Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 2 | October 2017

19 / 52

17
to finding a way to replace the production of
LeDay and Allen, he needs for his team to be
substantially better on defense.
Last season, the Hokies ranked 10th in the
ACC in field-goal percentage defense (44.5),
14th in 3-point field-goal percentage defense
(36.3), 14th in blocked shots (2.76) and 14th in
steals (3.97).
Tech won last season because it averaged
nearly 80 points per game, and it led the ACC
in both field-goal percentage (48.9) and 3-point
field-goal percentage (40.3). The numbers on
offense compared to the numbers on defense
represented a striking contrast, and it begs a
question.
Can success be sustainable playing this way?
“Absolutely not,” Williams said. “It is not
sustainable, and we will have to make distinct
improvements defensively.”
Williams said the Hokies often played solid
defense during the initial possession. But
Tech’s inability to get rebounds—the Hokies
ranked last in the ACC in rebounding (32.3)
and rebounding margin (-2.4)—led to second-
chance points. Tech got out-rebounded in 16
games last season, and it won just seven of those.
Of note, Tech got out-rebounded in seven of
the nine games that Clarke missed after tearing
his ACL.
“I thought he covered up some of our
rebounding deficiencies,” Williams said. “Then
you look at how we played the last nine games
without Chris, we were not the same team.
“For sure, as a coach, I think, looking back,
we could be better. We will be better. There
are ways we can improve as teachers. As of
September, we’ve been accountable for the best
ways of that.”
Complicating matters for Williams,
especially without Outlaw and possibly without
Clarke, is the Hokies’ schedule. Tech plays
non-conference games against St. Louis and
possibly Washington or Providence at Madison
Square Garden. The Hokies also play non-
conference games against Iowa, at Ole Miss
and at Kentucky.
“Dumb,” Williams said. “You can just write
that.”
Williams said that much of the non-
conference schedule was done earlier last
season—long before the injuries to Clarke and
Outlaw—and he agreed to play at Kentucky,
a contender annually for the national title, as
a way to enhance the Hokies’ potential NCAA
Tournament chances.
“I don’t think that you can put it in a formula,
but I do think there is an unspoken, analytical
when those people [the NCAA selection
committee] look at your schedule and know
that you could have played XYZ University and
you decided not to spend your school’s money
and play them and you went to Kentucky and
got beat,” Williams said. “I told Jeff [Reynolds]
that I don’t have peace playing XYZ University,
and I don’t have peace playing at a neutral
site because that’s preventing our fans from
potentially having an opportunity to see us
play, and I don’t want a third neutral-site game.
“So let’s take all the variables out. What’s the
hardest thing? Play on the road and win on the
road. OK, let’s go there. Well, who’s the best
team with the best environment? Kentucky. So
OK, let’s go play them.”
Tech returns several integral parts from
last season’s NCAA Tournament team, and it
added several talented components. There are
certainly worse positions to be in when facing
maybe the toughest schedule in school history.
Yet there are many unknown variables, as
the season gets ready to tip off in less than a
month—Clarke’s knee, Blackshear’s leg, the
freshmen and their adjustments, and the
improvement of the post players.
“I don’t know that the texture, the vibe, the
flow of this year’s team will be the same as last
year’s,” Williams admitted. “I don’t know if you
can reproduce all of that.”
The Hokies’ 2016-17 campaign was, indeed,
memorable. The team overcame misfortunes,
won close games and played exciting basketball.
Williams insists the Hokies won’t look
exactly the same this upcoming season. Though
true, they may not have to look the same.
If they’re even close, they hopefully can get
to where they ultimately want to go.
AHMED
HILL