All of this is true in reality.
HOWEVER, itās not true if you do what I have done and suspend reality, take away the playerās agency, and pretend we are simply moving pieces around on a chess board.
5 Likes
Bagley?
1 Like
@CavTex Iām guessing itās Laettner
2 Likes
Yuk(yes)
Just my humble opinion
1 Like
Lol. Louisville hit 23 3pts in a win over Bucknell last night. Imac hit 6 (6-9).
They are gonna be a problem
1 Like
They are going to destroy bad teams and beat almost all mediocre teams. And when they get hot they are going to beat some really good/great teams, but I think what happened to them against Kansas (where they really got dominated) is going to happen a lot for them against good teams/defenses who can shut down the 3.
4 Likes
I feel old because I canāt remember - did McKneely end up graduating with a UVA degree or did he leave too early? Iām assuming the latter but itās escaping me.
Iām in āprove itā mode with Pat Kelsey after they were March Madness darlings and took an absolute beating by a good, but not great, Creighton squad.
I share your view about their weaknesses. They certainly have the horses, but Pat Kelsey still hasnāt won in March and they seem to shrink in the big games.
3 Likes
Graduating would have theoretically been possible, but I donāt remember seeing anything suggesting he did. No grad patch or anything on his Louisville press stuff, but I also donāt know if the ACC does that or if it would be on there for media stuff?
3 Likes
He did not
4 Likes
Heās literally been there one season. How many teams would kill for a one season bounce back like Louisville had last year and the stature going into year 2? It took three years for Bennett to take UVA to the Dance and he got absolutely waxed the first go round in 2012. Do not forget the absolute garbage fire Kelsey had to take over, much worse than Odom had to, even with commensurate levels of roster turnover.
6 Likes
to be clear, I think Kelseyās a very good coach and will win some NCAA tourney games. But the hype around him does feel like it outpaces his results to date. For example, the exhaustive slobbering of Field of 68 after their Bahamas tour last year, the widespread belief that Louisville was underseeded in the tourney last year and a dangerous 8 seed, etc. I think his image is benefitting from both being a very good coach AND from Kenny Payne being absolute dogshit, so the progress seems more significant. The mediating factor is that Louisville is flush with cash and you can turn a roster over in a year these days.
CTB / Kelsey comparison also falls apart a few places. Different landscape, Bennett had already gone to Sweet 16, and so forth. The only commonality is that March can be random, hence why Iām in āprove itā mode with Kelsey, not in full hater mode.
3 Likes
I watched that Louisville-Creighton game. I donāt think it could have been a worse matchup for Louisville in the first round, but it was entertaining. They were also screwed over with their seeding.Iād give them a pass on the first round exit.
Iād be thrilled if we had a similar season to what Louisville put together under Kelsey.
Think itās fair to question ceiling though. Last year they were turnstiles on defense. Was privy to losing a shootout, especially against another team that played fast like Creighton and relied upon the three (although they had Kalk down low).
3 Likes
Yeah agreed on the first round L. Main thing is Iām not ready to anoint him a coaching savant quite yet and I think quite a few of the pundits already are.
1 Like
The Bennett-Kelsey pre-ACC-resume comparisons also arenāt fair to Kelsey in that Bennett came from a Power Conference, where he had more ability to recruit talent (not saying he had it easy recruiting to Pullman) than Kelsey did at CofC or Winthrop, and so expecting Kelsey to have made a S16 with a Big South or CAA roster is wholly unrealistic. Making repeated NCAAT appearances at those schools (5 bids in 9 seasons) is more than accomplishment enough.
Iām not saying āanoint him,ā only that saying āshow meā in his second season is premature. Maybe itās more directed at the laudatory pundits than Kelsey himself, of course. Gets into a different discussion about what a reasonable turnaround timeline looks like in todayās NIL and immediate transfers environment for a well resourced school. Used to be you wanted to see a breakthrough by Year #3 or 4. Is it now Year 2 or bust? Totally understand that Louisville with their resources has a very different expectation than, say, BC.
5 Likes
I think youāre right on that point. Right now he seems like Mike Young with money and energy.
3 Likes
How?
Each one was complete roster turnover and each place had a ton of money to spend in year 1 of coach and Louisville has way more basketball history than Virginia. One could easily say Louisville would have been easier for most coaches than replacing effectively Tony Bennett
2 Likes
Nah Iām not quite there. Itās more like āYou have an elite roster. Show me you can coach them closer to their potential, otherwise Iām hopping off the media hype train next season ātil proven otherwise.ā
1 Like
2 Likes
Giving up a 37% OReb rate to a D2 team is not a great look for their frontcourt, especially when they had questions about their center spot going into the season.
4 Likes