Taine will be really good if he’s patient. I liked what he was trying on the baseline in his time. He had a plan and tried to execute. Igor is growing - rough in a lot of ways, but man the potential is off the charts. Carson, well Carson will need work. Either he decides to go for it and work his ass off like nobody’s business, or he needs to go to Lehigh (or similar). He’s got a lot of talent, but he’s physically not ready for a regular role in the ACC. Shedrick is growing so fast. And as much as people gas Kihei, he was fantastic tonight - he probably should have taken a few more 3s because they were giving him the room. Reece must have read my posts at half, because he played like the PG we have been hoping for. If Armaan’s hot - we’re really good, if not…Lastly, I’m not sure Jayden is an every game level ACC player. He gets stuffed a lot down low, he’s slow on defense, and he’s not a natural passer. Situationally, he can be very good, but he’s not a real work horse for us - yet. He’s going to have to work to adapt to succeed every game.
And finally, Malachi Poindexter may have been a walk on to start his career, but he’s turning into an adequate badpckup and a concrete example of what work gets you in Tony’s world. Everyone on the bench (hint Carson and Taine), take note.
Malachi was a legit Division 1 recruit. He can play. Understanding TB a little, it’s easy to grasp why he’s playing. He guards the ball and values possessions. Bennett loves role players that do exactly that. Eliminate losing first as he would say.
Comparing him to Kyle Guy was always so rough too. Kyle was a top 40 recruit, McDonald’s All-American, and participated in dunk contests (testament to his athleticism at his height). McCorkle ended up ranked 158th in his class and showed some nice shooting and little bounce at the high school level. Nowhere close to similar profiles.
He had one from Manhattan. He had some injuries in his senior year that set things back. Recruiting at the low/mid major level is a little different, happens on a later time scale.
I’m very bullish Jayden Gardner. Partly because he is currently stuck in that place where he has to think so much on D that it impacts his flow on O, a natural situation in our program. But mostly because that dude makes the ball go in the bucket. Yeah he’s getting stuffed on plays where we try to manufacture points for him. Hope that gets better. But he’s a dawg, in the parlance of our times. I like him a whole lot.
I LOVE watching Gardner play. I will be ecstatic if he decides to use his COVID year. Would be a game changer for next year and allow us to more slowly break in Traudt
Since I didn’t have money on UVA, I was delighted with this game. Solid win, EARLY minutes for Igor and Carson, solid minutes for the developing guys, and even an actually good-ish shooting night for Beekman. On CTB’s 300th win.
Loudest cheers were Brennan’s steal and slam (easily)Malachi’s 3 and Igor’s 3. I think Beekman’s 3 would have deserved a bigger cheer (and it might have been 4th).
Trusting you WFS. I think he can be really good, but he’s having to adapt to a different level now. He can’t get so low on the baseline and then expect to bull his way up - players too good now. I like the 8 foot jumper, but if there is anyone who should use the backboard for a bank, it’s him.
I’m with you on this, this kid is a real player in my opinion and brings an element that I don’t think I’ve seen in a bit. Love watching him play! I love that post move that he makes immediately when he gets the ball…spin baseline and right to the basket, totally committed! love it!
I actually thought he got manhandled against Houston in the first few minutes and often does. Hopefully he starts getting more calls, because that changes the outlook in games.
We’re talking about Gardner who just willed us to victory against a Providence team that is easily better than half the crappy ACC?
His sloppy play at times is more of a reflection of the lack of spacing he has to work with and having to be a spark plug because our offense is filled with players who love to defer. He’s the last player that I’m worried about producing this year
Yeah. Kyle will go down as a program legend. There is a lot of room below that to be a really great player. I think he needs time and hopefully he sticks around
This is very much a real thing that a lot of fans don’t get. It’s why our young players frequently look out of sorts. Shows up in shooting too. If you’re not comfortable, you’re won’t shoot well.
