Q&A with Niemo of Tech Hoops. com

About Niemo:

Niemo is the Senior Writer for TechHoops.com, a site focused solely on Virginia Tech basketball. When he is writing articles about the team, he is well known for arm curling Hokie players at every opportunity. Niemo is also an avid football fan of the three-time ACC Champion Hokies. He has attended 97 straight VT home games dating back to 1994. Maybe the miami game will be #100 next season! Niemo has made 10 trips to the Miami area over the years to see the Hokies take on the rival canes, or see an Orange Bowl, and can always be found at Wet Willies when in town.

Miami-VT is on Sunday

The game is on FSN's Sunday Night Hoops package. That however IS NOT an excuse to not turn up Sunday. The attendance has been better for Maryland and FSU. This is the sort of game where the Canes need a home court crowd advantage to have a reasonable chance of winning.

Q&A:

Q. The Hokies ended up in the NIT last season after finishing 9-7 in the ACC and taking Carolina to the brink in the ACC Tournament. How has the NCAA snub affected the psyche of this team?

A: The players claimed they were very focused at the start of the season on reaching the Big Dance, but lost some questionable games early on. And losing to xavier on a half-court shot at the buzzer didn't help any. Chemistry seemed to be a bit off early in the year, but now everything is clicking. Tech has won 8 of 9, losing only in a blow out at duke.

Q. Do some Hokie fans feel Jeff Allen takes days off or has not reached his vast potential yet?

A: Yes and no. Like most big men, I think you have to get him involved in the offense early on. Sometimes he seems to be neglected and not fed the rock. In those games, yes, at times he seems uninvolved.

In the bc game a week ago, he touched the ball on almost every possession in the first 4 minutes and he ended up with a career high 30 points. But, he also is maybe 6'6" at best, so he is a bit undersized for a low post player. And having lost 30 pounds in the offseason, he can't out-"muscle" opposing guys. I think he's still adjusting to his new frame, and personally, think he needs to add some of that weight back on.

Q. Beating Wake was massive for the Hokies program and your RPI. Do you feel with a win over an upper division team this season, Nine ACC wins will be enough this year to get in?

A: I've said all along VT has to get to 20 wins after what happened last year. That means 10 wins between the ACC regular season and tournament. So, 3 down, 7 to go. The wake win was nice, but also a must. The Hokies learned last year that a lack of marquee wins kills your chances, and until that game, they didn't have any. Tech can get there, but it won't be easy. If VT only gets 9, I'll be very nervous on selection day.

Q. What are your thoughts on Miami thus far this season? Have you caught any Miami games?

A: I watched some of the maryland game and Virgin Island Tournament. From what I've seen, it seems like the canes play best when they are up against the wall. In both the maryland and fsu games they were well behind early, but battled back and fed off the crowd (what there was of one). Virginia Tech also does well in that situation (the behind thing). So it will be interesting to see on Sunday... whomever falls behind early might have the other team right where they want them!

Q. Do you see any surprise teams in the ACC emerging or can we pretty much assume six of the eight leading teams (UNC, Wake, Duke, Clemson, Miami, Va Tech, FSU, Maryland) will be dancing come March? Convince our readers why we should pay attention to Virginia?

A: I will never sell anyone on anything uva! As for the elite teams in the ACC, I think unc and duke are head and shoulders ahead of everyone else. wake just caught unc at the right time, and I think they are the solid third best team, but I think duke will beat them next week. I think clemson, miami and VT are in that next group. maryland doesn't have a ton of talent or chemistry in my opinion. And fsu has been a surprise to me, but I'm still not sold on them. They are athletic and tall, but still young and inexperienced outside of Douglas and Echefu. But stick a fork in georgia tech, uva, bc, and nc state, they are done!

Q. Seth Greenberg is one heck of a coach. He worked for another former Hokie Coach Bill Foster here at Miami. Do Greenberg and Foster stay in touch and do you think Greenberg's coaching style reflects his work with Foster?

A: Greenberg does seem to be a disciple of Foster. Foster always stressed the half court offense and defense, and therefore his teams were always competitive. That is that hallmark of Seth's teams, too. Rarely very exciting, but you can't argue with the results either get in the win column. Seth just broke the 100 win mark at VT, which is quite a feat in terms of where our basketball program was six years ago. But from what I understand, Foster has drifted into retirement so I doubt they talk much.

Kartik's Note: Seth Greenberg is credited with recruiting Tito Horford to Miami. Horford didn't turn out to the be the player he was supposed to, but the signing of Horford put UM on the national basketball map, and opened the door for other top players such as Joe Wylie, Constantine Popa, Steve Frazier and Stevie Edwards to respectively choose Miami in the late 80s and early 90s.

Fun Questions

Q. Ricky Stokes versus Perry Clark: Who do you pick?

A: I will never pick ricky stokes for anything. But this is a lose-lose. stokes was the worst in-game coach I've ever seen. His huddles usually involved him standing around, not saying anything, looking clueless. Virginia Tech has been playing in Cassell Coliseum for 45 years and under stokes we had our ONLY losing season at home ever. That says something. Then, his old uva coach hired him at ecu and he did even worse and "stepped down" after just two years! Ugh... I have to stop now before I get more worked up.

Q. I used to think Frank Beamer was one of the best coaches in the country but then he started Sean Glennon ahead of Tyrod Taylor and East Carolina beat the Hokies. Was it just a brain cramp by Coach Beamer or a sign that the game is passing him by?

A: Frank is still very good in some areas and weak in others. Always has been, always will be. I think the areas he is weak in are recruiting big time talent (sealing the deal) and on offense. Our offenses have always stunk. And they likely always will. Vick was too good though to have a crappy offense. Only an extraordinaire QB can overcome his "ball control" philosophy. We also have an OC that had no business getting the job and has done nothing to prove he should keep it in his SEVEN years.

Q. Do you guys seriously view Virginia as a rival in Football. It seems both George Welsh and Al Groh do less with more talent than any coaches in America. Has Virginia ever beaten you when the game really matters?

A: Hmm. uva doesn't win anything that matters, so I doubt it. Let's put it like this: since being a (sort of) founding member of the ACC over 50 years ago, they have just one ACC basketball tournament title and have NEVER won the football title outright (they tied for two). So VT in just five years in the league has as many titles between those two sports as uva even if you count their shared titles (3 outright football titles).

But, to answer your question, YES, they are, and always will be our #1 rival because we hate their elitist student body/alums with such passion. It is a true rivalry in that sense.

Kartik's Note: UVA was so pathetic in football that they lost their first 27 meetings with Clemson as a member of the ACC. UVA was however the first ACC team to beat FSU once they joined the league.

Q. How does it feel to be the final team to lose to Robert Marve

A: Oh, yeah, that was a tough one... [cough] ACC repeat champs and Orange Bowl champs [cough]... Excuse, must have something in my throat... like another ACC trophy! And let's not forget our basketball team has earned byes through the first round of the ACC tournament in 3 of our 4 years!