Virginia Tech Basketball Week 4: Nov. 26 - Dec. 2, Iowa, Oklahoma St.

[Chrish1023]

Great all around game by the Hokies tonight. Got a little lazy mid-way through the second half to let Iowa back in it, but otherwise I was pretty impressed. Joey V. and Barksdale showed up tonight and played well and Erick Green has turned into a stud. Eddie had an off night and we still scored 90+. I'd like to see a better effort on the defensive end. Teams with elite bigs will give us fits.....Duke, Maryland.

Teams with good bigs usually give us fits because we never get comparable players to come here. Playing up-tempo will benefit us, though, because it will allow us to score against these types of teams as opposed to passing around uselessly like we did in the past.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

Listened to the game on the ride home. I really love Roth and Burnop!

 

[Lumbee09]

The rest of the ACC is looking like garbage. Maryland, ironically, is the only other team repping the ACC well tonight.

 

[hokiegrad]

Great team win tonight. Everyone stepped up in one way or another. Gotta pick up our D, but our rebounding was much improved. Other random thoughts:
- Does Johnston ever miss?
- Barksdale continues to look good after a slow start in the first couple games.
- JVZ is giving good minutes off the bench. Very pleased with him so far.
- Wood looks like a freshman, but one that will be very good when he puts it together.
- JJ needs to keep working on the guys to feed Raines. He needs to be getting more shots by the time we hit the ACC portion of our schedule.

The way this team is playing, I give us a decent chance against OK St. They have a couple great young players, but I think the jury is still out on them as a team and whether they can put it together consistently.

 

[wildturkey]

Five Games In: A Basketball Preview | The Key Play

^ TKP has a really great season preview

 

[757Hokie83]

i wasnt able to watch, but was tracking the score while at my meeting last night, looks like we had a solid game...when the score was in the 50s and Iowa pulled within 3, i figured it was over for us, but then i remembered this is not a Seth Greenberg team.

For all the good that Greenberg did for VT bball, he just could not finish games worth a shit

 

[FightingGobbler]

Greenberg was not a good coach. That's why I do not expect any legitimate team to hire him. His understanding of the game seemed very elementary and he did not have the respect of all the players.

If we look good against OK State this weekend, then I will definitely be sold. Regardless, this team looks like it will exceed expectations this year.

Greenberg was definitely a good coach, not great but good. I think his understanding of the game is actually pretty elite when it comes to college basketball, especially if you listen to him break down a team. However, I think his main problems were player management and the ability to adjust within a game when another team changed from what he was planning for them to do. I think he might actually be more suited for the NBA, where he can implement more complicated game plans and doesn't have to deal with college kids.


This year's team definitely needs to work on their double teams and getting through screens on defense. You can't double a big man 15 feet from the basket, especially when he then backs up to the 3-point line. Also, I guess it's JJ's philosophy, but we go under every screen and then do not do a good job of hedging on ball screens. This allows easy shots and/or drives especially when the screener rolls and further ties up the on-ball defender.

But I love this team, and the easy and comfort with which they seem to play.

 

[rmilia1]

Hey great game last night guys. You guys are definitely a tourney level team IMO. Tighten up the D a little and could be Sweet 16 caliber. I am disappointed Iowa lost but not shocked. However TERRIBLE decision by Fran to have Gessell guard Green, not quick enough or long enough to bother him and the zone just gets us killed on the boards. We need to put marble of the other teams best and just man up the rest of the year or we are going to get stomped out by all the good teams we play on the offensive boards. Anyway, seriously well played. Hope to see you again in March

 

[ckhokie]

However, I think his main problems were player management and the ability to adjust within a game when another team changed from what he was planning for them to do. I think he might actually be more suited for the NBA, where he can implement more complicated game plans and doesn't have to deal with college kids.

I don't feel 'run a basic offensive set' constitutes as overly complicated for D-1, ACC caliber basketball players.

 

[Chrish1023]

Greenberg was definitely a good coach, not great but good. I think his understanding of the game is actually pretty elite when it comes to college basketball, especially if you listen to him break down a team. However, I think his main problems were player management and the ability to adjust within a game when another team changed from what he was planning for them to do. I think he might actually be more suited for the NBA, where he can implement more complicated game plans and doesn't have to deal with college kids.

That's the thing, though. Any coach can watch film and realize what a team's tendencies are then make some adjustments to stop/exploit them. Hell, any person with a basketball background could do that if they watched enough games. It's the really good coaches that can outsmart the other team's coach when they start to make changes on the fly. Also, a good basketball coach knows how to teach offense. And our offense sucked.

 

[awaz]

VT hates me. i only watched the 5 minutes where the hokies were outscored 14-2. decided it was me, so i flipped off it again.

add that to the FSU TD being the only play i caught, and clemson staging the come back once i turned it on, maybe i'll just stop watching VT play in athletic events.

 

[HoHumHokie]

Hey great game last night guys. You guys are definitely a tourney level team IMO. Tighten up the D a little and could be Sweet 16 caliber. I am disappointed Iowa lost but not shocked. However TERRIBLE decision by Fran to have Gessell guard Green, not quick enough or long enough to bother him and the zone just gets us killed on the boards. We need to put marble of the other teams best and just man up the rest of the year or we are going to get stomped out by all the good teams we play on the offensive boards. Anyway, seriously well played. Hope to see you again in March

Gesell shut Green down in the first half!

Sweet 16!!

 

[NickVT10]

VT hates me. i only watched the 5 minutes where the hokies were outscored 14-2. decided it was me, so i flipped off it again.

add that to the FSU TD being the only play i caught, and clemson staging the come back once i turned it on, maybe i'll just stop watching VT play in athletic events.

We would greatly appreciate it if you did. Become a UVA fan in that case.

 

[rmilia1]

Gesell shut Green down in the first half!

Sweet 16!!

Well IF you pick up the D Not alot of teams are going to be able to score 83+ to beat you guys as is so if you pick up the D then I think you may win 23-24 games. Its not like the ACC is any good

 

[hokiegrad]

Well IF you pick up the D Not alot of teams are going to be able to score 83+ to beat you guys as is so if you pick up the D then I think you may win 23-24 games. Its not like the ACC is any good

IF we pick up the D AND stay healthy AND our O can keep putting up points like this against better Ds (and with more film to go on)... there are a lot of IFs before we'll be talking about sweet 16.

Seriously, what's up with the ACC? I thought the conference could be a little underrated going into the year, but man oh man... not looking like it so far.

Thanks for being a good sport and dropping by. Always good to get amiable contributions from the opposing team's perspective.

 

[awaz]

We would greatly appreciate it if you did. Become a UVA fan in that case.

no kidding.. my powers would be wasted on UVA though

 

[hokiegrad]

Greenberg was definitely a good coach, not great but good. I think his understanding of the game is actually pretty elite when it comes to college basketball, especially if you listen to him break down a team. However, I think his main problems were player management and the ability to adjust within a game when another team changed from what he was planning for them to do. I think he might actually be more suited for the NBA, where he can implement more complicated game plans and doesn't have to deal with college kids.

I'm with you pretty much 100% until the last sentence. I don't know about the NBA, though. He has attributes that would work well there, but I don't know if he has the whole package. Could he really put together a decent offense with pro players? Maybe. Would he drive those players nuts? Probably. Would be interesting to watch that experiment.

 

[FightingGobbler]

I'm with you pretty much 100% until the last sentence. I don't know about the NBA, though. He has attributes that would work well there, but I don't know if he has the whole package. Could he really put together a decent offense with pro players? Maybe. Would he drive those players nuts? Probably. Would be interesting to watch that experiment.

Right. I'm not sure he would be extremely successful in the NBA, especially with his style of offense, but I think his mentality and the amount he demands from his players might work a little better there. Plus, a lot of the offense in the NBA is just putting extremely talented players in positions to succeed, but could he do that? I don't know. He could be a good assistant in the NBA, but I doubt he would take that "demotion" well, with the ego that he demonstrated.

 

[Ragingcroc]

You can't double a big man 15 feet from the basket, especially when he then backs up to the 3-point line.

Holy shit this! I was seriously about smash my television when I saw JVZ double a post guy 15 feet from the basket. I love JVZ and what he brings to the table but he gets lost on defense at times. We also continued double teams when the post guy decided to dribble it out to the 3pt line. I really think double teaming the post is a good idea with our personal and run and gun offense. We can't get caught with our pants down and give up easy dunks because we aren't doing it right.

 

[hokiecheme11]

Holy shit this! I was seriously about smash my television when I saw JVZ double a post guy 15 feet from the basket. I love JVZ and what he brings to the table but he gets lost on defense at times. We also continued double teams when the post guy decided to dribble it out to the 3pt line. I really think double teaming the post is a good idea with our personal and run and gun offense. We can't get caught with our pants down and give up easy dunks because we aren't doing it right.

Agree, you see glimpses of what JJ wants to do on D though. I saw him get riled up a few times and you could see he was unhappy with how far we were extending out. Also I love Johnston's shooting, but right after he made it he went about 15 ft under a screen and left a guy wide open to make a 3. You just can't do that, no matter how well you shoot.