I mean with this OOC if we are a little over .500 we are fine. We just have to win 1-2 of those 4 games
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I’m not sure that this means less margin for error, at least from a selection committee perspective (I don’t have a strong feeling on what it means for rotation usage). Michigan, Michigan St, LSU, Texas all went well below .500 in Q1 games and made the tourney. Notre Dame went 2-8 in Q1 games and made it, probably because they only had 2 losses outside of Q1. The only team that I could find that maybe got punished for too many Q1 losses last season was Texas A&M.
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Indeed. People are overlooking that a Q1 heavy schedule means fewer opportunities for Q3 and Q4 losses! Which I mean kind of tongue-in-cheek and kind of not.
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For what it’s worth, heard some really good words yesterday about the development and work put in by the vets over the last few months, and their mindset.
Development-wise, Reece!! was singled out. The words “different player” were used.
Apologies for the abuse of passive voice.
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REECE!!
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I shouldn’t have read that post in a workplace setting Phony
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Reece!!
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That’s great to hear, the work on their mindset is massive.
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As good as Reece was last year, if he’s stepped up to the “different player” level, the recruiting timeline for starting PG may move up a year.
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if he’s leaving early for the draft, uva will be a in a good spot to grab a one year rental.
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Oof hate to see a guy so talented regress but it is what it is.
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Maybe he just moved horizontally? Like now he is Braxton key instead of Reece?
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Or it could give a platform for a statement game, as when first-year Ty Jerome came off the bench to score 15 at Villanova, and waived off Perrantes so he could break DiVicenzo’s ankles with time running out.
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If I’m going to miss the tournament to bad losses, I’d much rather those loses be against the big boys and not Navy, SF or JMU.
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Maybe. An optimist remembers Ty @ Nova. A pessimist remembers Ty @ WVU. Both things happened; it’s all in what you choose to remember.
The relevant difference is that there wasn’t really an alternative to Ty in 18-19. The thing is, the most likely outcome of early tests and talented frosh is either (a) go with the vets or (b) talented frosh (esp, non top 20ish) struggle. And a and b both lead to the same place.
Also Ty @ Nova was mid-season. These games are pre- sea leg having, IMO.
The bigger point is that NO ONE remembers his 6 assist game earlier that year against Robert Morris. So let’s give these guys opportunities on the big stage and let them embrace the challenge. That’s where winning culture is developed.
If we’re not good enough to make the NCAA, then so be it. But let it be because we couldn’t beat UCLA, Michigan, etc and not because we couldn’t beat Navy and JMU.
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Well, yeah, I agree. The relevant question is does Tony?
If I knew Tony was going to play the new guys a decent amount, no matter what, I’d be all in with the rest of you on a tough schedule being unadulterated good news. But I don’t know that and my prediction (where I part ways with @norfolk_hoo) is that how much the new guys plays will depend somewhat on what they do with early opportunities.
Ty was new as the starting PG and Carter was pretty much the defensive player of the year that year. He dominated just about every PG he faced that year.
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Yup - my point was that young players will often struggle against really good teams and really good players so it sounds like we agree.
I’m not worried about the 2022 class bolting early because they didn’t get quite enough playing time. It seems like a pretty committed group who understand what is expected of them. That’s at least my personal opinion.
Also, the goal of our team every year should be trying to make the NCAA tournament. When you have a weak or inexperienced team, sometimes that means scheduling really light (we’ve done that in the past). When you have an old and experienced team, I’d personally put together a schedule like this because I think it gives us the best chance of making the tournament. We only need one or two wins against those high level opponents, and if we win the other games that we’re meant to, we will be in better shape than we would be if we just beat up against a bunch of nobodies. The NCAA has shown repeatedly that they don’t really care about Q1 losses and reward teams who schedule hard/punish teams that schedule soft.
So, if the primary goal of this season with this very seasoned roster is to make it back to the tournament, I like this schedule. And if the secondary goal is prepare the next generation of Hoos and avoid them bolting, I’m just not too worried about it at this point. But again, that’s just me.
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