I said at the time I would be chill for 5 years. I wonāt comment on whether I held to that, but it went out the window when Tony retired anyways. Iāll complain all I want now.
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I didnāt make that promise during the run - I made it after. Iām not complaining but I am observing. And yes, canāt prove anything as Tony did quit in October, but, who would you choose for UVa to hire in 2026 for its menās basketball,coach?
- Tony Bennett
- The field as we know it
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Yeah this is the way to goā¦ I learned from my mistake and said the same thing about the Nats run. Now my 5 years is up time to make a push for October.
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Iād vote for the theoretical Tony who still wanted to coach. But the actual Tony said heās done (for now anywayā¦)
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As much as I love him and wish he stayed here far longer than he did, I donāt want a Tony thatās been so burnt out by the sport he felt it necessary to step away completely. I want someone who wants to coach in this landscape, and is going to meet those new challenges head on with aggression and try to find out a way to turn it into our favor.
Iām sure there were points where that was Tonyās intention as well, but in the end it put him into an early retirement.
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Lol. Stop it. Bennett is at least 4-5 game better than Ron and Ron would tell you that. Or he would point to the scoreboard and say that it doesnāt matter. Sanchez is a Samās Club Bennett donāt be silly.
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Yeah prime Tony who is insistent on running his system, but has a GM who handles evals outside of a general blessing, along with NIL and roster management, then sign me up. You basically need a G League coach now.
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Do you REALLY wish Tony Bennett had stayed longer?
If Tony Bennett rode off into the sunset after hoisting the trophy in 2019, and UVA replaced him with another coach that produced EXACTLY the same results as Tony did his last 5 years, would that coach still be employed at UVA after last yearās NCAA tourney embarrassment, or would he have gotten the boot?
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Yes, I wanted our HOF and national championship winning coach to figure things out. And revamp the offense like we heard all offseason. And not get burnt out by the sport. Itās not what happened but itās what I wanted.
You canāt pose a hypothetical that ignores all of the context behind why people gave Tony the leeway he was granted, the fanbase was as patient as we were because he had proven he could succeed at the highest level here and we were hoping to see him find his way to doing it again. Were the results what we wanted post natty? No, and I think even Tony would say that given all his talk about how changes needed to be made. Should it have gotten him put on the hot seat going into this year? Absolutely not.
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Didnāt realize a Sanchez family member joined the board. Welcome!
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In summaryā¦.
- The team is getting better, but other teams are getting better faster
- The teamās offense is getting better but the teamās defense is getting worse
- We would all want Tony if Tony wanted us and was able to adaptā¦but he didnāt and he wasnāt
- UVA may decide that because Sanchez is such a nice guy and was dealt such a lousy hand, that he deserves a few years to prove himself. The odds of this happening are about 10%
- It will be nice to start winning again soon
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Funny I looked back at TBs first year games. Ronās probable one and done just may mimmick it record wise (looking at scores and ACC wins I betcha ACC coaches were pretty surprised about what the new guy was doing, however)
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Must be new here and never seen a Dave poll
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TLDR we are so fucked
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Iāll never forgive Tony for not playing Huff more on the way to winning a national championship. Still keeps me up at night
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Agreed! Wouldnāt have needed the Mamadi shot or the free throws or the overtime if Huff played more!
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In summary, thatās a lot of words to say not much of anything.
Iām just saying UVA isnāt THAT far away from winning on some respectable level. Itās not going to happen this year. This team has a lot of young players that are going to be pretty damn good a year or two down the road. You canāt win with them today, but they are going to be pretty damn good in the future. If they can keep them together and add talent at a couple of key positions, they could be really good.
Cofie is a talent. Heās going to be good and he needs to be on the floor. Heās a total liability today. Heās lost in the pack-line, and heās a defensive breakdown waiting to happen. Sharma and Robinson are going to be pretty good too. Blake continues to improve, and heās starting to show a little bit of confidence on the offensive end.
Sharma & Robinson have a nice future too.
Ron doesnāt deserve shit because heās a nice guy. But thereās a reason Tony Bennett was selling this as a two year plan. You either trust the process or you donāt. Blowing it up is an option too. And there is no guarantee these guys stick around even if Ron is retained.
Regardless of what direction UVA goes, I think they will be back to winning again very soon. Not at 2014-19 levels. Those days are long gone and they arenāt coming back.
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Nice handle.
Iām just glad the ref swallowed his whistle when Ty Jerome double dribbled. 
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I think itās beyond no guarantee guys stick around if Ron is retained. I think you are guaranteed to lose several key contributors even if you retain him. There is no sense in trusting whatever process Tony had in mind because Tony is gone and the plan or process or whatever is gone with him. Need to just take the best coach available now, and you cannot say with a straight face that itās Ron.
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