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.
Hokie Hotline Notes, sponsored by Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech
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Seth Greenberg
- They had a team meeting on Monday to set their course of action for this
week. They had to set practice times, shooting times, etc. - The players are very excited. They accomplished a lot this year. They’ve
earned a bye in the ACC tournament for the third time in four years. - They played very hard at Clemson. They defended extremely well. There were
two or three minutes in each half that they’d like to have back, but that
happens. Clemson had a few minutes like that as well. - Tech was in position to win the game, but they didn’t finish as well as
they would have liked. You have to make free throws down the stretch. Some
turnovers hurt, but at the same time, the Hokies attacked the press and
scored 28 points by throwing over top of the press. - The Hokies did a great job on K.C. Rivers and Trevor Booker. The defender
tried to go under the screen against Oglesby a few times, and he made them
pay. - Tech did some very good things. They just didn’t do quite enough.
- Clemson and Virginia Tech pride themselves on defense. They defend
differently, but they both concentrate on defense. That’s one reason that
all the games between those teams are very close. - Greenberg doesn’t know what it will take to reach the NCAA tournament. All
they can do is go out and try to beat either Miami or NC State on Friday. - Only two teams have finished with winning conference records in each of
the last two years … North Carolina and Virginia Tech. - Greenberg traded text messages with Clemson coach Oliver Purnell on Sunday
night. Purnell said it was a typical Virginia Tech-Clemson game. Both teams
left it all on the court. It’s a shame somebody had to lose. - The team has improved across the board. They’ve improved their
understanding of how to defend and how to play hard. When you talk about
team trust, it’s night and day between now and the beginning of the season. - Lewis Witcher’s development over the last several weeks has been very
important for the team. J.T. Thompson has been the X-factor in helping Tech
win games. - Greenberg was very proud of Dorenzo Hudson’s game against Clemson. We got
a glimpse of some of the things he’s got potential to do. He’s got to work
on a few things. - A.D. Vassallo was selected Second Team All-ACC on Monday. He’s had a great
year. He rebounds the ball, he gets in the lane, etc. He has improved across
the board. - Hank Thorns has helped Tech win a lot of games. He helped them win both
Maryland games at the end. He makes great decisions. Like any player, he’s
going to make mistakes. He didn’t have his best game against Clemson, and
he’ll be the first to admit it. 
On
one play where it looked like Hank made a terrible decision and just threw
the ball to nobody, there was just a miscommunication on the court.
Greenberg called “Tug 2”. Hank heard “Tug,” but not the “2.”- NC State is a very talented team. They’ve probably lost some confidence at
this point. They’ve beaten some good teams, like Villanova. They’ve got a
lot of good players. Team chemistry and team trust can change how good you
can be. - Deron Washington has had a great second half of the season. He’s such a
versatile player. He can guard bigs and he can guard smalls. He does so many
things to give you a chance to win. He comes up with big plays. - When Deron committed to Virginia Tech, he bought into a program that was a
big, huge “if.” There was no sexiness to Virginia Tech basketball. There
were no packed houses. There was no television. No recent winning tradition. - On Wednesday, they will bring two groups of players into the gym in the
morning to shoot. Then they will board a bus at 1:30pm to go to Charlotte.
They will then practice for 55 minutes when they get to Charlotte. - Once the 2pm game is over, the team will reconvene and get to a gym and
have a walkthrough, and then go from there. - Assistant coaches J.J. Johnson and Ryan Odom work with the guards, while
Stacey Palmore and Greenberg himself work with the bigs. They all recruit,
scout, deal with academics, etc. The assistants have a lot of
responsibility. - David Jackson has done a great job with the strength and conditioning.
Bill Old is the operational guy and he does a great job. - Tech will first evaluate a recruit in the ninth or tenth grade. Then they
will do character checks, academic checks, etc. Right now, if you aren’t
getting commitments from juniors, then you are falling behind. - Only five of the past 14 #1 seeds have won the ACC tournament. Only 48% of
#1 seeds have won the tournament throughout history. - There are a lot of great matchups in the first round. Georgia Tech and
Virginia are playing very well right now. Florida State and Wake Forest will
put a lot of quickness on the court. - Jeff Allen was named Honorable Mention All-Defensive Team in the ACC. He
can steal the ball very well. He can post defense. He’s got to improve on
ball screens and perimeter defense. - Greenberg isn’t worried about the team bouncing back from the Clemson
game. They were ready to bounce back by the time the plane landed on Sunday
night. They are excited about the ACC tournament. - When you think about Miami, you think about chasing Jack McClinton off
stagger screens. You have to make him put the ball on the ground and go to
his right. He is much better going left. - Jimmy Graham and Dwayne Collins are great on the glass. Brian Asbury is a
very good defender. Ed Rios is playing well lately. - Ben McCauley of NC State is a tough matchup. He can score so well on the
inside, so you want to double team him, but he’s also the best passing big
man in the league. He passes so well out of double teams that you don’t want
to double team him. He’s a tough matchup.
Monday was Day 1,199 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the
Commonwealth Cup.
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