game wore on, finished at just 60% on the afternoon. What to make of the Hokies' struggles from the line? Nothing, really. Sometimes your shots just don't fall. If the Hokies continue to step to the line with confidence, they should be just fine. They're too good of shooters not to be.
Chris Clarke Went Beastmode Chris Clarke was quite literally everywhere against Ole Miss. Whether he was digging down for steals when the ball reached the post or leading the break after pounding the defensive glass, Clarke was the best player on the floor for Tech. He's a matchup nightmare for defenses when he attacks the rim, at one point leaving Saiz gasping for air after a crossover had the Rebels' star forward headed to the floor. Defenses will continue to sag off Clarke until he proves able to knock down open shots, but if that day ever comes, the sky's the limit for the 757 native.
So, This Is What a Resume Looks Like? Don't look now, but the Hokies are quietly building themselves a nice little resume through the season's first month. At 8-1 with quality victories over Nebraska, Michigan, New Mexico and now Ole Miss, Tech boasts their strongest out of conference resume in recent memory. With just three games remaining before ACC play begins — all of which Tech will enter as a heavy favorite — the Hokies should head into their New Year's Eve showdown with Duke sporting an 11-1 record. There's no marquee victories that Tech can point to as of yet, but the lack of a glaring loss — Alabama State, anyone? — could be just as important come March.
Comments
Considering where we've been as a program not too long ago, I will happily take "unexceptional but effective" all day long especially considering we spent a good chunk of the afternoon playing mostly guards.
Speaking of playing mostly guards...Dear Santa, I'd like a healthy Kerry Blackshear for Christmas. Thanks.
'Twas a win before Christmas, and all is right with the world. After recent years, I'll not dissect any W longer than it will take to forget the score and just remember the victory...and that won't be long. Go Hokies, keep it up.
This is a...bizarre summary of the game I just watched.
Unexceptional? Mostly forgettable? Ole Miss just threw everything they had at us, and every time they threatened, we found a way to hold them off. And I'll remember this performance by Chris Clarke for a long time.
I tend to agree. I thought we played solid basketball until the final few minutes. There was a LOT of emotion from LeDay, which I love to see and we kept our heads up to the last second.
I will not forget this one.
I guess we'll agree to disagree.
I didn't think Tech played overly well, but they won. That's all that matters at the end of the day. Hence, unexceptional (play) but effective (result).
Just calling a spade a spade.
You're spot on.
I'd like to see the team respond to opposing team curveballs (e.g. zone/man) better. Those periods of no offensive productivity will be magnified against better competition. If they can self adjust and correct after a possession or two, instead of after letting the other team go on a 10-0 run and forcing Buzz to call a timeout, we will be a much more consistent team. That goes for both sides of the ball.
Yup, I agree as well. The response to the 1-3-1 zone in the first half was ugly, to put it lightly. They only made 2 shots the remaining 9 minutes or so of the first half once it was implemented, which needs to be addressed, because if we have a glaring weakness like that going into ACC play, we're going to be shredded nightly. Even more worrisome to me, we saw a 14 point lead vanish to a 1 point game from 4:30 to go to 90 seconds left. We've seen leads vaporize with regularity this year, and while its good we get the win, I am starting to get concerned that the team doesn't know how to close out a game. They better learn that fast, because it won't be easy in conference play.
So yeah, we got the win, but I can't disagree with the 'unexceptional' description of the game. That was a game we let big leads slip away in twice, which... hey, glad we got the win, but this team still has a lot of learning to do.
Funny line by Buzz talking about Sy being like Eddie Murphy in Coming to America..lol. "He doesn't know how good he can be" Whit has done a great job and I hope Buzz and Fu both are around for a LOOONG time.
And Coach Brooks.
All I want for Christmas is Kerry Blackshear Jr. back to fully recover and play this year! Please please please
Ran into his dad at the ACCCG. He seemed pretty positive about our chances this year, and that his son will be back soon. Nice guy.
That's great to hear! Would allow for more flexibility with our lineups.
Do we even know if he is practicing yet? I imagine it will take a couple weeks to get up to game speed once he starts practicing. I wonder what the line would be as to whether to redshirt or not.... I imagine they would want him for at least 12-ish ACC games (plus postseason)? That would put a decision point around mid January.
Anyone remember when Med was declared healthy enough to play last year but Buzz shut him down?
Buzz indicated that he is doing individual drills but has not been cleared for full practices. He also said that he would discuss his progress up the start of ACC play with KJ and his parents and make the best decision for the player at that point. Makes me think if we dont see KJ at least dressing by the Duke game he is likely redshirting this season.
GO HOKIES!!! Is this the best start weve had to a season in a long time?? Im admittedly a horrible fair weather vt basketball fan, but root for our success none the less!!
We started 8-1 during James Johnson's first year, however, we finished the season with 13-19 record. This is a completely different team. I am looking forward to the season!
Well heres to one uping jj's accomplishments!
Sorry I am chiming in late to the party but I had to watch the second half before I wanted to comment on the game.
This game was always going to be a close game, between two almost identical teams sans the size of Saiz. UNC had to hold off Tennessee all the way to the end today as well. Tar Heels win by two in a game they likely should have won by a dozen. Key though is a win.
Pulling out the zone defense was a stroke of genius by Andy Kennedy. Not only using a zone but a Ball High zone to ensure that the players near the top of the key inserted themselves in the first passing lane, forcing an awkward bounce pass around or finding a secondary open Hokie. We went through phases of shooting, but honestly, get used to that. No team in the country burns the net from outside all throughout a game. At the end of the day, we averaged 39%, which is above our average on the season but just a step below what Ole Miss had been allowing all season.
Bigger concern would be the 60% from the stripe but as a whole, we are still above 70% on the season, which a couple years ago we wouldnt have been able to say. Yes I would prefer that Clarke, Leday and Allen all not go 50% from the line, especially against a P5 opponent.
Those criticizing Leday for shooting open three pointers also need to look around at stats and the flow. I thought he took a good open shot on at least two of his misses. He went 1-4 on the day, know who else did the same thing? Justin Robinson.
One of the reasons that we won this game, which continues to be a mostly overlooked item is that the Hokies had assists on 18 of 26 baskets. While the NCAA doesnt track Assist to Basket ratio, Tech was 53rd in the nation in assists per game at 16.4 before this game. Finding the open teammate is a critical success point for Buzz so far.
This wasnt Tech's ugliest performance to date but it also wasnt even close to their top performances either. Too much lag to react to what an opponent is doing, not working the ball inside against the zone, but they did play solid defense for the most part, closing out on perimeter shooting, holding Ole Miss to less than 30%. Their top 5 came in averaging 69.8 PPG, we held them to 67. Primarily, they found a way to shut down Ole Miss top scorer in Burnett. He came in averaging 21.6 PPG and had 7 in this game.
Bottom line. Its a W. Against a P5 Conference School. Who currently has a winning record. It actually was a wider spread than I predicted. I really expected it to be a one shot game. Enjoy it without being overly critical, thats Buzz job in practice.
We now have 4 resume building wins and a loss that also shouldnt drastically hurt us in terms of the tournament. Its the first time that I can recall in the last twenty years that we have this solid a resume at this point of the season. Even the 8-1 start under Johnson cant compare, considering the powder puffs Johnson had on our schedule. That year we had beaten two P5s and lost to one.
Looking forward. If we can finish the OOC record at 11-1, we likely only need two or three wins against the other top ACC programs, with nine overall to have a solid shot at the tournament this year. I would prefer we find double digits, even if it takes the ACC tourney to do.
A W not taken for granted.
I will leave you with this:
Just downloaded the assist and field goal stats from NCAA.com and crunched the numbers, before yesterday's game we were #73 in the nation with 58.5%, 131 assists on 224 made baskets. #1 is Michigan with 73.7%, for comparison. 2 teams are over 70%, 54 are over 60%, and 248 are over 50%. When they update the stats after yesterday's game I'll check how that effort changed things.
KenPom tracks Assists/Field Goals Made and VT is currently 53rd in the nation at just under 60%.
Leday is a terrible three point shooter. I'd be okay with him never attempting another three.
He has a really ugly, awkward-looking jump shot and has a terrible % this season on just 14 shots, but last year he was a respectable 35.6% from deep. When he's as wide open as he was yesterday, I don't have a problem with him putting it up
Fun fact...just under 40 percent of the threes made in his career were made in January 2016. He was on fire that month...he made thirteen that month alone. Made 20 the rest of his career....think his much closer to his "rest of career" numbers than his "January 2016" numbers.
Head of the key, yes- anywhere else I'll bet his % is far lower.
This needs to be used 1000% more.
First Down! H O K I E S - Hokies!
Oh wait, is this basketball?
Remix!
anybody else read the rest of the comments with that remix on repeat as you scrolled down? cus I did...
ok, have to ask... what's with the stiff arm slow clap by Pink Shirt in the stands?
Judging by who it is, he is doing his sarcastic clap that we "finally got a call." He is there every game and all he does is bitch to/about the refs. Guys like Ayers are good sports about it, but I'm surprised he hasn't been tossed from some games from the refs that aren't here that much.
Unexceptional? We never win games like this one. Buzz has completely turned around the basketball program and that is exceptional. We can win a close game against a team with good players at every position and that is amazing. What was unexceptional is the lack of people at the game. Keep that up and Buzz won't be around for long and we are back to 10 wins a year.
Well it is Finals week for students. This means that:
A) Students are studying/taking finals,
B) Students are getting ready to leave,
C) Students have already left, or
D) It is a nooner on a Sunday and there are other things people have to do.
http://www.thekeyplay.com/comment/503956#comment-503956
That thread covers it already. And it sounds like it was pretty electric there even with students having more important matters.
Tough to pack the seats when the school labels it a sellout. Empty seats means season ticket holders not attending. As far as the student section, this just shows you why there has been so much criticism of the ACC schedule. Alot of our home games will be like this since the students will be out for almost half of our ACC home games.
It's just another reason to upgrade Cassell, take out a few seats and add luxury Club seats and a few boxes.
Adding those nice seats doesn't mean the people buying them will use them either. Just means it's easier to get bigger corporate checks for the boxes. What really needs to happen is for bigger stage games the school needs to be proactive in contacting season ticket holders to see if they are attending and if they aren't can the school help them out by reselling those tickets for them to really encourage a full house.
There isn't a population center big enough to support it near campus. I know people who can't give away tickets to games. Hell I've had trouble selling football tickets this year honestly.
I understand this argument as I lived in Christiansburg for my whole life until I moved to NOVA a couple months ago but I think the lack of a population center isn't the problem. It is very true that the majority of the Alumni base(NOVA, Richmond, 757) is not going to travel 4-5 hours for a basketball game unless its Duke, UNC, so the majority of people that would go to a game like this would be SWViginians. The mapped out SWVA has a population of around 1,000,000 people ,thats including Martinsville, Bristol, Roanoke Etc. For perspective on how many people that is, the whole state of Wyoming has 584,153 people. If you stay closer to Bburg, Roanoke County, Roanoke City and Montgomery County added together is about 300,000. That is a significant number for a 40min drive that could easily fill up a 9,900 arena. The real problem is outreach and convincing people to go to a basketball game instead of going to a movie or something, since some of these games are around the same price. Once the game tickets go above 20 the entertainment value is questioned. People are not rich around SWVA but if there is a good deal people will come. Once people start realizing they can watch a top25 team for a good price and its close, they will come. I think Whit knows all this, but its going to take awhile before it catches on.
It would help to fix the atrocious interface between season ticket holders/ Hokie Tickets and the secondary market. It totally sucks and is non-intuitive even for a fairly tech person like myself. For a older non-web saavy person its like speaking chinese.
The NFL system is awesome. I can post tickets, donate, etc in about 90 seconds. They need to go to that model.
I don't know about everybody else, but I was still in church at noon on Sunday. That is a HORRIBLE time to schedule a game.
For attendance, yes. But, if the day and time allows VT to be shown nationally on ESPNU for overall brand recognition and for us "remote Hokies" to watch them play, I'm all for it.
That's why God invented DVR.
DVR doesn't work if the game isn't broadcast. We get broadcast by being in a crappy timeslot like noon on Sunday.
There are a ton of worse timeslots. Try being the 3pm slot on Sunday, when your entire game is covered over by the NFL. Be happy we are even on TV. It is an indication of how far this program has come in the last three seasons. It shows we might not always be relegated to the internet if we continue to improve. It also helped it was one of the few games on Sunday between two P5 schools since most programs were playing powderpuffs.
Also keep in mind what time of the year it is for the students and student athletes. An ideal 8 pm start would mean students arent getting to bed until at least 11 or later and the players probably arent getting to bed until midnight or later with the game finishing up about 1030, showers, Buzz aftergame talk. Combine that with any of those that might have exams the next morning. No study time the night prior and a bright and early exam. Athletes might get help in rescheduling theirs but not many students would.
All I know is that a noon tip-off made it really convenient for me to take a day trip from Richmond to finally see a Buzz team play in person
Students in bed before 11? Puh-leeze.
/s, obviously there are some that will be.
Though... In my experience, as a recent-ish graduate(graduated '11), there are two main kinds of students: those that stay up until 2am on a Wednesday night partying, and those that stay up until 2am on a Wednesday finishing homework due Thursday morning.
The most important thing to take away from this is that Buzz called Khadim Sy "Dream". That's a damn good nickname.
Hokie broadcasters have been calling him Dream since the second game so apparently its well known as his nickname
Awesome seeing the team excel. Excited for ACC play.
I didn't see this anywhere (if it's already posted, I'll take it down) but this is a great post game interview of Buzz with Burnop and Laaser.
In only 995 days, Buzz/VTBball is above .500! That's even starting out 11 - 22 in year 1. I love the passion Buzz has!
Great PGI, thanks for posting it. Regarding the initial rant he seems to be reacting to negativity. Although he acts like this was impromptu and the players won't hear it, I think this speech was calculated to do something.
Given that we are somewhat lacking in bigs, the only way this team kicks ACC butt is through superior team chemistry. Although we haven't been as sharp since the Michigan game, they have a lot on their plate right now and they won games I think we would have lost in the past.
Despite being "uninspired" I think they are finding themselves, preparing for some great conference play.
Buzz Williams Interview Strategy
{Interviewer}: Buzz, the microphone is on. Go.
Someone decided to cut together the start of this interview into a song. Not exactly sure what to make of it.
And now that's in my head
Let first say it was a "W" and that is really all that matters. Theydidn't play very well, but they played well enough to win. Still too many loose turnovers with the ball (Seth Allen) and too many imes settling for jump shots instead of attacking the one. It's a 1-3-1 zone and the best waya to attack is to pass to the middle and then lots of movement (back cuts).
As far as fans, the price of tickets IMO are way too expensive. We have season tickets to GMU and I pay about $500 for two. When I priced out VT tickets, they were over a grand. Since I can't make every game living NOVA, that was too big a cash outlay.
GMU : VT
PatriotAtlantic 10 : ACCPie : Ice Cream
$250 : $1000
i think you mean Atlantic 10
Brain fart. They are the Patriots, not playing in the Patriot Conference. Fixed.
I was thinking if we get ranked this week then it would mean that the 3 major sports at VT would all be ranked at the same time, a major accomplishment for Whit. Anyone know if that has ever happened before?
EDIT: Just missed the cut this week, we are at #28.
Ooh that's a good thought...
Lets see... Football finished the regular season ranked. Wrestling is ranked and pushing hard for the National Title this year. Women's basketball is ranked. I have to imagine Men's Soccer will be ranked in the final poll from what they did. I know Women's Soccer held a ranking for a good portion of the season. And it appears that Men's basketball has a pretty good shot of a ranking this week, with likelihood they remain ranked until the game against Duke.
Pretty good showing so far this year from our major programs.
Buzz will be happy with the win and then make them run laps for the horrid free throw shooting as well as all of the turnovers. We nearly matched our average turnover per game in the first half against a scrappy Ole Miss team.
As for the bad shots, sometimes you live by the three, sometimes you die by it. We got enough done inside to survive.
Didn't feel like making a whole new thread but we're sitting at 28 in the AP this week. We may sneak in next week depending on how we handle the nation's leading scoring program.
Also worth noting, 10 ACC teams are in the top 40 with 1 more just a couple spots behind. When has that ever happened?
good lord, they are averaging 105 ppg while we are around 80.
They're (Citadel) also allowing 99/game. This one's going to be fun to watch
Believe it's VMI's old coach. Prepare for Citadel to play no defense and for LeDunk to be in full beat mode.
Averaging 105 is one thing but look at their opponents. Against the only quasi decent P5 school, Iowa State, they lost 130-63. Most of their games have been against D2 or D3 opponents.
It is VMI's old coach though so essentially it's a non stop three point bombardment. Even with that, as long as Tech closes out decently on the perimeter the difference in rebounding should be gigantic.
I am still going to worry. We haven't broken 100 yet, (had a chance but killed the clock instead).
My point though is that we dont need to score 100 because if we play even decent defense than they are not likely to come anywhere near 100 points. They have only scored over 100 in six of their contests, three of which were against NAIA or DII opponents, which accounted for their three highest outputs. Other than Iowa State (A loss), Arizona State (A loss) and College of Charleston (A loss), the average KenPom ranking is 297.4 plus the NAIA and D II schools.
(KenPom Rank) Opponent - Points Scored by Citadel
(29) #20 Iowa State - 63 Points
(104) College of Charleston - 68 points
(311) Campbell - 91
(348) Presbyterian - 97
(249) SC Upstate - 97
(293) Colgate - 108
(88) Arizona State, (one of the worst P5 schools in the country) - 110 points
(286) Stetson - 116
NAIA member Truett-McConnell - 119
D II Toccoa Falls - 144
D II Johnson University, Florida - 146
Averages against a Dugger Baucom team don't mean anything. I remember a game against Radford back in 2007 where Radford committed 41 turnovers against VMI and still scored 94 points. We will score enough. This could easily be a 130-110 type game.
In related news, we squeaked in at no. 25 on ESPN's Power Rankings