Our Hokies open their 2008 ACC mens hoops tourney at 2:30pm (approx time) vs. “The U”
the…down in PHNC-Fu, Ric Flair and Cal Brock’s backyard of Charlotte North Carolina.
We nearly made a strong(er) NC2A case vs. Klempson last time out, but came up 1 point on the
wrong end of the stick. Will that linger? Are our freshmen too young to know better? Could we see a freshman freeze in their first really major nationwide television exposure? In other words…who will win???
Our Hokies enter this game as the 41st best defensive FG% allowed team, and posting
nifty numbers on the glass, checking in at 48th in defensive rebounding, and 74th in offensive
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rebounding. Hence ACC Coach of the Year Seth Greenberg’s 1st ever positive rebounding margin at Virginia Tech. One of my pet motto’s is that there are only two things
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that can not go cold in hoops, defense and rebounding. Two other nice face-cards that we have to play are our very spry health and recently peaking play. But will all that be enough in the wild and wholly ACC??? Let’s look at some sugar and some nutrasweet Canes to find out.
- Miami is 21st in 3ball percentage, and 36th in FT%, so the Canes can net the rock
from range. - Miami is 40th in Blocks, but only 252 in Steals. That’s a defensive hint, they don’t take a lot of perimeter chances, but they will send you back when you go to the hoop.
- Miami is 42nd in Defensive FG% allowed.
- Miami is 35th on the offensive glass, and 68th on the defensive boards.
In other words, this early season ranked Canes hoops team is pretty dang good. In all candor,
I’d say they are the 4th best ACC hoops team, advancing them even over us. Miami plays
9 guys 15 minutes or more, so fatigue from yesterday might not be so big of a factor as it appears prima facie. The Canes are not the tallest tree in the woods, as they basically use no one above 6`9“, but when you consider their national ranking in Blocks,
that tells you a little something something about just how springy and athletic this Canes hoops squad truly is. “The U” is lead by Jr. guard Jacky McClinton (#33 on the right) who will compete for all-ACC honors next year, presuming he sticks around. Miami’s frontcourt is paced by King and Collins who are very reliable post players, if not spectacular ones.
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Therefore, to wit, ergo, gonna take a fine Hokie hoops game from a lot of true Freshman to put Miami down. I posted on the Mens Hoops MB that Miami was a very legit sleeper pick yesterday. I did not see a lot vs. State to cause me to deviate from that, well, expect the closer below. But I have seen that we hold a +14 rebounding margin edge in these two teams respective last 5 games, but MiaFla has nearly a 10% FT shooting edge over the same time frame.
But still, we are playing our best overall of the year, peaking at the right time if you will (props
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to SG for minding the throttle so well with such a young team). So we do have a shot. What
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I’m looking for in terms of O&M primacy need(s), is a solid start by our youngsters. I don’t wanna see a freshman-freeze early on in the bigtime ACC Tourney spotlite down in Charlotte. I don’t even require a major lead. I just wanna see us within 1 hoop or in the lead at the 10 minute mark. Give me that and I say we win, I’m gonna agree with Chris and call call for the VT win, mostly because of the Canes suspect shooting yesterday and the edge in rest that reads 4 days for VT, none for MiaFla, which should augment the above rebounding margin vital nicely. Virginia Tech 71 MiaFla 65 b’street
(per always, compete to win a free month of TSL Pass in the Official Prediction Thread right here)
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