GAME INFORMATION
#16/17 Virginia Tech vs. Ball State
Nov. 15, 2018 – 11:30 a.m.
Charleston Classic, Charleston, SC
SXM 193 (Streaming 955)
Picking Up the Pace
Buzzketball hosts Ball State in the first game of the Charleston Classic for the Hokies. The Cardinals come in blending returning talent with two transfers that account for the majority of its scoring. The rosters size wise are very similar, relying on a smooth handling point guard, big bodied wing players, along with a couple post players that contribute if they stay out of foul trouble.Ball State starts this season having finished 19-13 last year. This will be the first ever game between the Hokies and Cardinals.
The Cardinals are coached by James Whitford, in his sixth year at the helm of Ball State. In six years, his teams have finished with a winning record the last three seasons after a rocky start in his first two years. They have two CIT appearances in 2015 and 2016 when they won 21 games each season under Whitford. Whitford is 74-89 at Ball State, which has been his only head coaching position. So far this season the Cardinals are 1-1, starting with a win over Indiana State but followed by a loss to #24 Purdue.
Defensively, the Cardinals use the Pack Line Defense similar to that used by UVA but not quite the caliber of athlete. Whitford began using this defense while Associate Head Coach at Arizona. They are very good at limiting opponents made three pointers, holding opponents last season to 36%. The Cardinals struggled last season though against transition offenses especially on turnovers, where opponents averaged the second most points in the country against, which is a big plus in Tech's favor for this contest if those struggles continue. Once they get set in the half-court defense though, Ball State is prolific in blocks/altered shots as well as steals/forced turnovers using a high pressure defensive effort to disrupt lanes and shots.
Offensively, Ball State under Whitford uses ball screen weaves predominantly with a focus on getting the ball inside to the bigs. Historically they have not focused on perimeter shooting, relying more on their ability to get to the basket. They do however have several very consistent shooters from outside so its not something the Hokies can take lightly.
Cardinals Backcourt
Tayler Persons (#11), 6'3, 196 lbs, is averaging 17.5 PPG, 5 RPG, 3.5 APG and .5 SPG. He is knocking down threes at 44% and free throws at 82%. Persons has started as the point guard for Ball State for the last three seasons after transferring in from Northern Kentucky. His on floor vision and chemistry with Tajhai Teague on the inside outside combination allows each other to find open shots consistently.
KJ Walton (#10), 6'3, 200 Lbs Junior Transfer Guard from Missouri is averaging 14 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 1 APG, and 1 SPG. He is shooting 50% from the field but is not a threat from outside. He is however a high energy defender with a long wingspan which helps around the perimeter.
Ishmael El-Amin (#5) 6'1, 195 Lbs Sophomore Guard acts as the backup point guard or sixth man depending on the rotation on the floor. He is averaging 7 PPG, 1.5 RPG, and 1 APG, while shooting 44% from outside. His time on the floor has seems to vary greatly depending on Persons. He is the guy most likely to come in mid game against the Hokies and catch fire outside and end up with a 21 point outburst.
Kani Acree, (#13), 6'6, 205 Lbs is a talented freshmen season that has yet to play but could see time during the tournament so Tech needs to be prepared for an additional Wing scorer that plays hard-nosed defense.
Cardinals Frontcourt
Tahjai Teague, (#25), 6'8, 215 Lbs Junior Forward is the predominant big man on this roster. He has averaged 14.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 1 APG. He also has been a constant on the defensive end, so far averaging 2 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. He has great chemistry with the starting point guard so expect to see prolific ball movement between the two. He has struggled in staying out of foul trouble, with 7 fouls in two games so far.
Trey Moses, (#25) 6'6, 230 lbs Senior Forward put up 12 points, 5 rebounds and had no assists.. Moses has discipline issues especially with reaching and blocking fouls against Purdue so ended up with four fouls. Getting him out of the game could be an early turning point. It would likely force the Cardinals to a less effective lineup.
Brachen Hazen, (#12), 6'8, 211 Lbs Sophomore Transfer Forward from Arkansas, is averaging 10.5 PPG, 6 RPG, 1 APG. Hazen will likely see his role grow as he becomes more comfortable in the offense. Right now, he is effectively their sixth man bringing energy off the bench.
What to expect from Ball State?
The Cardinals rely heavily on three people to score in Persons, Walton and Teague. In the game against Purdue however open shooters on the perimeter really changed up the pace for Ball State on offense. One thing this opponent has are very accurate perimeter shooters, with four players shooting better than 40% in the last two games.
The Cardinals will have as big or bigger bodies down low, especially if Blackshear struggles with fouls. They do rely heavily on scoring in the lane and their guards are heavily involved in rebounding which is a major focus for this team. This could be a major factor if the Hokies are not able to fight for the ball. Ball State does capitalize on second chance opportunities.
This is a guard heavy roster that shoots fairly well from outside and just doesn't have the ability to defend in transition but once set are fairly effective.
The Hokies
Tech needs to keep a high paced tempo and take advantage of their ability to get out in transition. Their opponent has already shown it can give up big runs if kept on their heels. Purdue really pushed the pace against Ball State to put their game away.
The Hokies need to force the issue inside. Robinson should be able to cause all kinds of havoc foul wise using his speed to drive to the basket. Ball State struggled against dribble penetration at the top of the key from both Purdue and Indiana State. Robinson being effective in getting lane penetration will open up shooters on the perimeter which is a major component of the Hokies offense.
Continue the defensive intensity seen in the first ten minutes of the Gardner Webb contest. Make it difficult for Ball State to get the ball into the lane by having hands in passing lanes and hands up once the ball gets in the lane. Increase the pressure on the Cardinals and start counting the turnovers. The starters for the Cardinals are giving the ball up almost 12 times per game.
Maintain discipline on the offensive end of the floor. Need to really cut down on the offensive fouls from the first game to put the extra possessions to full advantage, as Tech had 14 points waived off from offensive fouls last game.
Hitting perimeter shots will be another key factor. Buzz needs Wilkins and Outlaw to continue hitting their outside show like they did against Gardner Webb. Getting open looks will be critically important since this opponent has similar sized players at almost every position.
Unfortunately as we have all read, Landers Nolley's Eligibility issue is not cleared up so the Hokies will rely that much more heavily on Blackshear and Horne. All four bigs in this game struggle with fouls so do not be surprised to see five on five guard lineups late in this game.
#FreeNolley
In Closing
Expect to see a tough first half where the Hokies need to be ready from the beginning. One tough aspect of this is that the game is away from home and early in the morning which is not normal. The Hokies struggled last season with games that were at Neutral sites or out of the ordinary times. Robinson, Blackshear, NAW, Hill and Outlaw need to stabilize the ef.fort in this game. The ideal situation is that they wear down Ball State early so they are able to keep the roster fresh for the additional games in coming days.
This wont be like the last game where the Hokies got out to a big lead early and coasted. Ball State is a much tougher opponent than Gardner Webb. If the Hokies bigs get in foul trouble early, it will be a significant challenge keeping Ball State from scoring at will so this could become a game of run and gun, especially with how Ball State struggles against scoring in transition.
Tech wins 83-77, with key free throws late in the game determining the end. This game could very well come down to the final possession The bigs from both sides will likely determine how this contest closes out.
Comments
Cool move by Buzz to celebrate athletes who have taken care of business on the court and in the classroom
Can I get a Thursday AM LET'SSSSS GOOOO
HOKIES
One last question any video streams of this online? Might have to schedule a meeting in the conference room with the big TV.
Yeah, I may be attending a "webinar."
I'm guessing WatchESPN?
The game is on ESPN2 if you can get it wherever you are.
So who wants to join a conference call that I just booked at 11:30?
yeah send me the meeting invite, I'll be joining after I take my lunch break at home from 1130-1230
The title says "ACCNE" and I don't see TV mentioned anywhere else, but according to Hokiesports it's on ESPN2.
According to ESPN themselves it's on ESPN2
By "anywhere else" I meant in the article, but yeah I probably should have checked ESPN themselves for confirmation
One other thing the Hokies need to do in this game is limit the turnovers. They turned the ball over 20 times in the first game, which didn't hurt them because Gardner Webb was just as dreadful at keeping control of the ball. Ball State will not be as generous with the basketball as the Runnin Bulldogs were.
Wabissa bede starting
And he's showing up to play
announcers are really, really talking up our reputation....
Saying we're underrated at 16
Like UMBC underrated at 16?
Will it be the same announcers for this mornings game? I wanna tweet @ them with some #FreeNolley education
hold up, this game is at 1130 lol?
ROBINSON DOWN. PLEASE GOD NO.
Not good... Robinson hurt, had to crawl back to the bench
Looks like they were checking 5's ankle when they got him to the bench.
Bede and Hill making it rain from deep early.
11-4 at first TV timeout.
Robinson is up on his feet behind the bench. Hopefully that's a good sign. Didn't look good from the initial reaction.
JRob has more injury scares than almost any other player I've ever seen. I love the guy, but it does make me think he milks minor things a little bit.
I'll be impressed if he can beat the time Dwyane Wade was wheelchaired off the court for a shoulder injury.
TY Outlaw seems like a significant defensive liability at this point.
He was a liability a couple years ago, it's just that he was on such a hot streak that it made it hard for Buzz to take him off the floor.
Robinson back in... Ball St goes on a run after the timeout and its quickly 11-9
Outlaw leaves his man wide open for 3 and doesn't bother to get a hand up. That's not going to play well in the ACC
Outlaw loses his man on defense again. 12-11 Ball St
defensive intensity is nice to see for a change.
Fur sure. We just need to stay in a reasonable position to defend. We're overcommiting right now and leaving guys open.
We are so careless with the basketball today. Allowing easy, easy fast break buckets off turnovers
22-17 Ball St.
They have gone on a 18-6 run since the first timeout.
yah like you said up there. the TOs are killing us right now. 1/2 defense has been great. giving up layups on bad shots and turnovers not so much.
NAW needs to take over this game
Poor shot selection going on in this game too. Rushing offensive sets & poor defensive positioning are really glaring issues so far.
POST GAME FAVOR REQUEST....if there are any post game threads made, please don't indicate a win or loss in the thread title. Got the game recording and watching after work.
Thank you!
sorta /s
Lol you're better off just avoiding fan sites if you don't want to know what happened in a game.
Why don't you just not check the Virginia Tech sports forum until after you've watched the Virginia Tech sporting event?
Uhhh..cause I got 5 more hours of work to kill
These refs blow.
its not real till buzz takes off the sweater. why would a man that sweats of that magnitude wear anything called a sweater as if he needs to amp up the sweating.
so as a blanket rule - two feet outside the paint right on the edge and you don't feed your post player?
That's why you're an announcer bro
Pretty good showing here by tech. At least we do have to deal with offensive fouls every few minutes
Hit 3/3 behind the arc to start the game and have missed 9 straight since then.
Edit: 4/15 now.
NAW has played this game and Gardner very out of control, or maybe not well in the system would be very good would be a better way to put it. Offensively looks uninspiring and not sound on defensive or in transition defense in finding i man to cover and one of the guys had and hit a wide open 3.
ESPN box score just had Chris Clarke listed with a defensive rebound. Got really excited and thought I missed a big announcement until I refreshed the page and his name was gone...
I saw that also and was very confused but knew it wasn't true
Yea, I immediately refreshed TKP to see if anyone here posted anything about that, then I too saw they updated their box score.
Not a good look when your opponent has 27 points and 20 of them are from two guys. Hopefully they can sustain the defensive effort from these last few minutes into the next half.
Feeling better about this as the first half winds down. Better defensive intensity, better ball movement and shot selection.
We are usually on the receiving end of that.
No no no why are you shoo- nice
5 is nasty.
Dang, JRob with the dagger right at the half.
more like the jab lol
Oh damn JROB from the center circle at the buzzer!
The worrying spells of play haven't lasted nearly as long so far this year.
Great end to the half
It might go unnoticed by many, but Parsons basically got shut down once Bede started hounding him about midway through that half.
Really liking Bede's contributions so far.
Our defensive half court play has been pretty good, to be honest. They're getting most of their points off the break, and if we can be a little more deliberate on offense, this lead could get out of hand, fast.
I like our defensive intensity so far
Anyone that feel like the team just collectively shit their pants when Robinson went down and settled back down when he came back okay?
Really liked the defensive effort at the second part of that half. We seem to be getting either layups or three. Up 14 at the break? I'll take it.
shout out to the HOKIE fans in attendance. Heard the "Let's Go Hokies" right at halftime.
Look familiar?
That guy carrying like a mug down the court right there. No whistle
Defense has gone to sleep at the half. Two different wide open lanes or look at the basket so far.
and there is the dumb foul we cant afford. Blackshear should be prohibited from the perimeter on both ends.
this is a true statement!
I don't think Horne knows how to play defense without fouling
Poor rotation and another dumb foul. Cant do this against better teams and not pay the price.
Man there is no sense of purpose on offense without Blackshear. Its dribble and slash around and chuck up a prayer from 3.
or slash in and throw it away
That, too
Its just a mess. They aren't on the same page. I've seen them throw it away a few times this half around the perimeter as well.
This team isn't nearly talented enough to play like they're bored when they have a double digit lead.
Let me tell ya, I love when the announcer mics are turned down, and the ESPN promo material comes on and its full volume and LOUD.
you can really see where we miss Clarkes ability to push the pace and create turnovers with his length. even if he was a bit reckless our pass seems much much slower than im used to seeing the last couple of years.
im not a dramond fan at all but his ability to get the rebound and then push the basketball instead of having to locate the guard is what really gets the warriors pace going and allows defenses to have to find a man while getting back to create open shots and mismatches and Clarke had that same role for us.
Sheesh. Why is Outlaw allowed to put the ball on the floor? That was a terrible pass from the top of the key.
oultaw playing O' le defense
Wow the no call on that shove off rebound drives me crazy
more offensive rebounds than fans at UVA's spring game
I hate that foul call. I know why it was called, but I hate the rule. Ball handler jumps into Robinson, who is planted on the ground, and its a defensive foul.
That should have been a charge. Should be a charge every time.
So many wasted possessions by needlessly throwing dumb passes.
Watch how many times Outlaw is involved with these turnovers on the offensive end. All of these 'errant' passes are to him. And its happening so often that I find it hard to believe the team just forgot how to pass.
I don't think it's necessarily Outlaw's doing in this case.
Part of it is him looking for space to get off his shot (and Ball State is playing him tight when I'm checking), but the passes going his way are late in coming to him when he's actually open.
Surely the screen is showing me incorrect info and it's not 7 fouls to 0 with 12 minutes to go, right?
We fouled thrice on one possession
I think we have underestimated how much losing Clarke is going to hurt us.
7 to 1 foul calls in their favor. Even it out somehow
Grrrrr Blackshear out on the perimeter again almost picking up another dumb foul. Just frustrating because of how important he is to this team
I said the same thing. It seems like more than 1/2 of his fouls are above the top of the key, no where near the basket. Frustrating for sure, we need the big man!
He has to hedge, it's a critical part of the defense. But he's gotta do it better.
Wow pure thing of beauty.
KBJ always comes up from destroying a shot attempt like a kid who just knocked something fragile off a shelf.
How is there no call on Robinson's shot there? He got mauled
How does someone have "a little bit of a broken nose"
Oh yeah hill!!!!!
Lord have mercy
show it to me again #5!
PUT IT ON THE HIGHLIGHT REEL
I'm so glad I am working from home this afternoon and got to see that.
I'm working from work with the game on on screen and TKP on the other. My boss can talk to the Charleston Classic organizers if he has any issues.
That got the fans here hyped
Dangggggggg
I'm only following the Gamecast at work during lunch...but still...
AHMED HILL TRANSITION DUNK.GIF
"youll see that on sportscenter"
BOOMMMMMSHAKKAALLLAKKKAAAAAA by ahmed hill from the dish off the glass from jrob
nice over play and then a DUNK on the other end!
these guys with their national championship talk lol
You laugh, we turned off the sound. Those announcers had a whole lot of fun yakking about everything in the world and all kinds of basketball games except ours. They talked over good plays, and seemingly ignored the very reason they have a freakin' job for minutes at a time. Infuriating.
Yeah it was bad I'm confident UCLA was the most mentioned team in the broadcast. Robinson had what looked like a nice save on the sideline which was called Ball St ball. Instead of replaying that they replayed a nothing special pass to the 3 the possession before
NAW has a very quiet 19 in my opinion. Other than that off-the-dribble 3, he's gotten his points in a very efficient manner.
Its not flashy but its effective. He's quietly been a bit of a calming presence overall on offense throughout the game. We're better when he's on the court.
It's kinda getting flashy for NAW. That was an impressive offensive performance
He seems to be much better at knifing through and getting crafty layups this year
You can see him gaining confidence by the game. He's making plays this year he wouldn't have even tried, or would have rushed and gotten himself into trouble last year.
I am really hoping we get to see Nolley soon, because those two together could be a lot of fun to watch this year.
Don't worry, he's only gotta take the ACT six more times before the NCAA is satisfied.
see you tomorrow at 11 am
Go Hokies!
Looking through the game thread here you wouldn't know we were up 15 the last quarter of the game lol
To be fair, it was hard to tell watching the game as well.
I really like that we have a team where you can critique the play despite a win. Games like this, you're expected to win, and we did. But there are many phases of the game that need to get cleaned up between now and conference play.
Thankfully, this is only game 2, and one of our best players hasn't even played, yet. Still, lots to like when you have a team that can play so-so and still reel off a comfortable win.
It was good have an early season game that you're expected to win, and still win by a good margin, and get a lot of things to work on. Buzz can take a lot from this game to the film room.
FTFY
We were up 16 with 6:50 left. But they finished on a mini 15-8 run.
Hey After game 1 which was a blowout, all Buzz did was critique the team. The same for the fans in that game as well. This game was no different, I imagine Buzz is letting them hear it for how many balls were just thrown out of bounds. I really wish he would find a way to keep Blackshear no farther than 6 feet from the basket on either end outside of running in each direction. He got one really bad foul and arguably could have had a second and this team cant afford the long stretches of Blackshear on the bench when the competition increases like it will with Alabama and Purdue.
Jesus that was an early game.
even earlier tomorrow
Did I just see on the Google schedule that tomorrow's game is scheduled for 8 AM? I thought that might have been a typo, and should read 8PM.Never mind. I sometimes forget our servers are in California.
These early season tournaments pretty much exist to be TV properties. It's great inventory for ESPN.
When you can put live sports on starting at 11 am EST on a weekday, it's no wonder there are so many of these tourneys.
keys to victory
1. more assists than turnovers... check... 14 assist - 9 turnovers
2. less than 10 turnovers... check... 9 turnovers
3. plus 70% on free throws... check... 8-9 for 88.9%
Good win. The early start times always make me uneasy because unless you Duke going against some scrub school, it can make things an equalizer. Your game can be in a funk playing that early. Sucks that its another early tip tomorrow but we got one win out of the way and can be better prepared tomorrow.
someone traded (not saying no names whit) noon kickoffs for noon tip offs lol. normally id be ok with that this year, we can go back to the way it was.
What's the tip-off time for tomorrow...?
11am
Perfect timing for those who just want to
burn time before heading to Blacksburg after workcatch the Hokies at a reasonable hour.11:00 AM ESTDammit, alum07, three seconds!!!
Alabama down 33-22 to Northeastern
Happens when you are 0-9 from outside and shooting 30% overall
Northeastern is the better team.
We're 2-0 now. Nothing bad can happen to a Virginia Tech sports team after you come out of the gates 2-0...
and Wake Forest got run off the court in its Holiday tourney by St Josephs by 20 points.
Buzz on ESPN doing analysis and comedy with play by play crew of Ala- NE game. Dude is a gem.
ACC Network quick to get that one uploaded
Buzzketball will face N'Eastern tomorrow at 11 a.m.
They return 90% of the scoring from last season. Shot 9-17 from 3"s.
Well shit. I was hoping for some payback against Alabama
WE WANTED 'BAMA
in b4 people start complaining about playing Northeastern and it hurting our RPI.
In b4 going 1-0
Northeastern wont hurt our RPI, They finished 20-13 last year and with how experienced they are I fully expect them to win the CAA this year and be in the NCAA tourney.
That was my point. A lot of causal fans would probably rather have played Bama because they think it's a better team and will look good on a resume.
hell, i'm not sure that's much different from how the selection committee thinks
Northeastern is tall. Two guys 6'10" and one 6'9". Also they shot lights out against Bama. 50% overall and 50% from three. Hopefully they cool off tomorrow.
Our half court defense looks a lot better than what Bama presented.