Week 9 - Basketball Preview!

To make up for the fact that I didn’t post anything last week, I’ve decided to treat you all this off-week with a basketball preview! How fitting is that in an off-week after destroying Duke? Full disclosure, I was going to do this last week anyway and take this week off, but due to training for work and laziness at home, it didn’t happen. But now we’re here, let’s get this started. I’ll break it down by projected starters, main contributors off the bench, schedule and outlook, and finally recruiting. I promise I'll talk football next week. Well, if I get around to it... Anyway, without further ado:


Projected Starters:


Malcolm Delaney, PG – Delaney is the heart and soul of our team this year, and the weight is on his shoulders to get us over the hump and into the tournament. Last year he was the ACC’s leading scorer averaging 20.2 ppg. He also averaged 3.7 rpg, 4.5 apg, and 1.2 steals per game. More than anything though, he is a master at driving and getting to the free throw line where he was 3rd in the ACC in free throw percentage. He was unanimously voted 1st team All-ACC (first ever at VT, yeah I know we’ve only been in the ACC 6 years) and is going into this season on the John Wooden Award Preseason Watchlist for best player in the country. All eyes are on Delaney this year as we can only go as far as he takes us.


Dorenzo Hudson, SG – Hudson was the most improved player on the team last season and maybe even in the ACC. He increased his offensive output from 4.6 to 15.2 (10th best in the ACC) last season and took over games when Delaney was injured. He has always been a lock down defender, but now he has become a great scorer by beating people on the dribble and slashing to the basket. And as a sign for things to come, Hudson averaged 20.2 ppg in post-season play last year.


Terell Bell, SF – Bell is the best defender on the team with his 6’6 frame and longer wingspan. He rebounds well for his position pulling down 6.1 rpg and had the 2nd most blocks on the team. He also greatly improved his shooting last season and had the best 3pt percentage on the team at 0.361. This enables the Hokies to spread the floor and give Delaney, Hudson, and Allen room to drive.


Jeff Allen, PF – Allen has always been up and down for the Hokies, but when he’s up, he’s really hard to stop. He’s 6’7, 230 but has great feet quickness and the hands of a guard. This makes him a matchup problem with anyone. Offensively he can beat bigger men to the rim on the dribble, and defensively he is all over the place. He is the active leader in the ACC in rebounds, steals, and blocked shots! The problem with Allen has always been foul trouble though, and this could be an especially big problem this year with our very limited front court…


Victor Davila, PF – Davila was a highly rated recruit, but has yet to live up to the hype. He is the Hokies most gifted offensive player in the front court with a lethal hook shot, but goes cold for several weeks at a time. And his defense needs more work than his offense. He needs to be more physical, especially crashing the boards. He was 3rd on the team in blocks, but overall needs to pick it up defensively.


Bench:


Erik Green, PG – Delaney and Hudson played more minutes than just about anyone in the country last year, and that’s mostly because Green and Boggs left a bit to be desired while trying to give them a rest. Green has the talent and has had a great offseason, so there is a good chance we see more of him this year. Last year, his shot was off and he was too timid, but he’s put in the work on the court and in the weight this offseason and is coming back bigger and more confident.
Ben Boggs, G – Boggs is undersized and not a true point guard. He can knock down and open 3, but rarely creates for himself or teammates. His primary role will be to just give the starters a rest.


Cadarian Raines, PF – Oh my… In my opinion, Raines is the key to our season this year. As I hinted earlier, we really have no depth in the front court this season. Allen, Davilla, and Raines are it. Raines didn’t play too many minutes last season because of a foot injury, but his size is needed this season. The good news is that Raines might be more of a complimentary player to Allen with how physicality. He plays bigger than he is, which is already 6’9, he’s a great rebounder and blocker, and he is an energy guy that will go all out all the time. But he did just have his 2nd foot surgery in just over a year this summer and is still hobbling around…


Manny Atkins, G/F – Much like Bell, Atkins is a great defender with a long wingspan. He didn’t play too much last season, but did show signs of improvement specifically in his ball handling. Expect Atkins, Eddie, and Bell to get some major minutes at PF if Allen gets in foul trouble, Raines has health issues, or Davila has a quiet game. Yeah, basically expect the Hokies to play small ball a lot this season like when we had a 140 lb Deron playing as a "power" forward…


Still. he was my favorite power forward...


Jarell Eddie, SF – I’m so giddy about our recruiting the last two seasons. Eddie might be the best recruit VT has ever landed, well until the next class coming in next year! In my biased opinion, Eddie has a chance at the ACC Freshman of the Year. At 6’7, 210 he has the size and strength to play either forward position and rebounds the position well. He also can hit open 3’s, has decent rang on his jumper, and is great at driving to the basket and going up strong or drawing contact. He will be a matchup problem for nearly anyone he faces. I expect he’ll make an instant impact and play a lot of minutes for us this season.


Tyrone Garland, G – Garland is another super freshman coming in. He’s a little rawer than Eddie, but like Delaney he’s good at slashing to the basket. He’s not a true PG or SG as he mostly creates for himself and lacks a consistent outside shot, but he has the skills that should get him on the court this season and set him up for a good career at Tech.


IR:


JT Thompson, F – Thompson was a PF trapped in a SF’s body. But he played much bigger than his 6’6 frame. Unfortunately, he tore his ACL in a pick-up game and is out for the season. We could have really used him off the bench at PF. He was 4th on the team in points last season and 3rd in rebounds.


Allen Chaney, PF – Poor Chaney was supposed to make an instant impact after transferring from Florida 2 years ago, but since then he’s had rotten luck. Chaney is an athletic 6’9 forward that is a great rebounder and has good perimeter skills for the position. He missed all of last season due to a shoulder injury and resulting surgery, now he’s having a much scarier problem. He fainted in practice in April and had to receive mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He was diagnosed with dehydration and cleared for light shooting drills soon after. But he continued getting dizzy and having fainting spells in light workouts unless he chugged 4 Red Bulls beforehand (from his own experience). Because of this they decided to look at his heart where they learned that he had vital inflammation of the heart. The virus requires 6-18 months to run its course while resting and having little to no physical exertion. So odds are, he’ll miss the entire season. Even if his heart recovers in time, he’ll be out of basketball shape to make any impact. The one bright spot is that NBA vet, Juwan Howard, also suffered from this virus and called Chaney to encourage him. But you can’t help but feeling terrible for this kid.


Outlook:


On that uplifting note let’s get into the Hokies outlook for this season… Last season we finished 25-9 overall and 10-6 in the ACC (tied for 3rd). And again we were on the outside looking in during March Madness. Since VT joined the ACC in 2004, only 4 times has a team gone .500 or better in ACC play and not made the tournament. Three of those times were VT... But this season there are no excuses. We are ranked #23 preseason. We were voted to finish 2nd in the ACC by the ACC. And we have one of the best players in the country. Also, our strength of schedule is way up this year (which was important last season, but not as important a few seasons before that…).


As stated there is a glaring weakness in the front court. We only have 3 true front court players in Allen, Davila, and Raines. And only one of those has truly proven himself. Davila or Raines will really need to step up in order for the Hokies to live up to the hype. And not only that, but all three have to stay out of foul trouble and stay healthy (which is not exactly any of their strong points).


But for where we lack front court size and depth, we more than make up for in back court speed and athleticism. There will be few teams that will be able to defend Delaney, Hudson, and Eddie. Plus, Hudson, Bell, Atkins, and Eddie will be tough defensive matchups for anyone. The back court should be an advantage for us in every game aside from possibly Duke and Kansas St.

Looking at the schedule there are some tough tests. I guess Greenberg is making sure we’re not in the same position on the bubble this season as last due to strength of schedule. The challenges start on the road against Kansas State on Nov 16. For Kansas State, Jacob Pullen is one of the best guards in the nation at putting the ball in the basket, plus you pair him with a front court consisting of Jamar Samuels, Curtis Kelley, and FIU transfer, Freddy Asprilla, and Kansas State is tough to defend. Then the Hokies will travel to Anaheim for the 76 Classic over Thanksgiving weekend to play Cal State Northridge, then DePaul or Oklahoma State if they win. If they win the first two games, they’ll probably play Murray State in the finals. And Murray State’s senior guard duo of B.J. Jenkins Isacc Miles is one of the best in the country. The Hokies will also travel to the Bahamas to play in the Battle at Atlantis against Mississippi State on Dec 18. Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney, Ravern Johnson, and Dee Bost (if he’s eligible) present real matchup problems for an undersized Hokies team. Then there is all of the ACC to contend with. Duke is loaded in the back court with Nolan Smith, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Singler, Seth Curry, and Andre Dawkins. I’m not terribly worried about the Plumlee filled back court, but their depth at the guard position is just scary. Other tough matchups include big men Jordan Williams from Maryland and Tracy Smith at NCST along with a great group of freshmen. Plus, there’s no telling how good Harrison Barnes is going to be for UNC. That said, it is a down year in the ACC, so VT should be able to win 10 or more.


I predict tough losses to KSU, someone in the 76 Classic (OKST or Murray St probably), possibly Mississippi State, then a few losses scattered throughout the ACC. At the end of the year, I expect the Hokies to be around 23-6 going into the ACC tournament (as a #2 or 3 seed). But it’s going to be tough with our lack of depth in the front court.


Recruiting:


I’m already over 2000 words going into this part, so I’ll try and wrap this section up in as few words as I can, but I’m just so excited about how well Greenberg and company have recruited the last two years. I’ve already told you about Jarell Eddie and Tyrone Garland from last year’s class and how excited I am about them both (especially Eddie). Well check out next year’s class, which is still in the works:


Dorian Finney-Smith, SF – According to ESPN, Finney-Smith is the 4th best SF prospect in the country and 15th best overall. He is the best recruit Virginia Tech has ever gotten (an accolade held by Jarell Eddie for about a year). At 6’7 he can play as a shooting guard or either forward position. He can get to the rim off the dribble, can hit open shots, has great vision and can find teammates for easy buckets, and is very effective on the offensive glass. He needs to build some more strength and develop more of a low post game and become a better defensive rebounder, but there are very few holes in his game.


Marquis Rankin, PG – Ranked 21st in the nation at PG, Rankin is a quick, athletic PG that is great in transition and on defense. He also has a high basketball IQ and moves well with or without the ball. He’s had a few injury problems in the past and isn’t much of a shooter, but he’s more of a true PG than Tyrone Garland. If he can stay healthy he could be a major contributor and start for 4 years at Tech.


C.J. Barksdale, PF – Another 6’7 athletic offensive monster. Barksdale is the 15th ranked PF in the country. He can knock down mid range jumpers and attack the basket. Also, he’s a force on the offensive glass. Needs to add strength to hold down the post on defense and needs to work on his technique, but the athleticism and skill set is a matchup problem for any low post defender.


Robert Brown, SG – Brown is a streaky shooter, but has great shooting and passing touch as well as body control. He can also drive to the lane and finish with both hands and has a knack for drawing fouls. He is also an athletic and long armed defender and was ranked 39th in the country and SG.


And who’s considering Tech that would put this class over the edge?


Adjehi Baru, C – Baru is the 5th ranked C on ESPN’s rankings and #47 overall. Baru is from the Ivory Coast but moved to Virginia in high school. He’s a ferocious defender that brings a lot of energy on the court. He’s a great rebounder and help side shot blocker. He’s also coordinated for his size making him a good passer and offensive player. Like most kids coming up he needs to add strength to play in the low post at the college level, but he could make an immediate impact.


It would be a phenomenal pull to add Baru to this class which already ranks 10th in the nation (higher than we have been ranked in football recruiting since Vick). I mean when was the last time we’ve had this much to be excited about enter the season? Not since ’94-’95 coming off a NIT championship and returning all of our starters. Except no one cared about basketball then. But now we have become a basketball school thanks to JMU. Also, I've read that the four of these guys are already calling each other and talking about how they plan on coming to VT to win a national title. That's the kind of stuff I want to read about my recruiting class!



It’ll be a great season, and I’m very excited about it. You know if Allen can stay out of foul trouble and Raines can stay healthy. If not, I’ve read a rumor that a couple football players might come out for the team in a low post enforcer style like Jeff King. The names I’m hearing: Marcus Davis and Prince Parker. But let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that!



Here’s to your health!

Week 7 - It Worked!

Holy crap! It worked. My latest inclusion of H_RMBSYCGAAMACBLDE(AMTYFAMBT) actually worked. Based on the fact that Darren Evans was motivated by reading fans opinions, I decided to call out Jeron Hosley for his punt returning and guess what? He returned 3 punts for 98 yards and a TD! He upped his average yards per return for the year from 0.8 to 12.75 in a single game! Jeron, since you obviously read my blog, firstly, you’re welcome for the inspiration, secondly, I’m sorry giving you a hard time about it, and thirdly, great season so far! Hopefully you can see why I did it, and we can continue to be friends.

In other H_RMBSYCGAAMACBLDE(AMTYFAMBT) news, the other 4 sort of worked I guess. GW got beat on the first drive for the TD, but had a decent game after that finishing with 5 tackles. I’d call him out again, but I’ve already been tough on him all season. Beamer at least sort of fired up the team and we only had a 0-7 deficit to start this game, and then went on a 38-0 run. Stinespring’s offense looked good on downs 1 and 2, but not so much that 3rd one… And Exum had another good game and had no penalties.

So since this sort of worked, we’ll add the 2nd installment to “Hey _____, read my blog so you can get angry and motivated and come back like Darren Evans (and maybe tell your friends about my blog too).”

Hey, Chris Drager, aside from the Boston College game you have been nonexistent. Averaging 1.8 tackles per game, you have less tackles than all three other starting linemen plus your own backup, Fresman JR Collins. You only have 1 tackle for a loss which ties you 10th on the team, behind 5 linemen, 3 linebackers, and a defensive back, and 3 of those are backups. You also only have 2 QB hurries on top of that. Either step up or take a step back on the depth chart!

Now that we’ve got that taken care of, what should we look for against Wake Forest? Well they a running team that would run the ball a lot and for a lot of yards. But they didn’t really run it that well. At 4.5 yards per carry, they are 53rd in the nation. But only 1 team has attempted more rushes than them with a lower yards per carry average. A more telling stat: in their 2 wins against Duke and Presbyterian, they are averaged 6.25 yards per carry with 9 TDs. In their 4 losses against teams that would at least consider playing defense (which surprisingly includes GT! OHHHHH!!!!), they averaged a meager 3.55 yards per carry and only have 6 TDs. And they were even worse throwing the ball. But then out of nowhere Tanner Price comes out and throws 326 yards with 2 TDs and no picks against Navy. This doubled his season total and nearly doubled the team total. This is surprising because Wake had been an option run offense, and they do a rare QB by committee approach. From recent Hokie memory you should know that QBs by committee are usually bad. But Wake has already rotated in 4 QBs!! So to be totally honest, I don’t know what Wake will do on Saturday, and I’m not sure they do either…

So how’s Wake’s defense? Horrible! They’re 102nd in the nation in total defense. In their last 4 games they were crushed 31-0 by FSU, humiliated by Stanford 68-24, and then suffered heart-breaking losses to GT (24-20) and Navy (28-27). Option offenses have put up lots of points and yards on them as have passing attacks. They’re weak in all facets of the defense. Plus I bet they’re pretty demoralized after their latest 4 game stretch. All we need to do is score early and put them in a hole. I’m guessing they won’t be able to dig themselves out. Which is good news since we’ve been so good starting games this year…

Anyway, looks like Ryan Williams is unlikely to make it back in time for the game. But whoever gets the carries against Wake should have a pretty good day. Either Evans or Wilson will get hot. And Tyrod should have another big day.

Prediction: 38-21 Hokies.

Also, if you haven't heard, Greg Nosal, our LG, lost part of his pinky late in the 2nd quarter against CMU when it got stuck between his facemask and another players on a block. He got some pain killers and went right back out to play the whole 3rd quarter! Then once VT got a commanding 31-7 lead he left the game and they reattached the pinky chunk in the 4th. If you're not grossed out yet and want to read more go here:

http://hamptonroads.com/2010/10/va-tech-lineman-loses-part-pinky-keeps-playing

So Greg Nosal, this High 4 goes out to you!

Week 6 - Hey You!

To start, you should know that I probably only watched about 10 minutes of the game against NCST because of a wedding and reception. I listened to another 20 min or so on the radio. But in that time I somehow caught the Tyrod 70 yard run, Hosley’s first interception, the Boykin TD, Hosley’s 3rd interception, and the Evans touchdown to seal the deal. So from what I could tell, the Hokies were awesome! They were pressuring Russell Wilson, forcing turnovers, playing well in the secondary, running all over the NCST defense, and making plays when they needed. When I turned on the little lady's phone at the end of the wedding and we were already down 0-17, I thought we were doomed. Virginia Tech doesn’t come back. But then for the parts of the game I listened to and watching, I just didn’t understand. I mean we were crushing them! Apparently I singlehandedly swung momentum back to our side. And you can’t tell me otherwise because you weren’t there! Well except Theresa, Rob and Sheri…


But enough about how great of a fan I am… Let’s talk about the Hokies. I’ve been waiting for a replay of the game on Comcast Sports Net all week so that I could make points about why we went down early and stormed back. You know, so I could have something backing up what I put down here, but I haven’t seen it yet. So keeping with the theme so far, I’m going to make wild accusations and predictions for the whole blog this week! Why? Because once you start going down this path it’s hard to come back. Just ask CNN.


So I read on Kyle Tucker’s blog that one of the biggest motivating factors in Darren Evans amazing comeback is that he read all sorts of posts online from experts and even VT fans about him about things like Williams and Wilson would be better without him, he’ll be fat and slow after the long time off, that his dreads aren’t as cool as Williams’, and that he isn't athletic enough to do 10 backflips or catch a wild rabbit like Wilson. This is pretty fascinating to me, but it really shouldn’t be since I’d probably do the same. So this has inspired me to create a new section of my blog that may end up just running one week before I realize it’s dumb or I simply forget. It’s called “Hey _____, read my blog so you can get angry and motivated and come back like Darren Evans (and maybe tell your friends about my blog too).” Pretty catchy right? We can shorten it to H_RMBSYCGAAMACBLDE(AMTYFAMBT), if you’d like. And since this is the inaugural H_RMBSYCGAAMACBLDE(AMTYFAMBT), I’ll throw in a couple extra!







Hey _____, read my blog so you can get angry and motivated and come back like Darren Evans (and maybe tell your friends about my blog too):


Hey Jeron Gouveia-Winslow, I’ve typed your name so many times about how bad you are in pass coverage that I don’t have to look up how to spell it anymore! I did like your effort against BC... Let’s do that more often!


Hey Bryan Stinespring, what took you so long to figure out how to pass in the red zone? You can’t wait until reporters talk you into changing your play calling all the time!


Hey Frank Beamer, we’ve gotten down 17-0, 10-0, and 17-0 at the beginning of three games so far! That’s coaching! Motivate your players and let’s try starting out a little stronger next time.

Hey Jeron Hosley, we are 116th in the nation in punt returns average at 2.5 per return! We only 15 yards total, and 11 of them came from Danny Coale’s only return! Maybe quit focusing on defense with your most interceptions in the country AND most pass deflections and try and return a few punts. I’m kidding! I’m very impressed with Hosley so far this year, but 5 returns for 4 yards isn’t cutting it! Dyrell Roberts, you just missed the list for your kickoff returns… Where’s your #4 in the nation return average?!?


Hey Antone Exum, maybe turn your head and look up for the ball when it’s coming so you don’t get flagged for so many pass interferences. Kidding again. I heard the calls were questionable at best, but it couldn’t hurt right?


Now that I’ve been thoroughly mean and motivating, I’ll try and focus on some positives. I think our defensive line is continuing to improve. I may be wrong considering the parts of the game I missed, but what I saw and heard was encouraging. The starting 4 have been very good. Also, Hosley moly!! Three interceptions and four pass deflections? Leading both categories in the country (and he missed a game!)? Our secondary is just plain nasty. Speaking of nasty, Bruce Taylor is becoming a beast! Since those early hits out of bounds, he’s been solid. He already has 9.5 tackles for a loss, which is 6th in the country.


On offense, Tyrod continues to play great and keep us in games when we need him too as well as bring us back like on that 70 yard run (one of the most exciting radio calls I’ve ever heard, seemed like he was running all over the field for like 20 seconds!). But now he’s getting some help from the running backs. Evans has been on fire these last few games, and he looked really good against NCST. It was his best game since Maryland of 2008. Also, I’m still impressed with Jarrett “Sausage Fingers” Boykin’s playmaking ability. He’s 7th in the nation at 23.3 yards per reception and already has 4 TDs. And Andre Smith really made some plays against NCST. Been a while since we had a relevant TE (poor Boone had to block all last season). And finally, the play where they motioned Andrew Lanier, our LT, out wide then moved up a receiver to effectively be a lineman, which left Andre Smith as an eligible receiver even though he was in the LT position, that was a very creative and inspired play call. It was such a good play that it made me write a run-on sentence to describe it. So props for that one Stiney.


And the last positive is our schedule the next three weeks. Don’t get me wrong, there are no sure things any more after the JMU debacle. But the schedule is a bit forgiving for now. We have 3 games at home against Central Michigan, Duke, and Wake Forest. Central Michigan is good, and they like to spread the field and throw the ball around (like a poor man’s NCST, Boise St, ECU, ect…). So we’ve seen this before. They lost 11 starters from last season including their all-MAC QB Dan LaFevour. I think they even lost their coach. I expect the Hokies to play them like they did ECU in the 2nd half. So expect a lot of 30 formation and nickel on defense (meaning a lot of Antone Exum and not as much GW). If the Hokies stay focused to start the game, they should cruise in this one. They also should be able to run against CMU.


Prediction: 31-13 Hokies. Darren Evans and David Wilson will probably have a big game. Also, there’s a good chance of another 2 or 3 interception day for our defense.