VT 70, Clemson 77

You know, today’s game left a much better taste in my mouth than the loss to UVa. Maybe it’s because it wasn’t our rival, but I think it’s the energy I saw from the team. They refused to give up. In fact, at the lowest point of the game, they responded.

The Hokies were down 12-0 and got their first score SEVEN minutes into the game. Nothing was going right. With about 8 minutes remaining the first half, I saw the team spark and something got them going. The Hokies switched to a 2-3 zone (they ended up staying in it for the rest of the game) and became extremely active. The entire team looked determined to close the deficit and win, not just Erick Green.

Quick ThoughtsThe 2-3 zone looked pretty good. Everyone was extremely active and it forced quite a few turnovers. Tech had issues with shots from deep, but the majority of the threes made were contested.

JamesJohnson on giving up 10 3-pointers to Clemson: “Nothing went wrong. They made shots." #Hokies #ACC— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) January 27, 2013

With learning the 2-3, comes rebounding issues. In the zone, no one has a man to box out. Practice will improve this problem and it’s safe to say that the ball was bouncing pretty weird today. Sometimes I didn’t know how the ball could go right into Clemson’s hands.

I saw effort and energy. That made me very happy. Clemson’s made three’s weren't the result of open looks like against UVa, every played tried to close out and contest each jumper. The team lost a bunch of 50/50 balls in the first 10 minutes but really locked in later on. Players were diving and fighting hard to get to balls, the complete opposite of previous games.

Point Guards: Erick looked excellent in the first half, but Clemson did a great job frustrating him later. At one point in the second half he took a terrible shot that appeared to be from his lack of attempts. Other than that, a pretty typical Erick Green night.

Marquis Rankin has now been good for two straight games. He was 2-4 with both makes from behind the arc. His only bad part of the game was his missed layup on the very first play. If he keeps it up, I wouldn’t mind his attempts going up.

Shooting Guards: Robert Brown was much improved from previous games. No, he still couldn’t shoot from deep, but he was able to drive and score in the post. Something looked different about him; he had a different level of confidence. It was different than his, “I’m going to jack up a ton of shots.” It was more of a, “I will get past my man and score.” He did that multiple times, and his floater fell. He was 4-13 and 0-3 from long range. His stats won’t prove this, but I thought he looked VERY different.

Forwards: Jarell Eddie responded from the UVa game. His usual rebounding presence wasn’t there but made up for it with his aggressiveness on offense. He drove very well and his stats prove it; he was 5-11 but most importantly got to the free throw line 8 times.

Poor C.J. Barksdale had to make up for the lack of Dot and JvZ. For the majority of the game he had to play at the 5 spot, and fouled out with 24 seconds left. He led the team in rebounds and scored 5 points.

Christian Beyer was effective again during his short time on the court. In 16 minutes he had 4 rebounds and knocked down a three. Unfortunately, with less than a minute to go, his shot was blocked which sealed the game. It was an impressive block that probably wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t have size limitations.

Marshall Wood had another rough time with his shot. He was 0-3 from the field but did snag 3 rebounds and dished out 2 assists. It’s nice having another scholarship player, and hopefully he can add something offensively in the coming weeks.

Centers: Cadarian Raines was non-existent offensively and failed to provide the ‘beast’ in the post we needed. He fouled out with five minutes left and didn’t do too much on the day.

Joey van Zegeren fouled out in 9 minutes of play. I think that describes his day well enough, right?

Stat of the Game: Clemson made 10-21 3-pointers, doubling their average in the ACC.

Mike’s Player of the Game: Erick led the Hokies with 25 and scored 9 of the teams point’s during their 13-4 run to end the half. He finished with 5 assists and showed the ability to find open teammates when help came towards him.

Back to the drawing board, again! I think the main change needed is for the team to come out ready to play for 40 minutes. Not 30, not a half, but the ENTIRE game. Too many times do the Hokies wait to go down by 10 and end up playing catch-up. It’s that simple, play all 40 and have a chance at winning. I saw a couple bright spots today that I hope we can build on.

The games aren’t going to get any easier from here on out. This Wednesday the Hokies take on nationally ranked Miami at 9 p.m. Cassell should be rocking for a late game against a top-25 team. Go Hokies!!!