You don’t understand how hypotheticals work huh?
You can’t assume one certain potential future without acknowledging all other things that actually happened may have turned out differently.
This is where I’m largely at. If (and I’ll come back to that “if” in a minute), Gertrude really is and was going to continue to be the 10th or 11th man, then history shows he’s in line for a whole lotta DNPs and maybe 100 minutes played this season tops. We’re talking JAR / Carson McCorkle minutes. Do folks really think those minimal garbage time minutes are some drastically important magic pill in terms of either development or engagement? Because those end-of-bench minutes didn’t keep McKoy or Abdur-Rahim any happier than a redshirting Traudt a year or two later.
The ONLY argument to make here is if you legit believe that had Elijah played, he’d overtake Harris as the “small guard off the bench” sometime this year. And I know some folks just have to believe in the freshman hype, than the 4-star rookie we’ve never seen live is just innately better than the veteran we have. And you aren’t going to ever convince those people because they think their blind faith is better than Tony’s expertise and day-to-day eyes-on experience and judgment.
Look, Elijah, 4-star promise and all, is a true freshman coming off a major lower body injury and a lost year of ball. Dante Harris is a 4th year with a redshirt year in the system, two years of power conference starting experience, and a BE Tourney MOP award on his shelf. No one outside of a small but vocal cabal of UVA message board warrior fans would see that as anything but an obvious “pick Dante / trust Bennett” scenario.
Besides, looking at next year’s roster, Elijah isn’t being counted on to even compete for a starting spot, undercutting the “we need to prep him for next year” argument. We project to return four guards already: Dante, iMac, Rohde, and Bond. iMac is starting at the 2. Bond and Rohde battle for the 3 (kind of a Justin-v-Joe duality from 2013-15). If Harris doesn’t start at PG, it’s likely only because Bliss beat him out. So best case scenario is there’s a 6th man role up for grabs for Gertrude, and I don’t think 90 minutes played this year across 30+ games is really going to affect how readily he steps into that 6th man competition.
Elijah gets the benefit of going through his redshirt year with both Bliss and A-Rob, where they’ll encourage each other and stick together in workouts. And maybe it doesn’t work out. But ya know, sometimes, some guys don’t work out. There’s a reason you need to recruit four freshmen a year, and that’s because at EVERY college guys don’t pan out, this isn’t a Tony thing or a redshirt thing, it’s a law of averages thing. Maybe Gertrude is another Dre or even Devon redshirt success story. Maybe he’s a Traudt. But so long as, on the whole, enough guys step up for us to stay one of the 3 or 4 top programs in the ACC every year, who cares?
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Remind me what value hypotheticals even have here, other than to make up scenarios that never actually happened but I guess somewhere in the Loki multiverse had a 0.001% chance of happening and trying to shoehorn that into making some kind of point?
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Mostly, I agree. But it is a fan chat board, albeit much better than most, so you have to expect some criticism and angst. I think it was Hooandtrue who said he watched Tony’s reaction throughout the game. I wasn’t as focused on him, but did notice when CTB seemed the most unhappy-- turnovers (iMac, in particular, at least that’s what caught my eye), bad defense (surprisingly, Dunn at times), and quick shots on less than good looks (mostly Harris). So I think if Tony was a poster on LRA, he might be leading the charge on negativity. On the other hand, I think he would be agreeing with you that it was the first game, so lots of good learning moments in an otherwise never-in-doubt game. Just so I don’t come across as negative too, I really liked how Bond (edited, my mistake), Grove, and Reece played last night. Probably could throw in Buchanan as well, who looked the most ready of any 1st year big for Tony that I can remember.
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@HoozGotNext - can you please pin this post to the top of the board please!
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YeS bEcaUse I wAs bEinG seRiOuS wHeN i SAiD wE’d hAve wOn tHe cHamPiOnsHiP iN ‘18 hAd HunTeR nOt rEdshIrTed.
You take yourself and posts here way, way too seriously.
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Not sure if it’s analogous, but I remember Brogdon saying about his injury redshirt year that it really took the pressure off of him to come back too soon, play poorly, and risk re-injury when he decided to redshirt his second year. Possible that Gertrude feels the same way, albeit he’s further along in his injury recovery than Brogdon was at this point.
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Can’t wait to see Eli at Rutgers in Feb…
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This is so true. He’s got a long way to go but he’s already holding his own. Over the summer I was thinking Minor was our most critical player because of the lack of depth at the 5. Turns out it’s Blake. His development could be the biggest variable in determining our success this season.
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C’mon man these posts accomplish nothing
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It’s OK if Elijah transfers. I understand from these message boards that Power and Kon and maybe even Reed Sheppard are coming here next year. We’re gonna be stacked.
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This board is so negative after that game lol I was there and I really felt like we have a lot to be excited about this season. We’re sooo dang athletic, compared to the last few seasons. Raises our defensive ceiling a ton. We have shooters it seems too. I was pumped! Lol I’m glad I have the board to bring me back to earth….
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They accomplish entertaining me (the key reason I’m here) and watching people on here handwringing and fretting. If everyone works themselves into a shoot over that, eh well mission accomplished
I think my record on how I feel about redshirts CTB’s choices etc. I trust in Eli’s family and the staffs decision. I’m sad he has a RS, but I also think it’s the right choice having seen the team, I’m banking he likely would have been in the 8-10 spot. Could he beat out Taine? sure but what does that really do? 3-5 mins a week with the maybe break glass in case of emergency and have a great outing? That’s not worth burning a year of eligibility. It is a big ramp up going from a Jr in HS to ACC play which is what Eli would be asked to do, not that different than Bliss.
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I think people on here are only negative about the EG redshirt. Game wise it seems like we all agree there’s a lot to be excited about
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I understand the want for there to not be complaining about the RS, and I think the “Eli is gonna transfer” take is definitely an overreaction (though I’m pretty sure Dragon is just joking lol), but also I think it’s fair for some fans to just be disappointed that we don’t get to see the kid play yet. He’s gonna be really good for us at some point and I’m sure some think he could have potentially been a key player for us down the stretch if given enough experience, myself included. I don’t think that take inherently means we believe Eli or Tony are making the wrong decision though, a RS still has plenty of reason behind it that makes perfect sense considering that he is coming off a major injury and could still use time to get back to where he was originally, along with the requisite learning of our system.
My hope was that he’d be an 8th or 9th guy in the rotation and show enough in his limited time to eventually move up over the course of the season, something that JAR and Carson couldn’t do. It was probably wishful thinking but I thought based off what he showed in the B/W scrimmage it was possible, and I still have concerns about the gap between in-game playing time. But again, I trust in Tony at the end of the day and think he could be next year’s Bond in terms of energy and impact off the bench.
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Sorry dragon - didn’t realize you meant that more as TIC. I agree with everything you said.
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Exactly I think it’s fair to be disappointed/sad that Eli isn’t playing but it may also be the right move. Both things can exist at the same time, and exist in a world that does not mean he is going to transfer. I believe those fears are more PTSD from previous experiences, but each of these players are unique and have their own circumstances. What Eli experiences does not equal what JAR, Carson, Fishboy or World’s Sawftest 5 experienced.
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Hot damn we are in mid-season form already I am so happy right now.
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I’ll have you know that I am nowhere near mid-season form yet. I’m just getting started! 
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