Friday, January 25, 2008
Hokies throw away chance to slay another giant
Aaron McFarling
Recent columns
BLACKSBURG -- A.D. Vassallo let the ball go from the top of the key, the ball slipped through the net and that feeling returned.
The noise at Cassell Coliseum hit another high, and that familiar this-should-not-be-happening sensation ripped through this place like it has so many times before.
Duke's lead over Virginia Tech, once a healthy 11 points, was down to 42-41. There was still almost an entire half of basketball to go. We all know how this one ends, right? Top-five, top schmive. The giant-slayers from Blacksburg were at it again.
Pause it. Right there. And just think about that for a second.
We've been spoiled, really. The Hokies went 3-0 against top-five teams last season, including two road wins, and maybe we've just started thinking that type of stuff happens all the time.
It doesn't. More often, what happens is what happened here Thursday night after that Vassallo shot -- the better team went on a run, the underdog couldn't recover and the No. 4 Blue Devils left with a comfortable 81-64 victory.
The biggest difference between those shockers last season and this ho-hum defeat can be found in the box score under "turnovers." Last year's team did not commit them. Those Hokies were by far the best team in the ACC in turnover margin and were second in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio. They gave it away just seven times in the win at Duke, 11 times in the home victory over North Carolina and 10 times in the road win over the Tar Heels.
On Thursday, this team committed 22 turnovers. Three came on the four possessions immediately following that Vassallo 3-pointer. If you want to kill the this-should-not-be-happening sensation, that's a great way to do it.
"We had some foolish turnovers," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "We had turnovers where A.D.'s trying to throw the ball over people, or someone's not being strong enough with the ball. It's [Duke's] defense, but it's also you've got to be a little bit more poised and a little bit tougher and make better decisions."
As the Hokies and their young guards work toward creating an identity, they would be wise to follow the blueprint left by Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon. Fanciness is overrated. Much more valuable is consistently showing you can take care of the ball.
It's OK for a possession to end on a missed shot. It's not OK for it to end with the ball crashing off the press table thanks to an errant pass, like the one freshman Hank Thorns tried to throw to Vassallo midway through the second half.
It's OK to take an ill-advised shot every now and then. It's not OK to throw the ball directly to a waiting opponent near midcourt, as Tech guard Dorenzo Hudson did to Duke's Nolan Smith, who converted the transition layup.
"They forced us into some today," said Vassallo, who had 16 points and committed three turnovers. "But I think we just threw the ball away more than they forced us to do."
Some of this is to be expected. Thorns and starting point guard Malcolm Delaney -- also a freshman -- had never played in a game of this magnitude. And at least they understand the problem.
"We all made a lot of bad decisions tonight," Thorns said. "We've just got to learn from it, basically. That's the only thing we can control. That's not on coaching. That's us. We've got to control that."
\So many times, we've looked up at the scoreboard after big games and wondered how the Hokies have done it. It's nothing special, really -- just playing strong defense and valuing possessions, giving yourself a chance.
They can start Saturday at Boston College. It's a tough challenge, with the Eagles having rested all week and Tech playing its second game without suspended post player Jeff Allen. In other words, it's a game the Hokies shouldn't win.
But if somehow they do, you'll know where in the box score to look to find out why.
