HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: MIAMI (4-2) VS # 24 VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES (7-1) 6PM ACCN

By: ltrepeter2000

HOKIE HOOPS WIZ

on December 29, 2020, 5:36 PM | 61 comments

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It's gameday!#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 29, 2020

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: Dec 29th 2020 6 PM
Opponent: Miami
Site: Cassell Coliseum
ACCN, Jay Alter (play-by-play) and Paul Biancardi (analyst)
Virginia Tech Sports Network. Jon Laaser (play-by-play) and Mike Burnop (analyst)

A pitter patter of rain, nothing more....

The Hokies have completed their OOC Schedule and now get the Miami Hurricanes. The Hokies are 17-24 against Miami going into their 42nd meeting. The Hokies come into this matchup 7-1.

The U is this big....
The Hurricanes are coached by Jim Larranaga, who is in his tenth season as head coach at Miami. Larranaga is 194-115 overall guiding the Hurricanes. Prior to Miami, Larranag had a 14-year run at George Mason where he took the Patriots to the Final Four in 2006. He has led the 'Canes to four NCAA Tournament appearances and an ACC title in 2013.

Coach Larranaga's Hurricanes are 4-2 with wins over North Florida, Stetson, Purdue and Jacksonville. Their two losses are against Pittsburgh and Florida Gulf Coast.

Coach Larranaga lost Senior Hurricanes Dejan Vasilijevic and Keith Stone. These two accounted for about 34 points per game and were 4 of their top 5 scorers.

The Hurricanes come into this season with two new Freshman and one transfer. Elijah Olaniyi transferred from Stonybrook.. The Freshman are two 4 Star Small Forwards in Earl Timberlake and Matt Cross.

Defensively, Coach Larranaga primarily employs man-to-man, with the scramble 3-2 zone as a secondary defense. A combination of the two is a series of zones that he calls the Camouflage, which is used strategically as a surprise defense that forces the offense to react to the defense. Once the opponent gets used to a man-to-man and the scramble, the Camouflage defense puts them on their heels immediately. The Camouflage is used most in a full court setting. Each pass, trap, deflection and player responsibility is analyzed.

Offensively, Coach Larranaga typically has his teams playing a form of Zone offense with a specific focus on the use of ball screens to give shooters separation. He emphasizes ball movement, man movement, screening, dribble penetration, and offensive rebounding.

Based on the defensive setting of their opponent, Miami uses three variations of the zone offenses. These are:
Slice & Dice Zone Offense – Use versus a 2-3, 3-2 or 1-2-2 zone. This offense uses four players on the perimeter and one post to force the defense to move, communicate and change their match ups.
Crack & Carve Zone Offense – Use versus a 2-3, 3-2 or 1-2-2 zone. This power game offense utilizes two post players inside and allows them to carve out space, set screens and create good shots for themselves and the perimeter players.
Seek & Find Zone Offense – Use versus a 1-3-1 defense. This offense uses a 4-Out formation and diagonal passing, down screens, back screens and penetration to break down the zone and create open shots.

Hurricanes Backcourt

Isaiah Wong (#2, SO, G, 6-3, 180 lbs) 19.0 Pts, 6.2 Reb, 1.5 Ast

Chris Lykes (#0, SR, G, 5-7, 160 lbs) 15.5 Pts, 4.0 Reb, 5.5 Ast

Earl Timberlake (#13, FR, G, 6-6, 215 lbs) 12.0 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 2.0 Ast

Kameron McGusty (#23, SR, G, 6-5, 190 lbs) 10.5 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 2.5 Ast

Harlond Beverly (#5, SO, G, 6-5, 185 lbs) 8.0 Pts, 6.8 Reb, 4.0 Ast

Hurricanes Frontcourt

Anthony Walker (#1, SO, F, 6-9, 210 lbs) 10.0 Pts, 5.5 Reb, 0.7 Ast

Matt Cross (#33, FR, F, 6-7, 225 lbs) 6.8 Pts, 4.8 Reb, 0.8 Ast

Nysier Brooks (#3, SR, C, 7-0, 240 lbs) 6.3 Pts, 7.0 Reb, 0.2 Ast

Elijah Olaniyi (#4, SR, F, 6-5, 205 lbs) 5.5 Pts, 1.0 Reb, 1.5 Ast

What to expect from Miami?
Two of the Hurricanes five double digit scorere are game-time decisions tonight. Lykes has already missed 4 games. They have had quite a bit of roster issues this season looking at the game log so its difficult to know what they look like at full strength.

Miami's Chris Lykes (ankle) and Kameron McGusty (leg) will be game-time decisions for tonight's game against Virginia Tech, per Jim Larranaga.— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 29, 2020

The Hurricanes commit only 14.3 fouls per game and block the 19th most shots per game nationally at over 5 per game. The faster an opponent the more Miami struggles, especially if Lykes and McGusty are unavailable or limited.

They did just get a boost by the debut of talented freshman Earl Timberlake, who had 12 points in their game against Jacksonville after missing the first five games due to injury.

As a team the Hurricanes are shooting a really poor 24% from the perimeter on 20 attempts per game. Lykes and Timberlake are their consistent perimeter shooters. They also struggle at the free throw line shooting 66% on the season but only managed 53% in their loss to Pittsburgh.

Miami's five starters all average in double figures with Wong leading the way at 19 PPG. 10 players are getting 13 or more minutes a contest so a fairly balanced workload.

Miami mostly excels at rebounding, but Pittsburgh outrebounded the Hurricanes 43-29. The season as a whole has been 42-33 in their favor. Senior Nysier Brooks at 7 feet leads the way with 7 per game but seven Hurricanes grab four or more per game. Brooks and Walker both average more then 1 block per contest, with the team better then 5 per game.

Lykes and Beverly are the primary distributors, averaging 9.5 assists between them. As you see Lykes name mentioned more and more you realize how important he is to making the Hurricanes go.

The flush 👋#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/DphPa2yXMm— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 27, 2020

The Hokies

Virginia Tech's John Ojiako (knee) will play tonight against Miami, per Mike Young.— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) December 29, 2020

The Hokies need to focus on the inside-out game. They also will have the services of John Ojiako for the first time this season as he is ready to return from his meniscus injury. The Hurricanes collapse to the middle too often when teams get the ball down low occurs, leaving open shooters on the perimeter.

The Hokies will generate a ton of open looks again using the inside-out game and should be able to hit at least ten 3's for the third straight contest.

The Hokies need to protect the basketball. Miami forces opponents into 16 turnovers on 8 steals and generates 21 points a game in transition.

Barring foul trouble, expect to see a much more focused lineup in this contest, mostly limited to the Top 8 players.

Highlight of the Longwood Game

The 'Canes await ✊#StoneByStone | #Hokies 🦃 pic.twitter.com/zK91HgFJ7y— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) December 29, 2020

Taking care of Holiday Business.

In Closing

The Hokies score more than 65 points, which seems to be the threshold against good teams for the Hurricanes
Ojiako gets a couple key blocks to get the team fired up and allow a few quick scoring bursts for the Hokies that makes the difference in this contest.

Four Hokies in double digits. Cone, Aluma, Cattoor and Radford. Alleyne with 9 and Pemsl with a sneaky 7.

The U Ain't Bak, Hokies outscore Miami by double digits in a sloppy affair. 74-62