That picture is amazing! KGs reaction is even better! Everything about that was crazy
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Ha. Soderberg looks like heās checking his fly.
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Just texted that to coach Jay Willy and told him its ok Jay, we won
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reply: I was cool because I told them on the bench we were winning. They gave us too much time left on the clock.
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Cold blooded
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you guys proly saw but thought worth sharingā¦
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Iām always impressed by how such a class act guy Mamadi is. All of Bennettās guys are. You can see it translate in to the nba too. One of my favorite things about CTB is that he doesnāt just make these young men great basketball players, but he also makes them great people
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Alright it took me some time to recover from the excitement of Saturday night; side note: Iām not a fan of 8pm tip offs those are tough for this old man.
Let me start by saying any win over UNC is a great win, without a doubt for me UNC is the Hoos biggest rival in basketball and pretty much all sports. They are a 1B to VTās 1A.
In many ways Saturdayās game was a trap game the Hoos gained very little with a win, other than staying in the hunt, but a loss would have been detrimental to their post season aspirations.
Itās been mentioned on this thread already by @DFresh11 but I love the way this team is maturing and learning to win in late game situations. Typically Virginia teams donāt blow out opponents that makes for a lot of close games, they have not had a game finish with more than a 10 point margin since 1/4 against VT. During the 3 game losing streak the Hoos struggled to find ways to end games. The defense was sound but they did not have a go-to player or play to get offense. Twice this week Mamidi stepped up to make the play with time running out. His 3pt play near the end of regulation was amazing. Itās plays like that when I totally see his next level potential now if we could see it more a more consistent basis.
Clarke delivered another solid performance. The turnovers crept up to 5 which is a few too many but 10 pts and 9 ast is solid. Kihei is unlike any other pg I remember from the CTB era, heās not a true scorer like Jerome or London, but heās not a pure assist man like London was when he began his career. Either way heās busting his a@@ to keep this train rolling. I had the thought late in the game that he will go down as one of those ACC players who had a great career but is largely unmemorable at first but then when you look at the great players highlight films he will always be in there making plays and contributing.
Iāve said it a few time but Wolentensae needs an award for most improved player in a season. Iām leaning to believe what @HoozGotNext said about him needing the extra adjustment time to get up to D1 speed. Either way he has come alive on both ends of the court. I love how active his hands are becoming on defense and of course the shooting has been the biggest asset of this late season resurgence.
Braxton appears to be going into a bit of a slump over the last week Saturday marked 3 games in a row where heās been held bellow his average and honestly looked off. Similar to what happened last season when he went off against FSU and then regressed offensively after that. He wasnāt even on the floor for the final minutes on Saturday. Hopefully he finds his rhythm again the team is going to need him for the stretch run.
The Virginia bench outscored UNC 17-0 Iād have to check the stats but I feel like thatās a first all season minus possibly a random early season game. Casey was the big contributor with 10 points his first double digit game since the Navy game. It appears heās shooting with a bit more confidence lately hitting a couple of threes in the last two games. Iām not ready to crown it a coming out party but he does appear to be adjusting to D1 ball especially on defense. Heās not picking up as many ticky-tack fouls on the perimeter.
My other major drawback for this game beyond Braxtonās play was Jay Huff another game with limited looks from the field. He had 4 points and 4 boards. For me thatās simply not enough for a 7footer. Too often he gets his touches 10plus feet from the rim and is facing up, thatās not his game. Really wish heād get more aggressive looking for touches in the post. Also wish heād drop the tapback from his offensive rebounding game and just grab the ball.
All that said a win is a win. The march to the postseason continues. Itās interesting seeing this team mature. This may go down as my most memorable team just because of the frustrations and the process of watching them grow.
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did you listen to LRA podcast with him and Kearsy. Was really good
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I did. He knows he has to be a leader on the team and he wants to be that leader. He is stepping up and he knows his role on the team and in the community. Heās very involved in the Charlottesville/Albemarle community too. Super nice dude
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another great summary @BDragon. Great point on Huffs tap backs/ outs. Just grab the ball my man
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If Jay is not in position to grab the rebound it may be ok to tap it back. He has made bad decisions when he should have just grabbed the ball
Iām a big fan of the handoff actions they were running at the end of the game, with Huff at the elbow/top-of-the-key, and a guard flying off a Diakite pindown screen in the corner up towards Huff. Morsell had success off of it and Clark got a sweet backdoor off of it. And if the man guarding Huff provides too much help on the guard, Huff can keep for a drive or shoot it. Itās a great way to use a skilled big man. VT used to do it with Blackshear a lot last season, Purdue uses it a ton to give their shooters space, and the Denver Nuggets pretty much construct an entire offense out of handoffs.
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Thereās a time and a place but itās becoming a go to move even when he has position. Worst teams are predicting it and its turning into an outlet pass
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The angles this guy gets in his videos are always so cool. Thought Iād share
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B8rVsvyBKPz/?igshid=w1cafcrqsags
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Can I just say how much I love these threads and all of the insights and perspectives that are shared before, during, and after each game? And in the other threads in general! The level of depth and thoughtfulness in what gets discussed and shared is so cool to see and be a part of (even if Iām not a very vocal part of it haha)
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Waldo has really, really surprised me. I never said anything on the forum because Iām adverse to posting negative stuff about our players. But after the first 10 games or so, I was very concerned that Woldo was not going to be successful here. To me he was completely lost on help defense and his level of effort seemed low. I also felt that he was making selfish plays on offense. Couple that with his poor shooting, and I thought maybe he was a rare miss for Tony.
I am happy to have been so wrong about him. While heās by no means a defensive star, heās digging in when his man faces up and his help defense has improved a lot. Offensively, as Dakich pointed out on Saturday, heās coming off screens hard, ready to shoot with confidence, and heās not forcing plays any more. With every game now, he looks more and more like a classic UVA player under Tony.
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