Cold-cocked

They never even saw it coming. The Spiders got completely punked by the Hokies last night. Richmond was ice-cold from the floor, hitting only about 31% of their shots for the evening, and a paltry 13% on 3-point shots. VT wasn't much better from behind the arc, hitting 14%, but they were a whole lot better with the rest of their shots, hitting 45% combined from the floor. Jeff Allen appears to be back to his old self, putting up 11 points and 12 rebounds to go along with 2 blocks and 2 steals. Allen has the best hands of any big man I've ever seen, and I'm not exaggerating there. It's unheard of for any power forward to lead their team in steals. JT Thompson had his best game since coming back from injury a couple weeks ago. He had 10 points and 8 rebounds (3 offensive), and was a thorn in the side of Richmond all night. Also nice was the fact that he didn't have any turnovers, which was a bit of a problem for VT last night and was the only reason that they didn't blow out U of R by 20 points or more. VT gave up 16 turnovers as opposed to only 7 for Richmond. That stat needs to improve this weekend as we take on Boston College in Blacksburg. Tyrese Rice is arguably the best player in the ACC this year, and he'll be looking for revenge against VT this year. Last year in Blacksburg the Hokies blew out the Eagles by a final score of 67-48. Perhaps you remember this dunk by Deron Washington? I believe the term is "sick-nasty".

Terrell Bell and Dorenzo Hudson had an excellent game when you combine their two stat lines... in 25 minutes they were 6-9 for 13 points with 7 rebounds (2 offensive) with an assist and 2 steals. That exactly the kind of production I was hoping for out of our shooting guard position.

The Hokies have a lot of versatility this year. Hudson and Bell have the size to play either the 2 or 3 on offense, but can also guard either position on defense. JT Thompson is able to play the 3 or 4 on offense, and can guard a 2-4 on defense. Jeff Allen can play the 4 or 5 and can guard either on defense. Delaney can guard a 1 or 2 on defense and can play either on offense. This team can give you a lot of different looks and the versatility means that Greenberg can almost always get a favorable matchup for each of his players on both offense and defense.

I hope Tech absolutely crushes Boston College on Saturday. They could use a blowout ACC win to legitimize the program this year.