#184 R.P.I. Florida International @ #105 R.P.I. Virginia Tech
TV coverage: ESPNU and ESPN3
Tip-off: 6pm
Vegas line: VT is a 19.5 point favorite
o/u=140.5 total points
$-Line: VT is a 50:1 favorite, F.I.U. is a 1:25 underdog
Isiah Thomas, the one and only Detroit Piston bad-boy and one helluva a ball-handlier, passer, scorer and just one tough mug’ of a street-baller is now the head coach at Florida International.
A 19-44 head coach in just over two full seasons down at the impoverished step-child school in the metropolitan Miami area to the one and only “U”. A great and Hall of Game surname, with the associated great Association based connections and cachet, and a pretty good looking recruiter, or so it would appear thus far. However, can he (I.T.) coach (v)?
This is also a team that just upset the quality mid-major otherwise known as George Mason as a 12 point underdog last nite in overtime in Blacksburg VA. Which suggests to me that fatigue could be a factor after running for 45 minutes last nite on what basically amounts to 19 hours of rest coming into today.
F.I.U. is lead by all-Sun Conference quality high-flying #14 DeJaun Wright at the lead-Guard spot. Wright is a very feisty street scorer,
from guess where? Right near The Palace in Auburn Hills or the motorcity, the same as Isaiah Thomas his ownself? Yup, give that man a Piston cigar as Isiah Thomas has actually signed several handsome looking quasi blue-chip kinda recruits in his brief stint in at the other Miami college. Wright is a slash-n-burn 6`3“ 177 lb. senior penetration oriented lead-Guard in what pragmatically amounts to a 4-Guard offense for Coach I.T. Wright is a helluva a good rebounding Guard, as he lead the Golden Panthers –as if there is any other kinda of Panther- in rebounding last season which is most impressive for a non-frontcourt baller.. Not to mention leading the way in points as Mr. Wright went 54% from the floor and a sparkling 47% from downtown last year. So you know this kid can put the biscuit in the basket and seeing him getting into high single digits on FTA’s this evening is not outta the realm of possibility. That said, he did play the full 45 minutes last nite vs. G.Mason which brings tired legs into play for 6pm tip-off later on on Tuesday.
After Mr. Wright, F.I.U. has none other than Mr. Frederick and Mr. Chris Coleman (who has yet to play) upfront coming off the Golden Panther bench. Alright, so these two did not play any last nite, and 2 0utta 4 TSL.com Staffers really love these names. However, and thtat attempt at humor aside, the 6`8“ 250 lb. senior year Mr. Frederick did net 13 points and finish a close second in rebounding with 6.5 boards last year for Coach Thomas. Well, he would contribute that much and maybe more if he had not transferred to Texas Wesleyan this off-season. Joining stud incoming transfer Alex Legion who was dismissed from the school, and Antoine Watson who shockingly declared for early-entry into the N.B.A. Draft last year. Those seem like ballers who just wanna get away from their coach to you? Yah, me too, although Isiah did manage to ink Dominique Ferguson a wiry 6-9 210 lb. power-forward and 5`9“ 160 lb. Point-Guard Phil Taylor who went off on G.Mason last nite in overtime.
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Right now I.T. has F.I.U playing a sleepy or downright thin looking 7-man rotation despite signing a rather thick looking 5 man recruiting class this past spring –only one of which is contributing much of anything right now at this early-season stage mind you.
I.T. is getting some bench love from 7` 240 lb. Belgium true-Center Gilles Dierickx who if nothing else gives Coach I.T. some measure of size on the inside. After him all I.T. really has off the Golden Panther bench is Cameron Bell, which effectively gives coach I.T. a 5 guard rotation with one Power-Forward and one true-Center. A juxtaposed mismatch as player personnel goes if there ever was one. Beyond JuCo transfer and 6`6“ 210 lb. 2-guard/Swing combo Tola Akomolafe, I.T. has precious little in the way of size in his 5-man backcourt rotation. This should only aid and abet Hudson, Green, Brown and Eddie all of which range between 6`3“ and 6`7“ in height. Ditto the 6-8 Finney-Smith who might just be the best Hokie on the floor as a pure talent ceiling goes if the early returns are to be believed.
As best I can tell andwith limited footage of Florida International available, the Golden Panthers favor an up-tempo game at the expense of team defense. Yes, this F.I.U. squad will gamble and take risks and go for any and all steals. They are also no better than an average shooting team both from the floor and from range and average is generous at best. Finally, I caught a minor whiff of individuals putting the “me” into t,e,a,m at times from these Golden Panthers. And there still is the fact that a bunch of them elected to NOT play for I.T. this season for an assortment of varying reasons. Still yet, and all that to say, F.I.U will certainly be gunning for big bad A.c.c. VT tonite inside the Cassell Coliseum and feeling no pain whatsoever after upsetting Colonial Athletic Association frontrunner George Mason last nite. What has me hesitant a bit as my prognostication goes is the wonderment of I.T. has finally turned the corner down in Miami or if the Golden Panthers simply got lucky and cornered their prey on an off-nite from George Mason about 18 odd hours ago? I am sure that VT has an attractive and downright heighty size advantage everywhere less the waffle-head Center down in the paint. I’ll go with that, though this one just has a very oddball feeling to me right about now.
Virginia Tech=79, Florida International=66
“LET’S GO!”
“HOKIES!”
b’street