Hokies go back to 'defense first'

By Mark Viera

The Washington Post

November 10, 2009

BLACKSBURG, VA. -- Persecution complexes are common around ACC basketball programs that lack fabled pedigrees, but Virginia Tech Coach Seth Greenberg is hoping to use his to motivate his team's play on the court.

Last season, the Hokies missed the NCAA tournament for the second straight year, in large part because of defensive breakdowns, particularly late in games. This season, Greenberg has stressed a return to a defense-first approach, playing with 'a chip' when the opponent has the ball.

'It goes back to the culture of our program when we got into this league,' Greenberg said of Virginia Tech's gritty attitude. 'We're still the school that no one wanted.'

Since Greenberg came to Blacksburg before the 2003-04 season, defense has been the bedrock of Virginia Tech's program. Greenberg said defense has been the key to the Hokies' success because 'we're not playing with nine McDonald's all-Americans like Duke and Carolina.'

'We don't have the luxury,' Greenberg said. 'Our margin of error is smaller, so we have to do all the little things.'

In preseason practices, Greenberg has tried to establish that scrappy mentality. The Hokies have a list of 'absolutes' that need to happen each time the players are on the court. Among them: take a charge, be first to the floor for loose balls, hustle in defensive transition. The coaches chart the players' effort in those categories.

The absolutes, Greenberg said, are 'things that are the essence of what makes us good when we're good. How prideful, how good we are in terms of doing all those little things we need to do to win -- that's how we've won since we've been here.'

Before last year, the Hokies finished no worse than fourth in the ACC in scoring defense in the four seasons it had played in the league. Virginia Tech finished first in scoring defense in 2007-08 and second in that category twice. It also finished second in field goal percentage defense in 2007-08 and fourth in that category a season earlier.

But last year, the Hokies got away from that defense-first ethos. Virginia Tech ranked eighth in the ACC in scoring defense (70.7 points per game) and sixth in field goal percentage defense (42.1 percent).

There were painful examples of the Hokies' defensive lapses last year. Of their 15 losses, six came as a result of their opponents' scoring on their final shot. Greenberg said the losses 'eat at me.'

On Dec. 1, Wisconsin's Trevon Hughes hit a floater with 0.9 of a second remaining to give the Badgers a 74-72 win. On Jan. 31, Boston College's Rakim Sanders tipped in Tyrese Rice's missed jumper with 0.4 of a second remaining to give the Eagles a 67-66 win. And on Feb. 21, Florida State's Toney Douglas hit a short jumper with 6.2 seconds remaining to give the Seminoles a 67-65 win.

'That's where the defensive stuff comes in at, finishing off games,' forward Jeff Allen said. 'We need to start finishing off games. Last year, we didn't play defense like we were supposed to. We were trying to go point for point with people.'

Allen likes the defensive makeup of this year's team, saying the Hokies are long physically and more committed to playing hard on their end of the floor.

One reason in particular Virginia Tech will need to rely on its defense is because of the loss of last season's leading scorer, A.D. Vassallo, who averaged 19.1 points per game.

Without Vassallo, the Hokies have only two proven scorers returning this year in Allen and Malcolm Delaney. Virginia Tech will look to a number of different options to bolster its offense, including 6-foot-8 forward Victor Davila from the low post.

'With A.D. leaving, we're going to lose a lot of points,' said Delaney, the Hokies' leading returning scorer (18.1 points per game). 'Last year, we got away from what Virginia Tech basketball is.'

That has already changed, Delaney said, with practices heavy on defensive fundamentals and concepts. 'I've never done more defensive workouts than I have this year,' he said. 'We do a lot more defensive drills. I think it's changed the attitude of our entire team.'

With a number of players battling injuries and illness during preseason practices -- Greenberg's Twitter page has been updated with bad news on a seemingly daily basis -- Virginia Tech has been hampered personnel-wise at times this fall. But Greenberg has not allowed the players to waver from the defensive mind-set that should be important to the Hokies' season.

Asked if he was already sick of hearing Greenberg talk about the Hokies' defensive absolutes, Allen cracked a shy smile.

'Just a little bit,' Allen said. 'He reminds us every day.'

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