Monday (updated with Sene news): Big win for UVa; Tech fizzles at home; Your ACC tournament pairings
Update 11:49 a.m. — UVa announces that Assane Sene won’t play again this season even if he is physically able because of a violation of team rules. The dispatch from the Cavs:
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Senior center Assane Sene of the Virginia men’s basketball team will not play for the Cavaliers again this season, UVa head coach Tony Bennett announced on Monday.
“Assane remains a member of our team, but even if he is physically able he will not play in games again this season because of a violation of team rules,” Bennett said. “As I have said previously, we have expectations for the players in our program.
“Assane has made many significant contributions to our team and I appreciate those contributions. He will remain a part of our team as long as he meets the expectations we’ve established from this point on.”
Sene suffered a fracture in his right ankle in the first half of a game at Georgia Tech on Jan. 19. He underwent surgery on the ankle on Jan. 20.
Original post:
VIRGINIA GETS A HUGE WIN ON THREE FRONTS,as the Cavaliers’ 75-72 overtime victory at Maryland secures the No. 4 seed in the ACC tournament, stops a recent slide and further solidifies their NCAA tournament resume.
VIRGINIA TECH FALLS TO THE NO. 10 SEED
in the ACC tournament after losing to N.C. State 70-58 at Cassell Coliseum.
ACC TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS
Thursday
Games on WDBJ and ESPNU
No. 8 Maryland vs. No. 9 Wake Forest, noon
No. 5 NC State vs. No. 12 Boston College, 2 p.m
No. 7 Clemson vs. No. 10 Virginia Tech, 7 p.m.
No. 6 Miami vs. Georgia Tech , 9 p.m.
Friday
Games on WDBJ and ESPN2
No. 1 North Carolina vs. 8-9 winner, noon
No. 4 Virginia vs. 5-12 winner, 2 p.m.
No. 2 Duke vs. 7-10 winner, 7 p.m.
No. 3 Florida State vs. 6-11 winner, 9 p.m.
Saturday
Semifinals, 1 and 3 p.m.
Sunday
Championship game, 1 p.m.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
-Be sure to check out Andy’s Q&A with Charley Wiles, who touches on the Signing Day controversy and many other topics.
MORE COLLEGE HOOPS
-Ohio State nips Michigan State 72-70 to forge a three-way for the Big Ten crown among those two teams and Michigan.
-Kentucky finishes an unbeaten run through SEC play with a 74-59 win over Florida.
NASCAR
-Denny Hamlin wins at Phoenix, where his title run was derailed two years ago. Floyd County native Darian Grubb gets his first victory as Hamlin’s crew chief, as well. Full results are here.
NFL
-The league will investigate claims that the Redskins had a bounty program for big hits under former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.
-If you missed the story that broke Friday afternoon about the Saints’ bounty program under Williams, it’s here.
BASEBALL
-The MLB players union says it knows who leaked Ryan Braun’s failed drug test to ESPN but won’t pursue a lawsuit.
-The Pirates sign Andrew McCutchen to a six-year contract.
NBA
-Deron Williams scores a franchise-record 57 points as the Nets beat the Bobcats 104-101.
-Kobe Bryant scores 33 as the Lakers defeat the Heat 93-83.
YOUR SIX-WORD STORIES
-Monday’s topic was Seth Greenberg’s sideline demeanor in six words. A few highlights:
-From Big E: Man needs to visit Dr. Phil !!!!!
-From hokie24: Pounding the scorer’s table since 2003.
-From Trevor: Greenberg to star in “Anger Management.”
-From Rick H: ‘Even Prozac would miss on him’
-From RP: At least he’s not Bob Knight
-Today’s topic: GREGG WILLIAMS’ BOUNTY PROGRAM IN SIX WORDS. Go wherever you want with it.
NAME THAT TUNE
Alone
Listless
Breakfast table in an otherwise empty room…
March 5, 2012 - 8:51 AM
Daughter, Pearl Jam…good song.
VT folded, and now without a deep run in the ACC tournament, the next game or 2 will be their last since they need to win 2 games just to finish .500 and have a shot at the NIT. Not gonna happen…they’ll probably lose to Clemson.
O.J. scores.
Bounty: Now Goodell Will Come Marching In.
Regarding the ACC…I think right now they have 3 definite locks, and UVA should be in the dance too. Miami and/or NC State will need to be playing Saturday to make it. They should win their openers…but Miami would get FSU and NC State would get UVA in the next round. If I had to guess, I’d say NC State might have a slightly better shot of making it by virtue of having 20 wins, vs the 18 for Miami. But we’ll see. The selection committee was awful harsh toward VT when they’ve been in similar spots.
It was nice to see Michigan get back to relevancy in college hoops. The fall-out from the Fab Five decimated the program for a good long spell. Glad to see their resurgence.
Another great job of coaching by Uncle Fester. “I don’t know if our emotional gas tank was empty”.
It couldn’t be the coaching of course. Shouldn’t you know?
On the bright side, he can’t claim the selection committee robbed him this year- not the NCAA one or the NIT one.
They have to win 2 games to get even a NIT bid. Who out there thinks they fold up the tent?
Considering the phony spin the Fab Five put on their relevance and their choking losses in crunch time, I’ve no sympathy. Of the five, they proved to all profit in the multi-millions, yet to not leave any impact on the game, other than their revealed corruption and grabbing of all the dollars possible during their college days. And now they come out with a video trying to whimper their way to needlessly receiving more millions from stupid sympathy givers.
Chris Weber is dirty, and Jalen Rose is not only dirty, but a hypocrite.
Hurts me to say this, but Virginia is vulnerable moving forward. They’re down to Mike Scott, a streak shooter, a streak shooter with a broken hand, and the walk-on who least trips over his own feet. Their defense should keep them in games, and Scott should be POY (anyone from UNC should not be considered, given all the talent surrounding them)…but all those injuries are hard to overcome.
Gregg Williams’ bounty programs in six words-
Bounty hunters, don’t need their scum.
I wouldn’t be surprised if either Puke or UNC wins the ACC tournament. I think UNC will if they keep their momentum going. They absolutely dominated Puke and I was so thrilled. It was nice seeing the veins popping on Satan’s spawn and his anger. It was funny when I saw Roy imploring his players to talk, and he stomped his feet, yelling, “Talk to each other! Dadgumnit!”
Greenberg seems to be a nice guy but it’s time for a coaching change. When was the last time Tech was in the NCAA tourney?
AMc,
Here is a story for you. Kevin Steele, former DC at Clemson who was fired after the WVU game, was in Blacksburg, in the Virginia Tech football offices, giving a tell-all on how to stop Clemson’s office, what keys to read, player tendencies, such as, Sammie Watkins and other secrets of the Clemson program. He was obviously bitter about what happened, but he was breaking a moral and ethical code in the coaching fraternity. He was invited to Blacksburg to do this. I understand that coaches change schools very often, but most of the time you don’t see coordinators go to other schools in the same conference. You guys at the RT think Coach Foster is some type of genius, so if he were he wouldn’t need Kevin Steele’s tell-all about the Clemson offense and Chad Morris, or he wouldn’t have needed to go to Iowa last year to study the GA Tech offense. I hope this information has gotten back to the football offices in Clemson. AMc, let’s see in you or AB follow up on this story, or see if it is swept under the rug.
Nathan Waters mentioned in the N&A today that Erick Green was denying transferring rumors. Hadn`t heard those rumors but it`t not a good sign when your leader and point guard is sitting on the bench and it`s not because of fouls. Boggs is starting at Valpo, Thorns is starting at TCU and I don`t see where Rankin is much improvement over Garland. Both turn the ball over more then Jeremy Lin and at least Ty could score. Seems to me Eddy could could be a good 2 guard and get him away from being over matched at small forward. Green needs to be the point guard and leader next year. Interior should be okay next year especially if Marshall Wood could contribute at small forward. Win a few of the lost buzzer beaters and this season would have been pretty good. Maybe in the minority here but am counting on Seth to turn it around next year
Trevor? You got kids watching the Star Wars show on Cartoon Network, too?
Bounty Program; NFL at its finest.
Haven’t read the Charley Wiles piece, but looking forward to it.
Greg Williams bounty program in 6 words: Naive to think Williams is alone.
Hey, I made the blog!
Six words on the bounty program: Williams likely only one of many.
No part of me thinks that Williams is the only one with a bounty program, or the first with a bounty program, or the worst with his bounty program. I just think he was unlucky to be the first one caught lately.
Trevor it was a great game. Should have done that to them the first time. I don’t think the talent level is even close between UNC and Duke. Also, I’ve heard preliminary sources say Henson may be back for his senior year next year. So if they only lose Zeller and Barnes they could be in for another great season.
You guys better get off Greenberg’s back before abdnva wakes up this morning.
There were some great games this weekend. You can tell it’s March. Now bring on the madness, except Greenberg, he is mad 24 x 7 365!
Many of you may have seen this already, but here’s a good article on how similar this year’s UVA bball season has been to last year’s VT bball season.
http://www.dailypress.com/sports/teel-blog/dp-teel-time-uva-vt-credentials,0,2593178.story
The main things that folks want to claim kept us out last season, such as strength of schedule and best wins, are awfully interesting when you compare them to this year’s UVA team who many consider to be a lock for the dance. But no, VT’s never been hosed out of the dance, no never…
For the record, I think UVA definitely deserves to be in this year. But then again, I thought VT definitely deserved to be in last year too.
When was the last time any team did not have a down year/rebuilding year in a five year span?
Ask Roy Williams. Ask Coach K.
Are we (VT) SO PERFECT that we have to fire our coach at the first hint of unfulfilled expectations? In basketball, I mean. Silly me. I know we’ll let Frank Beamer stay until he drops in his tracks, because he is from Fancy Gap. But some yankee from somewhere besides SW Va, well, he gets no consideration…
Yeh, VT is SUCH a college basketball Nirvana. We should remember Adolph Rupp was a slacker. Bobby Knight was too lenient. Dean Smith was too unorganized. Jimmy V wasn’t emotionally involved enough.
Yeah – Virginia Tech – the Valhalla of college basketball over the decades… We deserve more. Just don’t ask us to actually but season tickets then use them for most games. We’d rather toss them aside, and only use the points for acquiring access to better football bowl tickets. Which we then buy off ebay & Stubhub.
I was real happy to see Denny Hamlin win yesterday. Not for Hamlin but for Darrian Grubb. Quite a bit of vindication for Darrian especially as Stewart was in contention and had trouble with his car. Denny has been really fast so far this year. Tony may have to eat some crow at the NASCAR awards banquet this fall.
Post updated with news on Assane Sene.
Abdnva
VT can do better than 15-16 this year, .580 over the entire VT career, and 1 dance in his entire VT career for $1.2M. Put another way, we could probably pay less than that to get those results. Alot less.
The funny thing about it is, USF is being mentioned as possibly getting a bid this year. If they do, then USF will have gotten as many dance invitations without SG and VT has gotten WITH him.
Did SG develop Jeff Allen? Do we really think this freshman class is so loaded with talent and Greenberg such a great coach that next year is going to be different than the (no dance invitations) past ones?
I don’t.
Lakeshore Johnny, close. We don’t have cable or satellite. That was a line from The Empire Strikes Back.
OG, I agree. If Henson returns, I wonder if Marshall would give it one more shot with Barnes. That would be exciting. My feelings are the Fantastic Four are gone when the tournament ends.
I agree with Bob H, the people at USF were happy to see SG go, and told us what was coming, they were correct and now we are stuck with the ” big bucks ” contract , boo,boo,boo…………..
The bounty hunter situation –
Boy, stupid IS, as stupid does.
Phil, to answer your question, 2007 was the last NCAA appearance, which was under Greenberg, and represents exactly 50%, half, of those in the last quarter century, to put it in a perspective that the Greenberg haters would not. And, further, that appearance represents 12.5% of Tech’s NCAA appearances. To hear some of the critics, you’d think he was in the process of dismantling the Duke program.
If Tech was 15-16 this year with Alan Chaney and JT Thompson, then there could be some bitching and moaning. However . . . . .
Major props to the Commonwealth Crew of Hamlin and Grubb, nice to see them off to a good start. It has been an interesting start to the season, thus far. Looking forward to things coming up in Bristol, and Martinsville, live and in person.
Watching Tech play last night reminded me of a mediocre high school team. If this is his best recruiting class ever, God help us. There is just no indication of improvement. Were 2nd in league in foul shooting, who knows now. I just don’t see a team with heart or respect for their coach. When your team “leader” is benched for attitude, the problem is deep. When a coach makes a decision, the players have to respect it. I didn’t see it last night nor have I seen it this whole year. He’ll be back next year but he’d better have some show stopping freshman coming in. I watched the CAA tournament this past weekend and the effort and skill shown would put Tech about 4th or 5th in that league. Gregg Williams comment: Just one of many.
Trevor I don’t think Marshall is going to leave. I haven’t heard any reports that he would be leaving early. I don’t think he projects too high in the NBA right now until he improves his scoring.
Stack Marroon, after watching WVU dismantle Clemson’s D in the Orange, I bet Ol’ Bud Foster is at least smart enough not to take advice from the captain of that sinking ship….what was the halftime score in that one, like 63-14? If he runs a defensive team like that, I sure as hell wouldn’t be taking any advice from him on defense, offense, special teams, what flavor gatorade to give the players, how to keep the opposing teams cheerleaders out of the endzone during TV timeouts, etc….. I don’t see anyone in their right mind ever taking advice from Steele on how to stop ANYONE’S offense after that one. But hey, we’ll find out if it helped us or not when the Hokies pay that visit to Death Valley later this year. Alls fair in love and war….
All coaches have a network of fellow coaches that they contact all the time. Started as ass’ts. on many staffs and grew from there. Fosters a genius for using those contacts. If someone walks through the door with info, all the better. Where Fosters genius comes in is what to use and what to disregard. They all exchange info, so no news flash there Stack Maroon. What’s your loyalty again?
Bounty: Luis Zendejas finally has some company.
(If you don’t remember him, google him. As an Eagles fan, I’ll never forget it.)
I am very curious to know how Stack got his information.
My general impression is an illegal, unconstitutional wiretapping was involved somewhere.
Rick H,
On the surface, I might be tempted to agree with you. But, it ain’t all surface and I don’t agree with you.
The NCAA expanded to 64 teams, and then 68 teams. VT was stuck in the Metro conference, and later the Atlantic 10, before clawing into full membership in the Big East. It is alot harder to make the field from one of those conferences than the Big East or the ACC.
Talent- you reckon it is a little easier to recruit talent when you play in the BE or the ACC as opposed to the Metro or A-10?
Is there anyone out there that actually believes VT is a program on the rise? I keep hearing (and reading) next year is THE year, next year is the year that VT rises, next year is the “make or brake” year for SG and VT MBB. When does this year becomes last year’s next year?
Never according to you Greenberg supporters.
This guy is worth $1.2M a year? We could do this badly for alot less $.
Of course all coaches have a network, that is no secret, but paying a guy who just got fired from a league opponent who beat you twice in one season, that is suspect at best. I’m sure Coach Steele will be hard pressed to find a job somewhere, then again, he is probably doing a speaking circuit in the ACC the next few weeks.
Just wanted to get AMc and AB thoughts to see if they were going to pursue this…
Trevor, I didn’t need wiretaps to get this information…
Is VT basketball on the rise? Let’s base the answer on your very own favorite statistic… long term win percentage, since that’s the only stat that you continuously harp on.
9 years before SG – 132 wins, 133 losses, .498 win%
9 years with SG – 169 wins, 122 losses, .581 win%
Is .581% higher than .498%? I’m just using your own favorite stat to answer your own question. No bias, no tricks, just plain ol’ math.
As far as when does last year become next year’s birthday… You’re the only one crying about this year’s next year’s leap year crap, or whatever it is you copy and paste a few times each day. That’s a conversation that you’re just having with yourself. No need to keep copy/pasting to the rest of the board.
There’s nothing to pursue SM… happens most everyday in the offseason in college football coaching.
Bob, no, we’ll never agree, because you are pulling history out from a time when it isn’t comparable, and using $$ amounts that aren’t adjusted for the ridiculous nature of this, and other college sports. Not a damn one of them is worth the money, but that’s what they get paid. Deal with it.
You’re saying the ACC is the equivalent to the A-10? No, I think not.
Tech was never playing at the levels in the BE it has in the ACC, so you lose again, never mind this year. This is where I figured Tech would be, if this high, ever, in the ACC.
Could Tech have done better this year? Yes, it could have. But anybody with a REALISTIC assessment would realize this – YES, this team is about 4 possessions from being winless in the ACC, 0-16, nothin’, zilch, zero wins, but it is also about 5 or 6 possessions (depending on games/tie-breaks) from not playing on Thursday and getting a bye in the first round.
You, my friend, are not realistic if you don’t see BOTH sides of that equation. You (and many other), for whatever reason, only want to see the one side of it.
If Snaer doesn’t hit the 3 @ FSU, if Tech holds on to win @ Duke, and has a better possession at home against UVA at the end (or that bogus 3 doesn’t count?), Green plays @ BC, and any one of any other close game (FSU @ home, Raines hits FT’s at Clemson), Tech is watching TV on Thursday, and people are trumpeting Seth Greenberg as coach of the year in the ACC.
Virginia Tech really only got BEAT, and I mean BEAT, in 6 games this year – Syracuse (and . . . oooh, they’re ranked what?), K-State, UNC (again, where are they ranked?), Duke (and they had them on the road, and again, what was that ranking?), Miami, and NC State.
The rest of them were close, if you don’t realize that, you don’t know basketball – aside from that fact that 4 freshmen were getting significant minutes, and a big man, the big man Tech has never had, is just starting to develop. Why don’t you just jump off the bandwagon before next year so you don’t have to watch Cadarian Raines play anymore, OK? Somebody else is more than willing to watch him play.
For whatever reason, you and some like you, have this fantasy life that Tech has been something more in hoops than it ever was, and it hasn’t been that.
It’ll be somebody like you that comes along and kicks and screams when Tech doesn’t give Greenberg an extension in a couple of years.
I think I’ll hang out in here for awhile since Dan Casey is allowing folks to violate his own namecalling policy, yet when asked about it, he whitewashes the posts. He’s taking mod lessons from Dan Casey.
I’m always amazed Duke is great year in and year out since they have much higher academic standards than, say, UNC. Let’s be honest. You’re rarely going to see the 6’9″ James Worthy type getting into Duke. As with football, there are just certain positions which have trouble meeting academic standards. Pass-rushing linemen in football, talented quick big men in hoops.
That should be Casey is taking mod lessons from Dan Radmacher.
hokie24,
As usual, you are missing the point…other staffs do get together to share ideas, but they aren’t in the same conference and they certainly do not play one another. Coach Steele showed little class and broke an unwritten rule by doing this…
The fact that AMc or AB has said anything about this is that they might actually be checking on this…
Rick H. I agree with everything you say. When I got home today I was going to try to put something together like you did and post it. I was outnumbered here last year trying to point out that thru the injuries we still finished tied for fourth and played on the ACC semi-finals. Seth can`t make the foul shots or make the two almost point blank shots that would have beaten Duke. Maybe we can get it back together Thursday and get another shot at Duke. I`ll be watching.
Rick,
I promise I will NEVER kick and scream if VT doesn’t offer Greenberg an extension. I can assure of that.
Rick, so if VT does NOT make the dance next year, then Greenberg should go? Are you willing to go on record stating that or will you come up with the excuses of th epast that he was robbed?
Do you have any idea how many players may transfer off of this team after the season ends? Do you know how many of them are sorry they came to VT to play for SG? Ever heard of Thorns, Boggs, Munson? What if Garland does the same thing? What’s the common demominator those guys have in common?
Hokie 24,
ANCIENT HISTORY. Yes VT was a program on the rise in 2005 and 2006, maybe 2007. 15-16 ain’t risin……..
BobH, suddenly career win percentage isn’t so important to you anymore? Funny how it was so easy for you to flip flop when shown how little it matters to what’s actually happening now…
Six words on NFL Bounty? “So what? Only legal hits paid.”
OK, Kids. I’m leaving Casey’s blog indefinitely. He’s letting his buddies take shots and airbrushing my responses. I don’t put up with that, so I’m here in a saner blog. Let’s talk sports.
I have no faith in Seth Greenberg since he let both the Currys get away. VT’s going nowhere, and Greenberg always has excuses in hand.
addnva – 9 years!!!! Not 1, or 4 or 7. 9 years !!!!!!!!!
SG has had plenty of time. His departure would hardly be considered a knee-jerk reaction.
“Bounty Hunters get just reward”
Hokie 24,
The .568 percentage and the 15-16 record are all part of the same package named Seth Greenberg. Sorry you can’t see that.
We could accomplish a losing record season on alot less money than 1.2M a year.
The ceiling has been hit. It is time to trade up from a Kia. Time to go beyond acceptable transportation to a better ride.
Zman, before this season, Greenberg guided the Hokies to the most wins in any four year period in school history. He follows that up with a rebuilding year where we sit at .500 in the W-L column with a very young team, and you’re ready to fire him.
Just who do you think would accept the job of replacing a coach who was fired one season after posting such W-L records?
Well Suzie, welcome. I got tired of it all too, I’ve only posted there maybe a handful of times in the past couple weeks. Sports is a lot more fun anyway. And I agree with your assessment of Greenberg, it’s largely a dead-end road with him. His ACC conference regular season record is a whopping 61-67. Yep, a losing record in the ACC. I do think he/VT got hosed on 1-2 NCAA tournament berths which does weigh in to some extent, but unless next year shows remarkable growth in the players and the team over this year that puts them into contention for the NCAA’s, let’s go another direction. This year’s team didn’t really progress through the year. Yeah, they were close in a lot of games…something like 16 of their games decided by 5 points or less, but they won just 5 of those. Good teams can/should win more than 1/3 of their close games.
Rick H. and abdnva, I’m glad there are SOME reasonable VT fans around. One down year, really? Is that reason to fire a coach who has been good for your program? I do hate that there has only been 1 NCAA bid in 10 years but by all accounts there should have been at least 1 to 2 more. Had there been we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Regarding transfers, so what? What program doesn’t have those? Look at UVA. It’s pretty common place in this day and age where kids want to play right now and most think they are better than they are.
Ceiling hit, last year’s next year, .580… yep BobH responded again.
By your own words BobH, VT was a “program on the rise” in 2005, 2006, and 2007. You do realize that 2009 and 2010 were both each better seasons (wins/losses) than 2005, 2006, or 2007, right? You’re continuously riding win percentage, so that’s the only thing I’m basing my statement on. Am I writing anything that’s not true?
That only leaves 2008 and 2011 as down years. So 2 out of the last 7 seasons were rough… woopty do. But even those 2 rough seasons were as good or better than the 6 or 7 years before SG.