Quit whining!

Losing to BC sucks. Just like losing to South Carolina. These aren’t good teams.

But Tony Bennett’s Virginia basketball program is successful because of the marriage of culture and experience with talent. This year, they have far less talent in key roles AND limited experience AND newcomers who don’t have the culture in their DNA yet. Of course they’re going to struggle! You knew it before the season ever tipped off.

And don’t discount the fact that Virginia is getting everyone’s best shot. Did you see how excited BC was to beat Virginia? Virginia keeps getting called the “defending National Champs,” but they’re not actually defending their title. It’s a whole new team. So they carry that weight, but they don’t have the superstars that made that championship possible.

Finally, Virginia doesn’t have a star. There is no leader, no “give me the ball” scorer. Instead, they have a collection of talented role players with no one to build around. Last year, if things got tight, you could count on Jerome or Hunter or Guy to take the reins. But not this year.

Next year, Virginia loses Mamadi and Braxton, but gains Hauser (RS Senior with a year in the program), Shedrick (RS freshman with a year in the program) to go with Abdur-Rahim, Beekman, and McCorkle.

And this year’s newcomers, like Morsell, Caffaro, Woldetensae, McKoy, and Stattmann, will have another year of experience.

Next year Bennett will have the talent and experience, and all but three of them (Abdur-Rahim, Beekman, and McCorkle) will have had more than a year to steep in the culture.

And this year Virginia only has nine scholarship players available. Next year, it’s twelve. Among those twelve are several players, starting with Hauser, who can be the leader Virginia is missing.

Virginia will roar right back to the top of the ACC next year.

This year? They’re going to win some unexpected games, and lose some. And they’ll be better at the end of the season than they are now. Enjoy the ride!

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I believe the majority of die hard fans know & accept all of the above points re: this years team (& next years)…
However, when I notice the fans who don’t have this perspective I try to stay humble and give them space to do their thing. Unless they attack our players personally rather than as a team. Every fan starts somewhere on the fandom spectrum & over time some will grow to become a ‘die hard - super knowledgeable’ fan. Some fans will just stay on the surface level of enjoying our team.
As hard as it is to believe, I am sure we have a ton of fans who only know of UVA winning games and have no recollection of the darker UVA days in terms of victories.
I guess I will say, I feel your pain but maybe post more info like you did above but maybe without the negative tone…It might enlighten some folks who didn’t know those things…

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I believe all the points are valid and real.

All that said I’m a big believer that you have to feel and experience emotions and feelings and letting them wash over you is part of how you learn to cope and eventually move forward.

For me that means I have to allow myself to be sad, angry, hurt, upset about the current teams performance. Yes I believe next year will be better with the recruits coming in and the experience the current team is gaining. Yes I knew going into this season it would be down and there would be struggles. However, we don’t know what next year will bring the future is always unknown so I don’t want to jump ahead to next year without experiencing this year.

I think it’s important that people keep perspective and there’s never a reason to attack a college kid personally. Or even attacking the coaching stay. I think it’s also important to remember the five pillars and remain Humble because the success of last year means nothing for this year and we need to be grateful for that and accept the responsibility of this year.

Finally the disappointment of 14,15,16,18 is what made 19 so special. That yell that CTB gave out at the Final Four is a product of understanding the struggle of the previous years.

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This is such a great perspective. I know it’s something I’ve struggled to grasp. Nearly all of us as fans exist in a bubble, whether that’s an internet forum or just friends you talk UVA basketball with. Starting my Facebook page a few years ago was a real eye opener. You get them of all stripes there.

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