Virginia Tech was beaten in every facet of the game by #6 Duke in an 88-56 loss in Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night. The Hokies are now 11-15 overall, 2-11 in the ACC, and they’ve lost nine consecutive games.
Erick Green had 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, and he made Virginia Tech’s only three-point field goal of the night. He also held Seth Curry to just three points in the second half after Curry went off on Tech’s other defenders for 19 first half points.
C.J. Barksdale, who had been very quiet since mid-January, had a career-high 14 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds, and he was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field. Cadarian Raines also had 10 points and five rebounds. However, Robert Brown and Jarell Eddie struggled yet again.
Robert Brown: 2 points on two free throws, 0-of-2 from the field, 3 turnovers, 17 minutes
Jarell Eddie: 5 points in 28 minutes, 2-of-9 from the field, 0-of-6 from three-point range
Virginia Tech was just 1-of-16 from three-point range for the game.
More appalling was the defensive effort. Duke shot 53.6% for the game, and they were 70.6% from three-point range. The Blue Devils made 12-of-17 shots from the outside.
Erick Green was visibly frustrated following the game.
“We’ve got to stop making excuses,” Green said. “There’s always an excuse some way, somehow, instead of just playing the game. We’ve got to have more guys step up.”
The frustrated Green also questioned the toughness and heart of some of his teammates following the game, though he didn’t name names.
“I just don’t get it man. How you don’t have, my family calls it, that dog in you,” Green said. “That thing that comes out when you have heart…when somebody goes down the lane, I’m not saying foul them hard, but you’ve got to put them on their butts and make a statement. Do something, have fun. We just looked so dead out there, getting our butts whipped. It’s not even fun.”
The Hokies will try to avoid their tenth straight loss when they host Florida State on Sunday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 6pm, and the game will be televised by ESPNU.
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It is a game, it is not life an death that I see everyday in a clinic setting men. I see you guys going back and forth at each other over a game being disrespectful, condescending, and rude. Management, business executive!!!! With all due respect guys. We are Hokies and instead of beating each other up over a game and getting upset at each other, remember the sun will come up tomorrow and things with all of our athletic programs will eventually work out and people will come and go some good some bad just like they do everywhere else. Alabama comes to mind, yes the ones we killed in the inaugural Music City Bowl…LOL. I’ll bet there we fans doing the same things to each other you guys are doing now and look where they are today! Seasons of change and its just a freaking game.
CLEARBROOK HOKIE…..THANKS FOR THE SUMMARY OF GREENBERGS HORRIFFIC RECRUITING RECORD. I KNEW IS WAS BAD PARTICULARLY THE KIDS LEAVING AND SEVERAL COACHES I MIGHT ADD. ASSUMING YOUR NUMBERS ARE CORRECT..AND I BELIEVE THEY ARE…WHY WAS HE ALLOWED TO STAY AS LONG AS HE DID? AWFUL RECORD!!!!!!!!
hp..22
WHAT IS THE POWER GRAB OF 2000 REFERRED TO ABOVE??? AND DOES BEAMER NOT REPORT TO WEAVER??
HP..22
I think people are missing the point when they say that only having 8 players is an excuse. Yes, other teams only play 6 or 7 or 8 guys. However, the big difference is that they have reserves when someone gets in foul trouble, injured or if someone isn’t doing their job. VT’s problem isn’t that they only have a rotation of 7 or 8 players. VT’s problem is that they only have 2 or 3 guys in that 7 or 8 man rotation that would be getting playing time at other high major programs. The way they are currently playing, guys like Brown, Eddie, Barksdale and Rankin would be getting less 10 min a game for the majority of the other programs in the ACC.
When you go with a short rotation it better be because those are the right 6 or 7 guys. If you are forced to do it just because you don’t have any other bodies you are in for a long season.
Here are some numbers on Seth’s recruiting at VT. I will name players who stayed and how many left. 2004 – Deron Washington – 4 left; 2005- Vasallo, Diakate – 2 left; 2006 – Witcher – 2 left; 2007 – Allen, Bell, Dorenzo, Malcolm Delaney, JT – 3 left, then JT left;
2008 – Davila -2 left; 2009 – Eric Green, Raines – 2 left; 2010 – Jarrell Eddie – 1 left;
2011 – Barksdale, Brown, Rankin – 1 left; 2012 – Marshall Wood – 1 left. In 9 years at
VT, Seth recruited 35 players, 19 players either left before their four years were up or never came to VT. Out of the 35 players he recruited, only 16 stayed their four years of eligibility. Out of the 16 that stayed only 7 were true ACC starters. I did not know the percentage was that bad. I don’t know if any college coach has that kind of a record. He had four years at or below .500, one year at 19 wins, and 4 years at 20 or more wins. Only one NCAA apperance. Maybe he should have been gone before he was. We can’t be too hard on JJ. He came into a no win situation with only 8 scholarship players. Since 2009, 5 players eiher left early or did not come to VT. JJ would have had 13 scholarship players. They would not have been great players, but they would have been better than the walkons we have now. Nothing against the walkons we have now. We have to give JJ at least 3 more years to get his players here before we talk about letting him go.
I’m not blaming JJ. Seth should have been shown door and a coach w a pedigree of some sort brought in. Yes, the kids love JJ – they just had a coach they hated, so anyone was an improvement. I am leery of “players coaches” though.
Larranaga won at Mason, Smart at VCU. If these guys can win at these schools, VT should have a better showing in and out of conference than it has last8 years. Before anyone says they were weak conferences for VCU and mason, they made it to final four(s).
I dont expect that at vt, but I do expect better recruiting being in a premiere conference. This leads to better acc competitiveness, and not losing to Ga Southerns.
Maybe the new scoreboards will bring em in.
Come on people, some of you are really down on the team. Duke is #6 in the nation, I was not expecting Green to win it by himself. I think we out to let Coach do his job an coach.
And VT BBall will continue slide with our recruiting of transfers from uncw, and guys from Germany who were not recruited at all by our competition (guy had offers from Utah and 2 Directional States).
Add to that Louisville, Cuse, Pitt, and ND coming in. If they can’t recruit the mid-Atlantic/eastern Seaboard for guys who would love to play in this new ACC, then there needs to be a wake up call.
the sky is falling the sky is falling …. oh my what shall we do??? what are you guys like at the office or at home when you have a real problem. VT basketball will survive and play this fall.
Bringing in Louisville, Cuse, Pitt, and ND will strengthen conference, making the conference more appealing, giving VT a stronger position to go recruit players.
Yes, like the kids I mentioned above.
It thrills my heart to see you guys beat up JJ, Weaver, and the VT when no one, not me, you, or anyone on this planet have any idea what is going to happen in the next 3 years in BB. Baddest case of piss and moan i have ever seen and i spent 6 years in the US Navy aboard ship and you guys are worse than an aircraft carrier full of sailors.
Actually, since the future of BB is so bleak by your standards, let’s petition the school to drop BB.
Hey Gilligan,
No one said anything about skies falling or dropping basketball. Even Will’s article is in this vein/tone. I suppose you thought nothing was wrong w the football offense or OL either.
Well 4TechFanz … Actually i did think there was a problem with the football offense, and i faxed comments from Will and the article from the Oregon coach that Will published to Weaver and the CFB. Did it do any good? Don’t know. But, all i heard here was piss and moan about how Frank was not going to make any changes …. as Gomer Pyle would say SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE.
Go watch Hoosiers. They had six players. EG is right. Stop making excuses.
We should go to plain uniforms, justy numbers. It is embarassing to see these duds sporting the VT name on national T.V…
We do not have the talent as their mcdonalds all americans.Their bench players even made us look silly.Losing is contagious. Talent is talent,and that is what we are lacking .It is just plain ugly basketball.I hope we can get better players,but we are trying to get players that are left after the top teams in the country get their players.
First off, VT basketball is 10x worse now than at any point of Greenberg’s tenure. Secondly, Eddie and Brown are not starters. They are sixth men. Third, Van Zegeren is really starting to get it. The toughness, playing hard and fast. He may not be scoring a lot, but he’s getting there. He needs to be playing more. Start Johnston and Beyer. Look, there isn’t any speed to VTs game at all. I’m not talking about sprinting up and down the court. I’m talking about ball movement, moving without the ball, being decisive, making good decisions, following your shots, boxing out, etc….but ALL of these things done AT A FAST PACE. That’s what got this team to 7-0. It is OK to move the ball quickly even if there is no opening or perfect play set up. The perfect play gets set up by moving the ball quickly, not the other way around!!! It’s like they never watched any great teams in their entire lives. Well, they watched one last night in Duke, and Duke did every little detailed thing about the game in a quick, decisive fashion. That’s how you win ballgames.
We’d be struggling even if Seth was still coaching. The fact is that, aside from Erick Green, we have a team full of guys who’d be backups on just about any other team in the ACC. We simply need better players. I have no doubt that Coach Johnson knows what needs to be done and that he’s trying to get his players to do it. But he can’t get out on the court and do it himself.
Duke rolled last night because they were hitting their open shots and VT wasn’t. You can talk about shifting defenses and boxing out and tempo and spacing and all this other stuff all day long, but at the end of the day they only give you points for doing one thing: putting the ball through the hoop. We simply don’t have enough guys who can do it consistently. Our path to being a better basketball program starts with getting better shooters.
On point. Fact is we were too high after the first seven games and now we’re way too low. Talent is always desirable, but we lack a bit of heart and toughness. JJ needs time and our support.
MH
No Stud, ……Duke was making open shots. Our misses were defended shots.
Our guys do not play D with the same tenacity as when Greenberg coached.
I disagree, i saw plenty of shots at the 3pt circle and in the paint that were open, yet missed. i saw Duke shots that were defended and yet made. Go watch the video tape.
YES .. i have been saying that for weeks. if they had hit 35% of their 3pt shots, they would have would have 15 more points than they did. That would have made the score 88-71. Can’t complain about their FG % but there were lots of really 10 ft shots that were wide open and missed. To have won this game they needed more defense, to have a decent score in a loss they simply needed to shoot better, especially on open shots. But, hey, look at scores around the conference and the nation. I have seen some pretty bad scores. Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you …
No excuse for not playing defense, none at all, it is the only thing you can ever be sure of is defensive effort, you can bring that every night. Shooting will come and go for most players on any given night, but effort and defense should be constants. I think a player or two should be worried about losing their free ride. Not only are they not earning it, I am worrying about the poison their efforts and attitude may have on the incoming guys. This season is embarrassing enough without extending it into the future.
I wonder if the walking dead mentality isn’t an issue of depth. I recall earlier in the season the discussion/comments of needing to avoid foul trouble due to depth issues. Has that translated over the long haul to playing wussie ball? Just a thought…
Glad EG finally made those comments about his teammates…probably needed to be done about a month earlier…team has lacked that kind of leadership all year. Leadership by example will only take you so far; sometimes you need to demand more from your teammates as a captain and senior leader. Who knows if it will ligth a fire underneath RB and JE, or not…Hopefully on senior night, RB and JE help send EG out with a big home win to finish his great career!
No, no… Coach tells them to just have fun……that’s the ticket.
Coach what coach?
I agree with him. The way out of a shooting slump is to go shoot the ball. having fun is not about lofting the ball at the hoop, having fun is about lofting the ball and watching it go through the hoop. Curry was having fun last night, at least in the first half.
My guess is that Erick, being the leader he is, has repeatedly talked to his teammates. Just because it’s not in the press doesn’t mean that EG hasn’t said it before. The classy person he is likely prevented him from saying it publicly. Guess the frustration just became too much to bear.
Play the guys on the bench, they got some of the dog in them.
Beyer has disappeared since Marshall Wood came back
This is the first game I watched in a while. Our program is dead in the water and will not recover as long as Weaver is alive – or by some miracle resigns before the reaper comes.
Ok ok now we know you are another Weaver hater … tell me what number was Weaver wearing last night? How many minutes did he play? How many FG shots did he take how many did he make?
Where is the logic in your comment?
Count me among the Weaver – haters (your term, not mine). I used to comment that Hussey sucked the air out of Cassell when he was here. Well, Weaver has sucked the air out of the athletic department. If Weaver cared about VT, he would just resign. Retire on disability. His hires on the cheap are anathema to winnning programs. He has now done to the MBB program what he did to the WBB program. He almost did it to the wrestling program. He just needs to do the right thing, and retire.
Maybe if you cared anything about the VT athletic department you would just shut the f–k up. I saw NOTHING IN YOUR RANT that showed any facts to it just simple raw emotion. At least when I go off on the guy in the White House i have a number of facts on my side. So saret do you have just one FACT?
I think this goes beyond men’s basketball in regards to Weaver. My assessment is Weaver’s inability to lead the athletic department is also reflected in the fall of the women’s basketball program, and the other selections he has made in (Stokes, the wrestling coach before Dresser, almost losing Beamer and the entire football coaching staff in 2000, etc.).
The elephant in the room is Weaver’s health. He shows up for work sparingly, his hires have been lazy and “on the cheap,” and his seeming lack of people skills are indicative of an imperious attitude about anyone in the athletic department who inadvertently draws his wrath. He once terminated a track coach here at VT by sliding the termination under the coach’s door. His timing when he terminated SG was awful.
I want JJ to be successful (and DW also), but I am not sure JJ is up to the task. Looking at how SG was terminated, it appears that Weaver got angry, and fired Seth for not genuflecting appropriately before Weaver and kissing the ring. At least when Seth was here, the team played defense.
In most businesses, Weaver would be asked quietly to leave and given a gold watch for faithful service. I’m sympathetic about his Parkinson’s, but he is physically unable to perform his duties. If you or I were in his deteriorating condition, we would be asked to leave, and if we refused, we would be terminated. Why is Weaver any different? Weaver (when he comes to work) is now hurting the VT athletic programs. His subordinates have been covering for his shortcomings for years now, yet because of his illness, the alumni and fans of VT are supposed to suffer in silence while he buries yet another program.
Beamer reluctantly acquiesced to the obvious and hired new coaches. Weaver should do the same and retire. Beamer no longer reports to Weaver because of Weaver’s power grab back in 2000. After that, Weaver was chagrined and relegated himself to balancing the books. Now he is trying to do to the other programs when he tried to do to football in 2000—grab power and hire on the cheap. This Canuck needs to go, and go now.
By the way, who’s your Daddy? JW
Saret … the only fact i see in your rebuttal below is that Weaver has failing health. The rest of speculation and he said she said. The failing health is enough that he needs to retire.
Saret … No one on this board has any idea what goes into hiring a new head coach … therefore unless you have it from a reliable source that they were in the room when Weaver and others were making the decision who to hire, then what you have is pure speculation. When you say Weaver decided to go on the cheap, that is pure speculation, even worse than hear say.
I know Kevin Payne personally. he is the president/gm of DC United, he gave two young soccer players a chance to go pro. Freddie Adu, 14 and Bobby Convey, 16. Both turned out well, are playing in Europe and making a lot of money. In the trades they made a lot of money for MLS as well.
I think it’s wonderful that you can sit in your armchair years after decisions were made and be critical of those who made those decisions in real time. BTW, i was not a manager i was and am an executive. Big difference.
BTW Saret … my daddy was Lawyer Lee Cline, coal miner and 18 wheeler truck driver. He died in 1998. I don’t know a whole lot about you but i am confident my daddy was 10 times the man as you,.
Well Gilligan,.
You certainly are touchy when someone disagrees with you. You are quite disagreeable, and I’ve noticed you’ve already been warned once by the boardhost to not make your posts personal attacks on people who disagree with you. I usually don’t post, but you’ve been so snarky about your comments that I couldn’t resist.
I’m sure your father was a good man, but some traits are not hereditary.
I don’t want to be banned from posting, so I won’t continue engaging in your childish, pompous diatribes against anyone who isn’t an current executive. I’ll let your responses make my points for me.
I was associated with the Dept of the Navy for decades before I retired, and your behavior is boorish and demonstrative of why (in my opinion) why you have to have your own business–you don’t play well with others and is probably why you’re no longer in the Navy.
Good point Restin’2.
We are seeing the effects of transition. You got to have pain to get gain. What do you think? Let’s not over look SG while we’re playing the blame game. JJ Too.
Weaver is weak, old, a bad cultural fit for Blacksburg, and needs to retire. The business of college athletics has left him behind. Time to go.
The main thing I blame Weaver for is his leadership. Any nerd can balance the books live within a budget. Where Weaver has failed is the culture he created in Blacksburg over the last dozen years. When I was at VT, everyone played with a chip on their shoulder. The football team was out-talented a couple times per year, but never out-toughed. The basketball team lost a lot, but they always got the loose balls and picked up some flagrant fouls.
Fast forward a few years – Nah nah nah nah is gone. Stick it in is gone. Kick-offs moved to noon so people won’t drink before games as much. Hokie Respect. “Family atmosphere” among the coaches across the Athletic dept. The only coach not name Foster that has an edge to him is fired. With no replacement plan, panic – react – enter JJ on the cheap. His job isn’t to win games, its to make Weaver feel at home in his “family”.
This entire operation needs a good kick in the ass.
Nuts?
Any nerd can balance the books and live within a budget? Really. Every time i make it to the campus i see a new or modernized facility going up, and yet not only are the books balanced, the athletic program is in the black. Look at Univ of Maryland, or Univ of Miami.
Me thinks you have your head in a place where the sun does not shine.
Weaver does not coach, he administrates. I dare say he doesn’t lead he administrates. He hires coaches to lead.
Me thinks it is you with cranial/scrotal insertion. You get very personal and vitriolic whenever someone disagrees with you. I assume you must be in a management position. Those who can, do; those who can’t, go into management and subscribe to personal attacks.
Saret regarding your post below. 1) actually i’m tired of reading rants that are not based on facts. it is absurd to blame to post a comment here or elsewhere to fire Weaver or JJ because Jared Eddie cannot hit a wide open 3pt jumper. And, anyone who draws that conclusion has his head where the sun doesn’t shine.
2) as far as being a doer or being in management. i was a nationally recognized subject matter expert in computer performance management … then i became company executive running a 120 person company.
Personal attacks? go back and look at your personal attacks on Weaver today. is he here and in a position to defend himself. I think not.
Meanwhile, way too many people take the football team or the basketball team losing way too personal and way too serious. If you are betting money on the game … DON’T.
To the best of my knowledge there will be more basketball games played next week.
I agree, JW’s health concerns is enough. However, you asked for more detail, so I provided it. The examples were to show that JWs is an administrator, not a leader, as you said. Thanks for confirming my hypothesis about you also being a manager.
My opinion about the administration was not limited to one game (against Duke), but to a general observation about the AD’s committment to basketball (both men and women). JWs hires have been lazy and on the cheap, and I think it’s directly attributable to his health. JW doesn’t have to defend himself–this is not an attack on him personally. Will’s article re: basketball and the ADs committment to it offers some of the same opinions I have expressed. My opinions about JW still stand.
You’re the one who got snarky, not me. It is not wrong to call for Weaver to do the right thing, and make way for a successor.
I COMMENTED RECENTLY WE NEED TO SUPPORT OUR PLAYERS AND WE DO, HOWEVER, I AGREE WITH ERICK GREEN TOTALLY, YOU DO NOT LET REGARDLESS OF SIZE, (PLUMLEE) DRIVE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE AND DUNK ON YOU WITH OUT HIM WITHIN THE RULES OF PLAY …PAY THE PRICE……NEXT TIME HE WILL THINK TWICE.
OUR PHYSICALITY WAS NON EXISTENT TONIGHT AGAINST DUKE. WE ONLY MEEKLY GUARDED THE 3 POINT SHOTS VERSUS FORCING A DRIBBLE DRIVE TO WHERE THERE
IS HOKIE DEFENSIVE HELP. AND NEVER UPON NEVER GIVE UP THE BASELINE..THE CARDINAL SIN~~OF INTERIOR DEFENSE.
WE SAY SUPPORT THE PLAYERS, HOWEVER, THE PLAYERS MUST GIVE US A REASON OR REASONS TO SUPPORT THEM WITH AN ALL OUT AGGRESSIVE EFFORT ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!
” WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH THE TOUGH GET GOING”
HP…22
GO HOKIES!!!
You can’t blame EG for getting fed up with this teammates, but I blame the coach for playing JE and RB. How do we not do a better job of denying Curry the ball and then not adjusting. He should have had a guy in his chest after he made his second 3. JJ isn’t ready for Prime Time.
But who do you play instead of Brown and Eddie? The problem all season long has been not enough players on scholarship. Despite the exciting start this was going to be a rough season. I wonder what the season might have been like if certain players hadn’t left the program or stuck with their decision to come to Tech.
You play the guys that prepare the best and do the right things for the team. This isn’t always the most talented. JE and RB not only aren’t scoring, their not playing D either! What does JJ have to lose at this point..stop being a player’s coach and set performance standards for next year. The scoring margin isn’t as embarrasing to me as the lack of pride and effort!
Agree
100% agree. Brown and Eddie are 6th men, period. You start Johnston and Beyer or Johnston and Rankin. You can’t continue to play Brown and Eddie based on potential for this long. Inconsistency and potential = 6th men. It isn’t about pure talent, it’s about who plays the game the right way. Johnston, Beyer, and Rankin are not perfect. But they play hard, play hard defense, and seem to understand ball movement, following shots, and all the things they teach you in high school.
Here are some numbers on Seth’s recruiting at VT. I will name players who stayed and how many left. 2004 – Deron Washington – 4 left; 2005- Vasallo, Diakate – 2 left; 2006 – Witcher –2 left; 2007- Allen,Bell,Dorenzo,MalcolmDelaney, JT – 3 left, then JT left;2008 – Davila -2 left; 2009 – Eric Green, Raines – 2 left; 2010 – Jarrell Eddie – 1 left;2011 – Barksdale, Brown, Rankin – 1 left; 2012 – Marshall Wood – 1 left. In 9 years atVT, Seth recruited 35 players, 19 players either left before their four years were up or never came to VT. Out of the 35 players he recruited, only 16 stayed their four years of eligibility. Out of the 16 that stayed only 7 were true ACC starters. I did not know the percentage was that bad. I don’t know if any college coach has that kind of a record. He had four years at or below .500, one year at 19 wins, and 4 years at 20 or more wins. Only one NCAA apperance. Maybe he should have been gone before he was. We can’t be too hard on JJ. He came into a no win situation with only 8 scholarship players. Since 2009, 5 players eiher left early or did not come to VT. JJ would have had 13 scholarship players. They would not have been great players, but they would have been better than the walkons we have now. Nothing against the walkons we have now. We have to give JJ at least 3 more years to get his players here before we talk about letting him go.