This a stupid debate. Ryan Dunn developed into a first-round pick while playing at UVa. Dunn loves the program and Tony Bennett. It looks likes heās going to turn a lot of heads in the NBA. This is a net benefit for everyone involved.
And weāre upset because of some silliness Jay Bilas said during a preseason game?
No one is āupsetā about Bilas. Just donāt like hearing him run his Dukie mouth stating things as fact that arenāt.
No one cares what Jay Bilas said. Its moreso show things that he could have done here. Like that Jokic attacking him in transition for the 2, but didnāt push as much to try and get Dunn doing that on college kids.
Caffaro didnāt miss one three pointer at Santa Clara all year. Didnāt take one but I guess another coach couldnāt see his curry like touch.
I can tell you something as a former player. If you say F you and shoot and make it. They LOVE you
Dunn made the first shot of the season for the team from 3. He was wide open. He made 7 more the rest of the season I think (facts, schmacks - Iām guessing). He was wide open for much of the season but letās be real, he had developed the yips - he couldnāt hit FTs and Iām pretty sure that the coaches wanted hin taking as many FTs as he could get to the line for.
Not surprised a season off and a ton of work didnāt help him get through some of the woes, but pretty sure that PHX didnāt draft him for being a 3-point threat (hopefully he can be credible). Hopefully, he can get through a few cold spots in the NBA without losing confidence.
Not being anti RD (love the guy) just letās not make him into something he was or wasnāt here. He was a great player and an athletic freak but he wasnāt the second coming of Kyle G from 3, with or without coachesā input.
Also, as Haney, Dave, etc., would say about his shooting so far - really small sample size.
Yeah I think the target on this one is moving a bit.
I havenāt seen what Bilas said, nor do I think Papi would have been a flamethrower from three (Papi was an extreme example just to say that players at this level even non shooters have talent).
I just donāt think itās that controversial to think that our offense would benefit from more guys feeling comfortable taking wide open looks especially in a world where we were getting volume shooting from players like Rohde at 26% from deep anyway and very good shooters like Mckneely had no virtually no space to let it go because of the whole 4-on-5 problem.
If Dunn had been shooting us out of games sure check him but we were obviously getting hurt by his passivity all season and he wasnāt being told differently.
Yeah, the issue is empowering our scorers to shoot/be confident in their shot. This isnāt a Ryan Dunn issue. Heās just one example of an overarching issue that I feel has presented itself as one of Tonyās (very few) flaws as a coach. If a player knows his coach isnāt confident in him shooting, every miss becomes amplified and now that player is constantly looking over his shoulder and wondering if every shot he takes is a good shot.
Iām excited to see if the new offensive scheme helps some of the issues weāve seen in the last 5 years. If it does, this team might have some serious potential.
I think itās worth discussing Ryan Dunn making 3s all of a sudden and what it means (because other coaches will 100 percent be talking about it)ā¦
We can soon add it to the Mt Rushmore of uva bballl debates with Kihei, redshirting, and others
Well then youāre all welcome. I insisted on throwing lighter fluid on the embers after @Hooandtrue was like āok letās not make this a thingā 
but then I sorta made it a thing and lets be real it was going to be a thing anyways. My āFor youā twitter the following morning was all āUVA offense shackles lifted off Dunnā vibes lol.
#uncaged 
What offensive scheme would have helped Dunn more? He was wide open whenever he wanted it. He just couldnāt hit it. I guess Tony wasnāt whispering into his ear about how wonderful he was? Tony wasnāt confident in him shooting because he couldnāt show he was able to do it, he had more than enough time in both games and practice
I think pushing the ball in transition more would have helped generate easy buckets and help build confidence during our mental collapses. I also do think our low possesions and overthinking on schemes = a lot of mental weakness. Dunn isnāt as afraid in the more free flowing NBA game.
I do agree that Dunn had short comings of his own and how good he could be in college was limited compared to the inherent free flowing NBA game. But I also do think he didnāt reach that limited ceiling offensively in college that he might have at another school like UConn and Hurley possibly using him like he did andre Jackson as a playmaking wing who was limited shooting wise but could push the ball and create in the open court.
So Hunter and Jerome are shooting worse in the NBAā¦how shall we interpret that?
If you think college coaches are out there saying donāt go to UVA because youāll end up like that 1st round pick whoās doing well in the NBAā¦I donāt know what to tell ya.
Itās a fair argument to say the culture/system here or whatever held him backā¦one of those things you canāt disprove, so safe ground. But yeah to the general population, heās a huge success story.
Just need these success stories to finally get us a roster and coaching approach that can win our first ncaa tournament game since 2019. Selfishly as a fan of course
Well, off the top of my head, something that spaces the floor more - something like what they showed in the scrimmage, possibly some Princeton stuff.
What Iām referring to is more than scheme though. Itās instilling within your players the confidence to shoot when theyāre open without hesitation.
You can scoff or be a smartass if you want, but weāve seen several players over the last few years who are scared to shoot the ball. Beekman and Kihei had all the leash in the world, and even they hesitated much of the time to shoot.
These are just my observations. I want my players to shoot any time theyāre open and in rhythm with confidence.
Watch Auburn play. Those guys will shoot ANYTHING and not think twice about it. Now, so I want us to run what Auburn does? Heck no. Bruce Pearl goes too far in the other direction, in my opinion. They exercise little to no discretion when it comes to shot selection and who takes the shot. I just wouldnāt mind finding a middle ground.
lol he needed no more spacing. He was wide freaking open whenever he caught the ball. He just couldnāt shoot it and make it. Iām sure Tony wouldāve loved for him to do that. Me too!
Iām all good for schemes that give iMac and Taine more open shots. But that wasnāt the problem with Dunn. Defenders literally left him alone. He just couldnāt make them. Now maybe Tony eventually told him to hold it up but he had ample time to prove he could make them