Well, we won. Have to get that out of the way. In this review, it is important to note that starting PG Erick Green did not play, which had a significant outcome on the game, as we did not play any true point guards besides him. On that note, we are thin at that position, which could be a problem if we were to lose Green for the season. Now that that is out of the way, here is the review:
Synopsis
After coming out of the gate extremely slow, the Hokies pulled it together with decent defense and by making free throws, coupled with some key three's by freshman Robert Brown, who shook off early jitters to have a good debut. The Hokies, who now have length for the first time in ages, got key rebounds and blocks to stop several ETSU possessions. Freshman Dorian Finney-Smith had a very good debut, even if against a less than spectacular team in East Tennessee State. The Hokies did let the lead slip away near the end before closing it out to win by 11. For the first game without Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen, while also being down our point guard, the Hokies did play well enough to win, and that is what matters in the end.
Freshman Class
Overall, the freshman class looked spectacular. They are long, fast, and can shoot. Finney-Smith will fill the gap of losing Jeff Allen, as he looked every bit capable of being dominant within the near future. Dorian Finney-Smith looked as good as advertised, if not better. He will be an immidate impact player. Robert Brown looked to get into a rythem after starting off slowly by hitting back to back three's, which was a good sign. C.J. Barksdale had a good debut as well; he looked to be big and strong, and considering that we lost J.T. Thompson for the year, he will be getting more playing time than originally anticipated. The freshman class had a big impact on the opener, and we would have likely lost had it not been for their contribution. We will see how they look with one game under their belt tomorrow, Monday, November 14th at 7 pm.
Upperclassmen
Garland showed problems handling the ball, and it took Dorenzo Hudson handling it to get it past ETSU's full court pressure. Past the obvious of Erick Green's absence causing major ball control problems, the team did play relatively well during the abcense of their play-maker and ball handler. it was good to see Hudson back in action after missing last year. Victor Davila still has no ups; that has not changed, especially after missing an easy dunk. Boxing out was a bit of an issue at a few times in the game, as Davila needs to assert his presence in the paint. Ball movement was key in this game, as there was no Erick Green to drive the ball and dish out.
Overall
Ball movement was good at time, poor at others. Rebounding for the most part was good, but the team needs to box out better against higher quality opponents. Ball handling was suspect at best* and shooting was poor. The shooting was most likely due to poor ball movement and bad shot selection. The team did better at this in the second half, which showed in the amount of points scored. Free-throw shooting looked much better as a team than last year, which is a good sign. Overall, a win is a win, and a win without your starting point guard is even better. The real evaluation of this team will be when Erick Green takes the court.
*Erick Green did not play.
