Lunardi’s Bracketology on ESPN has 7 ACC teams. Laughable that Big 10 leads all conferences with 9.
Virginia - 3
Duke - 5
Miami - 7
UNC - 8
NC State - 8
Clemson - 8
Pitt - 11 (Last 4 in)
Anyway we know this all a bit of a sham but think the ACC is more dangerous than people think. Duke criminally overrated but the other teams can make noise.
See us at 14-4 entering the Clemson game. Probably go 2-1 in the next 3 and lose at Carolina (unless Armando wants to sit out again). Beat Clemson and get at least a share of the title
I dont say this to kill the vibe. Im having a lot of fun as a UVA fan. Ill take a 1pt win over the worst team in the country in thrilling fashion. And one of my favorite seasons was the 2012-2013 NIT season watching all those players grow and then contribute in the 2013-2014 season.
But in terms of this discussion, we haven’t really played a good team in the last month lol. Pitt is horrible (getting blown out by bad teams in non-ACC play) but beating up on a weak ACC and UNC missing Nance and Bacot in the front court.
I still question how effective this small ball lineup will work against actual competitive teams. It wouldn’t matter if it was just a look we go to, but it seems to be the look we are using to establish the tone we set for each game.
Thats fair. But we haven’t played much of those teams are 1-2 in games against ACC teams projected to make the tourney. So I still have no read on how good or bad the small ball lineup is.
I agree on small ball against elite 4/5s. We saw what an avg 5 in Edwards did last night. Don’t expect, nor should we, that BVP will hold up against Bacot or Flipowski etc. Kadin is gonna need to show up in those and March for us to make a run
To make a real run (say Elite 8 or later) we are going to have to find a way to get Kadin and Dunn clicking at the same time. Only way to get good enough defensively. Will be interesting to see if Tony is able to rebuild Kadin’s confidence without squeezing Ryan out.
I mean I don’t entirely disagree, but @ Wake is a Q1 win and it wasn’t super close
Oh I have no idea about the stats and the numbers and Q1/Q2 etc.
Wake Forest just isn’t great. Lost to LMU, a rebuilding LSU, got blown out by Rutgers, and pulled out a 1pt win vs App State in the non-conference. Another team benefitting from an ACC weak in the middle and bottom tiers.
You can only play who is on the schedule. We have a 7 game win streak which is no slouch in conference play.
Margin of victory is relatively close but I think that’s how this team is built frankly. Best news is that I think Dunn and Isaac increase the ceiling.
It isn’t possible to play a great ACC team, because we cannot play ourselves.
Of course.
Just in terms of the context of whether this small ball lineup is viable come March though, its something to consider. Who actually knows?
Q1 win =
top 25 team in the net @ home
top 50 team @ neutral site
top 75 team on the road (Wake is currently 72)
I do enjoy that we’ll at least have a good amount of experience with it. Makes us adaptable and hard to gameplan against
It was a 1 point game with 6:30 remaining and Wake missed 3 bunnies to take control of the game…
If small ball means:
Reece, Isaac, Armaan, Dunn and BVP - then it could work … still have rim protection and all 3 guards can guard the other team’s 1-3 dudes.
Fair. But lead was >=5 for all of the last 5 min
True - Appleby missed 2 layups and Carr missed a layup and a wide open three. And that killed their chances as UVA scored during that period to go up by 8 on the Reece 3.
pitt also beat miami.
Dont think this is the “set the tone” lineup though. It’s one look we could go to if we want to stay small and need defense.
I think the “set the tone” lineup has to have Kihei and Reece as we need the multiple play makers. Armaan at the 3. I know you aren’t about Kihei’s defense and it’s frustrating at times but his playmaking is absolutely worth the trade off and we have to live with it this year to maximize our potential. We can adjust with different looks but out the gate each game we need Kihei.
In the front court we need two things with at least one player contributing: athleticism and floor spacing. Athleticism = Dunn or Kadin.
Floor spacing = BVP
Jayden Gardner is neither of these but at the same time he’s our most important player when we are struggling to get a bucket (see his huge play in the last minute vs Syracuse last night).
When Dunn is off the floor we lose our only wing with defensive versatility and freakish athleticism
When BVP is off the floor we lose our only floor spacing big man and his play making/assists
When Kadin is off the floor we lose his length in the front court and the ability to have easy drop offs for a Dunk here and there
When Jayden is off the floor we lose our only front court piece looking to aggressively score/make things happen/draw fouls on the other team
Stinks that this is the new normal for the ACC. 3 straight years we don’t know how good the top teams are because the rest of the conference doesn’t provide enough of a test
