What is the biggest shortcoming this year is a tricky question - there are almost too many options. How about the biggest disappointment? For me thatās easier, and itās the lack of improvement across almost all of those shortcomings:
-in-game offense
-in-game defense
-player development
-grit
-roster usage
-etc
We have had some bright spots this year, without a doubt. But on the whole, this has been a disheartening season that also indicates bigger storm clouds in the horizon for the program. I havenāt felt this down about the Hoos in the TB era.
If this was a video game, it would be really tempting to hit reset and play the season over again with a markedly different approach.
On the one hand Iām like āonly Tony could squeeze 21 wins out of this group,ā yet Iām getting progressively more tired of āsqueezingā out a low ceiling at the cost of future gains. Next year may necessitate a full rebuild which just means Tony will double down and play Dante Harris 30 minutes a game. Iām holding out hope heās too competitive and realizes he needs better talent but recent track record doesnāt inspire confidence
My most heterodox view on this team, and itās getting tougher to defend for sure, is that the talent on this team is very good! Tonys not squeezing anything! Heās fumbling a lateral.
Oh man I disagree. I watch a lot of college hoops and am constantly thinking āour guys could never do thatā. I think Tony has hurt us in some of that but I also feel the current ceiling of Gertrude coming off ACL injury is not super high right now, bond who is a 4 in a 3ās body, and so on are just limited.
I also may never have been more off on someone as I was with Rohde. I predicted double figures scoring and a future all ACC team. Heās a player that I feel actually might have talent but our system has sucked the life out of him.
So who knows maybe the system is so constricting that itās not highlighting the actual amount of talent we have. Am I taking myself into agreeing with Haney? Time to log off smh
Tonyās offensive system creates a ton of shot pressure on players. Some cannot adapt to that philosophy and cannot shoot to their ability within the confines of that system. I have no doubt gifted high school scorers look at that (with the help of our competition) and wonder if their game can translate well into that low possession scheme.
I think players are afraid to take shots that arenāt wide open. A good shot isnāt a wide open shot; a good shot is an in rhythm shot or a shot that comes instinctively, not forced wise
Zooming in on just this issue: wasnāt this obvious by the moment he stepped on grounds? (I have always assumed that staff assumed heād grow a bit or become a bigger body guy, but hasnāt). If he needed to learn to become more of a true wing offensively, maybe he should not have had his ass nailed to the pine for 2 years.
And by the way, thatās just offensively. Heās exactly the wing piece we need in our defense, but instead we have to watch Rohde stumble across court on close outsā¦ I donāt get it.
I am fearful that Tony also sees it as āwe just need continuityā.
This group just isnāt that good high ceiling wise
What continuity? Groves Minor and possibly Reece Dunn are all gone. That 4 of our top 7 rotation. McKneely will be our āveteranā even though I have no idea if he can be a leader or confident with how one dimensional and shook he has been at times. Next season is in fact the best time to reset everything and land some actual transfer portal talent; a team with no continuity but talent will annihilate a team that relies on continuity from this squad, even with individual player development. We just need Bliss and Buchanan/Robinson to develop further.
You have a Bliss McKneely Gertrude Buchanan Robinson Cofie MaybeBond core. You can bring in veteran talent that is actually talented to help develop that along.
Either literal unicorns in Mid Major ball (Trey Murphy/What I think Tucker Anderson is) or Power 6 level kids we have previous relationships with
Point 2 is why Iām terrified about next season. Feel like itās being taken for granted that Tony will grind out another 20 win season because he always does, but I donāt remember a returning roster with so little continuity and talent
Bond has felt, to me, like a huge mistake since the beginning. Like a replacement level ACC 4 would have been nice to have this season to back up RD or allow him to slide down to the 3.
The recruitments vs āhandling once theyāre hereā of Bond and Gertrude are one of many āwhy doesnāt our GM get along with our coach, especially since itās the same person?ā questions.
Tony the GM fell in love with three high upside, athletic, long dudes a few summers ago. Tony the coach only wants play one of them (RD).
You couldāve have just watched him last night lol. It was aggressive Dunn driving on his man in space one on one and getting blocked or missing layups. What Cuts has been arguing for, basically ā¦
To be sure, I want all of our guys except Dante to be assertive on offense. Itās more important than most other things right now. But Dunnās been trying and his main/only success is back door cuts and offensive put backs. Sometimes on a contested fadeaway in the post, which you donāt want to live on. Thatās just where he is.
Dunn is a subpar offensive player who is sub sub par because of his confidence issues. I think he could grow but not sure what his ceiling is.
if only we could have foreseen Tony prioritizing experience and not playing first years many minutes ā¦ especially ones that have potential but are raw.
Same story as it ever was. Itās not some weird illogical dissonance. Itās a cogent theory on team building and winning, whether you agree with the logic or not is a different story
Sprinkle in a few portal acquisitions or talented first years. Right now that doesnāt feel amazing but also thatās with only a sense of how most of these guys are doing as first and second years. Potential is there if managed well.
My question is do we have players that cannot do certain things or do we have players that feel constrained and do not feel like they are permitted to play with freedom. I think we have a lot of athletes in the backcourt and at the four with Dunn. They should be playing more free on offense. I Mac is a great shooter but doesnāt take enough shots. Dunn looks like he is second guessing everything he does on offense. We have lineups that we could push the ball some. Just really frustrating because I think we have some players on this team.
On last thing from me, for now: I saw it and thought it was great! For a while we asked RD to be assertive offensively and then for a while we didnāt, and this team probably needed him to do that to reach its ceiling.
Feel like youāre trying to make a āsee? We tried it and it failedā point, but for me, itās more of a what coulda been if one of our goals had been to INSTILL confidence in RD all season, kinda thingā¦
IMac has gone into a shell in moments, itās frustrating. When heās hunting his shot heās good. You can tell pretty early on by the way heās carrying his body what type of game it will be from him.
Dunn being abysmal on offense is the biggest WTAF moment for this roster. Dunn having zero offensive ability (outside a few tip ins and dunks) kills pretty much the entire thing. If Dunn was a consistent threat to at least put the ball on the floor and make an offensive basketball play the entire equation changes. But he canāt do that. He also fumbles a good number of passesātwo last night actually, that would have been easy dunks if he just catches them. Heās been great as the defenseās free safety and at times excels on crashing the boards. But other than that, weāve all been saying the same thing all season. His shot looks considerably worse than his freshman year.
Rohde has sucked. Dante is pretty much unplayable. Unless Danteās ankle healing completely fixes his grotesque shooting form, weāre out of luck there. Rohde and Harris moving on would be better for everyone. But that aināt happening and we all know it.
Iām at a crossroads. I genuinely love TB. Heās been the best thing to happen to UVA basketball in literal decades. Heās put out teams that exceeded expectations, dominated the league, and won a NC. I respect the hell out of him and how heās done it. But times have changed and I think heās his own worst enemy. I listened to the postgame, he was quite clearly embarrassed, pissed off, and annoyed. He even got a little testy with someone who was making some noise while he was answering a question. Heās not a fool, heās not an idiot, but he is stubbornāclearly to a fault. I want TB glory days back. Hopefully we can get back there. But if not, Iām thankful for what he did bring. Weāve had some incredible players, teams, and moments. Hereās to us getting back right.
