I also imagine for the young guards, practicing every day against kihei would prove quite positive for their development. At this point kihei knows all the sets of every other ACC team and could prep the team like few others if he wasn’t also expected to log 35 minutes
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The thing about anybody suggesting Kihei take a smaller role (e.g. coming of the bench or playing like 15-20 min a game) - besides the fact that it will never happen - is that even if it were to help team performance by better balancing the team, it doesn’t change the seniority/leadership dynamic of the team. He’d still be the senior leader, and guys would still be deferential to him just because that’s the natural thing to do.
I’d like to see the new upperclassmen get a shot at being the leaders of their own team. That’s in no way to take away from Kihei - he’s been a leader for years now and the guys clearly respect him. I just think that everybody deserves an opportunity to do it if they stick with the program and make major contributions. Next year this should be Reece, Jayden, and Armaan’s team.
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I appreciate Kihei’s contribution but statistically speaking he’s never been a good offensive player for us (his orating on barrtorvik reached 105 our natty year but has otherwise been at our below 100 even last year when Hauser, Huff and Murphy were all 120+). If he comes back he’ll play 25+ min and our ceiling will be significantly impacted in a negative direction. Maybe slight uptick floor wise. Thinking our range would be ncaa seed 3-9 without and 6-8 with..
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https://twitter.com/uvahoopsriffs/status/1505953663948369920?s=21
Man I’m really not liking this guys tweets today. Tiny?? I mean yeah he’s not buff but he’s certainly not a twig for a high school junior. Doesn’t shy away from contact. Also the 6’4” probably is a boost but he’s probably 6’3.0” at a minimum
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It’s just a dumb take by that guy. Is Johnson currently super strong? No. Is he a little overly finessey sometimes around the hoop? Yes. But he has a frame that can easily fill in more and he has perfectly good height for a starting ACC point guard. He’s not being asked to play the 4 for goodness sake. Even if he’s 6’1 or 6’2 as opposed to 6’4 (which I don’t think is the case, but for argument’s sake) that’s perfectly fine for a point guard.
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Is this dude a troll? He been around a while?
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Apparently an Riffer
Someone needs to call Jamie Shaw at On3 and Eric Bossi at 247 and ask why such a flimsy guard is a top 30 recruit…
He’s crafty like Jerome. Jerome could go one on one and through defends with multiple moves like Johnson
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Noted: THECZAR confirms some change in attitude about Kihei and next season. In discussion about rumor Kihei would return:
“Yep. There is smoke again…”
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No way we could trust Tony to not play Clark if he’s available …
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You’ve reached the acceptance phase, Dave. This is good to see. Any lineup projection for next year that doesn’t have Kihei playing 35 minutes is pure fantasy
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Oh I’ve never opined on what Tony will do with minutes… only what I wish he would do…
That was evident in 2019 when Clark played as much as Key and Huff combined… every coach has blind spots
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Yeah shit, that 2019 season sure did end poorly. Major blind spot.
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If you want facts - go back and look at the plus minus of 2019 UVA when neither Clark nor Salt were on the floor. It will astound you.
I mean, to be fair to Dave here, Reece’s skillset clashes with Kihei’s a lot more than Ty and Kyle’s did.
If I had the choice I’d say he shouldn’t stay but if he can shift back into a more complimentary piece on offense I think we can be a very good team
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Couldn’t resist the baiting this time…in conference and postseason, here are the numbers for the 2019 team:
With neither Salt or Clark: +18.94 per 100 poss
With at least one of Salt, Clark: +19.00 per 100 poss
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And with both Salt and Clark?
And with just Huff vs no Huff?
Because you included post season when Huff was benched except for Gardner Webb and Oklahoma… how were they with Huff on the floor in those 2 games?
And how much of your minutes for those lineups were rotation minutes vs garbage time minutes?
Because the data also shows the following from 2019 as our most efficient lineups:
5 man: Diakite, Guy, Huff, Jerome, Hunter
4 man: Diakite, Guy, Huff, Hunter and then Diakite, Huff, Jerome, Hunter and then Diakite, Huff, Guy and Jerome
3 man: Diakite, Huff, Hunter and Diakite, Guy, Huff and Diakite, Huff, Jerome
2 man: Diakite, Huff and Hunter, Diakite and Hunter, Huff
In employing advanced metrics, perhaps we should remember Mark Twain’s caution:
Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics.”
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Man, Jerome was really dragging all of our other star players down. 
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