Roanoke Times - Hokies Search for Lost Arc

By Mark Berman - Roanoke Times

BLACKSBURG -- The Virginia Tech men's basketball team has turned to a revamped frontcourt and a new addition named Noah in hopes of shoring up two of its weak points last season.

Tech, which began preseason practice Friday, is seeking to bounce back from a 14-16 season in which it tied for 10th in the ACC with a 4-12 league record. The Hokies return all five starters, but rebounding and free-throw shooting were glaring weaknesses last winter.

Tech has already spent a lot of time this fall working on free throws -- aided by a device called "Noah Select" that was purchased over the summer. The machine, which costs about $5,000, not only records video and prints photos of a player shooting a free throw but also calls out the degree of the arc of the shot.

"It's very helpful," guard Zabian Dowdell said. "I've been noticing an improvement in my free-throw shooting just because it yells out the arc. It's a good investment." "It helps me work on my arc -- shoot high and know my peak [when] I need to let the ball go," fellow senior guard Jamon Gordon said.

The Hokies ranked next-to-last in the ACC in free-throw percentage (64.5 percent) last season for the second straight year.

"We've worked on shooting a lot more," said coach Seth Greenberg, whose team opens the season Nov. 10 against visiting Coppin State. "The machine's not going to make us a  better free throw-shooting team -- it's the repetition. And it's taking the information we get back from the machine and trying to get our guys to buy into it so they know what their perfect release point and their perfect arch feels like."

Improving on the boards is another priority. The Hokies were outrebounded by three rebounds per game last season -- last in the ACC in rebounding margin for the second straight year. Gordon, the point guard, was the team's second-leading rebounder (6 rpg). Greenberg has moved Deron Washington, a 6-foot-7 junior who has started at power forward the past two seasons, to small forward. A.D. Vassallo, a 6-6 sophomore who is the returning starter at small forward, will see time at that position and at off-guard.