Respect for the crow-eaters here. Is it okay for the some of us to post I-told-you-so’s in this thread as well?
To me, it was just as simple as why wouldn’t we want back the top scoring option (combining scoring+assists), emotional leader, most veteran player, and simply the guy who often just willed us to a victories last year – especially during a time of constant transfer chaos? I thought the alternative world felt a bit too speculative – maybe I’m just a risk averse dude.
I’m just happy he did and it’s been working out. I’ll add that much of this also has depended on Franklin resurgence, Beekman’s continuing to surge, and having more depth for Tony to plug and play. Without that, we might be having the same arguments.
Since this is a confessions thread, I wanted more trial-by-fire playing time for Dunn very early on with the flashes he showed. But Bennett has brought him along at a measured pace, and in the process has probably signaled a refusal to accept certain bad habits or mistakes from a youngster. To his credit, Dunn has always kept positive and expressed his need to improve. He’s becoming a very valuable rotation player and it’s still January.
And the collective play from the team is the result of a lot of individual improvement from many players from last year as well as perfect familiarity with one another. It’s so easy to assume that the path of a struggling player should be either a benching or a transfer. But for our program, the push should be just to keep getting better. And then I’m thinking of Kadin at the moment, who needs a comfortable, go-to post move, a comfortable mid-range jumper from one or two spots on the floor, and to high-point and grab rebounds. All of those things can be a summer focus.
I agree… Beekman’s shooting percentage has definitely helped A LOT! Kihei is a warrior though… everything said negative about him seems like water off a duck’s back. That is quite a good trait for a leader.
The crazy thing about that is that Kihei has a higher assist rate than Beekman and 10th in the entire country. So he’s obviously still had the ball a ton and is responsible for often being the one to get into lane and setup some easy offense
Yeah Kihei has been a better play maker as a result of us having more 3pt shooting options. Would be interesting to see if the usage would be the same without Reece’s injury.
I also think that Reece’s development being hindered by Kihei coming back had some truths to it in theory but also was sort of an excuse for Reece. There were clearly things within Reece’s own control in the situations he was in where he still could have done more. And his improvements this year even with Kihei still playing 30 minutes a game show that
I have been as critical of Kihei Clark as anyone. On the other hand, I have repeatedly noted that the Kihei Clark of 2019/20 and 2020/21 was not the Clark of 2021/22. I thought he was much improved last year. The earlier Clark was capable of spectacular plays and mind-numbing blunders. He was a double-edged blade. Last year, though, the spectacular plays began to outnumber the blunders significantly. This year, that trend has continued. And, among other things, at the conclusion of last year, I wasn’t opposed to his return. First and foremost, I always have limited expectations of the contributions of the true frosh. I never anticipated that any of them would start this season. That McKneely and Dunn are working their way (or, have worked their way) into the rotation isn’t necessarily a surprise, but it should never have been assumed as a given. Second, everyone ought to recognize Clark’s strengths and weaknesses. He has both. He is at his best defending the ball at the point of attack. In the past, he was at his weakest when the shot clock was winding down, and he was dribbling the ball at the top of the key trying to create for himself. Hero ball doesn’t suit him well. The ball doesn’t stick in his hands nearly as much these days. Now, he is probably at his weakest when trying to defend taller guards in the paint. Regardless, he still sets the tone for Virginia’s defense as opponents try to initiate their offenses. He is also better suited to playing off the ball, and assuming a catch & shoot role. IMO.
Lastly, and somewhat unrelated, I continue to be amazed that everyone harkens back to the “Pass”, and seemingly ignores Mamadi Diakite’s contributions in that sequence. It was Diakite who managed to slap the rebound into the backcourt, and it was Diakite who caught and shot the ball in milliseconds, and it was his shot that swished through the basket. It’s not as though it was a lay-up. While Clark was a key contributor to the play, it was a collaboration that sometimes seems unrecognized.
While I appreciate every part of Kihei in The Pass, it was absolutely Mamadi keeping the ball high and deftly sinking that shot. Agree, not nearly enough credit to Mamadi
Every time I watch that play I can’t help but think theost UVA thing ever would be Mamadi missing that shot. Shout out to him for sinking an incredibly difficult shot
I mean. Should we credit Mamadi’s hair? Would Clark have found him open without the shining beacon of gold glimmering in the YUM! lights? It’s worth asking.
Although the credit for that play goes to both players. The amazing thing about the Pass was the locstion of the ball when Mamadi caught it. It had to be there to get the shot off in time and credit to Mamadi for wasting no time and shooting from where he caught it.
I was about as wrong about Kehei coming back as I’ve been about anything in sports. I lamented his decision enormously; prayed he’d take a major backseat, maybe 15 minutes a game or so, knowing full and well there was no chance that would happen.
Thank goodness I was wrong. He’s playing by far the best ball of his career; I’m loving it and really enjoying watching him play.
Alright, I’m going to come in and be very slightly contrarian.
Firstly, I agree with the point that having Kihei this year has been great and he is doing a phenomenal job. I too had very mixed feelings when he announced his return for a fifth year, and he has done a great job of proving how valuable he is to this year’s iteration of the Hoos. Love Kihei.
That said, I have two related thoughts:
(1) Defensively he can still often be somewhat of a liability
(2) Because he is having by far his best offensive year at UVA, it negates (1) and is one reason things are going so well.
Re (1): everyone has noticed the past several games that the go-to offense for a number of opponents is to just repeatedly attack Kihei. They’re shooting over him, taking him to the rack, and exploiting mismatches against him whenever they get them. Every once and while Kihei gets somebody like Pedulla who is small and slow and he can tear apart defensively, but that’s more the exception. It’d be interesting to see what percentage of the other team’s points from the ACC slate have been scored against Kihei versus other players. His lack of height probably also contributes to some of our rebounding issues.
That said, on (2), because his offense has improved so much this year, it largely negates any defensive issues and makes it a much more positive tradeoff (see his Torvik stats below). If Kihei’s numbers were the same as they were a year or two ago, it’d probably be a little more mixed. And given he was here for four years, while one can generally assume improvement as guys get older, it an also be the case that dudes are what they are at a certain point. But thankfully he showed the former rather than the latter.
Anyway, all of that is to say: Kihei is killing it and deserves a ton of plaudits, especially from those who doubted him. He probably deserves the most credit for upping his offensive game to such a level that it negates some of the defensive issues playing him major minutes can create. He is a better player this year. Or at least those are my current half-baked thoughts.
Tbh the Clark conversation was less about how good would he be and more about whether he’d make our team better by sticking around. The latter is still more of an easy case to make than the former, even with how well he’s playing. A second ball handler is absolutely critical alone.
