Maybe we should just retitle this thread.
All these styles of teams that can beat us yet so few do…hhmmm.
Well, yes I’m picking and choosing, because these items are realistic. Otherwise I would say “if we could shoot 100% from the field I’d like our chances”. Having more athleticism, size, and better shooters ala 2014-2019 we were legitimate contenders and we could feel good about that. I don’t think anybody has mistaken the past 4 years as having that same kind of ability.
Having those kind of players- top 75 players redshirt on our bench in a year where they could have elevated our ceiling, perhaps a few bounces go our way- we could have made more noise.
Then take all really athletic teams and all really big teams then. Not just the ones who beat us.
Bullshit to cherrypick — and you know it.
I’ll give an example- Kihei normally pretty good defensively in years past- I suddenly saw him getting abused by Roach, Pedulla, Cattoor, Miami guards, Pitt guards, RJ Davis and others.
I love Kihei, and glad TB picked him up as a reaction to UMBC and as a *situational guard, but we’ve been missing longer guards at his position for 4 years now.
That is just one example of playing undersized. I’m sure you can imagine other scenarios in which we lacked athleticism and shooting…
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Those are good questions, but at this point Tony has the cache and connections to atleast have his guys get some consideration. After 2019 we’ve had Hauser, Trey, Huffzingis, Mamadi, Braxton Key getting time in the NBA. So if you were half way decent like Brogdon was even before his record breaking 5th year you were going to get a shot. I want us to get back to Big guard U with a Kihei sprinkled in. Big guards as in Brogdon, Ty Jerome, Harris, Anderson, Shayok, Darius and others.
Oh I mistook what you meant… I’ll put it like this. The teams that we’ve beaten despite our size, athleticism and cringey shooting- do you believe if we had better and more of it, could we have won by more?
I’m agnostic on redshirts. The main point I see ANTI-shirters making is “they can just find 5-10 minutes a game for the player.”
But UVA never does that. FSU and other teams have played 10+ guys, and maybe we should, but we don’t.
The closest I’ve seen to us trying to give someone 5 minutes is actually Taine at the end of this season (5, 4, 0, 8, 3, 11 in the last six games.) And I’m not sure why Tony did that exactly, although I am quite sure it didn’t increase our win probabilities in those games.
CTB plays the guys he thinks will win now. And he plays them a lot. It’s definitely debatable whether it makes more sense to mix more guys in for multi-year success, but there is no obvious answer, so I will defer to him in this case.
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Kihei absolutely got cooked the last 1/3 of the season. I was starting to think he had some kind of injury. Maybe shin splints or something but he couldn’t guard anybody the last 1/3 of the season.
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So, stop being wrong about it.
Edit: I find the frequency with which the term “cooked” gets used around here quite distressing. Could be a couple explanations for that I guess. Still, stop saying “cooked” people.
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I’m anti redshirt at this point, in large part because if any of our players (besides true centers who need to gain 30 pounds) are actually good enough to make a difference for us in their college careers, they aren’t going to be at UVA for 5 years and I think they’ll learn more and be happier playing their first years, even if it’s limited. So I just don’t see the upside.
But that said, I think it’s being just a little over discussed re this current season. The original sin of this past season was bringing in BVP. If that never happens, Traudt doesn’t redshirt anyway, Shedrick gets consistent play, and I’d wager we would have played better at the end of the season and wouldn’t currently be mired in quite as much transfer drama. Obviously I can’t prove that, but I’d bet on it.
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I agree. BVP being brought in was a mistake, and I think quite foreseeable.
I don’t agree that good players won’t stay 5 years in college. Kihei did. Armaan probably will.
Players with first round draft grades won’t, but there are elite players without first round draft grades. Bacot is about to play year 5, and he is a monster in college.
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Kihei stayed 5 because of flukey COVID rules. He is a great example of if a dude’s going to contribute (who isn’t a true center), he can generally give us something right away. He played a ton his first year.
And again, Bacot is staying 5 because of COVID. He played his first year too. Same with Armaan.
If there’s a single counter example in Bennett’s time for non-centers, it’s Devon Hall, who red shirted, actually gave us five years, and was a major contributor. But I don’t think the Devon Hall experience is anywhere near typical, and there’s a very solid chance he would have transferred if the current transfer rules were in place then.
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Persistent myth. UMBC might have increased Kihei’s role but he was already signed
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I can’t speak to Bacot because they’re a different team with different needs plus NIL is now a factor, BUT I think we are referring to game changing starting caliber players. Even though Kihei played alot and started alot during our championship year it was a bit more gimmicky-he didn’t *run the team. Armaan wouldn’t have started over our championship starters in 2019- and that’s where we are trying to get back to, our championship level.
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You’re right. He signed in Oct. 2017…he actually signed him after trying to sign a few bigger guards though so that was TBs goal at the time.
Funny how HGN tells us everything that is gonna happen with like 90 percent sureness and we still dont listen
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I believed it was a reaction to Chris Lykes. Mr. Bennett wanted somebody quick who could keep up with other quick guards. But I am not certain the expectation was ultimately realized.
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If we roster construct to keep up with the UMBCs of the world then…
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