#24 R.P.I. Boise State  @ #168 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s hoops are hooping it Holiday up, down in Florida with some curious-looking made-for-telly ESPN Events Invitational match-up(s) looming.

The Hokies have drawn pretty highly thought of -if not surprisingly highly thought of- Boise State of Mountain West Conference fame. The Broncos checked in at: 2 up vs. 1 down and the down one was a familiar one. They are highly Mt.West picked by all my mags to be sure. Think: Top-2 straight across the board. They are a non-Ac.c. match-up in terms of style of play and in terms of Mt.West gone East young man terms. Nevertheless, what you wanna know is… who is gonna win and by how much; rights? So, read on… to find, out!

Boise State Head Coach: Leon Paul Rice: age=59, 268–155 (.634) overall, and at Boise.
Has a rep’ for, well, winning! And for being a bargain/steal.
$900,000.oo ($fiddyK in incentives)… makes you wonder… how long, until…

The winningest coach in Boise State men’s basketball history, Leon Rice has guided the Broncos to eight postseason appearances and 1o, 2o-win seasons in his 13 years at the helm. Entering the 2o23-23 season, Rice owns a career record of 268-155, including a 141-88 mark in conference games. Rice ranks second in Mountain West history in career victories and career conference victories, trailing only former San Diego State coach Steve Fisher in both categories.

In his first season, Rice led Boise State to the finals of the WAC tournament and to the semifinals of the College Basketball Invitational. He is the first Boise State head coach to win twenty games in two of his first three seasons and has twenty or more wins in nine of his twelve years. In 2o13, he guided the Broncos to their first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. In 2o15, he led the Broncos to their only Mountain West regular season championship, Boise State’s first conference title since 2oo8, and was named the MWC coach of the year. On February 13, 2o21, Rice became the winningest head coach in Boise State history with his 214th victory.

Did Eye mention he is their wins; leader, yet?

Previously an assistant coach at Gonzaga for eleven seasons, Rice was newly promoted head coach Mark Few’s first outside hire in July 1999. He is cited by Few as being instrumental to the Bulldogs’ current and past success. According to Few, Rice occasionally created stories about what opposing student sections were saying about Gonzaga star Adam Morrison in order to pump him up prior to games.

On May 5, 2o22, Coach Leon Rice was named as an assistant coach for Team USA and helped lead them to the 2022 FIBA Under-18 Americas Championship.

MOST unusually enuff… baller Rice has never worn a jock.

As he is one of the very few big whistles to have not run any ‘ball.

Go fig’ there?

Daddy Rice and his wife, Robin, have three sons: Brock, Max and Kade.

Bo.State at a glance:

• 6th best in Rebounding Margin overall!!! (19th and 37th on the: D & O-glass!)
• 12th best in Scoring D allowed!!!
• 1oth most fouls ‘whistled’ against!!! (hacky team here).
• 3oth best 3-point percentage allowed D!
• 44th most FT-makes per game! (Penetrating/physical team)!
• 3o1st most Swats/game! (Not real springy by-the-bye).
• 346th best 3-point percentage!!! (Internal team all the way).
• NO injuries were reported. YES ‘thx’ @Coach God!

Boise State Returning Starters=2*.

Boise State Strengths:

• * Chibuzo Agbo, is your G1 and he is an ex-of-Texas Tech. Good looking long Off-G at: 6′7″, 226 lbs. that are well-filled-in. Living his best career-year life so ’23 2-Guard far… as he’s nearly doubling his career output(s): at: a 1st-best 17.3 ppg with a surprising 2nd-best 5.3 rpg and 1 swipe. As ~46% long and ~55% from the floor butters a lotta 4th-year bread. Some list him as an S/F or three F.W.I.W. And he was a surprising **** or quad-start kid who 247Sports deigned to tab as 75th best in all the land! Kan’t say Eye’ma seeing that… though someone musta been. As Agbo had nice H.S. digits, kinda good… could splash it long… and beyond that? I’ma just undersold here. San Diego (city) Player of the Year in ’19 is nice. Rangy 40%’ish kid even at Tx.Tech. So, there is that… not a great FT-shooter; right at 61% for life. Was said to ’emerge’ to end last year for the Broncos… so, maybe those lofty recruiting rankings are 5×5 on this four-start after all? Maybe he and his game are on the come?
• * One #2 and a few say Mt.West 1st-best is… 6′8″, 237 lb., Juniorific, Tyson Degenhart. Who is your kinda/sorta P/F or big here. Or, the guy(s) below… as Boise has a lotta medium-big-men here.

  

  Anywho… this Tyson is a little chicken or rather his numbers are a bit clucked-up thus far this year. As Degenhart has more heart than this at least in historic terms. 12.0 ppg and 3.5 rpg have declined mo’ than a little bit. The 4o% dialing long-distance collects well enuff. As 1st-string All-Mountain West Conference is supposed to be doing mo’ than this. As this kid was the Apple of the St. of Washington’s eye to be sure… check it… Two-time Greater Spokane League Player of the Year; then named the Washington State Player of the Year as a senior by SBLive. That does not suck. Neither does averaging virtually 3o while carrying Mt. Spokane to their first WIAA 3A state championship game. That’s not half bad work for a kid with some H.S. offensive outburst tendencies. Lowercase *** guy and not V.H.T. (very highly touted) for any of it though. Lindy’s says that he is a: Mt.West Player of the Year candidate, and a ‘painter’ who does nice work down low in the post. 4o% from overall and no blocks yet make you wonder how springy he is? Does have nice wavy hair and textbook/clinic fundamentals on everything… tho’ something seems off here to me?
  Then I found these bent-break pho-togs and well, there you go… St.Olfa bless!

• O’Mar Stanley F 6′8″, 244 lb., by way of Chris MullinU (A.K.A.: St.John’s), is a ponytailed very long-locks baller from: Kansas then Montana and an AAAAAA or hexa-A all-state out in Montana look. Though, born in H’town Texas b4 any/all of that. After that he prepped at: (Missouri-based): Link Academy. A kinda newly sprung up prep factory that is now ranked nationally no.2! So, Mr. O’Mar has roamed far indeed, in spades (♠’s) even. As the hardwood itself goes… Stan’ goes for: a silver medal for the Broncos in: 12.0 ppg and in 5.o rpg alike. A 77% shooter tells you just how close he bunnies/putbacks shoots.  Seems to have come alive/developed on the recent Bo.State Canadian off-season tour, ‘eh’. This is NOT a Euro or imported flavored Four. This P/F is here to bump-n-grind. Kinda a Baltic Ave. man’s Rick Mahorn of sorts. As O’Mar will go physically far and sweat you on the inside. Very useful guy if you have one and a very disliked one when you do, not.

Boise State Weaknesses:

• Time. There are a lotta handsome pieces here, they need time as they are newly assembled, and some insiders have questioned their ‘fitness’ already. Juxtaposition Eye means… not S&C’ing.
• Post-season. The only nag’ coach Leo’ has is… he has not moved the Tourney needled much at all off of “E” itself.
• Maybe… how many basketballs do they have? As they have numerous need touches guys here.
• (Though most of this would be problems that the bottom-3oo of D-1 teams would love to have to be sure). Time=tell on fit and whatnot…

Bronco Corral: (depth=4 to 5)

Cam Martin F 6′7″, 236 lbs. is really good— and just as often, really dinged/dented up. This cam-shaft turns it from: Yukon, Okla. And he entirely looks like the flannel shirt or Brawny Towels part. One of the few kids who looks bigger/stronger than his listed digits upon break-tape. Cam broke in at: JAX.State of A-train fame (Artis Gilmore of S.A.Spurs, recall). Then he was off to being a mere: three-time MIAA Academic Honor Roll (2019-21) winner for little ole: Missouri Southern State. Where, he was only one of five: Bevo Francis Small College Basketball Player of the Year Finalists. Then he tried to come up to KU and Jayhawk it and there he stayed in the Training Room even mo’ so than in his nursing station past. Coach God Help. Still yet, Miss.So.State. right at: 24 ppg and 12 rpg on the lowercase tour-stops are bigtime numbers indeed. The contemporary Boise vitals of: 10.o ppg, a team-leading 8.o rpg, and a team-pacing 3.7 apg tell you just how I and how Q his floor-vision for B.S.U. can be.  Lindy’s is really high on this kid… who did get an NCAA bling (KU) during his four available games in 2 campaigns for them. This Cam is legit… when his health does hit. (And this is one kinda nice-trouble-looking nasty inked-out arm sleeve vanilla-ice looking Four to be sure).

RJ Keene, off-G 6′7″, 2o2 lb., 2-Guard as a r-soph who is your Swiss-Army pocket-knife or spork of an all-around reliever from the Bronco bullpen.  5.9 ppg with 2.5 apg and a dime dropped off the pine with 45% overall us well roundball rounded indeed. Sadly, has a history of shoulder hurts, (St.Christopher help), and yet he is further along than any of my preview mags had forecast. Good on him. : )

6′7″, 226 lbs. Andrew Meadow and his spaz cup-stacking glasses and his flowing/straight shoulder-length hirsute red locks are a lot. One could dare to opine they are quite the… spectacle. Easy guy to see/find for it to be sure. That, and -if anything- he may look mo’ parts Halloween than Cam does. FREE:  Camp Mohawk  “IT, JUST, DOESN’T, MATTER”!!! The 2.7 ppg are gravy when you roll all spazzed out like this one here. And that was enuff to get him previewed once I saw him on film.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Broncos who could bust @Tech=a handfull or so.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is…

…not to be too taken with much of anything in any foreign Gym game no.1

Do the shooters warm to the lines of sight and the lighting? Do they like or dislike the loose/tight rims or the spring in the floor here past the midway point in autumn itself?

How do they behave out on the road in the slight honky-tonk/cow-poke Sunshine State town?

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I don’t know ’cause the Pt.Guard1 in me knows that you never do. Well, not until game no.2 anywho…

That is where we will have a Kissimmee data point to evaluate. One. Singular. Solo.

Tho’ such is mo’ than we pre-game no.1 on Thanksgiving Eve ’23, knows…

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for an A.c.c. ask back here.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… VeeTee is up a useful-looking ~+6% in shooting percentage margin for the duration (all on O as the D’s were virtually even on medicine); Vah.Tech is up an even mo’ useful-looking +8% in 3-point percentage margin (’cause: B.S.U. better at 3-D and yet VT is even mo’ better at netting the same), and yet Bo.State is up ~+3 carroms in rebounding margin year-to-date. (Tech is not bad here, it is rather that the Broncos really kick that ‘glass. Very fibrous team here).

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… in shooting percentage margin, in 3-point percentage margin, and in rebounding margin… well they are saying: “Happy Turkey Day” and learn to count to s, i, x, b.street!

Armchair Pt.Guard’s:

VeeTee is a .ooo (o-1 Neutral; whereas Bo.State is .ooo (o-o) as a Swiss.
V.P.I. is up a whopping +12% at the charity stripe for the year!
Tho’, Bo.State is up +6 in R&R!

The Call...

No.35 Net Ranking  Boise State vs. no.118 Net Ranking Vah.Tech:

@Kissimmee, FL 2023-24 MBB ESPN Events Invitational!

The optics:

It’s a homecoming for Virginia Tech Shooting-Guard Hunter Cattoor, who’s from Orlando— get ’em hommie! With 265 baskets from 3-point range with the Hokies, Cattoor is three 3s away from setting the Virginia Tech career record. wow, wow, wow.

The game ball mag·num o·pus:

Boise State (2-1) has been on the East Coast since last weekend.

Where they were beaten by A.c.c. Klempson (68-84 to the ‘rong). Tho’ that was on 2,282.7 miles worth of East-by-So-East short-legs. This one is not… as they should be down wif the: East Coast is the Most Coast by now.

Also, although not an epic post-season coach… under Coach Rice, the Broncos have won multiple games in four of their last five appearances in multi-team events. This level of pressure seems to be his, thang.

–oOo–

The VerdicT:

So, Eye messed up… I had toyed with starting the Iowa State preview… then the mo’ and mo’ I previewed Boise State I started wondering if I should write the Iowa State preview for… them? (Kinda like my hooVa preview which has walked me back a step or three… tho’ I tangent and there goes that cart out in front of that horse yet again…)

’cause it finally occurred to me that: O.D.U. might be the next one to preview here.

As I was kinda taken aback by the varying/competing National Rankings of this Bo.State men’s hoops squadron??? I knew they were competitive, prolly kinda to pretty good…

…though most everything I read seemed to know mo’ Bo.State than that.

And as they say in Britain… “When 1o men tell you, you’re drunk; you had better lie down.”

🦃 <<<>>> 🏀 <<<>>> 🐎

Fair-play.

And though I’m not sure we do get chinned here?
I am officially no longer sure that we, don’t; either.

Bo.State is better than I had (initially) thought and they are not a good match-up as I had initially thought. Now you have to think… how will our crafty shooters do in a new, gym?

They pop-clean and we should too.

They chill outside out, and Bo.State has enuff inside to turn us, out.

 

(55% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=79, Boise State=73

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**