#165 R.P.I. Oklahoma State vs. #36 R.P.I. Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball must be butter.

The Hokies are still on a roll! As we are surely a ‘basketball school’, now; and to opine anything else is to stir the Owens Dinning Hall, pot. As our offensive is feeling its flow and catching its catch-n-shoot sexxy. And we appear to have found some legit defensive elbow grease and at least some measure of back-boarding gumption. Although, there Eye go again… always putting the March Madness cart before the still Autumnal, horse. Now the Hurrying Hokies draw a pretty dang solid 6 up against 3 down Oklahoma State from the Big XII. These Cowboys are not a soft-touch folks. Kinda has a Big-X flavor to ’em as they do not just do the little things right; they do them, hard. Nevertheless, what you wanna know is… who is gonna win and by how much, rights? So, read on… to find, out!

Oklahoma State Head Coach: Michael Boynton Jr.: Age=4o, 93–76 (.55o) overall and –@OK.State. Has a rep’ for… defending, back-courting, and as an Ace Recruiter.
$3,000,000.oo

One, or hoops-Qb, Pt.Guard Baller Boynton, is a native of Brooklyn, New York. Where Boynton led his high school basketball team at Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School to the city semifinals and earned first-team All-New York City honors by averaging 15.o points, 4.o rebounds, and 11.o assists per game.

While a player for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks from 2ooo to 2oo4, Boynton made 129 three-pointers in 125 career games, finishing in the top ten in three-pointers made and fourth in career games played with the Gamecocks. Boynton and the Gamecocks made the 2oo4 NCAA Tournament. Boynton finished his playing career at South Carolina with a degree in African American Studies. Additionally, Boynton was also awarded the Southeastern Conference’s Community Service Post-Graduate Scholarship for his community service work.

Big Whistle Boynton got it poppin’ as his post-playing basketball career began as a graduate manager at Furman in 2oo4–o5. He then moved on to be an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina University from 2oo5 to 2oo7, before moving to Wofford College (South Carolina) for the 2oo7–o8 season as associate head coach. Boynton returned to Columbia for the 2oo8–o9 season as an assistant coach and stayed until 2o13. Boynton moved with fellow assistant Brad Underwood when the latter became the head coach at Stephen F. Austin State University, commencing with the 2o13–14 season. When Underwood accepted the head coaching position at Oklahoma State, Boynton moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma to serve as an assistant coach.

On March 24, 2o17, Boynton was named the 20th head coach of the Oklahoma State University men’s basketball team following Underwood’s departure for Illinois. In a shrewd tho’ said to be: “a perfectly legal move”, Boynton hired Cannen Cunningham in 2o19 as an assistant coach, as a means to get top recruit Cade Cunningham to sign with Oklahoma State before the 2o2o season. LOL, yah; and yets… OK.State got ruled ineligible from postseason play by the Kay.Cee (Kansas City) suits out in the NC2A H.Q. NTTAR(ight)WT.

“Let’s Work!” is his logo/slogan.

10 All-Big 12 Conference selections, the 2021-22 Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year (Moussa Cisse), and 15 Academic All-Big 12 team honorees do not suck. Neither does his self-described: “blue-color” mentality from a pretty dang colourful guy. (STRONG/intense communicator in-game, fun to sideline watch. Kinda their Buzzketball guy if you will). He even does a swaying/hugging sing-along with his ballers (when they win); post-game.

Eye say that in all candor… as he keeps a Race & Faith podcast on the d.l. (down-low) on the side and it surely draws fascist blue and red ’22 myspacebook.dumb.azz.me fire alike. Kinda a softer-spoken Chuckwagon (Barkley) or Dr. Harry Edwards. Sans a bit of caffeine… tho’ hommie ain’t dum’. That much is fo’ sho.

Boynton is married to said-to-be epic Sports Nutritionist Jenny Boynton.
They have one son and one daughter.
Boynton is a Christian.
Coach God Bless!

🏀☦️🏀

O.s.u. at a glance:

• 9th stingiest in FG-percentage D allowed!!!
• 2oth tallest in Swats!!
• 24th best in Rebounding Margin!! (BONUS: 46th on o-Glass!)
• 43rd best in 3-point-percentage D allowed!
• 289th best in 3-point-make-percentage O!
• 294th most Turnovers per game!
• NO injuries listed! (“THX” @Coach God).

Returning Starters=3

Oklahoma State Strengths:

• The budget he wangled out of (po’) OK.State. As there are staffs’, there are support staffs’ and then there is Coach Boy’s! 15-ballers and a whopping thirty, that’s (3o) guys (and gals) all put in supportive hardwood work here. wowow.
• (Lindy’s 2nd-string All-Big-8): One #0, the: 6′3″, 158 lb., Avery Anderson III, is your lead-G who technically pivots or runs things from the One. This is a lead-scoring Pt.Guard (12.6 ppg). Who also hauls you in 4.1 rpg, with a leading 3.o apg and a likewise team pacing 2.o spg. Not epic, tho’ downright steady or solid box-score stuffing straight across. The free-throwing however (88.6%) just does not mesh well with the lowercase 40.7% overall on a Shrinky-Dink-looking 17% long. As AAIII’s 3-ball has been nearly cut in ½ thus far this campaign. As said, Avery is a steady guy, in point of fact, his numbers have hardly moved any at all since his rookie year. Call that ‘capped or consistent at thy leisure. Insiders say that this “Mister Anderson” is ‘speedy and instinctive.’ He looks mo’ parts quick than Usain Bolt to me upon film study. Anywho… Avery was a **** recruit and peaking as the no. 102 overall recruit by 247Sports.com. Seems to (nearly) be more of a Combo-G at times to me. Sr. year baller who is still: ‘undeclared’ as majoring goes. Was a bit of an H.S. scoring One on the Point (literally, at ~25 ppg). Keeps a fresh little twist-top, prolly does she.me.a-okay. Highly experienced, and surprisingly durable to be such a mighty mite who could mix in a protein shake or three as a lead One too.
• Jr., 6′6″, 19o lb., Bryce Thompson, G, and Kalib Boone: a final-year combo-F, 6′9″, 198 lb. round out your major roundball contributions here. Shooting-G or Two, one Bryce Thompson is second in scoring for OK.State (11.3 ppg) and is one of the few even moderate 3-shooters for the Cowboys from downtown at 31.4% behind the arc. 52% from the charity stripe is a parsimonious 15′ set-shot look. This from: the Jayhawking (Kansas or Wilt Chamberlain U) transfer. As Bryce has more than doubled his taking, just not his making itself. Former ***** or at least an all-North American recruit, what with his no.19 (Rivals) and his seventh-highest rated OSU signee (ever), résumé.  Only won the Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Player of the Year following his junior and senior seasons, twice— and he won the 2o19 AAAAAA or hexa-A state championship. A mercurial kid, an inconsistent baller— seems like he could and prolly even ‘should’ be doing mo’ with more, here. Speaks French fluently and ‘oui-oui’, Bryce is your breakout or X-factor baller if/when he gets all kinda celestial with: “…stars, shine”.
  “Boooooooone” nets you: 9.6 ppg, he gets you: 5.4 rpg and he assists you with: 1.8 apg. Tho’ yet again the ~1 in 4 or 25% from 3-point land tend to land short or wide. Boone did muddle through several leg dings/dents early on in his collegiate career (Coach God help); so, we will give him a bit mo’ room here. Tho’ yet again… this is another ‘inconsistent’ looking baller. Does shot or jam a lot near the rack (5o.7%) and has led O.S.U. in dunks itself for the last two slamming seasons. This is from the alpha (#1) statewide (OK) baller who was the No. 98 overall recruit by both ESPN and 247Sports.com alike. Again, mo’ was/is prolly expected here. Twin bro’ (Kaylen, 10.5 ppg, and 6.5 rpg) kicked Pacific (University) Coast Highway rocks and left for the left-coast in the off-season. As identical bro’s splitting up is not a good looksee for this getting a lotta NCAA looks program.

  

• (see: pic): double-three (#33) Third-year, Four; (Lindy’s Defensive Player of the Year Big-8): or big-ole: Moussa Cissé, P/F, goes a whopping: 7′2″, and yet a not as whopping: 214 lbs. He is a springy guy for it -as you might suspect- what with a team-leasing 10.8 ppg and the near Big-8 Gold Medal with 3.3 bpg to boot. “Mooooousssa” nets you 8.4 ppg on garbage or bunny/putbacks near the nearly ≅6o% overall rack. The masonic or bricky-looking 36.4% on FTA’s chips a lotta orange-paint and points the finger at who to foul late in the game. That said, this kid is a little bit John ‘spider’ Sally -esque on tape. And there are worse things you can say about a glorified role-player of sorts. While you are at it, you could also say that Mr. Cissé is also a Conakry, Guinea native; (West African coast). You could say he started every game for Memphis two years back (32.4% FT percentage over in Tennessee). You could say that he was named Tennessee’s Mr. Basketball (Division II-A) in his lone season in the Volunteer State after transferring from Middle Village, New York, where he led Christ the King Regional High School to the NYSFSSA state title game. This after having been discovered per se over in a Nike Hoop Summit and the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders Global Cam camp. Where Moussa made an exit-strategy name for himself above the rim and on the defensive end; the Association Combine will love his measurables: size 19.25 shoes in support of his Jurassic-looking 7-foot, 4.5-inch wingspan. Metrics he gots… WoW! Back-strong, strapping kid up top on film. As in hopefully, this kid merits an international roundball paycheck somewhere someday. And this kid will be a tough match-up for our given offender when we have the rock.

Oklahoma State Weaknesses:

• Oddly enuff, to have a backcourt pedigree his ownself, Coach Boy’s teams do not field a shooting rep’ themselves. (As both floor and 3-pointer percentages seem to lag here historically).
• Additionally, there are lingering/unresolved NCAA snooping whispers out in Stillwater. Time=tell where this one goes and how soft (or not) this one, lands…
• LEAN-mass team. With the coach’s wife in charge of eats… you would have to think this lean of a B.M.I. is via O.S.U. Home ec’ design. They should run/pace well; tho’ you gotta wonder how physical these many middleweights can be?

Cowpoke Coral: (depth=4 to 5’ish)

Caleb Asberry, is an off-G, who stands in at: 6′3″, and tips the Toledo’s at: 165 r-Senior season lbs. Again, not exactly a Heavyweight looking squad, is it? Anywho… Asberry is a: 7.9 ppg with 2.8 rpg on 1.8 apg relief backcourter for O.S.U. who leads the Cowboy way, per corralling nearly ≈37% from behind the arc. Last year this transfer G was named a two-time All-Sun Belt (2021: Third Team, 2022: First Team) performer. As he performed up to 14 ppg and change for Texas State; where he also collected his u.grad degree. Prior to that Caleb knocked down 1o.4 ppg for little ole Ranger College. So, this kid has gone George Jefferson and cleaned his way up. Prolly not the kind you wanna bet against in the Game of Life. Lightly recited kid out in Texas, who done come-up ‘bigger’ than anyone career expected. Seems a bit hardened or streety at times on tape. Played S/F or the Three for Tx.State. Again, does not seem a soft-touch to me. Did net 42% deep last year for Texas.St. to boot.

6′9″, 217 lb., r-Junior year Tyreek Smith… is your primary beta or substitute frontcourter here. Ty’ drops you 7.3 ppg with 4.2 rpg and a swat. All on a next-door neighbor to the hoop 74.4% so far this year. Two-handed dunking leaper… for Texas Tech (previously) and Ok.State (presently). Grinder, worker-bee in the paint. Will do the dirty work and if need be, enforce the same. Has a penchant for timely or LeBron James game-saving blocks. Academic All-Big 12 Conference never sucks. According to Rivals, Smith was the No. 1o4 ranked player in the nation and a four-star talent when he signed with Texas Tech. Has had a bit of a physically beat-up career (Godspeed), what with being forced to take a medical-r-shirt year at Texas Tech. Did excel on the AAU circuit post-high school which really lifted his post-game, up. (UPDATE: …HAWT like the damn Sun of late… see: below)!

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Cowboys who could Ag.Shool @Tech=4 to 6, 'pends who you ask.

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is…

… presuming Ok.State and their at least slightly throwing shade head coach do not get taken away to the hoops hoosgow?

This is a pretty fair-to-middling basketball team men; a post-season one for sure.

And it would be a lot mo’ than that if/when their little-O ever does pop, clean.

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As these Cowboys will bum-rush and steer you as best they can into their slower/lower-tempo game, and fugly the game up just the same. Again, if you let them. And if you do let them, dum’ on you for playing a shoulder-punching contest with them.

Or to put it another way… if you ask me -and you did via reading these very words- if you ask me, Ok.State could and possibly would bully Dayton and rodeo ’em down on the mat itself.

As this is one of the more impoverished possession-based teams we will see this season.

However, it is also one of the nastier D teams we must combat just the same.

 ***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for a couple of weeks to ask back.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… curiously enuff, Ok.State is actually up nearly +2% in shooting percentage margin (from: VeeTee is indeed very efficacious on O, although Ok.State is even saltier on D); with VeeTee up a modest +2% in 3-point percentage margin (per: Ok.State was actually positive in margin terms, tho’ VeeTee was twice as positive with superior marksmanship long-range), and yet Ok.State is up a noticeable +7 caroms in rebounding margin in annual terms. (Due to: VeeTee is better than average off the fiberglass (+3); although, Ok.State is straight Gunsmoke at the Ponderosa when anyone misfires).

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… nearly shockingly enuff, the Cowboys are now up +5% in shooting percentage margin (both teams’ are positive, it is just that OSU is playing some nasty D and shooting a mite better of late alike); the Cowpokes are also up a decent looking +3% in 3-point percentage margin (same as the overall percentage, OSU is defending and shooting 3’s a little better recently alike), and the C.Boys are now up a noticeable +7 Windex Wipes off the glass in rebounding margin in the last fortnight of play. (the Gobblers are a little better off the backboard in the last couple of weeks, although OSU is pretty close to straight inhaling misses and seriously gathering the same to themselves since Thanksgiving).

Armchair Pt.Guard’s:

Homesteading gone Vagabon 1o1:
As a scholastic Sr., at Edmond Memorial in Oklahoma, Sean Pedulla’s college decision came down to the school 50 minutes from his home — Oklahoma State — or Vah.Tech.

Pedulla opted for Tech and hasn’t looked back. The sophomore leads the Hokies in scoring (17.o points per game) and assists (3.8) heading into a game he has circled on his calendar: Virginia Tech (9-1) takes on Oklahoma State (6-3) in the Hall of Fame Invitational on Sunday in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Likewise… this will be a homecoming for Chief Boynton, a Crooklyn native who played just blocks away from Barclays Center at Bishop Loughlin High.

🚓 5⃣-🔵 🚔

ViTals:
VeeTee ranks No. 5 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio!
26th in shooting percentage overall. (51st in FT%). (116th on 3’s %).
And a pretty solid 86th best off the defensive glass (quite a betterment of late here).

Tech jus’ handed the Flyers their worst defeat in seven years.

Kan’t Cowboy-Up, miss!
(Junior, 6′9″, 217 lbs.); Tyreek Smith, has made 20 of his last 23 shots; ≈87%, wowow!

VeeTee is a .667 Swiss; whereas Ok.State is .5oo as a Neutral.
V.P.I. is up an okay +5% at the charity stripe for the year.
Ok.State is up +5 in R&R of late.

The Call…

No.5o Net Ranking Oklahoma State vs. no.36 Net Ranking Virginia Tech:

A mere 2-shots removed from year-hyphen-one or 7-1 is Oklahoma State folks.

As one OT (overtime) and one single-shot L later is all that separates them from being 8 up against 1 down.

And if my Aunt Kim had nutz-n-a-bolt she’d be my Uncle, Tim; just the same.

1, 2, 📋, 4, 5

As this is a hardway team men.

Hard on D, hard off the backboard; and if Ok.State could ever shoot straight they would figure-8 the always offensively soft old-school Big-8.

–oOo–

A.c.c.ordingly… as the late great Miles Lane would have us all say…

“…styles make fights.“

And we had best mind our O&M style-point pints and courts here.

As both teams are peaking of late; tho’ State may be mo’ peaked if you will.

The closer…

So, my very initial 1st-mover inclination upon scouting Ok.State was… could they generate enuff points to keep up with the O&M Joneses?

Then, Eye studied their D and their size and their Brobdingnagian Post-length. As football -and the wimminz species- are *the* ultimate game(s) of inches that is best measured in centimeters indeed.

Nevertheless, Ok.State’s skyscrapers should be proverbially right at home, 496 miles Nor-by-Nor-East up in Gotham.

In other words… of the recent towering inferno squadrons, we have faced?
This is the only one we will not have faced @home inside of our very own, Cassell.
As this is our O.O.C. (out-of-conference) Final(s) with Fall Semester exams shadowing both clubs.

So, to me?
That puts this vassal in deeper post-play, peril.

As you’d have to think we shoot less good out on the road than in the 24o6o.

And lassoing these Cowboys here would make ‘hop’, “sing”, indeed!

💯

 

(55% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=68, Oklahoma State =69

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**