What's Wrong with the Hokies?


I think I had a similar post around this time last year.  Things are dire indeed in Blacksburg.  Saturday's game against Boston College was the first time in a while that I've had the impulse to throw everything in my apartment.  It was just an absolute mess.  If it had been a one game occurrence, okay, you write that off.  But that is three straight games of total ineptitude.  Yes, expectations weren't that high for this season with a bunch of new players.  But it seems like the level of play has dropped off dramatically once we started ACC play.


I think one of the main problems is inconsistency.  Not among the team as a whole, but the players.  It's true, the team has four freshmen who are playing significant minutes.  And you can probably add Cadarian Raines and Jarell Eddie to that mix, who have barely played in previous years.  But it's not just them.  Victor Davila and Dorenzo Hudson will have solid games and then have games where they completely disappear.  Let's look at the freshmen:














That is not a lot of production.  Which one of these players would you say is shooting with confidence right now?  Maybe Barksdale.  That's it.  Yes, they are freshmen, but a lot of teams have a ton of young players.  Just look at Boston College.  They look like a team full of walk-ons, but have still been able to win two ACC games.


Obviously the stabilizing force in this team is Erick Green.  He has scored in double figures in every game this year, and carried the team down the stretch against Florida State.  But it's very easy to say if Green had played against BC the Hokies would have won.  What evidence do you have to support that?  Virginia Tech's offense against Wake and Florida State was terrible and Green played in those games.  That's not to say that Green is not important.  But you should be able to play without one of your players and still get guys to step up and contribute.


Coach Seth Greenberg in his post-game comments yesterday pointed out that all three losses in conference were close games - three losses by a total of nine points.  It's not the score though, it's how you play the game.  If you watched the team play, you could see that they just weren't competing and executing offensively like they should.  And that is a bigger problem than losing by a few points.


So what's the solution?  Many people are calling for a new coach.  I can see the argument for that.  I would just say that it is not a given that bringing in a new coach will solve your problems.  Just look at what has happened at Wake Forest.  There are examples on both sides. Take a look at what has happened in Charlottesville.  Dave Leitao was a similarly demeanored coach to Seth who had some early success, recruited some very good players, but eventually frustrated the fanbase.  They made a very smart hire, got a good coach in Tony Bennett, and have steadily improved.  Can this happen in Blacksburg?  Sure.  But it's not a given.


I generally try to stay positive and upbeat about my team.  I've been through some tough times with the program in my first couple years at Tech.  But despite the youth, what's happened in the last few games is pretty unacceptable.  And Seth knows that.  It's up to him to get the guys to respond and play like they are capable of playing.