VENT

Our basketball team is not good. Let's talk about why.

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Green and Eddie are the only 2 that can shoot on this team. Looks like Bobby Browm has hit the Freshnan wall

Do we practice offense? I wonder

we are..

a missed block away. we are close, real close, just stay with me. it will get better.

eric

"My advice to you... is to start drinking heavily."-John Blutarsky

I've been feeling like that for at least 4 years now, though

and it seems like no matter the inputs (talent/experience/injury/depth), the result is the same. How much more rope does Seth get?

ummm

there is a reason why the team, no matter how constructed, save a gritty sr class 5 yrs ago, can't get that brass ring.

eric

"My advice to you... is to start drinking heavily."-John Blutarsky

I see now

I r teh dum tonight

I see what you did there

wut

once the OL gets better the offense will come around.

eric

"My advice to you... is to start drinking heavily."-John Blutarsky

Inexperience

Our young team is hitting the midseason wall.. and we have no leadership from the upperclassman. Davila is not vocal at all and JT Thompson is on the sideline...its hard for Green to carry them

It's a damning trifecta

Youth, absence of a scorer who can take over a game by himself (or at least be a secondary scoring threat), and inadequate senior leadership. This is going to be a take-your-lumps kind of year while the young bucks grow up. The present is bleak, but the future is brighter. Add Montrezl next year and it gets brighter. NIT, at best.

were young

Were going to have some tough losses at the beginning of ACC play. Our next game will probably be very similar to these last two, but once our Freshman get used to ACC play we'll be fine, as long as they learn how to BOXOUT.

Pre-marital sex will blow your mothers fake legs off her porch

(those who were frequents at Sharkeys from 2006-2008 will understand this epic graffiti by the first urinal)

Too many reasons to list, but I'll start

They watch the ball instead of boxing out
They can't score the basketball inside
They don't create fouls on offense (Delaney was awesome at this)
They don't have any consistent outside shooters (Are there not an any white guys in VA that just shoots jump shots?)
We get very few easy transition buckets
There is no one to get the team excited (Where is Derron Washington's Mom?)

@TheTurkeyTavern

White dudes haha

I about shit my pants when I read that. I wonder the same thing too. Where are the stud 5'11 white 3 point shooters that every other team has??? haha

Hah, that is an interesting question... has Greenberg recruited a white player at VT? The only one I remember that got playing time was Chris Tucker and I believe he was a walk-on.

Jeff King

Don't forget about Jeff King! He's a white guy, although I'm sure he wasn't recruited... :-\

Cheri
Virginia Tech alumna
twitter.com/AnimatedHokie
Hokies, Redskins, Capitals, D.C. United, Orioles, A.S. Roma

Coaching

Does it seem like Seth just can't coach the x's and o's to anyone else? Nobody in our offense is ever open, nobody makes cuts, we can't beat the zone, and we run the same things all game even if they aren't working. There's no in-game adjustments, and our guys can't do the little things, like pump fakes, and it might be because they're young, but shouldn't Seth be telling them to do these things in practice? I think we need a new coach.

Recruiting has picked up since Seth has taken over, but he seems to have hit a ceiling. Great job getting the program to where it is, but I think he might have maxed out. Next year will be the telling year. We'll have everyone back that matters (no, I'm not counting Zo and Vic b/c they have been useless this year) and the team will have some experience. If Greenberg can't get them into the NCAAs next year, time to say goodbye.

what does

recruiting mean if you keep losing?

eric

"My advice to you... is to start drinking heavily."-John Blutarsky

Which is why

I think Seth's time is running out. He has the talent to work with, no doubt. He just got a top 15 class in. He doesn't know the X's and O's. The offense is way too simplistic...they don't know how to run an offense against a zone. Do they not work on that in practice???

"Recruiting has picked up since Seth has taken over, but he seems to have hit a ceiling. Great job getting the program to where it is, but I think he might have maxed out."

Sounds like similar comments I've been hearing/seeing all over the web about another coach...

Cheri
Virginia Tech alumna
twitter.com/AnimatedHokie
Hokies, Redskins, Capitals, D.C. United, Orioles, A.S. Roma

Why is

Dorenzo Hudson a starter

A common problem

If we think the guys playing in Lane Stadium are the only ones with an offensive identity problem, I submit for your review the Cassell Coliseum quintet. They want to implement a dribble drive/motion offense, but they lack anyone beyond Green that can move the ball effectively from the perimeter to the lane, or make a smart decision on pass/shoot. End result is a lot of guys standing around. Then for added flavor, you get the Seth high-post screen and (maybe) roll (but never receive a pass) Option B.

And like their football brothers, defense is a strong point for almost every Seth team. But at some point you have to alleviate the pressure to hold everyone under 60 to secure a victory.

I have faith things will get better as this season progresses, but 6-10 in the ACC may be new best-case scenario. At some point we're going to see DFS and Brown get their ACC legs under them - and let's hope that happens sooner than (much) later.

Chad Willis
twitter.com/ChadWillis

I wasn't able to watch the game, but that is one ugly box score.

Green being the only promising scorer
Robert Brown scoreless
Davila - awful
30.5% FG percentage
16.7% 3-pt percentage

It looks as if FT's actually KEPT us in the game for once. I also think Davila needs to be taken out of the lineup, and if Green doesn't get more of a supporting cast, this is gonna be a shaky season.

I'm sure Saturday will be fugly as well, since we tend to play horribly up in Boston.

Twitter ===> @PattyLighttt

it was an atrocious outing....nit here we come...if we're lucky...

February..'96...the steak: ribeye, the whiskey:Lagavulin 16, the lady next to me: a bit**.....

Are we soft?

I'm sure it's just part of the bigger problem --lack of offensive identity, poor fundamentals, general cluelessness-- but we don't seem like a tough team, physical team. On the "missed" over the back on Eddie, if he goes up hard and brings the ball down with a little authority, then I think he gets that foul call. We never attack the basket. Most of the time we settle for chucking up three-balls instead of driving, and when we do move down the lane we look indecisive.

Anyways, I'm just going to look at this for a while because it makes me happy.

I'm out of the loop on this, but regarding Debnam...

I walked by him on campus a while ago, so what exactly is the reason for him not being on the team this year?

Twitter ===> @PattyLighttt

SIZE !!!

Why they hell can't we attract any of the big guys for football or basketball?? We are known for a hybrid (aka small and aggressive) defense in football and we never have any solid big guys in the paint for Bball. No, I don't count Jeff Allen as a solid "big guy."

We are ranked number 1 nationwide for on-campus food.... that alone should attract some 7 footers and some nasty 315 pound O Linemen.

I don't get it...

I absolutely love

your reasoning for attracting big guys to our athletics team. I'm gonna continue to push that stat and hope others do as well

Cheri
Virginia Tech alumna
twitter.com/AnimatedHokie
Hokies, Redskins, Capitals, D.C. United, Orioles, A.S. Roma

I'm not an X's and O's guy when it comes to hoops, but that first half last night was just about the ugliest basketball I have ever seen. Ever.

Maybe its just me remembering the Ricky Stokes era, but personally I do think we should ride the Greenberg train a while longer. The program has come a long way under him. Like somebody else said, with this recruiting class, next year may be the pivotal year.

"We were at the pinnacle, and we did it for years," Foster says. He pauses, nods, takes a deep breath. "And I did it with the best guy in the business."

Freshmen and Bad Starts

The freshmen aren't producing like they were in the first 12 or so games of the season.
Also, Green IS NOT Malcom Delaney. He has yet to completely take over a game and put a spark in his team. He averages under 20 ppg as well.

In addition to that, the last two games, and some of the ones before conference play, we let the opponent get out on a run from the tip... Then we're left to play catch-up for 40 minutes. That DOESN'T WORK when you don't have good enough shooters or consistent enough defense & rebounding to come back from a 10-plus point deficit.

The Fact of the Matter is This...

Sure, the team has gotten better since Greenberg took over, but I still don't think he has given Hokies what we deserve. 1 tournament in his 9 years as head coach, with all of the money and resources thrown into the program is unacceptable. Now let me be clear, I am not saying it is time for Seth to go, I love him as a coach and I love his intensity (except for his pop-ups on hokiesports.com). But I do think something needs to change. The team has regressed since we played 32 tough minutes with 'Cuse before they pulled away. We have the pieces to be a very good team and a top-5 team in the ACC. It is Seth's job to get us there. Green and Hudson are great up top, and despite JTs injury we are strong enough to compete down low. While our "big" men are a little undersized, we make up for it in Eddie's outside shooting ability. Most of all, let's get back to being physical. What happened to the days where we got on the floor and got dirty. Where we won those 50/50 balls and that alone kept us in games. Our talent is at the right level, adding physicality may put us over the top.

Phillip

Don't forget the always-useful "halfass drive to the bucket and flailing-ly put the shot up" routine. Malcolm patented that move.