There was a lot of hype surrounding the Virginia Tech men's basketball team when the season began. Incoming freshman Neoklis Avdalas was getting a lot of the headlines, and rightfully so. He lived up to those expectations early, but teams are beginning to learn how to defend him. He'll have to adjust to that as the season goes along, as teams get more film of him.
The Hokies made the trip to the Bahamas over Thanksgiving for the Battle 4 Atlantis and entered the tournament at 5-0. They picked up a 66-64 win over former teammates Brandon Rechsteiner and Colorado State, but things didn't go so well over the next two days.
Before they tipped on Thursday afternoon against Saint Mary's in the semifinals, it was announced that forward Tobi Lawal was going to miss the game with an injury. After losing to the Gaels, head coach Mike Young said that he didn't expect Lawal to be out long-term despite his foot being in a walking boot. He didn't play against VCU in the third-place game on Friday morning in what was an 86-68 loss. At 6-2, the Hokies need to get healthy with the schedule about to ramp up.
Defense needs to tighten up
One takeaway from the Battle 4 Atlantis was the lack of defense the Hokies played over the final two games. They allowed Saint Mary's and VCU to get what they wanted with little resistance. Every time they made a run, their opponent would counter with a run, with little defense being played by Virginia Tech. That is not going to sit well with Young, who preaches defense.
December schedule about to really ramp up
Virginia Tech is going to need Lawal to get healthy quickly, as the schedule in December gets tougher. They will travel to South Carolina on Tuesday night for the ACC/SEC Challenge against a good Gamecocks team. On Saturday afternoon, they will host George Mason in a huge non-conference game. After some non-conference games before Christmas, they close out the month hosting Virginia on New Year's Eve at 2 p.m.