Will be interesting to see the coaches’ opinion on who guards Preston. They’ll have to decide whether it is best to match size with Reece, get up underneath him with Kihei, or throw a blanket with the height and length of Trey. It may take some trial and error to see what is most disruptive to Preston. Or maybe Preston goes all Carsen Edwards and it doesn’t matter who covers him.
2 Likes
Ricky Stokes who is the associate commish of Ohio’s conference jumps on to break down the matchup
3 Likes
I’m reading a lot about how Virginia is going to have trouble containing Ohio’s offense. I don’t see a word about Ohio’s defense struggling with Virginia’s offense. We have elite offensive weapons with Jay, Sam and Trey, and Kihei and Reece know how to set them up. Ohio, meanwhile, has neither exceptional quickness or height. I don’t think they have the defenders to be able to switch every screen, and they don’t have the big guys to protect the rim – two things that caused trouble for us in our losses. I think we’ll get good looks.
If we’re rusty and don’t shoot well, and Ohio gets hot from three, sure, we could have problems. But that’s kind of true for everyone in every game. (How do you think Oral Roberts beat Ohio State?) I think it’s just as likely, though, that Sam or Trey or Jay or some combination of the three shoot well, that Reece or Kihei or some combination slow down Preston, and that we win this game comfortably.
I guess we’ll see.
6 Likes
There was a game breakdown on Twitter by Brian Geisinger, who analyzed all kinds of offensive sets by Ohio. He said that Ohio does not normally switch on defense and opined it will be interesting to see if the Ohio coaching staff implements a switching defense that is proven successful against us but that it doesn’t normally play.
3 Likes
Yes it was a good article. Linking it here: Scouting Report: How Jason Preston and Ohio pose matchup concerns for Virginia - ACCSports.com
3 Likes
So did the question of who didn’t make the trip, get answered?
2 Likes
There are no Jay Huffs in the MAC. Let Daddy feast, then Sam and Trey can pick the bones.
4 Likes
I am concerned that instead of abusing the lack of height on Ohio that we will try to go small with them. I’m hoping McKoys presumed absence will push us away from that
Damn Straight Dragon, I’m pumped and ready to go. Your the Man!
1 Like
This seems like a good time to repost this. Getting ahead of overflowing passions for tonight’s game and hopefully the tourney run ahead.
11 Likes
I assume you mean making use of our height advantage on the offensive end, which usually means post them up or crash the boards. But when have we ever done either? It’s just not the makeup of this team for whatever reason. Murphy seems to have gotten a little more aggressive in the last couple of games. I hope he is today.
1 Like
10% Hoos win comfortable, 45% Hoos win in Cardiac cavs fashion, 35% Hoos lose in Cardiac cavs fashion, 10% We are cold from 3, not aggressive, can’t match Ohio’s march madness nothing-to-lose/leave-it-all-on-the-floor energy and they start chucking out of confident desperation, get down early and panic leading to the kihei hero-drives and no touches for Hauser or Huff leading to a 30 point blow out. Nothing to base those odds on. Tonight will be glorious regardless
4 Likes
That’s partially my point but from a lineup perspective we also tend to match our opponent
HGN saw my post in the beer thread
1 Like
We have but not as much since we really shortened the bench. I hope Jay’s outside shot pulls their big guy out of the middle and disrupts their defensive positioning. It really screwed with UNC. But UNC is pretty easy to screw with.
2 Likes
fun fact: their shooting guard, miles brown, is number two on new york’s all time leading scorer list. joseph girard is first
Do we know who is calling our game? Couldn’t find it online.
Carter Blackburn/Debbie Antonelli/Evan Washburn
1 Like
Comment on Borzello tweet says online sleuths seem to be pointing to McKoy as the guy who’s out. Anyone who can confirm?
that was the word the day of the covid positive announcement. Bench big. We have only one who played vs Cuse.