People still go to malls?
Honestly donāt mind the early tip for games Iām watching on TV, but 11 just feels weird.
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Yea itās strange. ESPN did an 11 AM for the Saturday after New Yearās last year as well. I think itās because they have the NFL playoffs on ESPN later in the day, so they wanted an extra time slot since they lose a handful due to that
We have a great one in Dallas tbh. Didnāt check tip off and figured it would be later before setting a time
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I think someone mentioned something in the arena later on. Hockey game maybe?
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There is a Hurricanes game at 7pm. Maybe the turnaround would be too tight if the game went into ā¦ just to pull a random number of OTs out of the air, which never happens ā¦ say three overtimes.
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Light the CavMan Signal and someone from LRA will come by to slash your tires to get you out of this mall trip.
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But if youāre playing a road game at VaTech, a game when the students are on break & they are down 2 starters seems like the ideal time to me.
These arenāt world-beaters weāre playing. These are games this team should be expected to win.
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MacArthur Place?
What mall do people go to in the 757 these days? Lynnhaven? Outlet malls in either Norfolk or Williamsburg?
Am I missing anything?
MacArthur is closed. Lynhaven is still around
Oh, Dallas. Nevermind. You have several good malls there. Loved the Gallaria. Thought Grapevine Mills was a bit of a step down from Opry Mills.
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Oh wow. I didnāt realize that. That place was crazy busy back when we moved there in 2014. I had heard it was in decline, as most malls are, but I had assumed it was still in operation because the Regal Cinema still shows up on Fandango.
I just checked. Your local Mall opens at 2 pm today due to constructionā¦..
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Anyone want to summarize how we stack up / compare to NC state along some advanced metrics? On kid duty all AM but need my fix
t-Rank preview (need to open in landscape mode if on your phone): Verifying Browser...
Hoop Explorer (play types and shot charts): https://hoop-explorer.com/MatchupPreviewAnalyzer?baseQuery=&gender=Men&maxRank=400&minRank=0&oppoTeam=NC%20State&team=Virginia&year=2025%2F26&
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From Basket Under Review preview:
#26 Virginia at #24 NC State (-3), 11 AM ET, ESPN2.
Tough spot situationally for Virginia, with a quick turnaround from the 3OT affair at Virginia Tech. UVAās general lack of athleticism showed in that loss, and VT isnāt an overly athletic team by any stretch without Lawal, and NC State certainly is. That said, UVA probably wins that game if Malik Thomas wasnāt mysteriously benched down the stretch of regulation, as heās really the Cavsā only bucket getter in the backcourt, especially noticeable without Jacari Whiteās shooting/spacing on the floor. It also didnāt help that the Hoos were murdered on the offensive glass again, this time by a team missing most of their frontcourt. NC State isnāt a strong offensive rebounding team at all, but that hasnāt mattered against UVA, and the Pack is a strong defensive rebounding outfit, where UVA is oddly strong offensively.
Schematically UVA is very strong in rim protection within their drop coverage thanks to the GrĆ¼nloh/Onyenso duo, but NC Stateās is strong in dribble creation and winning 1v1 matchups, and have torched drop coverages from Boise State, Texas, and VCU this season. Additionally, Darrion Williams is a great hub creator and big lifter (just ask Will Wade about his passing ability), which will be key as well.
NC State meanwhile has been locked in defensively since the Auburn game with less miscommunication in their 1-5 switch and some different ball screen looks thrown in to avoid Ven-Allen Lubin overexposure. Since that Auburn game on 12/3, the Pack have been the 5th most efficient defense in the country per Torvik filtering. This is a game UVA is likely to miss White quite a bit given how NC Stateās switching principles and underscreening can create open jump shots. - Jordan Majewski
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Well, I guess they couldnāt find one damn good thing to say about us. Why are we even playing the game?
We really didnāt like this matchup all that much going into the season, and I donāt think we like it any better now haha. We havenāt really had a game get away from us yet, but I wouldnāt be surprised if this one does. Just thinking the guys are probably gassed after playing an extra half on Wednesday
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Awful matchup. As Basket Under Review notes, itās clear now that we sorely lack athleticism. And we are without our best athlete. And State is really athletic. Iāll be impressed if we keep this close. Could see us getting blitzed
Classic āif you filter out their mediocre games, theyāve been eliteā type of analysis. In that same stretch, opponents have shot 29% from 3 while taking nearly half their shots from there.
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The short turnaround after a long, dispiriting game does really set this up for a let down.
Iāll be very impressed if we come out swinging but donāt expect much