Tech Talk Live Notes for January 20, 2014

James Johnson

Tech played hard and competed against Notre Dame.  They’ve improved in a number of areas, but they aren’t playing winning basketball right now.  They have to avoid giving up the big run.  That’s what killed them against Notre Dame.

Last night is what Tech has been looking for from Cadarian Raines in practice.  He’s stayed positive, he’s worked hard, etc.  It wasn’t anything he wasn’t doing, it was more of what Joey van Zegeren and Trevor Thompson were doing.  Everybody is pulling for him.  He’s well-liked.

The team bus broke down on I-81 on the way back from the Roanoke airport following the Notre Dame game.

Devin Wilson is finally attacking off the ball screen.  Johnson has been tough on him since the day he walked in the door.  He’s adjusting and he’s getting better.  He’s a student of the game.  He studies the game and learns, and he takes coaching very well.  This is his first year concentrating only on basketball.  He played football as well in high school and had scholarship offers.

Kurt Kanaskie knew of Devin Wilson because of his days at Penn State.  He knew Wilson and stayed in touch, and it worked out.  Wilson is even keeled.  He doesn’t get too high, and he doesn’t get too low.

Johnson is glad to see Vinston Painter and Kam Chancellor make the Super Bowl.  He knew them both from their days at Tech, and they are both great guys.

Wake Forest is a very talented group.  Travis McKie has always played very well against Virginia Tech.  He plays very well in Cassell Coliseum.  He’s in a bit of a slump right now, and the Hokies have to keep him in a slump.

Tech’s 2014 signees are playing well.  TJ Lang had 44 points in a game recently.  Justin Bibbs and Jalen Hudson are playing really well right now.

Joey van Zegeren has a great work ethic.  He’s a good kid.  He’s the type that stays late and puts in extra work.  Basketball and winning means something to him.

UVA is playing as well as any team in the ACC right now, except for maybe Syracuse.  Joe Harris is starting to play really well.  They are playing faster this year.

Devin Wilson

WIlson’s freshman year has been going pretty well.  He’s been getting acclimated to classes and to college basketball in general.

Wilson played football his entire life, and he was always good at it.  But he always had more love for basketball.  He got more recruiting interest for football, but recruiting as a senior picked up in basketball.  His biggest football offer was NC State.

Wilson felt like he had more potential in basketball.  He never worked on it 100% in high school, but he knew if he focused on it full time in college he would grow a lot as a player.

Wilson’s father is a homicide detective.  His mother is in health care sales.  His brother Christian played football at UNC.

Wilson loved the people at Virginia Tech.  He also knew that there would be a starting position open with Erick Green graduating.  He didn’t anticipate playing 37 minutes per game as a freshman, though.

The most exciting thing so far about college basketball has been playing in front of bigger crowds.

Tech played very well in the second half against Notre Dame.  They were able to get up and down the floor and get the ball inside.  James Johnson gave Wilson the green light to be more aggressive.

The Hokies need to learn how to win.  They’ve let some get away from them.  Personally, Wilson needs to cut down on his turnovers a bit.  He has been working on his free throws a lot, too.

Monday was Day 3,342 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of The Commonwealth Cup.

12 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Lane stadium is just not as intimidating as it used to be, as shown by the home losses to Maryland and Duke this season. With the combination of no Thursday night games or any night games and all the issues of not doing anything to hurt the feelings of the opposing FOOTBALL TEAM, Lane stadium has become at much easier place to play. Look at games in Seattle, even though it’s a pro team, they are the perfect example of the 12 the man, which we used to be. Weaver got lazy and old, and now there is a downward spike in both football and bball. Very sad, Tech fans deserved more!!!!!!

  2. Will needs to amend his open note regarding Weaver’s replacement to include mandatory upkeep on team vehicles as part of the new AD’s duties. I guess ‘ol JW milked as much as possible from the 1960’s surplus school bus. Maybe it’s time for a new one. Just sayin..

  3. surprised JJ made no mention of free throws. If we make those we can win, shooting 30% from the line is a recipe for losing. Remember all we heard about Erick’s initiative, in the gym every morning, practice, practice, practice. These kids need to learn from that and JJ should inspire it to happen.

  4. Monday was Day 1,533 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of The VT-GT Techmo Cup.

  5. Mckie was recruited in the same class as Jarrell Eddie. I think it came down to whoever committed first and that ended up being JE.

  6. I can’t believe JJ’s response regarding Raines. If JVZ and others were really playing that much better than Raines then there is no way this is an 8-9 team in a weaker than normal ACC.

    1. Agreed. This confirms that it was not a disciplinary thing with Raines. He should have been playing all along…we may have pulled out a few of those losses.

    2. You have to remember two things:
      1.) Raines wasn’t playing very well around the time he started spending more time on the bench. What we saw from him against ND was a HUGE improvement on his part.
      2.) JJ probably picks his starting lineup from a large percentage of what he sees in practices and a smaller percentage of what he sees in previous games. A coach needs almost as much amnesia when it comes to past games as players do. So perhaps in practice JVZ and TT were actually playing better and harder than CR, but it’s just not transferring onto the court, where we can see it. That seems to be a huge problem for this young team, if you take JJ 100% at his word.

  7. TRAVIS MCKIE?!!! Didn’t he get recruited in the same class as Randolph Childress (or was it Tim Duncan)? That guy seems like he’s been around forever…

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