This year's Hokie basketball team was known for coming out flat and then having to regroup and make a comeback attempt. With the notable exception of the win over Wake Forest, this was S.O.P. for Tech.
So, naturally, the Hokies came out as slow and sluggish as they ever have against Baylor in the second round of the NIT and were promptly dispatched, 84-66 by the Bears.
It didn't help that Baylor couldn't miss from the field. The Bears shot 66.7 percent in the first half. Center Josh Lomers scored 12 points, all in the first half, to pace them early. Baylor made 10 of 21 three-point attempts in the game.
The Hokies were the polar opposite as they shot 32.4 percent for the game and 24.1 percent in the first half. Tech's "Big Three" of Malcolm Delaney, AD Vassallo and Jeff Allen combined to go 2 for 17 from the field in the first half.
It was an embarrassing opening 20 minutes from the Hokies. Baylor played excellent defense and forced Tech into poor shots. However, the Hokies hurt themselves by being generally lazy, especially while passing.
The entire game can be encapsulated into a stretch with just under four minutes to play. Baylor's Henry Dugat stole a lazy in-bounds pass and reset the offense. Baylor missed a three and Tech got the offensive rebound. However, another lazy pass at midcourt was again stolen by Dugat, who this time took the ball to the rim and jammed it home.
The Hokies were a horrible basketball team to watch this year. They were inconsistent and at times it seemed they were unmotivated. A very disappointing season that had a lot of promise in the preseason is thankfully over.
Linkage
Hokies
- Tech Hoops offers its take on the loss.
- BCO has an accurate visual representation of today's performance.
- VT Fan found it hard to get excited about the NIT.
- The North End Zone has joined the Twitter.
- The Hokie football team dished out some awards.
Atlantic Coast Conference
- As bad as Friday was for the ACC, Giglio says it could have been worse.
- The Buzz Blog says you only have to look at the coaches to see why some ACC teams are still dancing and some aren't.
- My thoughts on Tech's bball season are similar to All Canes' thoughts on Miami's bball season.
- Section Six sees a correlation between beating NCSU and winning in The Tournament.
Randomness
- EDSBS has Erin Andrews naked.
- Anne at Sabretooth's House does her best furrer4heisman impersonation after last night's loss to Philly.
Showing posts with label angry blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label angry blogging. Show all posts
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
The Day After
I thought that 24 hours after the Hokies lost the Tar Heels 79-76 I'd be more rational. I am not. I still put this one squarely on shoddy ACC officiating.
While I'm not convinced the Hokies would have won had a foul been called on North Carolina in the final seconds of yesterday's game, I am convinced it was a foul and the call made on the floor was wrong.
That hasn't changed. Neither has my new-found hatred of North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough. I used to like North Carolina and used to root for it more often than not when it wasn't playing Virginia Tech. No longer. I already don't watch Duke-Carolina games because it's the most overrated rivalry in sports, but now I don't even have a rooting interest.
I despise Hansbrough as well. With the way he's treated by officials and the calls he gets, he is an honorary Duke Blue Devil in my eyes. His game is about initiating contact and getting calls. I can no longer tolerate the sight of him.
The Hokies were not a good basketball team this year. They were a team that consistently played to the level of their competition and in reality were never a threat to make the NCAA Tournament. They had one big win against Wake Forest doesn't look nearly as impressive now as when it happened. We were a mediocre team at best and the definition of an NIT team. Therefore, that's where we're headed.
Linkage
- Joe Ovies has video of the foul.
- Orson also sees the Hansbrough-Tebow comparison.
- Giglio notes a few more questionable calls.
- ACCSJ thinks we're still on the bubble?
- Tech Hoops was impressed by ADV's play.
- BCO has calmed down a little [beer pun] and is no long hopping mad [/beer pun].
- But The North End Zone will not calm down, thank you very much.
- Tar Heel Fan is happy to survive and advance.
- Yes, Carolina March, Hansbrough did cost us the game. But he committed a foul to do it.
- TarEye or BuckHeel thinks it was the right call, but was made late.
While I'm not convinced the Hokies would have won had a foul been called on North Carolina in the final seconds of yesterday's game, I am convinced it was a foul and the call made on the floor was wrong.
That hasn't changed. Neither has my new-found hatred of North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough. I used to like North Carolina and used to root for it more often than not when it wasn't playing Virginia Tech. No longer. I already don't watch Duke-Carolina games because it's the most overrated rivalry in sports, but now I don't even have a rooting interest.
I despise Hansbrough as well. With the way he's treated by officials and the calls he gets, he is an honorary Duke Blue Devil in my eyes. His game is about initiating contact and getting calls. I can no longer tolerate the sight of him.
The Hokies were not a good basketball team this year. They were a team that consistently played to the level of their competition and in reality were never a threat to make the NCAA Tournament. They had one big win against Wake Forest doesn't look nearly as impressive now as when it happened. We were a mediocre team at best and the definition of an NIT team. Therefore, that's where we're headed.
Linkage
- Joe Ovies has video of the foul.
- Orson also sees the Hansbrough-Tebow comparison.
- Giglio notes a few more questionable calls.
- ACCSJ thinks we're still on the bubble?
- Tech Hoops was impressed by ADV's play.
- BCO has calmed down a little [beer pun] and is no long hopping mad [/beer pun].
- But The North End Zone will not calm down, thank you very much.
- Tar Heel Fan is happy to survive and advance.
- Yes, Carolina March, Hansbrough did cost us the game. But he committed a foul to do it.
- TarEye or BuckHeel thinks it was the right call, but was made late.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Annette is at it again
This time, she thinks we need to watch out for the Dukies in Lane Stadium South Wallace Wade Stadium.
At this point I'm starting to wonder if she is trying to get fired from ESPN so she can go back to covering the Terps. The two games she singles out as being difficult are our games against Duke and UVa. That's right, the only two ACC teams that didn't go bowling last year.
We have to play at Georgia Tech and Maryland and those are the only two games she singles out? She loves her some PJ and Fridge, so you'd figure those would be the two games she'd pick us to have trouble with. Nope. We better watch out against Dook and the 'Hoos.
Then again, maybe Annette is sneakier than I thought. She knew we would criticize her love of Georgia Tech and Maryland if she mentioned those two as our toughest games, so she went the other way with it. In the words of Muldoon from Jurassic Park, clever girl.
In other news...
- The N&O's Luke DeCock (snicker) writes that our game with Alabama is the best game involving an ACC team this year.
- Tech Hoops previews tomorrow's game at france. As always, it's a must-read before watching the game.
- The Sabres get another shot at Justin Pogge tonight. We gave him a thorough ass-kicking thanks to porous defense and never-ending odd-man rushes last time around. Hopefully the "Hockey Gods" don't punish us after his defense forsakes him again:
and watch out for Duke (seriously). The Blue Devils came dangerously close to beating the Hokies with their backup quarterback in Blacksburg last season.
At this point I'm starting to wonder if she is trying to get fired from ESPN so she can go back to covering the Terps. The two games she singles out as being difficult are our games against Duke and UVa. That's right, the only two ACC teams that didn't go bowling last year.
We have to play at Georgia Tech and Maryland and those are the only two games she singles out? She loves her some PJ and Fridge, so you'd figure those would be the two games she'd pick us to have trouble with. Nope. We better watch out against Dook and the 'Hoos.
Then again, maybe Annette is sneakier than I thought. She knew we would criticize her love of Georgia Tech and Maryland if she mentioned those two as our toughest games, so she went the other way with it. In the words of Muldoon from Jurassic Park, clever girl.
In other news...
- The N&O's Luke DeCock (snicker) writes that our game with Alabama is the best game involving an ACC team this year.
- Tech Hoops previews tomorrow's game at france. As always, it's a must-read before watching the game.
- The Sabres get another shot at Justin Pogge tonight. We gave him a thorough ass-kicking thanks to porous defense and never-ending odd-man rushes last time around. Hopefully the "Hockey Gods" don't punish us after his defense forsakes him again:
Monday, February 16, 2009
Hey Jeff, how many games are you suspended?
HT: Testudo Times
"This many."
Allen will miss the rivalry game against the 'Hoos, who are coming off a big overtime win against Clemson. That's fantastic. They've got momentum and we've lost two consecutive road games. I really wouldn't be surprised if we lost Wednesday.
The good news is UVa doesn't have a remarkable inside presence that will suddenly be able to dominate in the paint with Allen out. The key for the Hokies will be stopping Sylven Landesberg, who's name says "I'm a 7-2 white center from Lithuania," but is in fact a high-scoring slashing guard from NYC.
The Hokies are also facing yet another coach under fire in Dave Laitao. However, unlike the previous coaches under fire the Hokies faced, does not have a championship ring as a player or head coach.
Look for this to be a tough game for the Hokies, even though he was shut down by the 'Hoos in the last meeting, he's still one of Tech's three most important players and will be missed. And because he did something stupid and immature, he's suspended for an important conference road game.
Also, note that this suspension is coming from VT AD extraordinaire Jim Weaver, citing his incredibly stupid "Hokies Respect" campaign. Weaver should just let the league suspend Allen instead of claiming to do it himself to promote his stupid, cartoonish program. Every fan base has its idiots and we don't need laughable cartoons to tell us to settle down or former players telling us to respect others.
To paraphrase Carlin: Fuck Weaver, fuck Hokies Respect ... and fuck everyone now that I think of it. Sometimes in blogging you have to generalize.
Look, Allen screwed up. Does it make us look bad? Yes. Does it make every fan outside of Virginia Tech think all Hokies are like this? No.
Not even the Deadspin commentariate was vile toward Allen. In fact, the only comment that was even about the game came from frequent commenter and Hokie fan "Frank Beamer's Goiter":
Allen was never in the game from the first minute and neither was most of the team, keeping up with Greenberg's style of playing up/down to each opponent's level.
Weaver had no reason to get on his high horse and take down one of our own to try and save face. The league should have handled the Allen situation.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
VT 2009 vs. Clemson 2008
I'm late on this because everyone's favorite Mouseketeer is no longer in my RSS reader. Maybe she should be for the entertainment value. Seems she posted a Hokie-heavy mailbag Tuesday in which she compares the Hokies to last year's Clemson team and insults a Hokie fan who insulted her.
Basically, here's what I can gather from her reaction to Mark Schlabach ranking Tech No. 5 and the previously mentioned mailbag:
1. Annette is pretty embarrassed she was so high on the Tigers (even though they had no offensive line) and they proved her wrong.
2. Annette doesn't want to make that same mistake again with the Hokies.
3. Even though the Hokies do return a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, Annette thinks they will fail because the expectations will be too much for them to take.
4. Annette's take on the 2009 Hokies is they aren't nearly as good as the best teams in the country or that much better than other top ACC teams, but because they're the Hokies they're going to win nine or 10 games anyway.
Does that about sum it up?
Look, the Hokies aren't going to win the national title next year. But they aren't going to fall on their faces like Clemson did, either. The main reason is because Clemson was coached by this guy:
That, and the Hokies didn't lose four offensive linemen after last season. If we can find a center, we'll be fine. Annette seems to think that Tyrod WILL get injured at some point next season and we'll be doomed. But could Greg Boone and JuJu Clayton be that much worse than Sean Glennon was for the latter portions of his career? I think either are perfectly capable of handing the ball off to Darren Evans and Ryan Williams and letting the defense do its thing.
Our lesson here is two-fold: Don't get caught up in the hype when a team hasn't proved itself and don't think history will automatically repeat itself because the same hype is surrounding another team. It's way to early to be comparing the 2009 Hokies to the 2008 Tigers.
Basically, here's what I can gather from her reaction to Mark Schlabach ranking Tech No. 5 and the previously mentioned mailbag:
1. Annette is pretty embarrassed she was so high on the Tigers (even though they had no offensive line) and they proved her wrong.
2. Annette doesn't want to make that same mistake again with the Hokies.
3. Even though the Hokies do return a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, Annette thinks they will fail because the expectations will be too much for them to take.
4. Annette's take on the 2009 Hokies is they aren't nearly as good as the best teams in the country or that much better than other top ACC teams, but because they're the Hokies they're going to win nine or 10 games anyway.
Does that about sum it up?
Look, the Hokies aren't going to win the national title next year. But they aren't going to fall on their faces like Clemson did, either. The main reason is because Clemson was coached by this guy:
That, and the Hokies didn't lose four offensive linemen after last season. If we can find a center, we'll be fine. Annette seems to think that Tyrod WILL get injured at some point next season and we'll be doomed. But could Greg Boone and JuJu Clayton be that much worse than Sean Glennon was for the latter portions of his career? I think either are perfectly capable of handing the ball off to Darren Evans and Ryan Williams and letting the defense do its thing.
Our lesson here is two-fold: Don't get caught up in the hype when a team hasn't proved itself and don't think history will automatically repeat itself because the same hype is surrounding another team. It's way to early to be comparing the 2009 Hokies to the 2008 Tigers.
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