Buzzketball Central: Citadel Bulldogs (7-4) at Virginia Tech Hokies (8-1) 1PM DEC 17 WatchESPN

FIVE THINGS | #BeatCitadel Edition 1 PM Faculty/Staff enter FREE with VT ID! Kid's takeover day pic.twitter.com/RsXFtgamT2— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) December 16, 2016

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time: December 17, 2016 / 1 p.m.
Opponent: The Citadel
Site: Blacksburg, Va. (Cassell Coliseum)
Radio: Virginia Tech IMG Sports Network
Talent: Jon Laaser and Mike Burnop
TV/Internet: ACC Network EXTRA
Talent: Bailey Angle & Mack McCarthy
Live Stats: HokieSports.com
Game Notes: Virginia Tech

Glad we could spread some holiday cheer at Carilion Children's Hospital this afternoon! pic.twitter.com/C9Q5c7UeM6— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) December 16, 2016

Bag O Donuts

pic.twitter.com/JLexi5jZrS— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) December 16, 2016

Before we get into all the Holiday goodness about Virginia Tech, the world lost a huge basketball diplomat this week. A man known to do it his way, that brought us as much color in his wardrobe as he did in his commentary, but someone that truly sparked that love for basketball in many people. I wanted to take this opportunity to say, Craig Sager, you will be genuinely missed. I always appreciated how you got even the grumpiest of men to smile and give you a genuine response when no one else could. Hopefully there is basketball where you are headed and more games for you to bring that color to.

Buzzketball is halfway through its stretch of six home games. This opponent will be like looking down at a less talented mirror in terms of size and athleticism. This is another game where they need to take a step forward in terms of maturity. Win this game like they should rather than play down to their opponent. That's the difference between a forty point blowout where the entire roster gets to play and scraping by with a win in the closing minutes.

Dont miss out on this deal:

Seeking Hokie fans to sit in student section, make noise, hold big heads, act like college students next Tuesday https://t.co/mdiTpQaY7N pic.twitter.com/CPlQE2f40d— VT Promotions (@VTPromos) December 15, 2016

This is an early game on a Saturday after most of the students have gone home. I would expect a good local crowd but it still could be a quiet game in Cassell. The Citadel comes in to Cassell with a 7-4 record that is deceiving from the surface. They have no solid Division I wins. They average the most points in the NCAA at 105.2 PPG, but much of that is buoyed by games against NAIA and Division II opponents. Remove those three games from their schedule and their scoring average goes down 12 points. Their only three contests against RPI opponents 104 or better, they score only 80 points per game, all three of which were losses. This will be the twentieth meeting between Tech and The Citadel. The Hokies are 17-2 all time with the series going all the way back to 1921, a 35-10 win for the Hokies. The Hokies last game against The Citadel was a 64-61 affair in 2014.

The Bulldogs are coached by Duggar Baucom, who took over the program just last season. Prior to the Citadel, Baucom was at VMI for ten seasons. Many Hokies fans will remember what those Duggar coached teams all had in common. Essentially, throw up as many three point shots as you can and hope for the best. Last season the Bulldogs finished a woeful 10-22 in Baucom's first year, so getting out to a 7-4 start this season is a positive.

One thing is evident when you look at the Bulldogs roster, Baucom is in the process of remaking it to fit his style. Of the sixteen men listed, nine are freshmen, three are sophomores and four are seniors. The lineup usually is a balanced mix of the experienced and Baucom's selected players. The Hokies need to be able to take advantage of youth here.

Defensively, the Bulldogs employ a multitude of looks to attempt to create a possession differential of more than +10, allowing their athleticism and versatility to develop defense to offense, using presses, high pressure man to man and wide zones looking to create turnovers. To reaffirm how good they are here, they have created 213 turnovers so far this season, which is good for fourth in the nation.

Offensively, Baucom's system is known as "Loot and shoot", or get the steal/turnover and then get down court as fast as possible to locate a good shot. They literally throw the ball at the hoop from outside a ton of times. Now for the surprising part, they are led in scoring by the one big man they keep on the floor, very much like Leday ends up leading the Hokies most nights. In terms of shooting outside, The Citadel has attempted 421 three pointers, which amounts to more than 38 attempts per game, 2nd in the nation so far this season. They have also hit 154, which is also second in the nation.

What does that mean for the Hokies?

The Hokies have to play their game and play it much better than they did against UMES. This is one of those games that should be a laugher, where Buzz has a chance to try a few things before conference play, but we have seen how those have gone so far this season.

For the second game in a row, the Hokies need to focus their efforts critically on the defensive end in this game. Why is this so important? Because so far this season, The Citadel is even worse than Ole Miss in being able to prevent anyone from scoring. They are 350th in the nation, allowing a whopping 99.2 PPG, so if the Hokies can limit the The Citadel perimeter offense, then there is a good chance the Hokies win this game in spectacular fashion.

Another area the Hokies cant go to sleep on is that the leading scorer for The Citadel plays down low. Too much focus on the outside allows the interior passes that make it possible for their one big to score a bunch of points.

Just as scary as this guard rotation can be from the perimeter, they are just as deadly at getting to the line. 1st in the Nation in makes and second in attempts. They hit 78% as a team and have made 257 free throws so far. That's 23.36 points at the charity stripe per contest.

On the flip side of this, The Citadel is ranked in the 340's in terms of Free Throws allowed/Free throws attempted. The Bulldogs are allowing opponents 20 PPG so getting to the line shouldn't be that hard against a team like this.

Tech should have no problem finding open perimeter shooting, considering the Bulldogs come into this game ranked 296th in 3PA%. Opponents shoot better than 38% from outside on this team. The key will be hitting those open shots.

This is a guard heavy offense typically so lots of ball movement is critical to its success. The Hokies need to find ways to disrupt the passing lanes and create turnovers. Preventing a shot from happening is a legitimate goal against a team that is allowing almost 16 turnovers per game. Getting a transition bucket makes it even better.

Bulldogs Backcourt

One thing to focus on in reading about this team is how many minutes to expect to see each player. Since this team is so high energy and expects to run, they play a much deeper group of players, going seven deep at the guard position of at least 10 or more minutes.

The other rather surprising aspect is how badly almost half of these players shoot from the field. For a team that scores as much as it does and a coach that puts a high premium on that scoring, there are more bad shooters than I would have expected, especially from the perimeter which is a Baucom staple.

Sophomore Quayson Williams, #2, 5'11, 170 lbs leads all guards in scoring. So far this season he is averaging 14.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.1 APG, 1.1 SPG while shooting 45% from outside. He attempts almost 7 three pointers per game. He also has managed to shoot 84% from the line. He has a balanced ability to shoot from outside or work the ball in but will be severely undersized against all the Hokies on the floor. Williams plays about 22 minutes per game.

Freshman Kaelon Harris, #23, 6'4, 225 lbs is third on the team in scoring, putting up 12.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 0.9 APG. Harris shoots from outside at 42% but prefers to do his scoring inside, where he is even more deadly at 55%. Expect to see him use his big body to get to the basket quite a few times in this game. Fortunately he is shooting a woeful 60% from the line, as he gets almost six attempts per game so far. Harris is playing about 20 minutes per game so far.

Freshman Preston Parks, #0, 6'1, 175 lbs in his first full season comes in averaging 11.7 PPG, 3 RPG, 5 APG and 2.2 SPG. He is one of two primary ball handlers for this team this season, playing a respectable 25 minutes per game so far. Shooting wise though, his only strength is at the free throw line where he hits at 81%. Otherwise, it takes him quite a few shots to get his scoring in as he shoots 32% from the field and even worse from outside. Still, he is high energy on defense, and plays an integral part in the Bulldogs transition offense.

Freshman Frankie Johnson, #1, 5'9, 150 lbs is averaging 9.8 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.1 APG and 1.7 SPG in almost 26 minutes per game. Johnson appears to be the complementary ball handler to Parks. Part of the process of who leads the charge does stem from who ends up with the ball from the defensive end. Both Johnson and Parks are high pressure defenders so many times they force the turnover and are able to make one pass to complete the offensive play. Johnson shoots better overall than Parks but also does not have much of an outside shot so far this season. He does shoot 77% from the line though.

Sophomore Matt Frierson, #3, 6'1, 150 lbs, is putting up 7.2 PPG and 1.5 APG in about 15 minutes on the floor. Doesn't shoot particularly well from the floor or perimeter. Seems to be a filler when the legs need a break for the starters.

Freshman Leandro Allende, #10, 6'6, 190 lbs, plays about twelve minutes per contest, putting up 6.2 PPG and 2.3 RPG. Plays more of an inside winger role, using his height to get to the ball inside. Another role player that gives the starters a break.

Senior Warren Sledge, #5, 6'3, 180 lbs, is the quiet leader of this team, providing that calm on court leadership at the top of the key to balance out the high energy from the youth all over the roster. He plays about 25 minutes per game, putting up 5.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 4.5 APG. He is the Bulldogs version of Seth Allen with an entirely more terrible shot. Shooting below 30% from both inside and out, his strength is 92% from the line, but only gets there once per game. I honestly expect to see his role diminish as the season wears on considering how much of a premium Baucom puts on scoring.

Bulldogs Frontcourt

Sophomore Forward Zane Najdawi,#35, 6'7, 205 lbs is the Bulldogs version of Zach Leday. Najdawi leads the team in scoring, putting up 20.1 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.5 SPG and 1.4 BPG while shooting 56% from the field in about 23 minutes of play per game. Leday and Sy will have their hands full down low. Najdawi also shoots 85% from the line on almost eight attempts per game. Najdawi does however have a foul trouble issue of his own, averaging almost 3.5 fouls per game. Najdawi played his high school ball in Midlothian, VA so he might have a bit of a homecoming crowd in to see him for this game.

After Najdawi, there is only one other forward in the primary rotation. Senior Brian White, #32, 6'8, 205 lbs comes in playing around 15 minutes per contest, averaging 9.8 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1 APG while shooting 62% from the field, 55% from outside, and 87% from the line. He will step outside to shoot, averaging almost three attempts per game. White is a Richmond, VA product so he might also have some family in town for this one.

Names the Announcers will Butcher

Ezekiel Balogun, Quayson Williams, or Zane Najdawi top the list for me.

What to expect from The Citadel?

The Bulldogs play predominantly a half court aggressive man to man, while also employing double team traps, and other pressure plays to try to force turnovers. Regardless, opponents don't have a hard time scoring, considering the Bulldogs are 350th in points allowed so this shouldn't play a significant role.

This team has fairly balanced scoring as well as minutes on the floor because of the pace of play they like to run. Baucum regularly goes 11 deep, with no one player exceeding 25 minutes on the court. Six Bulldogs average 9.8 PPG or higher, and so it is extremely difficult to focus on any one player.

Rebounding wise, the Bulldogs are quite average with 42 rebounds per night, which is slightly deceiving considering how many shots are put up in the normal night for this team. Expect this game for them to be way off their average as Buzz slows the pace of play to force them into a more methodical game.

I would expect to see much the same lineup that they have used all year as there is no real size advantage beyond Najdawi when Leday is in and this team is designed more for speed and agility than anything else. They want to run, run, run so a steady flow of guards will be the norm all night.

The Hokies

The Hokies need to focus on playing a much more methodical game than they are used to. They need to ensure they don't get caught up in The Citadel's desire to run all day. We have size and match their athleticism at every position so keeping them out of their frenzied pace of play seems to hurt the Bulldogs offense tremendously.

In the rebounding game, the Hokies need to be ready to score transition baskets on defensive rebounds, as The Citadel focuses hard on getting offensive rebounds to try to extend possessions so they are slow to get back on defense when they do not get the ball. Expect Clarke and Seth Allen to get quite a few easy buckets as they break to the basket ahead of the team.

Buzz must make sure this team is awake and ready for basketball especially if the crowd isn't there to support the Hokies. They can't afford to let the Bulldogs hang around because this is not the team you want to go point for point with down the stretch. Likely is you will lose that battle.

Pretty common theme but extremely important with this opponent. Clean crisp passes, limiting turnovers, and hitting open shots are the keys to success for this team. Limiting their possessions and slowing their offense puts them out of sorts. Leday will likely have a huge day, and I might expect to see a double digit performance from Sy as well. Getting the ball inside on this opponent seems to be an area where the Bulldogs have an extreme weakness.

Highlight of the Ole Miss Game

HOKIES WIN!! pic.twitter.com/vHhMnyqsuF— VT Men's Basketball (@VT_MBBall) December 11, 2016

Resilience of the team to get it done. It wasn't the most pretty game by any means but it was a solid team win.

In Closing

Very similar rosters, although the Hokies have better size and overall talent. The groupings on the floor though should look the same with a ton of guards and one "big man" down low. The key to this game will be how the Hokies respond to runs on the board, especially if the crowd isn't there to support them.

Hokies must close out on perimeter shooters to make The Citadel earn their shots. No freebies or this will stay a close game throughout.

Hokies win. I am still torn as to which Hokies team I expect to see come out to play. Will it be the team that let UMES hang around all day or will it be second half Michigan? I tend to believe that Buzz will have them ready today and that we see more of second half Michigan. Hokies are once again brushing up against the 100 point barrier. Hokies win 95-72.

#WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/1DmFyav76x— Buzz Williams (@TeamCoachBuzz) December 14, 2016