2013-14 Basketball Questions and Answers

I hate to interrupt the near-apocalyptic vortex that is rooting for this Virginia Tech football team, but basketball season is back! Who's ready for depressing double digit losses and something unplanned to go dramatically wrong? I mean, we've already gone through the 2012 football season, so we're all used to all of those things by now.

I realize that the team has already played one game, so this isn't technically a "preview", but I'm going to ask myself a bunch of questions that I expect to be issues that will develop over the season, and answer them to the best of my ability.

Logistical Questions

How bad is this team going to be? Wow, let's cut right to the chase, shall we? In short, this team is not going to be good. The combination of youth, that of both the team and the coaching staff, usually doesn't bode well, no matter how talented either side is. That being said, I'm convinced that the team's final record is not going to represent the way the team plays...but we'll get to that. The record will be bad. I'm talking...really bad. Like possibly single-digit wins bad.

What will this team's starting lineup look like? I realize that they just played a game, but we know that in no way determines the guys who will end up starting most of the year. If I had to guess right now, I think the lineup combination of Cadarian Raines/C.J. Barksdale/Jarell Eddie/Adam Smith/?????. Yeah, that's five question marks instead of the name of a player that I think will start at point guard. In fact, let's get to that right now.

Who will start at point guard? This seemed destined to be the German freshman Malik Mueller, whose frame (6-3, 215) would make an excellent pairing with the undersized Smith. He was then ruled academically ineligible for the season by the NCAA, leaving the position race wide open between Marquis Rankin and freshman Devin Wilson. There will be obvious disadvantages starting two guys that are under 6-2 (which both Rankin and Smith are), but would Rankin be a better fit working with a guy that is going to assumingly be as ball dominant as Smith? A team like Louisville has succeeded playing two small guards, but that was when those two guards (Peyton Siva and Russ Smith) had elite athleticism. This position is probably the biggest positional question mark on the team.

How will this team space the floor? So...this is a big concern. When ya team has no A+ scorer, there needs to be at least four guys on the floor that can score consistently (or are at least a threat to score). Currently, this team has two bigs with little to no offensive game (van Zegeren, Beyer), and two point guards that are described as "pass first". If a team plays a point guard and an offensively challenged big man, they're just not going to score a lot of points. At times you can "hide" a player, like putting Rankin in the corner as a guy to swing the ball and shoot a (wide) open 3, but defenses catch on to that quickly (and it also completely defeats the purpose of having a passing point guard). This team needs to run its offense well...and the way it uses open space in the half-court will be key to that.

Questions About Who We Know

How much will Cadarian Raines have to play? To put it simply: the more minutes he plays, the less effective he is. Don't get me wrong, that isn't a knock on Big C, it's just that he's a pretty big dude. When he get's tired he makes more mistakes (dumb fouls, turnovers in the post), which is a shame because it takes away from what he can do on the court. While it may limit his numbers a bit, I think he should get around 25 minutes a night and let him just own those 25 minutes. If he gets any more, he'll probably only give the team about 25 good minutes anyway.

(PS, isn't it amazing how his go-to post move: set up on the left block, power dribble and hook with the right hand, still works? Don't you think that after two years of tape, someone would probably figure that out? Every time he sets up on that block everyone in the building knows what's coming, but it's enjoyable every time.)

Will Jarell Eddie make "the leap"? It's something that no one will be able to answer except Eddie. It's always fascinating to watch what the guy who was the second best player on the team a year earlier does when it's his turn to carry the load. We've seen this asked of numerous Tech basketball players over the years, all leaping with a varying degree of success. Some guys make it with relative ease (Deron Washington, AD Vassallo, Malcolm Delaney), it takes some a little time (Erick Green made the leap, but it took him two years to do so) and others never make it for whatever reason (Dorenzo Hudson had health issues, Jeff Allen was out-leaped by Delaney). For better or worse, Eddie is going to be the guy this year. That doesn't mean, however, that he makes the leap.

We have seen Jarell go through...let's just call them growing moments. A small suspension here, pouting on the bench there, nothing major, but enough to question whether or not this guy can be "the guy". I'm convinced that his best position is as a stretch 4, giving him license to shoot practically any jumper he wants to, but he's intent on playing the 3 (with the ball in his hands quite a lot). Simply be the sheer number of shots he takes, he's guaranteed to lead the team in both scoring and grey hairs given to his viewing audience. Either way, his growth in his final year will be fascinating to watch.

Who is C.J. Barksdale? No player has been more inconsistent than Barksdale. Is he the player that put together four near-double doubles during conference play last season, or the guy that JJ's doghouse is named after? I've always believed in Barksdale, he's a solid power forward with a nice mid-range jumper, so his tear of games last February made some of his other games even more maddening. He's not off to the best start on the year, he's suspended for the first three games, but will he be able to bounce back and consistently crack the starting lineup? If he's only good for a few "Barksdale just wants his corners" jokes, this team is in more trouble than we even thought.

Will Joey van Zegeren be the rim protector that he's needed to be? The knock on JVZ is that he's been a little soft at times, which to me is pretty unfair. This is a guy that was only in his redshirt freshman year last season, while trying to learn a different defensive scheme than the one used by Seth Greenberg. That can be difficult for a big man to pick up, and we saw many times last season where he was late on a defensive rotation and couldn't get to the shooter in time for a block (usually those plays resulted in a foul). I've always thought that van Zegeren could benefit from using the "Roy Hibbert defense" in which a big man "contests" a shot, but by jumping with his arms straight up rather than going for the ball. He still has the length to be a very good defender, and his ability to do so will impact every big man in the rotation.

How much of Will Johnston and Christian Beyer will we see? This is going to be 100% dependant on how much JJ can trust his freshmen. Each of these guys have their own limitations (for Johnston it's his size and inability to take anyone off the dribble, for Beyer it's finishing around the rim, and both present big time defensive liabilities), and opponents know it. They both contribute to the general flow of the game when checked in, Johnston can help space the floor on offense, Beyer is a relentless maniac on the glass. Those limitations though should limit their minutes, drastically. Considering front court depth, it was surprising to me that Beyer got as many minutes as he did against USC Upstate (personally I would have given them to Trevor Thompson). If we see these guys play heavy minutes, something's gone dramatically wrong.

Where will Marshall Wood play? I had read some stuff over the summer that Wood was practicing a lot at small forward, a position that he didn't play much of his freshman year. After all of that, however, Wood was back at power forward to start the year (presumably due to the Barksdale suspension). How will Wood grow as a basketball player this season? If his handles have come along there will be a chance that he can push Eddie for playing time. If not, he will be fighting for minutes alongside Barksdale, Beyer, Raines, Thompson and van Zegeren in a crowded front court.

Will Marquis Rankin be able to stay on the floor? I love Rankin's intense defense. He's far and away the best on-ball defender in Blacksburg, and has a tendency to get in an opponent's head. The problem for him though is that college basketball is finally changing the rules to allow for a more offensive flowing game, meaning that his hand checks and toughness will draw a quick whistle. That's a problem for a player who already had eight games where he had four or five fouls. His ability to adjust to the new rules (basically, if you touch the ball handler they call a foul), will be essential to a Hokie defense looking to improve.

Questions About Who We Don't Know

What will Adam Smith provide? We finally get to watch Smith after he sat out a season due to his transfer to Tech from UNC Wilmington. Everyone and their mother thought that Smith would be the guy to alleviate the absence of Green, if only because we've all heard stories from JJ and company about how Smith lit it up in practice last year. What I don't think anyone realized was that Smith is a sharpshooter, he took 175 three pointers in his freshman year at UNC-W, more than anyone did for the Hokies last year. That's kind of a lot for a guy listed at 6-1 (and let's be honest, can we really trust this team with height after they kept listing Victor Davila at 6-9?). Will he be able to get his shot consistently? What will they have to do when he's on defense? These are all questions that have to be answered in the first couple games, because this team is going to need Smith's scoring ability.

Is Devin Wilson ready? The last signee of this freshman class could very well be the most important. With the announcement that Mueller would be ineligible for the season, the load on Wilson's shoulders doubled. He's a big guy for a point guard (listed at 6-4) but he also plays the position that has the biggest learning curve between high school and college. JJ described him as a pass-first guy, which is good considering that he won't get a lot of shots playing with Eddie, Smith and Raines. This team will go as far as Wilson can go, and if he can limit his turnovers, which is a big if, he has the chance to be a four year starter. Whether or not he's ready, though, seems a bit inconsequential considering that he'll get a ton of minutes regardless.

How will Ben Emelogu handle being a captain? It may seem like something inconsequential, but this is a team that's in a huge transitionary period and Emelogu's captaincy proves it. If you look down the roster, it breaks down like this: 6 upperclassmen (2 seniors and 4 juniors), 4 sophomores, and 5 freshmen.

That's a pretty interesting divide between guys who've been around a while and guys who are just starting their career. It's even more interesting when you remember that the five freshmen (and Marshall Wood) are all JJ's guys. That's got to create a little bit of tension in the locker room, doesn't it? Even though he was a Greenberg assistant for years, Johnson brought in those guys to run the team the way he wants it to be run, and that could possibly mean older guys being sat at times for younger guys. Is an 18-year-old Emelogu ready to deal with the possible conflicts that come from that?

Will Trevor Thompson be a contributor this year? I honestly have no idea. Out of all of the recruits, I was the most excited about the commitment from Thompson. He's a legitimate power forward that can run the floor and make explosive plays, something that Tech has missed since the days of Coleman Collins. I figured that with the announcement of Maurice Kirby's redshirt, Thompson would see his share of minutes in the big man rotation. Instead, Thompson saw as many minutes in the opener as I did. Did JJ just revert into his 2012-13 self and reach for Beyer off the bench? This is a question that needs to be investigated.

Questions About The Future

How much will this season show of Johnson's future plans? It was painfully obvious last year that JJ just didn't have the horses to run his intended style of play. He's said over and over again that he wants to run, both on offense and defense. It's hard to run when you have three scholarship guards, so last year was basically a wash. This year was supposed to be better, but the Mueller situation will probably impact that. How many coaches in a big six conference have to go through two whole seasons without being able to run the team like they want?

How much time does JJ have left? For the record, we all know that he's a great guy. His players seem to love him, and he's great with the fans and the press. That's something that this team and program desperately needed from its coach, but at what point will his potential lack of success be a problem? If I had to guess, he has until Jim Weaver retires, and all bets are off after that. I'm rooting for him, the guy walked into an imploding situation that needed to be revamped. How many years would a new AD be willing to give him though?

Will there be anything that comes out of this season that makes me happy? I'm seriously looking for anything...anything at all. Well, anything not involving Marshall Wood's hair. That will always make me happy.

Finally, what record will this team finish with? I'm going to with 9-21...which seems pretty safe. Maybe. Probably. That being said, if there is progress from game one to game 30 then I think we can call this a successful year. They all won't be as bad as USC Upstate, hopefully.