Liars
Time stamped but we need a little bit of this from McKneely
edit: i realized as soon as I shared this, this clip below is kinda a microcosm of why Duke sucks this year without Derek Lively. He probably can still do this against non-Memphis 25 year old athletesā¦
1 Like
Man watching those clips: Still an extremely flawed and low ceiling team but Tonyās teams with 3 veteran play makers/ball movers (Reece Kihei BVP) is pretty beautiful at times. Unfortunately not something that can be replicated 100% this year without the youngins getting experience.
I would also tell Leon āHunt your shot. We need you. You are good.ā and show him some of the action we ran for Jayden Gardner. Leon is literally the wing version of Jayden right at the moment. With the timidness of early off the redshirt DeAndre Hunter still feeling himself out on the court. Take your man off the dribble. Shoot the open 3. Pull up in the midrange even if itās only 10 seconds but you find yourself open.
And I would tell Groves and Dunn āDO NOT GO FOR REBOUNDS. EVERY FIBER IN YOUR BODY GOES TO BOXING OUTā and have all 3 guards crash the defensive glass for the boards.
These two moves, along with every just continuing to gel and get battled tested (and Rohde foot healed/Gertrude experiencing real competition), is probably what helps in the short term. Especially with our upcoming opponents being nowhere near Wisconsin/Memphis physical and aged.
4 Likes
So here are the KenPom offensive ratings for UVA since the national title
2020: 243
2021: 17
2022: 85
2023: 72
2024: 147
I donāt really expect the offense to get much better to be honest. Maybe we can get it closer to 2022 and 2023. But even looking historically there arenāt a lot of offenses where the play outperforms the personnel
1 Like
Iām still believing that we can improve a lot on that end. I think we can get to that 70-80 range adjO but what really matter is what are we playing like in March. Gotta believe some of our young guysā best ball is ahead of them.
I do think the last two games may slow the Ryan Dunn lottery pick hype train down a little bit. Heās gotta be a heck of a lot better on the offensive end.
4 Likes
Right now Dunn is an offensive liability - very hard to spread the floor when his man can pretty much ignore him and collapse into the middle.
3 Likes
Dunnās lack of an offensive game is confusing: I thought he was decent on that end as a high school recruit but maybe Iām misremembering
3 Likes
Hoos move from 23 to 32 in NET.
Memphis moves up from 34 to 26.
The form is so wildly inconsistent right now. Dunn even looks wobbly from the FT line now. Definitely has lost what jumpshot confidence he had coming into the season.
1 Like
I mean, it is hard to understand. He apparently worked (at a high level, NBA guys) all summer on his shot and handle. Both look awful, frankly his lack of handle is more concerning than his shot to me. If his handle was tight he could easily get to the basket or to his floater. But yea, heās got no go to offense right now. All he can do on that end is dunk and cuts and those failed last night.
3 Likes
I thought he looked pretty good last year on the small sample size. I never understood fully why he was so timid about shooting. Maybe he knew something we didnāt. I suspect all this NBA talk may be putting undue pressure on him. Hasnāt seemed to bother Reece.
1 Like
Wondering same. He looks really shook right now on offense. Like he knows this next shot is not going in but I probably have to shoot it.
Iām really concerned about Isaac too. He canāt do anything besides shoot threesā¦ but we canāt seem to scheme him open either
6 Likes
Weāve got another break coming up, they need to figure something out. Part of the problem is this team is poor and screening and iMac rarely, if ever, sprints around them. Seems he jogs through his cuts a lot. More than that he has got to figure out how to use his strength to his advantage against more athletic guys
2 Likes
One thing about RD is for an American 20 year old heās played relatively little organized hoops. Perk was his first full-ish season. Last year he played sparingly. This is his first year really doing this. That should factor into sample size thoughts and experience/runway thoughts.
2 Likes
That Memphis game was depressing, but this morning Iāve been watching Virginia vs. the Soviet Union, and this game is freakinā unbelievable. If you want a palate cleanser, put this on.
Some of the joy is the nostalgia. Seeing Ralph & Jimmy & Carlisle as young guys. The dated commercials. The dated graphics (they almost never tell you the clock time). And somehowā¦ Dan Bonner called this game, and he sounds exactly the same.
But also, that old-school basketball. We were really loaded with good players that year. Thanks for sharing the link.
6 Likes
Issac has made some nice mid-rang jumpers but he can never get enough space to make a great percentage. And, of course, he is very little threat to go to the hoop.
Last night he was really stifled beyond the three line. I think missing the first 2 or 3, especially when they are hard to come by, can lead to increased pressure even when he finally gets a decent look. A little like our suffocating defense effect (of years past) when teams miss so many really difficult shots, it becomes more difficult when they finally get a good one.
3 Likes
Scheming him open should be the most addressable. He needs more screening action and he needs to run more aggressively off those screens. Both of those can be actioned immediately. Last night he almost never received the ball in a dangerous position - usually it was 5 feet back of the line, at a standstill, and with his man in his grill. That is not maximizing his potential.
2 Likes
On this point, feels to me like we have not yet done a good job of connecting the things we do well. We have a senior point guard who can get to the hoop. We have two very good shooters, with at least some experience. We have another back up experience point guard who can also get to the lane (not the hoop). Whoās currently hurt. We have another very explosive freshman guard who can get to the hoop. But we need to connect the get to the hoop guys with the shooters.
How? Donāt knowā¦
4 Likes
If they want to take it away from Isaac, they can take it away from Isaac. There isnāt a ton of scheming things you can do to get more open 3s when they are overcommitting to you. You either have to have a super quick release and some speed (like KG) or the ability to hit covered shots (like KG). Other than that you have to be able to make them pay by beating them off the dribble and drawing help or finishing at the rim.
If a team wants to focus everything on taking 3s away from you itās pretty easy to do, but it should make them vulnerable in other areas.
7 Likes