Tech Talk Live Notes for March 7, 2016

Buzz Williams

Buzz has a chaotic mind, so it’s tough for him to concentrate on the season as a whole at this point.  There has been some good and some bad, but the Hokies made some growth this year.  The end of the season has been an incredible run.  Tech has made up a lot of ground, and ground is the hardest thing to make up.

Buzz thinks Tech overscheduled this year.  Director of Basketball Operations Jeff Reynolds handled the scheduling, and he does a great job.  There are many things to consider…time, money, dates, etc.  It was a third year schedule with a second year roster, and they thought Ahmed Hill would play, and they thought Ty Outlaw would play.  Buzz thought Outlaw was the best junior college wing in the country last year, and he thought Hill was the toughest player on the roster.

Injuries are a part of sports, but Tech had three bad things happen this year with Hill, Outlaw and Chris Clarke.  Those things add to the steepness of your climb.  It really says a lot about the team and coaching staff to win 10 ACC games this year while dealing with all the injuries.

With the way the world works these days, nobody wants to work…they want whatever it is they want right now without having to work for it.  Buzz wants his players, and his kids, to understand the value of work.  Every player who was part of the program in year one has his name engraved on a Hokie Stone in the practice facility.  Even though they weren’t rewarded with many wins, those guys let the coaching staff instill winning values into the program.  He will always give credit to those guys.  The new players have learned from those old players by osmosis.  You don’t go from 2-14 to 10-8 because of one player, or because of one coach.

Seth Allen and Zach LeDay have meant a lot to this team.  They are very experienced.  You should try to redshirt everybody you can.  That was possible back when there were 15 scholarship basketball players, but it’s not possible now.  However, guys who transfer and redshirt, or who get hurt and redshirt, will end up being better because of it.  Allen and LeDay were better as r-juniors than they would have been as regular seniors, but Buzz thinks they’ll be even better as r-seniors.  Tech will enjoy having Ahmed Hill next year, but they will really enjoy him when he’s a r-senior.  Experience is very important, especially when the margin is razor thin.

It’s been critical for Chris Clarke to be such a great teammate in the second semester of his career.  They dropped him back into the mix after missing so many games, and he’s been incredibly unselfish.

The middle of the ACC was jumbled up, so it was good to get out of that mess and get the #6 seed.  The Hokies couldn’t control what other teams did.  They just had to win.

Florida State is as talented as any team in the league, and Boston College has a couple of players back who were injured.

Buzz isn’t sure how he feels about byes in the conference tournament.  Two of his Marquette teams had double byes in the Big East Tournament, and they got beat both times in their first game.  It’s a lot of sitting around and waiting to play.  He thinks Tech will handle the single bye just fine.

One thing Buzz has learned this year is that he has to explain the “why” rather than just telling players what to do.  If they understand “why” he wants them to do something, it gives them a better chance of executing it.  Teaching them “why” really helps their concentration level.

Buzz never got into the industry to win Coach of the Year awards.  He knows he’s not politically correct.  He just tries to stay away from it all.

Buzz grew up with a single parent mom.  He always took great pride in how he dresses.  He’s superstitious about what he wears during games.  When he has to pack for a long tournament, it takes him a long time.  Everything is well-planned in advance.  Next year he has to start over with a new wardrobe.  His body has changed, and all his suits have been taken in as much as they can be taken in.

Virginia Tech has held the Commonwealth Cup for 4118 days. #Hokies

— Commonwealth Cup (@CommonwlthCup) March 7, 2016