Another loss, this one more painful than most. The Hokies got embarrassed by LOLUVA, suffering a scoring drought of more than eight minutes in the first half and scoring a season low 17 points. Tech suffered another dreadful shooting game, matching the last effort of 33% from the field but this time couldn't hit from behind the arc, going a woeful 3 for 18. We again were dreadful at the free throw line, shooting 56% on 14 of 25 attempts. UVA led in almost every offensive statistic in this game from rebounding to assists.
Devin Wilson led the Hokies with 12 points but is headed for burnout, as he again played too many minutes from the point guard position, going for 39 minutes tonight. No other Hokies were in double digits, with three scoring seven points on the night. Raines again failed to impress with 28 minutes off the bench, scoring only four points and pulling in only six rebounds. Eddie is headed for a monumental failure of a senior season, seven points on 2 of 10 shooting, 1 for 7 from behind the arc to go with four rebounds. JVZ was conspicuously quiet on the defensive end of the court with seven points, two rebounds and zero blocks on the night.
UVA was able to play most of their backups throughout the second half as we never mounted any real threat of a comeback in this game. This has got to be the low point of the year, and while UVA seems to have a pretty good squad (they have had at least a twenty point lead in each of their ACC wins this year) the team never seemed to be in the game. Not a good first impression for JJ in front of Babcock if he was able to be there tonight. Extremely disappointing for a rivalry game, regardless if the basketball rivalry doesn't have as much fire as the football side.
We now have sole possession of last place in the conference with a 1-6 conference record.
Thoughts?
Comments
Ouch... that 3-18 from 3 range is even worse that I thought, especially considering that at one point we were 2-5...
Thanks for your write-ups.
They are well done and insightful, and through no fault of your own, a lonely job.
This is what I feel like I am watching:
Wasn't able to watch the game but a 20 point loss to a rival hurts. Did the team finally give up or are we just that inept?
They just couldn't hit shots, especially in the first half. They were down by 17 after the first half and the only reason it was closer in the second half was because of how much the UVA scrubs played down the final minutes. Still was no real rhythm on offense or real attempt to run set plays, just kids taking bad shots.
First off, we're probably not gonna win another game this year (BC might be our only realistic chance) which would give us a final record of 8-23. I know it's tough to compare last year to this year with different schedules and everything, but was Erick Green really worth 5 games by himself?
Don't see them winning on the road, the only teams they should have a chance against are Maryland and Miami at home.
Holy shit!
That's what I say every game. Its getting exasperating! The same thing every game.
I don't know if you guys saw this, but in our motion offense against UVA we started to pass back to the pick setter early and had some success. Then, when we had 11 points, we stopped doing this and only passed to guy in direction of dribble into that pick. I'm sure some UVA defense adjustments were part of the reason, but I saw several opportunities to take advantage again and again as game continued...AND WE NEVER TOOK ADVANTAGE...NEVER! Doht!
I have noticed that all season. They hardly ever even look in that direction. It's like they have a play in mind and the pick and roll is not even an option. For a team that seems so disorganized on offense, it seems like they are also too scripted to see the open man.
These are the kind of things that are making me lean towards letting JJ go, the failure to identify advantages. He is good at adjustments on the defensive end (not always good on execution) as you see him switch from man and zone coverage based on what is going on but doesn't consistently adjust on the offensive side. I guess you have to run an actual offense first before I could hope you could identify ways to exploit the other teams weaknesses.
Sadly, I agree. I was leaning towards giving him another year, but ACC competition is really starting to show how outmatched he is. Green last year covered up a lot of holes on his offense, then again last year the offense was give it to Green.
Sorry. Wait-we still have a hoops team?
they could barely get a shot off in the first half. according to techhoops.com this was the worst loss to uva since 1990. their program is a million miles ahead of us when we were neck and neck just a few years ago. i see no joy in the faces or body language of the players. they're simply going through the motions to get out of the season.
*sigh*
This is how I feel as a VT basketball fan (we're all on the side of the road):
I've never seen an organized basketball team where the players are getting free tuition to come play that shoots the ball as poorly as this year's Hokies. Damn.
They would probably do just as well to do nothing this week except shoot free throws. All. Day. They've gotta get that lid off the basket.
I will never understand how free throw shooting can be so terrible. That IS something you can practice and improve on. 14-25 is downright pathetic. It makes me wonder if JJ is making guys shoot these everyday at practice. When I played in high school, we couldn't leave practice till we MADE 50 free throws. And we ended the year shooting right around 70% as a team. It just seems like one of those little parts of a game that make a huge difference, and it's something we have control over.
This is one of the many reasons I can't watch basketball. Especially pro basketball. Every time I see a NBA player miss free throws, I'm just in disbelief that someone could make all that money playing a game, and not even practice the simplest part of the game so that they're reliable in doing it.
I feel the same way (although less strongly) with college kids. All it takes is practice. Shooting below 50% on free throws just says to me "I don't practice."
Shooting below 70% means "I don't practice". I can shoot 50% as a old white guy at the gym who plays maybe once every 6 months.
I don't play basketball, I was trying to be generous.
I agree with the old adage "If you live by the three, you die by the three." For what little of Hokie basketball I have watched this year, it seems to be our mantra. I see so many guys out there kinda moving the ball around and then someone will just jack a three because we couldn't do anything else. I see very little motion on offense, especially against man-to-man, which is how to beat a man-to-man. So really, our misguided love of three-pointers (although we started off the year hot from behind the arc) is really a small part of a hapless offensive "scheme," which has been indicated in several instances in comments above.
One thing I will add is that I don't think it's time to call for JJ's head just yet. I will wait till next year. Last year was almost a wash because of the late, scattered nature of his hire. He needs at least two full, uninhibited seasons to really prove his value as a coach. To me, the current season is his first "real" season at Tech as HC.
Finally, I'd like to commend the TKP community for supporting all Hokie sports and the entire Hokie Nation, win or lose. We are certainly a passionate and knowledgeable fanbase when it comes to football, but I'm always glad to see people chiming in on basketball, softball, wrestling, or whatever. Cheers!
....He said Scheme....
He said ""scheme"." However, Captain Insane-O shows no mercy.
....and this stat courtesy of John Feinstein's article in the Washington Post:
Not hard to believe that this game met either of those items....
Hearing the stats from that game...
Balls.
That is all.
Thoughts: 1-6 in the ACC. That one team has to feel pretty bad to have lost to us.
I am ok if the U is crying in their cereal bowls. They are a whopping 2-5 in conference as well, considering the major talent drain they faced this year with all five starters from last year gone this season.
JJ needs to do some serious recruiting to fix this problem..
I agree. Doesn't even have a top 40 recruiting class coming in this year. 7 of the other 15 ACC programs are in the ESPN Top 40 class rankings. 247 has 11 of the other ACC programs ranked ahead of us with the 66th ranked class right now.
http://247sports.com/Season/2014-Basketball/CompositeTeamRankings
For 2014 he has:
247 3 Star #39/ ESPN 3 Star #39 SF Justin Bibbs, 6'5" 205 lbs
247 3 Star #49/ ESPN 3 Star#40 SG Jalen Hudson, 6'4" 185 lbs
247 3 Star #68/ ESPN Unrated SF T.J. Lang, 6'7", 195 lbs
It isn't going to get any better. Unless, there is another guard he is going to bring in, they are done with that class. They aren't going to get a forward in this class, which makes sense, since guard is the spot that has no depth right now.
Keep in mind that Mueller the german guard will be eligible next year after being forced to sit this year
Trust me, I'm well aware. Some of the guys that sit at press row saw him practicing before a game a couple weeks ago and didn't recognize him since they are use to seeing him in a suit. When I told him who it was, they came to the same conclusion that a lot of other people make, that he would be the starter this year had he been eligible. With him and Devin next year, PG is set, but SG still needs some depth since Adam has injury issues and Ben is interchangeable at the 3. So JJ getting the 3 recruits he is getting makes a lot of sense since Eddie will be gone and there is a need for depth as this season has shown.