#5 R.P.I. Duke @ #117 R.P.I. Virginia Tech:
TV coverage: 7pm, ESPN2 and ESPN3
Vegas line: VT+8.5
o/u=136
$-line: VT is a 1:3.5 dog, Duke is a 4.4:1 fave
(26-5) Duke vs. now .5oo (16-16) Virginia Tech in what amounts to a play-in National Invitation Tournament game for Virginia Tech and a NC2A tournament seeding game for #6 ranked Duke who prolly needs to win the A.c.c. tournament proper to secure a #1 bracket overall.
Duke is the rightful favorite here vs. six men playing 30+ minutes and one guy playing 10 spot minutes to round out Seth and company’s rather thin looking 6.5 man rotation playing on testy 22 hour turnaround. Last nite epic games from Erick Green (24 points) and Hud’ (19 points) powered Virginia Tech to a downright gritty come from behind A.c.c. opening round win. Do they have another 43 odd points in them –as that is what it will take to put very highly touted Duke down?
Duke at a glance:
- 11th in scoring offense (78.7 ppg)
- 21st in 3-point makes per game (8.3)
- 24th in 3-point percentage (38.7%)
- 57th in turnovers per game (12.2)
- 231st in scoring defense allowed (69.1 ppg)
Conclusion(s), illation, OPT digits:
Sadly, I’m just not seeing enough petrol in the orange and maroon tank to pick this upset folks. Virginia Tech is a very very thin team right about now, damn near invisible and Duke is Duke at the end of the day.
Loading ...“What I kind of always tell our guys that first and foremost when you play Duke, you’ve got to understand that they’re going to draw a line in the sand each and every play, you’ve got to match their competitive spirit before you can even worry about playing basketball.” -Coach Seth Greenberg post Clemson-
I’ve learnt a couple of things regarding this Duke hoops team and regarding this Virginia Tech basketball union in the latent stages of this 2011-2012 regular season. First up I have learned that the onus or primacy of this Duke basketball team has shifted inside-out. This is now a backcourt heavy club who relies more and more on yet another Curry that got away and Mr. Rivers to get their on-court flow on. That’s all fine and dandy, when the outside shots are falling. However, the last time I checked outside J’s (jumpers) are longer shots and longer shots have more difficulty going in. That means that in a one and done format that a chilly night of shooting from range brings Duke within reach even for a lesser team like Virginia Tech. Or in other words, he who lives by the long-ball sword dies by the long-ball sword, eventually.
The other things I learned was from Cadarian Raines his own self last night. That was one confident looking team that I dare type flirted with a shiver of intimidation last night. There was a sequence in the second half where Cadarian was pointing at one of his teammates that told you all you needed to know. If you are fluent in body-language or so-called textbook meta-communicating; you just *knew* that Virginia Tech felt like there were gonna win vs. Clemson. As coach Paul Pasqualoni once opined, “…the hottest fire makes the strongest steel” and Virginia Tech showed some real mettle in last nights contest. That was indeed a borderline fiery never say die effort outta Seth and company that just had to make you proud.
As for this second-round A.c.c. tournament game proper … a couple of things leap out at me regarding this one men. First up is the fact that in some measure, Virginia Tech had played to the level of their competition all year long. Just ask the ‘Quse, U.N.C., france (whom we beat), Florida State and Duke. Virginia Tech lead in all of these games and gave all 5 nationally ranked opponents a fit. One could call that playing to the level of one’s competition indeed. That’s what Seth is talking about above. Competing on each and every single play and thereby giving your self the best possible chance to win. The key here is twofold, maintain contact and let the intrinsic noose-knot of pressure tighten around possible Final-4 candidate Duke’s neck. Secondly, the top-6 or 7 Hokies in our playing rotation need to do just that … play! The last thing they need is the always biased and likewise always bedeviling whistle to give Duke any and all benefit of the doubt. Virginia Tech must slow the pace; use timeouts to mitigate fatigue based spacing and just hang around and see where this one goes late. I for one suspect that Seth and company will do just that and make this contest rather interesting early on before running outta gasoline down the stretch.
Virginia Tech=6o, Duke=77
“LETS GO!”
“HOKIES!”
bourbonstreet**
Kelly not playing is huge – big match up problem for us, kills us inside and out as we have no one to cover him….
This is not a NIT play-in game for Tech. NCAA chances are very much alive as long as we win them all. What better way to screw the NCAA and the brackets as payback for the past 3 years! With us playing to the level of competition, it is not over until it is over!
Is Hippy Girl pointing at me? Hello! lol