Food for Thought
By Greg Kehr, 2/14/00

Speaking of Mims, a situation occurred during the final stages of the game that could’ve turned very ugly. Bonnies point guard Tim Winn was tied up near half court with one of the Tech players. A foul was called on the Hokies, but some pushing and shoving ensued. Mims pulled at Winn and Tim didn’t like that very much and pushed Dennis away. Mims then decided to make a fist and fire a punch.

Luckily, Brian Chase jumped in and grabbed Mims’ right arm before he could throw the haymaker. I was watching Dennis the entire time and he looked like he wanted to throw Tim Winn into the middle of next week. I don’t know what was said, but if he had thrown the punch, not only are we looking at ejection, but very possibly suspension. To make matters worse, a few seconds later, Winn and Andre Ray are tumbling out of bounds near the Tech bench, only to have Dennis come over again and get in Winns’ face as he was laying on the ground. The crowd was booing, the student section was ready to pounce on Mims, and the whole situation was close to getting out of hand. The officials, though, did a great job restoring the peace and the game ended without incident.

My point is simple: we need Dennis Mims to play ball, not play enforcer or bully. I know he has a mean streak, which I think is good, as long as it is channeled in the right direction. Coach Stokes seemed to have a pretty good handle on the whole situation. He didn’t take Dennis out of the game; he didn’t yell at him and belittle him in front of the team. He talked to him calmly, and that’s the way the game ended. If Dennis can control his anger on the court and mature to the point where he shrugs off the taunts and the trash talking, it will make this team that much more dangerous for opponents. If he decides he wants to fight his way out of trouble, then the whole team will suffer because of his actions.

And now back to our program. One thing that I was very impressed with was the play of Brian Chase. This was my first opportunity to see him in action and he didn’t disappoint. For those of you that haven’t seen him play, make it a point to get to a game, this kid is the real deal. Chase single handedly kept the Hokies in this game. He was not only running the show, but he was the only one hitting any type of basket with regularity. Sure Mims, Roberts and Dunlop pitched in, but Brian Chase hit the big baskets that kept the Hokies in this game until the final minutes. Not to mention he had to guard Tim Winn, one of, if not the best guard in the Atlantic 10. Freshman vs. Senior. Normally, the senior "winns" (no pun intended), but this game went to our little freshman, who might have played his best collegiate game so far.

With Chase running the show and Dobbins spotting up from the wing, this team could put a scare into people next year. I’m not predicting miracles here, but the talent in the backcourt is there, and it’s only going to get better as time goes on. Hopefully these two, Chase and Dobbins, don’t pull a Jenis Grindstaff, and leave school for greener pastures. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these kids should cherish the thought of being the foundation of a program. Stay at your school, work hard, and try to put the program on the map. Don’t take the easy way out and transfer to somewhere that’s already established. What’s the fun of that?

Finally, when all was said and done with the game, I realized the last piece of the puzzle was a bench. Coach Stokes didn’t go real deep into his bench and the reason is pretty simple I think, there isn’t much depth to go to. The Hokies are going to need to shore up the reserves in hopes of spelling the starters when they jump to the Big East next year. The six or seven man rotation isn’t going to cut it against the likes of Syracuse, Villanova, Miami or Georgetown.

I know this is only Ricky Stokes’ first year. I know recruits don’t happen over night, and that the whole process of building a program takes time. What I do know is, without the right personnel, I don’t care if you have 5 or 10 people running in and out of a game, you are not going to win. I firmly believe Coach Stokes has the tools to get us where we want to go. He played at UVA (which is a downer, but what are you going to do). He battled ACC opponents night in and night out. He knows big time college basketball and he knows what kind of players you need to get to the big time. The Atlantic 10 plays good basketball, but the Big East plays better. To move this team to the next level, Stokes and his staff need to find the personnel that will do it. From what I saw this past Thursday, the future is already looking bright.

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