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OK, Enough, Our Men's Basketball Team Is Going Downhill Fast

VT33

New Recruit
Feb 1, 2006
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The men's basketball team is going downhill. It was too frustrating to watch Zack and others throw up prayer three pointers tonight early in the clock. Unless they get a fast brake, they are lost. They've been doing this the last three or four games at least.

What's the answer? I don't, know but we are better when we are driving and not standing still. Soon as we drive, things happen. And play better D with boxed out position. Our D has gotten lazy. No wonder Buzz has his hair cut off, it'd be pulled out by now anyway. Fake passes and shot fakes have got to happen. When we get against a good team(and we're gonna be facing a few for the rest of the season), we seem to give up.

Our rebounding is horrible,our guys watching the ball instead of searching for a man to box. I know we don't have much inside talent right now but we have got to practice fundamental D as much as we can.
C'mon guys, we can do better. Sorry about the rant, but we have got to get better or we'll be left out again this year.
 
I think VT got out of sync when they realized they couldn't drive on every play because UVA's defense was cutting them off. Then you add poor outside shooting and VT never had a chance. VT's zone didn't work and I was surprised Buzz didn't try something different. I've never seen Wilkins with so many uncontested jump shots. I said before to beat UVA you have to hit the 3 or have bigs that can dominate the boards, VT did neither and that made for a long night.
 
When they got blown out by UNC it was talent, last night it was less talent and more bad game planning by VT and an incredible defensive culture by UVA, great coaching there.
 
I do think we had a bad game plan. Should have never allowed boo hoos to jump out to a 10-0 lead.
 
when boo hoos jumped out to a 4-0 lead, I would have called a TO, and made adjustments. Boo hoos are a dull, slow, boring team, thus it's hard to play from behind against them.
 
when boo hoos jumped out to a 4-0 lead, I would have called a TO, and made adjustments. Boo hoos are a dull, slow, boring team, thus it's hard to play from behind against them.
They are only boring to people that don't understand and appreciate great defense. Bennett has done an incredible job at UVA, this was a rebuilding year after losing Brogden, Gill, Mitchell and Toby. Yet even after kicking Nichols off the team Bennett has them competing on a high level again.
 
UVA does this to everybody they play. To beat them you must play good defense, limit turnovers,and shoot a good percentage. We did none of those things last night.

That said, last night's result was entirely predictable based on how we've been playing of late, plus the glaring deficiency this team has with rebounding and it's effect on the rest of our game. The one player this team absolutely could not afford to lose this year is the player we lost. We're limited. But all is not lost. We are 16-6, 5-5 ACC, around 40 RPI, and only one ranked team left to play on the road. Buzz is a good coach and has a week before his next game to figure out a way get his team turned around and playing better on the road. With 7 winnable games left (yes, including UVA at home) he can still slide this team into the NCAA tournament if we can win 4 or 5 of them. Last night's game was not an expected win or a must win. So far we've still been winning our must win games, i.e., Clemson on the road, defending home court against GT, Duke, BC, etc.
 
We should beat the boo hoos in Blacksburg. They don't play as well on the road as they do at John Paul's place.

I had access to a ticket to last night's game and a ride to hooville, but I rejected it. I would never go watch a UVA game in JPJ's place.
 
We should beat the boo hoos in Blacksburg. They don't play as well on the road as they do at John Paul's place.

I had access to a ticket to last night's game and a ride to hooville, but I rejected it. I would never go watch a UVA game in JPJ's place.
51-18 the last 4 years on the road including neutral sites and tournaments. Not to shabby HR.
 
When Satchel Pierce left the team, then Kenny Blacksheer got hurt, I knew we were not going to have the season we all hoped for. We'll count it a good season if we go to the second round of the ACC tournament and get to the NCAA's for one game.
 
It will be a great season if this team gets to the NCAA tournament, especially without Kerry Blackshear.
 
Strange basketball this year.

This is strangest year I have ever seen in basketball and I have seen a lot of them. Whoever cuts down the nets at Final 4 will be the team that the selection committee "sleeps with" and gives them a very favorable seeding and game locations. (i.e. keep them close to home).

But I still say UNC is best team in country.
 
UNC may very well be the best team in the country, but obviously UVA is the best team in Virginia.
 
Jesus Christ, you all seriously need to temper your expectations. This UVa team just narrowly lost to the defending national champion on the road and controlled about 90% of that game, and made it to the Elite 8 last year. Tech does not have an interior presence, period, and we've known that since Blackshear went down. Sy has potential, but he's a freshman, and freshmen are foul-prone. What we give up on defense, we try to make up for on offense. We are a lethal three point shooting team, and Clarke and Robinson are relentless at dribble penetration. Against UVa that's a tall task, and on the road shots don't fall as readily -- especially in the ACC.

Sometimes you just don't have the right mix of personnel and experience. Not having Blackshear has probably cost us about two games this year, which would put us at 18-4 rather than 16-6. We are still very likely an NCAA Tournament team. FSU got clobbered on the road by GT, UNC got clobbered by Miami, and Duke got clobbered by us. It's the ACC. It happens. But to act like we're desperately bad right now because we get trounced by a top 10 team on the road is ridiculous. Buzz is in his third year and his teams have shown improvement every year. Relax and be patient.
 
Also, don't be surprised if we beat them in Blacksburg. They beat us soundly in Charlottesville last year, and we sprang an upset in the Burg. We'll be fine.
 
Also, don't be surprised if we beat them in Blacksburg. They beat us soundly in Charlottesville last year, and we sprang an upset in the Burg. We'll be fine.
If you hit the 3's consistently you have a chance to beat UVA...
 
If you hit the 3's consistently you have a chance to beat UVA...

Disagree. Obviously we'll have to hit some, but our real bread and butter will come from the free throw line, IMO. If we can successfully drive to the basket and draw contact on a consistent basis, we have a great shot. That pack line 'd' is hard to get open looks on, so being aggressive to the basket is crucial.
 
Common sense begs you to come back and spend some time with him. Not even in some alternate universe would a VT basketball team be considered half the program of UVA's.
You obviously don't visit here much. HR6 is the President of that alternative universe.
 
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Burg.....where are you????? Mighty quite after the women and men's game.
sorry Birdie been busy. As for the womens game, that was uglier than London's time management, a real ass kicking , but I painfully watched it. As for the mens, good Hoo defense along horrible team chemistry doomed the Hokies. Not sure what is going on with Clarke and Hill , anyone know?
 
I think things will be different when boo hoos come to Blacksburg. They went on road to Syracuse and got beat today.
 
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