Virginia was in the NIT last season and is (probably) about to be ranked #1 in the week 6 poll this year. That’s pretty damned impressive.
7 Likes
Just imagine if we had played Igor and McCorkle more last year
11 Likes
It’s too bad that playing Kihei and Reece together in the starting lineup is such a terrible idea. Imagine how good we’d be this season if Tony was smart and listened to us fans.
11 Likes
The advanced metrics say we are #1
4 Likes
To be fair Reece just improved to the point where it’s irrelevant who else is on the floor with him.
6 Likes
Don’t inherently disagree, but I also think it was a pretty fair assumption to make that Reece was eventually gonna find consistency in his jumpshot here, especially after his impressive shooting pct last year in ACC play. Also gotta give credit to Kihei for speeding up his release which allows him to take shots on the move without needing a ton of space, that’s helped quite a bit as well.
1 Like
Yea Kehei deserves some credit. He has become a better shooter and has stepped up on occasions when we couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn
2 Likes
Naw you can’t assume any improvements with players- ie Casey Morsell.
Look- I hate how people are now trying to come around act like Reece and Kihei were ALWAYS a good pair on the perimeter when that was NOT the case. It’s obvious that this year they’ve both improved and we’ve added more perimeter threats to the arsenal.
3 Likes
I’m saying all of this as someone who wasn’t really a fan of the pairing for most of the past two seasons. But I’m also not gonna sit here and act like I know our rotation better than Tony does, nor am I gonna doubt his ability to develop a guard’s skills. You bring up Morsell, but I have full faith that had he stuck it out here he would’ve been a very productive player for us. The jump in shooting ability tends to happen during the 3rd year in the program.
Look, you just said you were NOT a fan of the pairing in years past and NOW are acting like it was inevitable that they would be good. And I’m saying that it hasn’t *always worked out in this manner. In other words don’t try to condescend to the rest of us when you were just on our wagon until these recent 8 games.
I wasn’t a fan in year’s past because Reece wasn’t a consistent enough shooter yet and Kihei didn’t have a quick enough shot to be great off ball, both of which hurt our spacing. I did assume that Reece would eventually become a capable shooter, because almost every guard that stays here under TB does and I innately trust his development plan.
Not sure how that’s condescending but it’s whatever, I’ll leave the convo where it is. I guess that’s what I get for trying my hand at some light sarcasm.
1 Like
Just thinking about the bottom end of the rankings, will the Hokies crack into the top 25 this week? Creighton and SD State probably drop out altogether, while Iowa State and Illinois drop, but probably not out.
In the others receiving votes category this week, there is Iowa (70), Charleston (54), Miami (29), and VT (27). Iowa has split their last four games. The other three have lengthy win streaks, but COFC hung VT’s only loss on them.
Also, hanging back a bit in the ORV category are Arizona St and Wisc. Wisc has a couple of big wins.
Who makes it in?
If 2 slots open up, then I think Iowa and VT could take them. VT had a particularly good week, enough to “pass” Miami and Charleston. But I think Iowa State probably drops out too, so even easier for the Hokies to get a slot.
1 Like
Illinois may not drop at all. They lost to Penn St. but that was after beating #2 Texas at a neutral site.
True, but they did get thrashed at home by PSU
Is this the famous Week 6 AP Poll? The #ultimatepredictor of who has championship hopes?
3 Likes
Through Games Dec. 11 2022
| RANK | PREVIOUS | SCHOOL | CONFERENCE | RECORD | ROAD | NEUTRAL | HOME | QUAD 1 | QUAD 2 | QUAD 3 | QUAD 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RANK | PREVIOUS | SCHOOL | CONFERENCE | RECORD | ROAD | NEUTRAL | HOME | QUAD 1 | QUAD 2 | QUAD 3 | QUAD 4 |
| 1 | 1 | UConn | Big East | 11-0 | 1-0 | 3-0 | 7-0 | 2-0 | 4-0 | 0-0 | 5-0 |
| 2 | 2 | Houston | AAC | 9-1 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 6-1 | 2-1 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 5-0 |
| 3 | 3 | Purdue | Big Ten | 10-0 | 2-0 | 3-0 | 5-0 | 5-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| 4 | 4 | Tennessee | SEC | 9-1 | 0-0 | 4-1 | 5-0 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 4-0 |
| 5 | 5 | Alabama | SEC | 8-1 | 2-0 | 2-1 | 4-0 | 2-1 | 2-0 | 1-0 | 3-0 |
| 6 | 6 | Mississippi St. | SEC | 9-0 | 1-0 | 3-0 | 5-0 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 5-0 |
| 7 | 7 | Kansas | Big 12 | 9-1 | 1-0 | 3-1 | 5-0 | 3-1 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 4-0 |
| 8 | 8 | West Virginia | Big 12 | 8-2 | 1-1 | 2-1 | 5-0 | 0-2 | 3-0 | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| 9 | 9 | Virginia | ACC | 8-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 5-0 | 2-0 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 4-0 |
| 10 | 10 | Texas | Big 12 | 7-1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 6-0 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 0-0 | 4-0 |
| 11 | 11 | Fla. Atlantic | C-USA | 7-1 | 3-1 | 0-0 | 4-0 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 4-0 | 2-0 |
| 12 | 12 | Utah St. | Mountain West | 8-0 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 5-0 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 4-0 | 1-0 |
| 13 | 13 | Duke | ACC | 10-2 | 0-0 | 3-2 | 7-0 | 2-2 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 6-0 |
| 14 | 14 | UCLA | Pac-12 | 8-2 | 1-0 | 0-2 | 7-0 | 0-2 | 2-0 | 1-0 | 5-0 |
| 15 | 16 | Arizona | Pac-12 | 8-1 | 0-1 | 4-0 | 4-0 | 2-1 | 1-0 | 2-0 | 3-0 |
| 16 | 15 | Saint Mary’s (CA) | WCC | 8-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 6-1 | 0-2 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 3-0 |
| 17 | 19 | Maryland | Big Ten | 8-2 | 1-1 | 2-1 | 5-0 | 1-2 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 4-0 |
| 18 | 20 | Utah | Pac-12 | 8-2 | 1-0 | 1-1 | 6-1 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 4-0 |
| 19 | 18 | Gonzaga | WCC | 7-3 | 0-1 | 3-2 | 4-0 | 2-3 | 2-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| 20 | 17 | Indiana | Big Ten | 8-2 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 6-0 | 1-2 | 2-0 | 0-0 | 5-0 |
Not to get into the bickering about individual parings and improvement, but you can usually assume there will be a significant improvement year to year with Bennett teams if he returns his core.
I didn’t expect us to be in the conversation for #1 at this juncture, but I was pretty adamant that we were going to be good and in the top 3 of the ACC. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see history repeat itself.
2 Likes
Remind me of 2017- gulp 2018. Outta nowhere TB leads us to a 3 loss season
4 Likes
We’ll know better in February … hard to tell so far how good we’ll be in march.
1 Like