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, and you can also watch the archive on hokietv.com.
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Seth Greenberg
- Note: Seth Greenberg and the team were en route to Raleigh on Monday
night. He joined Bill Roth and Mike Burnop for several segments via phone
from the team bus. The following notes are from their conversation with
Greenberg. - Deron brings so much energy to the team. Obviously there is good and bad
with every player, but he makes winning plays. Whether it’s a tip-in dunk,
knocking a shot away or taking a charge. He does all the things you need to
find a way to win games. - Lewis Witcher was terrific. He was quick and active, finished well, played
on instinct, and made some big free throws. He had a very good week of
practice leading up to the game. - In overtime, Virginia Tech has been the aggressor. They want to make
people react to them. They want to run. Once you win one of those games, you
start believing. The Hokies have a lot of different guys who can contribute. - NC State is a very talented basketball team. They’ve got four McDonald’s
All-Americans. They have a great inside game. Tech couldn’t defend McCauley
last year. He is a great passer for a post player. There were some matchup
issues. - Tech has to make it hard for NC State to get into their sets. They have to
defend the post early, because the Wolfpack have made more free throws than
their opponents have attempted. - Courtney Fells is a very good player as well. Ben McCauley always finds a
way to come up with big plays. 
UNC and Duke have separated themselves. It’s great to be 5-3, but it has
no bearing on the last eight games. Tech is going to have to play good
basketball. They need to keep rebounding and making plays down the stretch.- Greenberg doesn’t fear his freshmen hitting a wall at some point. So far,
so good. Dorenzo Hudson has struggled some, but the first few weeks he was
with the team, school wasn’t in session. It’s been totally different for
him. He didn’t get August and September to adjust like the other freshmen. - It’s a process getting a young team to understand what it takes to be
successful. When they started, their definition of playing hard and
competing were different than Greenberg’s. They have a much better idea now,
so they are having more success. - Costner’s and McCauley’s numbers are down a bit this year, but they have
started to come up lately. The emergence of J.J. Hickson has cut into their
minutes. The loss of minutes could have led to some confidence issues.
Unfortunately Costner’s due for a big game. He struggled against Wake Forest
on Sunday. - Tech has a series of games coming up that will force them to play with a
bigger lineup, with two inside players. NC State, Miami and UNC are very big
teams. - It’s very important for Tech to win the transition game. The more you can
get big people to run, the less effective they’ll be. NC State is the lowest
scoring team in the league in ACC play. - Malcolm Delaney is picking up one or two fouls per game on bad decisions.
He’s got to be a little more disciplined and tough. He’s got to play with
his feet. - Ben McCauley is a very difficult low post matchup. He can pass it, and he
can go up with either hand. He is a big part of the scouting report. - Tech rebounds out of quickness. They are getting 16 rebounds per game in
ACC play from their wing players, A.D. Vassallo and Deron Washington. That
is a huge part of their success. Jeff Allen is a very good position
rebounder. Cheick is a good rebounder. They rebound by committee. - Cheick Diakite should see more time in the upcoming games because the
Hokies are playing such big teams. They will need his physical style of
play. - Right now, Tech isn’t planning to sign another guy in the spring. They are
keeping their options open in case something happens, but right now they
aren’t planning on it. - The Hokies will still be very young next year. Nine of their 13 players
will be freshmen or sophomores.
Monday was Day 1,164 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the
Commonwealth Cup.
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