Don't sleep on the Hokies – not yet
I’m among those surprised by the sleepy 5-4 start by Virginia Tech, considering the talent that Seth Greenberg has back (Malcolm Delaney, Jeff Allen, Dorenzo Hudson, Victor Davila) and the run that this group was able to make last year, when the Hokies were jobbed out of an NCAA Tournament bid after posting a 23-7 regular-season record and winning 10 (10!) games in the ACC.
As surprised as I am, I’m also aware that Tech teams of years past in the Greenberg era have gotten off to slow starts in November and December before turning around in January and February to make runs at postseason play. Continue reading “Don't sleep on the Hokies – not yet” »
Greenberg: Oh, yeah, he’s gone
Column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
“I’m the coach at Virginia Tech.”
That was Seth Greenberg’s answer over the weekend at the end of an interview on ESPN in which he was trying to sell his Virginia Tech team’s NCAA Tournament hopes to the world to a question about whatever interest he might have in the open St. John’s job.
Interesting choice of words, and all we can do right now is parse them. “I’m the coach at Virginia Tech.” OK for a declarative statement. Could’ve said, “No interest,” or something akin. But no, he said he’s the coach at Virginia Tech.
Ahem, let me go ahead and speculate that Greenberg will take the St. John’s job if offered. The reason: What else can he do in Blacksburg at this point? Continue reading “Greenberg: Oh, yeah, he’s gone” »
Hokies roar back from 10 down, steal Cavs hearts, 76-71
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Everything is right with the world. Virginia is up 10 with 3:02 to go at home against its in-state ACC rival. One stop and one basket, maybe two, and the game is over, you’re 4-1 in the ACC, and who knows what happens from there?
Here’s what happened from there: a 13-0 Virginia Tech run, a miraculous three that forced overtime, then a dominant OT period from a Hokies team that left the John Paul Jones Arena with an almost inexpicable 76-71 victory.
“Once we got some stops and out in transition – put the ball in a couple times, you get some confidence. Once you get confidence, then you try and get the ball inside a little bit. Then a great trust amongst all of them developed during the course of the game and they started defending harder,” Tech coach Seth Greenberg said by way of trying to offer explanation. Continue reading “Hokies roar back from 10 down, steal Cavs hearts, 76-71” »
Greenberg: ‘We have a good basketball team that is getting better’
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Want evidence of how wild and wacky the ACC seems to be right now? Take Virginia Tech as a case in point.
The Hokies looked like world-beaters for a half in Chapel Hill before falling apart in the second half of a 78-64 loss, then went out and ate then-#23 Miami for lunch and dinner in an 81-66 snoozer that had Tech in the lead by as many as 35 points in the first half.
To finish the sandwich, the Hokies laid an egg on the road at Florida State on Saturday in a 63-58 loss in a game that Tech coach Seth Greenberg felt the Seminoles just wanted more. Continue reading “Greenberg: ‘We have a good basketball team that is getting better’” »
Halfway there
Tech looks good in half vs. UNC, but second half shows Hokies still have work to do
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
For a half, Virginia Tech looked and played like a Top 10 team. But you have to play more than a half to win on the road in the ACC.
“In the second half, our defense, our transition, broke down, and I told the guys, a lot of times that’s a byproduct of what you’re doing offensively,” Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg told reporters on his weekly conference call Monday afternoon, about 15 hours after his Hokies lost a tough one on the road at defending national champion North Carolina, 78-64. Continue reading “Halfway there” »
Greenberg: ‘We’re still really trying to find ourselves’
12-1 Hokies getting ready for ACC opener with UNC
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Coaches of 12-1 teams talking about their teams “trying to find” themselves are almost always engaging in subterfuge. “I don’t want my team to think there as good as I think they are” might be what they’re really saying. That, or, “I am superstititious, and if I start thinking we’re good, then, poof, it all goes away.”
Virginia Tech basketball coach Seth Greenberg is the rare one telling the truth saying his 12-1 Hokies are still trying to find themselves. Continue reading “Greenberg: ‘We’re still really trying to find ourselves’” »
Creampuffs, my …
Cut Seth Greenberg some slack on early-season schedule
Column by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
I get tired of hearing how if you’re, say, Virginia Tech, you’d better put together a marquee nonconference schedule, because if you don’t, you know, you’re committing some grand sin.
Case in point: an article by Roanoke Times Virginia Tech beat writer Mark Berman on Sunday that took Seth Greenberg to the woodshed for having a strength of schedule rating in the 250 range.
“The Hokies are off to a 10-1 start thanks to a soft schedule,” Berman wrote in the piece, which goes on to blast Greenberg for scheduling a home-and-home series with Georgia instead of getting together with a tougher SEC foe and doing the same with Penn State instead of getting another Big 10 team. Continue reading “Creampuffs, my …” »
Selection Sunday: What it all means
Posted by afp on March 13, 2011 · Leave a Comment
OK, so ACC teams don’t get to play the likes of Georgia State in January and February. That said, the Committee has made it clear that it expects power-conference teams to play more challenging nonconference schedules than Seth Greenberg likes to put together.
That much should have been clear to Greenberg a while ago, but, well, here we go again. I think Tech had clearly played its way into the field this year (as I had thought last year), but the message has been sent. Continue reading “Selection Sunday: What it all means” »
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