# R.P.I. Virginia Tech @ # R.P.I. NC.State:
TV coverage: Wednesday ESPN2, 7pm
Vegas line: State+4, O/U=136
I don’t know about you, yet I am pretty happy with what happened vs. Miami. Namely Virginia Tech won. Namely that Jeff Allen had his best game of the year this side of Florida State on top of that. Further, Jeff has had nine straight games of avoiding the scorers table holding up the red-5 hand card or avoiding the D.Q. Far out just how helpful Jeff can be when he is out on the court for 35.25 minutes on average since the middle of January. In that time span Jeff has been making a run at an N.B.A. second-round draft slot and he has upped his game and taken Virginia Tech along for the ride while he is at it. Also helping out up-front would be the heretofore somewhat quite V.D. or Victor Davila. 13 or more points per game in three of his last five to go along with 6-7 boards and a block per contest are what I’d call improving. Now mix in 6-8 points and the same number of rebounds from T.Bell and you suddenly have a vastly understaffed VT frontline that is inching closer and closer to giving you 30 points and 25 boards per night. That is code for saving my wiry boy MD-2o-2o and the likewise slender E.Green some wear and tear as we get closer and closer to a stretch run in Seth Greenberg’s parable of the season being “…a marathon, not a sprint.”
Up next however we catch the NC.State Wolfpac.
On the one hand, NC.State has won precisely one game since January the eightieth.
On the other hand NC.State has a blizzard of 6`8“ interchangeable guys who can play inside and this basketball game is out on the A.C.C. road.
Or in other words, this is yet another inter-league contest where anything can and prolly will happen.
NC.State at a glance:
- 58th in blocks per game (4.5)
- 66th in offensive rebounding
- 77th in turnovers per game (12.7)
- 302nd in 3-pointers made per game (4.7; State does not shoot from range very often)
#23, 6`8“ 255 lb. senior F, Tracy Smith (right) still leads the way down in Raleigh North Carolina with 15 points and per contest. That’s pretty decent work from the Motor-city native who has already missed 10 games this year after undergoing a-scope surgery to repair his right-knee in-season after the second game of the year vs East Carolina. Smith’s game remains more parts brute-force and less-parts finesse as his shooting range continues to be a bit limited by Pro standards for a slightly undersized forward who best projects as an N.B.A. four (P-F). For whatever reason (cue: J.Allen) Mr. Smith has only averaged 9 points per game vs. Virginia Tech and has never topped 13 points per contest vs. the Hokies in his entire career. Smith has been just a tad less explosive since he got back from the right-knee surgery and his rebounding has tailed off a bit of late as well. It would be real helpful if T.Smith could have one more off-night vs. Virginia Tech. (second leading scorer; and details, see below)
Also helping out up front as something of a very impoverished mans Blake Griffin would be S-F whirling dervish one #5 C.J. Leslie. C.J. is a 6`8“ 209 helicopter dunk just waiting to happen. In fact some are calling the McDonald’s all-American freshman the best recruit down in Raleigh since the days of David Thompson himself. Mr. Leslie is netting a springy 10 points while pulling down a team leading 7.4 rebounds per game. Because of the ferocious nature of his finishes C.J. leads State in FTA’s with 106; and likewise in blocks with 1.5 per game. Although his shooting line (FG%, FT% 3-point%) of 43%, 53%, and 23% could use some work. C.J. may be a bit wet behind the Wolfpac ears, and yet there is no doubting that this kid could turn out to be very special by the time March Madness of 2014 rolls around; if he sticks around for that long.
Also chipping in with double-digit scoring would be one #15 Scott Wood. Scott is a 6`6“ 170 lb. beanpole pure-shooting sophomore Swingman from Marion Indiana. Mr. Wood’s stroke is pure as evidenced by his team leading 44% from beyond the arc; Scott has also worked hard to add 15 lbs. of right-mass this off-season and as Florida State found out last year, when Scott gets hot (31 vs. F.S.U.) he is very tough to deal with. Not letting Scott get on track early is the key in this one as Scott has been a chilly 22% from the floor of late and is due to break out of his shooting funk.
Just below the double-digit scoring threshold would be one #2, freshman lead-G Lorenzo Brown, a 6`5“ 186 lb. who finally qualified and became eligible as a 2009 recruit just this year. Lo.Brown gives you 9.5 points and 3.3 assists which is good enough for second place on the team in dropping dimes, and Lo.Brown is also second best in 3-point% at 34% from downtown. The non-qualifying season from a year ago may have added some rust to Lo.Brown’s game, though it also allowed him to add nearly 20 lbs. of right-mass to his extremely thin looking frame. #1 Dick Howell is a muscular 6`8“ 269 lb. enforcer in his sophomore year out of Georgia. Howell has rallied smartly from last years knee injury and is now up to 8 points and a second best 7 boards per game in limited minutes (18) in order to preserve his trick knee. Howell has a bit of range himself as his 33% 3-point stroke indicates; pretty nice all-around skill set for a guy who looks more like a banger than anything else — something of a knock-off Anthony Mason if you will. #10 Javier Gonzalez is a 5`12“ 170 lb. senior leader of the Wolfpac from his starting Pt.G spot. Although many are anxious to see him back on the bench as he has never quite lived up to his much ballyhooed potential down in Raleigh. Gonzalez has been benched twice thus far as a State starter and his numbers a down just a bit this season. 5 points and 2 assists on miserable 34% shooting from the floor say so. Look for Mr. Gonzalez to say adios to his starting slot once again before this season is over. #0 DeShawn Painter is a Commonwealth escapee from Norfolk, Virginia. DeShawn is a true Center even if he is just a touch undersized at 6`9“ and 227 lbs. in his sophomore campaign. DeShawn chips in with 5 poins, 4 rebounds and a block in his 16 minutes of play off the Wolfpac bench. Making him more than just a serviceable sub’ at this stage of his A.C.C. career. #21 C.J. Williams is another Wolfpac player to go from the staring line to sitting down beside Coach Sidney Lowe on the State bench a time or two. At 6`6“ 218 lbs. Mr. Williams has decent enough size for a Wing, and his 5 points provide some pine-squad help to the Wolfpac, even if his game has dropped off from where it was last March. 7`1“ 238 lb. sophomore Center Jordan Vandenberg is an import baller from Melbourne Australia who is basically a shot-blocker and low-post defender and not much else as his offensive game is woefully underdeveloped.
- #12, 6`1“ 160 lb. freshman Pt.Guard Ryan Harrow is an 11 point per game scorer (second leading scorer) for the Wolfpac who
missed the last game vs. F.S.U. with the flu and is listed as “questionable” for Wednesday nights contest. Mr. Harrow was only the high school Player of the Year for the entire state of Georgia last season. He can and will put the biscuit in the basket and his A.C.C. leading 94% on FTA’s and his team leading 3.6 assists per night would be greatly missed if he can not give it a go.
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From what I’ve seen of NC.State this season, this is a pretty physical bunch and a pretty uneven bunch on top of that. It is very much within the realm of possibility that this is the most physical hoops team in the A.C.C. right now as the Wolfpac does not want for thumpers, bangers or guys afraid to body you up down inside. The elite or A+ version of NC.State likely wins this one in their own backyard where the Wolfpac has run up a shiny looking 9-2 mark down in Raleigh this season. The one thing I did notice in my strategic perusal of the Wolfpac is that they have not stepped up well in class this season. State’s best win this year is quite possibly vs. 11th place and A.C.C. cellar-dwelling Miami three games ago. Yes, Coach Lowe has beaten the teams he was supposed to beat; which is no bad thing; it’s just that the Wolfpac lack a good win thus far this campaign.
Our friend the Fourm Guide predicts a 14 point VT win which seems rather exaggerated out on the A.C.C. road to me. Although the fact that the Fourm Guide so definitively suggests a VT basketball win is rather encouraging in and of itself. State does have a +1 rest advantage over VT and that is my single greatest Hokie concern from here on out. i.e. tired O&M legs
State’s offense is in a bit of a funk of late, as the Wolfpac is only shooting 39% from the floor in their last give games. I like that, and I also like the fact that State is allowing a very user-friendly 49% from the floor over that same five game span. It would appear that we are catching NC.State at just the right time; and yet the A.C.C. road is only 20-30% proposition for a visitor in the last decade. I’ll side with the recent play trends and call for a minor VT victory even though I just do not trust the physical match-up advantages that the Wolfpac is likely to enjoy inside. I’ll hang my hat on the best player on the court (M.Delaney) somehow doing enough to eek out a Hokie triumph down in Raleigh.
Virginia Tech=67, NC.State=64
“LET’S GO!”
“HOKIES!”
b’street