Comments on: More from Hokies on loss to BC

By: Tom L

Tom L — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:29:14 +0000

I know what JJ wants to do and I applaud him but there comes a time when you say I tried and change philosophy. You have to play defense and force turnovers to run, they don’t. Go to a zone trap or straight up zone to help and provide some rest. They are not the best defensive players in the first place and to run a pressing man to man is not smart. They had about 30 turnovers and we had zero. Boehiem (?) doesn’t have any problem using a zone on a regular basis. You could also include poor shot selection, poor communication and no help on defense.

By: alwaysOandM

alwaysOandM — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:33:33 +0000

Good job on the coverage Mark. One thing about being down so many players that people miss the point. Least affected is the rotation in games. The biggest problem is in practice. How hard can you push the main players? Affects the most when you do not have a full second 5 @ every position to simulate what will be seen in game. First of year they where ahead of everybody because the main players getting most of the floor time. Tbis time of year is all about pieces falling into place. JJ has no more pieces to throw out there. Translated we shot everything we had in the first 10 games. Still if they can get a win soon and get some confidence back can become competitive again. Probably went too long between home games too.

By: crooked road

crooked road — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:15:42 +0000

Okay, so crossing berman off the so-called ‘apologist’ list…

Just too funny to not be true…

By: markberman

markberman — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:06:21 +0000

Correct, I do not write the headlines and sub-headlines (or photo captions) to my stories. Perhaps the headline writer felt the Robert Brown absence was something new and different, unlike the Hokies’ subpar play on defense!

By: Chris VanCantfort

Chris VanCantfort — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:24:02 +0000

Mark Berman,

I know that generally reporters are not responsible for their story headlines.

The headline / subheadline for today’s story provides an interesting contrast.

“With thin ranks Hokies fall again – Two missing key players help Boston College to a win, and to a lead that was unbroken for the entire second half.”

Interesting point #1: You wrote over 600 words explaining how the Hokies lost with only about 50 of those words dealing with the Hokies roster number limitations yet the headline writer chose to focus on that.

Interesting point #2: Back in December before the Hokies beat then-ranked #15 Oklahoma State you wrote “The Cowboys have just a seven-man rotation because of injuries. Returning starter Brian Williams suffered a season-ending wrist injury in October, while starter Jean-Paul Olukemi suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second game. Returning starter Michael Cobbins has yet to play this season because of a toe injury and is doubtful for today. Backup Marek Soucek is expected to miss his fourth straight game with a knee injury.”

Interestingly, and in contrast, the Roanoke Times headline of the Hokies victory did NOT read “With thin ranks Oklahoma State falls – missing two key starters and using only eight players Cowboys outscored in second half.”