#338 R.P.I. Radford @ #220 R.P.I.
Virginia Tech: 

Virginia Tech men’s basketball opens the 2020-hopefully-2021 Regular Season @Home vs. the recently pretty dang competitive Radford Highlanders.

The Hokies host their fellow New River Valley D-1 men’s hoops squad Wednesday at high-noon on the A.c.c. Network Extra/ESPN3 thingy. Last season RU went 22 up and 11 down overall with a sparky 15-3 conference record over in the Big South. And then everyone nearly literally went-up and left. Seriously, there are gutted roster’s there are really gutted rosters, and then there is this year’s Radford men’s hoops basketball team’s roster. No joke. We get upset here or beat Klempson in football and Eye will eat these very words (LIVE) over in the sexxy TSL.com podcast studio. Tho’, you wanna know who is gonna win and by how much, right? Read on, to find… out!

Radford Head Coach: Michael Ray Jones: Age=55, 159–138 (.535) overall, and @Radford. Has a rep’ for recruiting and being a small-ball backcourt centric systemic coach.
With defensive toughness to boot.
$300,000.oo (did just get a raise + bonuses).

Baller Jones was a four-year standout at Howard, where he forged a connection with fellow Howard alumnus, Felton (’85), who he calls the biggest influence on his coaching career. Once Jones graduated with a degree in Zoology in 1990, he began his coaching career as a high school coach at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C. before moving to the collegiate ranks at his alma mater in 1994.

Jones’ father, Jimmy, was a star guard in the offensive-school RW&B balled A.B.A. from 1967-74. In 1974, Jimmy Jones signed with the Washington Bullets in the NBA, where he remained until 1977.

Coach J has three championships: Big South Tournament championship (2018) and 2 Big South regular season (2019, 2020) titles. Not bad.

To go with two awards: 2x Big South Coach of the Year (2018, 2020). Again, not bad.

With five post-season Tourney appearances in 9 Highlander years. Again, not half-bad, all Big South things fairly considered? Not at all.

Daddy J currently resides in the New River Valley with his wife, Dr. Sharon Blackwell Jones. The oldest of his two sons, Nate, was a member of the Bucknell men’s basketball team and his youngest son, Miles, is currently on the Radford men’s basketball team.

Radford at a glance: (last season):

• 38th in assist:turnover ratio.
• 44th in FG% O.
• 59th in rebounding margin.
• 65th in 3-point% O.
• 315th in blocks!
• 332nd in FT%!!!

Returning Starters=zip!

Radford Strengths:

• ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
• errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
• ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
• Sadly, if you are a visiting RU men’s hoopist? That’s about where this one is. As this team has very very very little back.
• Nearly next to nothing; literally.
• Eye suppose leading returning scorer: (poor Chyree Walker) and his 3.1 ppg as your de facto lowest-case alpha. At 6′5″, 200 sculpted r-Jr. lbs., Chyree is physical as a 2-Guard goes. Except he is forced to go as a lean-looking “3” here. Walker did start ½ a year up at Delaware prior to transferring to Radford. So, there was 3.9 ppg that. There was also 2.4 rpg that. And Chyree did net 23.8% of his three’s, which is better than 22.7%. And he also splashed home 35.5% of his FTA’s. Which is better than chippin’ all the paint, right? Scholastic Mr. Walker did get some track & field works; where he placed 2nd in the high jump as a junior in Maryland. So, I suppose he has some springs in his legs, right? Chyree was however named to the Big South All-Academic Team. WAR RU.edu!!! Gotta give him that round 10-9. And beyond that… Happy Thanksgiving to the Walker fam’.

  

• I did look for a frontcourter to write about… close as I gots is leftover Frontcourters: Jamal Burke a 6′10″, 240 lb. third-year P/F; and Lewis Djonkam a 6′9″ 245 lb. r-Jr. year true-C. They are big match-up wise. So, there is that… and then there are their collective okay enough digits. Returnee Djonkam did net you 2.8 ppg and 2.3 rpg last year in RU relief. Georgia Highlands transferee Burke did a little small school better as a Big, what with 8.3 ppg and a nifty mutual 8.3 rpg alike. All that on a useful 55% down low. So, this Burke’s Garden is you So.West.Va domer nearly via default.
• Dante Moses is a 6′4″, 190 lb. lead-G. Dante played two seasons of junior college basketball, one at Palm Beach State and one at Daytona State. Where Moses parted something for 13.7 ppg, 5.0 rpg, and 2.1 apg. During the 2019-2020 season at Daytona State Dante earned first-team all-conference honors. So that’s an encouragement. Though three teams in three seasons typically are, not.
• Third-year Shaquan Jules -in addition to courting a Pulp Fiction quality name and look, alike- is a 6′7″, 238 lb. authoritative looking S/F. Jules averaging 11.5 points and 5.4 rebounds for somewhere called: U.S.C.-Aiken. I suppose there is that… as Jules comes to work and he comes to hard work at that. Prolly something of a Y.M.C.A. lifer who gets pick-up picked first after he is RU finished-up.
• Coach’s son: Miles Jones apparently can shoot from range— and he is the only hoopster I’ve ever seen listed as: “ATH” (for: athlete); in lieu of a home-position on any basketball roster at any level of play. So, there is that too.
• Coach Mike his ownself said this week: “Jamal is the big-bodied athlete we needed in this class,” Jones said. “Shaq is an athletic forward reminiscent of some Radford greats.”
• So, there you go… although even if this myriad of transfers goes well? They are virtually at the origin (0, 0, 0) of coach Mike’s Learning and Experience-Curves alike.

Radford Weaknesses:

• Radford all-star caliber lead-G Carlik -grate name- Jones, who averaged 20.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.5 assists en route to being named the Big South Player of the Year, has entered the transfer portal. He is indeed a Louisville strength… that count? And frankly, he woulda been the alpha baller on the hardwood for either club in this one— had he and his triune arsenal of short, mid, and long-range firepower only, returned.
• Everyone is gone. Did Eye mention that yet?
• No shite. Like the Top-8 2019-2020 Highlander scorers. All. 100%. Gonzo!
• Gone with them is: right at 65-points, 28-boards, and 12-dimes.
• That’s 50% of the Top-8 who was draining 3’s at 37% or better.
• Ditto all 3 decent enuff small-conference Big-men.
• Tritto all less o.2 of a returning block.
• All 100% gone.
• Doneski.
• ☮️ut!

Highlander Bench: (depth=???, 2-4 I presume… tho’ which ones=?)

There are two guys south of 5′8″ here, that count?

There are not less than eight that’s (8) underclassmen here… that could 2023, count.

And beyond that?
You’d better manage TO’s (timeouts) and space your starters resting out as best you can.

Illation, conclusion(s) and OPT digits:

Number of Highlanders who could look up Tech's kilt=maybe 2'ish?

the takeaway:
The takeaway here is… Whiskey Tango Helen does Mike Young know about… fûtball?
(too, early?)

Well, either way, VeeTee men’s hoops was tabbed between 8th and 12th inside the All Coaching Conference by ESPN.com

In, hoops; Eye mean.
And if we do sniff up on 8th place?

---

That’s not that bad as second-year shakes go with such a dramatic change of big whistle just one year ago.

With no word yet from the looming shake-up over in the other O&M revenue sport.

***

Our handy-dandy friend the so-called Forum Guide of Graham Houston fame is calling for not much —check back next year more/less.

The annualized year-to-date vitals say that… in shooting percentage margin, in 3-point percentage margin, and in rebounding margin. Well, —they are saying the very debuting game(s) same.

The most recent 5-game metrics say that… in shooting percentage margin, in 3-point percentage margin and in rebounding margin. These too —are saying: see ^above^.

Nobody is up % at the charity stripe for the year.
Nobody is + in R&R.

VeeTee is a .ooo host; whereas Ru is .ooo as a guest.

The Call...

Radford sojourns 14.3-miles nor-by-nor-east for this one.

And Eye for one am hoping that the final margin of VicTory is larger than the triptix milage is this one. As Virginia Tech leads the series, 8-2. The last time the schools met was in 2017, a 95-68 Tech Triumph. Radford hasn’t beaten Virginia Tech since 2014.

And they have no detectable business beating V.Tech, here.

Not in men’s roundball anywho…

No. Net Ranking RU @ No. Net Ranking VeeTee
(TBA)

–oOo–

On the other side… “We are better,” Young said of his 2020-2021 team. “How much better, I’m not sure yet. I think we’re appreciably better because we’re bigger and stronger and can beat you in more ways.”

Only six players return from last season’s Hokies team.

Yet big whistle m.Young added four freshmen and four transfers, including 6′4″, 185 lb., Off-G, and final-year Cartier Diarra. Diarra netted 13.3 points last season for the K.State Wildcats on 30.5% long with 4.2 apg as well.

❓🏀❓

Or in other words… there are a lotta basketball unknowns on both sides here fiberglass-fans.
Both teams are either retooling/reloading or outright… rebuilding.

VeeTee should be a bit better off… nevertheless, properly gauging just how much in the 1-5 home-position needy traditional Point through Center system of coach Mike Young remains to be proven.

Still yet, it really is R.A.T.T. hard to pick the upset here.

And yet 2020 has already been Mohs Scale
pressure burst pipes upsetting, indeed!

Ergo, therefore, to Whit… here is hoping
fo’ an opening “makes Diamonds” straight flush.

With the hurrying Hokies pulling away in the
final 15-minutes of ball.

💯🏀💯

 

(92% confidence interval)
Virginia Tech=77, Radford=55

please support the VT F.C.A.!

“LETS GO!”

“Hokies!”

 bourbonstreet**