Thursday: Big night in Charlottesville
It’s electric, boogie-woogie-woogie. Or your adjective of choice.
“ELECTRIC, CRAZY — ANY ADJECTIVE YOU WANT TO USE.” That’s how UVa point guard Jontel Evans describes the atmosphere he anticipates at sold-out John Paul Jones Arena tonight. Doughty has more on the Cavaliers’ matchup with Duke, which will try to become the first team in 16 games to beat the Hoos on their home floor. Coverage starts at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
THEY WERE 18-POINT UNDERDOGS, AND THEY LOST BY 18. Unfortunately for Tech fans, the Hokies pulled no surprises last night in a 76-58 loss at No. 5 Miami. Erick Green scores just 16 points — only the third time he’s been held under 20 all season — and took a hard spill in the first half before returning. He’ll be the focus on Saturday at Cassell Coliseum when the Hokies host Clemson on Senior Night.
“DO YOU LIKE GIRLS?” That’s a question Colorado tight end Nick Kasa says he was asked by a team at the NFL combine. The NFL says in a statement: “It is league policy to neither consider nor inquire about sexual orientation in the hiring process,” but it sounds like some aren’t listening.
-Doughty has a look at some of the 2014 football commitments that are starting to pour in from Virginia prep players.
-For immature audiences only, your headline of the day from MLB.com: Booty still technically Marlins’ property.
-No. 4 Michigan falls at Penn State — the Nittany Lions’ first conference win.
-North Carolina travels to Clemson tonight (7 p.m. ESPN).
-Stephen Curry scores 54 points, going 11-for-13 on 3-pointers, in the Warriors’ loss to the Knicks.
-Nationwide driver Jeremy Clements is suspended indefinitely for using an unidentified racial slur in an interview at Daytona.
-Celebrate, one and all: Today is the last day of Awesome-uary.
-Not official yet (and can’t be finalized until mid-March), but multiple sources report Alex Smith is heading to the Chiefs for draft picks.
NAME THAT TUNE
I used to be a little boy
So old in my shoes
And what I choose is my choice
What’s a boy supposed to do?
The killer in me is the killer in you
My love
I send this smile over to you
February 28, 2013 - 8:32 AM
Smashing Pumpkins…Disarm
It appears that UVA received a very big splash commitment from a 5-star football recruit, yet it isn’t registering with this paper. Query: if Virginia Tech had gotten the commitment from Bayside’s Quin Blanding, would it have made the Roanoke Times somewhere?
I apologize if it was reported and I just can’t find it, but it seems it ought to be fairly visible, right?
RP nails the song. Nicely done.
Theo — Definitely a nice get. We talked about Blanding here a little bit yesterday in the comments section when the news broke. Doughty also mentioned it in the recruiting piece I linked today, which was also in today’s print edition.
That’s one thing about this blog that’s maybe different than some others. Rather than create new posts if things break, I add it to the comments section for that day’s post (or readers do, like they did yesterday with Blanding and Alex Smith). I like that people can get the whole day in one place and don’t have to search if they want to pick up where a morning discussion left off.
Aaron, that’s one thing I appreciate about the way you run the blog…keeping it to a daily post most of the time. The new format for the blogs in general really discourages having activity in multiple threads, because the navigation tools that used to make it a snap, are all but essentially removed. Brilliant.
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Sad thing about the game last night, even if the Hokies had hit a few more shots, they would have still lost. Their defense keeps getting thrashed. But the one nice spot was that a couple others got into the double digits again. But by and large, they play poor defense and don’t score enough. That’s a recipe for a bunch of losses, and that’s what they’ve got.
Right on OJ, any team that consistently shoots less than 40% from the floor and allows the opposing team to shoot 50% or better is not going to win often. I’ve said it all year, in my 70+ years I’ve seen and mentored a lot of shooters and Tech just doesn’t have any pure shooters. They all have a glitch in their shot which breeds inconsistency. Throw in a step slow defense and you have trouble.
Where did my post go? There was nothing controversial in the post, it posted and I come back and it’s gone. What the h*** just happened here.
Now it’s back, I repeat, what the h*** is going on here. Like I said I have a grandson in HS that’s looking for a part time job, he’ll help.
I don’t understand why they need to ask questions related to sexual orientation. That is entirely a private matter and I don’t see how it helps in evaluating prospects for the draft. The law makes it clear that discrimination on sexual orientation is illegal and that should be enough. But, as Aaron noted, some folks are not listening, and the best thing the NFL can do is ban those scouts and reporters away from the Combine until they wise up.
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Heard last night a rumbling that Barksdale may be transferring from the program, but let me repeat, it’s just rumor. I sincerely hope not because from the sound of the tweets I read last night, Barksdale was finally making strides.
The Roanoke Times did mention Blanding going to UVA a few times, but if he had went to VT, it would have been on the front page.
meanwhile, the topic is UVA’s bb game tonite with duke and a great chance for a significant win. anyway since absolutely no one here seems to notice then let me say “go hoos” and good luck tonite.
Garry – goodness, I hate thumbing my nose at someone who spells their name the way I do but still….. right or wrong this space just works out to be a VT blog spot most of the time. We tend to ignore Mr. Jefferson’s University as much as we can and we love to pick on Barry (a GT guy). If you feel neglected we can pick on you, too.
Don’t know why orientation is a test question at the combine. I know there is a rumour going around that T’eo is gay and that explains the girlfriend thing but who knows and it isn;t our business. Statistically there had to be gay men in the NFL over the years but I don’t recall any who “came out”. I still go back to “who cares?” other than for the sake of being ugly.
Having been in many testosterone filled locker rooms, I can tell you an openly gay individual would create problems. That’s the reason none have come out and suffer through their years in the NFL and other pro sports. Is it right, no, is it a fact,yes. We’ve come a long way concerning gay rights and acceptance but we are a long way from being where we need to be, especially in locker rooms.Same in the military but there are those who don’t accept it and never will. As much as we would like to think we have progressed on this issue, we haven’t and we won’t for years.
#9 Robt, Would you be as disturbed if the Charlottesville newspaper buried a Hokie commit on page 3 of the sports section? The analogy is more apt than I bet you’ll care to admit.
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#6 Trev, whatever ignorant NFL exec that was (and I bet there’s more than one who did that) probably incorrectly thought if they asked EVERYONE the ‘girls’ question, then Teo couldn’t litigate because they asked him.
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As for the Barksdale exit? That first came up more than a month ago. All I’ll say is – it’s probable he wouldn’t be alone on that train. It will be interesting to hear the way that is spun by the apologists, since that was one of their favorite pinatas for the previous coach.
GO HOOS, from a hokie
Tom L, it would be great if they could recruit shooters. If they are going to play bad defense, they need to put up points, and for the most part, they simply can’t. I think the problem for VT is, they are not a basketball school, and likely will never ascend to that level…so the best talent won’t consider VT. They’ll go to a Kentucky, Michigan, Florida, Kansas, Duke, UNC, Syracuse, etc, play their year (or maybe 2), and go pro.
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Realistically, the best VT can hope for, I think, is to recruit good shooters who maybe are an inch or 2 on the small side for most top-tier teams, and try to build a winning program in much the same way Frank Beamer did with football…taking the more overlooked players and getting them to play above and beyond what you’d think they would be capable of. I think for a while SG was doing that, and I have to wonder where the team might be had he not been unceremoniously dumped by Weaver last April. I’m pretty sure they couldn;t be any worse, it’s hard to be worse than the cellar dweller…
And, from another Hokie fan…I’m pulling for the Hoos to beat Duke. Not only because I like seeing Duke get knocked down a peg, but given that VT hoops is so cruddy, and several other prominent programs in the state have slipped this year (really, VCU is the only other one that might dance), I’d like to see them dancing in March.
Sorry, Norfolk State might too, if they win their conference tournament.
If the hoo folks want to read more about their teams, get a subscription to the Charlottesville hoo paper, or better yet, move to hooville.
zman, i was just going by the headline, but if you insist its a vt blog then i’ll go with that topic: the hokies really got smoked (again) last night.
I noticed in the paper here today another Tech transfer, Manny Atkins, scored 26 pts and got like 15 rebounds. Maybe all our talent transferred. I agree with you OJ on going with the less recruited players( 2″ too short, step too slow) but with 110% desire and the ability to shoot lights out. I watched the recruiting process for years when my sons were in the process. Coaches with their stop watches, tape measures, radar guns, etc. and not even noticing the heart. Oldest son went to smaller school which proceeded to become nationally ranked and he was a spot shooter. Not guarded he would hit 75% from behind the arc, 90% from foul line. Can still do it today at 49 years of age. His brother was recruited more aggressively ended up playing college baseball (less running)and they went to the college world series 3 years. He was a better basketball player but at 5’11″ didn’t get many D-I offers. So I’ve watched and participated in the process for years with my sons and their friends. We need shooters regardless of what their physical stats are. That freshman point guard from NCS, Lewis I think, 5’10″ ate our butts up. Physical stats are eye catchers but heart and desire are what I look for.
I think UVA has a good chance to beat Duke tonight. Aside from Miami nobody has dominated on the road. UVA’s tournament chances increased again last night when Barry’s Yellow Jackets beat Maryland. UVA RPI was up to 68 when I saw it late last night. Two more wins might do it especially if one of those is Duke.
It makes me sick to see support for UVA on here from so-called Hokie alum and fans. Last time I looked we are rivals. Kinda like I like the Redskins and anyone who plays them. I mentioned right as college Bball started their are several people i know that are Va tech football only with Duke,North Carolina and a couple of Maryland fans in basketball. You cut and bleed maroon and orange or get off the train. Let Duke beat the crap out of the BooHoos and let them suffer a early exit in the NIT. Im so tired of seeing people root for our enemy. Sniff the smelling salts and wake up peeps!
O.J. sounds like you are talking about that kid Rowsey from Rockbridge. I wonder if Tech even looked at him. As for the guys transferring, maybe some of them are worried about the incoming “Johnson 6″. Eddie and Brown in particular. They may have hit the wall. Any points they score are offset by their turnovers. Barksdale is showing some life so I hope he stays. We`ll find out next year whether Johnson can coach. I wonder if Clements` slur had anything to do with 50 cent trying to plant one on Erin Andrews. She made one of the best evasive moves I saw all day to almost avoid him.
Maybe it’s because I’m fairly mellow, but the only time I see any legitimate use of the term enemy, is if it’s someone shooting or bombing someone else. Now that’s an enemy. UVA is a rival. I want the Hokies to beat the complete crap out of them when they play, but aside from that, as a Virginian, I don’t rightly care to see them lose, especially to a school like Duke. But like I said, that’s me…I don’t live/breathe/sweat/bleed sports fandom, and never have. I love my life, but I only like sports.
#13 – CR, To be fair, and it’s an admittedly very small sample size, but I was in Charlottesville this past Saturday and they put a front-page story on their sports section about VT basketball (it was an article from Lynchburg, but it was Hokie basketball on the front page nonetheless). My wife is a Hoo and was perplexed.
Ralph, that’s certainly possible. Hopefully the squad next year does better on the court. There were certainly flashes this year, but flashes is all they were.
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Tom L, your experience with all that is mighty impressive, thanks for bringing it to the table! And yes, that’s what I’m talking about. Take the kids the big programs bypass because they don’t fit the kind of physical stats mold they want. A lot of games can be won with the talent that is often overlooked…we’ve seen it in our own backyard. I think the problem we had was SG seemed to look for athletes, and not shooters. But unfortunately, even the athletes we got don’t measure up…and the fact that they struggle shooting is just bad icing on a really crappy cake.
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My sincere best hope for the program is that they can become a team capable of making the NCAAs more than once a decade. I have no fantasy that they could compete perennially with the likes of Duke, UNC, Syracuse, etc in the upcoming ACC, but if they could find a way to at least hold their own against those programs from time to time, beat the majority of the ACC, and have some talented players in their lineup…I think they could become that kind of team that finishes in the top half to top third of the conference more regularly, makes the post season, and maybe every so often pulls an upset or two at the right time, to maybe even claim a conference crown I can hope, anyway.
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SPeaking of hoops, I think most Hokie fans probably groaned a bit watching Curry light up the Knicks. Just think, we could have had him…
As a Hokies football and UNC basketball fan, I am hoping that the Wahoos beat the tar out of Puke tonight. I want them to curb stomp Coach K and his goody goody squeaky clean Satan spawns into oblivious that even CSI won’t be able to piece them back together.
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Reading BBAT’s comment makes me think he is 13 and doesn’t understand what being a fan is all about. Sound like a thugz wannabe.
@OJ, according to a tweet from Hokies’ Journal, Seth claimed to Hokies’ Journal that it was Dell that wanted to redshirt Seth, not Seth…we may never know…
O.J. your 3rd paragraph in # 26 seems to be pretty close to what we had during Seth`s 8 years in the ACC. This year`s team with SG, Harrell and maybe DFS would at least been middle of the pack and not buried in last place.
Ralph, indeed. SG’s teams weren’t pretty, but they fought and would play up to the competition (and down to them, which is part of what cost them an NCAA bid or 2). He may not have been the perfect guy for the position, but his teams played harder, and dare I say with more heart, than this current team. I was getting a little leary of SG’s tenure given some of his tendencies, but I felt strongly that he should have had this season, at the minimum, to recover from last year’s disappointment. He got a really raw deal from Jim Weaver on that.
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And I’ll give JJ the same benefit of the doubt I was ready to give SG after last season, before his oddball firing by the university. This year he gets a mulligan. He was brought in late, on the cheap (JW must have been thinking of getting a Bojangles biscuit and sweet tea, and used the change to hire JJ), and lost several players in the offseason, and is working with walk-ons who would never be seeing substantial playing time elsewhere…let alone starting games like Will Johnston is. But if after next season, the team still shows this sort of lack of being competitive, then I think we have to cut the cord and get someone new in sooner rather than later. But, my concern is that we absolutely need to make sure JW is not doing the hiring, that would be like unleashing can openers on the Titanic’s hull after hitting the iceberg, to let the steam out of the engine rooms.
#23 Ralph, concerning the transfer of players away from Johnson’s team, it has zero to do with the incoming recruits. None of the recruits coming in are as good as any of the current players they would supposedly ‘replace’. That will become evident next year. It has everything to do with the tone set during practice and the locker room. Of course, Weaver made his changes because of ‘family’, so nobody wants to discuss that right now.
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OJ, most people critical of Greenberg re: the first Curry recruitment choose to ignore the fact that had Curry come to VT as a freshamn, he would be on the same team as juniors Jamon Gordon & Zabian Dowdell. Gordon & Dowdell were considered one of the best backcourt duos in the ACC at that time, and both made All ACC (2nd & hon mention) during the time Curry would have been a freshman & spohomore at VaTech.
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Instead Curry went to Davidson where he was promised during recruiting that he would be the focus of the team from his first practice. Had he chosen the tougher hill to climb and come to Tech, he’d have had to beat out Gordon or Dowdell. Those who love to zing Greenberg always like to leave that fact out of the equation.
Why thank you Trevor for your insight on tonights game that means nothing to you. I guess your BIG game is all about Clemson. You have never shown loyality towards a program being football or basketball. So take your Dean Smith OLD man 4 corners offense and cram em!…….Thugz 4 life!
Andrew Rowsey was not recruited by VT. 5ft 11in, averaged 35 after being double teamed and ever defense known by any coaches. Would have made a great receiver on the fb team if VT would have let him play both sports because BB is his best.
I agree with Trevor on BBAT! Maybe younger and screaming “MOM I SAID I”M ON THE COMPUTER, I WILL TAKE OUT THE TRASH WHEN THE BAG GETS FULL AND I WILL FEED THE CAT WHEN IT MEEEOOWWS BAD KITTY MOOOOM THE KITTY WANTS MY CHEEZY POOFS” Im not a hoos fan but for two hours tonight GO HOOS!
Hey, bbat, notice the small caps. Can you compare Charlie Moyer and the great DEAN SMITH? have you ever heard of Charlie Moyer? Im saying no but you have heard of the birthday MAN DEAN SMITH of the same era, case closed!
Hey guys remember all those great NBA players to come out of Blacksburg? Me either. How about the pros that Dean Smith MOLDED? PUUULENTTYYY? NEXT!
SORRY AARON BUT IM ON A ROLL I JUST HATE TO HEAR THESE YOUNG ONES THAT THINK THEY KNOW ABOUT THE GOOD DAYS REMEMBER THE METRO CONFERENCE AND WHEN PLAYERS STAYED FOR FOUR YEARS? AND THE COOL ACC WITH EIGHT TEAMS? CALL MICHAEL J FOX BECAUSE I WANT TO GO BACK! THE METRO HAD THE COOLEST NAMES, RODNEY AND SCOOTER, LANCASTER GORDON ,BASKERVILLE HOLMES! THAT WAS FUN! AND CLARENCE WEATHERSPOON TO! EVEN MISS KEITH LEE AND DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE BIG EAST WITH PATRICK ,THE PEARL ,RAFAEL ADDISON, MICHAEL GRAHAM, SLEEPY FLOYD,WINGATE,BROADNAUX,BOEHEIM,THOMPSON, MASSIMINO,PINONE,MULLIN. THAT WAS BASKETBALL!
Nice to see your 2 names there Louisville and Ucla…..It looks like you really know how to make choices. Pick a team and stick with it. You can take your Bill Russells, Lew Alcinder, Jerry West and Wes Unselds and watch ESPN Classic to relive your childhood. I stated that many Tech fans expect me root for teams other than Tech in basketball. North Carolina won so everyone is on their bandwagon tonight. Pick a program for crying out loud. Take that 1970s crap and file it away old timers. Fire up your VHS and take the wife out to Kenny’s and get you a Kennyburger!
Funny thing looking at your post Ewing was the only legit NBA player you named- Oh wait your Metro confernce did produce Sam Bowie.
I guess the old timers hit the 4pm senior special at the Waffle House. Bedtime is 8 PM…..Get to bed you old geezers. You have to be up at 4 am to watch the Weather Channel.
Did I hit a nerve? By the way Sam Bowie went to Kentucky. Thats an SEC team genious. Are you tucked in yet?
Beamer Best Boy..,,Sam Bowie played in the SEC at Kentucky…lol Right Church BBT, but the wrong pew. Shows how much you know !!! NOT!!!!!