Malik Thomas, Ugonna Onyenso, our full-court pressure.
That first offensive set is very pretty. Putting stress on the defense in two areas of the floor at the same time usually makes for good O.
Let’s first start by acknowledging the shooting. Small sample-sizes are just that.
So…are you saying that Sam and Chance aren’t going to maintain their pace to both have the greatest shooting season (by eFG) of all time for a non-big?
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Really poor decision by the Hampton big to attack the shooter in that offensive play highlight but pretty basketball nonetheless!
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I could also argue that the Thomas question isn’t a divide between half full / half empty** folks.
It’s a divide between the “exhibitions do / do not matter” folks.
Exhibitions do matter so Malik is great.
** the glass is actually FULLY empty and the half empty folks are actually the worst because they are colluding with the hopeless half full folks on some pedantry to distract you from the actual truth.
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I’m not overly worried about Malik’s 3PT shooting; sometimes you get variance’d. I am…noticing Malik’s rim finishing; 33% (3-of-9) so far per Torvik, was 53% at the rim last season and 62% in 2023-24. I don’t have a take on why that’s been a struggle so far.
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Small sample size*
*only for the bad stats
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I do think there’s an element of him forcing things, especially toward the end of games. The one play a few games ago where he threw the ball sky high and Ugo dunked it. A couple of the plays I highlighted in this piece.
That being said, the difference between 33% and 56% in this instance is two shots.
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If I have a concern about Thomas, at the moment, it would be about his court awareness when he does drive to the basket. It’s my impression that he just puts his head down and goes. Does he have any assists from the paint? Again, this would be if I had any concerns. It’s still too early to declare him a “black hole” in our basketball universe. This edition of the ‘Hoos remains a work-in-progress.
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When we got him, I thought, “Finally! Someone who is going to get calls at the rim!” Am I just a huge homer, or is it just like every other guard we’ve had for years who drives, gets contact, and then there’s no call? It certainly seems to be frustrating him.
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I think that’s an accurate assessment of his historic game and elements of his current game.
He has been better this year than in his previous years, though. That clip where he rejected the ball screen and whips it to Sam Lewis in the corner and his two-handed overhead pass to Dallin in the corner that was a hockey assist… the first he wasn’t technically in the lane yet, but he was moving fast, drew the d and kicked to the corner.
I do think he’s working on it.
I also think there’s been an element of, once the game has been decided and the score isn’t close… he may be stat-hunting a bit which has actually gone poorly for him. I can’t say that for sure yet, it’s just an impression I’ve gotten.
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I agree with Cuts. I think he’s actually adapted pretty well to Odom’s ball movement emphasis. 14% → 24% in assist rate is a really nice bump.
And he gives our transition game some energy; him and Jacari are our top transition guys by the numbers: hoop-explorer.com/OnOffAnalyzer?gender=Men&showTeamPlayTypes=true&team=Virginia&teamPlayTypeConfig=%7C%7C%7C%7Call%7C%7Cmulti%7C%7C&year=2025%2F26&
Dallin, Thijs, and Chance are not far behind.
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