Tech Talk Live Notes for 3/14/11

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

• Greenberg is really proud of what the team accomplished during the ACC
  Tournament. They showed a lot of toughness during the Florida State game.
• You don’t always get what you want. Greenberg told the team today that
  they did a great job, but he equated it to the economy. They got laid off,
  even though it wasn’t their fault. They still have a family to feed, and
  that means playing in the NIT. It might not be the job they want, but it’s
  the job they have.
• The players are about how you would expect them to be mentally. They shot
  on Monday, they’ll have a practice on Tuesday, and they hope to play well on
  Wednesday.
• The NIT isn’t about showing people that they deserved to be in the NCAA
  Tournament. It’s about playing basketball for Virginia Tech.
• Greenberg can’t explain why Virginia Tech didn’t get an invitation to the
  NCAA Tournament. The NCAA doesn’t give answers as to why they choose certain
  teams, and why they didn’t choose others. Tech just didn’t get enough votes
  from the committee.
• Greenberg is proud of what the team has accomplished. He’s proud of
  playing Kansas State, Penn State, Oklahoma State, UNLV and Purdue.
• The players competed really hard and they found ways to win some tough
  games. There are always going to be games where you don’t make shots or
  don’t play as well, but in the big picture the team really performed well.
• Greenberg and many others feel that the committee should make it more
  clear about what teams need to do to make the field. Sometimes it seems as
  if conference play doesn’t matter when you are in the ACC, but mid-major
  teams get credit for having good conference records. That doesn’t make any
  sense.
• Greenberg thinks the ACC needs to be marketed better. The Big East grew
  and became a super conference, and they get all the hype now. Things change
  in every aspect of society. The ACC needs to get back ahead of the curve. If
  you continually stay the same, you are probably going to fall behind.
• Next year the Hokies will host Kansas State and St. Bonaventure. They will
  also play Temple in the BB&T Classic. Virginia Tech will also take part
  in the Preseason NIT, not to mention the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. They will
  probably have one or two made for television games.
• Greenberg thinks the ACC needs to go to an 18-game schedule. That would
  improve everyone’s strength of schedule a bit.
• Everyone plays a Longwood, USC Upsate, etc. Every team needs a breather
  every now and then.
• The reality is that the Hokies won 11 ACC games this year including the
  ACC Tournament, and that wasn’t good enough, apparently.
• Greenberg doesn’t understand what “style of play” means to the
  committee. He would like for the committee to reveal what they consider a
  good “style of play”.
• Tech didn’t play well early against Florida State. The Hokies executed
  really well in the final 16 minutes, and they stayed in the game long enough
  to have a chance to win. They made a slight adjustment to how they were
  defending, and that helped.
• At the four minute mark, Erick Green was beating himself up. Greenberg
  looked in his eyes and told him that he was going to make a huge shot.
  That’s what happened. According to Leonard Hamilton, it took a lot of
  courage for Green to take that shot, because he was 1-of-12 from the field.
• Greenberg said the leader of the team is Erick Green. He played a really
  good game, but his shots weren’t falling. Greenberg has a lot of confidence
  in him. He gets a lot of freedom.
• When Jeff Allen got the big steal, Terrell Bell was at the top of the
  press, and Jeff Allen was there as well. That was two long-armed guys
  defending Michael Snaer, and Allen came up with the steal.
• Tech didn’t practice on Monday. The staff talked to the players about
  dealing with adversity and gave them DVD’s of the Bethune-Cookman scouting
  report. Students can get into the NIT for free on Wednesday night thanks to
  the university.
• Bethune-Cookman is a good team. They are athletic in the frontcourt and
  they will change defenses. They play at a deliberate pace. They won a lot of
  games this year.
• If the Hokies win, they’ll face Wichita State or Nebraska. Greenberg isn’t
  worried about those teams. He has to make sure Tech plays well on Wednesday.
  If the Hokies win, their second game will be on Saturday at 11am, according
  to Greenberg.
• Virginia Tech accomplished a lot this year, and they’ve had a lot of
  heroes. Manny Atkins played really well in the ACC Tournament. He was the
  difference in the FSU game. He has intangibles. He’s a tough guy and a
  winning player.
• Maryland won 19 games and didn’t even make the NIT. That tells you that
  there is something wrong. Greenberg talked to Gary Williams about it on
  Monday.
• This current senior class won more games than any senior class has ever
  won at Virginia Tech. That’s a great accomplishment. Those players have done
  a great job of advancing the program, and their legacy doesn’t have to be
  defined by the NCAA Tournament.

• Beth Dunkenberger resigned as women’s basketball coach on Monday. Had she
  not resigned, her contract would not have been extended.
• Virginia Tech will begin search for a replacement. They want a person who
  understands the environment at Virginia Tech. They want a person who can
  recruit and motivate young people, and who also focuses on academics.
• Beth Dunkenberger is a Hokie through and through, and that’s what makes it
  so difficult for her to leave. Weaver is sorry that it didn’t work out.
• UVA also has a women’s basketball coaching position open, and it’s
  possible that the two schools could have the same candidates at times.
  Weaver wants to complete the hiring process quickly, but they need to allow
  the process to work.
• Weaver told Greenberg that he hurts most for the players on the men’s
  team, and then he hurts for the coaching staff. The staff did a great job
  with the team this year.
• Weaver believes the Hokies should have been in the NCAA Tournament. The
  last two years have been really tough. When guys like Jay Bilas and Dick
  Vitale go off on the selection process, that helps Weaver know that
  something isn’t right.
• Tech was told last year their non-conference strength of schedule wasn’t
  up to par. They changed that this year, and they still didn’t get in.

Monday was Day 2,298 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.