It's baaaack!Free @SmithfieldBrands bacon when Virginia misses two straight free throws in the second half 🥓Get loud tonight, Cassell 🗣And wear maroon!#getBETTER | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/HPwGMGEYgu— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 18, 2019
Twitter Ads info and privacy
GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Feb 18 7pm
Opponent: Virginia
Site: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, VA
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser and Mike Burnop
TV: ESPN
Talent: Sean McDonough, Jay Bilas & Allison Williams
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech
Sirius: 134 XM: 193 Internet: 955
Game day!#CommonwealthClash, presented by @Virginia529Wear maroon! - @vtsga🏀 vs. Virginia📍 Blacksburg, Va.🕚 7 p.m. ETℹ️ https://t.co/V2URWQuqxL📈 https://t.co/x0LoDRFkHL📻 https://t.co/Y5WNSie1Vm📺 ESPN💻 https://t.co/NWLQZhusQu#getBETTER | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/pjMhW9cPRZ— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 18, 2019
Biggest Challenge so far this season
Buzzketball takes on its second game against UVA in the comfy confines of Cassell but without star point guard Justin Robinson. This is a sellout crowd so the environment and energy should be good to help the Hokies stay in the game. The Cavaliers come in The Hokies absolutely have to win this game to keep itself in the current rankings posture as the Wahoos are not good enough to strengthen the Hokies schedule much if the Hokies take a loss.
This will be the One hundred and forty ninth meeting between the Hokies and Wahoos. Virginia leads the all-time series 92-56. The Cavaliers at 22-2 with their only losses coming against Duke, home and away.
The Wahoos are coached by Tony Bennett, who has been at Virginia since 2009. The Wahoos are 241-88 under Bennett, who is now 309-121 as a Head coach with his only other stop at Washington State. The Wahoos have reached the post season seven of his nine seasons so far with six NCAA appearances and another essentially locked in for this season.
This is a team that plays defense first second and third and this season seems to have found an offense to match. You guys have heard the term "Pack Line Defense" thrown about regarding UVA on several occasions. So what does it mean? It is a high pressure, man to man defense that sags to the middle of the court. It is designed to prevent penetration by driving the basketball. The "pack line" is an imaginary line two feet inside the three point line that all defenders not guarding the current ball handler are never supposed to be outside of.
The defender that is on the ball handler is expected to be up close, hand in face to create turnovers on the outside. One other critical aspect of this defense that is different than most is that it's designed to deny the baseline. Defenders are taught to position themselves to not allow any baseline penetration, relying on help defense to close down an adjusted drive to the center of the lane. At the top of the post, expect to see defenders attempt to position themselves somewhat in front of the opposing offensive player to prevent the easy pass to the top of the lane.
The key weakness of this defense is if a team gets a large lead on you, than they are free to pass the ball around the perimeter to run clock. Unfortunately with the skill of the players that UVA has recruited, that doesn't happen very often. Tony Bennett draws this defense from his father, Dick Bennett, who is considered the developer of this style of defense while he coached at Washington State University.
Bennett has his team running what is called a Block Mover Offense on the other end of the court. This is a variation of the Motion Offense, allowing the primary ball handler at the top of the key to attempt to use a screen provided by one of two lane personnel near the top of the key. At the point of the screen, the ball handler decides either to drive the lane, kick out to an open shooter or attempt a down low pass to their second lane player, who usually moves across the basket down at the baseline block to create space for the driving guard.
The defensive rotation is what drives the guard's decision making process as he assesses what is in front of him. The guard essentially has three options coming off the pick or can spin back out to reset for another play. The key for the Hokies will be to limit the times where we allow dribble penetration by Kyle Guy or De'Andre Hunter or allow a clean pass into the lower lane player for an easy layup.
RED PANDA ON DUTY
94 feet with @JayBilas and Red Panda!Check it out tonight on @espn's broadcast of our game against Virginia #getBETTER | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/Ep2lqSPVIQ— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 18, 2019
Wahoos Backcourt
Kyle Guy, #5, 6'2, 165 lbs Junior is leading the Wahoo's in scoring at 15.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 2.1 APG. He is knocking down his perimeter shots at 44% on almost seven attempts per game. He also shoots 84% from the free throw line. Most people may have trouble recognizing him since he removed the man-bun but the Hokies need to keep track of him especially around the perimeter.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58746841/usa_today_10558568.0.jpg)
Sophomore Deandre Hunter, #12, 6'7, 225 Lbs is averaging 15 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 2.2 APG. He has taken a major step forward in his role for this team, arguably becoming his teams most important contributor. He shoots 46% from outside, 55% inside and 78% from the line. He does struggle containing driving guards from the perimeter and can get caught reaching in to put himself in foul trouble.
Ty Jerome, #11, 6'5, 195 Lbs, Junior, who rotates effectively with Hunter and Guy but is the primary ball handler for the Wahoos. He comes in averaging 13 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 5.1 APG, and 1.5 SPG. Jerome is shooting 45% from inside and 42% from outside, along with hitting 75% from the free throw line. The Hokies need to limit his passing lanes
Braxton Key, (#2) 6'8, 225 Lbs, Junior Wing transfer from Alabama is averaging 6.6 PPG, 6 RPG, and 1.3 APG. Key is shooting 52% inside, 26% outside, and 77% from the line.
Wahoos Frontcourt
Junior Mamadi Diakite #25, 6'9, 228 Lbs, is the primary big for the Wahoos. He is averaging 6.9 PPG and 3.8 RPG while shooting 57% from inside and 79% from the line.
Jack Salt, #33, 6'10, 250 Lbs Senior Center is averaging 4.5 PPG and 4.6 RPG. He shoots 60% inside and 49% from the line.
Jay Huff, #30, 7'1, 232 Lbs, Sophomore is averaging 4.8 PPG and 2.1 RPG. He shoots 66% inside and 67% from the line.
What to expect from Virginia?
As a team the Wahoo's are shooting 40% from outside but when you get in close you realize that the top three shooters are hitting 6 of 14 attempts per game while the rest of the team attempts about 6 more perimeter shots.
Shots from the foul line are a key component for the Wahoo's. They are hitting almost 14 free throws per game. Considering they average 72 points a game, the free throw line represents almost 20% of the Cavaliers scoring this season.
The flip side of this coin though is that the Cavaliers allow the 7th fewest free throw attempts in the nation, averaging less than 15 attempts. Considering the Hokies are allowing the 5th fewest free throw attempts at 13.6 attempts per game, it will be something to watch for as this game gets going. Whichever of these teams keeps it closer to their average would have a big advantage in what should be a low scoring affair.
The Wahoo's rely on a rotation of eight to ten players with a renewed focus this year of getting to the basket with their average scoring up almost 14 points per contest over last season. This is a much different offense than most the Hokies have seen from the Wahoo's in the past.
The Wahoo's will look to expose weaknesses in the lane. Don't be surprised to see quite a few alley oops or high lobs over the top to a big under the basket for an easy score after initial dribble drive penetration by a guard. This will usually be with Diakite in the game, so getting him in foul trouble could simplify things on both ends of the court.
The Hokies
#GamedayGuide:🏀 vs. @UVAMensHoops 📍 Cassell Coliseum 🕚 7PM ET📺 @ESPN#getBETTER pic.twitter.com/xzCNmWGj8O— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) February 18, 2019
The Hokies should come out trying to speed up the tempo of this game to create open looks. If they are not able to do that then each possession takes on that much more significance against one of the best defenses in the nation. UVA is allowing the fewest points per contest this season at 54.4 points per game and is also holding opponents under 30% from the perimeter.
The Hokies need to wash away the struggles of the last few contests even taking account the wins and realize that these are now the games that count the most. A strong finish possibly gets them the double bye, but a good finish at least keeps them above the middle of the pack. The Hokies currently are in a tie for 4th but Louisville would have the first tie breaker over the Hokies.
The Hokies will not find the size challenge from UVA that most ACC teams pose because the Cavaliers have two bigs but neither is the focal point offensively or defensively. Outside of those two, the Wahoos run a couple of forwards out that are 6'8 and 6'9 so it's still advantage UVA height wise but those same two run 205 lbs and 195 lbs which Tech has guards that weigh in bigger than those two.
The Hokies need to be the utmost in efficiency in this game on the offensive end. UVA only turns the ball over 9 times per contest on average so the Hokies will not be able to count on significant extra possessions this way.
The UVA opponents also do very poorly in the rebounding category so the Hokies will need to be wary as opponents only manage 31 rebounds per contest, and of that only 8 on the offensive end. UVA is in the top 10 nationally in 11 defensive categories including first nationally in fewest shots allowed, fewest baskets scored, and fewest opponent assists.
The Hokies will have to find holes in the zone and they have to be able to penetrate the zone on the dribble to create gaps or they will play directly into the Wahoo's game plan. The Wahoo's do allow opponents to attempt 22 perimeter shots per game, but as previously discussed they only allow 29% to go in. The Hokies will need to be able to hit their shots or force their way to the line.
Clarke, Blackshear, and Horne need to play a much larger role against UVA than they managed in the first game. If they are able to establish position in the lane it will open up shooters when the Wahoo's collapse to the center.
Tech needs to drive inside to get fouled. Controlled drives right at Diakite. They need to disrupt the Wahoo offense that relies so heavily on having at least two bigs on the court at any point and time. Early foul trouble could give the Hokies a window to work up a significant early lead.
The Hokies defensively need to prevent interior passing and also disrupt dribble penetration from the Virginia guards. They need to be aware of quite a few back door follow up drives by Virginia shooters. This is one of the games where Horne and his knack for shutting down the baseline could be very important as the Wahoos use the baseline drive quite often.
Ahmed Hill and Ty Outlaw need to have a good day at the office tonight. Shooting from the arc needs to probably be around 45% for the Hokies to stretch both the floor and keep the Hokies in a lead. Contributions from Wilkins and Kabongo in this area are key as well.
In Closing
Virginia in the past would be looking to pound the paint either by pass or by drive but with Guy and Hunter able to hit from the perimeter they have become a much more well-rounded team offensively. The Hokies have to find a way to keep the ball out of the interior. Expect to see a lot of 1-3-1 zone with Horne blocking his big counterparts from the front. That said, the Hokies always have to be wary of letting someone get hot from outside the perimeter.
The Hokies face an uphill battle even with this being a home game. They have the talent to win this game, even with Robinson out, but will need to be as close to perfect as they have all season. It doesn't take looking to far back to know what can happen either way in these games. Will the ball hang on a rim or will Tech not show up and get routed. Either is a strong possibility and anywhere in between.
Hokies able to capitalize from the perimeter, using the Blackshear pass and manage to pull off the upset 65-62.
I am too old 👴🏼to believe in "coincidence" ➕ currently too tired 💤 to articulate the impact these 3️⃣ guys had on laying the foundation ⚒that all of us are now standing on.They forced me to #getBETTER as a coach, & as a person. I will never ever forget their 💜. pic.twitter.com/DvfR4Pq7t0— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) February 17, 2019
Comments
The worst part of watching us play UVA is having to see Kyle Guy's face. I just don't like his face.
and I had to go and give you a double dose in the writeup. Sorry but the Man-Bun had to be included.
Personally, I don't like Ty Jerome's face more
Ok I change my mind, I dislike Jerome's face more.
Aren't we supposed to start this thread with LETS GO!
HOKIES
So Bilas did his interview with Red Panda and not anyone associated with our Top 20 program?
Okaaaaaaaaaay.....
I know, that pissed me off.
HAHAHA. Eat THAT, Raycom!
Clarke? Did I miss something?
Meant Hill.. had Clarke on the brain after a couple conversations with friends today
Thanks for all of your work here on TKP Hoops Wiz!
Points coming in buckets in this one compared to years past
Painful when we give them easy second chances where we just botch basics like catching the ball
I'm stuck at work....but can I get a FUCK UVA, please?
FUCK MATT RYAN.
Wait..
Tease.
Outlaw grabbin O boards way up.
they were long rebounds because of missed 3-pointers. We're only 1-6. need to improve that!
MUCH better start & effort than what we saw in Charlottesville. Honestly, much better game than I was expecting without JRob. Blackshear has really stepped it up without him. Hope we can hang for a full 40 minutes against their depth
Our 3s seemed forced. Hitting pull ups while moving laterally. I know it will be hard to get good looks but we need to make each possession efficient.
I need a better explanation on why that was a technical
Hook and hold. Flagrant foul.
Hook and hold on Bede. Once they called it out it was clear as day on the overhead. Literally prevented a Hoo from jumping for a rebound.
Just wish they would call that more consistently
Hook and hold on Bede. you know the thing they didn't call at Pitt.
Not even sure what that was but it sorta worked out
Painful miss from Hill there followed by BS bank from Guy
It is amazingly frustrating the kind bounces they are getting and yet Bede is just clangin em.
Hill. You gotta make that wide open corner 3
It is amazing how poorly we shoot in big games.
2-12 from three. gotta get better, right?
These missed open 3s are killing us
I'm going to put this mildly but Bede's shooting might give me an aneurysm tonight
The thing is, I think he needs to take them when he's open. That's the only way he's going to work through this.
I second that
I need to turn the heat up in this house. I'm freezing watching us shoot right now
Top 20 matchup but they can't do 94 feet with one of our star players. Instead they choose.. Red Panda?
Bede getting schooled trying to cover Jerome there. BS foul call too
That was a beautiful defensive trap... Wow that was perfection
Wow awesome sequence.
GIFTORY ALERT
BLACKSHEAR
That was the most aggressive play KJ has ever shown us
Wow swallowed whistles much
Hell, if they swallow them on both ends, I am okay with it.
Minus the turnovers, offense looks better with Bede on the bench. They aren't doubling off Wilkins.
Bailout whistle BS
Blackshear has developed a really nice shot.
Guy gets another BS bounce for another three grrrrr
I swear Guy shoots 75% against us
Fuck Kyle Guy
Baby Wilkins with the save
Guy should have gotten a technical for doing the pull up on the front of the rim...
LET'S FUCKING GO ISAIAH!!
That long zoom camera angle from opposite end makes me dizzy. Anyone else?
This is very very poor ladder safety. We don't need an OSHA recordable before bonuses come out.
Hard to complain about the performance that half, but gonna have to be even better in the second
If we can shoot our average from 3 in the 2nd half, we will be in good shape
NON-LOLUVA ISAIAH WILKINS LOLS AT LOLUVA
Second half, time for bacon 🥓🥓
We're doing enough right, but it's frustrating to miss some wide open looks. Meanwhile, everything Kyle Girl throws near the rim goes in.
Sooo when does NAW take over a game & play like a lottery pick? We need a big night from him eventually. I understand he's playing a little out of position without 5 but if he has that level of talent it should show at least every once in a while. When was the last game he had more than like 25?
I think you play Wilkins for the spacing and you pump the ball into Blackshear all second half, then you rush the court.
With you right up to rushing the court. We've been there before so we should act like it.
We are ranked. Wins are expected, no matter the opponent
HILL PLEASE MAKE A FREAKING 3
EDIT: Right on cue lol
Doesnt seem to be going both ways
Well that's our 2nd flagrant for hook & hold. Come on play smart guys
Where is that Hook and Hold around the neck?
Outside of the hook and hold trash refs are calling a solid game... let's hope they can keep it up.
How many of our 3's can hit every part of the rim & not go in
We are ICE cold
God another BS three falls
If we were literally just shooting 30% from 3 we would be up 7 right now, but instead we're shooting 15% & down 2. We HAVE to hit our open looks from 3 to win this
Come on NAW, And-1 would've been huge there. Just can't hit our easy shots tonight.
And also 3-6 from the FT line
The missed free throws just are totally unacceptable.
Does it seem like we're missing a lot of FT's or is it just me?
Our defense can be trusted to defend any given possession with full time on the clock but is absolutely pathetic defending every inbounds pass with 5 seconds or less on the shot clock.
Let's go Hokies!
Painful how many moving screens they are getting away with down low or on each side of the box to free up the perimeter shooters
Why the hell are we helping off their only player shooting well from 3?
It's been a problem all year. We have trouble finding and staying with the hot hand or identifying the shooter. Buzz requires a lot of off ball help but that has to be adjusted with players like Guy.
UVA us pulling Blackshear out and then attacking the rim
Could Bilas be sucking off Kyle Guy any more
Fourth gimme second chance on us. Painful
NAW just not showing up on offense tonight
Not seeing a lottery pick out there tonight..
Nobody to blame but ourselves if we lose this. Absolutely horrific on 3s this game.
Looks like fatigue is setting in on our guys. Half a step slower, not as crisp
This is about to be a blowout if we don't put together a run soon. NAW & Hill have been extremely disappointing on the offensive end.
Hill has been a disaster offensively since 5 got hurt. He is like 5 for 25 or so from 3 since that game.
Shoot. Everyone had been a disaster except KJ and Kabongo.
This game feels like it's going to quickly get away from us of we don't go on a run soon
Virginia isn't committing the same errors they were in the first half, which was keeping us in it with the way we were also playing. Their play has improved since halftime, ours not so much.
3/21 from 3.... IMO, we had to shoot our average or better to win the game and man we are off by a mile
Our average is inflated by OOC Hill. ACC Hill had been driving that number down fast lately
still 3rd best. Open looks are open looks regardless of who the opponent is. Right now we couldn't hit in an empty gym
Whatever it is, this is an annual collapse for him. As you said, he's getting wide open looks and he's just missing. It must be mental at this point.
NAW is 0-for tonight. Outlaw is 1-4. Bede is 0-4. It isn't just Hill
That's the best we can do out of a timeout? Jesus
That possession out of a timeout was... not great
Anyone know if Burmeister is at the game?
So you can push the defender back 3 feet before you shoot now?
Knock em in the mouth!
Wheres the Hook and Hold there? Salt dragged him across the lane
Hunter just punked our whole team on that last possession. Athleticism and want-to on another level.
Buzz system doesn't work when you can't hit threes.
Oh well.
Looks like UVA is running a straight up man instead of pack line. I think that's effecting the offense. Regardless the sluggish slow O is playing right into UVA's hands.
I love how the announcers say stuff like "Just bulls blackshear out of the way". That is the definition of an offensive foul
No Hook and hold review?
KABONGOOOOOOOO
LETS GO
So NAW's draft stock has to be falling after this stretch, correct?
Bingo bango Kabongo!!!!
KABONGO
KABONGO AND 1
GET HYPE KABONGO
UVA getting away with moving screens on 3 pointers
All night long. They wait until the UVA player is past then step out in front of the defender.
They look like Illinois during the NCAA tourney in 2005.
Holy moving screen Batman.
Feed Outlaw and KBJ
Let's go refs!
We need to start going to the floor off those moving screens. Maybe we'll start to finally get some calls because this is outrageous
Man just painful. Gotten away from getting the ball into Blackshear mid lane and just forcing things
Hill should only shoot off inbound plays.
Not to whine, but I've never seen so many moving screens not called. Boohoos actually jumping in front of defender chasing the cutters.
I agree but I think these refs are calling a 1000% better game than what we saw at Pitt.
This offense is terrible. No movement whatsoever.
It's a big worry how bad we are offensively ever since 5 got hurt.
Of he can't come back this year, I don't see how we advance far in any tournament. And next year is going to be.... Tough
Officially gotten away
Yeah this one is slipping away
We just aren't good enough without 5
This team just isn't good enough. They have no offense without 5, which is a sign of a bad team.
Team is toast with whatever low seed they get in March. They havnt defeated a single good team except for Purdue
For forty years Cassel looks dark. Go to Lowes and buy some lights
A sloppy last 7 or 8 minutes has done VT in
We are done. No movement on offense. late on defense and can't shoot. We aren't going to get hot with tired legs this late in the game. Being cold all night was too much to overcome.
Game. I've been a proponent for NAW but I just don't see it anymore. If he is a supposed lottery pick he HAS to take over in games like this where we have no offense. His stock has to be dropping.
I gotta agree. I mean for as good as he is supposed to be why isn't it that we dominate with him in and slow when he's not in? Not saying he's not a good player but for the amount of hype you'd expect him to take a game over once in a while.
Yeah... The game needed to go through him with 5 out, but he's almost shied away from it. If I'm an NBA team, I'd worry if he has the drive to be successful at the next level. He has the skill, but I dunno, something seems to be missing.
I mean if we had as many threes as UVA does at the moment we'd have a five or lead. But we aren't hitting anything. They aren't as hot as they were last time but good enough.
Games all but done unless we start dropping threes.
Come on boys get back in it!
We will be fine once 5 is back but hopefully it won't be too late and we end up with another low seed in the tourney...
As long as it's not an 8 or 9 seed...
Oh man just thinking if we had Nolley, Clark and healthy 5 this season.. would have been something special we won't have again in a long time..
#freeNolley
Our guys are absolutely gassed
Yeah, we can be proud of the effort, they definitely left it all on the floor. Just too much of a talent gap, which gets compounded when you can't throw the ball in the ocean.
I disagree, there were too many points left on the court. Pretty poor game by our standards, UVA were there for the taking and we couldn't capitalize.
You sure you aren't attributing our standards with Robinson, to this team now without Robinson? That game looked pretty inline with every game we've played since he went down. Only glaring exception being that we were absolutely inept from distance.
If we had 8 more threes making us even with UVAs threes we would be up by 14 at the moment. Insane.
Losing to this defense is like losing to GT football's (old) offense.
Haha, of course the guy shooting 1-13 coming in makes two huge threes.
The fact that we are 3-27 from three and only down 8 is pretty remarkable.
This has officially become a lost season. Which is depressing given the talent we have on the team itself.
And now they're openly asking if we are even a tournament team. (Which is a joke, we are, but shows how much our perception is falling)
0-5 vs ranked teams
all in-conference
VT ranked in all five games
We have no right to expect anything besides serious skepticism.
We are a fake good team until we beat a real good team.
Purdue
Whatever helps you sleep at night. The Penn State loss makes the Purdue win a wash imo.
We have a well-earned reputation as a team that wilts under bright lights. In the national hoops landscape, it's kind of our thing.
I think you're thinking of the football team
Come on, really? That's our reputation?
Just last year we took down #1 UVA on the road.
Going back to Greenberg's days, We've beaten Duke, UNC, etc as many times as anyone who is not a traditional blue blood.
We have lost - and played poorly in - every high-profile game we've played in-conference. This is perception AND reality. We don't play well in big games. The last time we did was a year ago? Great.
When we don't shoot well, we lose. There's no back-up plan. Sure, it happens against UVa and Duke and UNC. It also happened against Penn State and Clemson.
I don't like it either, man. But we need to start showing up to these marquee games or the book on us will continue to write itself.
...and when you don't score more points than the other team you lose. -John Madden
When any team doesn't shoot well they lose. That's not unique to VT.
What would you suggest the "backup plan" be? I'm not sure what Buzz and Co. are supposed to do when the shot selection is good but they aren't falling.
We really didn't play poorly either. We lost to the #3 team in the country by 8. We had chances to take control of the game but couldn't. It happens.
Not true. Great teams can survive poor shooting nights and find other ways to win. Great defense. Getting to the foul line. Duke does it all the time. Michigan State. UVa too, for that matter.
We are the leading 3-pt shooting team in the ACC. We went 3-28. UVa had 13 turnovers, committed 15 fouls. And covered.
If you're cool with that, good on ya. I'm not.
Leg, all the same.
A. We lost by 6 points, not 8. I think they still covered as the line moved through the day, but that is neither here nor there for this topic
B. No one on this thread or any thread has ever said we are a "great team" even with JRob in the lineup. JRob isn't here, so no sane person would ever say we are a great team, so not sure what your point is.
Yes, great teams can survive poor shooting. We are not that. However, we didn't play poorly as me and others have suggested. We lost to the 3rd ranked team in the country by six points and hit three 3pt baskets. If you would have said we lost by six and we only had three 3's then I would have laughed at you. If you told me without watching the game that we hit 3 of 27 three pointers and only lost by six to the #3 team in the nation then I would have said you are the spawn of Satan. Bottom line is we did play well. It took Guy and Jerome hitting some impressive contested threes to get their win. More power to them, they hit those shots when they needed them. We played great defense, rebounded well, and sliced through their vaunted defense quite a bit. We were outgunned (4 players played 40 minutes) but held our own despite missing so many threes. We held their wooden watch list Deandre Hunter to 10pts.
Long story short is we did play well and though making it past the first round of the tourney will be difficult, this team proved they can compete with anyone despite having their engine (JRob) sidelined.
Yes, great teams can survive an off night.
We are not a great team.
We were a Sweet 16 team with Justin Robinson.
We are an NCAA top 25 team without our most electric player.
We are finally respectable in basketball. Please enjoy that.
UVA is a legit Final 4 caliber team. No shame in losing a hard fault battle against them.
UVA is the definition of a team without a backup plan. That's why they lost to a 16-seed.
Side-note, when I type "16" into my keyboard my phone suggests "16-seed". This is gonna be a good day.
Basketball is a streaky sport, sometimes they go in sometimes they don't. We had a good shot selection and had plenty of open looks. We didn't shoot well, but we played the #3 team and one of the best defenses in the country very well. We made LOLUVA look very vulnerable WITHOUT our best player.
The sky is not falling, all is well.
EDIT: as well as it can be with our best player and a slew of good players out.
NC State was ranked (23) when we held them to (roughly) their ranking in total points scored (24)....
I also think it's a little unfair to say we suck against ranked teams.
We went 1-2 before Robinson's injury: Neutral win vs. Purdue (#15) and then at UVA (#3) and at UNC (#8)
Then 1-2 afterwards, beating NC State (#23), and losing close ones to Louisville (#16) and UVA (#3)
I would expect us to be below .500 vs ranked teams because it's the ACC and you have multiple perennial Top 5 teams year in and year out. Those are not gimmes...
Except NC State was ranked when we beat them and Purdue is still ranked.
Yep forgot NC State was ranked. Then again, I'm pretty sure we've all forgotten NC State was ranked.
I'm amazed at the ability of folks to ignore how consistently badly we've played in games against ranked opponents, though. It's literally the story of our season. Even the NCST game - which we won - was an awful performance, hidden beneath a truly legendary MORE awful performance by the Pack.
I love our team as much as the next guy, but I'm realistic, too.
So the NCSU game was a bad performance. Isn't that finding a way to win when you aren't shooting well? A lot of NCSU's bad performance was because of our defense.
"wonder if they'll make the tourney!?" (20-6 and just lost to the third ranked team in the country by 6).....
"lost season" is a bit far. I understand where you're coming from, without injuries, ineligibility, and dismissals, this is a Final Four caliber team. I wouldn't consider any season where we make the tournament a lost season, especially considering our schools basketball history.
I don't normally have anything against Sean McDonough but the dude has been a complete and total jackass this entire game
They were both terrible
3 out of 27 from three, and it's McDonoughs fault?
He was fine. Our team sucked
He didn't blame McDonough for bad shooting or the loss. He just said that McDonough was bad tonight, not in relation to the team or its performance...
Loss or not, someone needs to gif that Diakite clunker.
almost as embarrassing as losing to a #16 seed....
I still can't get passed it. Lose by six while shooting 3-27 from the arc. Unreal. I guess karma is getting us back from that NCST game. Oh well. Didn't expect a win but when it's like that it's frustrating.
I'm pretty sure Greenberg was cackling over Guy giving the shhh finger to our students as they showed that replay.
Hmmmmm
They had an ungodly shooting performance back in March in the first half that was the difference. We had an exact opposite shooting performance tonight. 3rd time is the charm. We can take them at a neutral sight if everyone plays to averages.
Man, I will say. NAW has been rather disappointing since JRob went down. Thought he would step up in a big way. Luckily Blackshear has at least.
I think we can attribute some of it to the fact that teams are able to key on him with 5 out. Robinson opens the floor up for a lot of guys. Aside fine NAW both Outlaw and Hill struggle to manufacture their own shots and both are spot up shooters. Take that away and you're left with tonight's preformance. NAW missed plenty of open looks but he was draped all night by UVA defender.
I mean maybe, but a lotto pick type player should definitely be able to have better scoring nights than he is having.
Seems to be missing free throws bad too. IMO
Rather?
3 thoughts.
Every CBB game nowadays is decided largely by 3's. We didn't need to shoot lights out but 25% and we win. Some is UVA defense.....not all.
UVA still very vulnerable....see above and that's without JRob.
What is the big effin secret about if/when JRob returns and his injury?? Whit should demand a little more information be made public. Fans care and want to know, good, bad or indifferent.
The reason there are not a lot of details about JRob's injury is because of student privacy laws. And I'm ok with that.
I look at it this way - if we don't know, then the opponent doesn't know either, and that makes preparation more difficult.
Look at the Horne injury, Having him available (even if limited) against Georgia Tech allowed the team to play differently when it wasn't expected. Suddenly GT had to guard Outlaw on the outside instead of inside when KJ was out, and that allowed him to get some space for 3 point shots. Pitt and LOLUva could plan for that, and Outlaw wasn't open as much.
Keeping 5's return somewhat under wraps means that if he comes back, it will be a total surprise to that team - which might help us win a game that we need for better seeding.
>Sigh< Whelp, at least they didn't get us in football.
All I take from that game is that UVA is a very beatable team. Even a barely below average shooting performance from us beats them tonight. I still think they're a very good team, but they aren't as good as the heads were proclaiming tonight. I can still see them going out early in the ACC tournament and in the NCAA tournament. It's really the same old UVA team to me; the recipe to beating them hasn't changed, but you gotta make shots when you get those kind of looks.
hey, at least we managed to do just as well in the 2nd half as the first? (32-29 in each half, for what it's worth...not much)
Finally finished the game.
1. We were 2-13 in the first half from three... and most of those were wide open looks. Make our season % average in the first half and we win a blowout.
2. What the heck happened to our offensive movement in the 2nd half. Sheesh... Everyone was standing around watching KBJ hold the basketball.
3. We need to find two more regular season wins or we are firmly on the bubble.
Disappointing. Not on bubble unless we lose out
Yeah, we have to lose out and not be competitive. It's possible, but unlikely. If J-Rob comes back, the committee won't judge our games without him.
I expected to lose tonight, so not too frustrated. Frustrated yes, but not overly. In our first game with them we couldn't get a wide open three. Without looking I think we probably took 4-5 highly contested 3's tonight. We got open, just didn't hit them. I think most of them, especially in the first half, our guys were wide open but rushed their shots a little not expecting to be so wide open. Long story short is we played really well, our 3's just didn't fall and NAW missing free throws early and blackshear missing the front end of a 1 and 1 hurt too. Overall a solid performance I thought, just a few more 3's go in and we win this game.
Hill, Outlaw, NAW, and Blackshear all played 40 minutes. That makes it tough to overcome any length of cold from 3 or stage a comeback.
Need to win at home against Miami and hopefully steal a road win against an improved ND team. Doing both should get us a pretty solid seed in March. I like the little bit that I have seen of Kabongo in the last couple of games, and could see him continuing to take more minutes from Bede. We need more upside from that pair with JRob still out.
I feel like Buzz gets zero respect from the officials. Over the course of the season, you've seen Buzz ask an official for a review countless times only to be denied. But tonight Tony Bennett asks for 2 reviews gets both but when Buzz asks for one he doesn't get it. Not that it would have or could have affected the game but it seems like they would look at it when they've already looked at 2 other hook and holds
I watch a ton of college basketball and I can't say I've ever seen/heard of this "Hook and Hold" foul where they give 2 shots and the ball....
Seems like fairly weak foul being awarded the same as a technical.
I'm not sure you've been watching a ton of college basketball this year... It's been called at least a couple times in our games, I've seen in several times in other games too. New rule this year
Yeah. Beginning of the year it was called non stop. It's actyalky died down a little bit in conference play.
I watch every game and then some... I can't recall seeing a coach's request (x2), going to a monitor review, indecision, calling over for a 3rd referee opinion, then upgrading a foul..
still seems like a weak/poorly written rule with substantial implications.
Burnop asked Buzz about the 2 hook and holds postgame... Buzz wasn't going there but made a veiled comment about ' asking and getting' which speaks to your comment. Really pisses me off.
I'm starting to think that maybe you cut back on Bede until he shows signs that he has more confidence in his shot. He has really struggled to show any progress, it's getting frustrating. He does get some assists, but you have got to score the basketball. Give the bench guys some more looks.
The guys coming off the bench also have a little more size.
I would have said no to this take a game ago, but after his last missed three tonight his body language showed his frustration in himself. I liked he attacked the rack a couple of times again. There is progress there, but he's in a funk offensively for sure. I really like kabongo's athleticism and passion when he gets out there. i think we need to get him more minutes. Regardless what happens the rest of this year, as long as blackshear stays, I think we are going to have a really solid team. I think Wilkins and kabongo contribute a lot next year.
Where we really got spanked was rebounds and only a pitiful 5 pts from the bench compared to the 17 from theirs. Wtf was wrong with Wilkins last night??
Wilkins is a freshman and this was a big stage. He had a freshman game.
That shit again? No. As was posted below, he only had 8 fuckin mins. Plus, my post wasn't a critical one. It was more a frustration that he didn't do more. But now that I find out he only had 8 measly mins, I'm pissed that he was held back.
Well considering we don't really have a bench....
And considering Wilkins only played 8 minutes...
Perspective my man, perspective.
I didn't catch that part.
Eight minutes playing time, 2 points, 2 steals. Not sure what else you could expect with his limited minutes. I cant imagine it would have hurt us to have him playing more. Might have managed to hit one of the threes the team attempted last night.
That's my point. I feel like he's potentially one of the stronger scorers on this team. Let him loose.
I think Buzz was more concerned about Bede being out there to guard on defense. I agree with you that rather than Bede being out there I would rather see more minutes go to Wilkins and Kabongo especially if Robinson really is out until the tournament or later. I think we have a pretty good idea what Bede brings to the table and need to see what the freshman can do when they get stretched out.
So after some sleep, and some time to think about the game last night, I walk away with positive feelings for two reasons.
1. We are stretching our rotation from 6 to maybe, JUST maybe 9 (ish)
2. We are developing new offensive schemes that will be useful for the tournament run
That was the TL;DR version above, so let me expound a little.
1. The emergence of Kabongo and Wilkins will prove to be useful. Shortly after 5 went down we were forced to a 6 man rotation. Now keep in mind a lot of this was caused by injuries (Horne/5), but since Horne's return Buzz has been more and more willing to offer minutes to the two freshmen. Even last night on the postgame Buzz alluded to his frustration with himself for not inserting K&W earlier in the game. His trust is clearly growing in the two, and I really think that their biggest contributions are on the defensive side of the ball and the effort that they give each play. If they can contribute a smidgen of offense I think they can prove to be useful for our team. I think our frustration as a fan base with Bede causes us to overlook the positive contributions that these two have put on the floor night in and night out in pressure packed ACC games. I'm truly excited to see their continued development.
2. Buzz continues to refer to KBJ as his "point guard," of this new pick and dish scheme that they've been running since NC State. If, and I emphasize IF J-Rob makes it back in time for the tournament I truly believe that the added dimensions that we've added to our offensive package will truly help us down the road when a team comes into the game looking to shut Five down. Historically if 5 had an off night we would have to fight and claw to grab a W, much like we've been doing since he went down. But this team is building character, and I truly believe that this character will display itself in the toughest of times as we approach the postseason.
I leave one final thought, without our starting point guard we were able to keep the game relatively close with a team that blew us out of the gym earlier in the year WITH that same point guard. We put forth a hell of a defensive effort last night, and even WITH poor shooting we were still in the game in the waning minutes. UVA is ranked high for a reason, yet we pushed them to the end of the game. I'm not a fan of moral victories, but I truly believe if there is such thing as a moral victory, this will surely be one for the cohesion of this squad moving forward. If NAW can step up and provide that second option to KBJ, we really have a chance to grab at least 2 more wins out of the last few games, and hopefully that'll be enough to make a strong push in the ACC tournament.
Let's all hope 5 can make it back before the tournament. And let's hope the rumors in other threads that his season is over, aren't true. If we can get J-Rob back, and continue to incorporate the pick and dish tactics with KBJ, I really think we have a deep tournament run in us. Go Hokies!
via GIPHY
I dunno about you all, but I've never felt so good after a loss, especially a loss to UVA