or 6’2" ones, that shoot worse
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As I’ve said before, with Tony’s scheme you really can’t afford to have perimeter guys who can’t shoot. You need perimeter players who can shoot, a stretch 4 available who is capable of playing important stretches of games (but he doesn’t have to be the starter), and you need at least one alpha scorer who can put the ball in the basket when the offense is sputtering.
Tony can coach up the defense, but he needs certain personnel types for the offense to work. The one defensive requirement is a good team defender in the post. Jack fit that, Mamadi and Akil excelled at it.
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I think it’s important to distinguish between Tony’s strategic philosophies and his principles.
Tony is willing to adjust his strategies. Maybe not as drastically as some would like (although his fellow coaches consistently say he’s among the best making adjustments), but it’s not like he’s going to quit coaching if he decided the Pack Line doesn’t work anymore.
What he won’t compromise are his principles. Those five pillars are not empty platitudes. He believes in quaint concepts like “servanthood” and “humility.” He’s not going to recruit a guy whose main interest is how much money he makes, no matter how good a player he is. If you want a coach who thinks the most important thing is winning and who will do whatever it takes to win, then Tony is the not the coach you want. Be patient: I’m sure Rick Pitino will be available again soon.
Me, personally? I don’t think he walks on water, I don’t think he’s perfect. But I do think it’s undeniable that he has taken the Virginia program to unprecedented heights, and I think it’s churlish to constantly complain just because those unprecedented heights haven’t been higher.
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Exactly. He’s not supercoach who can magically recruit top 25 talent and his offensive schemes leave considerable room for critique, but he’s done what no one else has done at UVA and he’s done it without compromise. He’s a model college coach.
I think some critique is fair regarding offensive schemes, personnel usage, and recruiting approaches, but I also am absolutely convinced that there are some folks with an agenda who constantly seek any opportunity to pounce on Tony for reasons about which I don’t want to speculate. And the moment you push back on their constant and unreasonable criticisms you get the “you think Tony walks on water” bullshit.
“keeping it real” Tony is the greatest basketball coach and greatest revenue sport coach in UVA history and he’s done it the right way. Anyone who wants to debate that isn’t sufficiently honest or knowledgeable to waste my time debating. I’ll be glad to discuss his flaws as I’ve stated above, but the context is that we’re damn lucky to have him and I just hope we have him for a long time to come. This is the Golden Age of UVA basketball and when he leaves it will be over.
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This is also what happens when we follow recruiting so much, thanks @HoozGotNext, you see who is around and recruitable etc. before LRA i would just see who the new guys were and cheer like hell for all of them.
Now that @Hooandtrue has us with superclasses of like 27 wings it is easy to assume TB messes up on the trail.
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Hey now. Yes to the 27 wing class but dont lump me into the recruiting failures group.
2022 we landed 4 priority targets and 2023 we landed our top forward and guard target.
High school Pg recruiting has been underwhelming yeah but otherwise a major improvement
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G24 nailed it…This is such an awesome view of what CTB brings tonUVA…sure there are flaws…but just like Roy and K…CTBs good far outweighs the bad…
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So you think he’s surpassed Welsh already? I think a lot of folks under rate what he did consistently at UVA in a sport no other coach at UVA has been able to succeed at for very long.
At least in basketball Holland and Jones had good postseason success fairly regularly as predecessors to Tony
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Ha. Nah man I didnt say failures at all
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CTB is the only revenue sport coach to win a championship and he has 14 (soon to be 15) years of consistent winning. So yeah, he’s the best basketball or football coach we’ve ever had in Charlottesville.
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If part of the discussion is money. It is not even comparable then to now
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As great Welsh was, he had two first place ACC finishes in 19 years. Bennett has 6 in 14 years (and UVA only had 5 ever prior to Bennett). Bennett has a natty and an Elite 8. Welsh finished 4-8 in bowl games. Welsh’s best record was 8-2-2. Bennett had 30-4, 31-3, and 35-3 seasons. It’s not really a close comparison.
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Yes. He has success at a higher level than Welsh and Welsh would be my former #1 and now #2 in terms of UVA revenue program coaches.
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I agree. He’s surpassed Welsh.
So where does Tony rank in ACC history after K, Dean & Roy? In my lifetime/memory (since the early 80’s), I’m not sure anyone else is in the discussion other than Gary Williams.
Lefty & Cremins never won a title. Valvano did but didn’t have TB’s consistency.
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How do you consider recent additions to the ACC? I’m thinking Pitino and Boeheim.
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I don’t rank them because their legacies were built outside the ACC.
Gary deserves a spot for that 5-6 md run
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Some will put Leonard Hamilton in the discussion, and I have a ton of respect for Hamilton.
That said, I think Tony is 5th between K, Roy, Dean, and Williams.
Here is a table that can inform the debate: Men's Atlantic Coast Conference Coaches | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com
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Tony being on the par with Gary and with a chance to catch Roy for ACC accomplishments feels right.
Catching Dean or K would take a really special run over the next decade-plus.
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Ding ding. Here’s one.
All the nonsense you posted is what you “think” agenda driven posters are saying, which is actually NOT was I am saying at all. For as smart as you like to come across with your condescending posts (smart guy), the real bullshit is you and your inability to realize there’s not a single UVA poster that post on various boards like we do, have or will ever question TB is a great coach or the winningest Men’s Hoops coach UVA has had to date.
Could anyone critique Debbie Ryan during her heyday of leading the Women’s program? I would hope so. No person on this earth is perfect and in the message board realm we live in it’s fair game (other than blind followers of Tony Bennett).
For the record if you are saying you don’t want to say what’s on your mind cuz race is involved and has undertones in your mind then that’s on you, not me.
If you are saying my agenda is based on the slow-ball style of play, which at times is insufferable when we have 5 to 9 minute scoring droughts, then you damn right I have an agenda and will wear it proudly. We play in the ACC and there’s no reason not excel on BOTH sides of the floor more often than not. For me, enjoyable hoops to my eye is ball til you fall, play loose, have fun and make things happen. I will never apologize for that. Proud of it.
Hope this bullshit posts continues to be bullshit to you.
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