That was a brutal loss to Syracuse last night.

[vtpmt81]

I am very happy with Jalen Hudson's performance and he played hard, something Buzz has been on him about for a while now. Shane Henry had a nice game - that is what we need from him, hustle, rebounds, steals, garbage points. I really hope he continues to improve. Ahmed Hill and Satchel Pierce had tough days being 0-10 from the field combined. Justin Bibbs is a star right now, that kid can ball. Adam Smith has settled in as a scorer. Malik Mueller has had 3 good games in a row now. Devin Wilson needs to work on his offensive game this offseason - he only had 1 field goal attempt in 20 minutes.

We need big men in the worst way.

Turnovers cost us. Simple as that. Syracuse started pressing and we wilted. They earned the win.

However, I am encouraged by what I have seen from this team since the Notre Dame debacle. The UVa, Pitt, Wake Forest, and Syracuse games have been encouraging and we have had chances to win all of them. Let's see how we play in the next two home games. I hope we can win at least 1.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Most every game is coming down to last possession. that's a good sign for a team in rebuilding mode.

 

[Hoos19NC]

They just need to learn how to win, right now they can't finish close games.

 

[lucustookis]

The loss is on...Jim Weaver. That is correct..J Weaver.

Weaver is no longer an employee of VT Thank God! He devastated our Hoops program by his PC hiring of JJ. He hired JJ because he did not want to spend any money, but he also gave into the racial hysteria or political correctness of the day by hiring JJ. If JJ was the right man for the job, then hire him and pay him millions, but he was not the right man for the job and certainly not qualified.
This created a culture of losing at VT. They learned to lose and do not know how to win. Subconsciously, they are comfortable with losing, and this explains the close losses. This will change. Buzz will fix it. He is already recruiting at an alarmingly elevated level. He is going to win, but it shows the damage a poor and pathetic AC can do with one bad decision. The repair time is NOT a quick fix.

 

[leeanderthal]

Re: The loss is on...Jim Weaver. That is correct..J Weaver.

Originally posted by lucustookis:
Weaver is no longer an employee of VT Thank God! He devastated our Hoops program by his PC hiring of JJ. He hired JJ because he did not want to spend any money, but he also gave into the racial hysteria or political correctness of the day by hiring JJ. If JJ was the right man for the job, then hire him and pay him millions, but he was not the right man for the job and certainly not qualified.
This created a culture of losing at VT. They learned to lose and do not know how to win. Subconsciously, they are comfortable with losing, and this explains the close losses. This will change. Buzz will fix it. He is already recruiting at an alarmingly elevated level. He is going to win, but it shows the damage a poor and pathetic AC can do with one bad decision. The repair time is NOT a quick fix.

Ah, Weaver. Gone but not forgotten. Little more than a year of money left to pay out.
I think he hired Johnson because (as you say) it was cheap but also he was popular and a quick and easy way out of the problem. The fact that he was not qualified was evident to almosrt everyone but Johnson and Weaver . Worked out good though because Whit got to correct the situation with his man.

 

[hokie.nole]

"political correctness of the day by hiring JJ." -- Think UVA is dealing w/

that in London ??

Actually working for VT in that regard

 

[hokie.nole]

From the other direction: games coming down to last possession are not good when you are up 10 in the second half vs UVA and up 13 in the second half vs Syracuse.

 

[lucustookis]

I am not so sure about London, a bit different in his qualifications

With London, we are talking about a guy with over 20 years of experience coaching college or even pro football before taking over at Virginia. I think he actually had like 21 or 22 years. That's lots of experience. With that, he did have 9 years at the Div 1 level and a year with the Houston Texans. About 12 of those 22 years were at the Div 1AA (FCS) level, but in my opinion, both were high quality programs in Richmond and William and Mary. Also, London was a former police officer and then detective in Richmond. This reflects incredibly well on his character and his leadership qualities. Both of them by the way, which I feel are outstanding. I am not sure about London's x's and o's ability on field, but he is a good leader and recruiter. He has 2 of the 3 major characteristics down to be a solid head coach. Of course, the jury is out on the chess-playing or x's and o's (football IQ) part of the game. I am glad UVA gave him one more year. I am interested in seeing what he does. I would not be shocked at all if UVA turns it around this year. UVA needs a QB. This is what they have been missing for years. They need a guy who can run and throw. Time will tell, but in my opinion, London's prereqs for attaining a Head Coaching position at UVA were far and away better than JJ's when attempting to make comparisons for a Hoops Program at Tech and a Football Program at Virginia. The other problem with UVA that is so incredible difficult to change is very similar to Tech in basketball. The kids are just not comfortable with winning. They do not know how to win. The only know a culture of losing that has been passed on and on and it shows in the incredible amount of close losses Tech has had in hoops and UVA has had under London in football. It is just so hard to change a culture of losing even with a good coach. Buzz is going to turn it around though. He is a special and gifted coach and it takes a coach of that caliber to turn it around. A good coach can not do it. It takes a GREAT coach. This is the issue with London. I think London actually is a Good Coach contrary to many UVA fans and most Tech fans. The problem is, with what he inherited, it's going to take an absolute beast of a coach to turn it around. Much like Tech's offense. Extremely difficult to get different results REGARDLESS of the player personnel you have.
This post was edited on 2/6 2:54 PM by lucustookis

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Re: I am not so sure about London, a bit different in his qualifications


London is bad game day coach. He brought in Tom Obrien to help with that, but results were not good. London spends too much time trying to be "an extra official". He argues just about every call/non-call. Every Sunday morning the Richmond paper has a photo of him yelling at refs.........or yelling at someone.

 

[mrjolly01]

Re: I am not so sure about London, a bit different in his qualifications

I have never believed for one minute that JJ was anywhere on Weaver's radar for head coach when he up and fired Greenberg the way he did. Since his actions were so obviously knee-jerk, and he waited so late to even start the process, it was clear he didn't have any real candidates when he did this thing. It was without doubt the dumbest act I've ever witnessed an AD do, or at least know about firsthand, and I expect most any decent coach who observed that firing wouldn't want to have anything to do with working for Weaver unless he set him up for life. Of course, Weaver wasn't prepared to spend that kind of money, so with nowhere good to turn he was relegated to getting on his knees to beg JJ to come back from Clemson, hoping to at least protect against players and recruits leaving - when he realized what he had just done to the basketball program. JMO.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Re: I am not so sure about London, a bit different in his qualifications


He (Weaver) basically did same thing to women's basketball and baseball. It appeared it did not want to put in the time to find a coach in those sports either.

 

[leeanderthal]

Re: I am not so sure about London, a bit different in his qualifications

Originally posted by Hampton Roads 6:

He (Weaver) basically did same thing to women's basketball and baseball. It appeared it did not want to put in the time to find a coach in those sports either.

Weaver was and is very ill. He may not have had the will to solve these problems as he should. He may have retired a year or so later than he should but its all history now. I have nothing but good wishs for him and his family.

 

[1bburgfan]

Re: I am not so sure about London, a bit different in his qualifications

Originally posted by Hampton Roads 6:

He (Weaver) basically did same thing to women's basketball and baseball. It appeared it did not want to put in the time to find a coach in those sports either.

What about womens soccer, swimming diving, wrestling, track and field. Hiring coaches is hit and miss, and some of his hires weren't good. But the next time your in Blacksburg , look at the facilities , those are Weavers legacy. The ADs after him will all have easier jobs, it doesn't only take good coaches to build programs, facilities are a must too.