Expectations
March 23, 2005
It’s all a matter of perception and expectations. The Virginia Tech basketball season that ended its season last Saturday with a Beale Street blues-inspiring performance against Memphis is regarded as a success. Tech finished 16-14, a marginal improvement over last year’s 15-14 Big East swan song. This Tech team has been tabbed monumental overachievers.
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A Good Start
March 21, 2005
If you've read it once, you've read it a million times: Eight wins in the ACC far exceeded anyone's expectations, Seth Greenberg is doing a great job with the Virginia Tech program, the Hokies are competitive in the ACC, yadda-yadda-yadda. That's all true, but it's not all sunshine and roses just yet. There is a ton of work to do before Virginia Tech can become a true ACC basketball program. Here's a straight-talk evaluation of where the VT basketball program stands right now, and the challenges that lie ahead.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech at Memphis, NIT
March 17, 2005
With the possibility of “no tomorrow” for Virginia Tech men’s basketball, the team travels to Memphis, Tennessee to take on the University of Memphis Tigers in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament. The Hokies defeated Temple 60-50 in round 1 of the NIT, and Memphis beat Northeastern 90-65 to set up the matchup.
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A Gym Rat's Notebook: A Double Scoop, Please
March 17, 2005
You have to go back and test your memory, but it was two women's basketball coaches ago, and three men’s coaches, before you can correctly answer the trivia question that perhaps many have not even considered. That question would be: When was the last season in which both the Virginia Tech's men's and women’s basketball teams competed in postseason play?
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Hokies Embrace the NIT
March 16, 2005
Sometime Tuesday afternoon, I came to an interesting revelation: the last time the Hokies played postseason basketball, TechSideline.com – actually, HokieCentral.com, which was the site's first name – wasn't even in existence. Given that HC/TSL turned nine years old four days ago … that's a looong time to go without playing postseason basketball. So the Hokies will take this NIT gig and like it, thank you very much.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech vs. Temple, NIT
March 15, 2005
For the first time since 1996, the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team returns to postseason play when the Hokies host the Temple Owls in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament Tuesday night in Blacksburg. The game will be televised by ESPNU and will tip off at 8pm.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech, ACC Tournament
March 10, 2005
The Virginia Tech Hokies will participate in their first ever ACC tournament game this Friday at 2:30 pm when they play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Hokies played their way into the top 5 of the ACC and thus received a bye in the first round of the tournament. Virginia Tech is seeded 4th in the 11-team tournament, and Georgia Tech is 5th. This is the second meeting of the season between the schools, with the Hokies picking up a 71-70 victory in Atlanta on January 22.
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Steeped in Tradition and Lore
March 10, 2005
Everybody who grew up in the region that stretches from Maryland to Georgia has their childhood story about the ACC tournament, about how it causes a big stir and how time stops in some places when the tourney starts. My story is a small, seemingly unimportant one that goes back to my sophomore year at Albemarle High School in Charlottesville.
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This One Will be Different
March 8, 2005
I have attended several ACC tournaments over the years. Contrary to popular belief, it is not that hard to cop tickets. All you have to do is be friends with a Duke alum whose classmate donated over $250k to the Iron Dukes and is willing to hand out tournament ticket books to his friends. While that might be tough on short notice, other methods that have worked for me include getting romantically involved with a nurse at the Duke University Medical Center whose boss has access to seemingly half the tickets printed. Again, this might be a tough one.
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A Gym Rat's Notebook: Cleansing the Demons
March 8, 2005
March Madness has arrived with gale force in Blacksburg. The ACC tournament tips off Thursday, and recent history tells us that Virginia Tech will sit idly by and watch the opening games of the tournament on opening day, again relegated to sitting in front of their television sets and not participating in the tournament. We know that scene all too well; it’s a scene that we became accustomed to almost every March in the Big East Conference, when tournament play kicked off, while Virginia Tech stayed far away from the Big Apple, not allowed to unpack their gym bags for the trip.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech vs. Maryland
March 5, 2005
With a bitter taste in their mouths from Tuesday's loss to Clemson, the Virginia Tech Hokie basketball team wraps up the regular season Saturday against the Maryland Terrapins. This is the same University of Maryland that demolished Tech 86-71 on February 8th in College Park. With the Hokies coming off two consecutive road loses, it is interesting to see how they will respond to a Maryland team coming off a heartbreaking 85-83 loss to North Carolina last weekend.
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Look No Further Than Your Own Back Yard
March 3, 2005
The answer is Darian Townes and Aliou Kane. The question is how many quality big men with Virginia ties are playing their college basketball outside of the Commonwealth? More than those inside the state, it would seem. The question seems relevant in light of the current status of the Virginia Tech basketball team. The Hokies followed up their monumental upset over Duke and perfunctory handling of Miami with a bad loss at NC State and a very tough one at Clemson. In the process Tech has gone from a long-shot possibility for the NCAA Tournament to one that will now be struggling to make the NIT. While a 7-8 ACC record heading into Saturday’s final against Maryland still represents an astounding leap up the standings from where Tech was forecast, the accomplishments of the first year in the conference has lost just a bit of its luster.
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A Gym Rat's Notebook: Seth's Kingdom for a Big Man (or Two)
March 2, 2005
Tuesday night's loss to Clemson was a vivid and clear example of how tricky and fragile this team is with its personnel. Seth Greenberg is using smoke and mirrors to cover up the deficiencies on his team, and in doing so is only amplifying how direly in need of frontcourt firepower this program is. That factor was by far the overriding one in the Clemson loss.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech at Clemson
March 1, 2005
Virginia Tech travels to Clemson, SC for a Tuesday night matchup that could go a long way in determining the postseason fates of both the Hokies and the Tigers. This is the second meeting between Tech and Clemson this season, with the Hokies winning the first meeting, their first-ever ACC win, 59-57 in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech stands at 14-11 overall, and 7-7 in ACC play. That record puts Tech in a 4th place tie with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Hokies are fighting with the Jackets, Maryland, Miami and possibly NC State for 4th in the ACC.
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Sometimes You're the Windshield ... Sometimes You're the Bug
February 28, 2005
It's hard not to get caught up in the game-by-game goings on with the Hokie men's basketball team, but the simple truth is, their out-of-sync, never-in-the-game effort against NC State Saturday wasn't indicative of any program-wide malaise … it was just a reflection of life in the ACC, where you never know what's going to happen when two teams take the floor.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech at NC State
February 25, 2005
The Hokies have finally reached crunch time (for real this time). With three games remaining on the schedule before the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, and Tech currently standing as an NCAA Tournament bubble team in the eyes of many, the final games are all "must-wins" in order for Tech to be invited to the party of madness come middle March.
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It's RPI Versus History in a Fight to the Finish!
February 24, 2005
Generally this is the time of year that the Hokie Nation begins to worry about the latest position change on the football team and gearing up the tailgating crew for the spring football game. A small minority would discuss what had to happen for the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team to back their way into the Big East Tournament. This year however, that small minority has grown into a fan base that is discussing something a lot more important…what it will take for the Hokies to get an invitation to The Big Dance.
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A Gym Rat's Notebook: The New Word of the Day
February 24, 2005
The best thing about being a pack rat is that if you display patience and an even temperament, then those items that you've stored away might again be relevant at some point in time. You know those pack rat people. The ones who simply cannot stand to ever throw anything away, lest they have some uncertain future need for it. Those same people who keep everything from their past crated away in boxes, under lock and key in their basement or attic. Well, the time has come to throw off the dust and uncover a few items from ten years or so ago and see what usefulness they might have here in the next three weeks.
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In the Thick of It
February 23, 2005
The basketball games remaining in this exhilarating inaugural ACC season for Virginia Tech are dwindling down to a precious few. Three games remain for Tech to continue its long-shot bid to reach the NCAA tournament. The Hokies have a basketball opportunity before them that hasn’t been seen around these parts in quite a while. At a late February time when Hokie Nation attention is usually turning towards Spring football prospects, the Tech basketball team has diverted attention away from Tech’s signature sport. It would seem that basketball again matters at Virginia Tech.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech vs. Miami
February 18, 2005
I would not be shocked to find out the Virginia Tech men’s basketball staff used several pens in drawing a large number of circles around February 19 on the calendar. The University of Miami is coming to Blacksburg and will take on the Hokies in a game with gigantic implications.
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Quieting the Weary Ghosts of Cassell
February 18, 2005
Thursday night, in the wild minutes after Virginia Tech's historic 67-65 victory over Duke, I stood in the stands and watched the students celebrate, packing the floor with the Hokie players and cheerleaders. My eyes roamed to the rafters, where ACC banners now hang, and for a moment, I thought I saw ghosts. And as I watched, they slowly faded away.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech vs. #7 Duke
February 17, 2005
Losers of four of their last five, the Virginia Tech Hokies (12-10, 5-6) return to Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night to take on the 7th ranked Duke Blue Devils (18-3, 8-3). This is the second meeting this season between the two schools. The first meeting saw Duke beat the Hokies 100-65 in Cameron Indoor Stadium in a game where Duke hit more free throws (30) than Tech did field goals (24).
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A Gym Rat's Notebook: Regaining the Mental Edge
February 16, 2005
With a key game coming up on Thursday night with the Dookies of Durham, and coming off a disappointing road loss in Charlottesville last Saturday against the University of Virginia, the Virginia Tech basketball team is looking to recapture their earlier glory within the conference, while still harboring postseason hopes.
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Rivalries are Fun
February 15, 2005
It's not easy being a Hoo. There's the exhaustion of being forced to maintain that attitude of condescending arrogance towards those wretches not fortunate enough to have trod the Grounds during their undergraduate days. Then there's the taxing physical demands caused by attempting to pat one's self on the back for one's academic accomplishments while simultaneously holding a glass of wine and a wedge of brie.
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2004-05 Basketball Preview: Virginia Tech vs. Virginia
February 11, 2005
Bragging rights take a back seat to other implications for this Saturday’s matchup between the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Virginia Cavaliers. The Hokies need to notch at least two victories in their final six games in order to be postseason eligible when the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament arrives in March. Similarly, the Cavaliers sit in the same exact position as the Hokies with respect to postseason play. Both teams are 12-9 overall, but the Hokies are ahead in the ACC standings with a 5-5 record, compared to Virginia’s 3-7 conference mark.
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