Iāll let him know, we still keep in semi regular contact. I think heās just enjoying being a casual fan again. And he did mention this week his disgust at the offense yet again. Heās not the only one, of course.
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I think I have a semi coherent theory coming together that explains 1) Minorās emergence, 2) overall improvement, 3) not getting blown out, and 3) not all that much improvement on offense. Basically this:
We leaned into some of our defensive adjustments required for our current personnel. These adjustments really solidified for the VT game. Prior to that, weād hedge regularly, not often allow our guards to read switches, and would often double post or 3 point line.
This led to a series of breakdowns on defense. Guys werenāt crisp on rotations, or too slow. Then when our offense went through droughts, weād collectively spiral. It became psychological.
Then, I think what simultaneously happened was:
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We made the adjustments to defense. Limit hedging, let guards read switches more readily, and reigning on double. This meant the breakdowns happened less, which led to less spiraling.
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We played Minor more. He was able to keep with other teams post guys and didnāt require doubling the post. Heās helped limit other teamās offensive rebounding, too.
Itās a bit of chicken and egg. (Did playing Minor force the adjustments or did the adjustments pave way for Minorās time?). But the main thing is that Minor + defensive adjustments has limited the sequential breakdowns which then prevented us from spiraling.
But this hasnāt done all that much for offense. Some rebounding, some better screening, but mostly on the margins. Itās just that now when we go through big droughts, we donāt see our defensive breaking down as intensely all at once. It gives us space to stay in the game mentally.
Thereās a third thing happening which is that iMac got some confidence back. Heās at least willing to shoot it now. We can hang onto decent leads when heās hitting (GT) and scrape by when heās not (NC state).
Just trying to synthesize a few points from others into a semi coherent theory. Curious how this gels for others.
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I like your theory and am generally aligned. This mental stability part is the most crucial from my perspective:
We still have cracks in our mental strength foundation at times, but we are back to being resilient and feisty. We can win a lot with those as core strengths.
It would be nice to become halfway decent at shooting too. But I will take mentally tough for now.
By analogy, this team would benefit from the mental fortitude of the 2007 football team: stout defense with standout players, flawed offense that showed resilience and diverse ways of squeaking out close wins.
I certainly donāt subscribe to all of Al Grohās maxims, but thereās arguably something to his assertion that confidence arises from demonstrated performance. Games like the last NC State game are part of the puzzle ā withstanding an opponentās comeback and finding a way to win in the end.
With a young team, the dividends might be evident in future seasons.
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Winning begets winning? Ha
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2-0 in these 7, since I posted this, and one more coming from the must pile. Nice to have some momentum. One more must coming this week (ND at JPJ), and then next weekend at Clemson.
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How are we feeling right now?
Will Virginia make the NCAA Tournament?
- Yes
- No
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voters
Will Virginia get a double bye in the ACC Tournament?
- Yes
- No
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voters
Will the current starting lineup remain the same for the rest of the season?
- Yes
- No
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voters
When I answered no to double bye, I didnāt realize that we are already in double bye position
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True, but we have a lot of tough games in the 2nd half of conference play. This website is great for messing with future results to predict the final standings: mred's ACC MBB Tournament Seeding Tiebreaker
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Terry Gates trying to get in on the āI look like Kyle Guy, tooā fun
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Good try bro. You lose
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This has us losing 4 more games in the conference. Who is predicting these games?
The presets are according to whichever team has a higher NET ranking, but you can change the results. It used to be according to the Sagarin prediction, which was much better, but since Sagarin isnāt running this year theyāre just using the NET.
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Ok , Thanks. I thought this was someone making these picks on their own
KenPom has us finishing the regular season 12-8, which is better than it was a couple weeks ago. Would mean 6-5 down the stretch. Still Has us in the thick of the ACCT Double Bye race.
We have a bunch of tough games still in @ Clemson, @ FSU, @ VT, @ Duke, and hosting UNC, and thatās after having to replay an ND team that crushed us once already this season and thereās a sneaky trap game road trip @ BC between our Duke and UNC games. Weāre playing better, but the schedule is about to get tougher too.
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Thatās a tough schedule
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I was just able to watch the postgame podcast, and I completely agree we have had a very favorable schedule, but I will quibble just a tiny bit with @chavlicek15 and say that I think our best ACC wins thus far were Syracuse and VT, and we were solid in both. Just my opinion.
Tony always says to never look past a team, and never be afraid of a team. So, ND next, and we definitely canāt look past them to Clemson; good way to let down and lose. We should be good at home, but Wednesday is the only game that matters right now.
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The hope was that the 5 game stretch beginning with VT at home would be an opportunity to string wins together and figure out our issues. I think so far that has been accomplished. Lets play well against ND and avenge that loss and then we are setup for 9 straight Q1/Q2 opportunities. That will tell us where we are really at, but very happy with the last 4 games considering were we were at 2 weeks ago.
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And hosting Miami who has been all over the place this season so you have no clue what team youāre going to be facing. And I donāt like the potential trap game away against BC as you mentioned, especially it being a weeknight game at 9pm in front of probably a 1/3 full arena.
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And donāt forget Miami somewhere in that mix!
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