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Busch Gardens must be better because, like TKP, it does not have ShockWave.

If you don't pay for premium sites

I don't think I'd use Andrew Ford in a case for Loeffler... but that's just my opinion

I really struggle with Allen. He plays the game like a scorer, like Green and Delaney did before him at VT, but it's just really frustrating to watch. Maybe he's still too new. Maybe his transfer status masks that he has put in the time to earn ill-advised shots. Or maybe he's just not as good as EG or MD were here. But his bad shots drive me nuts whereas I would just shrug and say "What else can we do?" when EG or MD hoisted up stinkers.

I'm hoping he grows on me. Unfortunately, he probably needs to win some games in heroic fashion to earn those stripes from me.

Are we there yet?

Accurate headline and writeup.

Sort of glad it happened now, so VT can better prepare for the ACC.

Fascinating. I appreciate the detailed reply. I don't often comment on the basketball threads, just because I'm still learning the intricacies of the game (I am a much more knowledgable football observer), but I appreciate the write-ups you do and the Q&A you engage in with everyone here. Definitely educational.

He is recruiting players that have the ability to run with just about anyone in the gym. That said, he has shown on more than one occasion either the inability or the unwillingness to be flexible when faced with an expected or possibly unexpected challenge. If its an expected challenge than it may be that he is trying to teach his guys a lesson for not executing what he ran them through in practice.

If its an unexpected challenge and he isnt adjusting his play to it than we have bigger worries going forward. I cant know which of these it is since I am not there for practices and strategy sessions. I can only say this, in the hour or two that it took me to write my game write up before this game, I was able to point out exactly who we needed to be concerned with and what type of shots those two primary players were going to be looking for come game time. They have staff guys with gadgets and gizmos way more technically sound than I do so being able to focus a game plan to counteract Bembry and Miles should have been something they had ready to include alternative methods of doing it if the primary method didnt work. You could see there was an adjustment made early in the second half to defending Bembry, although it broke down as the half progressed. There was not much of an adjustment made regarding Miles though and it killed us. If I am not mistaken, he scored 23 of his teams 44 second half points.

Buzz at Marquette ran almost exclusively with a high pressure man to man system that forced turnovers early and often. I would have to do alot more research to try to see how often he utilized zone defenses back then. The difference here is that Buzz usually had his front guard meeting the opposing ball handler on the other side of half court and tried to force their hand rather than allowing them time to decide what set play to run. We either haven't reached the point that this is possible yet or Buzz has changed styles somewhat. We occasionally see it with Clarke or Allen but its not every trip down the court like it seemed when Buzz was at Marquette.

Last year he seemed comfortable enough rotating through defensive styles in most games but did have a few sticking points then as well. This season we have had relatively few times where we werent able to stay in man to man situations but if you were to look at the ones that probably were the case, it would start with ISU, include St Joes and possibly the Northwestern game.

These obviously are the more challenging games on our roster but those are the kind of games with a young roster you need to spend the most time teaching and I definitely didnt see teaching today unless it was the silent treatment to show my disdain for how you grasped what I taught you earlier kind of teaching. I also didnt see Buzz up on the floor shouting instructions to players, I saw Buzz sitting down between two other coaches for most of the second half. That to me is the worst kind of Buzz. He is at his best when he is sweating buckets, chirping at players and officials alike, and making sure that his team understands what it is he is trying to do.

In this game, I would have hoped that Bembry and Miles would have been the expected challenges so its possible Buzz was teaching a hard lesson here. Otherwise I do not understand not changing defensive style, players etc, to see if another method would have slowed the Hawks down on offense and allowed us to chip our way back into the game. We allowed the Hawks 19 offensive rebounds. If we cut that number by half by keeping our big men down low we likely are running about even in this game. We were able to hold the Hawks to 39% shooting but just gave them opportunity after opportunity to get easy buckets down low or go to the line for free throws. We had an 11 point deficit at the free throw line today much of which was on attempted put backs after offensive rebounds.

Part of the X's and O's challenge that Buzz faces though with the current roster is that he wants to run a specific type of defense but he also wants to run a specific type of offense as well. The smaller roster we see most frequently is capable of running the style of offense that Buzz wants but they have some big challenges defensively with the lack of size being a big one. It appears Buzz is more comfortable running with the offense he wants and suffering the consequences defensively rather than run a much stouter defensive team out there that has significant shortfalls on the offensive end. In most games, Allen, Clarke, and Bibbs create matchup nightmares for opposing coaches on offense but defensively a 6'8 forward with bulky bones can back guys into the lane for easy put back buckets.

My opinion is that he needs to find a middle ground to be successful, especially against the ACC this year with this roster. We need to see Blackshear getting 25 minutes a game, and more appearances of Hamilton and Pierce on the floor with Blackshear and Leday. I am not talking 20-30 minutes for H and P, more like five or six each but enough to keep the other team honest. Having them in also allows Leday to bang with a much more like sized opponent rather than having to go in against their biggest guy.

I think Loeffler is like any coach in the college ranks. If he had higher quality players to run his system, the results would have been better. There are plenty of sub-par coaches out there winning because of a talent gap between their team and the opponents. The best coaches are able to get the most out of their players and put them in the best position to win. I think he did that at times, but couldn't always cover up all the deficiencies. I wish him the best as well.

Respek

He had lost 70 legs in a matter of about an hour, at which point I took him from 7 to -27 by hitting his three worst comments. He was on his way, I just got him there faster.

I use the term "community ban" to indicate self-moderation by the TKP user base, rather than a banhammer by Joe or I.

could always just not reply..................................

because the funny thing about trolls is (the funny thing about trolls are?) they need a captivated audience.