Making Sense of Buzz Williams' Marquette Teams

As you all are well aware at this point, Buzz Williams is the new men's basketball coach at Virginia Tech.  In a rather astonishing move, he left a perennial NCAA tournament contender Marquette for a team that historically struggles to make the NIT (sorry Hokie fans, just being real here).  Buzz took over the Marquette Golden Eagles at the beginning of the 2008-2009 season after the much ballyhooed Tom Crean split town to coach the storied Indiana Hoosiers.  Buzz was fresh off of his first season as a head coach where he led the University of New Orleans Privateers to a 19-13 record.  It was considered to be a pretty shocking hire by Marquette at the time.

Buzz's teams at Marquette managed to make the NCAA tournament each year from 2009 through 2013.  Last season they had an uncharacteristic finish going 17-15 with no postseason play.  I noticed a couple of things about Buzz's teams at Marquette... one which is a good omen for the Hokies and one that is bad.

The Good
The biggest hurdle for this season's Virginia Tech team is the lack of depth in the frontcourt.  VT only has 3 big men on scholarship this season.  Christian Beyer has had as much playing time as just about any walk-on in the modern history of VT basketball, but I'm not sure how much Coach Buzz should be relying on him for serious minutes this year.  How can this be spun into a positive?  Buzz Williams' teams at Marquette were incredibly undersized.  All of them.  He often employed 3-guard and even 4-guard lineups, and he did this in the best conference for college basketball (at that time).  Looking at minutes played by each player for his Marquette teams, he never had a frontcourt player bigger than 6'8" in the top five, and several times he employed 6'6" Lazar Hayward as his biggest starting frontcourt player.  I originally projected the Hokies' starting five as Devin Wilson, Ahmed Hill, Justin Bibbs, Shane Henry, and Joey Van Zegeren.  Buzz Williams had a player similar in size and ability to JVZ at Marquette for six seasons (medical redshirt) named Chris Otule, and Otule was never a top five minute-receiver for Buzz.  It wouldn't be absurd to see him use Shane Henry as his tallest player in his main lineup playing alongside Wilson, Adam Smith, Hill, and Bibbs.  Buzz likes to have shooters on the floor.

The Bad
The other main deficiency of this Virginia Tech team is the lack of experience.  VT has two seniors (Will Johnston and Christian Beyer), and neither is likely to see more than a handful of minutes per game unless something goes terribly wrong.  Buzz's Marquette teams were almost always littered with starting upperclassmen... so much so that it feels like they were purposefully designed this way.  Care to guess how many of his teams employed freshmen as top-6 minute-getters?  Just one.  Vander Blue was the only player lucky enough to see that many minutes as a freshman with Coach Buzz.  That's kind of shocking.  Marquette is not Kentucky, Duke, or UNC.  You would think that highly-recruited high school seniors who committed to Marquette would come there with the understanding that they would be starting, but that didn't happen.  Buzz has a history of pulling in top-100 recruits, but he also scours the junior college ranks.  Some names you may recognize who were JC recruits: Jimmy Butler (2008), Dwight Buycks (2009), and Jae Crowder (2010).  Butler and Crowder are both currently playing in the NBA.  If Buzz pulls in a JC player, you can bet that he will start over a freshman at the same position.  So it seems obvious that Buzz Williams favors experienced players over inexperienced players with a potentially higher ceiling.  However, Buzz won't have much of a choice this season.  There isn't enough experience to go around and he will be forced to give big minutes to several underclassmen.  This will not be the case next season for incoming recruits Justin Robinson and Kerry Blackshear, Jr.  With transfers Seth Allen and Zach LeDay needing minutes, those fellas are not going to be able to contribute much in their first season as Hokies, and that seems to be the way Coach Buzz likes it.

The Conclusion
Expect more transfers.  Buzz will continue to build his team with the players he feels are the best fit... this could mean that an already thin team gets even thinner during the season.  I would not be surprised to see as many as three players transfer before the start of the 2015-2016 season.  High school kids always come in with an expectation of how many minutes they are going to play and how long they are willing to wait before they receive a starting job.  Ahmed Hill, Justin Bibbs, and Jalen Hudson will all come in with the chance to win the two wing positions (shooting guard and small forward), which means there will be one odd man out.  I'd imagine whoever loses that battle will want to transfer to get starters minutes and continue his dream of being in the NBA.  I think Hill is basically a lock to win the shooting guard job as he is Buzz's recruit, but Bibbs and Hudson were recruited by James Johnson, and it's tough to tell which one will be the better fit for Buzz's schemes.

I could also see a situation where Devin Wilson or Malik Mueller ends up leaving because Justin Robinson is coming in 2015.  Wilson and Mueller are both bigger point guards who don't score well, but who can create plays for teammates.  Robinson is small, lightning fast, and offers a different dynamic as a scorer.  I could also see a situation where Adam Smith transfers (again), which would make me feel pretty bad for Smith, but I think there won't be many minutes available next season when Seth Allen can play.  Smith would likely become the third shooting guard behind Hill and Allen.  The caveat here is that there may be backup minutes available if either Hudson or Bibbs transfers, but that's not a lock.  Buzz could choose to go with a shorter rotation.  Regardless, Virginia Tech basketball fans have been through quite a bit of change over the past year and we should expect even more by this time next year.

The Schedule

Virginia Tech's men's basketball team plays one of the most unholy, unconscionable out-of-conference schedules imaginable this season.  It seriously makes me angry just to look at it.  Let me walk you through the only teams even worth mentioning in our out-of-conference slate:

• Northern Iowa - 11/25 - every high-major team plays in one or two early tournaments before hitting their conference slate.  This season the Hokies are playing in the abhorrent Cancun Challenge.  There are no decent teams in this tournament, including Virginia Tech.  VT plays two cupcakes, and then plays another cupcake (these UNI Panthers) in the "semifinal".  The Panthers went a yawn-worthy 16-15 last season with only one good win (home v. VCU).  If this team is conjuring up magical memories of knocking off 8-seed UNLV and 1-seed Kansas to reach the Sweet Sixteen, you can put that out of your mind.  That was 5 seasons ago, and this team stinks now.
• Northwestern or Miami(OH) - 11/26 - The reward for getting to the "finals" of the Cancun Challenge will be the "privilege" to play the winner of this game.  Believe it or not, I have many friends who graduated from Miami(OH) and they probably won't like hearing this, but the Redhawks are a bad team.  They went 13-18 last season and lost to every quality team they played.  The more likely winner of this game is Northwestern.  Finally!  A team from a major conference, right?  Well the Wildcats are still a sorry team.  They went 14-19 last season and even though they had a couple of decent conference wins, there's really no reason to believe they won't do worse this season.  This tournament should be burned with fire... or really radiation would be even better so that no one can come near the site for years and years.
• Penn State - 12/3 - Virginia Tech gets to take part in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this year!  That's the good news.  Through no accomplishment of the Hokies, the two conferences contain an even number of eligible opponents, so the Hokies will travel to Penn State to take on their equivalent in the Big Ten.  The bad news is that Penn State will likely finish even lower in the Big Ten than last season... there isn't much hope for the men's basketball team in State College.  The Nittany Lions went 16-18 last season and will likely be even worse this year.
• West Virginia - 12/30 - Now this is finally a quality opponent, right?  The Mountaineers are seemingly always in the NCAA tournament over the past decade+ and should finally be a feather in the cap of our out-of-conference schedule.  Except that this WVU team is also in a rough patch.  They went a mediocre 17-16 last season with a couple of nice wins, but they lost to Virginia Tech of all teams (how embarrassing), and then they got hit with the transfer bug over the summer.  They lost their 2nd and 3rd leading scorers in Eron Harris and Terry Henderson.  They have a solid PG in Juwan Staten, a 4-star redshirt-freshman in Elijah Macon, and an exciting JUCO transfer in BillyDee Williams (!! let the Colt 45 flow!!), but I don't anticipate them finishing the season with a winning record given their losses.

So that's it everybody.  4 teams on the schedule to supposedly whet our appetites for the ACC schedule, but it's really a barren wasteland.  And this is where I start to get angry again.  This is the best you could do?  Was it deliberate?  I know that it's absurd to think that the Hokies could make the NCAA tournament this first season with Buzz Williams as the head coach, especially after the transfer of C.J. Barksdale, but don't you even want to give your players hope?  The way the NCAA selection committee works, you get absolutely nothing for beating bad teams, but if you lose to a bad team it's a gigantic pock mark on your resume.  Likewise, if you play a top-50 team and lose, it is not seen as a bad thing necessarily, but a win against such teams is counted as gold.  Why would you schedule a non-conference slate composed entirely of cupcakes?  What does that give your team?  You've killed any dream of theirs to make the NCAA tournament before the season begins, and you are not challenging your young players to improve until they reach the quality opponents in the conference slate.

So for next season, I am imploring you Buzz Williams and Whit Babcock, put some good teams in the non-conference schedule.  Let your team and your fans have dreams, regardless of how silly they are.

Let the Buzz Williams Era Begin!

I know we're in the heart of Virginia Tech football season, and honestly I have enjoyed this season so far with Michael Brewer at the helm, but I also got really excited today when I realized that the Buzz Williams era is less than a month away!  I think Coach Buzz would roll his eyes at a potential depth chart at this point in the year, but hey I'm no coach, so let's put one out for the fun of it:

PG: Devin Wilson, Malik Mueller

SG: Ahmed Hill, Adam Smith, Will Johnston

SF: Justin Bibbs, Jalen Hudson

PF: Shane Henry, Christian Beyer, Greg Donlon

C: Joey Van Zegeren, Satchel Pierce

The first thing you might notice is that there are a ton of new faces on this roster.  Mueller was on the team last year, but is an unfamiliar face because he was academically ineligible (nicely done NCAA!  We can't have students transferring from Germany without having any basket-weaving credits).  The redshirt will come off and Mueller will back up James Johnson's best find in sophomore point guard Devin Wilson.  RS-Junior Adam Smith missed half of last season with injuries, but he will return as the primary backup at shooting guard to offer some electricity off the bench.  Senior Will Johnston will see some minutes as our three-point specialist, but the majority of the minutes on the perimeter will go to freshmen.

Coach Buzz managed to lure two of his recruits from Marquette over to Virginia Tech, and the best of those two is shooting guard Ahmed Hill.  I am really high on this kid, I think he's going to be fantastic if his work ethic matches his raw talent.  Hill is 6'5" and crazy athletic.  He can handle, pass, shoot, slash, and finish at the rim with a monster dunk.  He can defend, get steals, and lead a fastbreak in transition.  I was pretty bummed about the transfer of Ben Emelogu until I got a chance to check out Hill.  He can really do everything you want at the guard position.  Hill is ranked #54 in ESPN's Top-100 recruits for 2014, but I honestly think that's too low.  He's a top-25 talent for sure, but I think the fact that he stayed at his local high school instead of going to one of the top prep academies is what hurt his rankings.

Tech adds another top-100 freshman in small forward Justin Bibbs.  Bibbs is not the freak athlete that Hill is, but the kid is a gamer.  Whether he is shooting (lefty) or driving to the hoop (either hand), he is a quality scorer and has really good size at 6'5" 210 lbs for a freshman perimeter player.  I am expecting that he will be the starter at small forward, but there's certainly a chance that freshman Jalen Hudson could claim that role.  Hudson is a bit undersized for small forward at 6'5" 195 lbs, but ESPN is high on him as a 4-star recruit (they're also high on Bibbs, ranking him 70th in their final Top-100 recruits for 2014).  Hudson is more athletic than Bibbs and can really get up in the air.  His jump shot looks great, but his handle may not be good enough to be more than a set shooter and fastbreak finisher right away.  Hudson is a graduate of St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron (LeBron James' alma mater).

I feel pretty safe in saying that the Hokies will outperform their 2-16 last-place finish in the ACC last year simply by upgrading coaches from James Johnson to Buzz Williams, but I don't think they will be quite as successful as I was originally expecting.  I knew Coach Buzz would shake things up and bring in some of his own guys, but I was pretty shocked when CJ Barksdale announced that he was transferring.  He has one year left of eligibility and he was the clear starter at power forward this season.  I don't think he transfers unless Buzz nudges him out the door, and that freed up a scholarship that was offered to and claimed by 2015 point guard recruit Justin Robinson.  The loss of Barksdale leaves our frontcourt paper thin... expect to see a healthy number of minutes going to walk-on power forwards Christian Beyer and Greg Donlon this season.  I am expecting that JUCO commit Shane Henry is going to be our starter at power forward.  He's (this has to be the third time I've said it) super-athletic, springy, rangy, active... a nice compliment to the less mobile centers on our team.  Henry is a talented shot-blocker and weak-side helper, but he also has some ability to finish around the basket and a nice looking jump shot that should only get more consistent with time.  If Henry comes in with a JUCO-level work ethic (and frankly I'm not expecting this), he may lose that starting job to a walk-on.  Christian Beyer is not a special athlete, but he's consistent.  He knows how to box out and grab rebounds.  He knows where he's supposed to be in the offense.  He knows how to keep his body in front of an offensive player and limit scoring opportunities.  He got better as a finisher around the rim as last season progressed, but he's really not much of a scoring threat.

The center position is locked up by Joey Van Zegeren.  Joey doesn't move quickly, but he does move decisively on defense and he is a very talented shot-blocker.  His presence around the rim affects three times as many shots as he blocks.  JVZ's offensive game is still improving, but it's not terrible.  He's not a great rebounder considering his size and leaping ability, and this is an area that could use some attention.  Backing him up, Buzz Williams brought in a traditional center in 7'0" 255lb freshman Satchel Pierce.  I'm already predicting that he gets called "Satchel Paige" over 50 times by TV announcers this season... it's bound to happen.  Mike Patrick, I'm looking squarely in your direction as the worst offender.  Pierce is a big body who will cause some trouble for offensive players who wander into the paint without a plan.  On offense, he has a nice array of moves around the hoop and a solid jumper that he can hit regularly (guessing his max range is about 15 feet away).  He moves pretty slowly and I don't anticipate he will be much of a factor on the break.

As you can see, the Hokies depth in the backcourt is young and their depth in the frontcourt is non-existent.  Coach Buzz will be looking towards the future.  Next season the Hokies will have the services of a big-time transfer from Maryland, SG Seth Allen, a decent PF transfer from South Florida, Zach LeDay, and two quality freshmen recruits in PG Justin Robinson and PF Kerry Blackshear, Jr.

Let's Meet Your 2013-2014 Virginia Tech Hokies

Yesterday I wrote a post focused on the entire Virginia Tech basketball team and their play up to this point in the season.  Today I'd like to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the individual players.  Nothing does this better than bullet points (I'm way into bullet points).

• SF Jarell Eddie - I think that if you're going to start talking about the players on the VT basketball team, then you need to start with Eddie.  In the past, he was known as nothing but a shooter, and you only wanted to see him jack it up in catch-and-shoot situations.  Putting the ball on the floor usually spelled disaster.  To his credit, he's worked on that part of his game and has become a pretty good offensive threat from just about any spot on the floor.  His game is starting to resemble AD Vassallo in his senior year, except that he's been more efficient at shooting up to this point.  His numbers will almost certainly take a dip during ACC play, but he's a legit offensive weapon who you love to see open on the 3-point line.  He's become borderline automatic in those spots.  Jarell still likes to dribble a bit too much in situations where he needs to pass and can be prone to turnovers, but there's much more to like about his game this year than not.
• SG Ben Emelogu - What a find this kid is!  As a freshman, he sure looks like the complete package.  In fall practices, he was showing such leadership and tenacity on both ends of the floor that James Johnson decided to make him captain of the team.  As a frosh, that's a huge accomplishment.  Emelogu was only a 3-star recruit on just about every major scouting services' listings, but he's already shown that those services were wrong.  He's an excellent and disruptive defender who can steal the ball, block shots, and shut down opponents.  He can knock down 3-pointers with a beautiful jump shot.  He can drive and finish around the rim.  He can find teammates and rack up assist numbers (had nine the other day against Maryland - Eastern Shore).  He even makes julienne fries!  Okay that's an old and terrible joke, but he's really looked good.  As a freshman, he makes his share of dumb passes and missed defensive assignments, but his future is incredibly bright.
• PG Devin Wilson - Another impressive freshman who seemingly came out of nowhere.  He decided late in the recruiting process that he didn't want to be a college football player as most were projecting and decided he would rather play college basketball.  I think it was a smart move... his skill set reminds me of long-time NBA player Andre Miller.  I talked a little about his skills yesterday, but to recap: he can drive the ball & finish or draw fouls, he can pass the ball, he's got good size, and he plays excellent defense... he cannot shoot a lick.  Like Emelogu, he can be prone to making freshman-esque mistakes and will turn the ball over when facing big time pressure.
• C Joey Van Zegeren - I would like to toot my own horn in saying that JVZ has turned into the type of quality ACC-caliber center who I thought he could be.  +Richie Stockholm and I made comments to each other a year ago on this very blog saying that we both thought he could be something special.  His offensive post game has been disappointing, he fouls way too much, and he can't hit a free throw to save his life, but he's been very impressive blocking shots, rebounding, and cleaning up around the basket.  I said yesterday that I think he's the best shot blocker I've seen on the team since I started classes at VT in 1998, and I still feel that way a day later.  He's added a little bulk to his athleticism and will surprise a lot of teams in the ACC.  He took over the starting role from super-senior Cadarian Raines, and I can't say it wasn't the right move.  He really does need work on his post game, though.
• PF C.J. Barksdale - Remember J.T. Thompson?  Barksdale reminds me a ton of him, right down to having two letters as a first name.  Barksdale works hard for rebounds and can score inside and out.  His jump shot extends to one full step inside the 3-point line and he's even an excellent free throw shooter.  His biggest bugaboo is the injury bug, which bugs me (yup).  He's been in and out of the lineup all season with various ailments, and I don't see that changing.  When healthy, he essentially provides Virginia Tech's only offensive presence in the post.
• PF Marshall Wood - When Barksdale is healthy, Wood basically splits the power forward minutes with him 50/50.  Wood is much more polarizing in his style of play, though.  He's really stepped up his 3-point shooting this season and is a real threat to hit open shots from just about anywhere outside of the paint.  Inside the restricted area is a different story... Wood has been utterly awful at converting shots there.  He also has a knack for being lazy on defense, often spacing out for a moment before trying to catch up to the play.  He has excellent size and athleticism... the only things that are truly missing from his game are toughness and hustle.
• C Trevor Thompson - A talented freshman, he is JVZ-lite.  I'm not sure I really have to say much more about him, as every single strength and weakness that JVZ has are also common to Thompson.  Thompson will be an excellent shot blocker (he's already good), but he needs to add bulk in order to battle with the big guys in the ACC.  He has supplanted Cadarian Raines recently on James Johnson's depth chart, but part of me wonders if that was just to get him some play this season while the Hokies took on lesser competition.  I don't believe he has the bulk yet to be a factor in ACC play, but he does rebound and block shots... two things that Raines has not been able to do.
• SG Adam Smith - He's that streaky bench scorer that every team needs.  He's small for his position and doesn't have the handle to play PG except for in short doses while spelling Wilson, but he can light up the scoreboard when he's on his game.  His shooting has improved since his freshman season at UNCW, and he makes the offense more dynamic when he's on the floor.  His defense can be brutal at times, and we knew this about him coming into the season.
• SG Will Johnston - Another guard who can be brought off the bench when JJ needs some shooting.  Johnston is a very good three point shooter who can get his shot off quickly.  Unfortunately there isn't much else that he does well.  Johnston is a former walk-on and I do think that he earned the scholarship that he's playing with this season.  He's a useful contributor in the right scenarios, however injuries and the losses of Rankin and Mueller have forced him to play much more than I'd like.
• PF Christian Beyer - A walk-on, but with more talent than your usual walk-on.  I'm not just saying that to be a homer, either, as I've seen tons of walk-on players during my time as VT fan.  Beyer is right up there with Paul Debnam in usefulness.  He plays tough and he rebounds the basketball.  He can't really score, but he's not completely devoid of ability in that area.  He's a nice player to have.
• PF Greg Donlon - At 6'8" and 230 lbs, he has great size for a walk-on.  However he rarely ever gets into the game, and frankly that's how it should be.  I've been extremely disappointed with him as the end of the bench guy.  He needs to be waving that towel much faster and making sweet 3-goggles when the Hokies bury a deep one.  I'd love for JJ to bring in Paul Debnam to teach a crash course.
• C Cadarian Raines - I'm going to finish up with Raines because he may be the most interesting story of the season.  A 6th-year senior, Raines was really being counted on by JJ at the beginning of the season to bring leadership and stability to a young team.  However, I think the years of injuries to Raines' feet have left him timid on the court.  He's mentioned in interviews that he has a bit of a mental block when it comes to going for rebounds outside of his area because he's worried about what will happen to his feet as he moves into other players' zones.  Due to these issues, Raines has been little more than a body to foul other bodies.  The promise that he showed on the offensive end a couple seasons ago is gone and never to return.  He hasn't been able to score, rebound, or block shots consistently, and I think this is why James Johnson has dropped Raines from his rotation in spite of his ability to provide a veteran presence on the court.  Will size alone be enough to get Raines minutes against ACC opponents?  I'm really not sure about that.

Catching Up with the Hokie Basketball Team

It's been a while since I've written anything on my blog, but with the VT football season coming to a close (rather disappointingly I might add), I figured now is as good a time as any to talk some VT basketball.  The Hokies are sitting at 8-5 on the season, haven't beaten anyone of substance, and have a couple of pretty bad losses (including UNC-Greensboro and SC-Upstate).  I'm still not sure if coach James Johnson can ever find success at VT, but I'm willing to wait a while longer to find out.  Why?  Because even though his teams have been mired in injury and strange situations, I've liked his recruits for 2013.

Let's start with the injuries.  Once again (this is becoming an annoying recurring theme), the Hokies have been bit by the injury bug.  VT's best rebounder and interior scorer, CJ Barksdale, has already missed several games (3 disciplinary, 3 injury... don't count VCU and UNCG, he played a combined 13 minutes and was really hurting out there).  VT was also missing a key scorer in Adam Smith for 4 games (he too was playing injured against VCU).  Freshman captain (yes, I said captain) Ben Emelogu has also missed 3 games with concussion-like symptoms.  It's been par for the course for the Hokies, who have seen injury issues for as long as my feeble brain can remember.

Now what about these "strange situations" that I said?  Let's start with former point guard, Marquis Rankin.  Rankin was assumed to be the favorite to win the starting point guard spot coming into the season simply due to his seniority.  While battling with Devin Wilson for that job, freshman Malik Mueller was ruled ineligible by the NCAA (for no real reason whatsoever), which seemed to almost gift the position to Rankin since Wilson was a very late addition to the team from a recruiting perspective.  As it turned out, James Johnson announced that Wilson had won the starting job, and after that point Rankin would never don a Virginia Tech jersey again.  He sat on the bench in plain clothes for half of the season until deciding to hang up his high-tops.  No one really knows why... the best explanation I heard was that he wanted to prioritize other things in his life over basketball.  He's still at VT and is expected to complete his degree on scholarship there.  I've never heard of anything like that before... definitely a strange situation.  In addition to Mueller and Rankin, senior center Cadarian Raines has basically been benched.  He's played sporadic minutes with Johnson favoring redshirt-sophomore Joey Van Zegeren and freshman Trevor Thompson over him.  It's very strange for a senior leader like Raines to lose his spot like that, but I wouldn't say it was the wrong move.

After getting our negative points out of the way, there are plenty of reasons for optimism with this Virginia Tech team.  They are the 8th best 3-point shooting team in the nation right now... a very strange feeling for Hokie fans who are used to only have one or two decent three-point shooters on the team.  Virginia Tech boasts 5 this season - SF Jarell Eddie, SG/PG Ben Emelogu, SG/PG Adam Smith, SG Will Johnston, and PF Marshall Wood.  All 5 players are shooting over 40% on their threes.  VT also blocks a lot of shots, which is also not something we are used to seeing.  The team averages 6 blocks per game (tied with UNC for 29th in the nation) and Joey Van Zegeren is the best shot-blocking center I can remember VT having (going back to 1998 or so).  He's averaging 2 per game, but could easily average 3 if he weren't in foul trouble so often.

So if this is the case, then why is VT only 8-5?  Shouldn't they be rolling opponents?  Not when you're 293rd in the nation in turnovers.  The Hokies give the ball away far too easily, and their turnovers are often the worst kind... live turnovers that lead to a run-out basket on the other end of the floor.  This is not a surprise when the team only has one true point guard and he's a freshman.  With that said, Devin Wilson has done a pretty admirable job in his role as point guard.  He sticks to what he does best and doesn't try to be what he isn't.  What isn't he?  He's not a shooter.  He may only take 1 or 2 jump shots per game, if that, and you cringe when he does it.  What can he do?  He can drive to the basket and either dish the ball or finish w/ contact (both left-handed and right-handed).  At 6'4", he has excellent size and strength that is not typical of a freshman PG for Virginia Tech.  He's been a quality defender, another rarity for a frosh.  He has a surprisingly nice skill set given his late addition and I hope we'll get to see him for many years in Orange and Maroon.  Given the amount of great shooting VT has been able to put around him, his lack of shooting ability has not been a big hindrance.

Virginia Tech is a young team with the typical problems of a young team.  They often play out of control or make bone-headed decisions with the ball.  However, this is a team that has more talent than most people in the nation would know or care to know.  Will they find that out on Tuesday against Syracuse?  Well no because CBS buried the game on a smaller network, but even if they hadn't, it's still not likely.  But is it possible we could see an upset over the unbeaten Orange?  Sure.  Syracuse (h/t to info from Jeff Rendell) is not a team who likes to press you full court.  They're going to let you set up your half-court offense.  The full court press is Virginia Tech's kryptonite due to their youth and ball-handling deficiencies at the point guard and wing positions.  We saw this against VCU as they repeatedly poked the ball away and were able to get easy transition buckets.  Coaches who rarely press have done so against VT this season, including Miami's Jim Larranaga, simply because it makes too much sense not to do it.  Will Jim Boeheim show hubris in ignoring this simple recipe?  I don't know, but even if he does, VT needs a few other things to go right.  They need to hit their 3-point shots, and they need to take a lot of them.  They need to drive into the 2-3 zone that Syracuse runs and kick out to open shooters without having those balls tipped away starting fastbreaks.  They need to keep the battle on the boards respectable and they need to play good defense and take care of the basketball on offense.  That's a lot of requirements, but could they all happen?  Sure, why not.

Saved by the Bell: The New Class

This post's title is partly obvious and partly not so obvious.  "The New Class" is obviously in reference to the Virginia Tech basketball 2013 recruiting class.  Wednesday was Signing Day and all 4 of our verbal commits have signed a Letter Of Intent with VT.  Why "Saved by the Bell"?  Because James Johnson and his staff really had to scramble in finding some quality players with such a short amount of time since they took their new jobs.  The result is a class of players who are not very highly rated by the national recruiting services, but who could end up surprising us.

Currently, the highest rated player in the class is 6'5" combo guard Donte Clark from Charlotte, NC.  Donte was rated as a 4-star recruit by both ESPN and Rivals.  ESPN puts him as the #89 player in their top 100.  James Johnson expects to play him at both point guard and shooting guard.  He has good length and athleticism being classified more as a scorer than a shooter right now.  He has a lot of potential on the defensive end as well.  He had offers from Missouri, Miami, Georgia, Tennessee, Memphis, and Oklahoma State among others.

6'11" center Trevor Thompson is a 3-star recruit according to the major services, but his scholarship offers do not reflect that.  He had offers from USC, Purdue, Tennessee, Kansas State, Xavier, Mississippi State, and Arizona State.  So there is obviously something about this kid that the high major schools wanted and I think you'll see him shoot up to a 4-star recruit by the end of his senior season if not sooner.  The bill on him is that he's a little skinny, but is long with good bounce and good speed.  He runs the floor extremely well, he can finish with both hands, rebounds well, and blocks shots well.  He should fit right in with JJ's offensive and defensive schemes.  Thompson is from Indianapolis, IN, but originally hails from Reston, VA.

An interesting pickup for VT was Maurice Kirby, a 6'9" PF/C who decommitted from Arizona State after verbally committing to them as a sophomore.  Kirby took a big step back his junior season and supposedly put on a lot of weight that slowed him down and sapped his energy.  However from what I have read, Kirby has greatly reduced his weight for his senior season and could be primed for a big comeback.  He's a face-up player on offense with poor post moves, but he can hit the jumper out to 15 feet.  He's supposedly a good rebounder and shot-blocker.  There is a lot of talent here, but it needs to be developed.  His only other offers currently are from Loyola, Brown, and Northern Arizona.  Kirby is from Chandler, AZ.

The final member of this year's class is 6'5" shooting guard Ben Emelogu from Grand Prairie, TX.  Right now he projects more as a "3-and-D" player.  He can hit the long jumper with consistency and he's got the ability to be a defensive stopper.  He needs to work on driving to the hoop and handling the ball as well as rebounding his position, but he can be a useful player coming off the bench for the Hokies (although it's not a given that he will see court time as a freshman).  Ben chose VT over offers from Washington, Marquette, and TCU.

All in all, I think James Johnson and his assistant coaches did an excellent job recruiting for 2013 given the amount of time he was given to get these players to commit.  He went after players who weren't necessarily on the national radar, but who all have the potential for big jumps in their senior season.  I would prepare myself for the fact that we might only get 1 or 2 players out of this class that will be solid starters going forward... there's potential for better, but I think that's more of a reasonable projection.  Personally, I think it'll be Thompson and Clark who end up with the best careers at Virginia Tech.

JJ was known to be solid recruiter before he was hired as a head coach, and I am very intrigued to see what he does with the 2014 and 2015 classes.  For 2013, this really did not need to be a big class with a lot of studs.  Robert Brown has SG locked down for another 2 years.  Jarell Eddie and Cadarian Raines have both SF and C locked down for one more year, and I think Joey Van Zegeren will improve enough in 2 full seasons to be able to take over center at that point if needed.  The only position that appears to be thin is point guard, and we'll have to expect that position to be addressed either in the 2014 class or with a 5th scholarship offer in the Spring.

Freedom!

You can take the title of this post from either Braveheart or George Michael, whatever fits your lifestyle.  Either way, I am sure that the VT players have been shouting/singing this word since James Johnson took over as head coach.  Let me add to that by saying that I am not a Seth Greenberg basher.  I really appreciate the tough attitude he brought to our program and I think we're all very thankful for that NCAA tournament team in 2007 with Dowdell and Gordon running the show.  Seth Greenberg's teams were hardly ever out of a game and that was his design.  Keep possessions down and keep opposing offenses uncomfortable.  Make them work hard and work the clock for every bucket.  His teams brought us some moments we will appreciate for our entire lives ("T-Bag Paulus!" and the pantsing of #1 Wake Forest both come to mind).  However, that system required a lot of rules to be successful, and frankly it couldn't have been very fun for the players.  Ultimately, I think it created an environment where players were constantly second-guessing themselves.

Since James Johnson has arrived, he has taken a lot of the restrictions off of the players.  If you shoot three-pointers well in practice, you have the green light to shoot any time in the game.  Shoot whenever you have a good look at the basket, regardless of the shot clock.  If you think you have a good chance at a steal, then go for it.  I just see a lot more trust between the coach and his players, and so far his players are rewarding him for it.  Are we seeing the middle of the pendulum swing before it flies over to the other side?  Possibly.  As players get used to this style and as new players come in who never played for Seth Greenberg, we could see situations where players get wild and out-of-control on offense, jacking up shots whenever they want.  However, I think this is where recruiting comes into play... JJ has been going for high character guys who really want to be at Virginia Tech and play for him.  He seems to be creating a sense of family where he is the father, and I think that is the coaching style that always gives the best results.  You are going to bust your ass for your brothers and you're going to work hard to get praise from your father.  That kind of unity can't be discounted, and that's the unity I feel when I watch this year's basketball team.

Through 2 games, I think we can all say that we're pleasantly surprised with our team.  I think everyone thought we would beat ETSU and URI, but I don't think we expected the team to come out playing as well as they have.  This team can SHOOT IT!  I would not be at all surprised to see Erick Green, Robert Brown, and Jarell Eddie all over 40% from the 3-pt line this year with Eddie being closer to 50%.  Even walk-on Will Johnston is looking to be a dangerous outlet at the 3-pt line.  If Marquis Rankin and Marshall Wood can shoot around 33-35%, our squad will be absolutely devastating from deep.

I would add Joey Van Zegeren to the list of pleasant surprises, but I've already touted him on here before the season started.  It was a hunch at the time and it's still an unproven theory, but when I watched videos of him and when I watched him in the first two games, I noticed a very athletic 6'10" player who absolutely has the tools of a high-major center.  At this point he is only averaging 1 block per game, but the thing I have noticed the most is that you are not going to get a cheap "and-1" when he's on the floor... JVZ is going to block it.  I have seen this happen at least 3 times so far where JVZ comes flying out of nowhere to insure the shot doesn't go in on a shooting foul attributed to a teammate.  A lot of guys stop playing after the whistle blows, but shot-blockers should not... a shot can still go in and count after the whistle.

This post could run on for a really long time if I wanted to do it, but I won't.  Instead I'm going to hit up a couple more thoughts in bullet points and then ball out.

• Erick Green is playing like a star player.  He's doing just about everything you could ask from a senior point guard.  He's leading, he's scoring, he's passing well, he's playing great defense, and he needs to stay confident.
• Robert Brown is on the track I expected... this guy is an explosive scorer with an array of moves.  Next year will be his breakout year.
• Jarell Eddie has shown that he really did work on shooting off the dribble.  Not necessarily hitting jumpers after dribbling full-speed on the break (right now he's flying forward and isn't getting his feet under him), but when the 3-pt line is guarded, he's added a nice shot fake where he fakes the shot, dribbles once or twice moving forward, and nails the long 2-pointer.  Very effective.  He's also looked better driving to the basket.
• I like Marshall Wood a lot more than I thought I wood (punny).  You can tell from his form that he's going to be a good 3-point shooter, but he's not hitting them yet.  I'm pretty sure all of his 3-point shots against URI hit the rim twice before coming off... they'll fall eventually.  The thing that has been the best surprise is his intensity.  He goes hard for rebounds, he covers distance to block shots, and he can finish with contact around the rim.  He's going to be a better player as a freshman than Dorian Finney-Smith was last year.  I have no doubts.
• Cadarian Raines is looking to be in the same form as when he finished last season... had a bit of a stinker against ETSU and then put up a much better showing against URI.  I am still shocked at his offensive game.  He was recruited as a defender and rebounder, but it's the offensive side of the ball where he's shown some fantastic abilities.  My theory: he was out so much time redshirting for 2 years that working on post moves is about all you can do when you're by yourself.  My guess is that he spent 2 years working on that and we're seeing the fruits of his labor.
• CJ Barksdale is supposedly playing in spite of injury.  I don't know what injury, but it seems to make sense to me.  He has shown an improved jump shot, but I haven't seen a lot of toughness out of him and he's not rebounding as well as last year.  I hope he gets some time before the ACC slate to get his body and mind in the right state.  I like him though... he can be as good as any of our post players on the right night.

Overall, watching this team has been extremely fun.  They are showing a lot of joy out on the court and their confidence is sky-high.  I am excited to see what they can do against Iowa in a couple weeks as that should be their first real test.

Ready for Hokies Basketball in 2012?

Judging by the feelings from most of my Tech alumni friends, the rest of you Hokie fans are not terribly excited about Virginia Tech's prospects for having a noteworthy season.  Trust me, I completely understand the negativity.  We have a brand new coach in James Johnson (from here on known as "JJ") who has never been a head coach at the NCAA level, let alone in Division I.  We lost our most highly touted recruit for 2012, as Montrezl Harrell decided to take his talents to the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville.  We also lost our most highly touted recruit for 2011, as Dorian Finney-Smith's mother decided he was too big-time to be missing shots 2 feet from the rim at Virginia Tech and opted to move him to the University of Florida.  Okay, there might be some sour grapes there, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see DFS flourish under Billy Donovan, but if he thought he was too good for VT then good riddance.

So the Hokies will enter 2012 short-handed and will employ new offensive and defensive schemes.  We have 8 players currently on scholarship... one of them, 6'10" r-freshman C Joey Van Zegeren, was red-shirted last year and was considered a project when we recruited him.  Is he ready to contribute?  Another, 6'8" freshman stretch-PF Marshall Wood, probably would be red-shirted this year in a perfect world to give him time to add some beef.  Will he be able to bang down low with the big boys in the ACC?  Here are some of my thoughts on the 2012 Hokie roster in bullet-form, which is my passion and desire.

• James Johnson has a lot of passion for his job and that passion is infectious.  Schematically, JJ has indicated that he wants to get out and run more on offense this year.  Lots of coaches say this (Greenberg said it just about every year) because it's more fun for the players and appeals to recruits, but not a lot have the balls to do it.  So far the team has been practicing this way though.  The increase in tempo has the potential to result in more sloppy play and bad-shooting teams get burned by the fact that they are creating more possessions in the game, hence more chances to miss shots.  It also has the potential to break down and tire out our roster, which as I've said is not deep.  On paper, it seems like a bad idea for this year but it may inspire our players if they like it.
• At his roots, JJ is a defensive coach.  He's big on mixing up defenses... full court pressure, full-court trap, 3/4-court trap, 1/2-court trap, man-to-man defense, zone defense... you name it and I'm sure we'll see it at some point this year.  Primarily you're going to see full court pressure and man-to-man defense, but JJ has said he's open to playing more zone if foul trouble is an issue.
• PG Erick Green returns for his senior season as the undisputed leader of this team.  He had his best season as a Hokie last year, shooting well on 2s, 3s, and from the free throw line.  He will again be asked to be the scoring leader for the Hokies, and you can bet on him stepping up to that role.  Green considered going somewhere else for his senior season after Greenberg was fired, but immediately committed to coming back to VT when James Johnson was made the head coach.  The players really love him and I expect Erick Green to play hard for JJ.  Green will be in the running for first team All-ACC, especially if his assist totals increase a bit.
• If Green is the president of the Hokies, then r-junior C Cadarian Raines is the vice-president.  Raines' voice is respected on this team, and his hard work started paying dividends on the court in the second half of last year's schedule.  Raines has struggled with foot injuries throughout his college career and was truly healthy for the first time last season.  He brought a toughness on defense, on the glass, and defending the rim that was missing when Victor Davila was in the game.  These are traits that everyone knew a healthy Cadarian Raines would bring, but to our surprise he also showed a wonderful post game on offense.  Raines has been working on a variety of moves on the block, and I'm expecting he'll contribute around 10 points per game if not more.  He will need to improve on his rebounding numbers though.
• Junior SF Jarell Eddie had a bit of a breakout season last year showing a fantastic ability on catch-and-shoot jumpers.  He also proved to be our best free throw shooter.  He's supposedly been working in the offseason on shooting better off-the-dribble, and he has the potential to rival Erick Green as the scoring leader for our team.  Eddie is also a solid rebounder with great size for the SF position.  Last season, Greenberg was forced to play him out of position at PF because Finney-Smith wasn't big/strong enough to handle that role.  JJ has indicated Eddie will play exclusively on the perimeter as a small forward this year, which is his strength.  At the very least, Eddie is a solid 3-and-D player, but his ceiling is definitely higher than that.
• Sophomore SG Robert Brown is the most explosive player for the Hokies.  As a freshman, he displayed an array of offensive moves that few freshmen possess.  Brown can shoot it from deep, drive and finish at the rim, terrorize in transition, shoot the pull-up jumper, or use his push-shot that he can float over tall defenders in the paint.  I think he has incredible potential as both a scorer and defender, but I'll be a bit surprised if he can reach that potential this soon... he may be a year away still.  Sometimes when you have as many abilities as he does, you get caught trying to decide how to attack the basket.  Brown also struggled mightily from the free throw line last year in spite of having good form, so it seems like he may have some mental demons to master there.
• The final member of the starting five is sophomore PF C.J. Barksdale.  He's my pick as breakout player of the year for the Hokies, and a lot of that is because he has the opportunity for more minutes. Last year his per-minute numbers were better than Dorian Finney-Smith's, and everything I've heard indicates that he's looking like a beast in practices.  I think he will replace DFS as the rebounding leader on our team and should score about 10 points per game, showing a mid-range jumper that wasn't there last year and some scrappy play around the rim.
• First off the bench is sophomore PG Marquis Rankin.  Rankin did a nice job with limited minutes last year and showed to be our best on-ball defender as a frosh.  Coming out of high school he was noted to be a good finisher around the rim and a so-so outside shooter.  Well he showed the exact opposite last year, proving to be a threat from deep but not really succeeding in his forays into the paint.  I'm hoping to see some steady growth from him as he'll play almost as many minutes as the starters.  Rankin is our best player at pushing the ball forward on the break, and that fits in well with the style that JJ wants to play.
• Freshman PF Marshall Wood is an absolute gem of a find, in my opinion.  He has an inside-out game as a face-up PF who can shoot the 3-pointer.  He also rebounds very well, showing a toughness in the paint.  This season I expect him to get pushed around a little bit as he hasn't had much time to add muscle mass, but I'm predicting that he will be on NBA draft boards before leaving VT.  He also needs to improve his handle.  I think his game will ultimately remind you of former Duke Blue Devil Kyle Singler, except without the a-hole sneer on his face all of the time.
• The final scholarship player is r-freshman C Joey Van Zegeren.  Nobody really knows what to expect from JVZ, as he's been injured during a couple of practices that have been open to the public.  Being the optimistic guy that I am, I think that we're going to get some good minutes from him this year.  I've heard him get some comparisons to fellow Dutchman Robert Krabbendam stating that he will have a similar contribution when he's in the game, which I think is absolutely absurd.  Krabbendam was a stiff.  He was the kind of player who gets a scholarship because he's 7 feet tall.  JVZ, on the other hand, showed to be a very athletic player in high school with a good-looking jump shot and the ability to block shots at a consistent rate.  What do I expect from him this year?  I expect him to play 10-12 minutes per game, giving us a good defensive presence when he is in there.  I think he'll struggle a bit offensively, but I also don't expect him to take many shots.
• There are a number of walk-on players on our roster, and JJ may end up giving some quality minutes to one or two of them depending on how well they play in practice.  Odds are that one or two of the scholarship players will suffer a somewhat serious injury this year, so you may see Joey Racer, Will Johnston, and/or Christian Beyer a little more often than you would like.  I'm really hoping one of those guys can step up to the challenge.

So now that I've given you a sneak preview of this year's head coach and the players on the team, I'll give you my sad prediction for this season.  In the end, I just don't see our team being able to fend off injuries for an entire season and I think our schedule is too awful to put us in the running for a post-season tournament even if we finish with a good record.  Our best out-of-conference opponents are Iowa, OK State, WVU, and BYU.  Yuck... not much chance for a signature victory there.  You could potentially see the Hokies finish something like 11-2 in their out-of-conference play and still not get into either the NIT or the Big Dance.  Usually you can count on the Hokies playing in a tournament around Thanksgiving or Christmas with the chance to play one or two highly ranked opponents.  Not this year.  VT plays in the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic as the only high-major team in the tournament.  The other teams include: Bradley, Colorado State, Portland, Georgia Southern, Mississippi Valley State, North Florida, and Cal State Bakersfield.  Again... yuck.  And then to top off the fun, we play a very weak ACC slate.  3 of the top 5 teams in the ACC figure to be NC State (#1), UNC (#3), and Florida State (#5)... we play each only once.

So I'm sorry to say Hokie fans, if your definition of success is making the NCAA tournament or at the very least making the NIT, then I think I have bad news for you.  It'd be an incredible story if VT were able to make that happen this year, but I just don't see it.  However, I'm still going to watch the team and root for our boys because I always keep hope for the most improbable things to happen to us.  Keep hope alive.  Go Hokies!

Greenberg Out, JJ In

Well, it finally happened.  For the past couple of years there have been offseason rumblings about the possibility of Seth Greenberg being fired at Virginia Tech.  It finally happened.  I think at this time everybody knows how it happened and why it happened.  Athletic Director Jim Weaver got a little PO'd about the fact that assistant coaches kept leaving Seth Greenberg's staff, and this time with 3 assistant coaches leaving for equivalent jobs and a director of basketball operations also bolting for a new home, Greenberg would have to replace his entire staff in one offseason.  Any traction that had been gained in recruiting was likely lost as the guys primarily responsible for doing the recruiting were no longer at VT.  Jim Weaver probably crapped a brick and after he was done doing that, he called a press conference together without informing Seth Greenberg of his firing.

Let's get something straight; you do not announce a press conference to the media and then put up a link to it on your website before you tell a guy that he's fired.  That's low class, and a poor decision by Jim Weaver and his staff.  Weaver gave some excuse about scheduling, but shoot... even a text would have been better than having reporters calling Greenberg to see if he was getting fired before he had any clue it was coming.  That was a really bad move and the national media got it right by calling out our athletic department on that one.

With that said, and it did need to be said, the local and national media also got the pulse of the situation right (except for ESPN who I think is grooming Greensberg for a full-time analyst position).  It was time.  It was not an ideal time, but it was time.  I've been hearing for a while from people in the know that Greenberg was a tough guy to work with and could be pretty abrasive.  We saw that with the way he treated the media.  After a win, he's talkative and enthusiastic and a really great interview.  After a loss, he's sullen and condescending and could snap at someone at a moment's notice.  That's his personality, for better or for worse, and this time it seemed the worse of it was too much for 4 staff members to be around.  I believe Jim Weaver when he said that 1 trip to the NCAA tournament in 9 years was not the reason that Seth Greenberg was let go.  VT football has had similar post-season failure, but Frank Beamer is not going anywhere as long as Weaver is AD.  For him, it's enough to be one of the best teams in the conference, and Beamer and Greenberg both certainly showed that Virginia Tech was and is one of the best team's in the ACC for both sports.

My opinion about Greenberg is a mixed bag, which I'm sure you find utterly shocking.  Sure, changing conferences from the A-10 to the Big East to the ACC gave Seth access to recruits that his crummy predecessor didn't have.  But as far as national scouting services were concerned, Greenberg was still working with less than his conference contemporaries.  Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon were two of the best players ever to wear the orange and maroon, and they weren't on the radars of a lot of power conference schools.  For a while, Greenberg was getting the most out of his players and it was showing in the ACC record.  The simple fact of the matter is that with Seth Greenberg's patented defense, the Hokies kept most games close and often finished in the top half of the ACC standings.  That's great... that's exactly what you want.

The negatives were also there, though.  Greenberg did not seem to be a guy who could develop players.  When I think of Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen, Dorenzo Hudson, and Victor Davila, I think of 4 guys who were promising as freshmen and were basically the same players when they graduated as seniors.  Sure, there were slight improvements... Davila improved defensively in his junior year and Delaney learned in his senior season that he couldn't drive into the lane, flail around, and expect to draw a foul anymore (the referees were on to his game during his sophomore season).  But these were pretty minor improvements.  The only guy I can think of who really burst onto the scene to surprise everyone is Erick Green.  Green showed some tremendous improvement.  But for the most part, it just wasn't there under Greenberg.

Another negative was the lack of offense.  Look, I get that he was a defensive coach who preached protecting the ball and quality possessions.  But for all of Greenberg's offensive plans to score more in transition and "get out and run", the Hokies failed to ever actually do that.  Year after year we suffered through offenses with low scoring (and worse than that, poor efficiency numbers), but Greenberg refused to bring in an offensively-minded assistant to take over this role.  Personally, I think he just has too much of an ego to ever do that.  Last year VT had one of the top 15 freshman classes in the country, a feat never before achieved at my alma mater.  I'm kind of relieved that they won't have to sit through 3 more years of a Seth Greenberg offense.  If this group of guys doesn't get to the NCAA tournament at some point, it will be a massive failure in the new coaching staff.

And that leads us to the hiring of James Johnson, the prodigal assistant.  Without throwing Seth Greenberg under the bus, what we know from JJ is that he liked his chances of becoming a head coach more by being at Clemson and that was the primary reason for his move.  But the unsaid connotation is that he was also unhappy with his position at Tech and didn't think he could become a head coach in that position.  I have no qualms with Weaver going out and grabbing the guy who recently spurned VT for Clemson.  I would have done the same if I was JJ and I would have looked at hiring him if I was Weaver.  There was no conspiracy here... JJ was not Weaver's first choice.  He kicked the tires on Shaka Smart, Jay Wright, and Bobby Lutz for sure, but for all three guys I am told that there was a money problem.  They wanted too much of it and they weren't going to get it.  With those guys and others at their level out of the mix, JJ was a fantastic hire.

Why do I like the JJ hire?  For one, he is going to keep all of our current players on the roster and will probably end up keeping both of our promising young recruits, Marshall Wood and Montrezl Harrell.  Harrell is less certain, but he hasn't asked out of his letter of intent yet.  Wood re-upped with Tech as soon as he heard JJ was the hire.  Why?  Because players love JJ.  No one has a bad thing to say about him... he is beloved by players, colleagues, media members, recruits... he's a great guy who loves basketball and never says a negative word about anybody. 

So this is where we are... we have a first-time head coach who preaches defense and claims that his defense will remind you a lot of Seth Greenberg's defense.  Like Greenberg promised so many times, JJ wants to "get out and run".  Personally, I think coaches just say this because their players want to hear it.  What player doesn't want an open up and down game where they can show off their monster dunks and drop wide open transition 3-pointers?  These are the plays that get the crowd fired up and thus get the players fired up.  But you know what?  Someone has to have a real game plan that will lead to this happening.  The players have to learn when to jump passes and get better at deflecting passes in order to create the turnovers needed for fastbreaks.  Players need to learn to outlet the ball quickly after rebounds and made baskets and push the tempo the right way with guys at different levels on the court.  You don't just "get out and run" by running.  I'm hoping that JJ realizes this, and if he is in the same vein as Greenberg and doesn't have a knack for game-planning an offense, I really hope he is not too proud to bring in an offensively-minded assistant coach to help him.  I've heard that College of Charleston assitant Mark Byington is almost a done deal, and he would be an absolutely amazing hire.  Great X's and O's coach who is a solid recruiter, is well-respected by his peers, and is originally from Salem, VA.  I hope he comes home.  Former Dusquesne coach Ron Everhart is also being talked about, and he would be a guy with head-coaching experience who could really help JJ in this transitional time.  I've heard other names from Ace Custis (supposedly contact JJ about his interest), Dell Curry (sounds like BS to me), and Jerry Wainwright (would bring same kind of credentials and experience as Everhart).  I like what I'm hearing if these guys are indeed interested.

It's a new era in Virginia Tech basketball.  Seth Greenberg had 9 good years with a lot of positives for all of us VT basketball fans, and we should take some time to remember that and thank him for it.  Basketball wasn't very fun in Blacksburg before he arrived.  Now we have a brand new head coach who could take us back to the dark ages or bring us further into the light, and I can't even venture a guess as to which of the two will happen.  I want to see our guys play hard for JJ.  I want to see our players develop and improve from year to year and hopefully even month-to-month.  We know James Johnson can recruit.  What is he going to do with those guys once they walk through the doors of Cassell Coliseum?  I'm excited to find out.

The Doe-Doe Show

I'm not sure how many people watched the VT basketball game this afternoon... it was on ESPN3.com instead of TV.  VT won 64-53 over East Tennessee State.  They're supposed to rival Belmont for the Atlantic Sun title this year... the same Belmont who almost beat Duke last night so ETSU is a pretty good team.  My thoughts:

• Dorian Finney-Smith was just what was advertised.  He's not a dominant scorer (yet), but he seemed like he was everything else.  Put up a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds (yeah. 16!).  Blocked 4 shots.  Racked up 5 assists.  Only turned the ball over twice despite helping to bring it up the floor against the full-court press.  Wow... I'm a fan.  That's how you replace Jeff Allen, and then some.
• Victor Davila is what we thought he is.  For people who thought he was going to step in and be the team's dominant rebounder and a consistent double-figure scorer, that was never going to happen.  He seemingly reached his max potential last season, but that's still a good player to have.  He had 7 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks today... a standard game from Vic with very good post defense.
• I think ETSU's 2-3 zone kept Zo Hudson from really getting off today.  He finished with a quiet 9 points, but he did a nice job defensively and even played some point guard to give Ty Garland a breather.  I think he's typically going to score more than today.
• No Erick Green today... he is still nursing a sore achilles tendon.  With Marquis Rankin still recovering from a knee injury he suffered about a month ago, that left Ty Garland running the point.  Garland had a really sloppy game, particularly early on when he was trying to shake some jitters.  He did a nice job of cutting through the 2-3 zone, but too many times he would finish his drive with a low pass at the feet of a post player, and you just can't expect Davila, Raines, or Barksdale to catch a pass like that.  Heck, I don't really think anyone could have caught those passes.  They were just too ambitious.  7 turnovers and some bad shot choices will not help Garland to keep a spot in the rotation when Green and Rankin are back.  Two positives from Garland... he was aggressive at times defensively and was able to get some steals that way.  He also did a nice job of finishing on his shots in the lane.
• CJ Barksdale = a taller JT Thompson.  He brought some fantastic energy off the bench and pulled down 7 rebounds.  Like Thompson, he doesn't seem to be a shooter at this point in his career and will need to work on that, but he had some nice moves closer to the basket.
• You're going to love Robert Brown.  He makes good decisions with the ball, he plays some tenacious defense, and he can SHOOT IT.  He shot 7 times in the game, all three-pointers.  The first 3 in the first half were bricks, then he made his next 3 in the second half after calming down.  He's got a really nice stroke and supposedly can finish on the break as well, although we didn't get to see that today.  I see him leading the team in scoring next season after Hudson moves on, or at least giving Erick Green a run for his money.
• Jarell Eddie had a solid game starting at the 4.  For those who were worried about VT's 3-point shooting now that Delaney is gone, I think that the answer will be Eddie + Brown.  Eddie was only 1-3 in the game from the arc, but his two misses both rattled around inside the rim before jumping out.  Make no mistake, this kid can shoot.
• Cadarian Raines gave our team some much needed protection around the rim.  He only had 1 block in the game, but he altered a bunch of shots with his interior presence.  He also managed to grab 3 steals, leading the team today.  I think he's a guy who you will see improve a lot over the course of the season.  Because of two seasons of foot injuries, he doesn't have a lot of game experience and so he looked lost in the offense, but I can definitely see him improving there.  He's going to be a valuable player for VT.
• We even got to see 2 minutes of Joey Van Zegeren today.  He came in and did a nice job, in my opinion. He bodied up ETSU's best player, PF Isiah Brown, and played him tough forcing a missed shot.  Brown managed to get the ball back kind of through a bit of luck rather than anything JVZ did, and then he fell for a double pump and fouled Brown, but it was nice to see that he's no pushover.

Overall, I am really encouraged by this game.  The Hokies got down by as much as 7 points with about 8 minutes left in the first half, but I am going to attribute most of that to early season jitters while shooting the ball and also to Garland's early turnovers.  It looks like things are back to normal this season with Greenberg's patented, suffocating, man-to-man defense and that should be a constant throughout the season.  It was also great to see the Hokies battle back to take the lead before the end of the half and then to keep ETSU from taking the lead again at any point in the second half.  ETSU made a late run to get back into the game, but the Hokies stomped it out.  This is what good teams do... they squash runs.  I am definitely excited about this season and I think that an NCAA tournament bid is more likely this year than it was last year.  Remember that.

ACC Predictions

With Virginia Tech's men's college basketball season starting up 2 weeks from tomorrow, I thought I would take a look all 12 ACC teams and rank them, since that's the hip thing to do.  So let's get right to it.

1. UNC - Obviously.  Everyone in the media has the Tar Heels as the #1 team in the ACC if not the #1 team in the nation, and I am no different.  When North Carolina benched Larry Drew II last season in favor of Kendall Marshall at point guard, the whole team benefited.  Marshall shows real leadership and play-making abilities.  Add an emerging Harrison Barnes at SF, a defensive terror in PF John Henson, an all-around excellent C in Tyler Zeller, as well as a deep bench, and you have a team destined for greatness.  They are as close to a lock as there is for the Final Four.
2. Duke - There is some room for argument having Duke as the #2 team in the ACC... but not much.  They just continue to add big-time recruits year after year.  Losing your top three scorers in Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, and Kyrie Irving is tough, but the cupboard just got restocked.  Duke landed the #1 recruit in the nation in G Austin Rivers, as well as a third Plumlee brother (Marshall Plumlee, supposedly the most talented of the 3 massive Plumlees), PG Quinn Cook, and SF Michael Gbinije.  Miles Plumlee is the only senior on the team, but he's not a team leader.  The youth and inexperience of this team could be a problem, but the talent certainly is not.
3. UVA - Yep, that's right... I'm not picking Florida State here.  Blasphemous, I know.  I'll explain why I'm down on FSU in their section, but I'll explain here why I'm high on UVA.  For one, I truly believe Tony Bennett is an excellent coach and his defensive tactics will make UVA one of the best defensive teams in the ACC.  UVA's star player, PF Mike Scott, only played ten games last season before being shut down with an injury.  They were also missing starting PG Sammy Zeglinski for the first 7 games of the season, and it really showed.  This team didn't lose much to graduation (underwhelming backup forward Will Sherrill, and streaky shooter Mustapha Farrakhan at guard), but they're adding two 4-star recruits in SG Malcolm Brogdon and SF Paul Jesperson.  Look for KT Harrell and Joe Harris to build on last year's success as freshmen.  If they can stay clear of injuries at their most talented positions, they can easily finish 3rd in the ACC.
4. Virginia Tech - I know everyone is going to hate me putting UVA ahead of VT, but I am just going with my gut.  Erick Green is going to have a great year at PG.  Victor Davila will probably improve a touch this year, but for the most part he's a known factor.  The loss of Jeff Allen's rebounding does scare me... he was awesome on the boards.  However, I think Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen will be replaced by a committee of players including the returning Dorenzo Hudson and JT Thompson, as well as finally-healthy Cadarian Raines.  VT's squad is deeper than it has ever been, and you're going to see the absence of Delaney's negativity have a positive effect on certain members of the team.  Also, this is the best recruiting class that Coach Greenberg has ever had, and "Doe Doe" Finney-Smith is the best recruit Greenberg has ever landed.  Optimism abounds.
5. Florida State - Yes, they are absolutely loaded in the frontcourt, and that's before adding ESPN top 100 SF Antwan Space into the mix.  They have solid shooting guards in Michael Snaer and Ian Miller.  But they don't have the most important piece of the pie... a good point guard.  It is very rare to see a team succeed in the ACC without a good point guard.  The loss of NBA-bound Chris Singleton is big, but FSU has players that can mostly replace what he brought to the table (by committee of course).  You can't say that about the loss of Derwin Kitchen at PG.  Luke Loucks was terrible as the backup PG last year and Arkansas transfer Jeff Peterson doesn't look to be any better.  Besides Kitchen, no player on FSU had an assist-to-turnover ratio over 1.375 last season.  That is lousy... this team is going to turn the ball over a lot, and that's going to lead to easy baskets in transition.
6. Miami - I have no idea what to expect from the 'Canes.  They have two fantastic guards in Durand Scott and Malcolm Grant.  They have one of the best centers in the ACC in Reggie Johnson.  Miami didn't lose much from last season, just F Adrian Thomas.  They have solid wing players in Garrius Adams and DeQuan Jones.  However, they have a new coach in Jim Larranaga and only one recruit, 3-star SG Bishop Daniels.  Also Jones could be in big trouble for supposedly accepting a $10,000 bribe to play at Miami... just depends on how long the NCAA takes with this crazy Nevin Shapiro case.  The backcourt alone makes you want to put this team higher than 6th place though... I guess we'll see.
7. Clemson - I could see this team being better than I'm predicting, but also worse so this spot seems about right.  The diminutive point guard Andre Young is an excellent shooter and ball-handler.  The frontcourt is imposing with Devin Booker, Milton Jennings, Bryan Narcisse, and 4-star recruit Bernard Sullivan.  G/F Tanner Smith is also a nice starting player.  The depth at guard and small forward is a real concern though.  Coach Brad Brownell brought in a bunch of 3-star recruits in a year where he has some serious minutes to dish out to freshmen... I can definitely see that being a problem if Young or Smith goes down with an injury.
8. NC State - Sidney Lowe is finally gone, which is great for Wolfpack fans, but the coaching change also resulted in talented PG Ryan Harrow moving on to a new home in Kentucky, so this team is left without a lot of options at the point.  NC State has talented wing players in CJ Leslie, Scott Wood, Lorenzo Brown, and CJ Williams.  They have a decent frontcourt with Richard Howell, DeShawn Painter, and 4-star PF recruit Tyler Harris.  But the lack of overall depth and the severe questions at PG will probably doom this team.  Strange move by Harrow... he will go from a situation where he was possibly going to be the star of a decent team to a situation where he has to sit out a year and likely won't be the starting point guard when he comes back.  I wouldn't trust John Calipari not to bring in a big-time recruit at PG for 2012, and personally, I don't think it's a given that Marquis Teague will be good enough or have the body to go straight to the NBA after 1 year.
9. Georgia Tech - Can I really put this team above Maryland?  You'll see why in their section.  As for Georgia Tech, this team lost a lot of their best contributors from last year.  Star point guard Iman Shumpert is gone to the NBA, backup point guard Mo Miller is also gone, and so is sharp-shooter Brian Oliver.  Backup forward Lance Storrs is gone too.  Coming in is only one recruit, but he's a good one in ESPN top 100 power forward Julian Royal.  Also, any coach other than Paul Hewitt can only be a good thing for this team.  They return a capable PG in Mfon Udofia, a blossoming G/F in Glen Rice Jr, and sophomore 2nd-year starters Daniel Miller and Kammeon Holsey in the post.  I imagine Jason Morris will round out the starting group, and he got good experience last year.  There isn't much depth to this team, but the starters are capable.
10. Maryland - Another coaching change... this one was due to Gary Williams' retirement though.  Maryland boasts talented freshman SG Nick Faust and their star player is likely to be PG Terrell Stoglin who really came onto the scene strong in his first season.  Guard Pe'Shon Howard is also talented, but he's going to miss at least the first 2 months of the season with a broken foot.  Guard Adrian Bowie gave big minutes last year, but is now gone.  They still have senior G/F Sean Mosley (man, he seems like he's been around forever), who never seems to take that next step towards stardom.  The frontcourt is a bit of a mess with beastly center Jordan Williams leaving early for the NBA.  Also, forwards Dino Gregory and Cliff Tucker are gone.  James Padgett looks like he can handle the pressure, but who else will rebound the ball and guard the hoop?  This team is going through transition and might finish lower than 10th, but almost certainly no higher than 9th.
11. Wake Forest - This team should be a good bit better than last season, but that's not saying much... they were one of the all-time worst ACC teams in the history of the conference last year, at least according to RPI.  Forward Travis McKie will be awesome this year, and Guard CJ Harris should perform very well, but the loss of guard JT Terrell (he was arrested and cut loose) and only a couple of 3-star recruits coming in basically spells doom for this team.  I can't imagine them beating too many teams in the ACC, but they should win a few more out-of-conference games.
12. Boston College - A massive exodus of talent has left this team in shambles.  Electric guard Reggie Jackson is gone, as are PF Joe Trapani, SF Corey Raji, G Biko Paris, and C Josh Southern.  In other words, all five starters from last year are gone.  Hokie killer Dallas Elmore has also flown the coop.  Role players John Cahill and Cortney Dunn... also gone.  It's a major overhaul this season and Steve Donahue will be asking a LOT of two sophomores, G Gabriel Moton and G/F Danny Rubin, as well as 4-star freshman PF Ryan Anderson.  The rest of the team will be a bunch of 3-star and 2-star freshman recruits along with some less-than-notable transfer players.  This team could end up rivaling the terribleness of least year's Wake Forest team.  Syracuse and Pittsburgh, hurry up and give our conference some credibility again!

More Wood

A couple of videos for 2012 b-ball recruit Mashall Wood... the first is his highlight video and the second is an interview with him after the Pitt Hoop Group event.  Why did I include the second video?  This guy seems like a bright kid.  He says at the end that he is trying to model his game after former Dukie Kyle Singler, which is a great idea.  As much as I hated Singler for his a-hole attitude, he plays the game the right way and you'd love to have a guy who plays that way on your team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48CFxIOvp_Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7pBRYDkdZM

VT's 2012 B-ball Recruits

Virginia Tech added another commitment to their 2012 men's basketball team today.  Marshall Wood is a 6'8" 210lb forward from Rustburg, VA, just south of Lynchburg.  Seth Greenberg has four scholarships to work with for next year's recruiting class as Dorenzo Hudson, JT Thompson, and Victor Davila will all deplete their 4th year of eligibility this season, and Allan Chaney will not have a scholarship next season as he was not medically cleared to play basketball at Virginia Tech.

My first thought on this... Rustburg is a AA high school in a weak basketball area for the AA level, so Marshall has been playing against some awful opponents.  He is often guarded by players at least 6 inches shorter than him.  Marshall would have done himself a favor by going to a more competitive high school for his senior season to better prepare for the college level.

Now that we've got the negative stuff out of the way, here are the positives.  Wood got scholarship offers from several solid basketball schools including Vanderbilt, Michigan, Clemson, ODU, Richmond, and VCU.  He is young for his grade in school and is probably still growing... he might be 6'9" when all is said and done.  He has a 7'2" wingspan, rivaling that of Dorian Finney-Smith.  However, unlike Finney-Smith, he will probably not contribute much as a freshman.  He has the skill set of a SF/PF hybrid with a great mid-range game... my guess is that he's more of a face-up PF because he's not really a post-up guy and he doesn't have the ball-handling skills to play on the perimeter too much.  There's a small part of me that thinks that this guy might be a center for VT when all is said and done.  He likes to block shots, he grabs offensive rebounds, and he's got good athleticism, so frankly I'm guessing that even Greenberg doesn't know what his position on the team will be until he shows up in Blacksburg next year.

The other commitment for VT's 2012 recruiting class is 6'7" 215lb PF Montrezl Harrell.  Harrell is another big fish from a small pond as he went to high school in a small town in western NC.  However, this season he will be playing for Hargrave Military Academy, as current Hokie freshmen Marquis Rankin, Robert Brown, and CJ Barksdale did last year.  This is a good move for Harrell and will prepare him better for the next level.

The scoop on Harrell is that he has basically the same size and skill set as Jeff Allen when Allen joined Tech's team.  He's a monster on the boards grabbing both offensive and defensive rebounds.  He has good shooting range that probably doesn't extend out to the 3-point line, but just inside of it.  He works hard and loves a big dunk.  He probably doesn't have the quickness of hands or dribbling ability that Allen had, but he also doesn't come with the emotional baggage... sounds like a good trade-off to me.

Seth Greenberg and his staff continue to put us in a good position by grabbing solid recruits.  I would love it if we were able to draft a true center once in a while, though.  Hopefully we will grab one for the 2012 recruiting class when all is said and done.  As for now... nice work VT coaches!

David Wilson for Heisman?

It's been a long time since Virginia Tech has had a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate.  The person I'm referencing here is obviously Michael Vick.  Ryan Williams did very well 2 seasons ago, but by the end of the season he wasn't anywhere close to the front-runners.  The truth is David Wilson has been every bit as impressive as fellow Heisman candidate Trent Richardson of Alabama, but there are two reasons why people are talking about Richardson and nobody is talking about Wilson.

The first reason is the most obvious... Richardson is sporting a robust 18 touchdowns at this point in the season.  Alabama has only played 8 games, so for you non-math types, that's over 2 touchdowns per game for Richardson.  David Wilson has only 8 touchdowns on the season at a rate of 1 per game.  VT had weak opponents in their first 4 games of the season, but with Logan Thomas needing until opponent #6 for his QB light to go on, Wilson probably missed a bunch of TD opportunities as the QB and offensive line both struggled.

The second reason why nobody is talking about David Wilson for Heisman... he is playing for Virginia Tech.  Now, I don't mean that comment in a way like, "The media hates Virginia Tech and nobody pays any attention to us."  That's not the least bit true in my opinion, the Hokies get plenty of coverage and love from ESPN.  However, VT is currently sitting at 12th in the BCS standings and doesn't really have a legit shot at the national title.  The media prefers their Heisman candidates to come from teams who are vying for the #1 spot, so they're not really looking at a player who is out of the running.  Sometimes there are guys like Robert Griffin III putting up astronomical numbers on a bad team that is supposedly in the running for the Heisman, but trust me... RGIII has zero chance to win the trophy.

I guess this post is more to inform than anything else.  Although David Wilson can do some sweet things like plant his head on the ground, spin around on it, and continue to run while the rest of his body never touches the ground, he hasn't really had the type of season that requires nationwide attention.  Not yet, at least.  Wilson is probably not going to come anywhere close to the TD totals that Richardson is producing, so he needs for two things to happen, one which is in his control and another outside of his control.  The thing that is within his control: Wilson needs to put up bigger yardage totals.  He needs a couple of games where he runs for over 200 yards while making defenders look silly.  The only way a Heisman committee can compare Wilson to Richardson is if his yardage totals are much more impressive than T-Rich and can counterbalance the lopsided TD numbers.  The thing outside of his control: Wilson needs the teams ranked above VT to lose, and lose more than just one game.  One loss for LSU or Alabama or even OK State probably won't drop them close enough to the Hokies to matter.

Although the Heisman trophy means nothing once a player jumps to the NFL, I'd still love to see a Hokie take one home one day.  Since David Wilson will probably take his talents to the NFL after this year, maybe that guy for VT can be Logan Thomas.  Thomas has made huge strides in his last 3 games and is starting to look like a real talent.  Will he continue on that path and eventually become elite?  The answer is obviously "Yes."  Next topic for discussion, please.

B-Ball Practices Underway

The Virginia Tech Hokies have finally taken to the court... for practice.  Their first practice was one week ago on the 14th, so after a week of practice Seth Greenberg has done nothing but praise freshman Dorian Finney-Smith.  You can tell that Greenberg has a gigantic man-crush on this kid.  "Doe-Doe" is coachable, works hard, and can do just about everything you want from a small forward.  There will be a learning curve for him like there is for all freshmen, but he does seem like the kind of player who makes everyone around him better.  After watching some film of him (whole game tape so you see the good and the bad), you get a feeling for how he might fit into the team.  I watched two of his games, the state AAA semi-final and the state AAA final, which his team won, and this is what I saw:

• He is an excellent rebounder, but especially on the offensive end.  He has a knack for tipping up his own misses.  One negative thing is that he seems to need to do that pretty often.  He misses more "bunnies" than you would like for a player of his caliber.
• He is a good on-ball defender who gets up to challenge shots.  His length at his position (kid has a 7'2" wingspan) helps him to block shots and change shots even when he's not able to block them.  He's not great at offering weakside help at this point... needs to get better at the next level.
• Doe-Doe can handle the rock.  I anticipate that he's already the 3rd best ballhandler on our team next to Erick Green and Marquis Rankin, so Coach Greenberg could potentially use him as a point-forward if he wants to do that.  This ability also helps Finney-Smith to create his own shot or draw multiple defenders, leaving a teammate open for a shot.
• He's probably too unselfish for his own good.  At the high school level he liked to defer to his teammates even though he was often the better option for the shot.  He does pass well though.
• He has a good shot from the outside that I think will translate to him being at least a 33% 3-point shooter.  His motion is quick and smooth with a good high release.

So as you can see, there's a lot to be excited about with Dorian Finney-Smith... no wonder Seth Greenberg is all about him.  He's not just a recruit with a high pedigree (the highest that Greenberg has ever recruited), but it's pretty easy to see how that will translate to the next level.

In other news, I decided to do a little research concerning Malcolm Delaney.  See, I think there is huge Ewing Theory potential for the Hokies this season.  I'm going to go ahead and make the outlandish prediction that Virginia Tech will make the NCAA tournament this season, and that the lack of Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen will be part of the reason why that happens.  For any VT fan who watched Delaney's last two years at VT, you started to see some real negativity coming from him.  He was getting all over his teammates when they made mistakes, but not in an encouraging way.  Post-game quotes showed that he didn't have a lot of faith in any of the other players on the team.  When he was down the rest of the team followed him down.  Mix that in with his historic "unclutchness", and you start to see why maybe the team will function better without him.  I could only go back a little more than two seasons with the data available to me, but in that time Malcolm Delaney had 7 chances in VT's last possesion of regulation to either tie a game when the Hokies were down, or win a game when the team was either losing or tied.  In those 7 chances, he made 1 shot.  That shot sent the game into overtime where VT eventually lost.  So VT never won a game where Malcolm Delaney took the last shot, or at least as far back as I could research.  Too add to that, I'm pretty sure Jeff Allen was 0-2 in those situations, and his bone-headed plays probably cost the team more than we know.  If you're wondering, Dorenzo Hudson is 2-4 in these situations, or if you prefer, 50%.  Erick Green is 1-2, again 50%.  I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for a new regime.

VT Thoughts... a Shameful Admission

I haven't posted anything since June... that's not great, but honestly I'm finding the reason for this is that I am souring on college football a bit, at least from a writing standpoint. I still like to watch the games and cheer for the Hokies, but I find with college football that my interest wanes significantly after VT puts up a loss. I guess that is the problem with living through the Michael Vick era... I am constantly expecting Virginia Tech to be in the mix for a national title. It's not a fair expectation, but it's not helped by the fact that VT has frequently won the ACC, a BCS auto-bid conference. In my mind, that makes us a legitimate contender for the title. But when you set your expectations at that level and the Hokies put up a loss, you realize that you are out of the hunt for the national title already. That completely sucks... one loss, one bad game and you are done.

To me, the college basketball format makes so much more sense. Nobody goes undefeated, but every good team from the most unlikely of small conference tournament winners to the juggernauts gets a chance to get the title. And honestly, for me, my expectations for VT basketball are much more realistic. I just want to get to the NCAA tournament. Winning a game in the tournament would be fantastic, but I just want the team to get there and I will be happy. That's a realistic goal.

My goal for the football team is obviously unfairly unrealistic given their results in big games, but my brain still thinks they should be at that level, so I can't change my expectations. I'm not happy with a win in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl. I'm not happy with an appearance in the Orange Bowl against Stanford. I'll take a win against Cincinnati in the Orange Bowl, but honestly I would have liked more than that as well. So if my goal is a national title and my team is out of contention for the national title just 5 weeks into the season because of one loss, then my interest turns to a sport where my team can lose several games and still have a realistic chance to meet my expectations for them.

So with that said, I've been getting more and more anxious for basketball season. The first item -- VT lost freshman point guard Marquis Rankin for at least a few games as he went down in practice the other day with a knee injury. I am always way too optimistic before the season starts, but in my mind this is not a huge loss. I would have liked for Rankin to be able to keep getting familiar with his new teammates, there's no question about that. However, I was not counting on Rankin to give us much this season. Point guard is the most difficult position when speaking of the jump from high school to college, especially in the ACC. Just ask Tyrone Garland. Ty was one of the most prolific high school point guards in the history of the city of Philadelphia and some bright spots aside, most of his freshman season was a struggle. He had an extremely tough time dealing with the defensive pressure of opposing PGs in the ACC and rarely seemed to be in sync with the rest of the offense. It was basically the same for Erick Green in his freshman year, and this is exactly what we can expect from Rankin in his freshman season. It's best if he doesn't have to see any major minutes on the floor this year anyway, so his loss in the first couple of games doesn't scare me... so long as the other point guards stay healthy.

I also decided to take a look at freshman power forward Joey Van Zegeren's highlights today. I have to tell you, I like what I have seen. I'm not sure what exactly a coach looks for when he views game tape of a potential recruit, but here are the things that I noticed:

• I see above average athleticism. Not elite, but definitely better than a lot of players in the ACC. Joey is 6'10", but moves around easily and gets off the ground quickly when he jumps. He is able to get up and block shots when an opposing player jumps first and releases at the top of their jump. On dunks, his hands are well above the rim. Victor Davila is 6'8" and seemingly moves around like he has weights in his shoes in comparison. Because of this, I think JVZ will be a solid shot-blocker and shot-changer defensively.



• Conversely, Davila has an array of offensive post moves and JVZ doesn't really have much to work with. It seems like his only shot down there besides a dunk is an awkward looking push-hook shot that he seemingly can get off with either his left or right hand. In highlight videos that shot always goes in, but I'm guessing that in real life it doesn't go in all that much. You never know though... Chiek Diakite had a horrible looking turn-around jumper, but he nailed it at a high percentage.



• The rebounding is luscious. JVZ frequently gets himself into a mix of players and comes down with the ball. He looks like he's not afraid to use his body to create space, which is the first thing you would worry about with a European recruit. He seems to embrace contact, and when you combine that with athleticism and good hands you usually get a solid rebounder.



• JVZ has a good-looking jump shot. It's fluid and he has a high release. I'd expect him to be able to hit jumpers out to the 3-point line at a good percentage.



• My final point... he seems to move well without the ball. He makes good, strong cuts to the basket and seems like he has energy to make his defender work to keep up with him.

All in all, I think this kid could really turn out to be a good player. He is already 20 years old, but he doesn't look like he has reached his ceiling. With improved competition in practice helping to strengthen his game, he could end up being the power forward we thought we were getting with Allan Chaney. That's a bold prediction and one that I'm not really going to stand behind given that I've only seen his pre-college highlight reel, but man he's got a crap load of potential.