Here are the halftime scores of our first round games. The Ohio game is not an anomaly due to Covid, imho.
UVA 27 - Miss. State 19 (NIT)
UVA 28 - Ohio 27
UVA 30 - Gardner Webb 36
UVA 21 - UMBC 21
UVA 30 - UNC Wilmington 29
UVA 40 - Hampton 21
UVA 40 - Belmont 32
UVA 30 - Coastal Carolina 35
UVA 26 - Norfolk State 16 (NIT)
UVA 22 - Florida 30
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I donāt buy that there are mental barriers.
Poor play and a case or three of the yips at times doesnāt mean that at all.
What top 20 squad hasnāt hit a roadblock along the way?
[from the rooftops]
THESE ARE ALL DIFFERENT PLAYERS WE ONLY THINK ABOUT THIS AS FANS BECAUSE WE HAVE WATCHED OVER MANY YEARS
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To be fair the coaching staffs do create a continuity in strategy and atmosphere/vibes/attitude/whatever you want to call it. Weāve started slow in round 1 games through multiple generations of players
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Interesting on what they look like on offense, thanks for sharing the info. I watched this video by Jordan Sperber that shared one scouting nugget on every single team: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LUgGiw-cHw
And he noted that Furman runs some Princeton-like actions. The one clip he had in there kinda looked like how Georgia Tech ran offense under Pastner; did you see stuff like that in the game you watched?
Congrats! Thatās really impressive
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I sometimes think about just how depressed/snakebit/toxic the UVA fanbase would be today if Diakiteās shot hadnāt gone in. You know which shot. The one that was for the win, but was actually for the tie? It did go in of course. Then we went on to beat Purdue in overtime and then we won the national championship in dramatic fashion. Letās all take a moment to rememberā¦
ā¦ and weāre back. But without that shot, oh my god the narrative about Virginiaās underperformance in the NCAAT would have wormed its way into our very souls and we would be red-eyed and emaciated scrabbling our fingers bloody on the walls of our cells or hospital rooms
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The funny thing is if you take a step back there are a hand full of programs that have consistent success in the NCAA tournament. For every other program itās a mix of successes and early exits. Thatās where we are. Weāre not Duke or Kansas. Letās enjoy the ride and beat the Paladins on Thursday!
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I mean dukeās last title is 8 years ago now. Although more consistent than uva, they definitely had their share of upsets as well.
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Using the final four as the mark of success, but itās true Duke has been upset a fair amount too.
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Duke has lost to a 14 and a 15 with all there 5 Stars.
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This guy on Twitter does a really interesting breakdown of all the teams every year:
https://twitter.com/matteise/status/1635361456102477824?s=46&t=ssVVjGWB7T14HKcxk2w_pQ
Seems like Furman does really well in transition, which we obviously defend well against. It also looks like their interior defense leaves much to be desired, so Jayden, Kadin, and Papi should be key in this matchup.
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Thanks! I am honored to be a part of the LRA family. It simultaneously brings me great joy and great anxiety to read and contribute 
. Iāve never watched a UVA basketball game I relaxed through until the clock hit 00:00, all reviews were finalized, and the sun has risen the next day. Iām glad to experience similar processes with like-minded posters, and I wish to have the confidence of others. It makes this forum a great place to be. We are truly blessed to have Tony Bennett as our program builder and leader. I love Virginia basketball and I love reading and commenting along with you all on the various threads.
Now letās go beat Furman and make a run in the NCAAT. Go Hoos!
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I saw some backdoor cuts, but not many. I wound up watching the Furman-NC State game (apparently, I wasnāt as bored as I thought) and saw a few more. But mostly, it seems theyāve got five guys behind the arc, and their offense relies on one of those guys getting into the lane ā often with the help of a high ball screen ā and then either kicking out for a three or making a pocket pass to someone under the basket or cutting to the basket. They definitely run more pick-and-pop than pick-and-roll.
Seems like the key is going to be our guards being able to keep their guards from driving. If we wind up having to rotate a lot, it could be a long night.
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Big guys not afraid to put it on the floor as well. What I saw
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Happy cake day HH
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