Hokies Not Yet Ready To Push Panic Button
Despite recent losses and the struggles of Malcolm Delaney, who has made just 6 of 28 shots and 1 of 13 three-point tries in two games since injuring his hip, Hokies Coach Seth Greenberg insists, "We got a lot of basketball to play."
(By Matt Gentry -- Associated Press)
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Sunday, March 8, 2009
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The same question was posed to Virginia Tech guard Hank Thorns and forward Jeff Allen, separated by a few minutes and a few feet in the Hokies' locker room after Wednesday's loss to No. 2 North Carolina.
"Do you think you can make it at 7-9?"
Both replied with the same answer without even a moment of deliberation.
"I think we need to be 8-8," Allen said.
"I think we need to win that game," Thorns said.
The Hokies have their final chance to even their ACC record Sunday at No. 24 Florida State. Virginia Tech must beat the Seminoles to enhance its NCAA tournament hopes, or else its only hope is an improbable ACC tournament surge.
"Sunday's not do-or-die," Coach Seth Greenberg said. "We have a conference tournament to play. We can win games there."
But relying on a conference tournament to earn an NCAA tournament bid presents a difficult proposition, and if Virginia Tech loses to Florida State, the Hokies would need to beat at least one of the top four teams this week just to have a chance on Selection Sunday, despite wins over Wake Forest and Clemson.
"We're not in a coffin, guys," Greenberg said. "We got a lot of basketball to play. We'll play that basketball. At the end, when it's all said and done, we'll answer those questions."
Greenberg has intentionally taken the wait-and-see approach this season. His players have been more direct. They respond to similar questions with authoritative statements about an internal goal to avenge last season's NCAA tournament snub, which happened even though Greenberg had passionately lobbied for his team following a two-point loss to the Tar Heels in last year's ACC tournament semifinals.
When Virginia Tech was 16-7 overall and 6-3 in the ACC on Feb. 11, its NCAA tournament prospects appeared promising. Upon losing consecutive games to Maryland and Virginia, the Hokies faced a difficult five-game stretch against ranked opponents. The math seemed clear -- Virginia Tech needed to win at least two of those games, which would give it three victories over top 25 opponents and a .500 record in the ACC.
The stretch started against the Seminoles, who topped the Hokies on Toney Douglas's floater in the waning moments of a 67-65 loss on Feb. 21. Although the Hokies beat Clemson in their next game, consecutive losses to Duke and North Carolina left Virginia Tech again needing to beat Florida State.
