I think you nailed it. Iām fascinated to hear what the plan with him is going forward. Does the staff still believe? Are they completely out? Curious to see what the plan will be.
So youāre saying we have 15% of a basketball team and the other 10 players are either not here or unknown entities. Hey, I guess hope is hope.
The second half was a lot of ball screens, though, and Reece was finding his way to the middle of the floor going downhill. Didnāt get a lot of clean looks at the rim though. I think the lowest hanging fruit is what @Hooandtrue said about getting into early offense in semi-transition situations. Like getting into the Flow drag screen that they usually start with quicker and while the defense is still getting back.
3 Likes
Dude, I was not remotely talking about you. Of course those musings are good and belong here. But there are some here who do none of what you mentioned, instead opting to continually slander professionals who are trying to build something with a team that has a talent deficiency.
They are entitled. They demand elite results ā as we have had in the past ā immediately with no patience at all, from a team that just isnāt that.
I think itās absolutely a Jimmys and Joes issue. We have (at least) three players who canāt play offense at a P5 level, two of which are starting. I think the biggest issue for me is that nobody who we expected to be a big contributor really improved from last year. Reece is still Reece, Isaac is still just a shooter, Dunn took a step forward defensively but has been a black hole on the offensive end.
1 Like
I donāt know how you spin this to say Dunn did not take a step back, personally.
1 Like
Itās kinda like Jordan minor, except the lack of a true big without him was so glaring the staff was forced to adjust with the flat hedge and coincidentally they found the best defense for this group.
With Rohde we are forcing someone who is used to shooting of the dribble and playing in a higher pace where the fear of mistakes in a low possesion game isnāt there, into mover blocker slowest team in the country and Rohde is just mentally fucked over (on top of not being the greatest athlete to shake his man iso or play that free safety defending two different players on opposite sides during a help D situation).
2 Likes
I think what I struggle with is we say we need āxā type player for blocker-mover which may be true. But usually that player can be much better outside of blocker mover.
You can tell me Reed Sheppard would be good in blocker-mover, but you couldnāt tell me heād be better than he is now. We love to hate on Keels, but I donāt think he sniffs the NBA in our system.
To me, itās as much a system issue as it is a personnel issue. Even in 2021-2022 when we had three NBA players, we absolutely struggled offensively at times and especially down the stretch.
10 Likes
I canāt believe how bad Rohde has been. Iāll be glad to eat crow next year or the year after but I have no confidence in that kid being an impact player at this level. And the number of minutes heās played this year are beyond puzzling.
4 Likes
Oh he absolutely did, and I think both his inability to score or create combined with Tonyās stubbornness in playing him so much is a big reason the offense looks like it does. You canāt win games playing 4 on 5 offensively
As bad as Rohde has been, and it hasnāt been great, McKneely and Dunn still being one dimensional hurts us more. We were supposed to rely on them.
6 Likes
This team isnāt short of talent. One of more talented teams in the ACC. This team heads coach rn is not putting the players in the best position to score.
If this was football and CTE youd agree.
You wonāt eat crow. Rohde is not an ACC basketball player. No different than Taine Murray, or Stattman, or [fill in the blank]. Heās just a guy that is disciplined on defense and goes through the motions for Tony. He is NOT a good basketball player at this level. Iām so sick of recruiting these players. and seeing ROhde-types starting for Virginia. It seems like it never ends.
2 Likes
Of course. Sorry, I thought it would be obvious. 
Thatās good, but ball screens should be step one of the offense. Not something that weāre all of a sudden getting into lol. I do agree that if weāre gonna recruit athletes like Eli and Dunn we need to actually utlitize them in open space.
2 Likes
The team certainly isnāt devoid of talent, the rotation on the other handā¦
Bro, with all due respect, we are not one of the more talented teams in the ACC and I canāt believe you would even say that.
1 Like
Let me say that we have like 6-7 maybe more top 100 players and two NBA level players, Dunn potential lottery
UNC doesnāt have 1 NBA player on their entire roster. lol. Maybe Ingram?
2 Likes
If you say so. As I said, it must be coaching, as opposed to questionable talent. Entitledā¦donāt get the elite results of the past, so it must be the coaching staff, even though it was this coaching staff that gave us those elite results. Huh.