ACC Tournament Schedule 2011

 

Are Virginia Tech Hokies Ready for Georgia Tech?

 As the ACC Tournament schedule 2011 edition opens Thursday, several of the lower seed basketball teams will look to make some noise. One team in particular, is the Virginia Tech Hokies, coached by Seth Greenberg.

According to Mark Giannotto of the Washington Post, VA Tech opens on March 10th against Georgia Tech at 9PM EST.  While the Hokies may be anxious to get the game started Thursday, Giannotto believes the squad may be happy for a few days of rest first.  He notes that in this current season, Virginia Tech's players have been playing more minutes per game than the past few.

These include team star, Malcolm Delaney, who averages 38.2 minutes a game in 2010-11, almost 3 more minutes a game than last season.  Jeff Allen is up over 5 minutes a game more, while Erick Green has more than doubled his minutes.

To the credit of VA Tech, they've had 2 wins in their past 4 games, including a major upset of the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils.  However, they've lost two games since that win, their last two of the season to Clemson and BC.  VA Tech currently is tied with Boston College for a 9-7 ACC record, good enough for fifth place in the conference.

It's also very noteworthy that during Saturday's disappointing loss 69-60 to Clemson, just six of the Hokies played, total.  Even one of the Clemson players admitted the Hokies seemed worn down and was "why they missed shots at the end -- they didn't have their legs."  That could be troublesome for the Tech players when they meet GA Tech Thursday night!

So are these guys being pushed way beyond their limits?  Well, they are college athletes.  Coach Greenberg (pictured) gave the normal response any coach might saying, "I think we'll be alright.  These guys are used to playing a lot of minutes."  Coaches are notorious for running their teams through exhausting drills and hours of practice, so Virginia Tech should be prepared.  However, they better have more than six players available if they want to beat the likes of Florida State in the next round, and potential foes like UNC or Duke later on.

The ACC Tournament 2011 schedule starts on Thursday, March 8, 2011 in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Virginia Tech meets Georgia Tech at 9PM EST on .