How are we not talking about this
Agreed. It sounds to me like the PG search is more about getting to two-deep at the position (and no one else on the roster being seen as a solution) and less about lack of confidence in Bliss. There are 40 PG minutes they want to cover and right now one guy they think can be good enough for them.
Iâm happy to read HGN thinks that (Bliss is good), but Iâm less happy to have no supporting evidence that staff thinks that, and some evidence to the contrary (staff is going after young PGs), and Iâm also less happy to read between the lines that HGN thinks we are once again (my words, not his) having an incoherent approach to the portal / roster building.
If Bliss is good, take a caretaker PG.** Or a canât miss prospect (e.g., Perry, if thatâs what staff thinks of him). But if staff thought Bliss is good, then pursuing a young âjust goodâ PG didnât make much sense.
** and keep him a caretaker PG. Donât do the BVP thing where we take a 15-20 mpg wing forward connector and turn him into a starting ACC center.
*** also, I believe that âIron sharpens ironâ is BS, and I also believe that everyone thinks that as applied to their own selves.
If they got Mack youâd be moving up a 2024/2025 PG and combo guard (Bliss and Mallory/Lewis) to a 2023/2024 (Mack and Bliss). Thatâs not really a big deal in terms of coherent strategy and retention.
Except now youâre moving up two years and youâre switching from pure guard/combo to pure guard/pure guard
I think Blissâs and Mackâs skills are more complementary than that. Or at least, I donât think they are any less different/complementary than Bliss and Mallory or Lewis.
I donât think their skill sets overlap to the degree that say Reece and Kiheiâs did but I think they both are best as primary initiators operating on the ball
Honestly my push back here is that it is possible that staff felt that Mack was closer to Perry in terms of canât miss/ceiling
Just going to manifest that we give the mother of all bag drops for Perry and tell him that he will start at the 1.
Perry, IMac, Eli with Bliss first guard off the bench at any of the three spots.
If Perry commits the ceiling is 2021 Baylor for the 2025-2026 season
I just want to be happy that Bliss is maybe as good as a top 10 portal PG this year.
Thatâs all, guys.
Ah yes, Tony promising a player he will start. More like âyouâll have an opportunity to get the opportunity to be a be a valuable part of the team (behind Dante Harris)â
What is pure guard/pure guard? We have three guard spots at the very least (sometimes four).
Do you mean primary ballhandlers vs. off-ball guards?
I donât have a VIP membership, so this is the first time Iâve seen this quote from HGN. But if I were a member, this post would have had 72 likes.
I know why it happened, but damn people! Itâs like youâre not accustomed to losing recruits!
Posters need some more dawg in them.
WRT the recruitment of a PG: Regardless of whether or not the staff is pursuing an elite prospect or a project, I suspect that Coach Bennett subscribes to the notion that you can never have too many ball handlers who can shoot with range. Whether they are the primary ball handler probably isnât the main concern. And, from my perspective, a loose handle is less of a concern than vision and decision making. It also wouldnât surprise me to learn that the staff would love to fill the back court with point guards.
Even with all the âdisappointments,â I think Tony has brought in more top recruits than any previous coach (although Holland gets special extra credit for Ralph).
But the more important point is that most of our best and important players were NOT top recruits. Joe and London werenât even Top 100. Malcolm and Dre barely were. Kihei was a backup backup plan that only one other school wanted, and we wouldnât have won the national title without him (and if you think his sole contribution to that championship was one lucky pass, I urge you to rewatch the tournament).
Jack, Akil, Darion, Isaiah, Gill ⌠if LRA were around when these guys signed, there would have been endless threads about how underwhelmed we were.
Weâve got a good young nucleus with a ton of potential: Bliss, Cofie, Blake, ARob, Eli. Iâm excited for the future.
And, lest anyone forget, even with last yearâs roster and its struggles, Virginia still won 23 games and finished third in the conference. I remember days when such would be celebrated as resounding success. And, it was a successful season even if it didnât end as most had hoped.