Hokies caught off guard in head game

DURHAM, N.C. A.D. Vassallo dropped back, looked deep and let the ball go. The pass went out of out of bounds, far from his intended receiver.

Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg was outraged and motioned angrily toward his head, indicating he wanted Vassallo to think about what he was doing.

Coach, he was thinking. He was thinking he was about to get sacked and had to throw the ball away before he took a loss.

Oh, you're thinking this was a basketball game.

Technically, that's correct. But it was an ACC basketball game played in a cocoon of a gymnasium against a team that goes after opponents so hard it's a wonder the players on either squad have energy left to shake hands afterward.

Some teams contest every shot. The Duke Blue Devils contest every dribble. On offense, they attack the basket on drives, attack the backboard on missed shots and go after loose balls as if their scholarships depend on getting them.

That is not a natural way to go through life, or even a basketball game. It has to be learned. Duke's practices must be just short of wrestling matches.

"Our practices are just as tough as our games," said junior guard Jon Scheyer. "That helps our offense because every pass we make in practice is a challenge. We contest everything."

Even teammates get tired of that. Tempers sometimes fray during those workouts.

"We love getting after each other," Scheyer said. "Those are the most fun practices."

Combine all that with the near-manic atmosphere created by the Duke student section -- the semester break doesn't end until Wednesday, but the students already are back, camping out in line for the North Carolina game, which will be played Feb. 11 -- and you have a building filled with enough testosterone to fuel the Baltimore Ravens' defense.

And yet, Duke can be beaten. The Blue Devils even can be beaten here, where they have a homecourt advantage only slightly less than that of the Russians during the Napoleonic invasion.

But the team that beats Duke, here, there, anywhere, has to be very good. And it has to be very smart.

The Hokies aren't bad. They weren't intimidated by the Blue Devils. Vassallo, Jeff Allen and J.T. Thompson challenged Duke on offense and defense.

The problem was the Hokies didn't always make the smartest decisions. That Vassallo pass that so enraged Greenberg? Vassallo didn't have to do that.

And after cutting Duke's lead to 39-33 at the start of the second half, first guard Malcolm Delaney and then Vassallo pulled up on fast breaks and fired shots from behind the 3-point line.

Both missed.

"I have no problem with somebody shooting threes," Greenberg said. "Some coaches let players shoot like that, it's empowering the players. Other coaches let players shoot those shots, and it's a lack of discipline.

"I think Vassallo and Delaney can make those shots."

Fair enough. But as Greenberg pointed out, on the possession after Vassallo's miss, Cheick Diakite drove into the lane and made the shot.

On a number of occasions, the Hokies had the right ideas.

Allen, a sophomore forward, used his peripheral vision to spot a teammate open under the basket. He then threw a blind, behind-his-head pass that would have made quite a highlight, except for one thing.

There were three Duke players between Allen and his teammate. They knocked the ball down, then recovered it.

There were too many occasions when a Hokie drove to the middle from the wing and lost the ball when a Blue Devil defender reached in from behind and poked it to a teammate.

Duke outscored Virginia Tech 30-9 in the final 17 minutes of the game.

"We made some bad decisions," Greenberg said. "Going into the 16-minute timeout, we had a chance to win. And we stunk it up."

It was not a night for that.

Duke is relentless and unforgiving. If a rebound hits the floor, the Blue Devils go into rugby mode and a scrum envelopes the ball and any opposing player who happens to be nearby. The Hokies were not ready to match the Blue Devils in any area.

"It's a process," Greenberg said.

It wasn't a process the Hokies enjoyed last night.