Hokie Hotline Notes for 2/16/09

The Hokie Hotline (football and basketball season)

When: Every Monday from 7:00-9:00 during football season, 7:00-8:00 during basketball season.

Where: Click here for a list of radio stations, and to find the link for listening to the show on the Internet (look to the right on the hokiesports.com page that loads when you click the link). You can see the show in person at Awful Arthur’s in Blacksburg.

• Everything that transpired on Saturday was disappointing. Not only the
  loss, but the Jeff Allen situation as well.
• Greenberg said he wasn’t trying to defend anyone, but the mean-spirited
  attacks the Tech fans took who were sitting behind the Hokie bench were
  unlike anything he has seen since he’s been at Tech. That’s been brought to
  the attention of Maryland.
• There’s no excuse for what happened with Allen, but now Tech just has to
  move on and be ready to play Virginia.
• Greenberg hasn’t decided who will start in place of Jeff Allen. Tech needs
  to entire team to step up. It needs to be a collective effort.
• Nothing is easy in the ACC. It’s a long an exhausting season. Kids are
  very emotional at this time of year. There is a lot of pressure on them.
  Greenberg has told the team to relax and take it one game of the time. At
  the end of the season, they’ll evaluate where they are. The next game is
  always the most important game.
• Tech has responded before when they’ve been shorthanded, and Greenberg
  thinks they’ll respond again.
• The Maryland game was Tech’s third game in seven days. Most teams don’t
  play well in that third game, especially when it’s on the road. The Hokies
  didn’t have that extra bounce in their stop. Maryland obviously did. They
  had the entire week off to prepare.
• Greenberg doesn’t think that will continue on Wednesday. He thinks the
  Hokies will play at a high level.
• The one thing that concerns Greenberg is that this team hasn’t quite been
  as tough as past Tech teams. They haven’t shown that aggressiveness
  defensively. Tech’s defensive stats make him cringe. They aren’t getting
  stops when they need them.
• With just a couple of weeks remaining in the season, players have to dig
  down deep and find something they didn’t think they had.
• The season has an ebb and flow. Duke has the same number of ACC losses as
  Virginia Tech. Notre Dame lost seven in a row, then blew out Louisville.
  Virginia lost eight in a row and then beat Clemson. There is little margin
  for error.
• Allen Calloway had such a great spirit. Greenberg was planning to take a
  few minutes after practice on Monday to talk about Calloway to the current
  players, but it ended up being a 45 minute talk. He had a great heart and he
  was an unbelievable teammate. He genuinely cared about people.
• In Calloway’s senior year, he played in the first exhibition game at
  160-lbs. On the second play of the game, he stepped in and drew a charge and
  basically had to be peeled off the court. Greenberg talked to his players on
  Monday about not taking things for granted and appreciating where you are.
  Calloway touched so many people in so many different ways. He never once
  complained during his entire ordeal.
• Greenberg
  feels for his former teammates as well. Terrence Vinson contacted Greenberg
  when it first happened. Greenberg has spoken to Shawn Harris, as well as
  Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon. Carlos Dixon tried to get back, but his
  team overseas wouldn’t release him.
• There was a lot of things happening on Monday, and not a lot of it was
  about UVA. Greenberg doesn’t know if that’s good or bad.
• Lewis Witcher gave Tech some good energy around the basket on Saturday. He’s
  just got to stay in games mentally and he’s got to rebound better.
• Tech had a spirited practice on Monday. The Hokies went with a light
  practice the day after their win over Georgia Tech, and it retrospect maybe
  it wasn’t the right decision. Greenberg thinks maybe he should have gone
  with a shorter practice, but a harder practice. It’s a tough call to make.
• Greenberg doesn’t think Delaney is getting worn down. He probably tried
  too hard against Maryland. He wanted to do something more and be part of the
  solution. He had a lot of family and friends at the game.
• Tech decided to go small against Maryland because Landon Milbourne was
  killing them. Cheick didn’t play as much because Maryland was running some
  offense that was tough for him to cover.
• Jeff Allen is a sophomore in college, and everyone makes mistakes at that
  age. There is way too much gloom and doom and overreacting about this
  incident. No one is going to beat the team up more than Greenberg about
  certain things that go on. For example, Tech’s defense right now is
  infuriating to Greenberg right now.
• Tech will come to play on Wednesday night, and they will play well. That
  doesn’t guarantee a win, but they are going to come to play.
• Virginia is getting better as a basketball team. They have shortened their
  bench and they aren’t playing as many players. Jeff Jones is giving them
  better play recently. UVA has talent, and Sylven Landesberg is the type of
  player who can go win a game.
• Mike Scott is playing well for UVA. Lewis Witcher will probably get a shot
  at him, and J.T. Thompson will get a shot as well. They’ll defend him by
  committee.
• To be successful, you have to be able to deal with success and failure.
  You have to balance them. You’ve got to wipe the slate clean after each game
  and continue to be aggressive. Winning isn’t easy, because the other team is
  trying to win also.
• Tech will practice early Tuesday morning, go to class, and then travel to
  UVA. They’ll have film work while on the bus to Charlottesville. There is
  still a lot of preparation to be done.
• When your margin of error is small, you’ve got to get 50-50 balls, you’ve
  got to contest shots and you’ve got to defend. You have to get some luck
  too, but you have to make some luck.
• Tech plays Florida State on Saturday. They are a very athletic team and
  one of the best defensive teams in the ACC. Solomon Alibi is a human
  backboard. He can really block shots. Toney Douglas is obviously a great
  player. This is an NCAA tournament team.
• Greenberg is hoping that Terrell Bell or Dorenzo Hudson can develop into a
  lockdown defender. They’ve got to get a little meaner. He also thinks Ben
  Boggs can become a really good defender. He is really tough. He’s not afraid
  of anything.

Monday was Day 1,542 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.