Virginia Tech Basketball: Syracuse Preview Q&A

The Virginia Tech Hokies (9-12, 1-7 ACC) face off against the Syracuse Orange (14-7, 5-3 ACC) for the second time this season Tuesday evening in upstate New York. Both teams have experienced some changes since they last met one month ago, most notably the season-ending injury to the Orange's standout freshman Chris McCullough. Syracuse enters Tuesday's game having lost three out of their last four games, including a ten point loss to North Carolina in Chapel Hill a week ago. I had an opportunity to exchange questions and answers with John Cassillo of Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician ahead of Tuesday's game. John's answers to my questions are below, and you can find my answers at nunesmagician.com.

The Hokies have experienced both peaks and valleys since the last time these two teams met. How have the Orange fared since their 68-66 win in Blacksburg one month ago?

Welllllll, things WERE going well for us for the first four games of ACC play. But then injuries and fatigue and a tougher schedule set in and now... things aren't great. The Orange alternate between average and ghastly shooting, respectively, on a nightly basis, plus the transition defense just isn't what it used to be. At this point in the season, we're hanging by a thread in terms of NCAA Tournament hopes, which is a weird place to be after a lot of seasons full of care-free Selection Sundays.

Three weeks ago, Syracuse lost talented freshman Chris McCullough for the season, after he tore his right ACL against Florida State. How have the Orange fared in his absence and who has stepped up in his stead (if anyone)?

Syracuse has had to lean on Rakeem Christmas a whole lot more without McCullough, and those results haven't been bad at all. The problem is, if nothing else, he was an extra body on the floor to help save other players' legs (he was more than just that, though). As a result of his absence, the team is basically playing six-man rotations, with a seventh (usually B.J. Johnson) sometimes coming in for a spell. No one's really stepped up in his absence since McCullough's physical presence and skill set was different from the other players on the roster. But I would say we've seen a nice increase in productivity for Tyler Roberson -- especially on the boards.

In their first meeting, the smaller Hokies struggled against the Orange's group of athletic bigs. How have other teams found success on the offensive and defensive ends against the likes of Rakeem Christmas and Tyler Roberson? Would the Hokies be better served taking their lumps, limiting the damage and attacking elsewhere?

Christmas is typically a good foul shooter (for a big man), which is a large part of what makes him so tough to guard — the other part is his athleticism. Teams really haven't had much success stopping him in the paint, other than hacking him and hoping that they either don't get called for the foul or he misses at the stripe. In terms of Roberson, he can be defended, but he's also not a huge component of offensive sets. His points come off of heads-up offensive boards, so I guess the advice there is to make sure you box him out underneath the basket. In order to beat those two, and really this zone in general, you'll probably want to run right at them in the paint for awhile — drawing in the defense — and then utilize threes wherever possible. You did this in the second half last time around, and it worked in large part.

The Hokies have struggled guarding the three so far this season; they have made average shooting teams look great and great shooting teams look otherworldly. What have opposing teams done to keep Trevor Cooney from shooting them out of the building?

To be honest, not a lot you can do to keep a player like Cooney — who can literally hit from anywhere — in check. Lucky for you, he's incredibly hot and cold, however, and ultimately we never know which version of him (good or bad) will show up from night to night. If he's feeling it early... look out. If not, then SU will start moving the ball into the post with Christmas more, and probably utilizing Michael Gbinije more on the perimeter. So my advice: put a man on him early to see what happens. If he hits, stay on him (and quickly, because his catch-and-shoot can be lethal). If not, feel free to cover someone else on the floor.

Obviously Syracuse haven't been their typically dominant self this season. Which areas of the game would you say the Orange are particularly susceptible?

Syracuse struggles to shoot the basketball from any place outside of five feet. There just aren't a lot of capable/consistent jump shooters on this team, and that's made for a rough go of it some nights. Free throws are also a struggle — as usual for us, really — and that's directly led to some defeats. I touched on this earlier, but transition defense (and offense, but that's another, larger story) is really the crux of the issues in my book. Recent vintages of SU hoops were not great shooters either, but could get by due to a suffocating defense and a prevention of transition baskets. This Orange squad struggles to get back at times, and can be beat by a good slasher.

Alright, so how do you see Take #2 of this old school Big East matchup shaking out?

As negative as I may seem about the Orange above, the size and home-court advantage should be enough to guide them through. The Orange have had a week-long break to prepare for this one, and as a result, should be much fresher than they were during the last few contests. Expect the offense to run through Christmas even more so than the previous meeting, and that ultimately guides this team to victory. Syracuse 72, Virginia Tech 64