Pilchard
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Tomorrow night our fearless Deacons take on VT at the Joel. Here is the breakdown:
Record: The Hokies are 12-4 (1-2) and #50 in KP's ratings. Top 100 wins: #89 Iowa by 24,#86 Ole Miss in OT; top 100 losses: at #22 Kentucky by 7, at #49 Cuse by 12, home versus UVA by 26 (Tech also lost to a terrible St. Louis team). VT has played 3 true road games and they are 1-2 (the OT win at Ole Miss).
Offense: The Hokie offense is rated #42 in offensive efficiency. Their effective FG % is an a ridiculous 60% (#3) as they shoot 59.7% from 2 and 40.1% from 3. That said, VT was leading the nation in that stat by a good margin when ACC play started, and their offense has struggled in ACC games: in ACC games VT has an effective FG% of 47% (#11 in the conference) and they are shooting only 24.6% from 3 (#14 out 15 in conference -- btw, WF leads the conference in 3 PT % in ACC games - 43.2%). Tech also gets to the line often (#8 in FTA/FGA). They also like to push tempo on offense their average possession length on offense is 14.8 seconds (#10 in the country). VT does not hit the offensive boards hard (#274).
Defense: The Tech defense is rated #81 in defensive efficiency. VT mixes up their defenses, and they are decent in most defensive categories except they don't force turnovers and don't block shots. They defend the 2 (47% #93) and the 3 (32% #60) reasonably well, but again, those numbers drop off in ACC play as VT is second to last in conference games in effective FG% (57%) and 3 PT FG% (44%), despite playing teams that aren't great offensively -- Cuse, UVA and Pitt).
Roster: VT starts: 6-1 (Robinson), 6-5 (Hill), 6-5 (Bibbs), 6-6 (Clarke or Alexander-Walker), 6-10 Blackshear. VT plays a 7 or 8 man rotation, but Bibbs, Robinson and Blackshear have all played 35 plus minutes in one or more ACC games. VT is balanced as five players average double digits and a sixth (Clarke) averages 8 ppg. 2 Guard Ahmed Hill is shooting 49% from 3, while Robinson shoots 38%, Alexander-Walker 41% and even the Hokie center, Blackshear, can hit the 3 (50% on 7 of 14 shooting). Blackshear scored a career high 31 in Saturday's win over Pitt, but Pitt's starting center was out. Zach LeDay, who killed WF last year, including 31 against WF in the ACC tournament, has graduated (thank god).
Bottom Line: VT dominated an easy schedule early this year, but they have struggled in ACC play with double digit losses to Cuse and UVA, and they even struggled for most of the way against Pitt. VT likes to run, and ACC teams have stopped the Hokie transition game which has caused the VT offense to bog down in half court (UVA just dissected VT). VT scored 90+ 7 times in its first 10 games, but has averaged only 63 in ACC play. KP projects an 81-80 WF win, and WF needs this one as its next 7 games are brutal (@Duke, @ State, UVA, Duke, @ L'ville, FSU, Clemson @ Miami). Think/hope WF will pull out a win.
Record: The Hokies are 12-4 (1-2) and #50 in KP's ratings. Top 100 wins: #89 Iowa by 24,#86 Ole Miss in OT; top 100 losses: at #22 Kentucky by 7, at #49 Cuse by 12, home versus UVA by 26 (Tech also lost to a terrible St. Louis team). VT has played 3 true road games and they are 1-2 (the OT win at Ole Miss).
Offense: The Hokie offense is rated #42 in offensive efficiency. Their effective FG % is an a ridiculous 60% (#3) as they shoot 59.7% from 2 and 40.1% from 3. That said, VT was leading the nation in that stat by a good margin when ACC play started, and their offense has struggled in ACC games: in ACC games VT has an effective FG% of 47% (#11 in the conference) and they are shooting only 24.6% from 3 (#14 out 15 in conference -- btw, WF leads the conference in 3 PT % in ACC games - 43.2%). Tech also gets to the line often (#8 in FTA/FGA). They also like to push tempo on offense their average possession length on offense is 14.8 seconds (#10 in the country). VT does not hit the offensive boards hard (#274).
Defense: The Tech defense is rated #81 in defensive efficiency. VT mixes up their defenses, and they are decent in most defensive categories except they don't force turnovers and don't block shots. They defend the 2 (47% #93) and the 3 (32% #60) reasonably well, but again, those numbers drop off in ACC play as VT is second to last in conference games in effective FG% (57%) and 3 PT FG% (44%), despite playing teams that aren't great offensively -- Cuse, UVA and Pitt).
Roster: VT starts: 6-1 (Robinson), 6-5 (Hill), 6-5 (Bibbs), 6-6 (Clarke or Alexander-Walker), 6-10 Blackshear. VT plays a 7 or 8 man rotation, but Bibbs, Robinson and Blackshear have all played 35 plus minutes in one or more ACC games. VT is balanced as five players average double digits and a sixth (Clarke) averages 8 ppg. 2 Guard Ahmed Hill is shooting 49% from 3, while Robinson shoots 38%, Alexander-Walker 41% and even the Hokie center, Blackshear, can hit the 3 (50% on 7 of 14 shooting). Blackshear scored a career high 31 in Saturday's win over Pitt, but Pitt's starting center was out. Zach LeDay, who killed WF last year, including 31 against WF in the ACC tournament, has graduated (thank god).
Bottom Line: VT dominated an easy schedule early this year, but they have struggled in ACC play with double digit losses to Cuse and UVA, and they even struggled for most of the way against Pitt. VT likes to run, and ACC teams have stopped the Hokie transition game which has caused the VT offense to bog down in half court (UVA just dissected VT). VT scored 90+ 7 times in its first 10 games, but has averaged only 63 in ACC play. KP projects an 81-80 WF win, and WF needs this one as its next 7 games are brutal (@Duke, @ State, UVA, Duke, @ L'ville, FSU, Clemson @ Miami). Think/hope WF will pull out a win.
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