Clarke has typically not gotten into games until the 12 minute mark or so. So it has been normal to see him come in later. But I would say he has not altered his aggression. I would argue he has rarely been aggressive throughout his career. He may look aggressive in certain moments such as a rebound and transition opportunity but that is a moment in time versus a tendency. He was the #1 recruit in VA right when he came to VA? He does not play like it. If he was at UNC, it would be demanded that he do certain things and if not, he would sit. We like him and he gets praise for being good at a lot of things. Good. But he can and should do so much more. This team won't reach its potential until he decides to do more. His defense on the perimeter is just as bad as Hills. I don't even think Clarke brings great energy. We see some things in spurts like the 6-pts sequence at the end of a game. But is that normal or routine? No.

Hill didn't play enough to really be highlighted ..other than than when he was in with the worst possible lineup out there. When it was Bede, Hill, Clarke, Hornethat might have been it at one point we were in trouble.

Our biggest problems were:
1. The over-reliance on over-helping. To be fair, this helped turnaround VT's defensive capabilities and acumen over the second part of the season. We picked a poison.All teams are going to give up open 3s. It is just a matter if people hit or miss. Most open 3s come from the corner or the top when players have to rotate. But we give up open 3s from players who are close to the ball. Smart basketball teams have players circle move when a teammate drives. A wing player moves to the corner. A corner player cuts to the basket, a player at point moves to the wing away from the ball. Alabama's BEST sequences all night were off of driving and over-helping either by the wing or a post. That set up Petty for all of his shots. That set up easy dunks by Hall. It wasn't just about interior dominance. The inside scoring we gave up were mostly open dunks because a post stepped up to help against dribble penetration.

So until we can play defense that balances help without over-helping, we are going to be exposed in different ways. this will hurt mostly against teams that have guards who don't force it and who are smart enough to pass. Sexton was mixing both forcing it and making the right pass. So was the other guard. Disciplined teams like Wisconsin last year would do the same. We picked an approach and it has worked except that we can't over-help. And of course if a player gets hot...

2. Our own offensive issues in the second half:
- There was a stretch where Blackshear, Horne, and Clarke handled the ball in the half-court offense more than Robinson, Bibbs, or NAW. That led to scrambled plays, turnovers, forced plays. We were poised to separate but our key offensive ball-handlers and decision-makers barely touched the ball.

- Bibbs in contradiction to the above point forced several situations. Driving baseline out of a timeout. Getting stuck late indecisively after Blackshear and Horne were doing stuff.

- Blackshear forces things. Over the season he he has traveled, stumbled, thrown up stupid stuff, fouled, etc simply because he feels the need to continue to try to score after he is initially stopped or double-teamed. Just pass it out and re-post. That is the nature of basketball or sports at timessomeone makes a decision and no matter what sticks with the decision. That is why Buzz got on Bede one time on a forced drive. Blackshear may get his share of ticky-tacky fouls but he also is out of position, soft, and gets tangled up with people that makes it easy for refs to call something. even the first foul that many will say was not on foul, he moved up into the post player who got a pass and turned into Blackshear. Blackshear didn't deny the pass and moved up as the player turned. Blackshear needed to give him space and there was a bump. Maybe bad luck or not his fault but the refs are going to call that contact when Blackshear denied the player space. UNtil Blackshear can stay on the court and not make poor decisons, that is what we are going to get.

- Bede slows down the offense. He over-dribbles, back and forth up top, forward-backwards, side-to-side. Just get the ball moving.

-To Alabama's credit, they came out at times in the second half with good double-teams, good defense when we wanted to use screens. People had no where to go and got confused rather than making them pay when they doubled or over-helped. Alabama over-helped at times. Robinson is good at getting rid of the ball in those situations. Others are slow to move the ball.

-The whistles in the second half were real fouls. The sequence of fouls in which VT benefitted from and got in the bonus were real fouls so it was not a change in officiating. The example of Blackshear being fouled with arm grabbed. That is not different officiating. it is just a foul. I don't think the refs treated anyone like 3rd graders. Yes, i don't think the technical was warranted. But i would not go that far in describing the refs. I was annoyed with the refs at times so I am not defending them. There was a foul in which Robinson was hit clearly and knocked aside late in the game. The two closest refs didn't call anything. It took the furthest ref running in calling the foul for it to be called. That was an easy call in which all 3 refs should have blown whistles. It was not like it was a bad angle or anything. So I agree but I don't think they should be a target of overall ire that some will make especially with the charge call. They missed some travels. They let Sexton get away with some stuff but they also called things.

The better team thing I am not I agree. VT didn't look better than Alabama. If Alabama kept it close, took leads, etc Then Alabama looked just as good. If VT made mistakes, then Vt can't look like the better team. Sometimes - as in the ND game - a team wakes up and shows themselves to be better. So there are times we would like to think VT should win but the other team is just as good, makes plays, VT doesn't. We know what VT is like. They are inclined to lapses. They are inclined to poor defense at times, to turnovers, to fouls. This isn't an anomaly. So if a Miami keeps it close and wins or if a ND team comes back or Alabama wins, they do so against A VT team that has tendencies that make the VT team what it is. That won't change until there is better leadership, mental acumen and toughness like you highlight and coaching that stops some things in their tracks before they snowball.

Back to the rotation thing, obviously starters need breaks and there are fouls but NAW needed to play more in the second half. Robinson needed to be in when Sexton went out. There was an opportunity lost there. We didn't fall behind but we could have pulled further ahead.I wonder why clarke can't come in instead of Horne for Blackshear..Horne provided energy but if Clarke is so great..
[Post edited by VAHokie89 at 03/16/2018 10:50AM]