Tech Talk Live Notes for 3/7/11

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.

Seth Greenberg

• It’s a long day at the ACC Tournament when you have a 9pm game. Actually, Tech’s game probably won’t be until 9:30pm. The Hokies played a lot of 9pm games this year, so they should be fine, but the toughest part is sitting in the lockerroom and waiting for the 7pm game to end.
• Tech’s practices are very, very limited now. On Monday they went for 45 minutes and then film. On Tuesday they’ll practice for an hour and 15 minutes, and then get on the bus and go to Greensboro. In Greensboro they’ll practice for 55 minutes at the arena and they’ll do a walkthrough at the hotel.
• Greenberg’s biggest job right now is making sure his team’s tank is as full as it can possibly be. You’re flipping a coin. They need practice, but at this point they need legs more than anything.
• Prince Parker is still in a walking boot and can’t practice. He’s a mature guy, and he’s good with the other players.
• The players know exactly what’s going on with regards to the bubble, the brackets, etc. They have computers and they follow it. They also know they have to win games. It’s plain and simple. Tech won’t be in if they lose to Georgia Tech. Greenberg told them that after the Clemson game.
• Tech is a major bubble team. That’s a big improvement, considering they used to be a bubble team for the Big East Tournament. The players should be proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish. Greenberg told them to put their head up and be proud of what they’ve been able to do, because there are certain things that have happened over the last few years that they’ve had no control over. He wants them to walk into the Greensboro Coliseum feeling like winners.
• Life on the bubble affects a lot of different people, and you have to manage all of them. Before you’re a coach, you’re a parent and a husband.
• The Hokies certainly have a lot of company on the bubble this year. The bottom line is they have to win games.
• Georgia Tech is a very capable team. They have a great player in Iman Shumpert. He can make plays offensively, he’s a good rebounder and a great defender. They’ve switched to a matchup zone recently, and they’ve played better as a result.
• Georgia Tech will try to wear the Hokies down and get them in foul trouble. Greenberg doesn’t want to open in a zone defense, but sometimes he has to just to make sure certain guys can stay on the floor.
• Greenberg would like to have a scoreboard hanging from the ceiling in Cassell Coliseum. However, he’s not sure the ceiling would support the weight.
• The ACC isn’t as down as people think. It was a young league early in the year, and there have been a lot of injuries. But the ACC is a strong league, and a very competitive league.
• Greenberg wishes the NCAA gave coaches more criteria for NCAA Tournament selection before the season started. It would be nice to know exactly what the Selection Committee is looking for. Is strength of schedule the highest emphasis? RPI? Top 50 wins? It would benefit coaches when they are putting together schedules.
• The committee does have a very, very tough job. It’s going to be very difficult to seed teams this year, much less decide which bubble teams get in.
• To be successful in the ACC Tournament, the Hokies can’t be worried about all the static that is around them. This is a good team, and Greenberg told the players on Monday that they need to carry themselves like a good team. They have to trust each other, and trust their body of work so they can just go out and play. You can’t micromanage that game. You have to stay in the present.
• Greenberg has made personal tapes for each player showing their best plays all season. He also has a four minute team video that he will show the team, showing their best basketball of the year. He also went over three or four things with each player that he wants them to do better this coming week. One of Malcolm Delaney’s keys was moving more without the ball.
• On Tuesday Greenberg will have a handwritten note to each player, further reinforcing the things they need to do. It’s all about painting the picture of the things they need to do to be successful.
• For Tech to be good, Victor Davila has to be good. He has to run the court all the time, and he has to be more aggressive and attack more.
• Jeff Allen’s ankle is flaring up. He wasn’t able to practice on Monday, and he was really hurting in the second half of the Clemson game. He’ll be ready to go on Thursday night.
• The Hokies are going to have to play well to beat Georgia Tech. Their defense can really give you problems because of their traps. They have to keep Iman Shumpert out of the lane.
• If Tech wins on Thursday, they’ll face FSU. Their depth is insane. They are a really good team. Even without Chris Singleton, they are a really tall team. They have so many guys who can contribute, especially in the frontcourt.
• Greenberg is very proud of what the team has accomplished this year. Not many teams could lose four of their top eight or nine players and still win nine games in the ACC.

Monday was Day 2,291 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.