HOKIES HOOPS CENTRAL: Wake Forest (18-10) at Virginia Tech (15-13) 530PM CW Network
This is March 🗓️🆚 Wake Forest🕠 5:30PM📺 CW🤝 English Meadows#StoneByStone x #Hokies pic.twitter.com/wQmQJh9feu— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 2, 2024
Wake Forest (18-10)
At Virginia Tech (15-13)
March 2nd, 2024
Cassell Coliseum
530 p.m. ET
CW Network
Virginia Tech Sports Network
CW Network
Play-by-Play:
Analyst:
Local Radio
Virginia Tech Sports Network
Play-by-Play: Zach Mackey
Analyst: Mike Burnop
Current Spread: VT -1.5
Over/Under: -149.5
Back in 🏰‼️🗓️ Saturday, March 2🆚 Wake Forest🕠 5:30 tip pic.twitter.com/wGGTZ6fLy2— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) March 1, 2024
No idea
The Hokies struggled through another bad road loss at Syracuse and now return to Cassell to face off against a team that beat them by 23 earlier this season. Both teams come in having lost three of their last five games.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons squad comes in having just lost to Notre Dame after beating Duke. This will be the 73rd meeting between the Hokies and Wake Forest. The Hokies are 38-34 and looking to end a three-game skid to the Deacs. The Demon Deacons have been coached by Steve Forbes since 2020. Wake Forest is his third head coaching job. He also spent time as an assistant at eight different programs since 1989.
Wake Forest returnees Cameron Hildreth and Andrew Carr are major contributors. The Deacons also got transfers of two former Gonzaga players Hunter Sallis and Efton Reid, with Sallis starting and Reid playing significant minutes when he plays. Other transfers include Kevin Miller from Central Michigan, who has become a starter due to injuries, and Abramo Canka, a lengthy international guard who has played sparingly since coming from UCLA.
Wake lost Jao Ituka and Damari Monsanto to injury, both of whom averaged double-digit scoring last season. The Monsanto injury was a huge loss as he was expected to lead this team.
Wake returned four of their top five scorers but only two have played. They have three freshman newcomers this season. Guards Parker Friedrichsen and Aaron Clark and Wing Marqus Marion join the Deacons this season. Friedrichsen and Marion have both played in every game this season, both getting about seventeen minutes per game.
The Demon Deacons have four players averaging more than 30 mpg and three more that regularly average at least 15 mpg. The starting five are Sallis, Hildreth, Miller, Carr and Keller. Friedrichsen and Marion are the two primary subs off the bench.
Forbes focus is transition opportunities and high energy defensive play. His teams focus on defending corner 3-pointers, gap defense, rim protection and off-ball screen coverage using a variety of zone to collapse on the paint. So far opponents have shot 32% from outside. They focus on defensive rebounds to limit second chance opportunities and look for quick outlook passes to beat the defense back up the court.
Offensively, the Demon Deacons are looking to beat opponents up the floor and take a significant number of transition perimeter shots. They are shooting 23 threes per game, shooting just over 37%. Sallis and Friedrichsen combine to attempt nearly ten threes per game. They also employ dribble penetration to draw the defense which allows multiple lob passes to Carr and Keller for quick hitters underneath. They use a variety of perimeter screening actions to create separation.
Demon Deacons Backcourt
Hunter Sallis
23 JR G 6-5 175
18.3 Pts, 4.1 Reb, 2.5 Ast
Kevin Miller
0 SO G 6-0 165
15.5 Pts, 2.7 Reb, 3.8 Ast
Cameron Hildreth
2 JR G 6-4 195
13.5 Pts, 4.9 Reb, 2.6 Ast
Parker Friedrichsen
20 FR G 6-3 195
5.5 Pts, 1.4 Reb, 0.6 Ast
Demon Deacons Frontcourt
Andrew Carr
11 SR F 6-9 210
13.6 Pts, 6.6 Reb, 1.4 Ast
Efton Reid
4 JR C 6-11 238
9.0 Pts, 8.0 Reb, 1.4 Ast
Damari Monsanto
30 SR F 6-6 225
5.1 Pts, 2.2 Reb, 0.6 Ast
What to expect from Wake Forest?
In the game in late December, Wake Forest got double digit soring from all five starters but only ten points in bench contributions. That has been an Achilles heel for them. In any game starters have had foul trouble, they have found scoring is hard to come by.
In that blowout loss, the Demon Deacons hit 19-21 free throws and scored 36 points in the paint. That has been a recurring theme in Hokies losses, allowing opponents to score at will inside. The biggest problem though was turnovers. Pedulla had six of the Hokies 19 turnovers leading to Wake scoring 23 points.
The Demon Deacons will run a constant three guard/two forward set looking to push the pace. They are led in scoring by their starting guard trio of Sallis, Miller and Hildreth. These three and Friedrichsen combine to take over 17 of the teams' 23 attempts from outside. That said, the Deacs only get 27 points from outside of 81 points per game. Sallis though doesn't hesitate to take it right to the rim and has blow by speed on dribble penetration combined with the physicality to go up against big bodies.
Carr inside picks up quite a few off-side baskets when defenses over commit. Efton Reid seems to be playing a much more significant role since his return and Young likely counters him inside with Poteat, he has played starter level minutes. As seen below he is a shot blocker, so Hokies have to find a way to counter this.
Wake plays a very disciplined style of defense and has only been called for twenty fouls three games this season. Carr, Hildreth and Reid all average at least 2.5 fouls per game with Reid averaging 3.4 per game. In the rest of ACC play Wake has not generated nearly the number of turnovers they had against the Hokies as they average only 9.9 takeaways.
This will be a much taller starting five than the majority of the Hokies opponents so far this season. Carr and Keller being on the floor together may force Young to adjust his lineup. He may rely on Beran to counter Keller considering he is not much of a scoring threat so far this season.
The Demon Deacons are relatively equal in the rebounding side, although its more focused on defensive opportunities. Offensive rebounds are very limited, and second chance opportunities have only led to four points per game so far.
The Hokies
This team plays well at home. The difference between road and home games is unbelievable. Hokies are now 12-2 at home and 1-9 on the road. There really is no good explanation for the disparity. The good news is three of their four remaining games are in Cassell and their one remaining road game is against 8-20 Louisville.
The Hokies technically should have the size advantage in the paint but that not how the last game played out as Carr got isolation opportunities against Beran and either got to the rim or got to the line. Beran finished the game with four fouls. The surprising aspect for me against this physical inside scoring was that Poteat only got seven minutes of playing time. Hopefully that doesn't happen today. Maybe him being the Twitter post player will be an omen of good things.
On defense, the Hokies need to put less emphasis on guarding the perimeter and more focus on denying paint touches. Wake can shoot the three but it's a better risk than allowing 50+ points in the paint or from the line.
Who can be the X Factor for the Hokies? They need at least one player to have a big game considering how balanced Wake is across their starting five. The Hokies have shown a willingness to go inside but need a much more productive version of that if they are going to be successful.
In Closing
The Hokies and Wake use very similar strategies in terms of possessions, aiming to get defensive rebounds and turn them into open perimeter looks first and inside opportunities as they present. The speed and way they go about it are vastly different but seem to lead to very similar results. This game unfortunately will be in the long line of who controls the paint.
Both teams seemingly match in terms of size and athleticism. The difference may come down to who dictates the style of play more or if last game rears its head, who takes better care of the ball. Wake wants fast possessions, lots of points and quick transition from defense to offense. The Hokies prefer a methodical approach on both ends and limiting possessions.
✅ 2024-25 ACC opponentsMORE: https://t.co/g7P6Z18bMo pic.twitter.com/uiSarJJPGa— Virginia Tech Men's Basketball (@HokiesMBB) February 29, 2024
Comments
Sadly, this is probably a game we are going to have to win to have much chance at finishing with a winning record.
Louisville may be awful, but they are 7-8 at home. They'll likely be favored against us going there as 1-9 visitors.
LET'S GO!!!
HOKIES!
I'm ready to get hurt again let's gooo! Hokies!!!
How much does their 7ft forward weigh? An F-ton.
80%...from 3pt is going to get old real quick...
Yeah they can't miss right now.
Yeah when I said guard the paint I didn't mean leave them wide open outside.
Want to see the replay look like carr was holding on to poteats arm
Unfortunately won't help....just will piss us off. Doubt they actually review it.
His arm was definitely held which is why he didn't get the rebound
hopefully their shooting % won't stay this high
73.3% and 87.5% from 3 through 12 minutes. Just dumb.
Jesus christ.
this can't continue
Hokies have now allowed Wake to hit almost their game average number of made threes.
Wake has now passed their average number of made threes.
that means they won't hit anymore, right?
We are a very bad basketball team. There's really nothing else to say.
I mean, this(?). We just don't have IT this year. No horses, and the only identity is that we can always expect to play inconsistent. We are consistently inconsistent.
15-13 and 7-10 in league is not a bad team. We are average to below average in one of the toughest league in basketball. We're also right about where we were projected.
You might be right. But I'm not convinced the ACC is that good this year. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks.
We're below a level of play that we should be expected to be at. That's where my head is at. I'm not expecting us to ever run through the ACC, but below .500 in league play won't cut it for me, and anything less than 20 wins total per season == bad year.
this is not what I was hoping to watch while I slump into my couch after starting my day in London and now back in DC
Two series in a row Catoor got absolutely jacked. No call on either.
Pedulla has gone from being scrappy and savy to looking lost and confused. Not sure if just late season fatigue, injury or what.
Stop and run backwards into pedulla. Foul on pedulla.
Yeah he walked before the foul call with his step back there.
And how the fuck is there no foul on that pedulla drive?
ACC Officiating
Yeah but it's usually home cooking......unless it's us I guess.
Especially since they owed him a make up call for the play before.
When the ACC d-squad announcers are saying "hmm...wonder why they didn't call a foul on that" (Pedulla getting hip checked when going up for shot), you know it's bad officiating.
Honestly surprised it's not a 20+ lead for Wake
So...the fact that we just pulled ahead is a good thing then?
Ideally our shooting will improve with the changing of the baskets. We're only 2 percentage points behind in FG%. Their 3pt% has got to continue downward. I like that we're not allowing as much dribble drive/penetration. That's what we've been complaining about the last several games. But like Rob said earlier, don't leave them wide open either. Need to do better on closeouts. Limit turnovers, get paint touches, box out for rebounds, we will have a chance.
GO HOKIES!
And this is where the lack of athleticism shows itself. We simply can't have/do both things. We can't sag (limit that dribble - drive penetration) and also close out on 3's.
No doubt this is true. But it's what we have to do!
Threw his elbow into him but foul on us
What's the call on Poteat on that hedge!?
And then the ref nearly gave him a tech.
yeah, that was kind of lame.
While I hope wf doesn't go to the line in the second half. Will it be bacon if they do?
Only if they miss both
These calls and lack of calls have gone from atrocious to hilarious. It's like they're not even trying to hide it anymore.
Their ball handlerd run right into us, shove their forearm into our chest and push us back. Foul on us. Yet, we drove it shoot, get hammered. No call.
The official at the top of the court has a hard on for us tonight.
Catoor needs to shoot every time.
Should have been and 1 on Cattoors three
No...Catoor never touched him :)
that dude in the Cassell Guard is ripped
Bugs me that we keep gaining momentum and the officials call ticky tacky fouls to slow us down.
acc reffin'
We're on spring break? March 1st??? Damn
Good time to raise my idea. When we're off and there's a game. Why not give the student tickets to area high school basketball teams? Invite them to come in and be honorary Cassel Guard. Bet they'd love it.
Amazed that we're back in front then I realized after starting 9-10 from 3, they're now 9-18.
Reach in foul on Kidd, the guards on wake are hands on Pedullas lap the whole way down every time
Like us playing Nickel as the 4 on defense.
So it's the basket on that end, right?
Halftime checks didn't clear.
reid walked on that basket
And they called it. I fell in the floor amazed.
Can we get a photo of your feet dangling in the basement?
lol
I was so busy typing that he walked, I failed to realize that they called it! ha!
CATTOR ES EN FUEGOOOOOOO!
Softest call of the game on Beran
Jesus Christ these refs are swallowing the whistle against us
My God what a horrible sequence of officiating there
HOLY FUCK WE CANT GET A WHISTLE
Mike young looks like he's about to pop
There's not a kernel of truth to that......🤪
SLAM DUNK! POTEAT!
It's 'getting Chippy', as the commentators said cuz the refs allowed this to happen and this led to a technical foul against Wake Forest all because of the refs aren't doing their job
There should have been a technical on the first bump and taunt toward pedulla.
That has to be a technical
So did they call Wake for a regular foul for knocking Pedulla down and a technical for whatever Reid said, because Reid wasn't the one that knocked Pedulla down?
Miller allowed to walk up and shove everyone without a call rn
Originally thought the technical was on his shove against Pedulla in same sequence but it wasn't; then he comes up and shoves Collins in the next play 😂
It's so nice to be on the positive side of a 20 point swing for the first time all season.
West Virginia got the opposite results at home vs Texas Tech—they were up by 16 and lost by 11.
When someone gets hurt now it's going to be because of the refs And the poor job they've done to this point.
Smart play by Kid there
Kidd has such poor floor vision with the ball
Guy has Kidd completely wrapped up where he can't move but no whistles
Kidd gets hit by two on that offensive rebound...Radio silence
Crazy the delay of the TV feed versus live stats from Hokiesports.com. It was a two basket delay when I just looked.
Suddenly I like these announcers.
LOL, my wife just turned the sound back on.
SLAM DUNK KIDD!!!
Hokies have FORTY TWO points in the paint in the second half.
Kidd just missed the double double and 1 basket short by Beran from all 5 starters in double digits.
I take full credit for this one. Stopped watching at the under 4 timeout of the 1st half. Rejoined with enough time left for Wake to make their second 3 of the 2nd half. You're welcome, Hokie Nation.
Can't believe we won that.
Is this...FAM?
Surprised at the post game coverage of the ACC after this game. It's actually nice to get that. ESPN almost never has intelligent coverage after a game.
There are a few implications (although it doesn't affect the top seeds edit: the double bye was still in play for Wake?).
So who has ACC tie-breaker between us & FSU and/or Wake Forest? It is very conceivable to land in the 8/9 game and a bye. Although Wake is likely to beat GT putting a 7-seed out of reach (do we want to play Duke or Carolina in Game #2?)
(Edit: there are other paths to a 7 provided we win out)
Who's got the Wake / VT tiebreaker now? 😆
I think Wake has the tiebreaker because we split the season series and Wake has a better record against Duke. But I'm not an expert.
I right now we're in the 9 spot because we hold the head to head tiebreaker over NC St. FSU is 8 because we split the season series, but they have a better record against Cuse. From my understanding, we get bye if any of these happen: we beat ND, NC State loses to Pitt, or FSU loses to Miami.
Again, I'm not an expert, so this may all be wrong.