2022-23 Hokie Hoops Statistical Notes: Volume IX

The Men's Team

Following a home win over in-state rival UVA and a rare ACC road win, CMY has earned win number 69...nice...at the helm of Virginia Tech's Men's basketball team.

Unfortunately, the loss to BC has probably burst our bubble, barring a run like last year. The Hokies now stand at 15-10 (5-9 in conference) with six regular season games remaining. The Hokies are also currently in the 12 spot for the ACC tournament, and have their work cut out to earn the first round bye in the ACC tournament.

Scoring

Grant Basile led all scorers, although that is not too hard with back-to-back 33 point games, leading the team at 26.67 ppg. Following him were Mutts (17.33) and Pedulla (15.33) in scoring in double figures. 59.33 points from 3 players is not a bad problem to have. Cattoor added another 8.67, followed by Collins (5.67), and Kidd (5.33) in this frame. 19.67 from your second three scorers is also not a bad problem to have. That's 79 points from your top 6 scorers. Camden and Poteat both contributed 1 ppg each to round out the scoring.

Rebounding

Justyn Mutts still pulls down the most boards (6 rpg) but is followed closely by Basile (4.67), Kidd (4.33), and Cattoor (4). Pedulla and Collins tied with 3.33 boards, while Poteat (1.67) and Camden (0.67) rounded out the numbers for the Hokies.

Assists

Not one Hokie had an ATO in the red, while two Pedulla and Kidd finished with more steals than turnovers. Mutts had the most assists (21), turnovers (5), and steals (4), to put his AATO at an astonishing 21:1.

As a team, they finished with an AATO of 52:5 Even just the regular ATO of 52:16 is incredible.

Experience/Depth

Eight Hokies saw action and did so in every game. Leading the minutes was Mutts (37.67 mpg), followed by Pedulla (37 mpg), Cattoor (36), and Collins (33). Basile managed to get almost as many ppg (26.67) as mpg (28.67). Bench players were led by Camden (12.33), followed by Kidd (11.33), and Poteat (4).

Next Window

Once again the Hokies will have 2 at home and one on the road over this window. Over this frame, they will open up on the road against ACC 14th seed Georgia Tech. Next they will welcome current top seeded Pittsburgh, then potential top seeded Miami.

The Yellow Jackets are only 8-6 at home, and score 7 ppg less than the Hokies. They do outrebound the Hokies by about a board and a half. As a team, their ATO isn't great at 13.2:11.4 and they aren't particularly active on the defensive end. The Hokies shoot better, better from range, and better from the line. They also don't have a height advantage over the Hokies. The only advantage I'd give Georgia Tech is that they have a somewhat deeper bench as they go about 8.5 deep compared to the Hokies' 8.

Pittsburgh is exactly what I thought the Hokies would be this year, and, statistically, they are very similar. Scoring is identical, 3pt shooting is similar, steals are similar, FT are close. The Hokies are better at shooting, turn the ball over less, and have more assists. Pitt is better at rebounding. Pitt also goes a solid 9 deep and has four decent scoring threats, and gets good help off the bench. Pitt also has a trio of trees who will make life tough down low.

Miami bested the Hokies down in Coral Gables by a score of 92-83 earlier in the year. Miami is the top scoring team in the ACC, so if it becomes a shootout, that would seem to favor the Hurricanes. Other than that, the two are very closely matched, as they are close in rebounding, assists, blocks, shooting, and 3pt%. Miami holds an advantage in FT shooting and steals, while the Hokies have the advantage in turnovers.

Prediction

If the Hokies are who we thought they were, GT should be a dominating win. If they are what we think they are, it's a tossup. Likewise, the Hokies are very similar in nature to both Pittsburgh and Miami. I want to say we go 3-0 and I don't think that's an overreach. GT is not a good team. Pittsburgh and Miami are so similar to the Hokies that I would have to think that the difference in the game is Cassell.

But I'm going to be pessimistic here and predict a 1-2 finish, with an inexplicable road loss, a surprise dismantling of the Panthers and a heartbreaker to Isaiah Wong at the buzzer.

The Women's Team

What's the opposite of ice cold?

That's the Virginia Tech women's basketball team right now, having rattled off 4 straight wins, including over back to back top 25 opponents, which I don't really know if that's happened before.

The Hokies sit in the #3 spot for the ACC tournament as of this writing, and only 2 games from the top spot, with four games remaining, and a schedule that will make or break the season, as they are also just 3 games from the 9th seed.

Scoring

Georgia Amoore has dethroned Kitley to become the top scorer over the last 3 games, averaging 22.33 points, compared to the 18.67 of her roommate. Also in double-figures for the frame are Cayla King (13.67 ppg) and Taylor Soule (10.67). Gregg (7) and Traylor (5) managed to score at least 1 basket per half, while Taylor Geiman (1) made up the rest of the team's scoring numbers.

Rebounding

Kitley just failed to achieve a double-double average over this three game set, pulling down 9.67 per, but that was not enough to take the top spot, as D'Asia Gregg cleaned more glass at 10.67 per. Soule and King (4.67 each) added at least a board per quarter, while Traylor (2.33) and Amoore (2) added one per half. Ashley Owusu pulled down the last board, to put her average at 0.33.

Assists

Like the men, the women were led by a player with ridiculous numbers. That person is Georgia Amoore, who dished out 18 assists to just 4 turnovers, who managed to steal it back 3 times for an AATO of 18:1. Not to be outdone, King put together an AATO of 5:-1, while Soule led the team in steals with 4 to put her AATO at 6:2. Gregg was the only other Hokie with an ATO in the positive, while Kitley, Owusu, and Traylor all had more turnovers than assists.

Experience/Depth

8 Hokies saw action, led by Amoore (37.33). She was joined in the 30 minute club by King (34.33), Kitley and Soule (32), and Traylor (30.67). Do the math and you see that the starters were playing more than 75% of all available minutes during the last three games. The vast majority of bench minutes came from Gregg (25), while Geiman (6) and Owusu (5.67) battled for the last minutes.

Next Window

If the Hokies are going to win the ACC, they will do it over these next three monstrous games. Luckily, two are at home.

First the Hokies welcome top-seeded Duke, who topped the Hokies down in Durham by 11 not too long ago. If the Hokies are going to win the ACC, they must win this game. Last time out, the Hokies didn't get much offensive production from Kitley or Amoore, in fact, I can't remember a game where Kitley was healthy where she scored less, having made one basket in 35 minutes of action. Duke was led by Day-Wilson's 18 and de Jesus's 10. The Hokies also had a pisspoor shooting night from the field (34.7%) and turned the ball over an unacceptable 17 times.

Then the Hokies will welcome NC State to Cassell for senior night. The Hokies finally broke the curse and upset the Pack in Raleigh with a dismantling effort. The Hokies shot lights out in that game (49% from the field, 47% from range, 92% from the line), dominated most facets of the game and absolutely bodied the Wolfpack down low to the tune of 42-24 in rebounding......that number brings back bad memories

Back to the preview.

The Hokies then make the trip down to Chapel Hill to take on North Carolina, a team the Hokies beat when Kennedy Todd-Williams fouled Georgia Amoore attempting to hit a game winning 3 pointer with 1 second left, whereafter Amoore promptly drained all 3 from the line. The Hokies have the added depth of Owusu here, but they will absolutely need to keep Deja Kelly quieter than the 21 she went off for during the first meeting. Really, the Hokies will need to keep all of the guards from doing too much, as a grand total of 1 point was scored by a post player in the previous matchup.

Prediction

NC State should be a win all things considered...Senior night...just disassembled them like Number 5...but I'm hesitant to automatically call it a win. North Carolina on the road is going to be tough, and that first game against Duke is going to be difficult to call. Objectively, I could see us going anywhere from 1-2 to 3-0 as all of these teams are in the top half of the conference.

O&M glasses are on.

3-0 and thanks to a UL upset of Notre Dame and UVA pulling a rabbit out against Duke, the Hokies go into the final game of the season as the #1 seed in the ACC tournament.