The ‘it takes time to develop’? He’s been in the program 4 years. Can’t learn a jump
hook or drop step in 4 years?
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This is his fourth year in the program, he has been in the program 3 and 1/3 years. And also, we all know that he was at least a bit derailed when he had mono and Covid in the same season. Shedrick is going to be fine. I’d like to see him tick the scoring up 1-2 baskets a game and get back to the defense he was playing earlier in the season.
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True although I’d argue Mamadi relied on that 3 a little too much at the start of the yr and the team suffered. But when he was more selective in the 2nd half he really became special
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Sheds may not have taken the leap some hoped for, but he’s definitely improving. His hedge is under control now, he recovers better, he’s added that midrange shot (though I still wince when he takes that), FT% is up. Leads the nation in head injuries. Overall looks comfortable out there, not scrambling.
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Dunn is 8th in minutes and 1st in Block % and 3rd in Rebound %… and 3rd in TS%.
Taine Murray is 1st in lowest Turnover %.
UVA’s 2 best 3 point % shooters are only 5th and 4th respectively in attempts per game.
I feel like Danny should have worked in a face maulings received stat too.
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I’m far less bullish on kadin than I used to be but I still don’t think we’ve seen his ceiling. While I’m starting to doubt he’ll ever develop into a significant offensive threat, I do think it’s reasonable to expect continued improvement in rim protection with more minutes. He should get better about leaving his feet with experience. Where I’m most disappointed is with his rebounding and perhaps he can improve there with more strength and experience (and experience with his new weight/strength). Right now I’d call him a pretty good player. He’s an asset for sure but he’s about equally as likely not to have much impact on a game as he is likely to impact the game, especially against better competition.
I guess I had an expectation that he would be a better player than jay huff just because I expected him to eventually put on more weight/strength and be better at traditional big man stuff. I know it’s not fair comparing peak jay to current kadin but as of right now, I’d take jay huff 10/10 times because jay was about as good at blocking shots, probably slightly better rebounder, and that shooting ability was huge.
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I actually think he could create his own shots in the post if he received the ball there more often. He’s not elite at it, but I think can score more than he does with a reasonable level of efficiency. I’d like to see that in the offense a little more when we have BVP in at the 4. It’s harder when Gardner is in because Gardner cannot pull the four far enough away.
Again, eye test but what really gets me is it seems like Kadin has had 3 inches on the opposing centers most games. He hasn’t made any team pay for it offensively or on the glass.
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This. Kadin is an upper body, I’m taller and have longer arms than you rebounder. You does t use his lower body very effectively.
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The few times this season I can remember Kadin trying traditional back to the basket post moves have looked unimpressive and forced, but maybe that’s just selective memory. Caffaro looks way more natural working inside but can’t usually finish
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Harder with Jayden, I guess, but it still shouldn’t be that hard. Hayden’s no a threat from 3, but he’s certainly a threat from 15’ out. So, there’s still SOME spacing. I mean, sure, the more spacing the better, but the real problem isn’t spacing, it’s that Shedrick isn’t very good at creating anything himself.
Actually this is just Sheds 2nd year of actually playing. I do hope he can still get better offensively in the post but the main work he needs to do is strengthen that lower body a lot. He would probably rebound much better and that’s where we need a lot more out of him
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On instagram, it appears Dante Harris is at UVA now. Probably for J Term.
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When I’m down after losses like last night, here’s what I remind myself of:
- Isaac Traudt - everything about him
- Bond/Dunn versatility on defense and plus athleticism
- Gertrude plus plus athleticism
- Second year McKneely with more offensive freedom and confidence
- The opportunity to add an impact wing or big transfer to ease Traudt/Bond into their roles
I think we’re all a little tired of bandaid rosters from recruiting misses. That SHOULD have been fixed going forward.
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Gertrude has all the potential in the world. I just hope he’s able to come back even stronger from his ACL injury, I don’t expect him to contribute as a freshman coming off of that but hopefully by his 2nd or 3rd year here he’ll be fully ready.
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Good points. We do have some talent in the pipeline … but we also lose critically important talent like Clark, BVP and potentially Beeks. Not sure we can expect Gertrude to do much for us next year given the injury and being a rookie. There will be significant growth needed to be ready to make an impact.
I try to keep things in perspective, we are about where we thought we would be before the season started 4/5 seedish NCAA tournament team. Vegas performance upped the hype but I think we also knew deep down that kind of play wouldnt sustain itself all season. We also arent as bad a shooting team as we were in late Nov much of December. The last two games have shown we can still shoot the 3 and hopefully McKneely will be able to drill 1 or 2 a game going forward.
The reality is that this team is not as athletic as the teams from 13-14 to 19-20 and thus the ceiling is not as high. Those teams had multiple guys that were just defensive animals due to technique/commitment but also God-given athleticism/talent. On this team MAYBE Reece is the only one who fits that mold and that is when he is 100%. I thought Shedrick had that potential and still do if he can get himself a bit more disciplined and stronger but not sure it all comes together this season. But that is about it. The rest of the guys in our rotation this year have average to below average athleticism and thus for us to be a real good defensive team EVERYONE has to give max effort and execute the system perfectly. So far we only see that in spurts. I do think that this will get more even as the year wears on, it almost always does, but we will not all of a sudden morph into defensive juggernauts like 14-15/19-20.
I hope Reece can get back to 100%. It is obvious he isnt the same player since the 2nd half of the Michigan game. I have no idea if he will or not. Is it mostly physical or mental now? If he can regain the form of Reece in Vegas and 1st half of Michigan, we can play as one of the 10 best teams in the country. If he doesnt get back to that form, we will still be a good team but likely more of a 6/7 seed type team in the NCAAT. So to me the simple keys are 100% Beekman and the team playing more consistent team defense and understanding that is what will win the games.
Resume wise, we are in fine shape. All 3 of our losses are Q1. I think Michigan will end up top 75 NET so that will be 3 OOC Q1 wins. The quality win chances in the ACC are limited so we will need to win some of these. If we can go something like 14-6/15-5 I think a 3 seed is very possible if not likely. However if we go something like 12-8, then we are talking more like a 6/7 seed. Lets not think below that.
Future wise, I am encouraged that our athleticism will be increasing. Hopefully Bond/Traudt will come out ready to go from day 1 next season and Dunn will continue to improve through the offseason. The 22-23 class will likely be our core nucleus next season. If Beeks/Shedrick return and we add an impact transfer I think we will be pretty good and if the 22-23 class is as good as advertised 24-25 could be a special year. Who knows of course in todays world of NIL and the portal.
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I suspect others are thinking it, so I’ll be the jerk to say it: my concern with Gertrude isn’t timeline, it’s whether he has the same ceiling of athleticism coming back from the ACL. And not only athleticism, but confidence in the knee. (Maybe the latter is more of a timeline issue).
I’m mostly speaking out of my butt here from vague knowledge of hearing others talking about their ACLs (esp. Jim Root from 3MW, who tore his and has been talking about it), so if any of this is nonsense, please tell me (nicely).
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