Tech Talk Live Notes for 1/10/11

Tech Talk Live (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 Bull & Bones Brewhaus & Grill in Blacksburg.

• Virginia Tech will continue to play zone defense. They will play zones that fit their personnel, and zones that fit the opponent’s personnel. When you do a scouting report, you have to determine two things: what you are going to give, and what you are going to take away.
• North Carolina has some players who are shooting well from three-point range this year. They have guys who can make the open jumper. Dexter Strickland is really shooting the ball well, and so is Leslie McDonald. UNC’s interior players do a great job of getting to the offensive glass. UNC should be a top 20 team.
• On Saturday, 16 top 25 teams got beat. The BCS conferences aren’t as far ahead of the mid-majors as they once were. The ACC is taking heat this year, but they are still very comparable to the other power conferences. Greenberg is afraid that the ACC will be hurt on Selection Sunday by the perception that the league is weak.
• Across the board, you are going to see greater parity in college basketball. It’s going to come down to making shots, missing shots, turnaround games and things like that. Is the ACC down compared to when it was an eight-team league? Yes it is. Is it down compared to the rest of the BCS conferences? No it isn’t.
• Florida State has always played Duke well at home. Maryland played Duke very well on Sunday. FSU has size and athleticism, but they have to protect the basketball to have a chance to beat Duke.
• The greatest thing about Terrell Bell is that he plays within himself. He makes good decisions. He shoots open shots. He’s got to make his free throws. Greenberg expects his scoring average to go up as the season goes on.
• The hardest thing right now for Tech is that they can’t practice their transition game. They don’t have enough bodies, with much of the team being hurt.
• Tech needs to continue to celebrate the history of their program and keep bring former players back to games. It was good to see the members of the first ever team to play in Cassell Coliseum at the game on Saturday.
• Ty Garland played really well against Florida State. He is playing with better confidence and greater energy. If Greenberg could just get him to play with that same energy on the defensive end, those eight minutes would go up to 16 minutes. He’s learning how to play hard, but when the ball is in his hands he is very good. He did some things against FSU that were very encouraging. When the light bulb goes on, Garland is going to be very good.
• UNC is big and athletic. They have a lot of talent. They recruit excellent players. Dexter Strickland is playing very well right now, and Roy Williams uses his bench well. The Hokies have to get back on defense and keep the game in front of them. They have to defend Zeller early and not allow him to catch the ball deep in the post.
• Tech will take on Wake Forest on Saturday night. They are a very young team. Ari Stewart is a very talented player who can score. Greenberg really likes C.J. Harris a lot. They are learning a new system, and it will take time to understand. The Demon Deacons can score, but they turn the ball over a lot.
• The Hokies are playing solid basketball right now. Greenberg likes the team, and he likes their unselfishness. As long as they don’t get in foul trouble and use their timeouts wisely to keep players fresh, they have a chance to win games.

Monday was Day 2,235 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.