IT'S GAMEDAY! #BeatClemson Littlejohn Coliseum 6:30 PM ESPNU pic.twitter.com/1ch7hHfK8z— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) January 22, 2017
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: January 22, 2017 / 6:30 p.m.
Opponent: Clemson
Site: Clemson, South Carolina (Littlejohn Coliseum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ESPNU
Talent: Anish Shroff & Cory Alexander
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
XM Radio: XM 193 (Internet 955)
On the Road Again, Needing to win, Control the Tiger by his Tail
Buzzketball goes back on the road for four of the their next five contests. First up are the Clemson Tigers. Looking at their record you would think that this is a game the Hokies should handily win. This is the ACC though and records can be a bit deceiving. Clemson has won only one of its ACC contests so far, a 73-68 win over Wake Forest. Now for the deceiving part, Clemson's five losses have come to four ranked teams with only a close loss to Georgia Tech on the road to an unranked team. Clemson has lost to #14 UNC, #23 Notre Dame, #19 UVA, and #12 Louisville. As for the out of conference schedule, they have P5 wins over Georgia, Nebraska, Alabama, #22 South Carolina and losses to #11 Xavier and Oklahoma, who just took down the cousins this week.
On the road, on a Sunday night, with what appears to be a packed home for Clemson by ticket availability. This is also Military Appreciation Night at Clemson so that helps with the crowd. So far according to the poll on ESPN, Clemson is a 73-27 favorite in this contest and several of the major basketball analysts have also chimed in in favor of the Tigers at home. Even Vegas has the Tigers a six point favorite.
This will be the Thirty Second meeting between the Hokies and Tigers. Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 16-15. Virginia Tech won last years matchup 60-57. This is the epitome of a trap game for the Hokies. On the road, against a "lowly team", with #9 UNC looming on the horizon has all the makings of little to no focus from this Hokies team since they seem to suffer from that regardless of opponent in the beginnings of almost every contest. Only saving grace is that the game is nationally televised and Leday and Allen usually come up with huge games when the attention is highest.
The Tigers are coached by Brad Brownell, who has been at Clemson since 2010. He has finished with winning teams in all but one year guiding the Tigers. They are a consistent middle of the ACC team throughout his tenure.
Defensively, the Tigers focus primarily on a smothering man to man defense. The Tigers have forced opponents into over 15 turnovers per game. Their perimeter defense is also very stout, holding opponents to 35% shooting from the perimeter.
Offensively, Clemson runs a constant motion offense which Coach Brownell has expressed is becoming more and more difficult because with the growth of AAU and these singular player focused offenses its becoming harder to find the players willing to buy into the selfless requirements of a motion offense. So many players are used to being the center of attack and always touching the ball that its counter intuitive to them to give the ball away. Big men want the ball down low rather than to come high to set screens, essentially removing them from the offensive play. This said, Clemson has struggled all season offensively, especially in ACC play where they are in the bottom four in multiple categories. Their strength seems to be in turnovers leading to transition baskets and beyond that its difficult for the Tigers to get a real rhythm offensively.
What does that mean for the Hokies?
The Hokies have a chance to dominate inside. Clemson so far this season has not been able to deal with tough interior play and allows opponents to shoot 52% on the interior this season. This needs to be a focus of getting baskets or getting to the line today. The Tigers are fairly well disciplined when it comes to committing fouls but two of their bigs have issues here so that should be a focal point for the Hokies offense.
The Hokies have a second opportunity in a row to essentially lock down a team tonight which will force all kinds of issues offensively for the Tigers. They struggle mightily offensively so if the Hokies come out with their energetic defense it should create a large gap between these two squads. I would hope that Buzz has his guys turn the pressure all the way up, especially coming out of the gate. This would be where he reminds his guys that they are underdogs to a 1-5 team in conference.
I would expect a high paced game, Tech needs to get out and run early and often. Change the pace of play so that the Tigers are forced to constantly reach for opponents. If the Hokies come out and stand around on offense like they have in other recent games they play right into the Tigers hands, as they are great defensively when they can sit on their assigned offensive player.
Today, the Hokies perimeter players must find a way to make their shots even being a bit uncomfortable. Buzz needs to get in Bibbs ear that he needs to shoot if he has a sliver of a chance, rather than just passing it around. Too often in the last few games we have passed too much and ended up rushing things at the end of a shot clock rather than take a better shot opportunity earlier on.
Tigers Backcourt
Avry Holmes (#12) 6'2, 195 Lbs Senior Guard is averaging 11.1 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.6 APG and 1.1 SPG. He is shooting 39% from behind the arc and 40% overall. This is the perimeter shooter the Hokies most need to account for as he averages almost six attempts per game.
Marcquise Reed, (#2) 6'3, 185 Lbs Sophomore Guard comes in averaging 9.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.7 APG and 1.4 SPG. He is shooting 42% from outside but only attempts two per game. He also shoots better than 88% from the free throw line. This is his first season in the lineup for the Tigers after transferring in from Robert Morris
Gabe Devoe (#10), 6'3, 210 Lbs Junior Guard is averaging 9.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 2.6 APG and 1.6 SPG. Moore comes in averaging 25 MPG. He is almost a real threat to score from outside, shooting 38% on over 4 attempts per game.
Shelton Mitchell, (#4), 6'3, 195 Lbs Sophomore Guard is giving the Tigers about 25 MPG while averaging 8.1 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 3.3 APG. Mitchell is the closest thing this team has to a point guard with how much rotation the top of the key sees in their motion offense. This is also Mitchell's first season with the Tigers after transferring from Vanderbilt.
Tigers Frontcourt
Jaron Blossomgame, (#5), 6'7, 215 Lbs Senior Forward is in contention for ACC Player of the Year. He is averaging 17.8 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.6 APG, 0.8 SPG, and 1.1 BPG. Blossomgame is almost the complete focus of the Tigers offense and he is difficult down low. His interior scoring is at 52%. Leday will need to keep him from having a season day to keep the Hokies in this game. If he gets his averages, the Hokies should be able to more than account for several of his teammates.
Donte Grantham, (#15) 6'8, 215 Lbs Junior Forward, is averaging over 30 MPG and comes in putting up 9.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 2.2 APG. He is shooting 39% from the field, 33% from behind the arc and a solid 80% from the line. Grantham likes to step outside to shoot the three. He is averaging almost 5 per contest. The Hokies can't afford to let Grantham open like they did Stephens of Georgia Tech.
Elijah Thomas, (#14) 6'9, 230 Lbs Freshman Forward seemingly was granted a medical redshirt for last season at Texas A&M and then granted permission to play immediately at Clemson. He has played in the second half of this season after dealing with an early injury this season. He is averaging 7.3 PPG, 3 RPG, 1.1 SPG, and 1.8 BPG so far in his limited time.
Sidy Djitte, (#50), 6'10, 240 Lbs, Senior Center is averaging 6.5 PPG, 7.7 RPG, .9 BPG, and 1.1 SPG. His Achilles heel though are personal fouls. He is averaging over 3 per contest. Too often guards get him off his feet and are able to draw contact for the foul. Expect to see Seth Allen and Chris Clarke go right at him today. He does have the ability though to have a game like Lammers if we make it easy for him.
Names the Announcers will Butcher
Sidy Djitte seems to be the winner on this roster.
What to expect from Clemson?
The Tigers rely on a rotation of eight players. Six of those players average more than 1 steal per game so far this season. This says that the Tigers across the board will be looking to get their hands on the ball. Expect to see the Tigers disrupting passing lanes and creating transition opportunities.
Blossomgame, Blossomgame, Blossomgame. Beyond that the Tigers have pretty balanced scoring from about four other players. That's really where Tech needs to focus their energies. Blossomgame is likely going to get his but if he is the only one than it's a big swing in momentum.
The Tigers will stretch the floor several times defensively, ramping up the pressure by putting the full court press on. It will be aggressive and looking to force turnovers more than looking to shorten the shot clock for the Hokies.
Offensively, Brownell has this team bought in to moving without the ball. The big men especially will get high on the perimeter to set screens or run a pick and roll motion to the basket. Its going to take high energy all game to defend this constant motion.
The Hokies
Tech needs to be focused and moving around on offense to limit the Tigers ability to get in passing lanes and creating turnovers. No sloppy interior passing like the Georgia Tech game or they will be giving their opponent exactly what they want. Not sure what Buzz needs to do to get through to these guys but the standing around and the lackadaisical play have to stop. Ever since the Duke game, this team just doesn't seem to be able to focus on the task at hand for even 30 of 40 minutes.
Tech needs to be able to get to the basket frequently but doing so intelligently. Don't overcommit so much that you essentially hand your opponent the ball at the rim (See Lammers, Eight Blocks). Get into the body of the Clemson bigs and they will respond by fouling. Its been their one big weakness defensively this season.
The Hokies are back to having five players in double figures per game average. It works when they spread the ball around, without letting a defense focus in on just one or two guys. Today needs to be a bounce back game for Ahmed Hill. He needs to stay out of foul trouble, especially on contact of players moving without the ball. If he stays on the court than his shooting touch is bound to show up. Two straight games under five points after eight straight double digit performances. Time to mount up.
13 games in double-digits46 three-pointers248 points#ShootersShoot pic.twitter.com/rcWHGVsPfh— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) January 21, 2017
Bibbs is going to be wildly inconsistent on offense but he is going to remain on the court because we don't have a better defender. He likely will be called upon to guard Blossomgame for stretches of this contest when Leday has to go head to head with other bigger forwards on the court.
Highlight of the Georgia Tech Game
It seems like a broken record, but critical baskets by Clarke and Allen late in this game made the difference in a Hokies win.
In Closing
Clemson will look to kick start their offense through the Hokies turnovers primarily by stealing the ball cutting off passing lanes. The Hokies have to limit these opportunities but most importantly they have to get back to defend the basket when they do make these mistakes. Don't let the Tigers hand around. The closer the Hokies let this game be towards the end, the more likely it is to go Clemson's way. Tech fans don't want to be pointing to officials or a Clemson miraculous play after this one is over.
40 MINUTES OF BASKETBALL. Not sure where this team lost that focus but Buzz needs to get these guys back in the mindset of playing from whistle to whistle. Taking even a few minutes off has shown this fan base how quickly things can turn, especially early on in contests. The Hokies seem to have a penchant for coming out flat and letting teams build early BIG leads on them. That trend needs to stop.
Energy is the key to this game. Who has it, who wants it more, who finds it over the last five minutes likely will make all the difference in this contest.
The Hokies win 71-67 by coming to play defense today. Shutting down the Tigers offensively has been the blueprint for teams beating the Tigers all season. The Hokies have shown they can dissect a man to man defense because of their speed and athleticism. Today they need to put both of those traits on display and win a critical ACC road game.
"True confidence can only come from your work and from your work you should be prepared."@TeamCoachBuzz #getB3TTER pic.twitter.com/EqKnJKdDPO— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) January 19, 2017
Comments
These previews are so thorough. Really appreciate it.
Ditto...
Thanks for being faithful throughout the season and giving everyone some really great information before tip-off!
I also love that you have predicted a win for the good guys every game this season (unless I missed something along the way).
Only loss I predicted was Florida State. Just too much team especially right after the NC State game. Nothing to be ashamed of since they are now a Top 10 team and moving up. They beat five of the six ranked ACC teams they have faced so far in conference play. Only loss at UNC. They will probably be sixth or seventh after this week beating Notre Dame and Louisville.
These are the road wins that we need to steal. Big game today!
Huge game today. We need to steal some road games especially after dropping the home game against ND and this is one of our best chances.
As an aside, are the lines on college basketball games typically pretty bad? I couldn't believe we were double digit favorites over the Bees and now I'd think this line seems too favorable for Clemson.
I think that the lines in college basketball move more easily depending on where the money is going. I also dont think that the basketball games get the focus from Vegas that football games do with how many more games they have, more variables that effect them, and difficulty to predict performance from game to game. Just look at the ACC and how many weird results we have seen so far. How many people would have believed that at this point in conference play that Louisville would be 4-3 and Duke would be 3-3 if you had told them that before the season started?
So. While I'm sure it will be blacked out for me on WatchESPN, at least I can watch it over the air...oh wait the only game on is high point at radford...
It's on ESPNU, a national broadcast, meaning no blackouts
I'll be cheering on the Hokies in person tonight. These are the games we really need to win.
please stop benching your best player
Having the benches at the bottom of the screen in Littlejohn always throws me off.
It's brand new, they tore it down and rebuilt it, the seats are very nice.
Robinson has got to be smarter than that when the defender beats him down the court
And we thought we have attendance problems in Blacksburg.... Yeesh
And eventually the shooting has to improve from 3, right? This team has too many talented shooters to go this cold for this long.
LeDay came to play.
Almost don't know what to think. Buzz has Leday and Sy out there together
Welp that's over with Sy getting his second foul
Weird game so far.
Shoutouts to the crawler at the bottom of the screen about flipping Rivers.
And then notice it immediately is followed by a kid who decommitted from Tennessee
We are so bad at closing out on perimeter shooters, more than half Clemson points are from outside or free throws on the foul outside (15 of 22)
Clemson fans booing that block like the defender wasn't two feet inside of the restricted area.
This just feels like we are about to blow this game wide open. We're controlling play and getting pretty much whatever we want offensively. Get a string of a few makes in a row and this could balloon to a 15 point lead with ease.
Sure if we stop giving up threes a few possessions in a row
Clemson is shooting absurdly hot... It will even out and once it does the run will happen
Maybe I just don't have the eagle eye but I don't see the positive Tech highlight in the ACC's "Basketball" Kurtis Blow commercial. I see us getting dunked on and that's it. Anyone?
Grrrrrrr just want to bang my head against a wall
Just ridiculous
Soooo is Clemson just going to shoot 3's or?
"I don't want to make excuses for him"
Proceeds to make excuses
21 of 28 points for the Tigers from outside or three free throws
Being a passionate fan has its drawbacks LT.
Expecting basic defensive adjustments shouldn't be so painful
Stop passing underneath and go up with the ball.
Clemson shooting 54% from outside right now
It's insane how open they are getting with simple perimeter passing
To be fair, most of their shots have come from NBA range tonight but how many haven't had a Hokie inside ten feet of the shooter
Leday has to stop hesitating on his drives
Clemson isn't a good 3 shooting team, btw.
Yep came into today averaging less than 36% on the year
Which is why I'm confident this will even out. Keep dictating play and dare them to beat us from deep. Their leading scorer down low is playing hurt and his shot is clearly off. They're shooting well from outside now but they have proven an inability to keep it up over the course of a game.
Except they have now gone inside for their last ten points and made it look easy
Out of curiosity, are you ever satisfied watching this team?
I was against Duke and a couple other halfs this season. I guess I have about the same mindset as Buzz in terms of expectations. We have seen what they are capable of and their defense has been off for most of conference play. Tonight was a huge improvement over the first half of the last four games, especially the Notre Dame game. Still would rather this teamessage take the next step is think they are capable of, show the killer instinct and put teams away.
looks like Med may be breaking out of his slump
Bibbs creating his own outside shot, color me crazy.
Ummm if that's not a charge I don't know what is
Welp, should have probably been a ten point difference if we could have played some defense
These commentators love them some Clemson. Might have to watch the second half on mute.
I couldn't decide whether to mute the AFC championship game or the VT game. I guess I'll stick with the Tech game.
We should be up by at least 9.
Painful start to second half, giving up offensive rebounds
GAve up two more and yield a three because of it.
Hope you guys caught the Seth Allen clip during halftime. He is really looking forward to going at it with Perrantes.
We can't keep playing this zone. The rotations are too slow, and Clemson is getting wide open threes and nobody is in position to box out on those shots.
What is with the weak perimeter defense?
Seems like Buzz is playing for the poor 3 pt % that Clemson is known for and shutting down the lane.
Just hasn't worked out as planned.
Part of it is how far out they are taking shots from, but as was pointed out above, our zone rotations have been slow to cover cross court passes.
Big 3!
Buzz won't have a voice by the end of this one... You can hear him loud rhaspy and clear on the broadcast
Getting killed on both ends on the boards in second half
It almost looks by design... Quite a bit of the time we aren't even making an attempt at the ball and are already back on transition
Unfortunately on the offensive end it is by design. Still painful to watch possession just conceded
The Clemson camouflage warm ups are hideous
This cannot be said enough. Those things are horrible.
Crazy that we are over eight minutes into the second half and there have been only three fouls total in the half
Bibbs following his shot has been huge.
Clarke's game has been rubbing off on Bibbs I think.
And all 12 fans in the crowd go wild
And now Clemson getting away with all kinds of fouls because the energy changed
I think we should maybe start covering corner 3s.
"One of the toughest places to play."
lmao
Has Clemson missed a three yet?
Not many, currently 11-23 with one miss turned into three free throws. 36 points
Many.. ball just ain't bouncing to us when they do
Wow Allen it still counts though
Still waiting on Clarke to go on a run. Only has three points so far
Ridiculous we got out rebounded on a free throw
Those are the really STUPID plays that drive me insane. Playing with a four point lead, just bring the ball up rather than the half court all the way across pass
Man my biggest complaint tonight is the out of control play we're seeing. They're getting into too many bad spots that guys with experience just shouldn't do. They're rushing too much at times
Cost us at least six possessions, Allen, Leday and Robinson primarily
Bad turnovers giving away momentum
too many turnovers!
How was that not a foul on Leday shot
Leday just got away with a big shove
We are just terrible at rebounding. Really hope Buzz decides it's important enough on the defensive end to put some emphasis on it in the offseason
hope he puts some emphasis on it THIS season!
Just hope Clarke is OK on that
They have 8 more shot attempts this half.... Yikes
That and 1 helps
Since the Duke game, the one consistent, common name that comes to mind is Blackshear. Just imagine if he was healthy, we would be able to........fill in with a number of plausible narratives. Man I miss him.
How does Clarke get up from that???
How on earth did LeDay fit that pass in there? Hope Clarke's okay.
Painful turnover right there
therefore Awesome anticipation by Allen and then questionable call on Leday
Bad foul call... Time to D up
Announcer just called us DBU!!!
If only he could pronounce "Corps"
Yea the said "all the backs come from VT, DBU." Then his clown Boohoo counterpart said "oh, well, let's just say they come from the whole state of Virginia."
OKAAAAAAAAY guy.
What's that guy's deal.
He's a Hoo.
I believe he has a case of wahoo butthurt syndrome.
Why didn't Allen take the layup?
Rebounding again, Blossomgame took that ball over two Hokies because they were flat on the floor
OK they're just going to ignore that Blossomgame threw Robinson to the ground to get that rebound
OK then
Missed it and they never show replays so the officials don't look bad
It was pretty blatant but whatever.... You do you, ACC
Can't have 2 straight possessions at the end of the game end in turnovers.
That was awesome
Seth freaking Allen with the ONIONS
Seth Allen with the clutch 3.
Time for free throws
Yesssss!!
That's a shot only Seth Allen would take and a shot only Seth Allen would make.
Seth Allen. Clutch.
I was pretty mad when that ball left seth's hand because there was so much more time to waste but now I am extremely happy he took it.
I don't know if I can watch the last 22 seconds
Games like this remind us that in spite of the turnovers and head scratchers Seth Allen is still a net positive for this team in a big way.
Allen has played much more consistent basketball this year. Far, far fewer bad turnovers and poor decisions. Has been a crucial component in several wins this year, the past two games standing out the most to me right now.
Got to get the inbounds
HUGE FREE THROW. AND ANOTHER.
Make 1. All we need is 1
Goodnight Devon. Come on JRob
Butter. And Margarine
At least Leday was there. Just a clutch shot
Money. And Dollar dollar bills yall
whew!!!
stil, go out with another three. Good win. Way to close at the line boys.
That's an ACC road W fellas.
Damn those last 2 threes were insane
Huge win. They would make that 3 at the buzzer. Teams that can't shoot always seem to shoot the lights out against us.
Lol of course they hit the prayer at the buzzer to cut it to 1
Glad to get out of there with a win. Road win in the ACC against a quality RPI opponent. That is a great win for us. Great resume building win.
Count it baby!
16 of 17 from the line... there's your game!
6 in a row in the last minute to ice it with 3 different guys at the line. Love it when you can have that kind of late game confidence with the lead
Go back and look at the ND game, VT was 6 of 14 from the FT line in the second half. Against GT, VT was 6-8 from the FT line. Great turnaround to notch a couple wins.
got what we had to get...nice win!
Seth Allen after that late 3
Great win tonight. Clutch FT shooting and Allen setting the tone in the second half made the difference. It really felt like we should have won by 8-10, but that's life on the road in the ACC.
Great win. I'm going to miss Seth Allen when he's gone.
Refreshing to see the made free throws.
See man? Told you there's nothing to worry about.
Great win!!! Wish they would leave more room for comfort, but it's exciting, and A WIN!
I will say that last year I could not wait to get on TKP every timeout and share in the excitement with fellow Hokies. The expectations have changed this year, and it is taking a lot more than a chance to win for you guys to get excited. I get it, but after the first timeout I decided to wait until after the game to enjoy your company.
FT shooting was clutch we go to OT if we had missed one at the end and we lose if we had missed two.
In other news, Seth Allen remains clutch as ever.
Fam, there's a week left in January and we have 15 wins.
How far we've come.
Great work from the FT line tonight!
The next seven are a doozy. If we can go 3-4 I'll be thrilled.
I don't need more close games like that. Sitting on the edge of the seat and worrying is not a fun way to spend Sunday.