It was expected, but here it is. Preseason media vote has VT finishing 15th in the ACC for basketball. This sucks cause I love college basketball. I have a ton of fun in Cassell even when we lose, but its going to be a long season. I won't be surprised if we don't surpass 10 wins. That said, we're in the ACC, the best basketball conference in the country. There is no reason why we can't get some good recruits in here on that fact alone. On the other hand, we have an AD who doesn't seem committed to the basketball program. On top of that, both our biggest home game (Syracuse) and two of our most probable ACC wins (Clemson and BC) are over winter break when students won't be in town. Your thoughts?
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We are definitely gonna suck this year, I don't think any realistic fan will argue that. What I think will be fun to watch is how well JJ's 40 minutes of Hell game plan works. At the beginning of last year it was obvious that he wanted to run the whole time, but that wasn't possible with such a short bench so we had to rein it in and that cost us some wins. This year we have a full roster, so there is no reason we shouldn't be able to at least attempt to do that. I know there are a lot of freshman on the team, but I just want to see what that kind of game plan would look like.
I cry a little when I think about basketball season coming...
Come in with low expectations, hope to be pleasantly surprised.
Agreed.
Patience is going to be key with the program. I remember when Seth Greenburg became coach the 1st goal was to simply make the Big East tournament since the two worst teams in Big East play were not invited.
Hmm..., this sets up for the possibility that VT football could end the year ranked higher nationally than VT basketball ranked in the ACC. I don't think that's ever happened in ACC play, has it?
Eh, nevermind. Just looked it up, it happened in 2005 and 2007. In 2005, VT finished 7th nationally in football and 10th in ACC basketball standings. In 2007, VT finished 9th nationally in football and 10th ACC basketball standings. Nothing new here.
Completely Agree with RocketHokie
Turkey leg for you!
This season will come down to how well we defend. The offense is going to be ugly. Poor point guard play will probably be the demise of this team on offense. But on defense, this team has a chance to be good. This year we're far deeper, more athletic, and much less focused on offensive production than we were last year. There's no reason why the Hokies can't be a strong defensive team this year. If JJ can get consistently solid performances out of his defense, we can compete in the ACC day-in and day-out. A solid goal for this team should be a .500 record- if we achieve that, this program is headed down the right track. If JJ can't get his team to play good, hard defense, he may not be around much longer.
we were 13-19 last year with Erick Green so that doesn't instill confidence in me for a .500 record this year. I agree though that depth will help. I expect JJ to take a page out of Shaka Smart's book and try to run up an tempo offense and a good amount of full court press. It's really his only option to be able to compete this year. He just doesn't have the talent or experience otherwise
I feel like when you run more half court sets, it is harder to get blown out, and that if you play solid defense and rebound, you can be in any game. The 40 minutes of havoc idea is a good one (personally, my favorite style to watch), but when things aren't going well, they can get really ugly, really quick, because the other team just has so many possessions to make you pay.
Tennessee won the MNC the year after Peyton Manning left, though, so...
I hear a lot about point guard, but my opinion is that Rankin is WAY better than anyone really knows. Sure he had a few TO's at times last year, but he ended as a legit 3 point threat, great defender and a tremendous passer plus explosive hops. This was a pretty highly recruited kid as in-
ESPNU:
4-stars
#95 Overall
#18 Point Guard
Scout.com:
4-stars
#23 Overall
#4 Point Guard
Rivals.com:
4-stars
#26 Overall
#9 Point Guard
Say nothing of what happens to a lot of talented players who are thrown in to the spotlight after playing in the shadows. So folks don't be so quick to hate on the Hokies.
I loved what I saw out of him by the end of the year. His jumper is a little bit iffy still, it either goes in or misses badly. But he has some good handles and it looked like he was really trying to imitate EG's floater at the end of the year which is one of the tougher shots to defend. And he's fast, really fast.
I miss Deron.
Definitely one of the most fun players to watch. His dunks provided a spark that we haven't seen in a while out of our basketball program.
I loved his socks.
If you like basketball, I think you'll enjoy watching this team develop this year. If you just want to win, sorry, but you may want to cover your eyes.
Come in with low expectations and just hope JJ is a good enough coach to get this team playing solid basketball after winter break. We play in a tough conference so every game will be a learning experience for these guys. This season shouldn't be judged by a W-L record, but by how much we improve from November through March.
And on the development note, JJ seems to be really high on Ben Emelogu (freshman SG). So high in fact that the kid was named captain and was taken to ACC media day over a couple of upperclassmen. So it looks like he's the guy to watch this year.
Emelogu is definitely impressing the coaching staff. This really would have been a freshmen lead team if Muller was eligible this year. Emelogu and Thompson will likely be the first two players off the bench this year. I'm hoping JVZ has a breakout year which would ease Thompson in rather than force him to play right away.
I'm pretty sure Emelogu won't be first off the bench since he'll likely be starting. What coach would name a freshman a captain just for him to be the 6th man? JJ expects Ben to contribute a lot this year. I think the starting lineup will be Emelogu, Rankin, Barksdale, Eddie, Raines with Adam Smith being the first off the bench.
A, he is coming off some knee surgery from high school so he has been limited in practices. He didn't participate in the scrimmage the other day. He may earn a starting role during the year, but not right off the bat. B, Smith has too good of a shot not to be starting. If he replaces anyone in the starting lineup it would be Rankin. That's just my 2 cents anyway.
I know Seth left the cupboard pretty bare, but I hope JJ can put a decent team on the court within another couple years of recruiting to his system. It could be a pretty brutal year in the ACC, but I'll watch every game on ESPN3 because I'm a glutton for punishment.
I say we have Bud Foster teach the team about Defense. Or we could just have Bud Foster stare at the other team the entire game.
Can we get one of the students to make a huge Foster Face for the crowd to hold up during free throws and the whole game?
Or Sam Rogers' face.
In fact, can we get Sam Rogers to play?
The ball is too afraid of Sam Rogers to allow him to play.
So are the backboards. They are only fiberglass, after all.
Cassell won't let students bring signs in (this includes the giant heads). Believe me, we'd be all over something like this.
Too bad. I imagine this would haunt opponents' dreams:
Im not crazy about the up-tempo approach. More fun to watch than greenberg's random pass for 25 seconds followed by OK, now try to make something happen, but I dont know that we will be able to recruit enough athleticism to gain an advantage in the ACC. As boring as the defense first approach was to watch and while it didnt win any fans on the selection committee, VT under Greenberg was 4th overall in ACC record until his last year, and for most years before that VT was actually 3rd after only dook and unc. Running all game might make us look better, but I dont think we will match that record.
A running game takes athleticism out of it to a point and makes fitness come into play. You can coach fitness, you can't coach natural talent. So it gives us a chance in my opinion.
If the team looks horrible by the end of the year, I'd expect/hope to see Johnson get fired. He was 100% a desperate hire and there is no doubt that we could find better. Aside from the quick start last year, we looked pretty awful. I also beleive that part of the reason he was hired was to try and hold onto our recruits and keep Green from transferring. Seeing that Green is gone and that Harrel went elsewhere, this doesn't really hold much value anymore.
I don't think that your being fair to JJ. If you put Coach K in the situation that Weaver gave him even he would struggle. JJ has been working his tail off recruiting and deserves at least 2-3 more years. He is not the issue at this point.
Agree completely. Have to give college coaches time to recruit and install their system. It's not the pros and were you can put decent roster out there in one offseason. Additionally, Tech has very little basketball history and is not a high profile location despite being in ACC. Takes time.
Definitely, he deserves at least three years of his own players. Meanwhile, hopefully Weaver is saving the half million dollar a year salary difference between Greenburg and Johnson for spending on a new coach if Johnson doesn't work out.
i dont know if he was a desperate hire, but he has certainly been put in a tough situation. not just the bad timing of seth getting canned and dealing with a depleted roster, but also jj's relative inexperience. techhoops wrote and interesting article during the season last year about this. he is the only head coach in the league who was hired with zero experience as a head coach. the coach with next fewest games under his belt before coming to the acc was uva's own tony bennet at 102 games coached, but he was the pac-12's coach of the year. i'm pulling for jj and i'm gonna preach patience this year, but i fear the chips are stacked against him. the acc just isnt a league for someone to cut their teeth in.
here's the article if anyone's interested:
http://techhoops.com/2013/01/25/is-coach-johnson-the-new-bryan-stinespring/
While I might not go so far as to put Coach K under the bus (he just manages to find magic in a bottle) I do think that JJ deserves a chance to get established. Several things have happened, some already mentioned:
The program has had transfer or lost 7 players in the last two years. That's about half the roster.
Ben Boggs transferred
Garland Transferred and led Lasalle to the NCAA
Robert Brown transferred
Dorian Finney Smith transferred to Florida (another shady AAU deal in the background)
Montrezl Harrell opted out of his NLI and helped Louisville win a national title (Shady dealings involved with his former AAU coach)
Allan Chaney had to leave the program after two years with the medical ruling (had a scholarship held up) than helped High Point reach the NCAA tournament
Manny Atkins transferred
If you don't want to be a Hokie, I don't want you to stay but the talent drain this has put on the program will be felt for at least the next two to three years. James Johnson wasn't the root of that exodus. At least four of those players were Top 50 for their respective classes and at least two were Top 20 recruits. I am fine with whatever our record ends up being this year and next as long as I am seeing them play hard, and improve on mistakes.
Coaching changes and game play philosophy also has an impact so as JJ gets more players that fit his system, the better I expect us to perform. I think that basketball more so than football deserves the time to develop mainly because each year can have such a profound impact on a team with a 15 person roster. Hopefully we win, but we better have effort. If effort is the question at the end of the season than by all means find a new coach.
What is this basketball that you guys speak of.
Is this what happens between the bowl games and the spring game??
I lay the blame for the basketball calamity COMPLETELY at the feet of one Captain James T. Weaver.
But...tohellwithit...whatever. I'll be there to watch. We love college basketball up in hurrr. I see two surprise upsets this year in a sea of ugly, ugly losses.
I just really hope that the team suprises the heck outta me. After the past two years and without erick green and the other loses we have suffered I hope we can be as good as last year. I love college basketball and I hope we can really suprise everyone and pull a few upsets this year at cassell.
If they somehow beat West Virginia I'll call it a season.
im really annoyed that game is at 1 PM on a Tuesday as part of ESPNs 24 hr basketball thing. one of our best home games and how many students will be there? i know i cant cause of class where they take attendance
Last is a bit of a push..they should finish slightly higher then that. The bottom feeders are all a toss up but as long as the Hokies beat LOLUVA then I'll be happy.