February 2023 - UVA Basketball

Papihoo · February 23, 2023, 6:08pm

I’ve read very little today, figuring the “I know what’s best” crowd would be in full force. Last night, one of the people who only comes out after losses elsewhere said this season is Bennett’s worst coaching job at UVa. I knew then it was time to check out. The over the top village makes it easy to check out of message boards and any kind of social media.

DFresh11 · February 23, 2023, 6:10pm

Ha. When it quite literally may be one of his best when compared to the (same) team last year. Hilarious

Papihoo · February 23, 2023, 6:12pm

It’s amazing and it’s probably coming from someone who has never played a competitive sport in their life. I guess some people enjoy bitching and moaning.

Hooandtrue · February 23, 2023, 6:13pm

I kinda feel like this is reductionalist though right? Just using a label to downplay or put down others means there isn’t a strong counter argument? And very few of the people being put into the “I know what’s best” actually believe that/the label is just putting words in people’s mouths right?

How is talking about what our best lineups been according to both tape and the data saying “We know what’s best”?

Hooandtrue · February 23, 2023, 6:14pm

Yeah there are people who bitch and moan but making observations that are reinforced by both tape and data isn’t that.

Hooandtrue · February 23, 2023, 6:16pm

Boston College Game Thread (Wednesday 2/22, 7:00 PM EST, ACCNX/ESPN+)

Maybe I’ll just write about this topic because it feels better than watching that game again.

The thing that interests me about this is that basically any coaching staff on any team is going to make a ton of mistakes over the course of a season. If they were being honest, they’d tell you the same. From small in game decisions to larger tactical ones. It’s just unavoidable - almost impossible to take a perfect line. The concept that any coach is always going to make the correct decision because they have the most experience and information is a silly one when you really think about it.

And there’s also the thing where sometimes coaches are TOO close to a situation. They have a vision for what they want or expect the team to be that’s hard to get away from, or they see a player do X, Y, and Z better than another player all of the time in practice and it’s hard to move past that to the idea that the other player may still be a better fit for what’s happening. The coach may not even believe in the “fit” philosophy and may just play who they think are the best 5 players most of the time. The reality is that a coaching staff is just a handful of very knowledgeable folks with limited man-hours trying to navigate a long season with a group of 10+ young adults.

The idea that thousands of less knowledgeable but still somewhat knowledgeable fans aren’t going to occasionally get it right with regard to a specific situation when the coaches don’t is also silly. Surely, it’s annoying when those fans actually do think they could do the full job better than the accomplished coach at the top of the field, and many probably do - but those are often the folks with the least perspective anyway. I think often that gets misattributed just to any opinionated fan, though, more as a defense mechanism toward criticism. i.e. “How dare they think they could know better about this than our coach???” Across all walks of life people think they know better than professionals all of the time - much of the time they’re wrong, sometimes they’re right, but the discussion of that dissent and ideas has merit if it’s done constructively.

And mostly, that’s it. It’s just a debate/discussion around ideas that may or not be correct and may or may not be aligned with what the coaches think - but that’s the point of most forums like this anyway, right? To discuss ideas about the team. Otherwise, the discussion would simply be, “well, I’m pleased or displeased with the outcome of that game. I hope it will stay the same or change for the next. Let’s wait and see what they do.” Not super interesting or conducive to a discussion!

Putting this quote here from @Cuts_from_The_Corner because it’s a good summary.

dave92 · February 23, 2023, 6:20pm

I appreciate LRA because it has a very high ratio of analysts to ranters. (Analysts: “Here’s why I think we should do X, let’s discuss.” Ranters: “OMG Tony sucks he obviously just needs to do X but he is too rigid.”) The former is just part of enjoying the game.

(Of course, DURING the game, everyone is on wild emotional swings. I’m talking about next day.)

Papihoo · February 23, 2023, 6:21pm

Maybe that was a bad choice of words. If going through data and analytics is your thing, that’s fine. I don’t think it tells the full story but I have no issue with it. My issue is there seems to be a segment who thrive in the fan base when UVa loses. They get more excited over losses rather than wins.

Hooandtrue · February 23, 2023, 6:23pm

That’s fair. And absolutely there are those who pop up only when we lose.

haney · February 23, 2023, 6:25pm

Sort of serious thought on this. I think what happens is this – some of us like to do the analysis stuff all the time. When we win, people poke fun at us. (which is fine – it’s all in good fun and I enjoy that, too). When we lose, more people join us.

Hooandtrue · February 23, 2023, 6:29pm

I think he’s talking about people on boards whose user names we don’t even see until we are losing a game. Happens heavily on thesabre and 247.

haney · February 23, 2023, 6:29pm

I know, but the archetypes are on most boards (I’ve only ever frequented here and the sabre, I guess)

Papihoo · February 23, 2023, 6:31pm

Yep, that’s it. I’ll never understand the joy for some when there is a loss. People who are really digging deep in stats/lineups, I have no issue.

AnonymooseHoo · February 23, 2023, 6:34pm

When we win, I can talk about it with people not on here. But the rants after losing would be a real life vibe killer

Who am I kidding, I’m on here all day regardless of win or lose

Papihoo · February 23, 2023, 6:48pm

I’ll close out today with this. Something is definitely broken right now but it’s not just on the offensive side of the ball. The biggest concern I’ve had over the last few games is defensively. Other than the State game, this group can’t get stops when needed. It is so unusual to see teams shooting at a higher clip in the 2nd half. That’s usually when UVa chokes the opposition out.

Also concerned about Reece. If it’s true the hammy isn’t right, it’s gonna be tough to close the season out successfully. I think he’s that important on both sides of the ball. When he’s right, he’s the straw that stirs the drink and makes everyone better.

DFresh11 · February 23, 2023, 6:50pm

That early/ first lay up attempt short was concerning with Reece!!

Hooandtrue · February 23, 2023, 6:55pm

If we secure the double bye should we rest Reece for the rest of the season?

Yes. Play for March
No. ACC regular season still winnable and whatever his issue is needs to be played through (mental confidence back)

0 voters

DFresh11 · February 23, 2023, 7:01pm

What if hes not hurt? Ha

dave92 · February 23, 2023, 7:04pm

Haven’t we already secured the double bye? There may be a mathematical way we don’t get it but it would require a perfect storm, I think?

Edit: If we lost all our remaining games and finished 13-7, at most 4 teams could finish ahead of us: Pitt, Miami, Clemson, and one of Duke & NC State (Duke & NC State play each other so one will get 7 losses and we’d win the tiebreak). So yeah we could drop to 5th seed if we lose out and either Duke or NC State wins out.

Hooandtrue · February 23, 2023, 7:07pm

I think then that means the issues are mental and you play him through it.