It is a new guy thing. Isaac wants to fit in and do the right things while he is on the court. Dont forget, he is playing alongside some really really good guards that have tons of experience. A little bit tentative? Maybe. But he wants to be additive at this point as opposed to come in and take over. It is not an easy role your first year The main positive for me is he never seems lost or not in the right place. The rest will come and he is getting those opportunities
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For the record I donāt have any doubts that McKneely will be a great player for us. Iām more speaking in the context of will he be a contributor on THIS team. Right now heās getting minutes in big games but has yet to really make an impact. Hopefully he gets some opportunities in these games coming up sans Houston to get his confidence going, and Iāll bet he has one 15+ point game outta nowhere in ACC play a la my goat against Notre Dame and Villanova that comes right when we need it.
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Does anyone know how he looked in Italy? I know he hit some open shots in the scrimmage but he wasnāt hunting looks there either (Traudt was by comparison).
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Seems he took the Kody/Malachi role too much to heartā¦ if he was watching last year which we know he saw all the games, then he saw that those 2 got playing time by not messing up ā¦ not by tring to make plays.
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I highly doubt what Kody and Malachi did last year has any baring on McKneelyās play this year. I just think heās trying to play within the offense and is more comfortable, for now, deferring in big games whereas heās playing looser against lesser competition.
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I think we got reports of mixed bag as we are sorta seeing now? Always in the right place and makes some place but makes some mistakes? Fully expected
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Big time games move fast. It will slow down for him
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I want to see iMac make a totally ill advised drive to the hoop. I want Tony to shake his head and have that look, you know that one. After that, Iāll feel more comfortable
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I wanna see Isaac pick up two fouls in the 1st half and get to experience the fastest hook in organized menās basketball.
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Agreed. With that being said, I think this formula leads to us being better in March. When we fall flat in March, itās usually a team that has an elite defense and just an okay offense.
Yeah, the more Iāve watched, the less optimistic Iāve become about the ceiling of the defense. Maybe we can get to top 50 by yearās end? Thatād be a great spot given where our offense is. But this doesnāt look anything like the elite defenses of old.
Last night we gave up more wide open or near wide open looks from three than I can remember in a long time (although maybe itās in my head - I donāt have numbers). Obviously part of that is how good Dickinson is as both a scorer and a passer - he immediately punished us for double teaming and hard hedging by making quick passes that got our guys scrambling. But it wasnāt great - as Tony said, for a while, we really werenāt taking anything away from them. Our guys just either arenāt anticipating well enough to close out or donāt have the length to close out effectively when theyāre a little late.
Iām sure itāll get better, but just not sure how much. If we can keep the offense humming though, who knows what could happen. And obviously the D has been good enough to win some massive games so far.
2 Likes
Both McKneely and Dunn need and will find their identities. It will happen, just not as fast as originally hoped. I like how Bennett is handing the process, ease them in, let each see what the game is. To this day, I think throwing Morsell in early with no safety net broke his time at UVa. These kids have that net and it will be to their benefit down the road.
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And are playing with really good experienced guys. Thats huge
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The approach he is taking with McKneely and Dunn is far closer to the approach CTB has taken with young guards in the past. Let them get spot work and grow into their roles on the job when and where appropriate. And to @DFresh11 point playing with experienced guys and getting to learn is invaluable.
If you remember Morsell was never supposed to be in the position he was in, and he likely would have been a RS if Ty and KG came back, but the exodus forced the staffs hand.
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Yeah but Casey single-handedly winning us that ASU game was a sight to be seen
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And I will always love Casey for the win against Hurley.
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I am one for Dunn getting MORE minutes, even if he begins to guard the 2-3, since BVP should ALSO be in guarding the 3-4. Here are some of my ideal lineups outside of the starters:
Reece, Kihei, DUNN, BVP, Shedrick
Reece, Armaan, DUNN, BVP, Jayden
Kihei, Armaan, DUNN, Jayden, Shedrick
etcā¦ In other words I think itās okay to have DUNN in along with atleast 2 other shooters so he doesnāt feel pressured to shoot ANY of the time, and it still allows the floor to be spread.
I DONāT think that both iMAC and Dunn can be on the floor at the same time because neither at this moment are good offensively, but the goal is to get them minutes so they gain confidence in a game even if theyāre mostly window dressing. In addition not having them in the game together still allows us to have the majority of the team being *Experienced players.
2 Likes
Also - UVA has kept up the streak of scoring 70 in every game. Hopefully they do it against Houstonā¦
So why not do this?
Start:
Reece, McKneely, Franklin, Gardner, Sheds
and bring in Clark and Dunn together on the first sub at 12-14 min mark?
Then we would have:
Clark, Franklin Dunn, BVP, Sheds
Then for example when Reece comes back in you have:
Reece, Clark, Dunn, BVP and Gardner or Caffaro.
1 Like
I liked this type idea before the season. But seeing the season Kihei HAS to start the game for us
4 Likes