1) Keve Aluma vs. Kerry Blackshear.  Who’s better in your opinion? Or, maybe better stated, which one is the best in Mike Young’s system? IMO, Aluma has the better offensive game and is probably the better shot blocker. You could run the offense through Blackshear, and he was a great passer. – ONB Hokie

Chris Coleman: Great question.  There certainly are some similarities.  Blackshear was 6-10, 241, while Aluma is 6-9, 235.  Both guys are capable of stepping out and hitting the outside jumper with some regularity.  They are even similar athletically.  Neither is particularly explosive vertically, but I think both are good laterally (for the record, I think Aluma is the superior athlete overall).

As far as who is a better fit for Mike Young’s system, we know that Aluma certainly is a fit.  Since Blackshear is a similar athlete with a similar skillset, I think he would do just fine in the Mike Young offense as well.

I’m trying to find something that differentiates the two guys from each other.  I even looked at free throw shooting.  Blackshear was a career 73.1% free throw shooter, and Aluma is shooting 72.3% from the charity stripe at Tech this season, so those two numbers basically cancel each other out.  Blackshear averaged 7.5 rebounds per game as a redshirt junior at Virginia Tech, and Aluma is averaging 7.7 rebounds per game as a redshirt junior.  Blackshear shot 50.8% that last year at Tech, and Aluma is currently at 50.3%.

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