Puke

That wasn't exactly the game that Virginia Tech fans were looking to see. Tech couldn't hit the broad side of a barn in that one, but were fortunate enough to stay in the game due to the fact that Duke couldn't hit the broad side of a battleship. VT was tied with the Dookies as late as 8:40 in the second half, but then the Blue Devils started to rear their ugly heads and make some shots (and I do mean ugly... did you see the shiner on Singler? He's hideous enough... he didn't need that kind of help). Neither team could hit an open shot for most of the game, but Duke was able to make their run late with a final score of 67-55. That score is a real shame because the game was much closer than that. The first 32 minutes were hotly contested with VT holding the lead for the first 10 minutes, then Duke jumped out to an 11 point lead only to fall back to 5 at halftime.

• Dorenzo Hudson got himself into a jaw session (Well, why don’t we just say—as long as that means a talk) with Nolan Smith late in the second half and could have gotten ejected from the game for giving a hard nudge to Nolan's face. You can't call it a hit... he kind of took his fist and pushed it across Smith's chin. The refs went to the monitors and came back with the decision to give each player a technical foul, which was a bit of a relief to Hokie fans. Hudson would have had to sit out the next game if he had been caught fighting. I definitely think Smith was trying to bait Hudson. He had a look on his face after the nudge that seemed to say, "Look ref, look! He hit me! Throw him out!" Honestly, if Jeff Allen had been involved in the altercation, I think his reputation would have gotten him ejected from the game, but Hudson is known for being a good guy, and I think his reputation had the opposite effect on the referees.
• This loss doesn't hurt the Hokies too much. Yes, it would have locked us into the Big Dance, yes you can basically lock up a regular season title for Duke now, and yes the Hokies still need to grab some wins to make the NCAA tournament, but you still have to like Virginia Tech's chances to make the field. Wins against ACC bottom-feeders Boston College and NC State will get the Hokies in the "bubble talk", but add a win over Maryland at home, and the Hokies can start packing their dancing shoes before they even set foot in the ACC tournament. The Hokies might even be able to win only one of the two against BC & NC State as long as they beat Maryland, since Maryland is starting to jump up in the RPI. Even after losing to Duke, VT got a bump in their strength of schedule, which also improved their RPI to #44. Maryland is sitting at #36. Wake Forest is threatening to drop out of the top 25 sitting at #21, and that would be bad news for VT.
• Malcolm Delaney has reverted back to his new old self... if that makes any sense at all. After doing a good job of knowing when to look for a foul and knowing when to shoot the ball against Wake, he came into Cameron Indoor Stadium and laid an egg. He looked for contact on just about every shot inside of the 3-point arc, and was rarely rewarded with a foul. He was more successful drawing fouls on the Duke big men as they came up to set a high screen and ended up setting moving picks. At any rate, fouling out the Duke big men shouldn't have been a priority in that game. They have nice pieces in Lance Thomas and the Plumlee brothers, but none of those guys is a real game-changer. Brian Zoubek was definitely a game-changer with his 8 offensive rebounds and 8 defensive rebounds, but the referees were allowing a lot of contact on both ends. Delaney did a poor job of adjusting to what the referees were giving. Delaney didn't have a bad game, but the Hokies needed him to be a star, and he was just a role player in this one.
• If Delaney laid an egg, then Dorenzo Hudson laid a full-grown chicken. He shot 3-12 and 0-4 from the 3-point line. He had zero assists and struggled to dribble the ball against the pressure defense of the Dookies. He did go 6-6 from the foul line, but he needed to shoot much, much, much better from the field. A few of his jump shots were so atrocious that Duke didn't even have a chance to set up for a rebound.
• Honestly, it's tough to pick out a player for the Hokies who had a good game. P@'s game ball has to go to Terrell Bell who was 2-2 from the field and had 8 rebounds... 4 offensive, and a steal. He also played some phenomenal defense. Not a pantheon performance, but the best one I could find.
• Our next game is against Boston College in Chesnut Hill this Wednesday at 7pm. The game is televised on ESPNU. BC has a knack for giving us a tough game when they play at home, and I expect Wednesday to be no different. If the Hokies think they can cruise in and grab an easy win, they are sorely mistaken. This isn't a must-win for VT, but it's pretty close. This game is definitely a situation where a loss hurts more than a win helps.
• My friend Sam picked up a 12-pack of Saranac winter brews (named 12 Beers of Winter 2009) for the game yesterday. They were scrumtrulescent and I highly recommend them. I tasted the Belgian Ale, Black Lager, and Big Moose Ale... all delicious. I should have tried the Maple Porter, and the memory of missing out on that may always haunt me (until I pick up a 12 pack of my own).