I’m very curious to hear what @HoozGotNext has to say about Rohde. Obviously he’s been a disappointment relative to the high expectations we had for him…. But curious to see if long term expectations have changed or if we still feel confident he’ll hit his ceiling, even if it’s not this year.
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Yes and Rohde is an adept ball handler. I remember Kody could rarely string 3 dribbles together at a time without having major problems. Was kind of a running joke with me and @chavlicek15
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I thought he went to St. Maarten - right? I kid, I kid.
I would argue that his adjustment to the athleticism of the ACC has been a bigger issue for him rather than the adjustment to our “complex systems.” Bigger, stronger, quicker, better basketball players in the ACC.
I do agree there is more of an adjustment to Virginia basketball than some other programs. But every player has to adjust to every program when they start over at a new place. It’s not 50% harder here than anywhere else. The guys who go to any program have to adjust, whether they are freshmen, transfers, international players, etc… Everyone has to adjust to new schemes, new offensive/defensive principles, playing time, environment, etc… It is not unique to us. I think we have developed an institutional narrative that it is exponentially harder to adjust at UVA than anywhere else. It is still basketball.
I also think BDragon nailed it a while back - he was mislabeled by us and others as to what he actually was/is. He is a glue guy, not a high-output scorer in the ACC, at least for this year. He is a nice piece, who has time to grow and will likely see much more success. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him have a big game soon and will be rooting for him to succeed.
Dont care if he starts or comes off the bench at all. If he is ineffective, get him out and try Taine Elijah or Dante. I think we saw that strategy play out last night and it was a good call by the staff. We don’t win that game if Taine doesn’t impact the game the way he did. And Rohde will have his chances and will help us get a big win at some point.
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That is staggering. Knew it was bad but not this bad
See no reason he’s not getting at least a few minutes a game. Tells me something is going on in practice where the coaches are just really hesitant to chance him coming in and turning the ball over consistently. Look at Rechsteiner at VT. Solid prospect and came in against NCSU last weekend for about 5 minutes and turned it over 5 times against their pressure defense. He has 1 assist in ACC play as a point guard. It’s a big adjustment - even harder coming off a major injury
This is really concerning re: Rohde. 10 FT’s all season is almost impossible to do with how frequently he has the ball in his hands.
Taine gives us nothing as a shot generator but what he can do is hit an open shot, play passable defense, and takes pretty good care of the ball. With how Bond and Rohde are looking, he’s a good high floor option for the time being. We know how much Tony loves his high floors
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I agree that there are tons of ways his minutes could be split up. In fact, not enough minutes to go around with the depth of this team. Nothing to panic about.
This board needs to cheer up some. We just won three ACC games in a row. Enjoy it.
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i have not seen him look like a baller in a transition setting. I did see him make some ill advised passes last night in transition. Maybe he has that gear but it is not showing now.
I think it showed in flashes vs GT.
Last night was one game where he was bad. Dont think that’s indicative of his skillset. Even Reece!! has had bad games.
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I’ve been trying to synthesize some ideas I have about this year’s team into a coherent theory I can articulate that I think could explain the way minutes are distributed and address most of the debates about why Rohde has played so much and why [insert other guy here] has not.
The theory is basically this: This team has 3 guys who are out there to win the games for us. Reece, Imac, and Dunn. Let’s call them this year’s “big 3.” Reece and Imac especially on offense and Dunn to a lesser extent on O but especially on D. Everybody else’s job is not to lose the game for us.
Now, that is not to say that nobody outside the big 3 is supposed to make plays. Of course they are. Everybody else is supposed to execute their roles: play solid D, and on offense take the open opportunities that come, make good passes, and take care of the ball above all else. But the big 3 are the ones that are supposed to take risks.
Viewed through that lens, I think we can understand why up until last night, Rohde has played so much. He’s been pretty solid at not losing us the game. I’m sure there are plays people will point to that contradict this claim, but I’m pretty sure this is how Tony was thinking about it. Last night that was different. We saw Rohde playing like a guy that could lose us the game. And he played 12 minutes.
I think the various narratives on this forum around why other players should play more because they bring this or that element are kind of missing the point that this is how Tony thinks he has to win games. Whether it’s outside shooting, extreme athleticism, or whatever, I just don’t think there is any one potentially positive contribution that Tony is going to value more than “not f*cking up” from anybody outside the big 3.
Now you can disagree with or criticize that approach all you want, and that’s fine. Those debates are fun. But I think this is the reality of how this season is going to be.
I also think that Tony is a pragmatist. I don’t think he randomly chose those 3 guys and is just stubbornly sticking to it. If he thought (or thinks, going forward) the probable (not just potential) positives from, say, Taine’s shooting or playmaking, or Eli’s athleticism, justified the possible “f*cking up” then he’d make the risk/reward call to shift the minutes accordingly.
That’s basically what happened last night. Rohde wasn’t performing to the necessary level of not f*cking up, and Tony went a different way.
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Love this analysis @WFS_HOO… but when did you start becoming introspectively pragmatic instead of hyperbolically pessimistic? 
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And there goes tbe season sports fans. Everything was going so well until @WFS_HOO becomes the voice of reason.
NOW we are sooooo Fukked!
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Someone said something about Tony riding the hot hand, but really what Tony does is ride the “not fucking up” hand
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when we lost to Notre Dame by 20
I’ve always been the voice of reason. Some of y’all are just slow to accept that fact.
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Yes every program has systems to which transfers have to adjust. But what sets UVA apart from most schools is the exhaustive extent to which Bennett coaches guys into those systems, and the sink-or-swim nature of those systems when guys aren’t comfortable in them. When it clicks, it’s why we’re elite despite recruiting results that are good but not 5-star. But when it breaks down and guys aren’t versed in them, well, we lose at ND by 20.
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Think Rohde kinda is what he is for this year. But I don’t really see a middle of the road outcome for next year. You can tell he thinks the game at a high level and has great vision. Either he adjusts to the increased length, speed, and athleticism at the P5 level and can really show off those strengths next year. Or he can’t adjust to the step up and he just isn’t good enough to utilize his mental abilities at this level. Think he’ll either be great or get bumped out of the rotation next year.
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I think this is pretty spot on. I don’t typically agree with this level of risk aversion vs. ceiling as a philosophy - but I’d be shocked if this isn’t how CTB is thinking about it.
One additional thought - I do think that CTB (and I agree, for that matter) probably thinks Rohde provides the highest ceiling for the offense this season, not just the least risk, but it’s the risk that’s driving the PT decisions.
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I kind of see it the opposite way. I don’t think he has the raw athleticism to be “great” but I expect his effective athleticism to improve over time with the accumulation of experience in the system on both ends of the court. I’ve heard @DFresh11 talk about how players can get to the point where they can basically “cheat” the system because they can anticipate where they need to be without having to waste time thinking. Basically you become quicker because your brain isn’t slowing you down.
For rohde long term it’s just going to come down to 3P shooting. He’s having an atrocious stretch, 1/14 last 5 games. If he ever gets to be a 35% shooter, I think rohde can be a solid B-level acc player. That’s not a bad thing to have on your team. If sub 30% is the reality, that’s a different story.
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This is a great stuff @WFS_HOO. The framing of “who gets to take the risks” is a good way to think about lineup constructions. I think it lines up really well with how Tony approaches recruiting too: complementary skill sets and a general valuing of synergy over raw talent level. His best perimeter lineups have had three players with mostly non-overlapping skill sets (besides being able to shoot) who are best in the offense in somewhat different ways.
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And when guys realise it is their time to be able to take risks it changes for them I wanted Reece!! To take way more risk year 2 for example. He never really did
I thought Rohde could have as well knowing he would get 30 minutes. He never took risks which… can make things change when you have an early off night. I said early in the season Rohde was still fitting in it looked like to me. And of course he is only in year 1 here
Shit well done @WFS_HOO
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I actually agree with what you wrote here but disagree on the conclusion. If he acclimates his ‘effective athleticism’ to P6 size and speed + shoots 35% from 3 he will be a very very good ACC player rather than a passable role player. He simply has very good vision and feel for the game. Like senior year Devon Hall or a poor man’s Ty Jerome. If he doesn’t do both of those things though he will become unplayable and likely transfer for his senior year. Don’t really see much in between.
High IQ athletes like Rohde tend to excel at levels they can compete athletically until they reach a ceiling where their athleticism deficit is simply too large to overcome
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