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.
Seth Greenberg
- It was a rough week. You’ll have weeks like this in conference play. The
one thing that’s predictable about college basketball today is that it’s
unpredictable. You need to play well to win, and Tech didn’t play well. - Virginia Tech is still 6-3 in the ACC. That’s better than pretty much
anybody would have predicted before the season started. - The energy level wasn’t there in the losses to NC State and Boston
College. Greenberg is hoping that’s because the team was a little tired.
Every game right now is so power-packed that it’s exhausting. - UNC lost this weekend. Duke has lost two in a row. Clemson started off the
season 17-0, but they’ve lost three games in a row and are in a major
slump. That’s how the ACC is. When you play in the ACC, you are playing a
very good team every night. - It’s a good time for the Hokies to have a week off. They haven’t been
playing as well, especially defensively. They need to get their legs back
and refocus. It happens all over the country. Oregon was the hottest team in
the nation, but they lost twice last week. - There are still three and a half weeks left in the season. The Hokies are
still in good position, along with about 50 other schools. The one constant
you can have during the season is guarding people, and Tech needs to get
back to doing that. - A look ahead to Virginia: Sean Singletary is playing as well as any guard
in the country right now. Combined with J.R. Reynolds, they have a great
backcourt. Mamadi Diane has really stepped up as well, so they are able to
bring Adrian Joseph off the bench. - Jason Cain is UVA’s Coleman Collins. When he plays well, the team plays
at another level. - The
focus of Monday’s staff meeting was defensive. They need to build a wall
around the basket against UVA’s talented guards. The Cavalier guards are
“seeing a very big basket” right now. - UVA’s guards are different than Tech’s guards. Zabian Dowdell is a
good scorer, and Jamon Gordon does everything well. The UVA backcourt is
scoring-focused. The Hokies have to contain them and not let Diane and
Joseph be a factor. - Greenberg thinks Lewis Witcher is going to be a very good player. The
season gets really long for these freshmen. They have never faced this much
before. Not only are they practicing, but they are lifting as well, and have
class. It’s tough to make that adjustment in your first year. - Witcher just needs to become more assertive. He might come off the bench
against Virginia, but the staff hasn’t decided yet. He’s going to be a
very good player, and he’s one of the greatest kids that Greenberg has
ever coached. - Nigel Munson will be fine. If he had to play 30 minutes a game like Zabe
and Jamon did as freshmen, he would do well. Instead he is coming off the
bench, and he’s worried about messing up. He’s going to be fine. He’s
the best post feeder on the team, and he’s really good in transition. - Jared Dudley of Boston College is a great player. He has a really nice
shot, and he can post you up inside. He has a lot of toughness, and he gets
loose balls. He’s just a very tough player to defend. - Coleman Collins wants to play well. But if things aren’t working, you
have to give other guys a shot. Greenberg really believes that between now
and the end of the season, we’re going to see a Coleman Collins that can
really make a difference. - Future frontcourt outlook: 2007 signee Augustus
Gilchrist is having a “monster” senior year. 2007 signee Jeff
Allen is a physical presence on the inside. Other players just
bounce off him. Returning players like Lewis Witcher, Cheick Diakite, and
Robert Krabbendam will be better as well, so the frontcourt should be in
good shape next year. - Virginia Tech recruited Jared Dudley. They took Zabian Dowdell first
because they needed a point guard. The old 8/5 rule was in place back then
(meaning no more than five players could come in on scholarship in one year,
and no more than eight players in two years), which Tech tried to appeal.
The NCAA said no, so Tech couldn’t offer Dudley a scholarship. - The odds are “pretty good” that Tech will sign another player
for the 2007 recruiting class. It has to be the right guy. He has to be the
right fit for the team and the class that is coming in. If they can’t find
that guy, they’ll save the scholarship for next year. - This Saturday’s game is very important, especially because it’s at
home. If the Hokies win their home games down the stretch, good things are
going to happen. Greenberg won’t have any problem getting the team ready
to play against UVA. - The Hokies have to play defense against Sean Singletary. He wins games at
the end for UVA.
Monday was Day 800 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.
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