This tough stretch of games we have coming up is why this game today was so important
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Casey gave us 25 tough, gritty minutes today.
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While Clark has improved a great deal over the past few months, he still has limitations. Putting the ball into his hands at the top of the key, with under 10 seconds on the shot clock, isnāt a good look for Virginia. I am unsure what the alternative might be, but, given the transition baskets UVa has given up on his miscues in those situations, just dribbling out the shot clock and making the other team play offense in the half court might be more productive.
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I totally agree. Dont fix it when itās not broke. Running the shot clock down at the end of games has rarely ever worked. Ends up with a bad shot or even a shot clock violation. I liked giving Kehei a break on bringing the ball down the court. I didnāt like him not getting the ball on our offensive set until little time left on the shot clock. Kehei lost his Mojo during that time. Didnāt get it back. I bragged on Keyās smart play the last game. What in the world was he doing on that last shot. That could have potentially been one of the biggest blunders of all time. We won but I hope we learn a lot from the last few minutes
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Kehei played some of the best ball he has played for 35 minutes. He lost his head and made some terrible plays. Not sure he gets all the blame though. Anyone hear Tonyās presser. I been in chill down mode
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Pressed or highlights arenāt up yet. They usually are by now but Iāll post on here when the are
People on Instagram seem to be pretty upset about me choosing Kihei for player of the gameā¦ oops
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Anyone have a video of Braxtonās play that everyoneās complaining about? I think I missed it
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He was standing right next to the ref who clearly blew his whistle. This is such a non-issue.
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post it for 2 more years
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It turned out to be a non issue but Iām positive he heard about it from the coaches. What it could have been is the issue and Iām sure he had heard the whistles but that was something you should never do
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Nice win! Hoping UVA gets invited to the dance, and it is looking good. Wahoowa!
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So this game as ALMOST my first game not watching. The girlfriend planned a birthday party for me during game timeā¦I was kind of bummed, but tried not to show it too much. haha. So I was able to stream it and use a screen recorder to watch most of it. However, upon watching the recording, the stream cut out with 3 minutes left and I didnt get to see our meltdown. Probably a good thing. Thankful for a W!
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Putting my final thoughts on this game and laying it to bed.
Saturdayās day we saw the full spectrum of what the Hoos offer. I saw the game described as a rock fight and I wouldnāt argue with that at all. A tough gritty game is exactly what I expect from Pitt and credit to Jeff Capal for bringing back hard-nosed Pitt basketball.
First let me say the Hoos didnāt meltdown, Pitt executed a late game strategy about as well as you could. The intensity in their defense when they went to the press was great and they hit some tough shots. Yes Virginia failed to execute on the offensive end, but if you look at the rest of the second half and the majority of the season thatās just who the Cavaliers are. Kihei had a few bad plays that they will need to work on for sure.
Thereās been some talk about the final offensive sets and I have some questions as well. When Virginia struggled to close out games earlier in the season they would go to spread set in late game situations. Kihei would dribble out the clock and with about 10 seconds make a move to the paint to create something. In some ways this makes sense, Kihei is the best ball handler on the team, the best creator and probably the best one-on-one player who can create his shot. The problem is when the rest of the team is stagnant and their defenders are able to help out on Kihei the paint gets very clogged and Clarke has a hard time finding shots. During the current four game win-streak the Hoos have turned to Mamadi in the post to create plays and itās paid dividends with 3-pt plays. I say all this because I believe that Mamadi needs to get a touch in those situations or they need to put him and Kihei into a pick-n-roll situation to make the defense think.
UVa gave up 10 offense boards to Pitt that canāt happen. Playing defense for 25 seconds and then giving up a put back layup is killer. Good teams clean up the glass. The Hoos played some smaller lineups on Saturday but overall I simply donāt get how they get out rebounded given their length and athleticism. Currently Jay Huff is averaging 6.2 rebs a game. Thatās good enough for third, but frankly not good enough for me. The threes and a few oops are nice but no matter how much the game has changed as a 7-footer he has to own the paint. I always prided myself on being a rebound guy, itās a mindset to know youāre going to hustle and put your body on another human and fight it out. I havenāt seen that from Huff in his career he shies away from the contact. Heās become an adept shotblocker because he takes advantage of the weakside. Huff hustles and dives to the ground for loose balls so I know heās got heart. But something has to switch on to crave contact in the post and battle. Braxton is holding it down with 7.2 rebs a game. Much of the same criticism I gave to Huff I also place on Diakite too.
I have to give a special shout out to Casey Morsell. He was not expected to play and put in 25 of his best minutes all season. He got another 3 and it finally looks like his shot is rounding into place. I thought his defense was masterful. Pitt had a group of large athletic guards and he was able to keep pace with them on a bum ankle. Perhaps most impressive was he only picked up 1 foul while doing that, a bad reach in under the basket after a good Pitt pass. I love that growth in his game. At the beginning of the year Morsell was getting pinged for very soft fouls on the outside and he has largely cleaned that up form his game.
Credit to the Hoos for again shooting above 30% from behind the arc. The improved shooting cannot be overstated in itās importance for the success of the team.
The win likely locks in an NCAA bid and 4th place in the ACCT, now itās all about seeding. The Hoos are basically in an double elimination tournament from here on out. That means they are going to have be mentally tough moving forward. Shake off the setbacks and bad plays. We called this having a snap reaction. If a bad play happens you have the snap of a finger to accept it and move on. Tough teams do that. Virginia needs to channel that toughness for the next 3 weeks.
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Very very well put. Great write up and I couldnāt agree more on everything you said
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Always well thought out summaries by the Dragon. Especially agree on Huff commentary. We all want just a little more from and FOR him.
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Thanks. Exactly I ride Huff because he is a good guy and a good player but I believe he can be great with a slight attitude adjustment
Wanted to see ypur opinion on the spread clock burn offense Hoos ran amd the idea of getting Mamadi more involved
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For me when you are rollin you dont all the sudden change things up at say 5 minute mark. I get clock management etc but that early going spread mode or whatever you are basically playing against yourself and ruining your own flow. Thats why I said the āmelt downā was on the coaches handcuffing the players in a way.
Have an awful memory in Tennessee HS state tournament up 19 in 3rd quarter and we basically went 4 corners. Other team started raining 3s and got us. Maybe some older Hoos like me will remember Kevin Anglin who played at Vanderbilt after that year. He got us ha
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