šŸ€ Virginia Transfers Watch - '23 - '24 Season

Kadin had a monster game for Texas tonight in their last split second win against Louisville.

Dude forfeits any credibility he has acting like Beren is anywhere close to the player Dunn is. Dunn is playing in a different universe than their guy.

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Kadin presumably played well v Clingan in that scrimmage last year? Round 2 tomorrow. Like I said in the other thread, I didnā€™t watch, but those TX guards a little underwhelming

He did.

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Iā€™m happy for Kadin. Heā€™s come a long way. Still needs to work on rebounding but heā€™s definitely an asset for Texas.

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Pretty predictable I think that Kadin would be great elsewhere. Heā€™s the perfect example of a guy who was never a fit here and was worse for it.

It has nothing to do with Kadinā€™s game and everything to do with personality. Tonyā€™s teams seem to be especially high pressure with respect to attention to detail, motor, and intensity. Marial talked about this in an interview after transferring. Kadin lost confidence in that environment and never could really be himself here. Other guys, like Blake for example, thrive in it.

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I absolutely understand why that sort of environment might not be for everyone. However, is it a big reason why Virginia has had success getting players to stick in pro basketball?

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Yeah, that was a sweet game for Kadin. He had more passes into the post in that game than all of last year combined. Not so sure about the defense he faced, but he made the most of it.

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I didnā€™t see the game to see the nature of his offensive role. But in the first 4 games he has shot 25 shots - 23 were at the rim, 0 were mid-range 2 ptrs, and 2 were 3-ptrs. So in a fairly small sample size, the range of his shot attempts is very similar to his time at UVA, even more at the rim in Texas. If he has expanded his repertoire or been ā€œuncagedā€, it isnā€™t showing in the stats so far. He continues to be very efficient at the rim, as one would expect out of a 6ā€™-11ā€ guy.

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Oh, youā€™re absolutely right. Not a criticism of Tony from me, just saying a thing I think to be true.

All the stair work in Italy was bound to pay off.

Here he had very few back to the basket or face up points and it was mostly all converting offense created by others on lobs, pick and roll, etc.

This season heā€™s creating a lot of his own offense on the block in a variety of ways and one of their most effective offensive possessions is just tossing it in to him in the post. Heā€™s shown a hook shot, the ability to draw fouls, a lot of step through moves, etc., along with his standard finishing of lobs, and quality passing.

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His offensive game is definitely expanded. Mental mistakes, consistency of effort and rebounding positioning seemed to be still be issue points. (Granted he was injured most of the preseason).

I think the transfer was a good move on his end. Our team dynamics and perhaps long term future are better because of it but foolish to say he wouldnā€™t make us better talent-wise.

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While he was on a short leash here apparently he does not have one to worry about In Austin

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Exactly this. Getting decent passes in the post. Touches down there important for big men to get going

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I donā€™t believe that his length of leash here was any different than for anyone else. Itā€™s just his ability to be effective was not great and was slow developing. The things that Bennett surely emphasized, energetic/continuous play, hedge/recovery, defending without fouling, and rebounding are things that came slowly to him. He clearly improved over several years, but it was slow going and surely there was tough psychology along the way as he had starting roles stripped. I think he simply chose not to take any offensive risks so as to focus on the defensive things that got him in the doghouse. A loose comp was Tobey, who lost a starting role and had some trouble living up to expectations.

Buchanan is about the opposite. No post player at UVA under Bennett has so quickly shown proficiency at all those things Shedrick struggled with. Itā€™s almost an unfair comparison. Consequently, BB has no scarring when it comes to being coached up, which probably makes him feel free to shoot any shot he is comfortable with on the offensive end.

So I donā€™t think this is an offensive leash issue but rather how much time and energy is spent satisfying Bennettā€™s non-negotiables on the defensive end. Shedrick is probably well suited to get a fresh start. Maybe heā€™ll rediscover some freedom in his own head space.

FWIW, I think having so many new guys on our roster gives all of them some offensive freedom. They donā€™t have an old paradigm as a constraint. Theyā€™re just playing to their strengths, and as long as Bennett is happy with their defensive effort, I donā€™t think heā€™s going to mess with anyone whoā€™s taking smart shots.

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:upside_down_face: mmmk Jayden

We can quibble about Sheds effort on offense and subsequential attitude for days. What is apparent is his hedge, on the dribble handoff at mid court, blew-up Louisvilleā€™s last possession. Pure UVA gold being mined in Texas.

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Huh, thatā€™s from Jayden Gardnerā€™s instagram?

Makes me wonder even more what the internal dynamics were on the team last year. Maybe it wasnā€™t only Shedrick who thought BVP coming in and replacing him in the rotation/the handling of Shedrick wasnā€™t ideal. But who knows - thatā€™d be reading way too much into a one word social media post.

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Good for him. He just didnā€™t get it at uva. If he did, heā€™d be gone to the pros early. I donā€™t know whose fault that is but i think both parties will be fine in the end. Blake is a star who gets how Tony wants his bigs to be.

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