The Hokie Hotline (football and basketball season)
When: Every Monday from 7:00-9:00 during football season, 7:00-8:00 during basketball season.
Where: Click here for a list of radio stations, and to find the link for listening to the show on the Internet (look to the right on the hokiesports.com page that loads when you click the link). You can see the show in person at Awful Arthur's in Blacksburg, and you can also watch the archive on hokietv.com.
Hokie Hotline Notes, sponsored by Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech
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Seth Greenberg
- Jeff Allen is a good kid who made a mistake. It's unfortunate. The
incident doesn't define who he is as a person. He's not an aggressive type
person. He's very laid back. He's a "big 'ole teddy bear." - Everybody just has to move on. They are supporting Allen. His teammates
are supporting him. - Everybody wants to overreact about Allen and the loss to Georgia Tech.
Georgia Tech is a good team. They played UNC and Kansas right down to the
wire. There is no reason to panic. UNC just lost to Maryland at home. Losses
happen in the ACC, especially with a bunch of freshmen. - VT did some good things in the second half. GT had 17 offensive rebounds
against UNC, but the Hokies outrebounded them. They executed much better on
offense. There are positives to take away from the game. - Duke basically plays four or five guards. They are all perimeter players
who can shoot from the outside. They have two point guards on the court.
They are a very difficult matchup for everybody. - Duke extends so much on defense that they don't allow you to run an
offense. So you space the court, move their players, and try to drive the
ball. - The Hokies have had a good playing style to attack Duke. They have a
pretty good idea of what they want to do. The biggest thing is matching
their intensity. They play harder than anybody. - There is absolutely no difference between the 2 and the 3 in Tech's
offense. It doesn't matter whether A.D. Vassallo is playing the 2 or the 3.
Greenberg gets a lot of emails about Vassallo. He made some bad decisions
against Georgia Tech, but people also need to give him credit for what he
did against Maryland and UVA. - You have to give Vassallo some freedom. He is the top scorer on the team
and has a scorer's mentality. He has done some good things and bad things,
but the good things far outweigh the bad. He is getting the other team's
best defender. He is a better ball-hander than Tech's other options. 
Three
times, Hank Thorns had trouble with the inbounds pass against Georgia Tech.
One was his fault. On one play, Allen didn't seal like he had been taught to
do. Thorns made the right read, but Allen didn't get the seal. On another,
the Hokies as a team just didn't screen well.- Who takes Jeff Allen's place depends on matchups. Lewis Witcher will have
a greater role against BC than he will against Duke. Witcher can guard Kyle
Singler, while Cheick Diakite probably can't. Cheick will guard Lance
Thomas. - Tech is messing around with playing Terrell Bell at the 4. Game planning
for Duke is so simple. You have to attack them in transition and get some
shots, and try to get them on their heels. - The team showed great character at UVA. They played great defense. They
really made a point of guarding UVA's role players. In the late part of the
game, Deron Washington guarded Singletary and did a great job. - Jamon Gordon emailed Seth after the Georgia Tech game. He watched the game
in Turkey. He was pretty upset that Matt Causey scored 30 points on the
Hokies. - Down by just 4 with seven minutes left in the first half, Jeff Allen got
in foul trouble and went to the bench. That's when the Hokies got in trouble
against Georgia Tech. - Malcolm Delaney took an elbow to the throat during the Georgia Tech game
from Cheick Diakite. They sat him out of practice, but he'll be fine. - Tech has three quick games. Duke on Thursday, Boston College on Saturday,
and Florida State on Tuesday. BC has a full week off to prepare for the
Hokies. - There are two things the ACC needs to do with their scheduling. First,
eliminate the Thursday-Saturday game, especially when you have to travel in
between. And finally, they should stagger the final two weekends of the
season so Senior Night can be on the weekend for everybody. Deron's Senior
Night will be on a Tuesday this year, and some family members can't make it. - Georgia Tech was not a trap game. Georgia Tech was an ACC game on the road
against a team that beat Notre Dame, and almost beat UNC and Kansas. This
isn't football, where you jump off a bridge after one loss. Half of the ACC
is 2-2 right now. - Gene
Swindle is a project, but he has very good hands and very good feet. Kendall
Durant is in the Jamon Gordon mold. He is big and physical at guard, and
a good on-ball defender. He is learning some point guard skills and a point
guard mentality in prep school this year. - Victor
Davila has a chance to be very special. He's 6-9, he's physical, and he
can step in right away and be a factor. - Tech had a rough day in Atlanta, but overall they have played very
consistent defense this year, considering they have a bunch of freshmen. - Terrell Bell has a chance to be a very good three-point shooter. Malcolm
Delaney is already very good. Dorenzo Hudson will get better once he
understands when to shoot it. - The technical on Greenberg on Saturday was for waving his hands. That very
rarely gets called, but it's the officials prerogative. - BC has a terrific freshman forward named Rakim Sanders. Tyrese Rice is as
good as any point guard in the ACC. They are a good team. - Cassell Coliseum has become a very difficult environment, and Greenberg is
very appreciative of the fans and boosters who make that possible. Len
Elmore says it's one of the loudest places he's ever done a game in.
Everybody should be ready to go on Thursday night.
Monday was Day 1,150 of Virginia Tech's continuous possession of the
Commonwealth Cup.