Downtrodden

I'm having a tough time writing this blog post. Mostly because I'm still bitter about the loss on Saturday and I'm nervous for what this means for VT's NCAA tournament chances. I guess we can pretty much kiss them goodbye because we either need to win 3 of the next 4 games: @Clemson, Duke, UNC, and @FSU, or else we need to win 2 of the next 4 and then win a couple in the ACC tournament. I think that our chances of making the NCAA field would have been around 50% with a win against FSU on Saturday, but with the loss at home, we drop to about 5%. The one good thing that I learned from Saturday's game is that we are definitely capable of beating FSU. Derwin Kitchen had to put up 19 points in the game of his life for FSU to beat us. He hit 3-3 from the 3-point arc, once falling backwards with a hand in his face, despite the fact that he'd only made 7 3-point shots this season coming into the game. What kind of a stupid name is Derwin Kitchen anyway? His parents should be ashamed of themselves. In what prooved to be an extremely tight matchup, the difference in this game was turnovers. The Hokies had four more than the Seminoles, and that (along with some other factors) led to 9 more field goal attempts for the Seminoles. VT was often careless with the ball, especially Jeff Allen and Hank Thorns who both had solid games if it weren't for 7 combined turnovers.

Seth Greenberg switched things up for this game, going with Terrell Bell as the starter over Dorenzo Hudson. The move didn't particularly help either player, though, as Bell only played 6 minutes and managed to collect zero rebounds (his best attribute is as a defender/rebounder). Hudson responded to getting benched by hitting 2 of 7 shots, 1 of 3 from downtown, and 3 rebounds. Hudson played 20 minutes, so those numbers aren't exactly staggering. Hank Thorns played very well against Toney Douglas going 2-4 with 1-2 from the 3-point line and also dishing out 6 assists. It was good to see Hank put together a decent performance, even though he did get too excited on a few occassions and made a bad pass to the other team. Cheick Diakite stepped it up with 8 rebounds in this game, which despite his size, usually isn't his forte. Jeff Allen had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. AD Vassallo had a decent game with 15 points and 3 blocks. Malcolm Delaney finally came back to form in a devastating way (for FSU), hitting 5-8 shots from three, collecting 5 rebounds and 4 assists to go along with 8 of 9 shooting from the foul line. JT Thompson played only 3 minutes in this game, for reasons unknown to me. I guess Greenberg is upset with him? Victor Davila played well in 7 minutes on the floor collecting a block and a rebound and playing suprisingly good defense. That's it for the VT players... Lewis Witcher did not play in this game.

I was pretty pissed off when the Hokies let FSU build a significant lead in the first half, being down 25-11 at one point midway through the first half, but Tech climbed back into the game on some hot shooting from Delaney which continued into the second half. Seth Greenberg showed himself to be correct... this team is incapable of getting stops when they need to. Toney Douglas wandered unfettered through our defense on FSU's last shot of the game. There was still plenty of time for the Hokies to score and AD Vassallo got a fantastic look from the top of the 3 point line, but he bricked the shot. I was hoping for a little redemption for all those last-second losses this season, but I got a mouth full of bull crap instead. Tasty. Thanks Hokies... it's exhausting being a fan of your team.

Even though our chances at the NCAA tournament are pretty much shot, I am still going to watch the remaining games and support VT for the simple reason that I love basketball, but let's get one thing straight... it's going to take a real live miracle for the Hokies to make the Big Dance now. Get your NIT gear ready. F! (SU)