NIT thread
So the good thing is Miss State is less competent at shooting the 3 than we are. And they don’t play well on the road at all.
They’ve got size though.
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Ok so we are actually accepting an NIT bid eh? Allright well this is new so I don’t know what to think yet.
Lets be all in for the NIT
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Do any of the M’s break double digit minutes in any NIT game? I’d be very surprised…
Nossir
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Absolutely not
Because why would we play in the Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl
or
Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl
or
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
If it wasn’t to play all the seniors only? Forget preparing the underclassmen and getting them game reps …these games are too important for the talentless to show off.
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I think Reece Beekman is going to have a VERY good NIT. His constant improvement might just explode out in this game. More of a hunch than an actual opinion though.
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Boy … my hopes for enjoying the NIT just went out the window… Tony quotes today:
#UVa coach Tony Bennett on his team’s NIT opportunity: “For guys in our program who haven’t played in a tournament and who will be back, it’s valuable.”
Ok so there’s hope - cool cool… and then
Said he views it as a great privilege to play in the NIT and that the Cavaliers will play to win it.
and then…
Whether he plans on playing the younger guys so they may get that experience?
Bennett did answer that question. He said Cavaliers won’t just play anyone and they’ll likely stick with their typical tight rotation, but at the same time there’s always opportunity in practice for others to potentially earn more playing time.
Ugh ugh ugh and ugh … waiting for hope Nov 8, 2022
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This is not a surprise. We’ve told you over and over. Bennett doesn’t play guys who haven’t done what he deems needs to be done to play. See you next November!
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I just watched the Iowa condensed game and I want to cry. How did we go from that to a 7 man rotation heavily featuring Kody. Ahhh Taine looked so good in that game smh
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I don’t know if he will or won’t play the younger guys (my guess is probably not), but that’s pretty much just his rote answer. If guys play, he will just say they played well in practice!
Watch the joy and energy and spacing and ball movement on offense when you have multiple threats on the floor. Something unrelated to basketball must have happened right?
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I’d be somewhat surprised if the 3 Ms collectively broke 15 minutes cumulatively in the NIT. Less than 1 minute per guy per game if we make the finals.
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Saw this quote from Bennett from 247 regarding outside rotation guys
“It doesn’t mean I wouldn’t give a chance or two… it depends on how hungry they are.”
I wouldn’t panic just yet @DavetheWave , Yeah they aren’t gonna immediately get 20 min a game but I think we’ll see them get a lil run and if they play well it might continue assuming we continue to win
A few observations:
- That Iowa team was more or less the same team as last year. They lost a POTY but stayed awesome on offense, and bad on defense. (edit - just checked. It’s more or less the exact same team. They were 3 off / 75 def last year. This year they are 2 / 77.)
- I think Tony looked at that game, and thought the issue was that we couldn’t get stops down the stretch.
- I really wish Kadin had committed to the block.
- Taine’s mind was racing to catch up to his body a number of times there. I keep using Memento as a reference point, but I think it fits. He’s racing down the floor but forgets who he’s supposed to be guarding, etc. I can understand why he annoyed Tony. But what annoys me about Tony is that’s the sort of thing that’s somewhat in the coach’s control, IMO. Let the guy play past the over or under-thinking.
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Point 2 is so true it hurts lol. Best our offense looked all season and you know Tony was up all night thinking about the missed assignments
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Thinking about this in light of the Iowa highlights, I think it’s unlikely we play the younger guys vs. Miss St. That game is going to be a slugfest. Seems like they want to get ORs and draw fouls. That seems to be a recipe for Tony leaning into what he’s done all season.
The best hope for seeing them is if we play a team that just starts getting hot from 3 and Tony decides to throw caution to the wind. Or if we just have massive foul trouble.
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