2006-07 Hokie Hotline Notes for 1/8/07

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 also watch the archive on hokietv.com.

• VT has a very small margin of error. If they play defense, get their
  spacing right and play sound basketball, they have a chance to win. That’s
  what they did Saturday.
• Duke takes everybody’s best shot because of who they are and what they’ve
  accomplished. Fortunately, in Tech’s last two games at Duke, the Hokies’
  best shot was pretty good.
• The clock situation didn’t bother Greenberg in the Duke game. The biggest
  problem he had during the game was the officials telling him the Hokies were
  going to inbound from a certain spot on the court, and then after the
  timeout, making them inbound from somewhere else. Greenberg had spent the
  entire timeout drawing up a play from the other inbound spot.
• The officials overall did a great job on Saturday. It’s a very tough game
  to officiate.
• Deron Washington is an athletic freak. Greenberg has never had anybody
  jump over another player during a game. That’s a T-shirt or a poster waiting
  to happen. (Editor’s Note: Do tell.) It was a good no-call when
  Washington jumped over Paulus. There was very little, if any, contact on the
  play.
• Washington played a great game. He had two big rebounds down the stretch,
  hit some critical free throws, and blocked the shot at the end of the game.
• Markus Sailes is a very good player for what the Hokies are trying to do.
  It’s important to have players like him on your team. He understands his
  role and does it very well.
• Why did the Hokies lose to Marshall, but beat Duke? “Because the Xs and Os
  are Janes and Joes,” according to Greenberg. Everyone involved with the game
  is human.
• The Hokies are 34th in the RPI and have played the 4th toughest schedule
  in the ACC. That was the plan heading into the season. They are in good
  shape right now, but they have to find a way to win some more games. But
  it’s a good start.
• Lewis Witcher is starting to get more assertive and more aggressive. He
  hit a big shot at the beginning of the game and hit some clutch free throws
  in the second half. He’s a productive player right now. Fouling out is good
  for Witcher, because it means he is being aggressive.
• UNC-Greensboro is a very physical team, and they shoot the ball well. They
  almost beat N.C. State last week. The inside player, Hines, is a very good
  basketball player for any level. He is averaging almost 11 rebounds per
  game. He is the type of player that always gives Tech trouble.
• Coleman Collins was working so hard defensively that he didn’t have a lot
  of energy for the offensive end. They went to him on back-to-back
  possessions in the second half, but they didn’t get what they needed. But he
  looked good on his jump shots, and his lift was better than it has been all
  season.
• UNC is a very special team. Greenberg thinks this team is better than the
  team that won the National Championship two years ago. They have more
  frontcourt depth, and they might be a little better shooting team.
• The Hokies spend a lot of practice time working on their middle game. The
  middle game is a guard driving into the middle and either finding an open
  man, or shooting a “teardrop.”
• Greenberg likes to save timeouts. There are four automatic timeouts in
  each half, and it’s important to have timeouts for end game situations. But
  sometimes you have no choice, if the other team is on a run.
• Greenberg wasn’t happy with Tech’s ability to guard the side ball screen
  against Duke. Josh McRoberts was able to get too many good shots off that
  play. That’s really the only thing the Hokies didn’t do well.
• The Tech men’s and women’s teams are playing UNC-Greensboro on Wednesday
  in the Greensboro Coliseum. They are trying to give Tech fans in the Triad a
  chance to see the Hokies play. If it works, they’ll try to do it again in
  the future. If it doesn’t, then they won’t.
• It was very hot in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday. But it was hot for
  both teams. It’s a great environment for college basketball. It’s a standard
  that everyone is trying to reach.
• Greenberg is happy for the players, the fans and the school for the win
  over Duke. But the most important part of it was that it was a road win in
  the ACC.
• Goal #1 for the rest of the season is to beat UNC-Greensboro. That’s the
  most important thing they can do right now. Everyone in the ACC has the goal
  to play in the NCAA tournament.
• Depending on how the Hokies are playing up front, they are probably more
  talented this year than last year. A.D. Vassallo and Deron Washington have
  really stepped up, and they are providing a lot of production. Coleman
  Collins is making progress, and he has more help on the inside this year.
  Nigel Munson adds another talented guard.
• In college basketball today, there is no such thing as an upset. There are
  simply too many good teams, too much parity and too many variables.
• The Hokies have a very tough schedule coming up with UNC, Florida State
  and Maryland. It will be very tough, but every game in the ACC is tough.
• It will take consistency for the Hokies to continue to play well. They
  haven’t always had that. They must be very tough in their post defense
  against both UNC-Greensboro and UNC. UNC has many weapons, and Tech will
  have to be on top of their game.

Monday was Day 772 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.