Alright everybody, FOCUS. First ACC game tonight, no more line up tinkering Tony
Don/t know much about Pitt except they apparently stink and Kenpom has them rated below Navy…they also shot 3s worse than us. They do rebound pretty well so we need to keep working on that. Their leading scorer is F John Hughley who I think we flirted with as a recruit.
Anyway line opened at -15 which seems nuts for this team against any ACC opponent, esp the opener.
Thoughts? Go Hoos
My only thought at the moment… I need a win. It’s been a rough stretch.
At the risk of asking for more, I am super curious about Taine’s PT tonight. Was the other night a flash in the pan where Tony rode the hot hand, or is Tony going to start using him more? I feel like Woldo would get hot for a game and then wouldn’t see the floor for a couple games. Hoping that’s not the case
After the other night I don’t think you have a choice but to continue with solid mins or risk really messing w his growth/confidence.
From what I gather Taine got early minutes against Iowa because they thought he could match up with Murray. He is the first of the bench players to separate himself. I would expect him to have the same opportunity tonight. Results and playing time may vary.
I expect uneven performances going forward from Taine and Igor. Hope they get to play through it
Is there any CTB historical consistency with the same length leash for guys based on game performance?
I wish they would get long leashes but I don’t hold my breath.
I don’t think Tony is one to let a single game performance dictate future playing time. He’s a body of work + show me in practice guy.
For that reason, thinking all of the Taine enthusiasts should be prepared for disappointment…
Don’t disagree. Would expect Taine to be the first guy off the bench. How much he plays probably depends on game flow and performance. So playing time may vary.
Oh yeah, I was less optimistic than that and thought he’d be back to being buried on the bench.
But then I just remembered how bad Kody and was like…there’s no way Tony would go back to Kody…right? Right?!?!?
I hate to resurrect this from yesterday, but when did it start? Same meh, at best, starting lineup every game and every 2H (unless I’m forgetting one). Almost no effort to see if putting another guard besides Kihei or Reece in with the starters would help at all.
What is the nature of the experimentation we have done? It’s basically – “Gee, I wonder what combination of our two international prospect lottery tickets who never paid off plus walk on will look the most like an actual ACC basketball team” ?
Tony has done vanishingly little actual lineup experimentation.
More stats — 9 of our top 10 lineups (over 64% of total possessions) in the past 5 games have both Kihei and Reece. The 10th has Kihei + Malachi. Is that an experiment ANYONE besides Malachi’s friends and family wanted to see? (Don’t lie).
Our lineup experiments have basically been this: Can Papi be a competent back-up 5? Hmmm, what about now? Ok, but what if we do it against a MEAC team? Ok, interesting, neutral court? Hmm, still no, what if we do it on a Monday?
(Sorry to come off as a jerk, but I don’t think there’s any evidence that Tony has done any meaningful lineup tinkering)
Agreed. A good example is Caffaro in 2019 as a freshman. Had played a total of 24 minutes in the first 8 games (including 4 DNPs). Then he busts out with a huge game and 21 minutes against UNC. Follows that up with an ok performance in 14 minutes against Stony Brook and a poor 9 minutes against South Carolina, and then has back-to-back DNPs against Navy and VT.
With CTB, I think a break-out performance buys you more playing time but only for a game or two. After that, its back to his read on how well you fit into the match-ups he wants with each individual team.
Like, Murphy didn’t open the season as a starter. He annihilated Towson in the opener (21 points in 17 minutes!), but then went 0-6 in 25 minutes in the loss to SF. He then had a reduced role against St Francis and Kent State, but he played really well in both those games and was rewarded with being the starter against W&M.
What’s it say about attendance if I can’t unload mid-level upper sidelines for 6 bucks on Stubhub?
Probably says a lot of us don’t live close enough to go to games. I do go to most UVA road games in North Carolina.
Attendance won’t be normal until next year likely. But it will return.
@DavetheWave - where are you in NC? I’m surrounded by Tar Heels and Woofies here in Raleigh. It’s fun when we’re winning though…
It probably says (1) [redacted – I will not discuss that here] (2) it’s a Friday night in December and people do stuff (3) we are not that good and (4) Pitt is basically a buy game.
attendance has been terrible all season thus far. i was shocked by how empty it was for a 7PM tip on Monday against a B1G team that was a 2 seed in the tourney last year. i have four tickets and i rarely use all four but haven’t even bothered with stubhub because i know there isn’t any demand.
Burlington - so I go to most road games at Wake and UNC - been to Reynolds and PNC Center - would love to go to one at Duke - bit have refused to contribute funds to their program with their astronomical game fees. 
Yes I am surrounded too - but coach kids sports here with a Hoo so that’s fun.
Heels, Deacons, Dookies and Wolves – oh my!
It’s probably just going to get worse with concerns over new variants … hopefully data shows that vaccines/boosters are effective against it, otherwise you could see drastic measures again. I think arena type events have been generally safe and not super spreader events (good ventilation) but people have just gotten used to not doing anything and watching sports on tv, plus we’re just not that good for our tickets to be a hot commodity yet.
Am working on a way for unused tickets to go to hopefully students that didnt get allocations and or other real Wahoo fans to get people in seats. if anyone wants to contribute let us know