Working on the last article of the summer series about the program...
I'll be focusing on the roster and what it might look like from a minutes distribution and lineups standpoint.
But I am post wedding/honeymoon and have a few days for the 4th of July weekend and thought if there was an appetite for an impromptu Q&A I'll be around over the next few days, so hit me with some questions about anything basketball related really! Schemes, personnel, strategy, etc.
Let's get some basketball discussion going.
61 Replies
3y
Do they just try to finish up the season using them as a practice player? How much time would they put into development if the coaches knew that they would ask them to leave the program at the end of the season?
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
would have the most positive impact on the team? I think Kidd.
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
J
JackDSML
3y
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
How do you see that series playing out with different styles and player abilities? I get its hypothetical but if you were analyzing which squad would you prefer to have the advantage? Said a 3 game series to allow for some adjustments over games 2 or 3 if needed. :)
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
They both played a similar pace, so they'd both be comfortable there. Buzz's teams don't pressure the ball a ton so taking MY out of what he wanted to do offensively would need to be done away from the ball. I think MY would put Ty Outlaw in every ball screen imaginable.
I think Buzz would attack MY primarily with J-Rob, try and create a deficiency in PG defense. I think Aluma and Blackshear is a wash. I think Cattoor would defend NAW well and vice versa. So who wins the battles of the role players? Does Alleyne show up as the guy who put 30 on Florida or the guy who went 0-for-11 while playing 30+ min? Does Ahmed Hill want to chase Alleyne/Cattoor/Maddox off 2,000 screens? Does that affect his offensive ability?
I tend to lean on efficiency stats when tempo is similar, so you'd give a slight edge to Buzz as they were slightly better efficiency-wise on that end.
I think MY's staff is better at scouting/identifying changes. So maybe it's Buzz in a one-off game and MY in a series. Both were very good teams and VT is fortunate to have had those two very good teams so close together and under different coaches...very positive for the health of the overall program
(In response to this post by Painterboy)
J
JMuff114
3y
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
But not on most nights.
(In response to this post by JMuff114)
3y
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
And will that be a bigger challenge for some players than others?
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
But I do know Jaydon Young has a very high basketball IQ, and from what I know Rechsteiner does as well.
I think Robbie Beran will transition seamlessly, he's very intelligent and there's not a ton different in playing styles, even if he will be used differently.
Long may have an adjustment, but he also could be fine. What he does well can translate, and MY could ease him into what freedom he is given until he gets more comfortable with it. But again, he could be just fine.
(In response to this post by wwhokie1)
3y
(In response to this post by NativeBurger)
K
KCHokie2
3y
(In response to this post by squarerootofone)
3y
But it would be difficult to say anything less. There is nothing Florida Atlantic, San Diego State, Loyola (IL), Wichita State, etc have done that Virginia Tech cannot do.
That doesn't mean that's their ceiling on a regular basis, it most definitely isn't. Virginia Tech's baseline will be borderline NCAA Tournament just like 2/3 of all of NCAA.
But winning 6 games is all about matchups and getting hot at the right time. I genuinely don't think the best team in college basketball wins the national championship more often than someone else does. So why not VT?
(In response to this post by NativeBurger)
3y
sorry ...had to be said (well, maybe not, but I just couldn't resist)
(In response to this post by NativeBurger)
3y
Seems years ago I remember one of our bigs going to a camp for bigs only. Just curious.
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
And I would say the overwhelming majority go to a trainer of some kind
(In response to this post by Jbohokie63)
3y
If Kidd decides not to use his extra year then it could be 4. Then any player who decides to transfer (or who has the decision made for him)
My guess is ultimately 3 HS and 1-2 transfers
(In response to this post by Hokies0725)
3y
I didn’t know these guys played in summer leagues while on scholarship
(In response to this post by Femoyer Hokie)
3y
It is essentially a pro-am. There are many different ones. When I coached at Guilford we had a team of only our players and recruits who would play in the Greensboro pro-am.
There's more famous ones like the Drew League (no affiliation). Kenner is pretty much up there too.
(In response to this post by st_andrew)
W
win-tech
3y
for long-term success of the program?
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
Up until this point VT has had to recruit for style of play. It is very difficult to find and land recruits who are both very versatile and fit within your style. Because if they're versatile AND skilled (which is necessary for this system) then they're going to be recruited by teams who can have an easier time landing those recruits.
That doesn't necessarily mean recruiting higher rated players. You just need to be confident in your ability to find players that are overlooked for whatever reason.
If I told you that you could take a team of players who were ranked as follows by 247
PG - 165
SG - 179
SF - 359
PF - 239
C - 185
Bench PG - unranked
Bench Wing - unranked
Bench 4 - unranked
Bench Post - unranked
I think everyone could agree that's something VT could absolutely do, right?
Well those players are:
PG - Johnny Davis (1st round lottery)
SG - Ochai Agbaji (1st round lottery)
SF - Keegan Murray (1st round lottery)
PF - Kobe Brown (1st round)
C - Christian Koloko (2nd round)
Bench PG - Jalen Pickett (2nd round)
Bench Wing - Ben Sheppard (1st round)
Bench 4 - Jake Laravia (1st round)
Bench Post - Keve Aluma (undrafted)
That team pretty obviously is National Championship worthy.
So when people say "recruit better" I'm not entirely sure they know what they're talking about. Trying to run with the big dawgs and land 1 Top 60 recruit every decade isn't what is going to get VT to the heights of the college basketball world. And they're not limited because they haven't had coaches who could recruit...Buzz couldn't do it either.
So you ****have****** to find recruits who are not as highly recruited and who fit what you do well and hope they can develop into people who are better than the highly rated players.
Not a single player above was rated top 150. 8 out of the 9 were drafted in the last 3 years. The ninth is the best player VT had in that time frame. It is absolutely do-able
(In response to this post by win-tech)
W
win-tech
3y
(In response to this post by win-tech)
3y
For instance, I think a lot of people like Lynn Kidd, but if you're not one of them then he could surprise you.
For whatever reason people didn't like the addition of Robbie Beran, but I think he's going to do great, so that might surprise those people but not others.
There are people who said they didn't see much from Rodney Rice last season. They shouldn't operate heavy machinery, but they'll be surprised this season (maybe? Who knows what actually surprises those ppl).
I think people will fall back in love with Pedulla this season due to the likelihood he is more efficient with more of a regular break. But that won't stop some people for calling for Rechsteiner every time he misses a shot or has a turnover. (Which is hilarious because they're the same people who were calling for more Pedulla when they felt Murphy was struggling)
It may surprise some that Tyler Nickel isn't starting and playing 30 min...but their expectations were unrealistic to begin with.
It may surprise some if MJ Collins can't seem to capture some of the magic they remember him for last season. But he wasn't supposed to be in the rotation last season, and a much smaller role is good for him (will he see it that way?)
So...who knows what will surprise people. But I guess in terms of what will capture the most people, I think people will be surprised they are better defensively next year. They'll blame it on Mike Jones or a Capricorn Moon or whatever holds their sanity together, but it's simply having better players available who are ready for their roles and not half the rotation sitting on the bench.
(In response to this post by win-tech)
3y
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
I think especially for any kid who wants to play in college for sure. But it also forces you to learn how to operate within an offense rather than running around for a long time until the defense makes a mistake.
I think the fear is that teams will start throwing up low percentage shots, but what each level has found is there's an adjustment period but then you understand the game better in order to score. And you have to defend differently and be smarter about how hard you close out or who you close out to.
So in all you just learn the game better. Not to mention more action will be better for the fans.
I think the college game will be better for it because it's one less barrier towards high school kids succeeding at the college level. They'll be a little more knowledgeable on both ends (on average) and they'll understand what's a better shot within the parameters of the college game.
(In response to this post by Curious Hokie)
3y
Why does college use half’s? And even in college it is only the men’s game. So strange.
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
G
Gadfly
3y
Link:
Halves vs quarters
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
3y
leading to more scoring opportunities, a steady pace and flow, and closer games between a wider range of teams."
I can buy the first part of it (fewer stoppages). However, more possessions will ultimately favor the better team leading to fewer upsets. It's like gambling in a casino, you might get lucky and beat the house in the short term, but if you stick around long enough, you're going to lose.
(In response to this post by Gadfly)
3y
Who plays together, defensive limitations, shot distribution.
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
Then you'll see Rice and Rechsteiner. Not sure you'll see much Rechsteiner and Pedulla, but they could in theory.
Rice is great in that im not sure there's a player on the team he couldn't be on the floor with. Cattoor as well.
(In response to this post by st_andrew)
3y
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
There are ways to address it, and I'll talk about it in the article, but it does raise some concerns before we see any physical evidence
(In response to this post by 949hokie)
How would you rate CMY’s staff? Who is his #2 now?
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
If they did a 1 seat bump then Webster is the top guy. But Giltner has been with MY the longest so I could see a promotion there as he was in line for the Wofford job this Spring.
I do know Byers is third, but he is making noise getting the foot in the door with recruits. He doesn't bring the connections and name Mike Jones did, but he's working hard and introducing VT to some good prospects. If he lands some of them then it's a great deal. If he doesn't, then it kinda hurts the staff as a whole as Mike Jones was also an accomplished Xs and Os strategist that Giltner and Webster haven't had to perform a ton of just yet. But they're also not brand new to it.
(In response to this post by Femoyer Hokie)
What was driving force on Mike’s departure?
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
(In response to this post by HokieDelNorte)
3y
Do we have any similarities in how we built our roster? Or other ways that we compare in terms of how we use our roster?
Just wondering what we look like compared to the best
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
So I may not get to the full answer here but I'll try and come back.
Some things that jump off the top of my head though:
I'm not sure there's a common theme from a roster standpoint among the last few National Champs. Baylor was strong and athletic while shooting a ton of 3s well. Villanova was pretty similar there. Villanova was undersized though, like Miami from this season.
UConn spread the scoring, but had guys play their roles perfectly. They were very versatile in how they could match up with lots of different styles, making them hard to scout. You could figure out what they were going to do, but you couldn't prepare for how they were going to take you out of what you did well.
What I can say with certainty is most national champions are pretty elite from an efficiency standpoint on both sides of the ball.
VT is very close to elite level offensively, just need the consistency. Defensively they run a system very close to the 2019 Champs UVA, so schematically there's hope there. I'm not sure they've had the full roster they've wanted from a defensive standpoint yet so it'll be interesting to see how that translates if they stay healthy this season with a full roster.
So I guess a short answer would be they shoot lots of 3s like Baylor and Villanova, they defend schematically like UVA, they are much more versatile this year than any other year, closer to what UConn was able to do last season.
Not that they've proven they can do any of those things at the level of what those past teams did, but rather from a tendency standpoint there are some things shared.
Ultimately they'll need to create their own lane though. No one looked at FAU and said, "they do a lot of things like previous final four participants"
(In response to this post by HokieAl)
3y
Our pacing is similar. Wonder if Rice can also be used to back down mismatches to get to paint..I know our systems are different but personnel-wise there seem to be more similarities with ‘Nova
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
ng
(In response to this post by GCHokie34)
3y
But one theme is this is Mike Youngs most experienced group, by far....
So players who might have been in the rotation in earlier years at a similar talent level are gonna need to play situational/development roles until they're fully ready.
Great for the program...as long as they stay healthy
(In response to this post by 133182Hokie)