You can see Tomas got the message, clearly trying to play with more effort. It’s just not in his DNA yet. Even during that stretch there were moments of let up, not hustling after a loose ball that led to the tie up. Then he barked at Huff coming off the court. Doubt that went over well.
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Purdue’s perimeter length is just causing havoc, just eating up any simple pass on the perimeter. Our perimeter guys’ movement off the ball has not been sharp and has been very predictable.
Purdue has attempted 12 more shots than Virginia with 3:08 left in the game.
Purdue was just a better team tonight. Had a mission and they came out and executed. The Hoos lacked that go to option who can create when the offense isnt flowing.
What’s Purdue shooting? It has to be something ridiculous.
45% overall. 52% from 3.
53% and 45% that’s tough to beat. I know they were on fire but that cant be allowed to happen again to anyone.
I think they actually played better tonight than vs Maine. About the only good thing I can think of. It’s going to be a process, that’s for sure. Lots of problems to solve, some that probably can’t be entirely.
It’s hard in today’s game to run offense through your big man. I’m sure they’ll continue to find ways to try with Mamadi, but there’s just a limit on what can be done.
We only have one truly dependable ball handler on scholarship, Kihei. Way too much is being asked of him right now. If they keep stats for individual time of possession, he must lead the nation. That’s a major problem if he’s not going to be a scoring threat.
They were banking on Tomas being effective right away. Hopefully he’ll come around eventually, but right now I feel sure he’d be pegged to the bench if depth allowed it. It leaves us with literally no guard depth, compounded by Key’s absence. Considering Tomas was brought in largely for his shooting, his ineffectiveness is a double whammy. I’d like to see them try something outside the box, give McKoy some run at the 3 instead of resorting to Nixon.
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We lost four starters from last year, including 3 players who left early for the NBA. Tony had commented before the season that he wondered where the offense would come from. Other practice observers like Seth Greenberg made the same observation. Experience can only help. I do expect the offense to get better, but not to the level we have become accustomed to. Personally I would like to see Justin and Chase play more. Justin has great potential, and Chase plays with the swag I wish the other new guys had. Casey will be ok. He will look like a different player in February.
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Best analysis of the night
we learn. we grow. leave it at that.
— anna (@ambennett25) December 5, 2019
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Feels like a moment of catharsis, actually. We’re not going to go unbeaten or walk the ACC - so no pressure to be perfect.
8 games in and it looks like the new guys that aren’t afraid are McCoy, Coleman, Morsell, Cisco. Give these guys the minutes and let them learn from mistakes now so that we’ve got a fighting chance in March.
I like the McCoy at 3 concept especially against bigger units as he provides similar beef on d and the boards to Key - imagine if he gets a chance to get comfy from 15 ft and beyond.
Coleman is an absolute warrior playing full length d and he does have swag off the dribble like someone said earlier. Like McCoy, he seems like he could regularly spot up if he gets a chance to get in a rhythm.
Anybody who is paying attention sees that Morsell is going to be a star. He’s the best athlete on the team and probably looks a lot like Dre did the year he redshirted. Just be patient with his touch.
And Cisco is a potential X factor as a partner for md and Huff - if he can play with his back to the hoop it opens up huge mismatches with inside-out play with those two. He’s not jack on d or screens but could provide a similar role with a little more offensive upside.
The shooting can’t get worse. Let the kids play.
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Random thoughts:
Cisco moves like Ryan Pettinella or Mark Madsen…
I like what coleman brings to the table. He has a really good handle and that baseline jumper was sweet.
Casey looks awesome. If he could run a little point, that would help with the backcourt depth.
Kihei needed his jumper today, cause it was hard to finish with the trees down low. Perfect storm in a bad way for him today.
Huff is frustrating to watch. He gets in really bad position to rebound and seems to have people just snatch them right from him even when he does box out. I don’t get it.
It looks like stattman and tomas just dont have a quick enough release to get their shot off…the only way they get going is when defenses have to help and leave them open…
Lots of stuff to work on…lots of season left to improve.
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Final thoughts on the Purdue game after taking some time to reflect and look at clips and stats…
Like others have said, Casey is going to be a stud for Virginia. He’s a great example of a guy who could have benefited from a red shirt year, but learning on the job will suit him well.
Tomas is going to have a long season. There was a ton I did not like about his effort in last night’s game. And I hate to critique a players effort. But he just seemed to not be bought in to the UVa way of handling business. Combine that with his shot currently being as good as advertised and he inches closer to dud.
I really want to see more of Cisco and McCoy. Something about the way both of them played, they were outmatched last night but they fought hard and made plays within themselves. That’s huge for essentially 2 first years getting their first real minutes in an absolutely hostile environment.
What a difference a year makes for Kihei. He is without a doubt the leader of the current team and I thought he did a great job managing the game and made smart reads. If some shots were falling he would have finished with 10 assists easily. Now he needs to make a similar transition that London had to make in his 4th year where he goes hunting for that deep ball, because he’s going to have to be the spark.
Jay Huff is frustrating. I feel like I’ve waited forever for Huff to emerge into himself and I’m still waiting. Last night against a large team I was not impressed. I know he will never be a dominate post player from a power standpoint but if the jumper is not falling he has to be a threat that needs to be respected down low and I never saw that last night. He was in bad position for rebounds and the Purdue players were swarming around him stealing them away.
Can’t wait until next year when Sam Hauser takes the court, what a difference last night could have been with his experience size and shot on the court.
Now that I got all that negativity out the way. I think last night was the low water mark on the season and things will begin to turn around moving into the meat of the season. One thing I know is the staff will make adjustments and the players on the team are smart and make adjustments as well. This year was never going to be a cakewalk and it was going to be a massive learning curve. The will learn from this and still be in the thick of things once the ACC season gets rolling.
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Purdue was just tougher. Had their game plan and executed it on D. Expect more teams to guard us that way. Making so many threes helped them separate early as well. The most glaring part for me however is they were just tougher. Beat us to every 50-50 balls and even took away 70-30 type balls we should have gotten to. Lets see how the entire team responds. Agree with all you guys in here so wont add anything more specific per individual players.
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We’ll be on the plus side of 500. in the league, but we are fortunate it is a down year.
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I’m with you on giving McKoy more run at the 3. Bennett singled him out for competing hard against Purdue. It was pleasantly surprising that McKoy looked more comfortable than he has all year against the best team we’ve played and in the most difficult atmosphere. If Key is not available on Sunday, I would not be shocked if Bennett rewarded McKoy with the start on Sunday or at least 15+ minutes of playing time.
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I agree wholeheartedly. Morsell needs some freedom in the offense. He is a much better shooter on the move