What: Quick turn basketball tilt featuring Good Guys vs Kitty Kats
When: 7:30ish... right about the time where waiters and waitress's everywhere are makin' that money.
TV: ESPN the Sequel
Where: The place of which we must not speak...
Analysis: Welp. Good news is the Hokies just won a double OT thriller against the Hoos. Bad news is, 48 hours, one practice, and one Chris Clarke ACL later, they've got to travel to that place and play a Panther team that's coming off of an extra day rest, and has gotten to sleep in their own beds and eat their own food for about a week. Panthers are tall too. The Hokies are not so much tall, plus about 30% of their rebounds is having knee surgery this week.
Prediction: The Hokies have a fighting chance, but this one will probably be decided by halftime. Tonight's going to be a good night to start out with the Hokies, but end up on the couch with the main squeeze watching Valentine's Day, Sleepless in Seattle, or whatever flick that get's things crack-a-lackin.
Comments
In the spirit of Valentine's Day, Leonard is doing his best cock block to Ltrpeter's game preview...
I'm McDonald's to Ltrpeter's Ruth Chris.
If anybody just want's a McDouble, I got you.
Is that what you say to Mrs. Leonard to get things "crack-a-lackin?"
This post is full of Leonardisms and I love it.
I know this is shotty hoops, but Fuck Pat Narduzzi
Came in to post this.
Leonards will be the only post tonight with my apologies. Been wiped out almost all day today from some crud. The height of the Panthers and the recent massive increase in their level of play along with dealing with the absence of Clarke on such a short turnaround could be devastating, so in the three we trust and if the shots are falling then the Hokies have a fighting chance. Comes down to free throws for one or the other at the end. That usually benefits Tech. Hokies play inspired ball to win this one close 77-75
Nice call, it was all about FTs.
Yep nine point spread. Even on threes at 10 a piece.
So close. Maybe you should keep to these comment long previews.
To be fair, many of my predictions score wise end up being fairly close, except in those road games we got obliterated in outside UNC and FSU.
That said, don't tempt me, would save me six to ten hours a week if I went down to a blurb
You hit it, bro. I've never been so happy to be so wrong. Ghosts of NC State and Miami were haunting me.
Outside of taking out the Hoos, this is probably my favorite game of the year. That was GRIT. Everybody punched in for work tonight.
Keep grinding guys, fight the good fight. I'm sure they're gassed.
These announcers are god awful. The color commentator seemingly has no idea what he's watching.
That's a good play by Galloway. Used the dribble to draw a defender and kicked it to Robinson for the open 3.
sorry you've had the crud Itrepeter2000. Thanks for getting this started Leonard. we need to drive the basket, get their bigs in foul trouble. we need to hit our FT's 70%+. and keep turnovers below 10. my 2 cents
Galloway to Robinson for three!
2 early fouls on their behemoth of a center is a good sign
Make that 3 fouls now...
We need to keep attacking him, especially when he rotates away from the post.
Another game where the opposing team is just going to rain 3s on this defense.
At least we're making a lot of ours from three as well. Hill is playing well too.
Everybody gets a three
Rebounding margin already 20-12.
I mean... We're gassed after a 2OT game on short rest with an even shorter bench. If we can keep it single digits or better going into half I'd be stoked.
I wish I could share the optimisms I've seen at various points on the interwebs, but this just isn't gonna work for us tonight. No Clarke, short turnaround from an emotional 2OT game, Pitt draining everything... yeah, not gonna be our night.
I had completely forgotten Jamie Dixon had left Pitt. I was wondering why they were struggling so badly this season.
Well shit, that half did not go well to say the least. J Rob looked absolutely beat for pretty much the last 5 minutes. I think we're going to need at least 10 minutes a half from Outlaw from now on so out main 5 aren't completely gassed. Also pretty shocked we haven't seen any Donlon, I guess Buzz just doesn't trust him at all
J Rob looked like he was about to fall over.
Which is surprising since Donlon will be one of Buzz' grad assistants for the next two years.
That's the third or fourth time tonight we have literally just thrown the ball straight out of bounds.
Can't do any damn thing without drawing a whistle this half seems like.
This game is infuriating. We all know Tech is going to lose, and it feels like a blowout. But then, you look up and we're only down by five poi-oh, Pitt just hit another 3.
I've felt the same way all night. Doesn't feel like we should be in this game but somehow we are. If only Pitt could manage to go cold and miss more than 2 shots in a row before draining a 3.
Getting the stops we need on defense and then throwing them away on the other end.
we throw it out of bounds... they hit a three
That's the 2nd time this half Outlaw has been absolutely railroaded on a call. How in the fuck is that over the back
And then a foul on the defensive rebound. Seems like the refs call a foul anytime we sniff a rebound because they assume Pitt should just be winning them all because of their size...
Buzz bigger complaint is that all night the Panthers have done the same and those cases it's that they are taller not a foul
I've seen that happen a lot recently. Outlaw was arms straight up and high pointed the basketball for the board. It was textbook. Absolute trash officiating right there.
On the road and a short rest but if we had Clarke we are winning this game. His absence is going to be extremely difficult for this team to overcome.
That's not even close to a violation...glad they're reviewing it
LeDay in celebration mode is my spirit animal.
Chris Clarke laying down the dance moves
That was a nice little 7 point possession I'd say.
I wonder if that's the fastest anyone's ever been from being down 6 to being up 1.
7 Point possession.
Why hello, Mr Bibbs. Nice of you to show up tonight.
My bad, guys. I jumped the gun on that one.
He only seems to hit shots that are either extremely difficult or under extreme pressure.
The 7 point play!!
What is going on?! I love it
7 points? TOUCHDOWN TECH!!!
Oh wait...wrong sport
Our WRs did a nice job of pushing off.
And I give them credit for that
why a flagrant 1 isn't called more often is beyond me
And here comes the bullshit.
J Rob looks absolutely gassed.
Tough finish for J-Rob high off the glass for the and-1. He looks exhausted but is still pushing.
Did they enforce the flagrant wrong?
1 shot for the and 1.
2 shots for the flagrant.
Did I miss one? Am I wrong with the rule?
just a routine 7 point possession
Leday needs to not take another shot tonight. His inability to look for the open shooter is going to cost us this game.
Why does he continuously do this? Surely he's coached to play inside out with the shooters we have on the perimeter?
true. and when he does shoot, he can't get it above the rim
And we get screwed on what should be a turnover. I hope we have the gas in the tank to finish strong here but we look exhausted.
LeDay has to start kicking the ball out. 4 shooters all spotted up and he takes on the guy 5 inches taller than him.
LeDay is a black hole late in the game tonight. Give him the ball and not only is it not a basket but you might as well just pass it to Pitt.
As for being gassed... Pitt has subbed less than us this second half. No excuses get the job done
Pitt has an extra day of rest, didn't have to travel, and we just played a 2OT game 48 hours ago.
Doesn't matter job got done
Way to go, Hokies!
Straight up. Have a leg because Fuck Pat Narduzzi.
Disagree completely. But in the end didn't matter.
Also have a leg to get back to even and shame on whomever downvoted for disagreeing...
Can we get a short dose of Sy here
Are they never going to call the push off on Jeter? He does it every single time he shoots a step back.
Pat Narduzzi, is that you? /s
SETH ALLEN IS. THE. MAN.
Seth Allen, ladies and gentlemen.
Kind of OT for the moment but I'm impressed with the way Clarke is bending his knee on the sideline. That means the swelling isn't that bad and there isn't a lot of bone damage. Makes the recovery way easier.
Seth Allen is about to be added to my list of favorite Hokies. Man has ice water in his veins. Does he have to graduate?! My heart can't take losing both him and Sam....
Good god that last possession.
I need to lie down.
That is a huge W. Wow. Great, great win.
Great effort in tough circumstances...so proud of this team!
holy cow!!!
Man, I love this team. No quit at all.
But I'll be damned if that last possession didn't take a year or two off my life.
Just two?
Being a Hokie football fan has hardened me to such stress.
No joke. Ridiculous.
#WhyYesIDidCropAScreenGrabSoNooneWouldCommentOnMyBatteryPercentage
This is an even better win then beating UVA because of the pure heart this win took. Huge impact to things going forward.
And now they get a couple more days to rest before they shock the world with Louisville.
That's a big, big win for this team. Winning on the road in this conference without Clarke is a big message sent to the committee
Holy crap, guys.
What in the world is going on with Greenberg's voice right now?
Look at that, left Greenberg speechless after the win
Short bench full of short guys who aren't short on fight!
As they say: "It ain't the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog".
Sounds like Seth has been screaming. Probably rooting against the good guys. lol
YOU CAN'T MEASURE HEART.
Nine point differential at the free throw line in Tech's favor
FTs and TOs made up for -13 on the boards.
I watched the whole game and have no idea how we won.
Go Hokies!!!
You could tell me tomorrow morning we lost by 12 and I'd believe you.
For all of you that aren't on Twitter...this is a must see tweet:
That was a ballsy performance. I love this team.
Of note:
VT football's last win @ Pitt before this season: 1999
VT men's basketball's last win @ Pitt before this season: 1967
A lot of demons got exorcised this year, TKPers.
Reading through the emotional swings in this thread is priceless. Go Hokies.
When is the trade deadline? Can we get a big?\s
Hey Chris, how do you feel about tonight's game?
When you're all alone on Valentine's day but then you remember there's Oreo pie in the fridge
If there's one positive that we can take his injury, it's that we get to have dancing Chris on the bench again.
It's becoming a favorite pastime of mine to read through these game threads only after the game is over. Especially when we win. Double especially when it's a comeback win.
I'm so angry that i missed the entire game. I need to print out a schedule, or set some reminders.
.. anyway, good win Hokies.
I don't talk hoops often on here. I love college basketball, but from a bandwidth perspective it is hard to devote the attention to detail to it. Tonight I watched a good chuck of the game, including the last ten minutes. In the handful of minutes before Robinson's circus three point play, I thought the pace had slowed the defensive footwork and made rebounding position sloppy. Sy had played a few minutes, but I thought that was a terrific opportunity with a slight lead to steal a minute or two for Leday and let him get his legs. Leday stayed in and missed a handful of tough looks inside (really tough shots, but the kind he makes) and looked like he was gone on defense. I know Buzz wants to win, but you have to keep your post guys as fresh as you can, and you can work around the deficiencies of the post guys who give you some defensive edge and rebounding as long as you don't lose your spacing on offense. I don't think Sy could have given a wind to anyone else because Sy can't play away from the basket and Leday needs that space in close. But, Sy (who played well when on the court) could have stolen a minute at that key moment. Pitt got a couple of baskets, and then for some reason stopped posting Young on an obviously gassed Leday (who made a huge play on the intercepted feed in the post.)
I am not critical of Buzz often, and he is one hell of a coach. But, with Clarke gone, and Sy so critical to the future with no post guys next year with Leday's graduation, letting him get a minute or two is good for development and helps Leday be more effective in those possessions over the last two minutes.
Agree completely. But don't forget Blackshear returns next year.
How brutal has the Blackshear loss been this year? Oof..
Agreed, if we get a comfortable lead in any of the next few games (probably unlikely) we should play the shit out of Sy and Outlaw. We also should dish as many minutes as possible to Galloway and Donlon because where it currently stands come ACC tourney and postseason time if one guy gets in foul trouble we are fucked. Seeing as those dudes haven't had much game experience Buzz should probably give em some more PT and hope like hell theyre quick learners.