Friday, January 21, 2011

Thanks Hokies

Well, thanks for making me look like an idiot. Here I am predicting that Maryland is going to come out like their hair is on fire and really take it to Virginia Tech, and instead they are completely dominated by the Hokies from the opening tip. Virginia Tech beat Maryland 74-57, handing the Terps their worst loss ever at the Comcast Center (opened in 2002), and Virginia Tech led the entire way. It was a good old-fashioned butt-whooping, complete with icy staredowns courtesy of Malcolm Delaney and a career night from Erick Green. Green shot 12-16 from the floor, good for 24 points. He crushed his previous career high. Some notes:
  • I couldn't be more happy for Tech's players. Maryland's fans really are some of the worst in the country, and they were hurling some pretty nasty insults at the Hokies from start to finish. Luckily, the insults only seemed to fuel our team as they tore apart Maryland and shut their usual high-scoring offense down.
  • Jordan Williams may have gone for 11 points and 11 rebounds, but when you watched the game you saw that he was basically a non-factor in that game. 9 of his 11 rebounds were on the defensive end, and almost all of his points came off situations where the ball just happened to land in his hands when he was close to the basket. Victor Davila and Jeff Allen did a great job of denying post feeds to Williams so that he could never seem to catch the ball in a dangerous area.
  • The game seemed closer than it really was. I remember that my wife and I were glued to the TV thinking that Maryland was going to make a run and get themselves back into the game, but it just never really happened. Even when VT got burned by the exact same inside-out play three times in the span of about a minute where MD's Cliff Tucker ended up making uncontested threes each time, the Hokies still managed to stay calm and execute on the offensive end so that Maryland couldn't get close. I'm not kidding either, the exact same play where Dino Gregory caught the ball in the high post and slipped it back out to an open Tucker when the Hokies tried to collapse on Gregory. It was stupifying, but our players stayed composed and finally adjusted.
  • You could tell that Jeff Allen was pressing in that game. He missed a bunch of shots close to the basket that I think he would usually hit if he wasn't so amped up. Allen got so frustrated with Maryland's fans that he flipped them off two years ago in the Comcast Center and got suspended for the next game. He didn't make any mistakes like that this time, but he took some bad shots and struggled to finish plays on offense. Fortunately, he had a nice game defensively and rebounded the basketball well.
  • I'm excited about Erick Green. I don't see him as a true scorer the way Delaney is... he's just not a very good 3-point shooter and with his quirky shot, it's hard to imagine he ever will be. What Green does do well is drive to the basket and work the mid-range game. That's how he killed the Terrapins last night. Every drive to the hoop seemed to end in either a layup or an assist. Green has a knack for finding holes in defenses and exploiting them. Not to mention, he's an incredible defender, good rebounder (for a guard), and he rarely turns the ball over. Oh, and did I mention we get to see him play for two more years at VT? SWEEEEEEEET!
  • Delaney's offensive game has changed this year, and I think it's going to serve him well as far as his NBA draft stock goes. In his sophomore and junior years, Delaney was pushing hard to draw fouls every time he had the ball in his hands. He was shooting contested jumpers and trying to lean into fouls. He was driving the lane hard looking for contact. He was doing lots of things that were getting him trips to the foul line, but were really hurting him considering that he wouldn't be able to get away with those things at the next level. The fact that the referees really decided to clamp down on his acting and stopped awarding him for his behavior has led to Delaney being forced to take smart shots (in other words, shots that have more than a snowball's chance in hell of going into the basket). Just look at his shooting percentages this season compared to the last 2... he has a field goal percentage of 44.5 this season and a 3-point percentage of 43.6 this season. In 2009-2010 he was at 38.7 and 30.6, respectively. In 2008-2009 he was at 38.5 and 35.4, respectively. It's way more than shooting extra shots in the gym, it's a change in his offensive philosophy. I love it.

Next up for the Hokies is a game against Longwood at home on Saturday. That's not even really a game, so let's just go ahead and say the next game for VT is on Tuesday at Georgia Tech. GT always plays better at home, so I would anticipate the Hokies getting more of a run for their money than you would expect considering the talent for the Yellow Jackets and their abysmal head coach.

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