Zo's Coming-Out Party

41 points. 20-21 from the free throw line. 3 of 7 from the 3-point arc. While VT's leading scorer and team leader Malcolm Delaney was watching from the sidelines with a boot on his foot, Dorenzo Hudson was busy beating Seton Hall by doing what he does best... driving to the basket and playing tenacious defense (in a 103-94 overtime defeat of Seton Hall). You could see it in his face... he was having a great time and loving his newfound role of floor general, and his confidence has never been higher. This is the Dorenzo Hudson we thought we were getting two years ago; a guy who could score the basketball and take over in crunch time. It took a little longer for the real 'Zo to show up than expected, but I think we can all agree that we're pumped about him arriving. Will he stay for long or will the ghosts of self-doubt plague 'Zo in ACC play? I guess that's what the rest of the season is for, but it looks like Hudson has finally shook off the uncertainty and took hold of the gift set before him.

When you watch the game film, Hudson actually didn't shoot the ball all that well. He banked in a three pointer that he almost certainly didn't mean to bank in. He only shot 41% from the floor and he committed 4 turnovers. Those numbers aren't the worst, but they don't jump out at you either. What does jump out at you is the free throws. He had 21 of them and made 20. Those are not late-in-the-game, foul-the-other-team-to-stall free throws either. I would say from memory, at least 17 attempts were during times when the teams were battling and not intentionally fouling. That means that our boy Dorenzo was forcing the issue. He was taking advantage of defenders being in bad defensive positions and CREATING fouls. These are extreme comparisons, but all the best players do that. LeBron, Kobe, Dwayne Wade, etc... they all go to the basket and look for contact when the open shots are not there. This is something we need Hudson to keep doing. In reality, the ideal Dorenzo Hudson game is not a game where he takes 22 shots. You want your best shooters taking the majority of the shots, and unfortunately 'Zo isn't there yet. The ideal for him is a game where he takes around 8-10 shots, but goes to the foul line 8-10 times as well. And if the other team refuses to foul him, he needs to make them pay by hitting the shot. I am very encouraged by his latest performance, but I want to see consistency. I want to see him look for contact every game.

Erick Green got a lot of time at the point guard spot with Delaney out. Green was harassed incessantly by Jordan Theodore (an excellent on-ball defender) every time he brought the ball up court. Sometimes it took Green 15-20 seconds to make his first pass. He ended up fouling out of the game in overtime because of offensive fouls where he was trying to shed his defender, but he'll learn from that, and it is a good lesson to learn. He just needs to turn as many times as his defender makes him turn and not get frustrated. Other than that, Green was terrific. He hit a big 3-pointer during regulation play and had a key block in overtime. He missed two free throws that would have iced the game and kept us from going to overtime, but you have to expect jitters like that from a freshman.

Jeff Allen was the low-post rebounder and scoring threat that we needed him to be, and he stayed out of foul trouble for most of the game. He played with 4 fouls through all of overtime and never fouled out, while still grabbing rebounds in traffic helping the Hokies to dominate.

Cadarian Raines showed the kind of skills he is capable of bringing to the table with the best performance of all the freshmen in this game. There was a stretch where he deflected two passes that turned into steals (I'm not sure why Raines didn't get credited with the steals since he caused those turnovers) and blocked a shot for another turnover in about a 3 minute stretch. He was extremely productive in his 7 minutes of play and I think will be a much bigger contributor that people realize.

Manny Atkins made some big mistakes (like passing off to Hudson on a 3-on-1 fastbreak when he had Erick Green wide open on his left, but passed to Hudson on his right, where Hudson was covered by a defender whose feet were already planted, and Hudson had no choice but to run into the defender for a charge). Atkins will learn to make the right pass in situations like that, but he made up for some mental errors by nailing some big shots near the end of regulation and in overtime.

JT Thompson had a quiet, but solid game. The same goes for Victor Davila. You could even say that Terrell Bell played solidly despite his 1-5 shooting effort. He made both of his free throws in a clutch situation and pulled down 6 rebounds (3 offensive, which tied the game high).

Our next game is against UNC in Chapel Hill. That's a tall order, pun intended. The Tar Heels boast 5 rotation players who stand 6'10" or higher. VT has zero players in the rotation who are that tall. Oh, and UNC's best inside presence, Deon Thompson, isn't counted in that group as he's "only" 6'9". The good news is that 3 of those UNC players are true freshmen and haven't quite "put it together" yet. John Henson is a scary prospect, but for now he's weak in the paint and scores mostly on outside shots and open clean-up buckets. He doesn't have a post-up game. The Wear twins are nothing to be concerned about. They may get much better over their time at North Carolina, but right now they are just average substitute players at best. They cannot create their own shot and aren't particularly quick-of-foot for their size. The players we should be scared of are Thompson, Ed Davis, and possibly Tyler Zeller.

Consequently our best inside presence is not our tallest... Jeff Allen is the key to battling North Carolina on the boards. If Allen gets in foul trouble, we will be hard-pressed to keep UNC from a smorgasbord of offensive rebounds. JT Thompson and Terrell Bell will need to pitch in, particularly when they are playing the 3. They will need to crash the boards on every play. Victor Davila needs to do a much better job of boxing out and grabbing rebounds. He is prone to go for weak side blocks that never materialize, and when he does that, he leaves his man open to grab the loose ball. Also, Davila won't be much of a factor on offense... be ready for this. Ed Davis is a FORCE when it comes to blocking shots, and he's not going to let Victor get any good looks down low.

The key to winning for Tech is guard play. Ours are better than theirs, if Delaney is able to play, and we will need to get UNC's best big men in foul trouble. Hudson and Delaney need to take the ball right into Thompson and Davis's chests and make sure they are not set so the foul is called. If Malcolm is still hurting and can't play, then I would say we're about even on guard play and likely to lose. Sunday will be a very interesting game regardless. There's a chance that Malcolm Delaney (VT), Will Graves (UNC), and Marcus Ginyard (UNC) will all sit out. There's also a chance that they all play. I think those particular players either playing or not-playing will be the real factor to which team wins. With Delaney, I am calling this a Hokie win, regardless of whether Graves or Ginyard plays. If all 3 are out, I am still taking the Hokies. If Delaney is out, but either Graves or Ginyard plays then I'm taking UNC for the win. Let's hope those G's stay out of the game. GO TECH.