Kihei Clark- Confessions of a doubter

OK. I’m here to step up and admit I was wrong and I want to apologize to Mr. Clark. I was one of those HOOS who thought Kihei had reached his full potential and had nothing left to give the program.
I appreciated him and held him in high regards, after all he will have the most famous pass in UVA basketball history or at least in my lifetime. I just thought the offense was stagnant last year due to a Beekman/Clark backcourt. I felt like Kihei was holding Reese back and that Tony needed to surround Beekman with shooters to reach his full potential. Little did I know he would come back this year and have his best all around year ever as a HOO. His shooting percentage is up, he’s finishing at the rim at a higher rate, and his defense has gotten more intense. I for one am loving this new offense Tony is riding and its obvious its benefiting both Clark and Beekman considerably. Kihei- Im sorry. You continue to be you and put your name in as many records as you can at UVA. You are appreciated…

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You took the words right out of my mouth. I have recently thought of posting the same thing. I was an idiot. Thanks Mr. Clark for everything you have done for UVA and congrats for having a great season.

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We could rename this thread to apologize to one of Kihei, Armaan, BVP. At some point this year, they have all been the subject of extreme criticism, and have made the collective thread look like total fools.

It shows we are all good at the passion for UVA part, and maybe not so good at evaluating the basketball component. Lol.

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Thank you for posting this. I too want to apologize to Kehei. I got mad last year when he said he was coming back. I was WRONG. In fact i wish he could stay 5 more years

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We wouldn’t be where we are playing so well without Kehei. In fact his play has a huge role in it. This thread will be complete if @DavetheWave wants to go next.

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True, but Kihei has been hearing it from “fans” for 5 years. It’s different than the recent transfers in

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I’ve been a massive Kihei fan and have defended him throughout his tenure at UVa but what he is doing this year is special. I always felt if he had the right people around him he could succeed and that’s proving true this year.

But I’ll also admit while I supported his choice to come back I was not excited about his return. That has changed. I’m sure you can throw out stats about all the things he doesn’t do or do well but the bottom line is the team is winning and he is a major reason why.

Finally a selfish reason I’m glad he is back is my Kihei is my 2yr old daughters favorite player. She stands and watches every game cheering “go kihei go” and “dunk it kihei” just the other day she asked if she would be as good as kihei when she grows up. Watching Kihei perform through her eyes has been the best part of this season and for that I’m grateful he is back.

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I was ok with Kihei returning but hoped it would be in a reduced role. Didn’t want nearly as much Kihei/Reece together.

Only about the 1,453rd time since 2009 that Tony has proven he knows more about coaching basketball than I do.

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It’s hard to point to an MVP this season. But if I had to chose, I’d give it to Kihei.

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As someone who is wrong often, I have a lot of respect for people who admit they were wrong about something. It makes me respect your opinions more in the future because people who never admit to being wrong cannot be trusted. Those people who are never wrong cannot be trusted because they either keep moving the goal posts or simply lie.

If UVA internet posters, not necessarily isolated to this board, were to post all the things they were wrong about heading into this season and during the earlier portion of the season, it would be the longest UVA message board thread in history.

I feel very good about most of my preseason thoughts but two where I was off were 1) I underestimated the value of the things BVP can do besides shoot from range; 2) I thought Dunn was more limited to being a perimeter / finesse guy and the opposite has been true.

BVP is turning out to be a helluva glue / swiss army knife kind of guy who does a lot of things besides shoot. I was wrong when I expressed unhappiness about him transferring to UVA. Dunn has been most valuable doing the dirty work and once his shot starts falling, boom, look out. His physical development has been very different than what I expected and his attributes are different than what I was led to believe when we recruited him. I thought Dunn was a shooter, perimeter guy and Bond was more the scrappy, athletic guy.

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“Those people who are never wrong cannot be trusted because they either keep moving the goal posts or simply lie.”
This is a life truth. The sooner we learn this in our lives, the better.

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To be fair it has been a reduced role. This is the role he played on the national title team, as the secondary ball handler which is what many were calling for and many were fearful that Reece would never truly get to take the reigns.

Fortunately Kihei has been thriving as that secondary ball handler and Reece has the reigns .

I was absolutely adamant that I didn’t want Kihei back, not because he wasn’t good (which the people who were saying he isn’t an acc level player on twitter are insane) but because I was fearful of the roadblock to Reece and McKneely’s development and them deferring to Kihei when on the floor (not really Kihei’s fault). Reece and McKneely have both developed wonderfully and Kihei isn’t forcing or overdribbling as much. It’s been beautiful to watch at times even with a scoring drought here or there.

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Respect. Was about to post something snarky about where are the long form apologies from folks who weren’t happy with Kihei returning. Glad I didn’t.

It wasn’t crazy to think he was part of the problem, but putting the pieces together it was clear he needed more talent around him to ease the load. He’ll always be limited in some ways by his height. But within those limits, he’s been spectacular this year.

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@Hooandtrue get this kid on your radar

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Don’t worry she’s got a brother right behind her who is right on her heels. Basketball runs in the family. In the worst player in the group with a wife who played D2 and a FIL who played at Kansas.

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I think Kihei just became a convenient lightning rod the last couple of years – he took the brunt of people’s frustration when we weren’t as good as we used to be. It was unfair, and I think it blinded us from really appreciating his contributions to this program.

I think the person who really deserves an apology here is Tony, because there was a narrative coming into the season that although the extra pieces would help, Tony was so stubborn that he’d play the same five starters the same amount of minutes and we’d have the same results as last year. Tony’s inflexibility always has been a myth. He’s loyal to his principles (as a coach should be) but always has shown an ability to adapt his strategies.

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Yes, but it’s not Kihei’s fault that he overextended himself last season. No one was stepping up so being the competitor he is he tried to take it on his shoulders. You see that with good players on teams that lack surrounding talent. The next season they get better play from other guys on the team and everyone marvels at how more efficient and comfortable the guy appears.

I think Reece’s development, combined with Franklin starting to look like an alpha scorer, has allowed Kihei to be more the facilitator and he’s also getting more good looks. Should probably add having BVP provide offensive skills and IMac’s shooting is also part of that formula.

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Tony is not perfect but he’s one of the best coaches in college basketball and we’re damn lucky to have him. Every season he stays as the UVA MBB coach is a gift.

The “perfect” coach is a myth. They all make mistakes from time to time because they don’t have the benefit of seeing the future. They have to make their best assessment and sometimes it’s wrong. Fans have the benefit of evaluating decisions on hindsight.

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Yup CTB was trashed plenty by fans the past few years a to be honest some of it deservedly. But he kept his eye on the big picture and as you said stuck to his principles and that’s paying dividends.

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TB and every other coach had to navigate 1000 non coaching things when the Covid year(s) happened. Transfer portal, extra year for players, NIL, contact tracing… on and on. The ONE thing we all knew for sure is he would go about it using the Pillars etc etc. We dont have to agree with decisions on the court but not sure there is anyone at all better

Kihei for me is always his best when he doesnt need to get stats: scoring, assists, steals, rebounds. He is playing with lots of joy this season. Smiling durjng games, coaching younger guys up etc etc

I thought he should have moved on in “regular” fashion last year. Am sure glad he didnt We have a huge run to make this year with Kihei

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