Note: this is an abbreviated version of the Tech Talk Live notes. I had a completed version ready to go, then accidentally closed Microsoft Word without saving the document. In order to still have time to write a column this afternoon, I don’t have time to go back and listen to the entire show again. Instead I wrote up an abbreviated version based off of memory. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Seth Greenberg
Defending Mike Scott will be critical. Victor Davila did a great job on him in the first meeting, but Davila probably isn’t going to play against UVA. Tony Bennett is getting Scott involved in different ways now, so it will be a different gameplan for the Hokies this time around. They have to defend Scott by committee.
Virginia Tech had a great practice on Monday, after taking Sunday off. Everyone left the gym feeling really good about themselves.
Greenberg was happy to see Dorenzo Hudson have a great moment on Saturday. Cadarian Raines gave the team great minutes. C.J. Barksdale really played well, despite being in a walking boot two days earlier.
The UVA game is about more than sweeping UVA. It’s about protecting the homecourt. It’s about building on what Tech has done for the last week and a half.
Zabian Dowdell has been great with Tech’s players behind the scenes since he returned to Blacksburg. Greenberg thinks he could be a good coach one day, as long as he can put up with all the knuckleheads involved in college basketball.
Besides defending Mike Scott, limiting Joe Harris will be key. Sammy Zeglinski is due to have a good game, but Greenberg hopes it’s not on Tuesday night.
UVA will pack their defense inside. The Hokies have to get the ball to the post early and quickly and work their offense from there.
Zabian Dowdell
The best thing about the college game was the college atmosphere. Dowdell realized once he left Tech exactly how much he enjoyed being around the fans and the Hokie Nation, as well as the atmosphere of college basketball in general.
The best thing about the NBA was the $150 per diem for being on the road. A 10-day road trip was worth a lot of money.
Dowdell’s favorite Virginia Tech moment was beating Duke on the road. His favorite NBA moment was playing extended minutes against the Clippers and scoring 14 points with 5 assists. That’s a moment he’ll never forget.
He and Jamon Gordon still keep in touch often. They are just as close now as they were when they were college roommates and teammates. Gordon is currently playing overseas in Turkey.
Dowdell noted that in high school he prided himself on playing harder than anyone else on the court. When he got to college, Seth Greenberg redefined what playing hard really means. Dowdell is trying to past that experience down to the current players, particularly the young ones. They have to understand that every loose ball and every possession are critical. Once they figure that out, they’ll be fine.
Dowdell had a knee injury over the summer that took longer than expected to heal. He came back to Blacksburg to train, and he should be 100% soon. He hopes to get another chance in the NBA. If not, he’ll head back overseas.
Monday was Day 2,641 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.
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Ahhhhh – the dreaded MS application “forgot to save” maneuver. I have done that before – now, I usually set my MS Applications to each “autosave” once every minute. The more boneheaded maneuver is to open an MS document received as an Outlook e-mail attachment and then edit that document without saving.
Thanks for your transparency, Chris!
Chris, ditto on scbeachhokie reply.
Also, I wish my memory was as good as yours appears to be!
It’s good for us outliers (meaning far away, not the Malcolm Gladwell definition) hear about guys like Z. He and Jamon were two of my favorites in 50 years of watching Tech round-ball.
It’s also refreshing to hear a guy like Chris admit he can make a bonehead computer mistake just like me!