2006-07 Hokie Hotline Notes for 3/12/07

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.

Pete
Dye River Course of Virginia Tech has new expanded non-resident areas that
qualify for a lower membership rate. They are also waiving the initiation fee
for new members from now until April 1st! For more information, visit RiverCourseGolf.com,
or call 540-633-6732 or 1-888-PeteDye.

• Illinois has had a tough season. They had a player arrested for a DUI.
  They had another player, under 21, get involved with a car accident with
  another player as a passenger. He was under the influence of alcohol, there
  have been felony arrest warrants, and overall it’s a big mess.
• Illinois has also had a number of key injuries this year. But despite all
  this, they still made the NCAA tournament.
• Illinois has averaged over 26 wins per year over the past six years. Only
  Duke has won more games in that span.
• They are an offensively challenged team, but they are a great defensive
  team, allowing just 57 points per game.
• For every team appearance in the NCAA tournament, their conference earns
  one unit. For example, if all the ACC teams lost in the first round, the ACC
  would earn seven units because seven teams made the NCAA tournament. The
  NCAA will pay each conference a certain amount of money for each unit it
  accumulates. The ACC divides that money equally amongst all the schools.
• Bill Roth asked former Tech basketball player and current professor
  Quinton Nottingham who would win between the 1995-96 and 2006-07 hoops
  teams. Nottingham said the backcourts were a wash, but this year’s team
  didn’t have anybody that could guard Ace Custis.
• Roth responded by saying that this year’s team has been tested much more
  than the 1995-96 team, and this year’s team would win because of the
  competition they have faced.

• Illinois is a very good team. They haven’t lost to anyone bad all year.
  They are a very physical team up front, and they screen well. They are big
  on the inside. They take good care of the basketball, and they play great
  defense.
• They remind Greenberg a little bit of Clemson. They aren’t the best
  shooting team in the world, but they are very scrappy. They are long and
  rangy on the inside.
• Greenberg
  spoke to a coach from an opposing team in the Big Ten, who said that this is
  the first time all year that Illinois has been healthy.
• It’s shocking that they were a bubble team when they won 23 games overall,
  nine in the Big Ten, and a high RPI. They are more like a six or seven seed
  rather than a 12.
• Greenberg is very happy with the five seed. He thought going in that the
  Hokies would be anywhere between a five and a seven. He was shocked at a
  couple of the four seeds in the tournament, one of them in particular
  (laughter from the audience).
• The Illinois point guard, Chester Frazier, is a very good on ball
  defender. He doesn’t shoot it well, but he’s a very tough player.
• In ACC play, the Hokies were over 70% from the free throw line, a very
  solid percentage. They had a couple of bad games in the ACC Tournament, but
  it’s not like they don’t practice free throws. They practice them a lot.
  Part of the problem is that they got the wrong guy to the line, Markus
  Sailes.
• Greenberg thinks the NCAA tournament should be expanded. There are about
  110 teams that won over 20 games this season. Those teams had great seasons,
  but they are walking around today like it’s the end of the world because
  they didn’t make the NCAA tournament.
• Drexel won 14 road games this year. Syracuse won 23 games and beat
  Georgetown. There are a lot of good and deserving teams that got left out.
• Tech will play their big lineup some against Illinois to counter their
  size. Cheick Diakite should see a lot of action, and Lewis Witcher could
  also. He had a great practice on Monday.
• The players need to appreciate this experience and enjoy it, but they also
  need to make sure they give it their very best effort.
• Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery was a former Bruce Weber assistant,
  so Illinois and Southern Illinois mirror each other. Tech has already faced
  Southern Illinois this year, so that is somewhat of an advantage.
• Greenberg said the Hokies are not a pressing team. That’s not who they
  are. They aren’t going to reinvent themselves for one game (NC State). You
  create a system for the long haul. NC State starts three McDonald’s
  All-Americans. They are a good basketball team.
• Illinois has won their last eight first round NCAA tournament games. They
  are physical and they don’t beat themselves. But the Hokies are good, too.
  They have good guard play and they don’t turn the ball over. It should be a
  great game.
• Greenberg hopes the officials call moving screens on Friday night.
  Illinois runs some sneaky moving screens in their offense.
• Greenberg appreciates everyone’s support this season. The players
  appreciate it and they’ve enjoyed it. It’s been a fun year in the Cassell.

Monday was Day 835 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.