Iām glad weāve got a week off to figure something out. We have an awful lot riding on a game against a GT team thatās won 3 of their last 4 and prior to that has beaten all three of Duke, UNC, and Clemson.
2 Likes
I think in terms of record expectations weāre around where I thought weād be. If you told me before the season weād be looking at 21-9 and 12-7 in ACC play heading into our final game against GT I wouldāve said āyeah thatās about rightā. But itās the context of how the seasonās gone thatās completely different.
The blowouts are puzzling and unlike any other Bennett team from the past decade. Our system is designed to keep us in games even when weāre struggling, so to see this team on multiple occasions get broken within the first half is just shocking and disappointing. I also figured defense would be a significantly bigger issue than offense this year, thought weād struggle heavily with blue collar 5ās who could score in the post (turned out to be true) but that weād make up for it by being able to space the floor effectively (not true in the slightest).
Just a very weird team and one that does make me think that things HAVE to change in terms of scheme and philosophy. Something isnāt clicking like it used to, Iām still not on the āBennett is washedā or āBennett needs to leave/retireā train because that would be implying that I donāt believe Bennett is a good enough coach to adjust. I absolutely think he is, heās stubborn as fuck but I think he knows something different has to be done.
7 Likes
Iām guessing the staff assumed that Dunn would show a pulse offensively and that Rohde would be solid instead of terrible offensively.
The preseason hype around Rohde is mystifying now that weāve played nearly a full season. I guess he was able to score against guys like IMac and Taine in practice? I know itās one of those things where itās become mental and all that, but it was clear in game one that he was extremely slow and unathletic. Iām just confused how he was able to generate so much positive buzz and then completely fall off a cliff literally by the first game of the season.
1 Like
I mean the report on Rohde from HGN in the offseason was that he was more of a higher ceiling Jesperson, I know a lot of people took that as overly harsh at the time but it turned out to be very accurate. He also didnāt impress at all during the B/W scrimmage, at the time I figured it was just one bad outing but turns out it was a harbinger of things to come.
Iām not even completely out on Rohde as a player yet, you donāt average 17 ppg as a freshman at the DI level if youāre a bona fide scrub. But itās very clear that things didnāt translate as well as the staff was hoping they would. Heās not ever gonna be a great athlete but hopefully the shot gets better and in turn he becomes a more confident ball handler who at least gives us two seasons of quality production. I will add though that waiting on Rohde to maybe become that type of player shouldnāt be at the expense of Gertrudeās minutes going forward.
5 Likes
Thought I remembered reports that staff was happy with, if not excited about, Rohdeās play in practice. I guess higher ceiling Jesperson is the goal, but also not what heās been this season at all
For the record, HGN meant that Rohde reminded him of Jesperson physically. Good jump/run ability but not great laterally but different skill sets.
Jespy was a much better shooter than Rohdeā¦
2 Likes
https://barttorvik.com/trankpure24.php?sort=trans&conlimit=ACC
Torvikās preseason ACC ratings which gives rating for pjojected effective talent, experience, transfer additions, returning minutes, etc.
To save some time, hereās where UVa ranked among the ACC
Returning minutes 34.1%, 14th
Returning possession minutes 29.6%, 14th
Projected effective talent 53.2(no idea what this number means), 11th
Projected effective experience 1.79 years, 10th
Transfer points 225 (also no idea what this number means), 6th
Not a perfect summation of what we started with this season, but a general idea. Putting that all together, that put us at 6th with a projected conference record of 11-9. Chicken or the egg, is Tony doing more with less? Is Tony the evaluator better than RSCI or whatever Torvik uses for his talent calculations?
Just something I thought could bring in more arguments! Proceed!
7 Likes
One fix for the offense: hit free throws. Tony - insist everyone with < 75% FT rate try doing it underhand.
https://x.com/Super70sSports/status/1763971347225448937?s=20
3 Likes
I think the problem is there has been ample evidence for months now that Rohde and Harris are not it and we keep playing them extended minutes when other options with significantly higher upside are available.
4 Likes
Educated guess on what Torvik is doing: itās counting what a player did last year, and adjusting for a new guy who is like roughly at a 5-star level. So basically heās not crediting anything I cited because our talent was young, and not 5-star, and/or basically didnāt play last year, other than Reece.
So if you take a class of 5 top 40ish guys, and then mostly have them sit the bench for a year behind seniors, and those seniors graduate, Torvik would say thatās an untalented team, where I would say you have a very talented team (unless Torvik has a way to account for idiosyncratic coaching tendencies that Iām unaware of, and I suspect he doesnāt)
Just using the above as an extreme example to prove the point. I think Torvikās way is generally correct. Basically, credit 5-stars and let anyone else prove it. But itās a different meaning of talent than what I was thinking of
3 Likes
TL;DR - does talent mean: are you demonstrably good? Or does talent mean you have lots of potential, whether realized or unrealized
The overall talent is no better than NCSU, Wake, Clem, Pitt, ā¦ name your middle of the pack ACC team. AND, it is a bad mix of skills for our system to boot. Throw in youth and inexperience on top and no coach in history is getting much more of this group.
1 Like
Maybe the lesson for Tony is stop thinking guys that excel in a completely different offensive system will work in his confined system. Just get athletes and efficient shooters, donāt overthink it. You could have the same lesson for Minor ā¦ great defender in a completely different system
1 Like
I seem to recall Tony challenging our team after our NIT flameout ā¦ THAT felt like a turning point and yet it never really was. I dunno. If Tony cannot recruit better players for THIS system due to optics, badmouth narratives, lack of prestige, or whatever it is time to overhaul the system. Tony may not want to be part of that or may not buy into it.
4 Likes
Iād like to resubmit this as evidence into the āwe have no more talent than the other mid-tier ACC teamsā discussion:
1 Like
Pro potential does not equal talent that produces at the college level. Dunn is being drafted on potential. Not production.
This is not really one of your strongest arguments. Talent is also not universally defined. If I consider strong 3pt shooting as being talented then neither Dunn nor Reece are ātalentedā, etc. etc.
2 Likes
Like, does anyone think a team in the ACC besides us and Duke (maybe UNC) will have two guys at the draft combine?
1 Like
Yeah, if we define talent as just production at the college level, then itās an easy question. You are always just as talented as your finish in the league.
2 Likes
Also not a real sound argument. So you are saying that UVA finishing third to the only other two schools with multiple NBA guys means UVA finished right where expected as opposed to falling short.
2 Likes
Hmmmā¦ I feel like someone has been saying this exact thing, yet my arguments are weak. 
You agree with me! Itās okay! It wonāt hurt, I promise