I’m a big believer of the mindset of earned not given when it comes to players. When it comes to Kihei I think he earned everything he got, and none of it was given to him. Could he have been better playing less mins? Probably, but that’s where the other players have to earn the right to make the play, take the shot, whatever it is. One thing I will always give Kihei credit for was down the stretch he was willing to have the ball in his hand and make a play. He may not have been the best option but he had the mindset and stepped up.
A lot of times I get the feeling from posters that they almost picture CTB as some evil mastermind sitting in the back holding players down just to serve his own purposes. I simply don’t believe that to be the case, and given his actions in past seasons, and his comments post game last night, I believe that is not the case. Instead CTB plays the guys and sets up the guys who he believes work and earn in, and if that means he has to run a gutted rotation and grind, he rather do that than set the standard of you can cut a corner and get on the court.
I am unsure how much should be read into Coach Bennett’s remarks following a frustrating loss to end a season. This edition of the 'Hoos was challenged from the start. There were obvious holes in the roster, and, yet, they still won 21 games. In some ways, I think it says volumes about what an outstanding job Coach Bennett did this year, and the quality of the young men on the team. They overcame a myriad of limitations to reach this point. Through the years, I have seen Virginia teams with more overall talent (in my opinion) accomplish considerably less. As the dust settles, I imagination others will come to this realization. As far as Bennett’s expectations of his players going forward, I am unsure if it has ever been different, and given the quality of person he has typically brought into the program, I am skeptical it will become an issue.
I picture him the same way I picture all of us: as a human being making decisions based on imperfect information influenced by his own biases and preconceptions. Most years, I think he’s done a pretty amazing job at that. That’s why he won a natty and will go to the HOF.
I believe that is the correct way to view him. He’s doing the best he can with the resources and information he has. Does he make mistakes? Of course, but sometimes I get the impression that people almost believe he is purposely sabotaging the team and I think that’s stupid.
I think this is the right take. When I say that he wasn’t put in a position to succeed since his first or second year, I more blame roster circumstances than game to game coaching decisions.
This made me actually laugh. I do think Tony is a weird case though in that he’s a super nice guy yet not a player’s coach. And that can get confusing as outside observers. I think his player management style is one typically employed by guys who have much more ass hole in them.
The last 3 seasons, Kihei has been tasked with being the answer. The reality is he is a piece to a larger puzzle. I’d argue that’s been the downfall of the every team of the last 3 years. Guys who are high performing role players have been tasked with being the Go-To guy because of the roster configuration. This isn’t limited to Kihei. I’d argue Jayden is in a similar position.
A couple of thoughts on the season now that the sun has risen this morning:
Congrats to St Bonaventure. They went on the road and beat 3 power 5 teams in hostile environments. Wow - that’s impressive - not a lot of teams could do that. Well done, and perhaps they have reminded us all that program continuity (5 seniors), cohesiveness, and hard work are still sound methods to win in March. I’m all for getting a transfer stud to come in for a year, but also firmly believe that team cohesiveness, chemistry, and a genuine love of your teammates is really important and translates to wins. St. Bon’s had it, and we didn’t - that was obvious even through the television.
Excited about our 1st years next year, as we all are. But keep in mind, they are first years and some of the skills they all wowed us with in HIGH SCHOOL VIDEO CLIPS won’t translate in ACC play. None of them are Zion, or Bryant Stith, or Ralph. They are great prospects, and it will take time for them to find their footing. And some may not work out…its happened before. Remember Jabri…he was more highly rated than any of them. If we had Forum back then we all would have been predicting more Natty’s when he committed. Maybe we did do that - I wasn’t involved then We need to give them time to be awesome. And some of them will be.
Reece is awesome, and had a great year. But if he wants to play in the NBA, he has to be able to shoot at a much higher percentage, from a much deeper range. Can’t play in the NBA if you can’t shoot (shout out Patrick Beverly)- regardless of position. I think he will get there and this is a VERY important summer for him. Rooting for him as we all are - he is a good player. Want to see him become GREAT.
The transfer portal is a seductive and mysterious place. I find it hard to believe that kids we would have never recruited 12 months ago are now hot commodities for ACC teams. Yes, their are a few outliers, and they are a year older, and have improved. But lighting it up in the mid-majors isn’t always a great predictor of success at a power 5 school. I thought Jaden was very good this year for us, and truthfully, I thought he would struggle more than he did. He stepped up and that was great, but not everyone will. My fear is that the transfer portal can be fool’s gold for some programs and I hope we aren’t one of them. I find it hard to believe that a kid from Southwest Northeast Mid-Dakota State (great school) can come in and help us. HGN knows them all and I trust his opinion, but let’s focus on kids that are highly rated, on the radar, and highly sought after. We can recruit at the level and should be landing more and more each year. Finding a diamond in the rough seems like a low percentage play to me.
A quick review of the top programs in the NCAA reveals the following about us - objectively:
we are little at every position except 5
we played sub-par shooters in the backcourt
we are sub-par athletically as a whole
The top NCAA teams were impressive, both in the airport and on the court. We had an “Island of the Misfit Toys” feel to us this year, and I think we did as best as we could. But lets get some dogs/studs/specimens up in here moving forward. If we want to be elite, we have to get those kids.
That’s it for now. Was a fun year with you guys - always is. Stay tuned as we have a BIG announcement coming out about LRA which we are very excited about. Appreciate all the support, the critiques, the passion, and the fun.
In Kihei’s defense he hasn’t had a reliable shooter/creator in the last 3 years. Tomas was a good shooter but couldn’t create off the bounce. Kihei was the only one on that roster that could do anything with the ball in their hands so he played an insane amount of minutes (backup was literally a walk on). Reece can’t shoot unless wide open and is also ball dominant so that’s a bad pairing. Casey never panned out as a shooter or a creator. Armaan has been a bust if looking at the whole season (although promising finish to the year).
Kihei was always best served as a role player surrounded by other alpha guards, see 2019. Since then he’s had to be the sole creator for the 2020 team, and then for the last 2 years he’s essentially been sharing a backcourt with someone who couldn’t complement his skillset worse.
It’s not Reece or Kihei’s fault at this point but I think you have to choose one or the other and we all know the obvious choice.
Totally agree, I don’t blame Kihei he came in and did even more than he was asked to. He went from the first contributor yr on a National Championship team to the leader of a veteran crew, to the leader of a MASH unit of guys the last 2 years. Virginia has essentially been Kihei and first years the last 2 seasons thanks to transfers and early exits. It’s tough to overcome that inconsistency.
As far as the Reece vs. Kihei talk, I view it as CTB had to put the most talented players on the floor to give the team a chance to win. If Casey, one of 2 of the M’s, Jabri, Arman, turned into . reliable 2 guards, then you can drop Kihei or Reece, but that’s not what happened,
Stating the obvious, but we desperately need the 2022 class to be good. Like at least 3 out of 4 becoming impact guys and hopefully at least 2 become All-ACC. It’s pretty shocking the amount of misses we’ve had and I’m not sure how much longer we can sustain it. Finally have dipped to NIT level because of lack of talent and while the future has a lot of hope and promise, I felt the same way about guys like Morsell and JAR. Personally, I think it’s best for the program if Kihei leaves unless there’s a clear plan in place for him to be a 15 min/game backup. I also think we need to add the best 3 point shooter we can find in the portal. The goal of this offseason should be constructing a roster that allows us to have 2 consistent 3 pt shooters on the floor with Reece at all times, who also live up to whatever defensive standards Tony is looking for
Agree with this completely. He is a great player and a fighter - he just was asked to do too much. Or maybe I should say, it wasn’t fair to put as much on his shoulders while also continuing to expect the elite results we’d seen in previous years. He did everything he could to maximize his talent, which is all you can ask of somebody. But him having such a high usage percentage while his other stats were what they were (see below stats for PGs and combos who played PG in Bennett era) was going to result in more up-and-down results than we were used to.
Great job Hav. Agreeing with you all the time is starting to annoy me really
Cohesiveness is HUGE. Its frankly something I cant tell if we have had much of on lots of teams. And it is glaring when we play a team that is made up of adults that do have it
F me but congrats to the Bonnies and that Beer Guy who made the trip to CVille
F that dude Fresh makes my own names. Of course I was jealous of him last night
Gotta love the Go Fund Me story of getting Beer Guy and his spritsers crew to CVille for the game. They were also annoyingly prominant on TV which someone has brought up here before as kind of a “flaw” for our home game JPJ viewing on TV
I bet the Beer Guy feels like shit this morning. He got a lot of air time and definitely tied a BIG ONE on last night. Bet that drive home sucks even though they got the win. Hope he got a Gus-burger in him before he hit the hay.
I am happy to report that Haney and WFS_Hoo have reconciled after their skirmish last night… They have both tentatively planned to attend the “Antique Extravaganza” together in Crozet, Va. this April. Be sure to stop by their booth and say hello!
