Basketball

So this Sunday was the start of the Virginia Tech Hokies basketball season. The Hokies played Brown University in an out of conference game to start of the season. I was so happy that I got a ticket in the second round lottery. Basketball is one of my favorite sports to watch because it is so fast paced and you can really just go crazy watching it. Another thing that is very special about basketball is how it demonstrates the player’s athleticism. It’s one of the only sports where people soar through the air on a regular basis and it is so intense to watch. I have been pretty pumped all year for basketball season and seeing the NBA start really got me pumped and now college basketball is here and I can rejoice.
The Hokies won the game and played fairly well but we looked sloppy and like we were not fully prepared for the game. Some people were missing assignments and not guarding their man properly and one of the biggest issues was we could not make free throws. Free throws are a very crucial part of the game and they are supposed to be given points hence them being free but we could not take advantage of the opportunity to score off of free throws. However I’m sure that Seth Greenberg, the basketball coach, will make sure everyone practices and gets their stuff together as far as free throws go.
Also, our defense scared me sometimes in that game. We were letting Brown, an Ivy League school, shoot all over us and even get dominating positions on us in the paint and at the top of the key. This is atrocious because we significantly oversize Brown and have much more talent and power. We cannot let these little mid major schools beat us or even compete with us if we are going to be a power house program. We have a lot of serious talent and I feel like if we could just refine it and practice until it is flawless than we could be a pretty solid program and have a lot of success in the ACC.
We did have a few players that impressed me consistently throughout the whole game. Malcolm Delaney played absolutely incredible. He was impressive from start to finish and almost everything he did was exciting. He drove the lane well, took good shots, and made good passes. He balled really hard and showed that he is still the leader of our offense and most likely the most talented player on our squad. Another player who was impressive in the victory was Jeff Allen. Jeff Allen dominated in the post and really worked the other player and got some good dunks in too. Another thing that was impressive about Jeff was that he actually shot jumpers pretty well. Being a big man his focus offensively is not really shooting but working the post but having this skill makes him more versatile and makes the defense have to respect him no matter where he is on the court. Most importantly though Jeff Allen was very impressive defensively. He sent a few shots and boxed out his man the whole game. He was very solid all the way around and im excited to see him play against some tougher opponents.
Another impressive player and maybe the most impressive was Victor Davilla. What was so impressive about Davilla is that he played so well and was close to Delaney in scoring but he is only a sophomore. Davilla is so young and he plays very impressively already and its pretty impressive to theink about how good he could be in the next few years. Davilla is explosive, plays strong defense, and he has impressive moves and can score almost anywhere on the court. I am really pumped to see what he becomes and see him improve all season.
Needless to say I’m really pumped about this season and I hope we win and I can win the lottery a lot. I feel like there is a good chance I will because at the Brown game there were a lot of empty seats so it seems like not everyone here is a s pumped for basketball as I am. Hopefully I can get to go to UNC because that would be a great game and I really just want to go crazy and watch some good basketball games. Hopefully we can be as good as we were 2 years ago when we swept Duke and UNC. We also made it to the NCAA tournament and I would love to repeat that level of success. We have the talent and the same foundation to be as good as we where 2 years ago so hopefully all the pieces will fall together and we will be great.