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Our 1️⃣st real 'Road Game' 📸 of the '18-'19 🏀 season (technically, a nuetral site)Rule #1: If you are in the gym, you have to be in the 📸.Special thanks to @ESPNCharleston & @SeanFarnham for joining us.We will turn all blessings, back to praise🙏🏿🗣🙌🏽 pic.twitter.com/HV15df0z5Y— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) November 15, 2018
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: November 16th 11AM
Opponent: University of Northeastern
Site: Charleston Classic, Charleston, SC
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser & Mike Burnop
TV: ESPN2
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
SXM 193 (Streaming 955)
Taking on an Under-Dog
Buzzketball hosts Northeastern in the second round of the Charleston Classic after the Huskies upset Alabama on Thursday afternoon. Hard to believe but the Crimson Tide had no answer for the Huskies after starting the game 0-9 from outside and shooting 16% for the game from outside. The Huskies have an experienced junior class helping the Huskies play spoiler.
Northeastern starts this season having finished 23-10 last year, where they tied for first in the CAA. The only game between the Hokies and Northeastern was back in 2001 that saw a Hokies squad win 79-56.
The Huskies are coached by Bill Coen, in his thirteenth year at the helm of Northeastern. In 13 years, his teams have made the postseason in four seasons, with one CBI, two NIT and one NCAA appearance. They also finished last season 23-10 but do not appear to have played in the post season. Craft is 203-187 at Northeastern, which has been his only head coaching position. So far this season the Huskies are 2-1 after a loss to Boston University to start the season followed by wins over Harvard and Alabama.
Defensively, the Huskies use primarily man to man with a focus heavily on the perimeter. Last season they had the second lowest three point allowed percentage of any NCAA team. This strategy has carried forward as in three games the Huskies have allowed only 34% of three pointers to fall. They are very aggressive and take risks to force turnovers by interrupting ball exchanges on the perimeter. They combine this with several skilled bigs that rotate on the inside making it difficult once opponents penetrate the perimeter. Opponents bigs still have a modicum of success as a forward has led the opponents in scoring in all three contests.
Offensively, Northeastern under Coen focuses primarily on pick and roll opportunities, running over a third of its offense through set plays of this nature last season. They also focus on finding open shooters on the perimeter, averaging over nine made threes per game so far. They shot better than 50% from outside in two of three contests so far.
Huskies Backcourt
Senior Point Guard Vasa Pusica (#4), 6'5, 210 lbs, is in his second season for the Huskies after transferring from San Diego. He is averaging 20.5 PPG, up from 17.9 last season, while also pulling down 2.5 RPG and dishing out 4.5 APG. Defensively he is grabbing 1.5 SPG. He is shooting just 25% outside so far but is hitting 82% of his free throws. He has a great first step on the dribble and is the top guy in terms of pick and roll chances.
Junior Jordan Roland, (#12), 6'1, 171 Lbs is averaging 21 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 2 APG. He has grabbed a steal per game as well. He is hitting 47% of his three pointers so far and also 90% from the foul line.
Donnell Gresham Jr. (#22), 6'1, 203 Lbs Junior Guard is averaging 9.5 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.5 APG so far. He also has 1.5 SPG. He is shooting 40% from outside and is perfect from the free throw line so far on 5 for 5 shooting.
Bolden Brace (#20) 6'6, 227 Lbs Junior Guard has averaged 8 PPG, 6 RPG, and 1 APG. Brace is shooting 38% from outside and is also perfect so far from the free throw line on 5 for 5 shooting.
Huskies Frontcourt
Tomas Murphy, (#33) 6'8, 220 lbs Sophomore Forward is averaging 9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, while shooting 66% from inside and 86% from the line. Murphy splits time with Green as the lone big to go with a four guard set for the majority of the game. Murphy and Green are each averaging about 20 minutes a game each.
Anthony Green, (#30), 6'10, 252 Lbs Senior Center is averaging 8 PPG, 8 RPG, and 1.5 SPG. He is shooting 67% from the field but struggles from the line, shooting only 40% so far early in the season.
Jeremy Miller, (#11), 6'10, 225 Lbs Senior Forward, really is not contributing statistically but is the third big in rotation between Murphy and Green.
What to expect from Northeastern?
The Huskies rely heavily on the starters and have not been challenged so far to go deep into their bench. Four guards are averaging over 33 minutes a contest so far while two bigs split the fifth spot fairly evenly. Outside of these six players, they have three other players that have seen the floor so far for a total of 35 minutes.
The Huskies were successful in pushing Alabama off the perimeter in this last game but both Boston and Harvard found a modicum of success, especially creating open looks off the dribble penetration. The four guard rotation is fairly similar to the Hokies in size but their defensive focus is much different, aiming to take away the three point line and force teams inside.
The Huskies rely heavily on creating turnovers, leading to easy transition baskets. So far they are averaging 8 steals per game while forcing opponents into 12 turnovers per contest.
The perimeter defines the difference on both ends of the floor. Against Alabama, the Huskies made 6 more three pointers, which essentially was the entire difference in the game as almost every other category the teams were shockingly similar.
The Hokies
The most critical two players for the Hokies in this contest will be Nickiel Alexander Walker and Justin Robinson and their ability to create from the top of the key. If they prove effective, they will create space inside and out for teammates to have big contests. The Hokies need to force the issue inside. Robinson' speed will make it difficult for the Huskies to not provide their bigs help defense down low which will create open looks for Hill, Outlaw and Wilkins.
Another big role in this game is likely to be Wabissa Bede, much the same way that he guarded Persons against Ball State, he will be called upon to limit the impact of Vasa Pusica in this contest.
One other aspect that is really important based on the reliable performance of the two bigs for Northeastern, is that Blackshear remain out of foul trouble. This is a constant issue, especially with his penchant to step out towards the perimeter defensively and pick up bad fouls. The Hokies need to get 25 reliable minutes from Blackshear in this contest to keep the inside from becoming a major issue, as Horne has not shown he can reliably handle bigs that work to score at the basket. This becomes a big spot where having Nolley would be a great addition to the roster. Thanks NCAA
The Hokies have to bring the effort for 60 minutes, especially defensively. They have gotten away with several lulls in concentration on the defensive end in the last two games that with this experienced opponent who is craving attention after already upsetting one Power Conference opponent, wont take its foot off the pedal and those spurts could be the difference in a close contest.
Hitting perimeter shots will be another key factor. Its going to be challenging to get clean open looks outside so when they get them they need to hit them. If its not working, then I hope Buzz is able to refocus the effort inside rather than letting the string play out like the Crimson Tide did.
In Closing
Keep a constant pace, force Northeastern to foul and look to get into the Huskies bench. No team so far has caused the Huskies the challenge of relying on young inexperienced bench players so this could be a great opportunity to open up space on the scoreboard.
The likelihood is that this contest comes down to the last four or five minutes and who can finish its last few shots and also is effective from the line. One aspect that will play a factor is the early starting point to this game and the lack of any kind of crowd. If either team gets down, they wont have that energy to feed off of in the building.
Tech wins 77-71, with a critical three pointer in the last two minutes that seals the deal. The Hokies need another surprise performance similar to Wilkins in the first game and Bede in the second. Hokies cant allow this opponent to get in their head and they will be fine.
Comments
LETS GO!!!
Hokies!
HOKIES!
"Vasa Pusica" sounds like a dirty phrase I'd hear in a language on Game of Thrones.
You've been predicting these games to be tight. I think we pull away again in the second.
Only if we can keep Blackshear in the game.
I concur. Unfortunately through two games he has shown that he has yet to grasp how important it is for him to stay on the floor and out of foul trouble, especially since he racks up silly ticky tack fouls more than almost any other big in the ACC
just a quick look at last year's game log
KBJ fouls (VT record in those games)
3 or fewer (16-3)
4+ (5-9)
5 (2-6)
As for my predictions so far, I called for a 21 point blowout of Gardner Webb but the extra scoring provided by Wilkins made it 28. Ball State I said the Hokies win by 6 amd it was 9. Thats a one play difference in either direction. Take away the halfcourt buzzer beater from Robinson to end the half and its spot on. This game I have concerns about Blackshear foremost but also the whole roster in terms of getting up for an 11am game, especially when they are going up against an experienced hungry mid major team. Too often under Buzz we have seen the focus slip in an early OOC game and Buzz uses it as a learning experience. I hope this roster is past that at this point but until I see it I expect a close game.
I love your game previews (legs for you) and I don't mean to nit pick but I guess I will. Your prediction for Ball State was:
"Tech wins 83-77, with key free throws late in the game determining the end. This game could very well come down to the final possession The bigs from both sides will likely determine how this contest closes out."
I'm calling that a miss... we were up 14 for what seemed like the last 10 minutes of the second half and had in our bench warmers who turned the ball over several times and let Ball State go on a mini end of game run to get it to single digits. Your 6 point spread was close but the overall prediction wasn't really.
Help me Buzzketball.....you're my only hope.
Why hasn't a TKP photoshop master turned this into a hologram projected from R2D2 yet?
Anyone else in northern VA (beltway area) want to grab lunch and some beers for this one? Im off work today, so figured I'd try to start a viewing party. Can meet pretty much meet up anywhere inside the beltway or springfield/burke/ffx area.
I'm putting it on the Tv's at Lost Dog Cafe Dunn Loring while I "work"
If I can get off the couch I'll come over. Will sound be on at the bar? Used to work every Friday from lost dog at halstead.
We don't do sound unless it's a big game or the Caps. Which if you're already here you found out
Love Lost Dog, but I did not get my ass in gear fast enough this morning to make it over to Dunn Loring. Had to settle for the local dive, Kilroy's.
Love Kilroys. I have a tshirt
Hah, I actually really like it also. It's a good bar and the food is fine if you are only expecting bar food. I actually played football and lacrosse with the owner's sons in high school.
My wife is not a fan though so I only get over here once every few months even though we live 5 minutes away. So sad.
Annandale alums go there for thanksgiving reunion on Wednesday. It gets pretty wild
im currently down in bburg, but im from the burke area, there is a great hokies bar right where braddock rd crosses the beltway called Kilroy's. Also tons of great world war memorabilia on the walls. one of my favorite restaurants in the area.
Yeah that's the one we're talking about above. I also love that they have high school stuff on the walls. They have one of my friends falling down while playing lacrosse. Every time he's there everyone points it out.
Los Angeles Lakers scout is in the building
Man, we're really hurting for bigs. I hope Sy doesn't go early...
Oh look, it's Blackshear with a foul past the 3-pt line...
blacksher with his first foul out near the arc
i do not understand
????????????????????????????????
maybe Blackshear practices with so few other PF/C's that he thinks he's a G/F wing and tries to play like one..
I like the defensive effort to start. Good patience on offense, although we've gotten lucky to get the ball back after a couple deflections.
why do we insist on jacking up corner 3s off baseline inbound passes, regardless of how open it is? i can understand that being a good shot when open, but we force feed that crap when it's double covered. Used to be Bibbs, now it's NAW.
Really like our defense. That steal from NAW was a thing of beauty.
I had no idea we were that in bed with analytics in basketball.
Which is a great angle for this school to undertake. With our educational DNA, that should be something we can really leverage to our advantage in the coming years. Do we teach sports analytics in any of our departments? If not, we should.
I didn't either, but it doesn't surprise me with Buzz as the head coach though.
For a guy who negotiated his own contract, he seems like the type of personality to find lots of value in analytics.
Buzz has always been a percentages type of coach. this should enhance that.
A friend of mine (UVa grad who lives in cville) has a son down at tech who is a student manager with the team. His sole job is to track statistics and do analyses and presentations to Buzz of said statistics. It's a little insane to hear him talk about how intense Buzz gets about it. The kid barely gets to enjoy any games or practices because he's afraid of missing something that Buzz might ask about.
Well, that is his job. And I suspect if he does it well, he may get an opportunity down the road that input from Buzz helped with.
Interesting, I know a student from H'burg that does the same thing. His parents didn't go to UVA, but his sister did. Buzz even named a play after him.
5 needs to slow down a little bit... trying to force passes
top gun reference! drink!
I knew that NE was going to live and die by the 3....
But this is ridiculous
they called us "the big boys from the ACC"
we give up wayyyyy to many 3s
we take wayyyyyy to many 3s
Its literally all NE apparently has on offense.
0-1 from inside the arc. 6 for a billion outside it. If we can keep their offense outside the arc (let alone the paint), I'll take it.
Northeastern is shooting themselves in the foot.
9 turnovers already? Given how open we're leaving them on some shots, we're lucky they've been so sloppy with the ball.
Is it bad that for the first time ever I'm questioning if I feel more confident in the future of our bball program than football?
No, I don't think so and I think it goes back to what a lot of people have said before about the direction. Coach Beamer still looms large around here (the bowl streak, the UVA streak, etc.) and when Buzz took over, the basketball program was in the toilet. I feel like expectations are different for both programs.
As far as I can tell, expectations are "Win the National Championship or GTFO!" for both programs. Just sayin'...
..another early ass game, but I can't even complain anyway, ...I'm stuck at work. ...like I will be allllll weekend.
It took them nearly 12 minutes to take their first shot from inside the arc.
Seriously. It took them that long
There threes aren't wide open either. 5-9 is saving them.
analytics says they cannot continue to make 3s at this pace.
northeastern.....
NE shooting 60% from 3. this can't go on forever... can it?
5 is scoring 30 today
8/12 from three... dafuq??
Our 3 point defense is atrocious. We're losing guys left and right leaving them wiiiiiiiiiiiide open
For those asking if this can continue? If we're not anywhere near the shooter like we have been, yup, it will.
Friggin' ridiculous. I can't believe we're leaving shooters wide open.
3 the hard way! take that north eastern
We need to be attacking on offense now that we're in the bonus. Hopefully we get a bit more aggressive.
Really not impressed with Outlaw
He must have heard you...
Whatever it takes haha
Wow the defense absolutely cranked it to high gear after NE took the lead. Kinda disappointed the TV timeout just came up, because that run could have really swelled.
If they can keep this defensive pressure on, we've got a good chance to pull away. You'd think they won't be able to maintain that shooting percentage from beyond the arc...
Time to push this lead to 15 by the end of the half.
For all the 3s Northeastern is making, our defense inside the arc has actually been very good today. We're making them shoot outside, they're just shooting the lights out today.
keep the petal to the metal
This stream is buffer city
I've had no issues and I'm watching on LTE, not even connected to wifi.
blackshear is balling!
He's never allowed to take the mask off
or go out on defense past the 3-point line
I'm calling him Batshear as long as he is wearing that mask.
wow VT can score a lot really quickly
Yeah put the game on mute while I was on the phone my boss for like 2 minutes and it goes from like 2 point game to a 12 point game.
i think you need to mute the TV more often. can we try this with the football team as well?
These announcers are finally figuring out what happens when you have two color commentators in the booth. Silence followed by weird non-play related comments
it's better than the announcers talking about the lovefest one of them had for Teague in yesterdays game... Good Lord, I swear I heard the old grease ball drool at one time
Talk about responding, huge run after going down by 1.
Northeastern poked the bear.
MED!!!
Two games, two half-time buzzer beaters!
MED HILL MED HILL
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH WE DID IT AGAIN AT THE BUZZER
Love watching this team, they are exciting as hell when they go on a run like that!
You can really tell Blackshear is crucial to our offensive flow. He's taken the Chris Clarke role at the top of the key and when he gets a touch there it really opens everyone else up. That mixed with his post scoring propelled that 17-0 run.
Northeastern's coach is probably thinking he should have taken the use it or lose it timeout and held it for the final shot.
someone posted this one yesterday.... but it applies again today! different person same result. rain drop!
do the dance buzz!
NE goes up by 1
VT says "enough of this shit" - closes out half on 23-2 run to go into the break up by 20
Northeastern didn't make a FG inside the arc that half. And a very large reason for that has been our defense, which has been excellent inside the arc. Still losing guys beyond it, but its absolute lockdown defense inside. Might be some of the best team defense I've seen us play in a long time.
Loved seeing the bench go nuts on the one defensive sequence when they were about to cause a shot clock violation.
This team is gonna sweep LOLUVA
Big, if true.
We need to keep up the intensity and scoring in the second half, but great first.
Blackshear is hereby banned from the perimeter on both ends of the floor. He needs to start getting his money's worth for his fouls.
Blackshear with a silly moving screen
to the bench with 3 fouls
Yo Med's on-ball defense has been stellar this year, looks like Bibbs from last year.
NAW makes scoring look effortless
Man I just don't understand how teams shoot so well from 3 against us. We're right there contesting on most of them
I just have to say, these on screen graphics from ESPN are really going to test my patience this year. Its literally blocking plays.
Oh, and #FreeNolley
Glad these guys are talking about it
I like that these uniforms actually look burnt orange, looks sharp with the maroon numbers.
Its the same orange as the football uniforms. Camera is just catching it differently
Shhhhhh... which these announcers would be quiet about NAW. I want him to stick around for a couple more years! /s
I'd rather them talk about that then the pizza parties and college football games and weather that seem to interest them more. They sound like morning talk show hosts.
haha, agreed!
At least the Wahoo announcer stuck up for Nolley. Thought that was cool.
OK Buzz, in the holy name of the Fifth Metatarsal, get the starters some rest
Yea, Hill played like 35 minutes. But they've got over 48 hours until the championship game Sunday night at least.
Nice to be able to rest the studs for the last 8 minutes of a tournament game.
We face the winner of Purdue and Davidson next. We also get about 8 hours more rest fwiw
The championship game is Sunday, so I don't think its going to matter that much.
Didn't even catch that.
Nice win for the fellas.
I'm rooting for Purdue over Davidson, since I think they'll provide a better test ahead of ACC play.
Davidson is a solid team, but Purdue will be a good measuring stick for our guys on a national level.
keys to victory
less than 10 turnovers... we had 9
4 guys in double figures... good distribution
You forgot more points on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
lol... that always helps!
You both forgot Time of possession
#BasketballSchool
enjoy the victory, get some rest, see you Sunday night.
Buzzketball is making me happy, almost takes the sting out of the football season...almost.
Crushing a solid mid-major in the first half and pulling away effortlessly in the second was very encouraging. Giving me hope that they can win an early season tourney for once.
Excellent win. We didn't just beat a team we were suppose to beat, we wrecked them. That's always a good sign. And thankfully we get a good break until the finale on Sunday night to rest up and study our potential opponent.
And LOL at Buzz not even giving Davidson a chance in his post game interview, focusing solely on Purdue. I mean, he's probably right, but its still somewhat rare to see a coach do that. If it is Purdue (very very likely), hopefully Blackshear can stay on the court. We're desperately gonna need him out there against their size. Someone needs to get in his ear, point to the block and say "That is your home. Do not leave this area. Do not chase guards around the 3 point line and stop reaching in".
On top of it, beating Ball State and Northeastern nets us two wins over (current) KenPom top 100 teams.
it's likely that KJ is chasing guards because of either the defensive system or guards calling for switches... but yeah there needs to be a realistic approach as to what he's going to do guarding a pg 20+ feet from the hoop and getting steals 1v1 is unlikely
From what I can tell, it usually happens on a switch where the opposing guard runs around the perimeter and KJ either hip checks him or he just straight up runs into him while he's still moving. It's definitely done on purpose by the other team. It's one of the reasons the small ball trend has been so effective in basketball recently.
If we can beat a ranked Purdue in the championship game, we should move up a few spots in the AP top 25 considering (8) Villanova, (13) Oregon, and (15) Syracuse all lost this week. We could potentially be looking at a #12 or #13 ranking come Monday.
I watched the Davidson/Purdie game last night. Purdie may have the best player on the court, but we play better defense, and have better ball movement. We should win that game.
This is the best Kool-Aid I've had in years!
Best Kool-Aid I've had since the FSU football game!
Indeed, but this Kool-Aid has some legitimacy to it!
Lmao WVU just lost to WKU. Not a good start to the season for the cousins.
I saw some highlights of this as I was sitting at a bar last night - still amazed that we're ranked and apparently pretty good at basketball.
I really hope our fans will get interested in VT basketball. I've loved it since '68, followed it pretty closely since '76. At times, it was so much better than football, but after '95, it seemed like folks lost interest as football waxed and bball waned. I'm as guilty as anyone, but I still followed the team and listened to the games religiously since we were seldom on TV. But regardless of accomplishment, we've had some good basketball teams and some outstanding basketball players come through the program. It's a shame more fans don't buy into our efforts.
Shouldn't be amazed, though. The past couple of seasons should have clued everyone in that we were ballin'.