You may be right, but I was under the impression that the exempt games did not count against the limit at all. That assumes that the NCAA limit is still 28 games. With a four team early season/holiday event, Virginia has typically played 30 games prior to the ACCT. Of course, I am not that good at keeping up with the NCAA’s rules changes, so…
Edit to add: Just for chuckles, I went back and checked the 2018/2019 schedule when Virginia played three games in the Battle for Atlantis. Prior to the ACCT, there were still just 30 games.
Yea I don’t know exactly how they label it but if you play in an exempt event you are allowed 31 games and if not 30. Tony has always chosen to play 30 but we could play 31 if he wanted.
In watching tons of college and pro basketball last 6 months this question came to my mind:
As fans would we rather have a guy or two that attract a ton of attention from defenders because of their reputation as knockdown shooters but it’s really hard to get open looks for them because the defense is so focused on them?
Or
Rather have a couple of dudes that don’t have the rep, so they don’t draw as much attention and get open looks more easily?
Let’s say the first group is at 46% on open threes and 35% on contested threes
and
The 2nd group is 38-39% on open threes and rarely shoots contested ones.
Number 1 giveaway that he didn’t watch us at all last season and is just going off of stats — His blurb has no mention of Reece!!
“While Virginia’s defense needs to return to its customary form under Tony Bennett – it ranked outside the top 35 in adjusted defensive efficiency for the past two seasons, after ranking inside the top seven in eight of the nine seasons before that – the breadth and depth of weapons at his disposal on the offensive end next season will not be in question. Jayden Gardner has been a consistent scorer for four years, Armaan Franklin is a proven high-major double-figure scorer and Kihei Clark has made big shots in his career. But now Bennett will also have all-MAC forward Ben Vander Plas, a proficient inside-outside scorer, and a freshman class that includes a high-level shooter in Isaac McKneely, an aggressive penetrator in Leon Bond, and a 6-10 big man who can stretch the defense in Isaac Traudt.”
Interesting question and not to be a pain but I think it depends on the package the player brings. For sake of argument I see this as would you rather have Steph Curry or PJ. Tucker? The numbers may not be exact, but essentially Steph is considered a knockdown shooter and grabs tons of attention and you have to work to find ways to keep him involved and open. PJ Tucker led the league in 3% through the first half if I recall and didn’t hit a wall until the playoffs when he lost confidence. But he was generally a knock down guy from the corners who benefited from open looks on kick outs. If I go by sheer fandom/numbers/assumption Tucker could be argued the better option, but I mean if you got a guy who gets buckets then he’s gonna get buckets.
Yeah the blurb for ranked Virginia should basically look like this, otherwise they obviously do not know the team:
Virginia returns all 5 starters from an up and down season which saw them sweep Miami, beat Duke at Cameron, and win 2 NIT games, as well as lose to Navy and JMU.
The cavaliers should hope that their starting five is in position for a step forward due to adding three new starters (Gardner, Franklin, and Shedrick) a season ago. Additionally, defensive savant Reece Beekman has another gear on offense that he has not consistently shown in game.
However, continuity alone is not why fans are excited for this years Virginia team. They replace their two primary bench contributors (senior guard/forward kody stattman, and underclassman guard Malachi Poindexter) with all MAC, sharp shooting forward Ben Vander Plas, and a quartet of highly touted freshman. Additionally, rising sophomore guard/forward, and former 4* recruit, Taine Murray adds an additional sharpshooter in the wings vying for playing time.
Where last season started off rocky with many new faces in the starting lineup, Virginia fans should hope that, a solidified starting 5 of veterans, plus a swath of young talent hoping to earn their spot in the rotation will set them up for consistency and success that they may have lacked last year.
