2010-11 Basketball Game Preview: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech

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• Date: Sunday, February 13, 2011
• Time: 1pm
• TV: Raycom/ACC Network  (check local listings)

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Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech met last month, with the Hokies turning the
ball over numerous times down the stretch and melting down, turning a back and
forth game into a 15-point win for the Yellow Jackets. Since then, Georgia Tech
has not won a basketball game, and they’ve lost one of their top players.

The Jackets have lost four in a row since beating the Hokies, and at 10-13
overall and 3-7 in league play, they don’t stand much of a chance of making a
postseason tournament. Their latest loss came last night at the hands of Florida
State, 72-63. Georgia Tech shot poorly, which has been normal for them this
year, except for the Virginia Tech game.

The Hokies can’t afford to lose this game. They can’t afford to get swept by
a team outside the RPI top 100. Their NCAA Tournament hopes depend on it.

Virginia Tech has lost four ACC games, and three of them have come by
three-points or less. The one game that wasn’t close was at Georgia Tech, 72-57,
and the Yellow Jackets turned a five-point game into a blowout over the final
few possessions because of sloppy Virginia Tech ball-handling and decision
making.

Point guard Iman Shumpert had a career game against Virginia Tech in the
first meeting. Shumpert was all over the court, scoring 22 points, grabbing 12
rebounds and dishing out 11 assists. He added 8 steals for a new
quadruple-double. The Yellow Jackets were the first team this year to have
success against Virginia Tech’s zone defense, and Shumpert was a big reason why.

Another reason why was Brian Oliver, who scored 28 points and was 4-of-9 from
three-point range. Oliver is an excellent shooter, but an inconsistent one.
Unfortunately for the Hokies, he was “on” during the first meeting.
Fortunately for the Hokies, Oliver will miss this Sunday’s game with a broken
thumb. His absence will make an already weak three-point shooting team an even
weaker one. As a team, the Jackets shoot just 28.1% from the outside. Iman
Shumpert’s one weakness is his outside shooting, and though Glen Rice, Jr. is
capable of knocking down open jumpers, the Yellow Jackets are probably the
weakest outside shooting team in the league with Oliver out of the lineup.

Thanks to Shumpert and Oliver, Georgia Tech obviously held a big advantage in
backcourt play in the first meeting. Erick Green and Malcolm Delaney combined to
go just 6-of-26 from the field, with Delaney committing eight turnovers. In
Cassell Coliseum, things should go better for the Hokies than they did during
last month’s trip to Atlanta.

Georgia Tech doesn’t have much depth, and they may only play seven or eight
players against the Hokies. Just like VT, they only have two post players.
However, the Hokies have a big advantage because both of Georgia Tech’s post
players are freshmen. Daniel Miller and Kammeon Holsey combined to score eight
points and grab five rebounds in the first meeting. Jeff Allen (18 points, 11
rebounds) and Victor Davila (13 points, 7 rebounds) completely outplayed them.

Besides the matchup issues, and Brian Oliver missing the game, the fact that
Georgia Tech is 0-7 on the road this year is a big factor. This team just
doesn’t play well away from Atlanta.

Many of those games were blowouts, and Georgia Tech’s average loss on the
road has come by almost 13 points. This has to be considered a major advantage
for Virginia Tech.

Virginia Tech also has an advantage in most of the major statistics in
conference play. The Yellow Jackets can’t shoot, particularly from the outside.
The Yellow Jackets are tops in the league in turnover margin, and that helped
them beat Virginia Tech in the first meeting. However, with Brian Oliver out of
this game, and Georgia Tech’s record on the road, the Hokies are the clear
favorite to win this game.