That was an extremely gut-wrenching game to watch yesterday. Virginia Tech ended up losing a slugfest to Kansas State by the final of 73-57. From the final score you might infer that Kansas State owned VT, but the truth is that the Hokies were competitive for 3/4 of the game and then fell apart after one extremely questionable foul call against Jeff Allen and one extremely questionable non-call that would have favored Malcolm Delaney. Those fouls really ignited a crowd that had been dead for most of the game. The call against Allen was especially brutal because it sent him to the bench with 4 fouls instead of sending K-State star Jacob Pullen to the bench with 4 fouls. Foul trouble for our bigs (all two of them + Terrell Bell) plagued us in a game that the referees called tighter than Katy Perry's clothes.
Look, let's face it, it was an extremely high mountain to climb. When referees call a game that closely, there's going to be a ton of fouls, and that is always going to hurt the team with no inside depth. VT was outrebounded 46-37 and gave up 5 more offensive boards than they were able to grab. There were large portions of the game where VT had to play with no true post players. VT gave up 17 turnovers and only forced 15. Malcolm Delaney turned the ball over 9 times. Brutal. Both teams shot TERRIBLY (with K-State going a shocking 14-28 from the free throw line), but the Wildcats easily bested the Hokies in shooting percentage. When you add up those things, you get a loss. Every time.
There are certainly some good things to take away from this game. Jarell Eddie continues to impress in his rookie season. That guy is going to be a star in the ACC by his junior year... I'm calling it now. Eddie led the team with 7 rebounds and 3 blocks while playing mostly out of position in the post. Victor Davila was active in going for rebounds and wrestled a few away from K-State players. Jeff Allen was a presence down low when he wasn't in foul trouble (but he made a bone-headed flagrant foul by swinging his elbow into Wally Judge's head on a rebound). Dorenzo Hudson was 2-4 on 3-point shots and Delaney was 8-9 on his free throws. That's probably about all of the positives we can muster though.
This brings me to the title of this post... this team (albeit through only 2 games) looks EXACTLY THE SAME as the team that failed to make the NCAA tournament last year. I guess that shouldn't be a huge surprise since we're basically looking at the exact same players. You just have to swap out JT Thompson for Jarell Eddie (a fair swap... Thompson is definitely a better defender, but Eddie seems to be a better scorer and ballhandler at this point). I really need to stop buying into offseason hype. It gets me every season for both basketball and football. I hear things like, "Malcolm Delaney is really working on his ballhandling and distributing this season. He's not going to be a volume shooter for us like he has been in the past," and for some reason I believe it. I hear that Jeff Allen is going to cut out the dumb fouls, and I believe it. I hear that the team is going to feed Victor Davila in the post and let him show his offensive game, and I believe it. I hear that Erick Green is practicing with much more confidence and is a lot stronger, and I believe it. I guess this is what riles me up the most about yesterday's loss: it's not that our team failed to compete, because man they played their butts off and should be commended. It's that maybe the players on this team have already reached the ceiling of their talents. The junior versions of Delaney, 'Zo, Allen, and T-Bell are as good as those players will ever get, and we can expect the exact same types of games from them that they gave us last season... and if that truly is the case, then we are NOT going to be a safe inclusion to the NCAA tournament on Selection Sunday.
But fear not Hokie fans, there are two reasons to keep hope alive. The first is hope for our current season... Virginia Tech gets to play two surefire top 25 teams at home in Duke and Purdue. Cadarian Raines should be back for those games and will give the Hokies some much-needed depth in the post. One win in either game would give us the signature win that we need on our resume. The second hope is for the next several seasons. Seth Greenberg is really recruiting well, and the players that are coming in next year have the chance to be the best Virginia Tech basketball team that has ever existed. It's exciting to know that our team is not doomed if this year's class doesn't perform up to expectations. There are still many years of Hokie dominance ahead!
3 comments:
I posted this on the 'serv too, but here it is again:
Watching the second half last night sucked. In the span of a few minutes, we went from what should've been the 4th foul on their PG (which was called a travel instead of a charge) to fourth fouls on Davila, Bell and Allen. The fourth foul on Allen was particularly egregious refereeing, as it was far more of a charge than the three their token "small-white-guy-who-brings-grit-determination-and-energy" took. Seriously, since when did we sign up to play Duke?
Positives: Eddy looks like a baller. Jeff Allen is still a huge presence down low. Excellent hustle and pressure on defense. We were forced into a 2-3 zone early on due to foul trouble and it took KSU a good 15 minutes of game time before they broke it down.
Negatives: Defensive pressure didn't transition into fast break points. Way too many turnovers and brain farts on offense. No signs of growth from Delaney. Erick Green shows improved offensive confidence without improved offensive results. There's NO ONE I completely trust with the basketball short of maybe Jeff Allen (!). Oh, and absolutely no frontcourt depth.
It was very much 2009/10 redux...which in a way makes me optimistic for this year. At the beginning of last year, we played horribly, but then upped our game in time for a huge win streak leading into ACC play. Hopefully we'll pull it off again this season. If we do, and Raines comes back healthy, we're a borderline sweet 16 team. If we don't, we make the NCAAs but go out in the first round.
Good stuff David. I think the same thing that gives you optimism is what frightens me. If this team truly is the same team as 2009-2010, then they are playing a much more difficult schedule with the same talent. I'm not sure that translates even into an NCAA berth and it should certainly translate into more losses. I'm not giving up on a good season, I'm just saying that my own optimism took a big hit yesterday. It's only one game though and this team has time to get things right.
The second half of that game was a poop sandwich stuffed with AIDS. Extremely disappointing to watch, and even more so when you're hiding in a conference room at work with a shaky internet connection and can mostly only hear what's happending. But I digress.
The one and only positive that I took away from that game is Jarrell Eddie. I agree with your assessment that he will be a star, although I hope on a more accelerated timeline than you suggest. We need him to be a star by next year, and to at least be JTT-light this year.
As Doug Gottlieb said at halfime, Malcolm Delaney's game was a crystal clear representation of why he's still in a VT uniform this year, as opposed to on an NBA roster. We have no true ball-handler, and our offense really suffers a result. It's not necessarily Malcolm's fault, but the expectations I/we had for his improvement have not been met thus far.
With that said, I'm not going to read TOO much into this game. Greenberg teams are notorious for painfully slow starts. Even last year, we were terrible at the beginning of the year, no matter what the record might have suggested. Fingers crossed that we show some improvement over the next couple of weeks and score a big win against Purdue at home.
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