Tech Sports Blog

Most Hokies think Virginia Tech proved its worth to the ACC the first year the Hokies were in the conference. In 2004 and 2005, the football team won the conference and the basketball team finished a surprising 4th place in the regular season standings. Those Hokies who believe we proved our worth that year as members of the Atlanta Coast Conference wouldn’t be wrong. While we may have already proved our worth, I believe we have truly become a peer in the eyes of the rest of the ACC, thanks to the success the men’s basketball team has enjoyed thus far.

The men’s basketball team presently sits alone at the top of the standings at 6-1. They have beaten Duke in Cameron, previously #1 North Carolina, and Maryland on an icy night. Those teams have won 3 of the last 6 national championships. With Sunday afternoon’s win over Georgia Tech, the Hokies are now 3-1 on the road in the ACC. This team has the confidence that they can play with anyone in the nation, and that they can go to an opponent’s home court and bring home a win. That’s a very dangerous combination.

It is most unreal that 4 more wins should get us into the big dance. I’m not sure you’ve noticed, but we have 9 games remaining on our schedule, 5 of which are at home. Assuming the team keeps playing the way they are now, all 9 of the games are winnable. (Although @UNC might be stretch.) What is also impressive at this point is that the team doesn’t seem to be flying too high. I believe that Seth Greenberg has them playing one game at a time, which is very important in the perilous ACC schedule. Anyone can bring you down on any given night, so you must bring your A game every time you step out on the court. The Hokies have been doing that as of late, as well. Tech is 7-1 since the embarrassing loss at Marshall.

We’re almost halfway through the conference season, and Virginia Tech has beaten all of the traditional ACC powers. The team’s goal of getting a bid to the NCAA tournament is in sight. However, the fact of the matter is that we’re not playing for a tournament bid now – we’re playing for our seed in the tournament.

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A few random thoughts to close out this post …

• Georgia Tech was held to 37% from the floor.
• The Hokies are allowing 62.4 points a game – that’s 2nd best in the ACC
• Zabian Dowdell scored 23 points against the Yellow Jackets. I think he deserves to be 1st team All-ACC at the end of the season.
• Lots of teams in the top 25 had a rough week. I bet the Hokies move up to 18th.
• According to RealTimeRPI.com, Tech’s RPI is now 20. That’s presently 3rd best in the ACC behind UNC (2) and Duke (5)

Clark Ruhland, Associate Sports Editor at the Collegiate Times wrote an open letter to Jim Weaver regarding the attendance of men’s basketball games. It is well written, and he makes some great points. Check it out here: CollegiateTimes.com – An open letter to Tech Director of Athletics, Jim Weaver.

I just sent in a response to the sports editor email address at the Collegiate Times. I agree with much of what Mr. Ruhland says, but I think before the floodgates are opened up to the students, I think other members of the Hokie Club should be taken care of first. There are many alumni who give enough for tickets to football, but not enough for basketball, who would love to get season tickets to basketball. I am one of these alumni. I had to get my season tickets for this year through a friend who has a very high priority in the Hokie Club.

At any rate, here is my response:

In response to Mr. Ruhland’s letter to Athletic Director Jim Weaver, I wanted to give the CT an alum’s view. I was a freshman in the fall of 1997, and I graduated in 2003 in Computer Engineering. The last few years I was in Blacksburg I worked for the school full time while taking classes part time. I bleed Orange & Maroon.

Sunday afternoon I made the trek from Charlottesville (yes, I presently live in Hoo’ville) to Blacksburg in the snow, sleet, and freezing rain. It took me nearly 4 hours. I thought the decision to open up the games to students was absolutely brilliant, and the showing made by the students made the drive worth it – the fact that we won in OT made it even better.

I agree that something must be done with all of the no shows by season ticket holders. However, before we start opening the doors to the students, the Athletic Department and the Ticket Office need to take care of more of the Hokie Club. I am a member of the Hokie Club, and I am a season ticket holder for football. However, I have too low a priority to get season tickets for basketball. I had to buy this year’s season tickets from a Hokie Club member who was higher up on the totem pole.

The fact of the matter is that many Hokie Club members buy basketball season tickets so they can go to a few of the good ACC games, and so that they have these season tickets when they retire. It’s basically a placeholder for them. The ticket office needs to give the option to those folks to retain the right to buy season tickets in the future while allowing the members of the Hokie Club who will actually show up for games the ability to buy those tickets in the present.

That said, I would also love to see more students at the games. They bring so much energy. However, the students need to prove that Sunday night was not a fluke. Other than the UNC game, I have yet to see the student sections full to the brim. (I admit, I have yet to see Cassell full to the brim this season.)

Also, everyone needs to keep in mind that this is new territory for the Athletic Department. During my years in Blacksburg there was very little interest in basketball. The good thing is that Seth Greenberg is actively working with the Athletic Department to maximize attendance.***

Finally, I would like to say Thank You to all of the students who attended Sunday night’s game. I had an absolute blast, and I hope that kind of environment will be experienced again at Cassell. You made Sunday afternoon’s treacherous drive, as well as Monday’s pre-dawn return trip, worth every minute.

Regards,

Vince

*** See TSL’s Hokie Hotline notes:
http://subscr.techsideline.com/news_archive/showArticle-2631.php

“The administration is having some conversations about student attendance. Greenberg thinks he has a plan that makes sense, and he will present it to Jim Weaver later in the week.”

Well, I was dumb on Sunday afternoon. With a Winter Weather Advisory posted for Charlottesville (yes, I live in Hoo’ville) and the surrounding area, as well as an Ice Storm Warning for the New River and Roanoke Valleys, I drove to Blacksburg Sunday afternoon in the middle of a winter storm. It wasn’t a blizzard, and it turned out not to be a major ice event, but it still took me about 3 and a half hours to make what is normally a 2 hour drive. I-81 near Roanoke was an absolute mess. There’s nothing like barely doing 40mph in 4WD on the interstate and having tractor trailers and SUVs blow by you as if you were standing still. I caravaned with my friend Kevin (with whom I go to games) and his wife, except they started near Newport News and met me in Charlottesville. I think they were on the road for 8 hours. The prudent action would have been to not go to Blacksburg for Sunday night’s game versus the University of Maryland. In fact, I was regretting the decision to head down when I arrived at Kevin’s house with less than one hour until tip-off.

However, that feeling of regret began to wash away as we walked in to Cassell’s west entrance and heard the starting lineup. We began to hear the crowd, and it sounded pretty good. Then, as if they waited for us to take our seats, Enter Sandman was blaring over the PA system as we walked out of the Section 16 tunnel, and we got a taste of what was in store for the night. Cassell, while maybe 85% full, was rocking! Because of the inclement weather and the likelihood of many no-shows, the Athletic Department decided earlier in the day to allow students in for free, even if they didn’t have a ticket. It was a brilliant move. My guess is that there were 7000 students in the crowd, and every one of them were yelling and bouncing prior to tip-off. Kevin and I took our seats just moments before tip-off, and I was already glad I made the trek to Blacksburg.

With the exception of the last 6 minutes of regulation, when Tech’s offense went stagnant, the game went fairly well. Maryland played much better than they did at Virginia last week, but the Hokies played hard the entire game with the hordes of screaming students willing them on. I have never experienced an environment for a basketball game like that before Sunday night. It was a home court advantage like I have never seen. Good thing I’m like the postal service, otherwise I would’ve missed it.

So, I picked up a Nintento Wii last week, and it instantly turned me into a slacker. I’m not much into gaming anymore – I used to enjoy first person shooters on my PC when I was at Tech, but I never got into console gaming. However, Nintendo definitely got it right with the Wii. It is very innovative, and I think it’s something people of all ages would enjoy playing. The Wii already has me hooked.

Ok, enough about the Wii. I wanted to do a quick braindump after the layoff.

• Last Wednesday’s loss to Florida State shouldn’t have been a surprise to fans of Hokie basketball. The team had came off the biggest week of the program’s history, and Florida State was winless in the ACC going into the game. Couple those facts with the fact that it was a road game for us, the outlook for victory was not good. I had a bad feeling going into that game, and the result was not surprising. The statistic of the game: Florida State made 31 of 34 free throws.
• Uhm, what the heck is going on with Michael Vick? First they say he was carrying drugs in a fake Aquafina bottle at security at the Miami airport, and no doubt he gets an earful from the Falcons owner. Then SNL does an amusing skit about it. Now, they say there’s no evidence the bottle contained drugs.
• Major props to the Virginia Tech athletic department for letting in students for free to yesterday’s Maryland game (more on the game later). That was the best basketball environment I have ever experienced. Last night, the best home court advantage in the nation was Cassell Coliseum. Thank you, students, for showing up. That was awesome.
• Jamon Gordon’s post-game interview with Mike Burnop was hysterical. His nose got busted up in the game, and he said he looks like Doug from Nic@Nite. He said he needs to get it fixed, or all of his ladies are going to leave him. He also guaranteed a win at Miami on Tuesday. I wasn’t very keen on that, as that is bulletin board material for the other team, but I know he was just caught up in the moment.

That’s it for now. I hope to have something about the Maryland game up soon.

About midway through the second half of Virginia Tech’s win over North Carolina on Saturday, I turned to my buddy Kevin and said something to the effect, “If we pull this off, this game will make our season tickets worth it.” Before the season started Kevin and I bought a pair of season tickets from my brother-in-law’s aunt and uncle. They are big time Hokie Club donors, and they were able to get extra season tickets. We were a little hesitant to pull the trigger, because it’s pretty easy to get tickets to most games. However, we probably would have paid through the nose for 2 tickets to the UNC game on Saturday.

Even though it made sense monetarily to purchase those season tickets in light of the UNC, I wasn’t really referring to that when I made the comment to Kevin. I was referring to the fact that the UNC win will be one of those games that everyone who was there will proudly remember their attendance. For older fans of Hokie basketball, they will remember this win along with our win in 1983 over #1 Memphis State, as well as our 1973 NIT Championship. For younger fans of Hokie hoops, this is the marquee win of our generation. Presently 27 years old – I was a freshmen in the fall of 1997 – I am too young a Hokie to know anything about men’s basketball prior to football’s reign over Blacksburg, so I am included in the latter group. That said, I firmly believe this win is the greatest in VT basketball history. There is one simple reason I believe this: the victory over then #5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium the week before. Duke and North Carolina are considered to be two of the most elite programs in Division I basketball. They are ACC basketball.

Who would’ve thunk it? Beating Duke and UNC, both ranked in the top 5, within 8 days of each other. These are the kinds of wins that programs build on. In the right hands, these wins are used to take programs to the next level. Will Seth Greenburg build this program into a perennial tournament team? I don’t know, but the future certainly seems bright.

Regardless of what happens down the road, I can now amend my “I was there” list:

• The overtime win over Miami in football in 1998.
• The 1998 homecoming loss that didn’t happen.
• Almost every home football game in 1999 – notable wins: Syracuse, Miami, Boston College
• The 2000 Sugar Bowl loss to Florida State.
• The Ernest Wilford 2-point conversion drop in the loss to #1 Miami in 2001.
• The downtown “riot” the night before the LSU game in 2002, as well as the our win over LSU at Lane Stadium the day after.
• The win in 2003 over then #2 Miami.
• Our loss to #1 Southern California at FedEx field in 2004, the win at Lane over then #6 West Virginia, the crazy 4th quarter comeback at Georgia Tech, and the loss to #3 Auburn in the 2005 Sugar Bowl.
• And finally, I can add a basketball game to this list: our win over then #1 North Carolina in Cassell Coliseum in 2007.

• There’s an excellent recap of Saturday’s win over Duke over at HokiesFullCourt.com. Read it during your next coffee break.
• At the time of this writing, the Hokies are ranked 34 according to RealTimeRPI.com. This means that the win over Duke has nullified the loss to Marshall.
• Which VT basketball team will show up in Greensboro on Wednesday? The one that played Marshall? Or the one that played Duke? Smashed between Duke & UNC, this has all of the markings of a trap game.
• My bowl picks for this year are not very good. 17-14 with one game left. At least I’m over .500.
• I can’t make up my mind on what’s going to happen in tonight’s BCS championship game between Ohio State and Florida. After the regular season, I thought Ohio State would destroy Florida. Recently I began thinking that Ohio State would win, but Florida would keep it close. I think I’ve been letting the media get in my head. I’m going back to my initial feelings – Ohio State will win by at least 10 points.
• Regardless of your feelings about Ohio State, you have to respect Jim Tressel. The man won a number of national championships at Youngstown State, and he’s 4-0 in bowl games at Ohio State. Three of those bowls were BCS bowls. Tressel is a great big-game coach.
• By now I’m sure you’ve heard that Louisville’s Bobby Petrino is going to be the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Petrino is certainly an interesting hire. He is an offensive-minded coach who has built up Louisville’s program into a BCS contender. I’ve heard there is still a question of whether or not the Falcons will keep Michael Vick. In my opinion, they keep him. I think Petrino is looking forward to building an offense around Vick (rather than making Vick run his offense).
• Will Bobby Petrino buck the current trend of college coaches who bust in the NFL? (eg: Steve Spurrier, Butch Davis, Nick Saban)

Update: Here are some YouTube videos of highlights of some of the recent VT-Duke basketball games:

• ESPN highlights of Virginia Tech’s win over Duke in 2004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb52JSGReHM
• Dockery’s miracle 3-pointer to beat Tech in 2005: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuQ-dlhyfNc
• ESPN’s College GameDay highlights of VT’s recent win over Duke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPTSyI11U30
• Deron Washington hurdles Greg Paulus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbSWimbJ0OY

Ecstatic. Redeemed. Relieved. All of those apply to how the Virginia Tech men’s hoops team must feel after their overtime win over Duke on Saturday, Jan 6th. I’m not sure what was more amazing – the fact that the Hokies dominated much of regulation or how they bounced back after Duke tied the game with a very difficult three pointer with 18 seconds left in regulation. When that shot hit, Hokies everywhere had images of last year flash in their heads. While I almost had a stroke, I still had faith that they could pull off one of the biggest road wins in Virginia Tech basketball history. That faith stemmed from the fact that I saw them play the entire 40 minutes of regulation with intensity and hunger. It also came from the miracle fade-away Jamon Gordon sank after slipping but before falling on his butt. When that shot hit, I had the feeling that Hokies could not lose that game. Although, I will admit my confidence was a little shaken when Duke forced overtime.

Tech jumped to an early lead and were one step ahead of the Blue Devils for much of the first half, forcing turnover after turnover. Thanks to the efforts of DeMarcus Nelson, Duke stepped up its game in the second half, and they took their first lead midway through the 2nd period. The Hokies never gave in to the pressures of Camerson Indoor Stadium, and they continued to battle through the end of regulation and into overtime. While Nelson hit a 3 to force overtime, there would be no miracle for Duke at the end of the extra period. Deron Washington made sure of that with a block of Greg Paulus’ 3-point attempt, and Paulus’ blocked shot flew out of bounds as time ran out.

When the horn blew, and Cameron went dead silent, I stood in my family room, hands on my head, wondering if the game was actually over. After the clock fiasco prior to the end of regulation, it wouldn’t have surprised me if the referees were going to give Duke another chance by adding a half-second or so to the clock. However, the refs signaled that the game was over, and they jogged off the court. They did it. The Hokies beat Duke in Cameron.

Chris Coleman, of TechSideline.com, notes in his recap, “The win marks Tech’s first win over a top five team since they beat #2 Memphis State 76-72 in Blacksburg in 1986. The last time the Hokies beat a top five team on the road came against Kentucky 80-77 in 1962. In other words, this one is one to remember.” Besides being one of the most memorable wins in Virginia Tech basketball history, this win washed away the blues that Hokie Nation was feeling after New Year’s. The football team’s loss to Georgia combined with the men’s basketball team’s loss to Marshall that same day put Virginia Tech fans into a funk of despair and hopelessness. Not only did we feel like we gave away the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but we felt like our hopes at a NCAA bid were flushed down the toilet when let one slip away at Marshall. Beating Duke on the road certainly raised the spirits of Hokies everywhere. Maybe this team can make it to the big dance.

Not only does this win serve as vindication for last year’s heart breaker, but I hope it will be the magic potion that will cure the ailments that have plagued the men’s basketball team since last season’s loss to Duke. We all remember last year for the tough losses and off-court issues the team had to deal with. Even with the hardships of last year, there were high expectations for basketball this year. The team features one of the most experienced backcourts in the country, and there was the thought that last year’s tumultuous season would only make the team tougher. Unfortunately, the Hokies lost some games they should have won, and they lost them close. It seemed as though they were picking up where they left off from last season.

This win should be a turning point for Virginia Tech hoops. They finally got a big win, on the road no less, by winning a close game. They made some clutch free throws, and Coleman Collins began to look like the talented player we know him to be. This win will give them confidence they haven’t felt since the 2004-5 season. And, for the time being, they sit at the top of the ACC standings, tied for 1st place.

I’ve been debating what to write about Tech’s loss to Georgia in Saturday’s Chick-fil-A Bowl. Did I want to talk about Virginia Tech’s ineffective offense, only gaining 189 total yards? Or did I want to discuss how the Hokies got out-Beamerball’d in the second half with Georgia’s perfectly executed onside kick and Tech’s poorly executed onside kick? Perhaps I could talk about how Sean Glennon turned the ball over on 4 straight possessions. Or maybe Brandon Ore getting a measly 42 yards on 20 carries.

I could keep going, but I know you saw the game. You know that the Hokies’ second half meltdown felt like a kick in the groin. The last time I felt like that after a game was Miami 2005. To make matters worse, the men’s basketball team lost at Marshall earlier that day. Marshall is not a good team that Tech should have easily beaten. I have heard people say this loss will likely keep us out of the tournament. (Per RealTimeRPI.com, Tech’s is ranked 61 at the time of this writing.) Needless to say, the men’s basketball team needs to do some soul searching before they enter ACC play.

Instead of talking more about the game, as it is still fresh on everyone’s mind, I will conclude with something positive. The Chick-fil-A Bowl is a great event. Atlanta is a fun city (I went out all three nights I was down there), and the Georgia Dome is a great venue. I had just as much fun going to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta as I did 2 years ago when I went to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. I would go back to Atlanta in heartbeat. Also, the Georgia fans I ran into during the course of the weekend were awesome – very knowledgeable, loud & rowdy, and quite classy. I hope we get a chance to play Georgia again.

The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team started the season with a very shaky record of 4-3. Two of those losses came in the Old Spice Classic, where Tech finished a disappointing 6th place. After beating Iowa 69-65 as apart of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, the Hokies had a tough 1-point loss to George Washington in the BB&T Classic. With a 62-61 lead and less than 20 ticks of the clock left in the game, Coleman Collins missed a slam dunk that would have put the Hokies in a great position for the win. Hampered by a preseason injury and the loss of his father earlier in the year, Collins’ senior season has been a disappointment thus far.

Since the GW loss, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team has rattled off 4 straight wins: beating ODU by 17, Appalachian State by 32, Wake Forest by 3, and Seton Hall by 19.

While those wins weren’t necessarily against premier opponents, they were each good, solid victories in their own right. ODU managed to close within 7 a few times in the second half, but the Hokie late-in-the-game meltdown that plagued the team so much last season never materialized. App State was held to 37 points, which was the second fewest point total by an opponent in Cassell Coliseum. Somehow the Hokies made enough free throws to beat Wake Forest. Wake lead at the half 31-27, but Tech had a pivotal 13-2 run in the second half that gave them control of the game. Tech also survived a 3-point attempt at the buzzer by Wake Forest that would have sent the game into overtime. This game marked the first time the Hokies won their conference opener since the 1996-97 season. Against Seton Hall, a solid team from a great basketball conference, the Hokies played their best basketball of the season during a 20-0 run in the 2nd half.

According to the Washington Post recap of the Seton Hall game, written by Adam Kilgore, Hokies head coach Seth Greenburg analyzed the tape from the team’s first 5 games after Thanksgiving weekend to figure out why Tech was 3-2. Coach Greenburg’s conclusion was that the defense he installed in the preseason wasn’t working, so he implemented a new defense that came into its own against Seton Hall. Tech held Seton Hall (who were averaging 81 points coming into the game) to 61 points, forced 21 turnovers, and had 16 steals & 12 blocks. The Pirates shot just 27.7% from the floor and were held scoreless for nearly 8 minutes in the 2nd half.

The Hokie defense really shined against Seton Hall, and this is a good time to hit their stride, too. After taking on Campbell (Dec 23) and Marshall (Dec 30) during the Holiday Season, the Hokies play Richmond at home (Jan 3), at Duke (Jan 6), at UNC-Greensboro (Jan 10), and North Carolina at home (Jan 13). From Richmond to UNC, that’s 5 games in 15 days. I don’t care who you’re playing, that’s a tough stretch.

Another positive note from the win over Seton Hall was Coleman Collins’ game. While he only finished with 5 points, he played 19 minutes off the bench and had 6 rebounds. He played with energy and hustled on defense. I think he’ll use this game as a springboard to get his season turned around.

Doubters will look at the last four games and say that while the Hokies have rolled, they really haven’t played anyone. However, the three out of conference wins are going to be solid RPI boosters (according to RealTimeRPI.com VT is 34th at the time of this writing), and any conference win is a good win in the ACC. They’re on a roll, and if they can maintain this momentum, Virginia Tech should be 11-3 going into the meat & potatoes of their schedule and playing with the kind of confidence with which tournament-quality teams play.

Yup, it’s that time of year – pollen is flying through the air and there’s very little going on in the world of sports. Ok, so maybe I don’t really have “the blues”, but my sinuses are fully congested and football news has sharply dropped off in the wake of the draft. I’m sorry, I’m just not much of a fan of MLB. After the strike, my interest waned, and the
controversy surrounding the steroids issues has completely pushed me away. The NFL really is America’s number one pro sport. They have the right idea with revenue sharing, and they have the strongest drug policy of the Big 3. I know
the NFL isn’t perfect, but it is the most well-run professional sporting league of in the US. But I digress …

Getting back to the topic of Virginia Tech athletics, as reported earlier this week, Marquie Cooke was dismissed from the men’s basketball team. While I am sad to see such a talented recruit leave the team, I am happy to see that Coach Greenburg has that team first attitude that brought so much success to the football and basketball teams. While the men’s basketball team didn’t have a super year by ACC standards, they had one hell of a year by VT standards. A number of the games they won were earned by not giving up late, and that helped to galvanize them as a team. According to TechSideLine.com, as well as this Daily Press article, Cooke wasn’t exactly the ideal team player. His dismismal was the culmination of a poor attitude during the entire season. For Greenburg to dismiss him under that pretext tells me much about the kind of program Greenburg is building. What was that catch phrase of the 2004 football team? Team United.