A week ago today the Virginia Tech Hokies stunned the number one-ranked Duke Blue Devils by a final score of 64-60 in Cassell Coliseum.
Ladies and Gents if you had the opportunity to watch this game or the extreme pleasure of attending this game, Congratulations! You have truly witnessed the finest hour of Virginia Tech basketball!
This marks the fourth time in program history that the Techmen have taken down the top team in the land, but folks this one takes the cake. This is the apex. A win couldn't possibly get any better than this.
College Gameday made its first visit (of many visits to come) to Blacksburg. The ecstatic crowd showed other fans around the nation how it's done. The Hokie faithful had more signs at Gameday than you would see on a hundred mile stretch of an interstate. From a Tech standpoint, the crowd was more star-studded than a Lakers/Celtics playoff game. We had 2 of our 4 retired basketball jersey legends in attendance (Dell Curry and Bimbo Coles). Bruce Smith aka "the Sack Man" aka "BRUUUUUCE" was seen searching through the crowd for quarterbacks. Frank Beamer aka "the Beam", "the Franchise," "the Godfather," "Frank the Tank" brought over some football prominence power from Lane. It was prime time. The whole country watched our Hokies take down the number one team in the country/defending national champs/perennial ACC powerhouse. The Cassell rocked as loud as ever before. And most importantly...WE WON!
Hokie Nation rejoice! Our boys delivered on the biggest stage possible, against the best team out there, in front of the best fans anywhere. The whole country witnessed just how special of a place Polytech, Virginia really is. Now we're all on Hokie High.
This game couldn't have gone much better for ole' VPI. Everything had to go just as planned for Tech to have a chance at winning this thing, and it pretty much did.
1. We knew we'd have to stay out of foul trouble because of our limited bench and lack of big men. This was tremendously important for Jeff Allen and Victor Davila, who are our best/only big men and are both notorious for getting lots of fouls in short periods of time. The Result: No Hokies fouled out of the game. Jeff Allen and Erick Green both finished with four, but Allen's fourth didn't come until late in the game which was key. Shockingly Davila finished with no fouls. So Tech staying out of foul trouble allowed them to keep their best players on the floor, and it payed off big...
2. We knew we'd have to play flawless perimeter defense, or the Dookies would carve us like Thanksgiving turkeys. The Result: Thanks to Tech's swarming zone defense and a little help from Duke's best shooters going stone cold, the Blue Devils finished just 4 of 20 from beyond the arc. That's just 20% from 3-point land. If you didn't see the game or any other stats from this game, this stat alone would have told you that the Hokies had a chance in this one.
3. We knew we had to out-rebound the Devils to limit their chances at striking, and give ourselves some extra chances at baskets. Duke has a surplus of big men, so Jeff Allen and Victor Davila would have to really step it up. The Result: They did. Allen grabbed 15 boards, while Davila scooped up 10. That's two huge performances by our big guys that allowed the Hokies to out-rebound the Dookies by a count of 44 to 38. Sixteen of our 44 were offensive rebounds, which means we got of lot of much needed extra chances. Once again the ball bounced our way.
4. We knew Malcolm Delaney would have to put up big numbers for us to be in the game. The Result: Surprisingly he didn't. This was probably the only 1 of the 4 on this list that I would have guaranteed prior to the game, and much to my (and everyone else's) surprise it was the only one that didn't happen. Usually Malcolm makes more baskets in a game than a third-world country makes in a day, but he was as cold as ice last Saturday. He did finish with a respectable 11 points, but it was a lot less than what was expected. He had a rough day shooting, as he finished just 4 of 15 from the floor (1 of 6 from three-point range). While MD23 didn't light up the scoreboard, his performance was still key to this win for 2 reasons:
A) He passed. When he realized he couldn't get anything to drop, he started kickin' the rock around to his friends who could. He finished with 4 assists, and had a few more two-passers down the court that he didn't get credit for but deserved it. Passing up a shot is one of the hardest things to do as a player, but one of the easiest to overlook by fans and the media. (I'm making sure Malcolm gets his props though, I SEE YOU MD, way to go man)
B) He hit when he had to. With just around two minutes left in the game, Duke was creeping up on the Hokies. The Tech lead was a mere two points when...SWISH! Malcolm's lone 3 in the game flushed to put the Hokies up by 5, clinching the win. It was the clutch shot that got the Hokies around the final turn, and coasted them into victory lane.
I would also just like to point out that Malcolm grabbed 7 rebounds, not bad for a guard eh? And he picked Seth Curry's pocket on Duke's last chance/possession, eliminating all possibilities of a Dock-shot re-enactment. He did all this while having a "bad" day. Go on wit ya bad self Malcolm.
While Delaney may have come up short on points, the rest of the team united to pick up the slack.
Just look at the box score. Look at our point breakdown. It's a thing of beauty. All 64 of our points were scored by our starters, no points from the bench, and each player contributed evenly (well Jeff contributed a little more evenly than the other four). This perfectly showcased how a team is supposed to function. This is the definition of Team. Working together to reach a common goal. Master Yoda would say it like this: Work together they did, and reach the goal they did.
Jeff Allen, aka the Big Donut, picked up a little more slack than everyone else on Saturday. Heck, he put the team on his back. Jeff played like a man possessed. The big guy did work across the boards. I mean really, Jeff did a little bit of everything. He gobbled up 15 rebounds, 5 of those being offensive. He led the team in scoring with 18 points, which included going 2 for 2 from 3 ball land. That's right, the Big Donut's shots were glazed like donuts. He dished out two assists, and blocked a lame Duke shot. He made a couple of free throws to ice (or glaze if you will) the game, but most importantly he stayed in the game. The Big Donut is a well-known foul factory, but he controlled the fury, channeled the energy, and took over this ballgame. Somebody give dat man some Krispy Kremes, he deserves 'em.
Of all the players in this game I was proudest of Victor Davila. He came out the tunnel motivated like never before, played inspired basketball, and played his heart out. He relentlessly battled Duke's big men all game long. Don't read this next stat too quickly because you might go into a state of shock. Davila shot 50% from the floor! He made 5 of his 10 attempts, and added a bonus free throw in just for kicks. He used his patented banana scoop to tally up 11 points, which you could argue were the difference between our 4-point win and a 7-point loss. I say that because Davila doesn't usually score that much (let's just say he's not the most coordinated tool in the shed). And how about that dunk. When he slammed that puppy, I exploded off the couch like I had just been sitting on a hot nail. I was just ecstatic. Here's this guy who usually can't put his foot in his shoe, and here he is stuffing a dunk right down Duke's throat. I was so happy for him, I was so happy for us, I was so happy he didn't miss!
I was overjoyed to see Tech basketball legend Dell Curry in attendance, but not surprised (as his son plays for Duke). What surprised me was that he was wearing a Duke shirt. I mean I guess I can understand that he was pulling for his son, but that doesn't change the fact that it hurt to see that...really hurt. I now know how Packers fans feIt when they saw Brett Farve run onto Lambeau wearing a Vikings helmet. It was awful. It was like when I realized there wasn't a Santa Claus. But hey at least Dell is still very real, and what he did for advancing Va Tech basketball will never be forgotten. He will always be one of my heros, and will always be known as the Michael Jordan of Virginia Tech basketball. And of course I'll forgive him for rocking the Duke shirt, I mean we won didn't we?
Dell's son Seth didn't quite have the same success that his dad did on the Cassell floor. He didn't have success period. He fouled out after turning the ball over to the already celebrating Hokies on the Devils final possession, and finished with nary a point. That's right no points. Also no assists, no rebounds, no steals, no blocks. Just 5 fouls, and that final gift-wrapped turnover. There was just something poetic about it. It just wouldn't have been right for Seth to come in there and light up the scoreboard. This was against the team his dad put on the map. He wouldn't be playing basketball today, if his dad hadn't played in Cassell so many years ago. This was his dad's court, and it remained that way...rightfully so. The Tech faithful made sure he knew that too, as they bellowed a perfectly tailored "Who's Your Daddy?" chant to escort him to the bench. So the legendary stories of Dell Curry working his magic in the Cassell live on unchallenged by anyone...even his offspring.
The whole day was like watching a story from a fairy tale book unfold, while the ending moments of the game were like a well-written novel being played out in real life. With just 13 seconds remaining in the game, the extremely underdogged Hokies were up 63-60 and holding on with everything they had. Seth Curry, the son of Tech's greatest basketball player, dribbled the ball frantically up court with Duke's last chance to tie. Malcolm Delaney, Tech's current best player, swooped in from behind and jarred the ball loose from Curry and into the hands of Jeff Allen, who immediately tucked it into a vice-grip. The flustered Curry hurridly fouled Allen. Allen was off to the free throw line to put the game (and the champagne) on ice as Blacksburg erupts, while Curry was on the way to the bench with his fifth foul and no points. I'm telling you, you couldn't have scripted a better ending. Tech's current two best players get the game-sealing turnover from the son of Tech's all-time greatest player, while he watches the whole thing unfold in front of him on the very court that he made himself famous on. You just can't make this stuff up. It's almost Oscar worthy...an ESPY at the very least.
As the final second ticked off, the raucous crowd reached a jubilant fever pitch. The rowdy fans who stood by the Techmen through the thick and thin of this battle of a game would soon be standing by their team where it all took place...on the court. The floor was covered within a half minute. The view from the upmost corner of Cassell showed emptying seats surrounding a perfect rectangular brick of squirming fans in celebration. The chaotic brick jumped up and down in waves, while showing no signs of the hardwood floor underneath. It was a beautiful sight. One that will be forever remembered by Hokie fans everywhere.
Among the chaos, Coach Seth Greenberg embraced his three daughters who were proud to the point of tears of their dad. It was a Kodak moment. I loved seeing the sick looks on the faces of the ESPN Gameday crew. None of them thought we would win, and none of them wanted us to win. Well we showed them! Jay Bilas/Bias, a former Duke player, stared up at the scoreboard in disbelief as swarms of Hokie fans swirled around him. Bobby Knight always looks madder than a hornet, and he stayed true to form after this game. Even the happy-go-lucky Dick Vitale lost the pep that's usually in his step. He made small talk with Coach Greenberg about getting his dancin' shoes ready, but you could tell he was hurtin' inside. His beloved Dookies that he has such a big soft-spot for had been outplayed by the Fighting Gobblers from Polytech VA. Sorry Dicky V, but even dah dia-pah dandies were on our side in this one!
In closing this was an epic signature win for our basketball program. Wins like this are what you build your program around. The success waves that will stem from this game can't be measured. It all but guarantees us a spot in the NCAA Tournament, where possibilities are endless, and you've got to think our chances are pretty good after a win like this. There's no telling how many young good players were watching this game, and now will give Tech a look when it comes recruiting time. Most importantly it gives Hokie fans and the rest of the nation an unforgettable portrait of how great of a place Ole' VPI really is. So give a Hokie, Hokie, Hokie Hi! Tech Tech, VPI! Sola-rex, Sola-rah, Polytech, Virginia! Ray, Rah VPI, TEAM, TEAM, TEAM!
No comments:
Post a Comment