The Men's Team
The Hokies have ended the regular season on a 2 game winning streak having ended the 3 conference drought in Louisville, and the seniors were sent off with a thorough dismantling of Free Shoes U.
Scoring
Scoring has definitely been on an uptick. Pedulla (15.67 ppg) led all scorers, barely, as Basile finished with (15.33 ppg). Also averaging double figures were (10.67) and Cattoor (10.33), while Rodney Rice nearly missed out with 9.33 ppg. Other scorers included (6.67), Kidd (2.67), Camden (1), Poteat (0.67), and Johnson (0.33).
Rebounding
Once again, the Hokies weren't particularly strong on the boards. Mutts led the way with 7.33, followed by Basile (6), Pedulla (4), Poteat (3.67), Kidd (3), Rice (2), Collins/Cattoor/Johnson (1), and Camden (0.67)
Assists
The Hokies finished this window with a respectable ATO of 49:24. However, the Hokies were unnaturally active defensively and forced an impressive 21 turnovers, to drop the AATO to 49:3
Where in name of all that is maroon and orange has that defense been all year?
Experience/Depth
Twelve Hokies saw the court in the last 3 games of the regular season and the minutes were decently balanced. Cattoor saw the most time at 35.33 minutes per game. Pedulla (33.67) and Mutts (32) also saw the court for at least 30 minutes. Basile (29.33) and Collins (28.67) averaged at least ten minutes per half. Rice (19.33) and Kidd (10.67) were in for at least five minutes per half. Poteat (7), Camden (2), Johnson (1.33), and Dawyot/Ward (1) gained the remainder of the minutes during this frame.
Next Window
ACC tournament time. The Hokies will open with Notre Dame, who CMYBall's squad outlasted the Irish in South Bend 93-87. Should the Hokies win, they will face off against NC State, who defeated the Hokies by 4, earlier this year. If the Hokies can catch fire and pull off the win, they will then take on Clemson, who defeated the Hokies twice, by a combined 4 points. The likely semi final opponent would be either UVA or UNC, whom the Hokies have beaten this season. Assuming chalk, the championship game will be against Miami.
Prediction
As was posted in the Louisville thread by 919hokie, no team really scares me other than us. We have already defeated Notre Dame, NC State and Clemson didn't really show that it won't be close. Same with UVA or UNC. I hate Omier. I hate Wong.
Back-to-Back ACC Champs.
Book it.
The Women's Team.
Damn it feels good to be a gangster.
The Brooksketball squad confidently advanced throughout the ACC tournament, departing Greensboro with a banner to hang next fall in Cassell.
The Hokies now await Selection Sunday as they sit 27-4 on the year, just one win off of the school record set back in Bonnie Henrickson's 2nd season. It is possible that we not only host the first two rounds in Blacksburg, but rumblings abound about a possible #1 seed. As of right now, the Hokies are the #1 2-seed, while Indiana, Stanford and Maryland are on the #1 line despite none of them advancing to their conference championship.
Scoring
ACC POY Kitley led all Hokies in scoring through the window (19.75 ppg), but Amoore (18.25) actually scored more during the ACC Tournament (65-50). Nobody else scored in double figures, but Traylor (9) and Soule (8.5) scored at least a bucket a quarter, while King (6), and Gregg (5) scored at least a bucket a half. Only those 6 scored during the 4 game window.
Rebounding
A disappointing game on the boards in the Championship kept Kitley from another double-double average, but she still walked away with 9.25 per game on the frame. Gregg (7.5), Soule (6), and Traylor (5.5) each contributed a rebound a quarter, while Amoore (3.75), King (3) cleaned the glass once per half, Ford (1), and Geiman (0.25) pulled down the remainder of the boards.
Assists
Even with the championship, the Hokies were a little careless with the ball, putting together a 55:49 ATO over the stretch. Even adjusted with steals, the 55:30 wasn't great.
Experience/Depth
While only 6 players scored for the Hokies, that doesn't mean there weren't others on the court. 10 of the 11 Hokies who have seen minutes this year saw action in the season finale, plus ACC tournament.
Naturally, Georgia Amoore was on the court the most at 38 minutes per game. Following the leader were Kitley (35.25) Traylor (35), and King (31.5) in the 30+ department, while Soule (25.5) and Gregg (24.5) made up the 20+ squad. Rounding out the minutes were Geiman (7.75), Owusu (5), Ford (3), and Dunn (1). Only Maddie Vejsicky didn't see action in this final window.
Next Window
Two games in Blacksburg, then two in Greenville, SC or Seattle.
Prediction
See you in Dallas
Comments
Obviously 2nd 1 seed in Greenville is the best option but would we want to be a 1 seed in Seattle or a 2 seed in Greenville (not in S. Carolina's region)? Seems like more Hokies could make the trip to SC as opposed to Seattle. Either way, LET'S GO!!
HOKIES!!
Ladies tied for second best Quad 1 winning percentage behind South Carolina for all teams with 8 or more Quad 1 games.
Ladies have had an incredible season so far. I hope they go the rest of the way. As for rebounds, hard to get some of them when all of the shooting has been on FIRE.
I have told Tech I want the tickets for the NCAA's. As a season ticket holder, I hope we get first chance.
Question as someone way out of the loop for women's basketball :
Looking way way ahead, how would we theoretically stack up against a team like Iowa? They're averaging 87.5 ppg (vs 72.5 ppg for VT). Looking at Iowa's schedule, even the scores for the losing team can get quite high. Is it a combination of really great Iowa offense and optional defense?
We actually play defense in the ACC. Opposite from football where they only play defense and no offense.
They're averaging 15 more ppg than we are, but are allowing 14 more than we are. Quite frankly in this hypothetical matchup, King locks down Ford as best as possible. Everybody on offense goes off.
Seriously.
The Hokies' top 5 scoring outputs this year were:
1. Mount Saint Mary's (192nd in scoring D) - 101 points
2. Longwood (333rd in scoring D) - 89 points
3. UNC Ashville (134th in scoring D) - 86 points
4. High Point (87th in scoring D) - 86 points
5. Nebraska (212th in scoring D) - 85 points
Iowa is 314th.
Iowa has allowed an average of 89.5 ppg in their 6 losses. Caitlin Clark is a more experienced, taller version of Amoore. Clark leads the team in points, rebounds and assists and is a leading POY candidate. The key to beating Iowa is limiting the secondary scoring of their two Forwards Czinano and Warnock.
Clark led Iowa in scoring in every loss with 24 or more points in all but one loss. She scored 45 in their 94-81 loss to N.C. State in the ACC/Big Ten Matchup and over 30 in two others.
They get even less contributions from the bench then the Hokies. They have averaged less than twelve points per game in bench points this season so foul trouble could significantly alter a game against them.
The only really bad loss for Iowa was against Maryland where they took a 96-68 drubbing. In that game Iowa shot well but had 24 - yes 2-4 turnovers. Warnock and Clark accounted for half of those so defense can thwart them.
Iowa only has held opponents below 60 pts in 6 games all season. Opponents scored 80 or more in twelve games. Iowa was 7-4 against ranked opponents, although two of those wins were in the Big10 Tournament.
A #1 seed would be nice, but I would rather have the #6 overall than the#4 or #5 and avoid Sakerlina until the finals.