Virginia Tech Thoughts

As bad as the game was, I was not disturbed by the sloppy win. At this point in the year a win is a win. All the Tournament bound teams are looking ahead. The bubble teams and bad teams are the ones trying to prove something. Believe it or not my takeaways from this game leave me very excited about our two upcoming tournaments.

Likes:

Using the ¾ press effectively. I don’t think this season has been Al’s best but I am really encouraged by the varieties of defenses used this year. Come tournament time it will be important to mix it up. If someone presses us, we can press them back, etc. It is not rocket science but makes prepping for BC on short notice (a key to tourney success) a little more difficult.

Holding on in a close game. You might wonder what I could like about a near world class choke job. Well sometimes you learn a lot more from those near disasters than you would in a loss or winning in a blow out. BC has screwed up plenty of close games (this will be a running theme for me in the next few weeks) so escaping and learning is important. This is a smart team and the odds are we are not going to miss foul shots, look lost on D or not get the inbounds in pass next week or the week after.

Louis Hinnant stepping up. I wish Craig’s last game was as good as his fellow Senior. Hinnant has played much better the past few weeks. He is not the best ball handler but handles the flex well and most importantly is making open and clutch shots. It is a cliché, but you need good guard play to succeed. We don’t have the best, but Lou is solid and peeking at the right time.

Dislikes:

Craig helping out on the press. Excuse me but WTF? I know it was Senior day and Craig has improved his dribbling but he doesn’t belong out there in that role. Fortunately they adjusted and put Dudley back there in the second half. Each possession is critical and we will face the press in the next few weeks. The only guys who should be back handling it are Dudley, Rice, Hinnant and Haynes. (The Craig thing speaks to a larger issue…making adjustments to late. The “let them play” philosophy works so often but every once in a while the coaching staff needs to adjust quickly.)

Not using the baseline runner against the 2-3. Excuse me but again WTF? We kill 2-3s with this and don’t use it at all on Saturday. I don’t get it. Also, what was with the lob passes across the zone and into the post? The whole thing was a little ill-conceived.

No one is going to save this game for ESPN Classic. Overall I am glad to get it out of the way. I may being viewing things through maroon and gold colored glasses, but I don’t think foul shooting, the press (for the most part) and or the 2-3 will be an issue the rest of the way.