Hokies Lose Again, Despite Green’s 28

It was the Erick Green show in Blacksburg today, but yet again that wasn’t enough as Georgia Tech jumped out to a big lead and held of the Hokies to win 64-54 in Cassell Coliseum.  It was Georgia Tech’s first win ever in Blacksburg.  VT dropped to 11-12 overall with the loss, and 2-8 in the ACC.  The Yellow Jackets improved to 13-9 overall, and 3-7 in league play.

Erick Green scored 28 points on 9-of-20 shooting.  He was 2-of-5 from three-point range, and 8-of-9 from the free throw line.  He also had five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.  He scored 12 of Tech’s first 15 points, but nobody else did anything in the first half, and the Yellow Jackets were up 37-18 at halftime.

Green had to leave the game in the final minute from exhaustion and dehydration.  He appeared to pass out on the shoulder of Marshall Wood at one point, and was attended to by Tech’s trainer.  Afterwards he was helped off the court by Wood and walkon Greg Donlon.

Robert Brown finished with 10 points for the Hokies, but he was only 4-of-16 from the field.  Cadarian Raines added six points and nine rebounds.  Will Johnston came off the bench to score six points, and he also had two rebounds and an assist.

Jarell Eddie went 0-of-6 from the field and did not score.  He was benched for most of the second half.  Coming to the bench in frustration, Eddie threw a water bottle on the floor.  The bottle broke, water and ice went everywhere, and Robert Brown promptly stepped in it, slipped up, and went down on the Cassell Coliseum floor.  Eddie never returned to the game, and the incident serves as a microcosm of the current state of Virginia Tech basketball.

The Hokies will return to action on Tuesday night when they travel to Charlottesville to take on UVA.  The game will be televised by ESPNU at 7pm.

Video highlights

Box Score

18 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. OK, no doubt that something is wrong with a team that shot well in the first seven games, and are having trouble hitting the backboard now. Folks, it’s the same guys! Nobody, and I mean nobody suggested that it was a big mistake the hire JJ after those first seven games. This team is playing ‘scared money’, and ‘scared money’ never wins. If I was the coach, and we can all agree it’s a good thing that I am not, I would tell them, ‘let it go’! Brown if you’re open, keep driving and shooting. Raines, keep taking it to the hoop, they will start to fall. Eddie, drive and shoot as if there is no tomorrow. Barksdale, if you turn around to face the basket with the ball and the guy guarding you is off the five feet, shoot the ball. I suspect you won’t have to say anything to Green, except, thank you! See, how easy that was! When Green was a freshman he averaged 2.6, and 11.6 as a soph. Confidence is something that takes time in some players. The first seven games showed that this team can play. And, they can get better. Missing wide open shots, by a lot, tells me that somewhere this team lost the confidence. My advice to this team is ‘go for it’.

    A half empty Cassell says more about the ‘fans’ than about the team. If you can’t get a full house against Virginia, then something is wrong.

    1. Agreed, except for Green they have been two different teams. They went to WVU, lost their touch with FT’s and lost their shooting mojo.

      The empty seats help fuel the lack of confidence. Instead of spending Saturday afternoon somewhere else … be at the game supporting your team.

  2. yes, that was an ugly game. However, i disagree with other comments here that the team is in disarray. The ugly part of this season is about not putting the ball through the hoop.

    The team shot 62 FGA’s at made just over 30% of them. They made 35% of their 3-pt shots, 7 total. Had they made 40% of their FGA’s that’s 25 FG’s. Not only do they make up the 10 pt deficit, they win by 11. And, many of those FGA’s were wide open shots, should have been made.

    However, let’s not forget that JJ was concerned about tired legs, then the team plays a game Thursday night against Maryland, and then GT not even 48 hours later. The arms get tired too, and one of the signs on the court for being tired is bouncing the ball off the front of the rim.

    With the Oakland A’s baseball team, they selected players because “he gets on base”. Perhaps JJ selection of players on the court is … he puts the ball through the hoop. I gotta believe that any of the walk-on players at this point can do better than 0 for 7 on field goal attempts.

  3. These are all Greenberg recruits and there are very few of them. Don’t forget, had they not hired JJ Green would likely be gone. Give Coach Johnson at least two and probably three recruiting classes and then decide. It took Beamer a while to straighten out the mess he inherited.

  4. Wow…

    What started out as a season full of promise, with results above expectations, has sure fizzled badly. Going from 7-0 to 11-12 has turned this season into a broken elevator plummeting to the basement. It’s painful to watch at times. Green is playing very well; and I’m generally pleased with Raines. However, the 2 other guys we were counting on, Brown and especially Eddie, have been beyond disappointing. Nothing against coach JJ but westside has a point. A team in any sport needs an identity, as was pointed out on TSL during the football season. We didn’t have one under Coach SG and don’t appear to have one now.

  5. I’m afraid it’s going to get worse (next year) before it gets better. Anyone who looks at this bunch and thinks they are well coached is certifiably insane. Those who use the excuse that we don’t have enough scholarship players were probably the same ones arguing to hire Johnson because he would be able to keep last year’s team together and prevent this from happening. That was a ridiculous reason to hire a coach and now it is playing itself out. And it’s not going to change when Johnson brings in “his own” three and occassional four star players. This is what you get when you play street ball with the level of talent that Tech plays with.

    Chris, I believe you mentioned in a prior column (before Johnson was hired) the need for Tech to hire a “System Coach.” I couldn’t have agreed more then or now. We are never going to be able to recruit the caliber players it takes to compete at the top, or even the middle, of the new ACC. In my opinion, the only way the Hokies are ever going to be successful again is to bring in a coach who can instill an offensive and/or defensive system designed for undertalented players, much the way Wisconsin, Butler, and yes, even UVA run. And then recruit players to fit that system. It’s going to take an old school style coach who truly understands the game of basketball, not just someone who allegedly is a good recruiter or someone that the current players like.

      1. Negative. Greenberg was not a System Coach. He recruited rangy athletic players and played streetball. He would not recruit shooters or kids with high basketball IQ’s. If you recall, his teams were some of the most offensively challenged teams in the league. They played hard on defense but most times looked lost on offense.

        Again, we need a coach who can teach an offensive system where there is less dribbling and one on one play, but more passing, screening, and cutting where baskets are scored off of assists. In this type of offense, we would need to recruit some kids who can shoot the basketball, even if they are not the most athletic or highly rated. Most of the good teams have a nice mix of kids with athleticism along with kids who can shoot and kids who have high basketball IQ’s.

  6. I’ve watched just about every game this year and I must say that at 51 years of age and standing 5 foot 10 I could make about as many shots as Robert Brown did and of course as many as Eddie did since he didn’t make any. What’s wrong with this team. We are wasting the talent of Green – gone to waste. Too bad.

  7. At the end of the game on the bench Erick looked more than just tired. Does anyone know what that was al about?

  8. Saw the game from a bar near Cincinnati as several Hokies said goodbye to fellow Hokie and regular poster TomA, who leaves for Australia next Wednesday. He will be working for their national weather service. We all wish him well.

    This is the worst performance I’ve witnessed by any team this year. Aside from their lack of defense, which has been mentioned by many on this site, their shooting mechanics is not very good. Consequently, there were too many uncontested shots being missed. I also see no organization when they are on offense. To sum it up, at this stage they are simply pitiful.

  9. Seriously? Did anyone but Green ever play this game before? Couldn’t take the comedy of errors with the all the clanging and undefended dunks to take in Lincoln the movie. Since when did we turn into the Washington Generals? Someone tell me how we are showing forward progress.

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