2022
Ok, but then I can pull âitâs not so simplisticâ card on you:. Development of what types of players? Hint ⊠(ok, answer) ⊠the really good ones
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I wouldnât be so cavalier (pardon the pun) about âmarginalâ improvement. The team finished with a regular-season record of 18-12. A marginal improvement of, say, four games would mean a record of 22-8 â a solid season, an easy NCAA berth, probably good enough for a top three finish in the conference (and a double-bye in the tournament). Are we really at the point where we sneer at that?
More importantly, I think the improvement will be much more than marginal.
For one thing, we ARE adding better players. Thereâs a Top 10 recruiting class on its way in.
For another: Do you really think that everyone on the team has reached their ceiling? That between now and next year, none of them are going to be better? I donât think Reece or Kadin are anywhere near their potential. I think Taine can contribute significantly. I think Armaan will be more like the player he was at Indiana. I think the rotation will be deeper, which will help keep everyone fresher and more effective. And a year together will make the team more cohesive.
Look, I agree with you: Adding good players, particularly if they fit a need, will make the team better. Thatâs obvious. But Iâm just not nearly as dismissive about what we have now, or as dire about next yearâs prospects.
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Players make themselves great players within solid systems. Coaches dont make great players elite, but they do provide the tools
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Yes yes and yes ⊠more talent!
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I donât disagree with that. Itâs worth remembering that there is a group of that sort preparing to matriculate this summer. It is also worth remembering that recruiting, while extremely important, remains a crapshoot. When he committed to Virginia, what were your expectations of Kihei Clark? When they signed their LOIs, what were your expectations of Casey Morsell and/or Jabri Abdul-Rahim? Justin Anderson and Evan Nolte arrived with virtually identical recruiting rankings. London Perrantes was well outside of the Top 100. So, while it is the development of the âreally good playersâ that propels the program forward, how do you know which are the really good players? The various scouting services get the Top 10 to Top 20 right (depending on the year), but they rarely stay in college long enough to realize their potential. Virginiaâs sweet spot appears to be the recruit in the #40 to #70 slot, but, as we have seen recently, that is no guarantee of success. Essentially, there are no quick fixes, IMO. And, while I would love for Reneau to join the UVa team, I view its happening as beyond unlikely. Not impossible, but very improbable. And, even were it to happen, I wouldnât expect his impact to be immediate.
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And, just to add a bit to that line of thought: Virginia began the 2022 season with a very inexperienced front line. At times, their defense was atrocious. I thought that they made significant gains over the course of the season. The Virginia team which finished the season was significantly better than the one which began it. I see no reason to believe that the improvement wonât continue when the 2023 season begins.
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Yeah, all fair. I lost the thread a bit as I was responding and trying to supervise at the playground. Bullet point thoughts:
- next years core 6 playing similar minutes, plus someone filling Kodyâs minutes, is probably a tourney team, and thatâs great
- I expect one or two or three of recruits plus Taine to horn in on some of the core 6 minutes
- That, plus contributions from BVP or McNeil should make us even better
- My point wrt Reneau is this: thereâs a tradeoff to taking minutes away from a guy like Papi whoâs been around, but for a talent like Reneau, I think we should welcome it, and accept the tradeoff
The improvement will continue. The slope of the second derivative will go down quite a bit (unless Iâm totally messing up my math). In laymanâs terms: theyâll improve, but not that much
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I agree completely. They had so much room for improvement at the beginning of last season, that that slope of the derivative, be it 1st, 2nd, or 3rd :), necessarily will go down. On the other hand, as their improvements become more refined, that doesnât mean they wonât be as impactful. With experience come the repetitions of doing the little things which lead to success. I also expect the frosh to assume more than the minutes used by Stattmann. Among other things, I believe that Coach Bennett will have some flexibility WRT to the minutes played by Gardner, Franklin, and Clark. Even Beekman. Last year, those four averaged over 33 mpg with Franklin getting a low of 29.5 and Clark a high of 36 mpg. I donât believe (and I hope) that they wonât be asked to play those sorts of minutes next year. I have a suspicion that many of Clarkâs turnovers at the end of the season were due to fatigue. If not physical, then mental. Hopefully, the frosh plus Murray will be well enough prepared to allow Coach Bennett that flexibility.
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Since itâs quiet over the weekend as staff are focused on BVPâs visit and I need something to get frustrated about, was trying to find any recent clips from Dylan James and instead I find myself asking âHow do independent (not even full blown EYBL Nike or Adidas) AAU teams have better jerseys than us?â LOL. Go through the photos with the arrows; every single one of those jerseys has more personality than ours.
Donât think Trey Murphy and Virginia in 2019 had anything to do with each other 
To your point Treyâs 2020/21 team was a down defensive year.
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Maybe Iâm old but all those AAU jerseys looks horrible, lol. Youâre not gonna find any standard college jerseys like that.
Oops! Thanks for the correction. I meant to type 2021. Original post now corrected. Thank you.
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Iâm with the majority who just want more orange. Either a return to the national championship jersey or pick a throwback jersey.
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If you want some real uniform envy:
I would love a throwback like that
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Getting a Jackie Moon vibe from the combo of the last two posts.
I dont get takes like this (sorry if this person is on the board lol/not a slight at all). We lose nothing from recruiting Malik Reneau. The only other prospect available to us is BVP for that spot.
Also in 2021 we had to recruit Keels. None of the 50-150 ranked kids would come onto our roster with Jabri Casey and Carson already on board. Of course in hindsight but thatâs hindsight.
And with the 2023 pg spot it absolutely is a spot where we can go big or go home. I would prefer a kid in the 35-75 range but w/e
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First of all, I was told there would be no math.
Second, I agree with both of you, I think. @haney, wrt the 2nd derivative, are you referring to the improvement of the defense returning players? If so, I think that youâre both correct that this will show a less steep slope, but, to @73CAVâs point, still very significant. Just the communication and familiarity with the system will pay huge dividends in terms of help defense and cutting down on paint touches or the rash of uncontested drives to the rack.
But I think there is also going to be a big dividend paid by simply having a more solid nucleus of players in practice who can mentor the newcomers. Add to that the athleticism of the incoming class and the familiarity of McKneely with the packline, and I foresee a bit steeper slope for improvement of the teamâs defense overall.
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I donât think this can be emphasized enough. Tony Bennett is a fantastic coach. He can get his teams to perform at or close to their peak ability. A lot of people also credit him with all the player skill development. This I disagree with.
Coach Bennett can see what a player can become and teach him how he can get there, but it is up to the playerâs hard work and effort to improve. Guys improve when theyâre working out or playing on their own time.
Tony Bennett isnât some magician that can transform a player in 20 hours a week of team practices. Most of that time is working on team concepts and preparing for opponents. A dude isnât trying out a new step back 3 in transition in team practices.
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Iâve been fortunate to be able to watch a few of Tonyâs practices. I didnât keep count of how much time was spent on what, so it might be true that âmostâ of the time is spent on team concepts and preparing for the next opponent. But there is an AWFUL lot of time spent on developing individual skills â more than Iâve seen from any other coach. He runs drills to work on defensive slides, closeouts, rebounding positioning, setting screens, running off screens, even making sure players are passing the ball precisely into a shooterâs pocket.
One of the keys to Virginiaâs success under Tony has been attention to detail. Developing individual skills is a big part of that.
Of course, that doesnât change the larger point: All the drills in the world mean nothing if the player is not putting in the time and effort to improve.
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