Squatro

He was on the scouting reports. He didn’t get much time to shoot.

I don’t know how much TSL is paying you to be the heart and soul of this message board. But I’m sure it’s not enough. I would highly recommend that you check out the transfer portal. I hear that many ACC message boards are looking to upgrade, apparently UVA has three times as much money as we do. However, I do think you are a good fit in this system, though it’s harder to learn than what most boards run. Perhaps you shouldp divvy up the responses and go to a zone instead of this relentless man to man.

Averaged over 17 points and over 10 rebounds. I think made several All-Star teams. Tell me in what ways he is better than Cameron Boozer.

One reason ACC teams wash out in the big dance. Veteran refs know the fans want ongoing play. Maybe go too far with it?

I think he is what he is. He could develop an outside shot. As a stretch 5 he’d be a bigger asset.

24 points at the half and playing very good defense. He is number one in the NBA in increase in PPG this year, over 10 points per game. More than three points better than anyone else. It’s really fun to watch him play. I know I never thought he would be this good. He is a true testament to hard work. ** Edited by Squatro at 3/16/2026, 8:18:29 PM

How many people attended our last NIT home game? And how much money did we make, or lose, by being in the NIT? I imagine the numbers are pretty insignificant, or people in the administration would be voicing opinions. If we stand to make seven figures, then we should play. ** Edited by Squatro at 3/16/2026, 1:17:05 PM

It appears the team values doing well in the ACC and making the NCAA tournament. They don’t value being in the NIT. Personally, I agree with that. Clearly, lots of our fans, maybe most of our fans, feel differently. If they don’t see any value to the NIT, then they are just risking their health unnecessarily. I don’t think they have any obligation to play, they did not “sign up“ for it. Whereas, I think they did sign up to play the full schedule and the NCAA tournament, if possible. For those of you who would like to see them in the NIT, I’m sure you are disappointed. I think we are all disappointed about how this season went, I think we all expected more. But I don’t think anyone should be castigated for rejecting the NIT.

Remember what you were like freshman year in college, compared to your first or second year in a real job? Sounds to me like the NBA scouts are thinking that by the time he’s 23, Neo will be a better player than DeRidder. ** Edited by Squatro at 3/14/2026, 8:41:30 AM

And they did not want to play. And there probably is no upside for the program either. So they should play just because the fans want to watch them? And not all of the fans are interested, I would not be.

The shot making was stunning. I think they would beat anybody in the ACC except Duke by double digits. On a sidenote, what a bummer that Caleb Wilson got hurt. What an exciting player! And seemingly a fine young man. Reminds me a lot of Len Bias, in terms of athleticism and shot making. ** Edited by Squatro at 3/14/2026, 7:40:24 AM

Without having a single NBA caliber talent? OK, so you can blame his recruiting.

Did you think Mike Young was a really good coach? I did. Do you think he should be replaced now? Is it because the game passed him by? Or he forgot how to coach that well? Or maybe it has more to do with the players… BTW, I doubt that anyone on that roster would’ve cracked the rotation at Duke or UNC. ** Edited by Squatro at 3/11/2026, 2:03:40 PM

If the jury was out on Scheyer, I don’t think it should be any more. They have unbelievable talent, but they also play hard and play together. They might be the favorites for national championship.

I think he can, he has good hands. If he could be a pick and pop, stretch five, that would do a lot. ** Edited by Squatro at 2/26/2026, 12:24:32 PM

I can’t imagine there’s anyone who ever played a sport that doesn’t realize how much he wants to come back and play.

And the ones that do, don’t do it for very long. I think we should’ve adjusted earlier and double teams Donaldson off the screens. Sure that would leave somebody open for a second, but he was just killing us. And I don’t know what Tobi was thinking when he ran out body checked him instead of playing solid defense. I think he had a “little rush to the head“, as they say.

A rim protector. The top teams all have a giant in the middle who can block shots and collect more rebounds. Look at Duke, Carolina, UVA, even Florida State had an excellent big. The next biggest deficiency is not having elite athletes like many of these teams. In general, we have very skilled players, but we don’t match up in size and quickness against the top teams. We do have good athletes, but not enough elite athletes.

I think he’s the best official in the country

Borderline fouls. Which they almost never call.

My guess is you don’t watch much NBA basketball. If European players were ever not physical, it’s certainly not true anymore and hasn’t been for a long time.

If we have no inside game, then the other team can really guard the perimeter.

I did a little research on ChatGPT Estimated answer: average games lost by top 8 players Typical NCAA Division I men’s basketball team: • ≈ 30–40 games missed per season among top 8 players • Equivalent to: • ~4–5 games missed per player per season on average • Usually concentrated in 1–3 players with moderate injuries There was a lot more data there as well, but this is the gist of it. I don’t think VT is much above that total. You have to expect injuries and try to plan for them. That being said, I wonder how much injuries have hampered Neo. And I do miss watching Tyler Johnson play.

Or, not being ready to play. What I saw was, we could not score inside. They were able to guard Hansbury and Lawal one on one and not have to help. And they switched everything on the perimeter so we couldn’t get good looks at threes. They made a nice adjustment to do this at halftime. Consequently, we could not score. On the offensive end, they overpowered us one on one. And they shot the lights out despite being guarded pretty well. There were lots of isolations on both ends of the floor. They won theirs. We lost ours. That is a very good team, they played better than anyone we have played all year that isn’t named Duke. I have no idea how they were so bad earlier in the season. Their coach obviously figured things out, which is not surprising given his NBA experience. It was a bad matchup for us, they were bigger and/or quicker at every position. Unlike Clemson. Or SMU or Syracuse. We simply have to get some better athletes. We have some very skilled players, but we need bigger, quicker people. That may not be achievable at Virginia Tech.

That is worth an a cumulative $9.3 million over three years. What if he can play his way up to 15th next year , that’s worth a cumulative $15 million over three years. I’m not sure that it’s a no-brainer for him to come out this year. ** Edited by Squatro at 2/14/2026, 1:03:05 PM

Seems like he just needs playing time to gain confidence and composure. Am I wrong?

It’s really a lot more about how way you run your offense to get good shots. We executed very well tonight. Clemson is a better matchup for us than really quick teams like NC State or Louisville. Neo played well, but he still missed two wide open threes. At some point, those shots will start to fall.

Hope they don’t overcompensate in the second half. I think we’ve got to double team when they get the ball inside. I’m sure they’ll get some good passes out of it but right now they’re killing us one on one

Most of the guys at this level are pretty st. If they make that first one that bodes pretty well.

Who do you think would win the most games? I would go with Dan Hurley, Tom Izzo, Kelvin Sampson, come first to mind. I would put Mike Young in the top half for sure.

And there’s a lot more to do in Charlottesville than there is in Blacksburg. I loved my time at Tech, but when I went to grad school in Charlottesville, there was so much more to do.

I don’t think the Blacksburg community necessarily wants to stay small. They just don’t have a critical mass for a developing commercial base. I think every community wants to have a thriving economy, but Blacksburg doesn’t have the key factors to make it happen.

But if there are any, he will find them.

But the others matter too. That is why I think we will do a lot better in the portal than with high school kids. The veteran players know that coaching and playing time are most important, and they understand where they will fit.

Just harder. For most basketball players it’s a pretty big culture shock. Certainly not all of them.

Of the typical young basketball player. Who is most often black and from an urban area.

Who also bent the rules. And who had no allegiance to VT. And recruited for his new team a full year before he left. I reckon I’m old school, but I would rather have Coach Young.

Maybe a better recruiter, but it would probably be someone who would cut corners. We’ve already done that recently, in my opinion, we are a lot better off now. Whether people like it or not, Blacksburg is a much tougher place to recruit to than almost any other. But if we are in the top half of the conference in terms of NIL $, we will finish in the top half of the conference and go to the tournament.

Not a great recruiter, or a players coach or a political guy. He was a very good fit at Navy.

The SMU and Stanford losses were just inexcusable and crushing. Take those away and it’s a good season.

And Buzz completely changed the team’s style of play. Very impressive bit of coaching. Just a stunning game in many respects.

Were not wearing striped shirts. I wish all of them realized that we are not watching to see them. ** Edited by Squatro at 1/31/2026, 9:28:51 PM

All of the players have agents, right? And I’m assuming, if the school contacts the agent, that’s not tampering. Surely the agents tell their clients everything. So why is it a big deal? If the school contacts the player directly they shouldn’t do it, I’m sure it’s a distraction. But I don’t see a whole lot of difference.

Makes me think we might be a better team if we played at a fast pace. Or just mix it up a bit. I’m sure Coach Young wants to play a control pace and recruits to play a control pace. But sometimes players aren’t who you thought they would be. Still, if we play a fast pace against Duke, we will get crushed.

With their three-point shooting. But the problem with that is, it’s not reliable, especially as the players have tired legs. But pounding the ball inside and going to the free-throw line is a lot more reliable. Another example of Coach Young’s skill as a tactician.

But his decision-making was just awful. He’s making very few bad decisions this year. Never seen a player improve that much. Of course, a lot of of it is having better players around him. Part of that is the Neo effect, stopping him is number one priority on all of the scouting reports. It also seems like Hammond could play 40 minutes every day. He never seems to be get tired. Really a remarkable athlete. And he’s been a great weapon late in games. Maybe it’s the new era of the little guy who can get anywhere he wants on the floor. Surprised that teams with big guards don’t try to bully him more in the post. Anyway, he’s a great success story! And seems like a great kid as well.

To link a semi professional sport to the university system. Except it is worth hundreds of millions of dollars in affinity related allegiance. Think what it would be like if it was just a minor league. Think baseball. Given that it is what we have, you can’t expect everyone involved not to try to maximize their income. Just like everything else in America. The problem now is all the old rules have been thrown out by the courts. And we don’t have a set of new rules yet, the system is definitely in disequilibrium. It’s been clear for a long time that there are two possible fixes. One is congressional legislation. The other is make the players employees and collectively bargain with them. Or there could be a combination of both fixes. Until that happens, it will be the wild wild West. With lots of elements that aren’t fan friendly. Though ironically, the product on the field has never been better. As consumers, we should all just boycott the sport for a year. Then they would fix it quickly. In fact, there are lots of things we should boycott in America. It’s the only power we have. ** Edited by Squatro at 1/17/2026, 3:29:46 PM

Is that the team played really really well against a top quality team on the road. Think maybe the coach had something to do with that?

But when they miss a call near the end of the game, that clearly decides the outcome, it’s awfully painful. There’s no way that ball comes out in that direction without him being fouled. Just sucks for a bunch of guys who played with a lot of heart.