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Hokie Starters Logging Major Minutes
by Chris Coleman, TechSideline.com

If you pay close attention to the Virginia Tech men’s basketball team, you know that head coach Seth Greenberg has been dealing with an unusual rash of injuries and off court problems this season. The Hokies are down to seven healthy scholarship players, plus walkon Chris Tucker. That shows in the stats column, where four of Tech’s five starters play at least 31.5 minutes per game.

Greenberg and the coaching staff thought they were going to have a fairly deep team during the 2005-06 season. They returned four starters, losing only Carlos Dixon. They brought in four freshmen and returned Markus Sailes, who redshirted last season. With the continuing development of Robert Krabbendam and Wynton Witherspoon, the Hokies had the makings of one of the ACC’s deeper teams.

Unfortunately for the Hokies, a total of five players have missed games due to injuries, illnesses or personal matters. Others have played through nagging injuries in games, but missed valuable practice time. The attrition problems reached their peak, so far at least, during the William & Mary game. Tech played nine players during the game, but two for just one minute apiece. Chris Tucker played just five minutes. Freshman A.D. Vassallo, who played 17 minutes, was the only reserve to play more than five minutes. All five starters played 30 minutes or more, and the Hokies were obviously fatigued in the second half when they nearly blew a big lead.

So far this season, four of Tech's five starters are averaging more than 30 minutes per game: Zabian Dowdell averages 34.6 minutes per game (mpg); Jamon Gordon 34.4 mpg; Coleman Collins 33.9; and Deron Washington 31.5 mpg. Only Markus Sailes (26.9 mpg) averages fewer than 30 minutes a contest. Among the backups, A.D. Vassallo leads with 13.3 minutes per game, and Chris Tucker plays 10.8 minutes per game. Wynton Witherspoon averaged 12.2 minutes in five games played, but Witherspoon will take a medical redshirt due to a stress fracture in his foot that has been too slow to heal. (More on that in a minute.)

It’s obvious that the Hokies have some depth issues, and for the most part it’s not their fault. Having your best players in the game is always good, but even well-conditioned athletes need rest so they can be at their best at the end of the game. This could be a major problem for the Hokies when they begin a tough ACC schedule. Most ACC teams do not have the depth and injury problems that the Hokies have. Tech is the only team in the conference to play four of their five starters more than 30 minutes per game.

Duke isn’t as deep as most Duke teams of the past, and they do keep J.J. Redick (35.6 mpg) and Shelden Williams (32.2 mpg) on the court for most of the game. Sean Dockery also plays more than 30 minutes per game. Freshman point guard Greg Paulus plays 29.7 minutes per game, but the fifth starter, Josh McRoberts, plays just 23.4 minutes. The Blue Devils are able to rest their starters a bit more than Tech, but overall they are not a deep team.

That is in sharp contrast to Florida State and Clemson, who use a lot of players. Vern Hamilton plays 27.6 minutes per game for Oliver Purnell and Clemson, tops on the team. Todd Galloway averages 25.9 minutes per game for the Seminoles. Don’t expect this to last throughout ACC play. Purnell and Leonard Hamilton are testing their lineups and figuring out which players mesh well with each other. As ACC play begins, the starters will likely get more playing time.

Frank Haith of Miami is also not afraid to turn to his backups. Star guard Guillermo Diaz plays 33.8 minutes per game, but no other starter plays more than 28.3 minutes. Starting point guard Anthony Harris missed the first seven games of the season due to an injury, so those numbers are sure to change as he gets healthier.

The North Carolina Tar Heels start four freshmen, but they are being given time to adjust to the college game. None of the freshman starters plays more than 28.8 minutes per game. Veteran starter David Noel plays 33.4 minutes per game. Their in-state rivals, NC State, also use a number of players. Engin Atsur leads the team at 30.2 minutes per game, but no other starter plays more than 28.1 minutes.

Georgia Tech is a very young team that lost a lot of talent from last year’s squad, which advanced to the ACC Championship Game and played for the National Championship the previous season. The Yellow Jackets are trying to replace Jarrett Jack and company by committee. Anthony Morrow plays 31.8 minutes, but no other starter averages more than 29.9 minutes.

Boston College is very similar to Virginia Tech and Duke. The Eagles have three starters that play more than 30 minutes, and a fourth plays 29.9 minutes. Wake Forest relies on the trio of Justin Gray (34.7 mpg), Trent Strickland (34.4 mpg) and Eric Williams (31.2 mpg). Kyle Visser and Harvey Hale, the other starters, play less than 30 minutes per game, while Hale getting just 23 minutes.

As you can see, the Hokies are seriously lagging behind the rest of the ACC in depth right now, and it doesn’t appear that things are going to get any better. Witherspoon was set to start at small forward for the Hokies, but fractured a bone in his foot in the preseason. He has returned to play in five games, but has not been able to get over the injury. He announced following the William & Mary game that he will take a medical redshirt.

Robert Krabbendam recently returned to practice following knee surgery, but immediately came down with the flu and missed more practice time. He dressed out for the William & Mary game but did not play. He can play in the next three games for the Hokies, but then it must be decided whether or not he will redshirt.

The absence of Witherspoon and Krabbendam changes this Virginia Tech team dramatically. Witherspoon was going to be a starter. Markus Sailes would be coming off the bench in a three-man rotation with Zabian Dowdell and Jamon Gordon at guard. A.D. Vassallo would be backing up Witherspoon at small forward, with Sailes seeing some minutes there if needed.

On the inside, Robert Krabbendam would be a very effective backup for Coleman Collins. They could even play at the same time, with Collins moving to his natural position of power forward. With a healthy Witherspoon and Krabbendam, the Hokies would have different substitution patterns, more rest for the starters, and most importantly, more good players.