Yeah itās a shame weāre so meh this year and not going to have the ACC tourney back in DC for a long time
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Oh for sure. UNC will still have a lot of fans but not as many, Duke will have far less. At least thatās my expectation based on 2016 attendance in DC. VT would have a lot if they somehow make the semis
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Would be pretty shocked if itās not a Duke/Carolina final. Those teams are just head and shoulders above the rest.
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I think our very narrow path to an ACCT win is Syracuse, UNC, hope someone beat Duke before the final.
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If Duke beats UNC does that move them into first in the regular season? Moving UNC to the 2 who we can face as a 3 seed (if we beat GT of course)
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It depends on how the rest of the standings shake out. They both beat us, so it would be determined by whichever team(s) finish fourth and whether only one of them took a loss there
Edit: Letās assume Pitt handles NC State at home. If Clemson wins at Wake, Duke would be #1 because they have a better record vs. Syracuse (6th place in this scenarioāPitt and Clemson would be tied for 4th, UNC and Duke both went 2-1 vs. those teams). If Clemson loses, UNC would be #1 because they didnāt lose to Pitt.
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Maybe. But either we suck (last 4 of 6 games) or weāre good (8 game win streak). If we suck, we will not have a path no matter what. If we are good then our path opens up considerably. 8 game win streak Virginia could beat Duke. Last 4 of 6 games Virginia could only eek one out against Cuse, maybe. I donāt think we will somehow find a middle ground of performance and squeak through the path you described.
Just depends on whether we are Jekyll or Hyde from here on out.
8 game win streak Virginia got rolled by Pitt at home though.
Edit: Sorry, that was reactionary. I think the truth is maybe in the middle - we were definitely more competitive during the 8 game win streak. Just might be too simplistic to suggest that thereās a hidden gear we need to hit. Maybe itās as simple as just getting hot from three.
And honestly started looking wobbly at FSU
haha Pitt is last 4 of 6 Virginia! They are our 6th most recent game.
I donāt think itās a hidden gear or switch to flip really. I think thereās tactical stuff, line up stuff, etc.
Iām just wondering if it possible to get back to that version of our team? The BC game wasnāt perfect by any means but I thought it showed some decent signs of hope. But then there was Duke, so kind of back to square one.
Overall it just doesnāt feel like there is some āmedianā version of this team weāve seen over any stretch of more than 1 game. BC might be the most median. But typically we either look very solid (top 35) or dog shit (80th or worse). Itās wild.
edit: Just looked at numbers on Torvik. During our 8 game win streak we played like the 5th best team in country. Since then we are playing like the 209th. My soul hurts.
Yep. Which is why I think we have to just pray that we 1) get in, 2) have the top 35 show up for the tournament.
If that happens, we can live with it.
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Eh I kinda disagree. That game was the best our offense looked in a long time and we gritted out a win when our defense was hamstrung by horrible reffing. Recent UVA doesnāt score 80 and probably rolls over once it canāt score enough to keep up
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That was my point - they were 8 game win streak until they werenāt.
The 8 game win streak was a combination of weak schedule, elite defense and some great iMac + Groves shooting (where those opportunities have basically been shut down). Probably in that order. It included a couple of really offensively challenged game (State, Wake).
Over the season, when you look at our games against P5 comp, weāve been dog 
offensively except against some of the ACC bottom feeders at home. Things have changed since Wiscy, WVU, Memphis etc but they tend to stay the same.
I think the truth with this team is that theyāll go as far offensively as iMac and Groves will take them - which is creating open shots and hitting them. Defensively, we need to be elite (like top 2) for us to be in games.
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I also think that game was a perfect example of us going āokay playing defense will be called a foul, we just have to scoreā, and then we proceeded to run super crisp offense.
Man, the offense is in there somewhere. We just really need to dig it up for the next two weeks.
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We scored a bunch against a bad BC team but got scored on too. Felt very similar to that game for me
I donāt like being a āblame the refsā guy. But we truly couldnāt play defense without being called for a foul. It was absurd. Not to invalidate your point. But something to consider as well.
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Ah, I see what you were saying. Yeah, even if we do show up on a streak of games as the good version of ourselves, thereās no guarantee that could continue. Agreed.
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And not even sure exactly what I was saying as i re-read it haha
But maybe that the 8 game win streak was 1) part aberration due to schedule, 2a) partially good shooting and 2b) teams having not adjusted to our adjustment (playing Minor and sets to open up Groves + iMac, and 3) partially elite defense.
I think for a ACC or NCAA tourney run weād have to rely on 2a) and 3) to show up. And somehow account for 2b) which is the biggest elephant in the room.
Maybe 2b) is somewhat mitigated outside the ACC teams that arenāt as familiar with us but theyāll still scheme for it.
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Tonight Bubble Games:
Villanova @ Seton Hall - Both are right there in the mix but I think a loss is worse for Seton Hall as if they win they both will be in competition with Virginia, but if Nova wins they pull ahead a bit and Seton Hall falls back. Pull for Villanova.
TCU @ WVU - TCU will probably be ok but this would be Q3 and adds some uncertainty. Pull for WVU.
FAU @ UNT - FAU will be in trouble especially if they lose this and their final game at home vs Memphis. Pull for North Texas.
Miss St @ Texas A&M - Miss St is ahead of us at the moment. It would take a losing streak to bring them back to danger. A&M is below us and it would take a few wins in a row to get them back in the mix. Pull for Miss St.
Fresno St @ New Mexico - Would be a bad loss for New Mexico and likely knock them out of brackets with a loss. Pull for Fresno.
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Iām definitely pulling for Villanova because Lunardiās latest has us losing to Seton Hall in the first four.
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