Boxscore - Caution: Ugly

The Virginia Tech men’s basketball team won their first championship of any kind in 12 1/2 years by defeating st. john’s on their own secondary home court to win the Aeropostale Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden (the “world’s most famous arena”). This is huge, plain and simple. Sure, no one cares about this tournament, but this is a young, inexperienced Baby Hokie team and winning a title of any kind helps lay a foundation to grow on. Plus, this was a pseudo road win (unofficially), even if only 2,000 people were actually at the game (attendance was listed at 6,800 but… there weren’t anywhere near that many fannies in the seats even if you counted each butt cheek). This win was a big building block for this team.

Tech led by eight with 90 seconds to go (deja vu???) and let st. john’s within three before putting the game away. Although a lead of eight in this game was like a three touchdown lead in football.

st. john’s did not make a single field goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half and scored just 2 points during that span. They also made only one field goal in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Cheick Diakite was the Player of the Game with 7 blocks in the game. He looked like a hockey goalie the way he was keeping anything from going in.

A.D. Vassallo was named the MVP of the tournament, scoring 33 points combined to lead the Hokies. He was the only Hokie who showed up offensively for the Hokies on Saturday. A.D. hit several clutch shots for the offensively challenged Hokies in the championship game. He was just 5/12 from the floor but hit a couple of big three’s and runners to help Tech get and keep the lead.

The story of the game on Saturday was defense. Both teams wilted to the pressure in the first half and turned the ball over 11 teams. The two teams combined for just 43 total points in the first half.

The second half wasn’t much prettier. VT made just nine field goals in each half, but that was way better than the five the red storm could barely muster in the second half. The red storm stayed in the game with 14/18 on free throws in the second half. Tech hit 13/19 free throws in the second half and 15/22 for the game. Tech has now hit 68 free throws in their last three games.

Jeff Allen spent most of the game in foul trouble. He played just 18 minutes, yet had 8 points, 3 awesome assists that led to dunks, and 3 steals. st. john’s clearly targeted him with some flops and the referees, that were terrible and called nothing early on, were more than willing to call fouls on Agent Zero. Jeff may have to get used to this until he gets more of a rep. The refs swallowed their whistles in the first half and let the teams play by prison rules, detailed by the fact there was not a single foul shot until the final five seconds of the first half.

Tech, which had done a good job of protecting/passing the ball recently, had just 8 assists and 20 turnovers in the game. st. john’s plays a very tough, physical defense that gets all up in your mug, and the Hokies seemed intimidated by it. They better get used to it or expect some double-digit blow outs against ACC teams that can actually score.

The victory was secured by Tech’s defense, largely due to Cheick Diakite. st. john’s missed their first 12 shots of the second half and hit just 19% in the second half and 28% for the game. Amazingly, that’s only the third lowest shooting percentage of the season against Tech (unc-g and gwu were worse).

Tech has a very good defensive team. But they did allow 14 offensive rebounds in the contest. The storm out-muscled the Hokies at times.

I would write the rest of this recap but I’m off to have a Bear Fight (it’s a drink… please don’t call in the Feds on me) in celebration of something that hasn’t happened since my Freshman year… a championship!!!

NOTE: This is the lowest point total Tech has had in a win since defeating western carolina 54-40 in November 2005. Also, this is the second time VT has scored in the 50s and won this year (liberty was the other).

Starters: Allen, Witcher, Washington, Vassallo, and Delaney got the nods for Tech.  This was Delaney’s second straight starting assignment and Witcher’s second on the year.  Allen, Washington, and Vassallo have started every game.

Stat of the Day: VT has allowed just 49.4 points in their eight wins, yet 76.2 in their five losses.

The Magic of 65: Tech is undefeated when holding teams under 65, and winless when giving up over 65.

**********************FIRST HALF************************

To say I just watched the worst half of basketball I’ve ever seen would be an understatement. VT, which had suddenly found its offensive rhythm in its last two games averaging 79.5 points, probably had as many turnovers in the first half as they had points.

Allen played just 9 minutes, picking up two cheap fouls. One was on an illegal screen and another was on a cheap call where the penetrating red storm player threw himself into Allen.

VT really struggled with the suffocating full court D of the red storm. They could not set up their offense.

BTW: st. john’s is really bad. If they had any talent on offense, they would be up 20. I think VT will pull this out in the second half once they get used to the defense.

The Setup

On Saturday the Hokies will play for their first tournament championship of any kind since Tech won the 1995 NIT, which was also played in “the world’s most famous arena”, Madison Square Garden. I think the announcers get a bonus for each time they say “the world’s most famous arena” since they said it no less than a dozen times during the broadcast on Friday night.

Tech will face a familiar foe and former fellow Big East member, the st. john’s red storm. st. john’s blew an 11 point lead with four minutes to go, allowing marist to roll off 11 straight, but managed to regain their composure and win 62-59.

In the first semi-final, VT beat the hofstra pride like a rented mule by an 84-59 score [Recap]. Tech jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first five minutes, led by 22 at the half, and cruised to a 25 point victory, leading by as many as 33. The second leading scorer in the nation, a. aguido, did not play for the pride. He averages 26.8 per game and his absence left a noticeable hole in the hofstra offense. Vassallo, Washington, and Allen each had 17 points for the Hokies. Jeff Allen just missed recording his sixth double-double of the year by adding 9 rebounds.

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Boxscore

There were only a couple surprises tonight in the Hokies victory against hofstra:

First, DirecTV offers the MSG network in HD.

Second, hofstra’s stud Antoine Aguido, the second leading scorer in the nation and the MVP of last year’s Aeropostale Holiday Festival, did not play tonight due to a left ankle sprain suffered in practice.

The rest of what transpired was expected, making for a very comfortable night in the City.

The Garden looked about 3/4 empty, and Malcolm Delaney got the start instead of Hank Thorns. Delaney didn’t show any jitters, hitting a tough three with a defender in his face and the shot clock running down, to give the Hokies a 5-0 lead. The Hokies got out to a 10-point lead very early in the game, which they stretched to 22 at halftime on 59% shooting from the field. The pride, made up of 10 New Yorkers and 3 Lithuanians, almost had as many air balls (3) as field goals (6) during the first twelve minutes. The Hokies continued their good shooting from the line, starting 7 of 7. Couple that with the wake game, and the Hokies had a 36 of 39 stretch from the charity stripe. That has to be a record (check that Niemo). The key stat of the first half was points off turnovers: The Hokies had 17 and the pride had nil.

The second half was a good opportunity for the subs as the Hokies put it on cruise control. Terrence Vinson came into the game with about 12 minutes to go, probably the earliest entrance of his young career. At the 10 minute mark, Tech had 5 freshman on the floor: Delaney, Allen, Hudson, Bell, and Thompson. The Baby Hokies hung tough, but were outscored 5-4 during that stretch. Dorenzo Hudson continued to impress me. He pitched in 7 points in the first half, coming off the bench. Given our offensive woes this season, he has to be inserted in the starting lineup as we get into the ACC schedule, even though it will force us to go small.

The only lowlight tonight for the Hokies was giving up 21 offensive rebounds. That can be partially attributed to the smaller lineup. Although Diakite started, he played limited minutes. Witcher also only played a handful of minutes due to foul trouble. Still, it’s no excuse. This is hofstra, not the heels.

More Highlights:

• Deron Washington became the 6th player in Hokie history to score 1,000 points, grab 500 rebounds, and block 100 shots.
• MSG interviewed Coach Greenberg’s mom during the game.
• Former wvu and duke coach, Bucky Waters, did the color commentating for MSG. Waters, born in 1935, is probably younger than Seth’s mom, but looks like he could be her father.
• Seth broke out the pinstripe suit tonight.
• MSG network likes to remind its viewers countless times that the Garden is the “most famous arena”.
• A.D. Vassallo added to the PR shaved in the back of his head with a star and several horizontal lines on the right side of his head. I’m guessing that’s in honor of the Puerto Rico flag.
• Tom Amalfe, Marcus Travis, and Paul Debnam came in with two minutes to go. Amalfe missed a three from the top of the key.
• hofstra senior Ryan Johnson,scored his first field goal EVER. In fact he had two.

Player of the Game: Jeff Allen

Allen should be 2 for 2 in All-Tournament selections after tonight’s performance (Allen was on the Great Alaska Shootout All-Tourney Team). Allen scored 17 on 6 of 8 shooting, and grabbed 9 boards. It’s the 10th time this season that Allen scored in double figures. The Hokies had another balanced scoring attack, but all of Allen’s points came during the first 27 minutes of the game when it counted. Vasallo and Washington caught up to Allen during garbage time, scoring 17 each.

With the win, the Hokies play in the final of the Aeropostale Holiday Festival tomorrow at 3:30 on MSG.

Niemo’s Nuggets:

• Play of the Game: I guess Wick turned the TV off early and missed Deron’s blocked shot with just under 10 minutes to go. charles jenkins, a 6′3″ guard, thought he had an easy dunk but Deron went up with his left hand and literally stuffed the dunk attempt and pulled the ball away from the hofstra guard, all with his off hand. The hofstra guard crashed to the court while Deron looked at him with amusement, ball palmed in hand.
• In VT’s first 10 games, they hit 106 FTs on 160 attempts (10.6/16.0 per game). In Tech’s last two games, they have hit 53 FTs (half as many as in the first 10) on 69 attempts. That has provided 33% of VT’s 159 points, where as Tech was getting just 16% of their points from the line in the first 10 games. Deron has gotten to the line 22 times in these two games. Thanks should also go to Delaney and Hudson, who are aggressively attacking defenses. J.T. Thompson also does a good job of going hard at the rim.
• Tech’s 45 first-half points is their highest total in any half this year. This marked just the second time Tech had scored 40+ in a half (2nd half versus butler was the other). The 84 total points is also a season-high.
• Tech has surpassed the 70-point mark in regulation the last two games after failing to reach 70 in the first 10 regulation games.
• The Hokies had an amazing 20 assists on 27 field goals for 74%. On the year, Tech was only averaging 13 assists per game, on 52% of made field goals.

The Setup

After a heartbreaking defeat in the Hokies’ ACC opener at wake, Tech returns to out-of-conference action and will take on the hofstra pride in the first round of the four-team Aeropostale Holiday Festival. The tournament is being played in fabled Madison Square Garden. The Hokies blew out seton hall last year in MSG in the Aeropostale Classic (not the same as the Aeropostale Holiday Festival which hofstra won last year).

This tournament is not exactly loaded with talented teams. hofstra, VT’s opponent in the opener, is just 2-6. The other marquee name, st. john’s, is just 5-4. They’re playing a 6-5 marist team in the nightcap Friday night. In other words, not a single team enters this tourney more than one game over .500.

If Tech was ever going to win a tournament, this is their shot. VT has not done well in tournaments since winning the 1995 NIT in Madison Square Garden. In fact, the Hokies have not even made the finals of a tournament of any kind in their last 10 tournaments since the 2000 Carrier Classic at syracuse when they lost to syracuse in a four-team tournament. Since the ‘95 NIT title, VT has failed to make the finals of tournaments they were in 18 of 19 times.

Tech has a long history in MSG, having won two NIT titles there and it is the home of the Big East Tournament. However, VT only qualified for the BET once in their four years in the BE, largely due to the fact ricky stokes was Tech’s coach their first three years in the Big East.

• All Time Series vs. hofstra: First ever meeting

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Let’s look at where basketball has taken Zabe since he left the ‘burg.

NBA Draft and Summer School (NBA Summer League) in Vegas

Zabian Dowdell has not had as easy of a time making it in pro basketball as he might have hoped. The 6′3″, 191 lb. All-ACC guard went undrafted in the 2007 NBA Draft, despite being projected to be a mid second round pick (there are only two rounds).

Dowdell kept his head up, knowing that several teams had already contacted him about playing with their summer league teams. Zabe chose to go with Seattle, since they had shown a lot of interest in him before the draft and had a need for new blood after going 31-51 the previous season.

Zabe played in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas where 21 of the 30 NBA teams had squads participating. He saw familiar faces in Coleman Collins and Jamon Gordon. But ultimately, Dowdell struggled to adjust to the style of play and the deeper three-point line. He averaged just 3.4 points in 13 minutes per game over five games and hit just one three-pointer. He had a 1:2 assist to turnover ratio (1:1 is considered average for a guard). Surprisingly, he did not pick up a single steal despite his quick hands and did not get to the free throw line much. The writing seemed to be on the wall for Dowdell and he was cut loose by the Sonics.

With the NBA at least temporarily out of the picture, Zabe decided to head to Europe. Specifically to play for the Nancy Cougars of the French ProA League. [There’s a city in France named “Nancy”???!!! You can’t make this stuff up! I wish uva would open a satellite campus there.]

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It’s from a couple weeks ago, but Niemo made another appearance on The Sports Dominion podcast on December 12th. You can listen to the entire show by clicking the play button below, or you can skip ahead to listen to Niemo at 11:19 into the podcast.

The Sports Dominion is a news partner of TechHoops.com. You can find them on the web at thesportsdominion.com.

Deron Washington’s dunk against bc at Cassell last year was the #32 Play of the Year on the Best Damn Plays of 2007 show.

There’s no way to recap this game other than to say the Hokies choked. And I’m not talking “water down the air pipe” type of choke job, I’m talking turkey bone lodged in the throat requiring the Heimlich maneuver type of choke. The Hokies blew an eight-point lead with 80 seconds to go, allowing wake to tie it at 75 with 50 seconds to go. In case you are wondering how you blow an eight-point lead in 30 seconds, here’s how:

• Deron hit a FT to put VT up 75-67 with 1:20 to go.
• wake hit a three to make it 75-70 four seconds later (ie: no one even picked him up on D)
• A.D. took a three with 28 still on the shot clock up 5 and missed.
• wake’s smith drove right down and scored to make it 75-72 with 1:02 left with little resistance.
• Deron broke the press and got the ball to the three point line, but had no help and got stripped from behind.
• wake banked in a three with 51 seconds to go on a guy’s first shot of the game to tie the score at 75.

VT ran down the clock but a missed shot by Allen with the game tied gave wake the ball with 21 seconds to go. ishmael smith ran the clock down, penetrated with Delaney on him, then jumped to just right of the free throw line and hit a fallaway jumper from 18 feet with 0.5 seconds left to win the game, giving me that same sinking feeling I had after the game at duke two years ago, also in the ACC opener. Two of the shots by wake were extremely lucky, namely the banked three to tie the game and the fallaway at the end. Let’s see if this Hokie team can respond better than that team, which struggled its way on and off the court to a 4-12 ACC season.

VT nearly won this game with free throws. The Hokies had averaged just 10.6 made free throws per game through their first 10, but hit 29/32 free throws, their most makes at the charity stripe since last January 23rd when VT hit 34/42 from the line. Deron hit his first 10 despite being just a 63% FT shooter on the season.

Players of the Game: Jeff Allen, Deron Washington, A.D. Vassallo, and Dorenzo Hudson - Tech nearly won this game as a team, and these guys were the catalysts. They also lost it as a team with each of these guys making a critical mistake in the final 75 seconds. Vassallo led VT with 19, Allen had 16, including 12 in the second half, Deron had 13 on 11/12 free throws, and Hudson had 13 in his first real game action (he had only played four minutes total coming into the game.

Both A.D. and Deron had double-doubles with 19 points/11 boards and 13/14 respectively.

The Hokies trailed by nine at the half, setting a familiar storyline to their other two road games against penn state and odu, when they trailed by 10 and 12 at the half. As in those games, Tech kept the faith and came out in the second half and took it to the short-handed deacons.

VT used an 18-6 run to start the 2nd half to take a 52-51 lead with 13:25 left in the game. wake played part/most of the 2nd half with two of their top seven injured (skeen and williams) and three guys in foul trouble (mcfarland with four, johnson and williams fouled out).

Dorenzo Hudson made his presence felt in just his third game with the Hokies. He hit two three’s early in the 2nd half to get VT back in the game and had 13 total points, obviously a career high since he had not scored in his previous two games.

Even with this heartbreaking loss, there were a lot of positives to take away from the game:

• VT is undefeated in ACC against the odds, covering the +2.5 spread they faced! Yeah, I don’t care either. Not a sports gambler.
• Hudson is a pure shooter. Expect his minutes to go way up. He played 28 minutes in this game, 700% more than he had play in his career up until now.
• Allen got 12 touches inside the three point line in the second half after just four in the first half. VT needs to keep getting him the ball and they really focused on that tonight.
• This team has talent and could be a team that is in the middle of the ACC race by next season. The only problem is, it isn’t next season.
• Tech did a much better job of aggressively attacking the rim in this game, hence the 32 free throw attempts. Delaney is a slasher and that led to 8/8 on FTs for him.
• The Hokies now have three legitimate three-point shooters in Vassallo, Delaney, and Hudson. This should help stretch D’s and open up the inside for Allen, hence the extra touches for him.
• VT surpassed the 70-point mark in regulation for the first time all season. They also held wake to just 22 2nd half points until the final 76 seconds, when wake scored 10.
• Expect to see this lineup on the court most of the time from here on: Delaney (1), Hudson (2), Vassallo (3), Washington (4), Allen (5).

First Half

For the second straight road game, VT allowed 45 first-half points, in large part due to 14 turnovers. The Hokies couldn’t run their offense to start the game and lost their composure to end the first half. The result was a nine point halftime deficit: 45-36.

Tech turned the ball over on their first 3 possessions, allowing wake to jump out to an 11-2 lead at the first media timeout. Greenberg sent a message to the starters (the usual crew of Allen, Diakite, Washington, Vassallo, and Thorns) by benching all five guys and bringing in a fresh lineup. The result was a steal and a block by Terrell Bell and two buckets by Lewis Witcher that got VT back in the game.

The Hokies took their first lead just past the halfway point of the first half, going ahead 21-20, but wake followed with a 7-0 run.

Tech was an amazing 15/16 on free throws, including 14/14 by Delaney and Washington. The Hokies also shot over 50% for the first half, but hit just one three-pointer compared to five for wake. The killer for VT was 14 turnovers, compared to just 4 for wake. As I said in the preview, VT needed to stay close on rebounds and turnovers to win. wake has very quick hands on D and the Hokies struggled with this.

The Hokies lost their composure late in the half. Delaney was called for an intentional foul and Greenberg later got a technical, leading to six wake points combined. That helped push a close game to a sizable halftime hole.

The officiating really hurt the Hokies at the end of the half. At one point, wake had been called for seven fouls compared to just one on Tech. At the half, it was 11-10 (wake-VT). The officiating was very ticky-tack on Tech at the end of the half, with several offense fouls and reaches, whereas they let the action play on several times when wake seemed to foul Tech. If a team fouls a lot more than the other team, they should be called for more fouls! What a novel concept.

Jeff Allen was 2/2 shooting, but left with 9 minutes to go in the first half with 2 fouls. He touched the ball just four times on the offensive end and played just 7 minutes. Vassallo, who owns wake, led VT with nine at the half. He has averaged 22 per game in three previous meetings against wake. An amazing seven players had 3 or more for wake in the first half.

Notes

• A.D. shaved “PR” back in his head for Puerto Rico, something he has done in past seasons.
• Quote of the Game: Coach Greenberg, “My team is so young, we had our pre-game meal at Chuck E. Cheese.”
• Tech’s best efforts ever from the line were 13/13 against unc in ‘75, and 22/23 vs dayton in ‘76.
• Tech, who hit just one three in the first half, hit two in the first two minutes of the second half and three total in the second half.
• Flopper of the Game: Deron, of course, eight. But honorable mention to Malcolm Delaney who had four, including a flop that drew the fifth foul on wake’s best player, james johnson, with five minutes to go.
• Witcher and Diakite did not play the entire second half and Thorns played just four minutes after the initial four minutes of the game.

Next Up

VT returns to action next Friday as part of the four team Aeropostale Holiday Festival at hallowed MSG in NYC. VT will play hofstra in the first round and winner (yes, I’m guaranteeing a win) of st. john’s/marist in the finals on Saturday. VT has a legitimate shot at winning this tourney of crappy teams. Tech has not won a tournament of any kind since the 1995 NIT.

Odds wake -2.5

The Setup

That’s right, Hokie fans, it is time for the token December ACC opener. In 2004, VT got woodshedded by unc. In 2005, duke needed a 40-footer at the buzzer to beat VT. The rest of the season didn’t get much better. And last year, the Hokies played with a very stagnant offense but beat wake at home 63-60. Apparently Tech has to play a NC school each year in this slot, so wake gets the call again this year.

• All Time Series: wake 25-23
• At wake: wake 13-5
• Since VT joined the ACC: VT 3-1 (VT owns wake! 3-1 in bball, 2-0 in football)
• Last Meeting: VT 71-52 in the quarters of the 2007 ACC Tourney

The Game

This is wake’s first ACC game since the passing of Skip Prosser, their coach for six seasons who died suddenly in the off-season. Dino Gaudio has replaced him.

If this game was for a seed in the ACC, VT and wake would be playing for the 11th seed. Based on early season showings, either one of these teams could wind up in the ACC cellar come tourney time.

Talk about carbon copies, this game features two teams that are undefeated at home, have just one win away from home, best player is a freshman forward (#23 james johnson vs. Jeff Allen), and like to play small with four guards and small forwards often on the court. The difference in this game is that the game is at wake. wake is perfect at home and VT has been far from perfect away from the Cassell.

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The Roanoke Times reported today that gus gilchrist’s appeal to join the maryland basketball team at the end of the Fall Semester was rejected by the ACC. gilchrist will not be able to play or practice with the team until next season. And the best part? He loses a year of eligibility. Ha!

gus signed with VT a year ago but backed out after the April shootings. Tech released him from his letter-of-intent. gus said he wanted to see how the Hokies handled the situation and re-opened his recruiting. he eventually signed with maryland. All this just happened to occur after he was named MVP of the Capital Classic last year. The game was played on maryland’s home court.

In my opinion, I think he was just looking for a way out of VT and wanted to go with a more “prestigious” program after the attention he got in the Capital Classic. I know for a fact Greenberg did everything he could, even meeting with gus’s family before the Cap Classic game and respecting his wishes after the shootings. I can’t wait until the boos rain down on him in his appearances in Cassell (and at maryland since I will be going to those games, too). And for the record, I’m glad I didn’t arm curl him.