Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 2 | October 2016

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18 Inside Hokie Sports
see a lot of 3-point shooting and posting up.
I’m big enough to guard a post player, but
quick enough and have the ability to play on
the perimeter.
“I’ll do whatever Buzz wants, but I see
myself as a 3 [small forward] or a 4 [power
forward] because we have plenty of guys at 1
and 2. But if he asks me to play the 5 [center],
that’s what I’ll do.”
“He [Outlaw] really wants to do right,”
Williams said. “He wants to understand what
right is. He wants to understand the why as
much as he does the how or the what. He’s a
very confident shooter. He has good size, and
he has done a marvelous job of getting his
body ready after a year off.
“The thing we have to figure out with
him is who can he guard? I like those mean,
tough, undersized guys that we don’t really
know where to play. We call it the 4. It’s really
not the 4. Zach is a great example of that.
Throughout our career, we’ve always tried to
find that mismatch problem, but so much of
that is based on who you can guard.”
Such talent and depth does not guarantee
future success. For the Hokies to make a
second straight postseason appearance, they
need to shore up a few areas that proved
problematic last season.
Tech ranked 12th in the ACC in scoring
defense, giving up an average of 72.6 points per
game. Much of that could be attributed to the
second-chance points that they allowed. Often,
the Hokies played good defense, but gave up an
offensive rebound that led to a basket.
The Hokies ranked 13th in the ACC in
rebounding margin a year ago. Only three
other teams in the ACC (Duke, Syracuse and
Boston College) were out-rebounded for the
season.
“We, for sure, need to improve,” Williams
admitted. “But I don’t know that our roster,
because of how I coach, will have a bunch
of guys who can shoot and miss and chase it
down. I’d rather have a roster full of guys who
can shoot and make. The down side of that is
on the other end of the floor.
“We’re probably going to be shorter
in stature. If the other team is shooting
and missing, then we’re going to have an
issue—and that [rebounding] was an issue last
year. It has to improve, but I don’t necessarily
have it as a goal that I’d like to lead the league
in rebounding.”
KEEP FOCUS ON THE DAY
Continued from page 17
JUSTIN
BIBBS