ACC B-Ball Report: 02/26/11

Posted by Brandon Rink on February 26, 2011 under ACC Basketball | Comments are off for this article

What’s happened and to come in ACC basketball right here with the weekend preview edition of the ACC B-Ball Report…

ACC Standings…

School	Conf.	Pct.	Overall	Pct.
Duke	12-1	.923	26-2	.929
North Carolina	11-2	.846	21-6	.778
Florida State	9-4	.692	19-8	.704
Virginia Tech	8-5	.615	18-8	.692
Clemson	7-6	.538	18-9	.667
Maryland	7-6	.538	18-10	.643
Boston College	6-7	.462	16-11	.593
Miami	5-8	.385	17-11	.607
Virginia	5-8	.385	14-13	.519
NC State	4-9	.308	14-13	.519
Georgia Tech	3-10	.231	11-16	.407
Wake Forest	1-12	.077	8-20	.286

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Weekend Preview

Virginia Tech Looks for Marquee Win vs. Duke (Gobbler Country)

There are some matchups for the Hokies to take advantage of, but where Duke has a colossal advantage is depth. Tech can’t afford to make this a fast-paced game, so you’re probably going to see them try to make this an ugly game, like they usually do against better teams.

If the game is completely unwatchable, it’s advantage Tech.

Foul trouble will also be key for the Hokies. Allen and Davila got into foul trouble against Wake Forest early and it didn’t matter. Do the same against Duke and the game’s over. Duke doesn’t have the same foul advantage on the road as they have had at home this year, as Carolina March points out. This year, Duke’s foul advantage at home in ACC play is +18 in seven games and +4 in six road games.

But the most important thing overall for the Hokies is keeping their composure. This is something Tech just isn’t very good at in my opinion and a lot of it can be attributed to the team taking on the personality of the coach. Greenberg isn’t the most composed guy when games get to their critical moments and the same can be said for the team as well. They can’t let a call or a missed shot effect the next trip down the floor.

Preview: #1 Duke (12-1, 26-2) at VT (8-5, 18-8), Saturday at 9 PM (Tech Hoops)

Program changer.  You don’t get many opportunities at program changing wins, but VT has a shot at one on Saturday.  The whole nation (and world thanks to ESPN America) will be get a big glimpse of what Hokie Nation is like for roundball on Saturday with ESPN College Gameday (basketball) making its first ever trip to the ‘Burg with Rece, Hubert, Digger, and Jay Bilas, airing from 10 AM to Noon.  Then, the big show starts nine hours later with Tech taking on the #1, by God, duke blue devils at 9 PM on ESPN in OUR CASSELL.  I’m all in, you’re all in, and the players will be all in for sure.

Scouting Wake Forest: Blogger Q&A and Previewing Clemson-Wake (OrangeandWhite.com and Blogger So Dear)

(Per O&W) Us: What are the staples of Bzdelik’s system on offense and defense – and how is it different from the coach he replaced?

Rickman: Defensively, I have no freaking idea. Coach Bzdelik has never been a good defensive coach throughout his career. And the only system I see there is “let the other team get in the lane whenever they want and shoot wide open threes.” Yeah, sometimes they’re getting hands up, but there’s no close-outs, no help D, no crashing the boards, no cutting off at the baseline, really not much of anything.

On offense there’s the “complicated system” that we heard about coming in. It involves a lot of cuts and spacing, and it’s there…sometimes. But I still think it was the wrong call to try and install this with such a young team. That’s my opinion, and not necessarily a matter of right or wrong in general I guess, but I still see players thinking instead of acting, and that is causing tentativeness, as well as mental mistakes for prolonged periods of time, which is why you’ll see Wake go 5+ minutes without a FG in two out of every three games.

(Per BSD) 6) Play out the game. What do you see happening? What’s your final score?

Luckily for Wake Forest, the Tigers are coming off their worst home performance against UNC. Before that, Clemson was 5-0 at home with some of their best offensive performances of the year. The Deacs haven’t lost by less than 14 on the road yet in the ACC. I like Clemson’s D to disrupt Wake and lead to a number of easy baskets in a 75-59 Tigers win.

game preview: Boston College (From Old Virginia)

HOW WE CAN WIN

- Patience. Shots will come. BC’s defense has gotten even worse since we played them. They can’t force turnovers, and teams always find good shots. There are a multitude of ways to score on the Eagles. Patience, fortunately, is a strong suit of ours.

ACC Weekend Preview, Feb. 25 (ACCSports.com)

Key for the Terps

Dino Gregory. The underappreciated forward has been playing the best ball of his career as of late. He can provide a scoring punch and open space for Jordan Williams to maneuver on the inside.

Key for the Tar Heels

Get the ball into Kendall Marshall’s hands as much and as quickly as possible. Marshall can create easy baskets that most point guards can’t thanks to his extraordinary combination of court vision and passing skills.

Numbers Game

In its last game, Maryland’s bench combined for 26 points and 10 assists in a 78-62 win over Florida State … North Carolina leads the ACC in both offensive rebounding (13.9 per game) and defensive rebounding (28.7 per game) … North Carolina ranks last in the ACC in free throw percentage (65.7 percent).

Prediction

Maryland 80, North Carolina 77

Seminoles takes on Miami Hurricanes (Plant the Spear)

Who will step up?

At some point one of the other players on the team will have to step up and claim a consistent leadership position in the absence of Chris Singleton. This is just the third game without the star combo forward, but in the first two no single player was able to standout in both games. The Seminoles need someone to be assertive and set a standard early today in hopes that it will carry over through the final two games of the regular season. A victory today would be conference win #10 and #20 on the season overall. A nice benchmark to aim for.

Mid-Week Wrap

A Valiant Effort, But State Comes Up Short Against Heels Once Again (Riddick & Reynolds)

The effort, heart and emotion that was missing from the previous meeting was present tonight but the result was still the same.

In a game that was plenty entertaining over the bulk of it, State led by as much as 10 early but relinquished it en route to a 75-63 loss to the Tar Heels.

Game 28: Dominant second half carries Terps past Florida State (D1scourse.com)

Maybe Maryland authored its best game of the season against Florida State.

Maybe it didn’t.

Perhaps the Terrapins finally collected a victory with the potential to hold up as a quality victory in the eyes of college basketball’s most powerful arbiters, the NCAA tournament selection committee.

Perhaps not.

Regardless, Maryland emerged from a two-game homestand unscathed, collecting a 78-62 victory at Comcast Center against the short-handed Seminoles certain to offer some hope in the Terps’ long-term prospects.

UVa Slides Past Georgia Tech, Final Score 62-56 (Streaking the Lawn)

Virginia freshman Joe Harris continues to impress, as he led the team with three from long range in last night’s 62-56 win over Georgia Tech. The Cavaliers are back above .500 at 14-13, and are eighth in the conference at 5-8. Struggling Georgia Tech fell to 11-16, 3-10 ACC.

Senior guard Mustapha Farrakhan led the team with 17 points, and went 9-10 from the free throw line.

Last night’s game was the first time since defeating LSU on January 2 that the Cavaliers shot better than 70% from the free throw line with at least 10 attempts.

Full Weekend Slate/Our Picks

(44-15 on picks so far)

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A couple of good games to close out the weekend in Duke/Virginia Tech and Maryland/UNC – if the Terps take down UNC like ACCSports’ Andrew Skwara thinks…the NCAA picture gets very interesting for the ACC.