#318 R.P.I. Maryland Eastern Shore @ #49 R.P.I. Virginia Tech:

Virginia Tech basketball returns home after a 3-1 National Basketball Association ‘esque nine day roadie with just 1 L on the season. And that L coulda been a Dub-a-u. However, if my aunt Kim had nuts and a bolt she’d be my uncle Tim. Such is the domicile of the modern sporting realm.

The Hokies just played three pretty compelling and pretty tough opponents alike. Such is not the case this Wednesday night at 8:30pm down in the December chilling out New River Valley; let me assure you. As this Maryland Eastern Shore team is a lot of things and good is not one of them. Though they did break their win-column seal last time out vs. someone named Central Pennsylvania College, and yes, I did come up in the Keystone state and no, I have no idea what that school is west or even east of? As this one has trouncing, blowout, name that score and scrubs need P.T. too …written all over it.

Maryland Eastern Shore head coach: Bobby Collins (age=fiddy, 5o). Collins played collegiate basketball at Eastern Kentucky University from 1987 until 1991, earning All-Ohio Valley Conference Honorable Mention in his senior season as an off-G. Collins then campaigned a couple of seasons overseas in Finland before eventually becoming the head coach at Winston-Salem State University and later on at Hampton University; or basically working his way through the Historically Black College ranks. Collins did win the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year award and the The Ben Jobe National Coach of the Year award for a pretty sharp looking 2014 Maryland Eastern Shore debuting 18-15 season –the Hawks first soar above .5oo since 1993! (Such off of six wins in 2013) However, the honeymoon appears over after skidding to 10-22 last year and a 2o8-2o4 head coaching or average record overall. Although Coach Collins does court a 100% graduation rate at M.E.S.; proppers on that!

Maryland Eastern Shore at a glance:

• 336th in 3-ponit shooting allowed (41.2%)!
• 325th in scoring defense allowed (82.3 ppg)!
• 319th in offensive rebounding!
• 318th in defensive FG percentage allowed (48.o%)!
• 315th in offensive FG percentage (40.4%)!
• 312th in defensive rebounding!
• 3o2nd in scoring O (67.6 ppg)!
• do, you, see, a …trend?

Hawks Returning Starters=2 (now one with Brooks still out)

M.E.S. Strengths:

• Strengths being a relative term when you are 1-7 on the year.
• One #21, 6’6” 238 lb. knife-edge S/F Bakari Copeland does lead M.E.S. in scoring (14.1 ppg) and in rebounding (6.o) alike. So there is that. And after that there is, well, there is not much. Thus making Bakari is very sporting Kilgore Community College transferring find if you ask me. And he is prolly the one Hawk who would not get his A.c.c. wings clipped trying to at least crack Buzz’s rotational line-up. This is a strong looking, slashing, knifing good kid on tape | who just so happens to be marooned on a pretty bad squad. Does need a little shot-work at 42% overall and 26% from deep; although, this is a strong kid to cover out on the perimeter. And Copeland does get up on the offensive glass leading the Hawks in the same.

  

• Ryan Andino and Logan McIntosh both chip in with 13.5 and 11.3 ppg respectively. Ryan is a 6’2” 175 lb. bean-pole looking off-Guard in his third native Floridian year. Ryan is said to be the best overall defense(r) on the Hawks squad and he can flat out shoot the rock at 46.3% from beyond the arc. Logan is a 6’3” 180 lbs. Pt.Guard for M.E.S. Logan is primarily known to be a quarterback or a distributor as he does pace the Hawks with 5.6 apg, although the depth on his J is limited to 24% from downtown. More of a slash and pass type finisher –he is a Honor Roll student-athlete, so ups on that.
• 6’5” 195 lb. second year Swing Dontae Caldwell can rebound a bit as he is currently second in rebounding for the Hawks at 4.9 caroms; along with 3.4 ppg. The Northeast Oklahoma A&M transfer did put up some big scoring numbers in Jr.College though those outburst type games have yet to offensively binge upon the D-1 level.

M.E.S. Weaknesses:

• Turnovers have been a major bugbear for coach and Maryland Eastern Shore for a while; as much as M.E.S. finished third from last in turnovers last year in all of D-1.
• Having nearly 40 ppg gone from a former 2015-16, 10 win team is probably not  code for winning 11 or more in 2017.
• The Hawks had a heretofore not seen before 10 different team national rankings 300th or worse out of 346 current D-1 men’s squads.
• Former starting third-G, Amhad Brooks is a 6′ 180 lb. sophomore who has yet to return from (knee) injury last year (God Bless); and neither have his 7.6 ppg and 4 dimes (assists).
• …you do the maths.

Hawks Bench: (depth= 11 or 12, everyone plays)
The M.E.S. bench routinely empties itself most any given night. Whereto that is via rotational P.T. distribution design or merely a scoreboard response routing is hard to say. 6’7” 198 lb. Jr. Derrico Peck can rebound here and there (4.6 rpg) and 6’7” 200 lb. freshman year Tyler Jones net you some spot-up shooting at 41% from 3-ball land. Nevertheless, no Hawk tallies more than 5.1 ppg in relief and that tells you something itself.

Illation, conclusion (s) and OPT digits:

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is… legendary 1950’s-1970’s Name That Tune game-show type results for buzz and company; if they so wish.

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As Virginia Tech basketball can pretty much name whatever score they wish on Wednesday night. As Maryland Eastern Shore has been an extremely user-friendly club of late. Don’t believe me? Well, averages of 85 ppg allowed, on 52% shooting allowed overall and 44% allowed from range is about as user-friendly as it can get in your most recent five contests. You can believe in that and I have to believe that this is an O&M beat-down just waiting to happen.

Do observe that all three of those Maryland Eastern Shore defensive allowances trump the most recent five game opposite offensive metrics that Virginia Tech has been putting up. Or in other words Christmas comes early as this one is a box score and a stocking stuffier or stat inflating game alike.

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In point of fact, I’m even wondering if the Hokie back-ups could beat the Hawks starters –although maybe I should be wondering by just how much. As M.E.S. is a a flyweight looking team, what with only two guys above 200 lbs.!

Buzz and his Techster’s pretty much wax the Cassell floor with these Hawks in this one. Only debate is by how much as this impending walkover goes?

(% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=91, Maryland Eastern Shore=54

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**

V.A.D.A. approved