Ten games into the season, Virginia Tech's men's basketball team is 7-3, which isn't appreciably better than either of Seth Greenberg's first two Hokie teams. But this year's Hokies seem to be gelling earlier, establishing an identity earlier, and coming on strong earlier than previous editions. That bodes well for a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations, though the road to the Big Dance is long and hard.
Just two weeks ago, after the Hokies put in an uninspired first-half performance against Ohio State, losing 69-56 and dropping to 5-2 on the year, I found myself shaking my head and thinking that the season wasn't shaping up well. The team was searching for an identity and was plagued by inconsistency and off-court difficulties. The first-half egg laid by the Hokies in Columbus, which saw Tech fall behind 46-25 at the half, wasn't an anomaly. Lackluster performances against Western Carolina (Tech trailed 23-20 at the half before winning 54-40) and Mount St. Mary's (who outscored the Hokies 40-36 in the second half of a 74-62 Tech win) were pause for concern.