#298 R.P.I.  Maine @ #47 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball kicks off a just missing out on being Nationally Ranked in both polls regular season Tuesday night.

The Hokies play host to the Maine Bears by way of the American East Conference way way up Nor-by-Nor-East ways. Or, 840-miles and a whopping 19:46 ride-time on a long-azz roadie for their bus trip estimates! Ouch, and Wowzah. Po’ Maine. As hoops just ain’t their thang. As the days of: Rufus Harris is long gone. (Although the Maine wimminz Bears are not ½-bad @hoops). Tho’ still yet, we gotta run this one and run these Bears plum ragged— or so you’d seriously have to think. Nevertheless, you wanna know who is gonna win and by how much, rights? So, read on… to find, out!

Maine Head Coach: Richard Barron: Age=52, 16–56 (.222) (men’s)
232–228 (.500) (women’s). Has a rep’ for worth-ethic.
$160,000 (5K in bonuses/year).

Richard Barron is an American basketball coach and the current head coach of the University of Maine men’s basketball team. Barron previously served as the head coach of Maine’s women’s basketball team from 2011 to 2017 before taking a leave of absence, due to medical issues. Barron is one of the few people to coach both a men’s and women’s basketball at the NCAA Division I level.

Barron got his start in coaching at the high school ranks at Providence Day School as an assistant boys’ varsity coach, while also working at the school as a science teacher. He entered college coaching as an assistant men’s basketball coach at Sewanee from 1993 to 1996 before taking over as the head women’s basketball coach for the Tigers. Barron compiled a 77–48 overall record with Sewanee, leading the school to its first-ever conference championship. He was then named the head women’s basketball coach at Princeton, where he posted a 71–91 overall record and led the Tigers to a share of the 2005–06 Ivy League title.

After Princeton, Barron became an associate head coach under Kim Mulkey at Baylor from 2007 to 2009 and spent 2009 to 2011 as a women’s basketball assistant at NC State.

Maine women’s basketball:
On May 10, 2011, Barron became the head women’s basketball coach at Maine, where he replaced Cindy Blodgett. In his time with the women’s program, Barron helped the Black Bears earn two America East women’s basketball regular-season titles, and two postseason appearances while earning America East Coach of the Year honors in 2015. For his efforts, he signed a four-year contract extension with the school in 2016.

In January 2017, Barron took a leave of absence from Maine due to illness (Coach God Bless) and was replaced on an interim basis by assistant coach Amy Vachon. Six months later, he had a successful craniotomy at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Barron returned to Maine as a Special Assistant to the Director of Athletics, in which he assisted with athletic department functions and fundraising, while Vachon continued to coach the women’s team on an interim basis.

Maine men’s basketball:
On March 2, 2018, Vachon was named the full-time women’s basketball coach at Maine, and Barron was named the men’s basketball coach, replacing Bob Walsh.
And Maine (men’s) hoops had been pretty suspect prior to all of this.
What with not mo’ than 9 wins tallied in nearly a decade.

NO personal bio’ info’ listed at all.
Godspeed on dat.

Maine at a glance:

• NO official stats here! (Due to missed/canceled games and seasonal opt-out).
• In the 9 they did play they averaged 52 ppg.
• 38% FGA’s.
• 31% on 3’s.
• …kinda a lower-tempo defensive club.
• NO injuries listed. (“THX” @Coach God!)

Returning Starters=4

Maine Strengths:

• Greatest Scrabble Points hoops team, ever?
  Seriously! “Can I buy 10-zillion vowels, here?”
• LeChaun DuHart is a Western Wyoming transfer lead-G. By way of: Cal State San Bernadino before dat. LeChaun leads the way at: 11 ppg with 2.2 rpg and 1.6 apg. This on 39.8% from the floor, with 61.9% on FTA’s and 38.5% from deep. As this is not a pure shooter so much as this is the best baller Maine courts who has to shoot outta offensive parsimony necessity. Lindy’s says that DuHart has some heart, what with his great handles, a tremendous pull-up jump-shot and that he is tenacious on the defensive end.

  

• 2o21-2o2o Team Captain: one, #10, (pic) Stephane Ingo (6′9″, 2oo lb., r-Jr.) by way of: Mississauga, AB, Ontario. Well, he’s about the only vaguely credible Post that the Bears growl. He is also Computer Engineering at Maine, where he has only logged in as: America East All-Academic selection! What with having posted a 3.663 GPA while double majoring in Computer Engineering and in Finance and Management!!! The rain falls mainely on his .edu, plane. As that’s as epic as it studiously gets. As hoops go, however, Mr. Ingo nets you about a second-best 11 ppg with a first-best nearly 8 rpg. Good thing for that double-major, ‘eh’? The book here literally reads: “Stephane is a very athletic, long post with tremendous upside. He is a great weak-side defender who blocks shots and rebounds. Steph has an emerging offensive game that includes great pick and roll and pick and pop actions as well as an excellent shooting touch.” From what I can see this kid is doing decently well as a worker-bee who drones on, and does have some kinetics in his favor. Needs to mix in a protein shake or three and he could be 3rd-string or so all-conference next year. As he really only needs a bit mo’ shooting on O.  As his 53.3% from the charity-stripe is pretty Masonic. Although 44% overall and 32% as a pretty raw big from downtown does give one hope. Neat kid, who could triple-double a CPU-repair-store near you. Tho’ the 2.8 bpg is a screen-saver, if you will. And oh, by the way… Lindy’s only named Mr. Ingo their Top Rebounder for the American East Conference!
• Adefolalrin Adetogun, G, 6′ 1″, 195 lbs., SO., Regina, SK
  LeChaun DuHart, G, 5′ 10″, 175 lbs., JR., Aurora, CO
  Chris Efretuei, C, 7′ 1″, SR., Abuja, Nigeria
  Kristians Feierbergs, F, 6′ 8″, FR., Riga, Latvia
  Peter Filipovity, F, 6′ 7″, SO., Belgrade, Serbia
  Sam Ihekwoaba, G, 6′ 5″, FR., Orlando, FL
  Byron Ireland0, G, 6′ 1″, FR., Annapolis, MD
  Maks Klanjscek, G, 6′ 4″, JR., Ljubljana, Slovenia
  Vukasin Masic, G, 6′ 5″, 195 lbs., SO., Belgrade, Serbia
  Milos Nenadic, F, 6′ 10″, FR., Kitchener, ON
  Novak Perovic, G, 6′ 7″,  FR., Belgrade, Serbia
  Matias Prock, G, 6′ 2″, 185 lbs., SO., Mclean, VA
  Ata Turgut, F, 6′ 9″, 220 lbs., SO., Ankara, Turkey
  Ja’Shonte Wright-Mcleish,  G, 6′ 4″, 185 lbs., JR., Montreal, MO
• #1Love!!!

Maine Weaknesses:

• Translators???
• I mean, there is Diversity, and then there is, Maine!
• FT-shooting, as four guys in their rotation, are 53.3% on (unguarded) 15′ set-shoots with 10-sec’s to shoot. (Ouch!)
• Maine does field just a little height— tho’ they are pretty light in the seat of the pants.

Bear Den: (depth=6 to 8 give/take)
As the Black Bears play a lotta guys traditionally here.

Adefolalrin Adetogun (6′1″, 195 lb.) back-up Pt.Guard is the best reservist I could find who came 2021-2022 back here. As the varying Maine rosters, I did look at, are all kinda outta sorts as seasonal agreement re: who is on this team goes…

…nevertheless, Adetogun gives you: 4.o ppg, with 3.o rpg with 1.6 apg as something of a Baltic Avenue’s man of a defensive-stopper. As he ain’t playing for his 16.7% shooting from range.

True-C, Chris Efretuei, a rising Sr. year 7′1″ by way of: Abuja, Nigeria is supposed to be some kind defensive/project typea truth. As this Louisiana Monroe transfer is a big get for the little ole Maine Black Bears. 4.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.24 blocks per game last year are okay enough as a frontcourt space-eater goes off the pine.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Bears who could cub @Tech=1.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is… the Hokies return three of five starters from last year’s team that finished 15-7 overall and 9-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

…meaning: this would be quite the upset if the Hokiebird got mainly beared on Tuesday night over in the now warming back up New River Valley.

---

One could dare to call it a grizzly, upset at that.

…as this would be worse than V.M.I. Radford and Nobody Alabama Whatever over the last decade or so give/take…

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for an ask back in a fortnight or three.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… we can ask next time for limited data points in shooting percentage margin, in 3-point percentage margin, and rebounding margin.

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… we should check back in six games for: in shooting percentage margin, 3-point percentage margin, and rebounding margin.

Virginia Tech was a 12-1 host; whereas Maine was 1-7 as a guest.
VT was up 13% at the charity stripe last year.
Both are tied in +0 in R&R.

The Call...

…in all candor?
The Hurrying Hokies can basically call their scoreboard shot in this one here…

As these Maine Black Bears appear to be pretty offensively docile,
if not outright tame, mind yah.

No.3o8 Net Ranking Maine @ no.48 Net Ranking Virginia Tech:

–oOo–

The Closer…

…not much to call here, so Eye’ll be gettin’ on to the next one…

…tho’ I can tell you this little… so; I ranked the opening opponents prior to Memphis, which has hoops Talent to spare and presents a formidable test.

Only one of them was even Top-8 in their given pre-season Conferencesorial Preview(s) that I studied. Only one of them had even one single solitary pre-season baller ranked 1st, 2nd, or 3rd string all-conference to boot. 

Meaning… not only did we find some pushovers… we found some pushovers in push-up, bras.

NOT, however, named the team in the 2-hole…
“⚓️’s away!!!”

’cause other than Middie that?

Coach Mike and Co. should splash a lotta shots @Home, here.

(98% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=79, Maine=47

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**