You are surprisingly low on us. You’re welcome to your opinion but I’m shocked how much you’re docking us for lacking continuity when you are known for drawing up dream rosters that return like zero players from the year before.
Also very few of those teams have meaningful continuity in my opinion. Like VT is still going to be starting 3 new players in their starting 5. Wake may return some guys from last year but how meaningful is that when they lose their top 3 scorers
If we’re not better than Wake, Syracuse, VT, and ND who you listed then something went wrong imo. Our roster is considerably better than there’s on paper
Hokies start Ben Hammond Jaeden Schutt and Tobi Lawal 3.
Also there’s a difference between dream rosters for entertainment and actual rationale.
Continuity is important, even more so in the portal world.
Hell 2022-2023 we returned every starter from the year before, which I hated at that time, and we were a top 10 team until [redacted].
I’m still immensely excited for the upcoming season but I do think there is some underestimation of the hurdles in front of us. Lets see how Odom overcomes them, which I think he can.
Hammond and Schutt were both terrible last year. Doubt Hammond starts with Pasha and Neoklis now. Again, overselling their continuity when they’ll be breaking in 5 new rotation players (Bedford, Neo, Dorn, Hansberry; and Pasha). It matters, but I’m just not sold on the ACC as a whole having enough of it to give these other teams a major leg up. Also, by ACC play we’ve hopefully worked out some of the kinks.
I hear ya on that limiting our ceiling but just not as sold in regards to our conference. We have enough talent to keep us in games and then just hope things click sooner than later
Schutt also is still not 100% and Hammond was a true freshman who showed some really good flashes in a 5th year portal grad transfer dominated sport.
And typically players do improve.
I think our chance to finish top 3 or even win the ACC is Odom year two with Mallory a healthy Gertrude and Sam Lewis with a year of Odom under their belt
Yeah I’m excited about a core guard group of Mallory, Gertrude, and Lewis. Would be sweet to somehow nab two years of either De Ridder or Grünloh. Otherwise it’s a straight rebuild of the front court
2021-2022 HOOS to 2022-2023 HOOS begs to differ (in the games Kadin played).
Players might suck cause they are adjusting to new team, still an underclass man etc.
At one point or another all the players we are excited about sucked. Malik Thomas couldn’t cut it at USC. Jacari a juco etc. etc.
People say continuity doesn’t matter as a cope for Tony falling off and blaming the environment.
Player development and continuity are still king and there are programs that absolutely do both still. And you can still bring in multi year transfers and retain them as part of continuity
But you’re beating up a straw man here. I never said continuity doesn’t matter. I said it doesn’t matter if the continuity consists of average to below average talent like VT. You’re extrapolating the experience of teams like Purdue, who have continuity with good talent to that of teams like VT, who rolled out old trash can juice
A lot of the best teams in college basketball don’t have top end NBA potential talent. The high-end potential guys are still bolting after a year of college ball.
Take away the 2019 run, Tony Bennett’s post-season track record was a complete embarrassment. Minus that run, he had one Elite Eight & one Sweet 16 in 14 years. That stinks, tbh.
If a top 10 payroll can’t get UVA close to the top of the league… I don’t know what to tell you.
