I was talking about this with someone yesterday-- have to imagine he will take a pretty sizable step down in program quality. Hasnāt played in 2 years and the other high level suitor he had (Nova) will likely be changing HCs. May have to end up at like a Temple level program or something.
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Right? Heād be better off monetarily (for next year anyway, and Iād argue probably going forward) by coming back and showing some flashes against ACC competition.
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I wondered about that too. He hasnāt played a game since spring of 23 thatās forever ago. No program really knows what they are getting in him I canāt imagine another p4 jumping up to snag him.
May be best to take the step down play 1 or 2 then come back up
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I should have photoshopped a basketball in that pic, and sweat dripping off his face.
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The two players Virginia was after who I went to see in person will never suit up. Ament and Bliss.
I hereby resign as the Virginia Dematha hoops tournament beat reporter.
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I had an Army buddy who came up with a pretty ingenious way to handle soldiers that tried to get out of PT with made up injuries. Heād have them stand off to the side with a Shake-Weight and go at it for the entire hour or hour and a half.
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Yep, Bliss is vetoing this season. Saving his eligibility and cash potential for the next coach or program.
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Bronco had his concussed or lightly injured players rolling around in the grass on a hill or something and everyone made fun of him for doing that.
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The Bliss situation is awkward as hell but in the endā¦sitting is the best thing for him and for us who gives a shit. Transferring while still dealing with an injury 3 weeks before the season, he would have had no chanceā¦and lost a year of eligibility. Pretty sure his return was still up in the air until a couple weeks ago anyway.
If I were Sanchez, Iād probably have separated him from the team once it became clear he wasnāt playing. Just hey man you donāt need to come to team activities anymoreā¦use the facilities and trainers etc anytime. Heās a practice body, and he and his family are actually really supportive. But I donāt think heās very popular with the team as you can imagineā¦just kind of a negative distraction having him there I think.
People saying pull his scholarship or NILā¦or put up a fight when he applies for a medical redshirtā¦itās a losing battle that would only make us look bad in the end. Best thing is to just let it go.
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I just canāt agree with sitting being the best thing for him unless thereās a legit question about the foot. You donāt worry about the kid not playing hoops for two seasons in a row?
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Sometimes you have to give ground to gain ground. 4 yrs left to prove himself as a 20 yr old freshman. Stranger things have played out and worked.
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It would be up for debate if he thought he would actually play a meaningful role, for sure. I donāt think he would, and I think he knows he wouldnāt. Heād just be trading a year of eligibility for a couple 4 minute appearances when thereās foul trouble and some garbage time in blowouts.
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Thats right
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If he has questions about what role heād play on this team, who desperately needs an answer at his position, then maybe we really shouldnāt be worrying about his role, now or in the future.
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Counter point: staff has made questionable decisions regarding personnel at times. recent examples being the Igor Stattmann trade off, heavy Rohde when he was clearly struggling last year, and the Reece Kihei wars
Think itās pretty simple. Had a foot injury. Behind some on conditioning. Why waste a year of eligibility on a lost season anyways.
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It is odd to me that we havenāt excused him from team practice and still feature him on the in game videos interviewing team members for laughs, get-to-know you. Also seems like a massive potential drag on morale and engagement of the rest of the team in this weird year.
I suppose if he is wildly popular and helpful in the lockerroom - he is adding value and we want to take the high road? I assume we are just trying to be bigger - but, if it causes resentment amongst others we would do something?
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This to me is another example of where our super nice and awesome human being coach Ron Sanchez makes personnel decisions that can be argued are more student-athlete friendly than program friendly.
I question his bench management against Louisville when we had come back to tie the score in the second half and THAT is when he felt it appropriate to bring in Power and Buchanan etc.
I put this into the same bucket.
He may be too nice to be an awesome head coach.
Rip the bandaid off and Bliss doesnāt practice or show up for games. And letās shorten the bench some and let the players that are trending play more minutes. I would love to see a game with no TJ Power. When Saunders sits slide Cofie down to the 4 and have Robinson or Buchanan at the 5.
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Bliss could just be a year behind schedule, which would make sense for someone who already reclassed up and has been dealing with injury for some time now. Heās clearly not this yearās savior but could still end up being a very good guard (although thereās like a 20% chance he stays).
Also, I donāt see the huge issue with keeping Bliss around. Itās not like he would even be a contributor so why not just tell him his primary responsibility is to be a locker room guy. Iām sure the other players can understand why Bliss would want to sit and take a medical redshirt to maximize NIL.
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In this era of unlimited transfers and instant eligibility, every decision has to inherently be both student-athlete friendly and program friendly.
Things donāt happen in a vacuum. If any program starts treating its athletes like crap, word will get out, and the quality of incoming transfers will go down.
I know money is the driving factor in a lot of decisions, but quality of experience matters as well.
Iām not saying every program needs to coddle its players, but the days of principled stands may be over.
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Guys on sports teams donāt generally take well to somebody being on the team who could try to contribute and help who is choosing to just sit. He canāt be a good lockeroom guy when heās basically bailed on helping this yearās team. It can make all the sense in the world for him individually and I donāt really disagree with his decision, but nobody on the team is going to care what he has to say even if theyāre all cool with one another.
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