Favorite part last night was chance getting up close and personal on D. Probably couldāve told us what the other dude ate and thatās what itās all about!
4 Likes
Nice to see the Hoos ā¦ Hall was unplayable on defense most of the nightā¦ hopefully not a harbinger.
Loved Mallory and Eli. And Malik.
Barksdale and Lang solid in their roles.
Carrere - shooter and matador on defense.
Ugo - nice.
GrĆ¼nloh canāt feel like shooting is secondary option ā¦
7 Likes
Takeaways (that no one is asking for):
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Iām pretty giddy about GrĆ¼nloh. Hard to articulate exactly what I liked but he just looks like a guy we havenāt had on our roster since basically Ralph (not comparing him to Ralph). I knew he was talented but didnāt have super high expectations for him this season. That has changed. Still has a TON to work on but heās closer to being an All ACC player than I expected.
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Malik is Malik. I know weāre trying to be balanced but I hope his usage creeps up because he is the player we hoped heād be.
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Jacari is a spark. Iām still a Sam Lewis fan and think heāll have a role but given how Hall has looked as a ball handler, I donāt think we can afford to play Dallin and Sam together. That means Jacariās role should increase. I just like the combo of him and Malik together. Thatās a lot for a defense to handle.
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Possibly the most positive takeaway is it seems clear Eli will absolutely have a role as long as his health holds up. That role is probably still being determined but heās not like clearly the 9th or 10th guy in the rotation.
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de Ridder had a bit of an off night but heās gonna be good. He and Johann still have work to do defensively and on the glass but theyāll get there.
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Hall and Tillis are disappointing. Donāt want to overreact other than to say that as someone on record suggesting Hall could be an NBA player, Iām preparing to look like an idiot.
Overall, generally pleased by last night. Nova stinks and was shorthanded and we shouldāve won by 15+ but really just a handful of stretches of defensive lapses were the only thing that prevented that. Good weāll get some cupcakes the next few weeks to gel as a team. Feel good about the talent.
8 Likes
Malik might be the one year dude you get excited about @HoozGotNext . Dude just has it.
3 Likes
Might just be me, but I expected more out of TDR. Might be all the preseason hype. I expected something off the dribble or some bulky ball.
Hall was brought in to facilitate, be the QB. Really didnāt see much of that. Novas guards are pretty mid and they locked him up. Same with Vandy. Thatās an issue
Same positives as most have said. Eli, both bigs (thought we got fix the defensive rebounding) Thomas, White and Chance.
Also need to see guys get down hill more. Waaaaaay to much passing around then perimeter
8 Likes
We need a top 60-70 defense to make any kind of splash. The team defense should improve but I wonder about individual 1:1 guard defense.
All of our guards were way out of position at least a few times. Eli the least of the bunch, but Chance, Malik, Jacari, and Hall all gave up a few buckets bc they were at bad angles and had poor foot positioning. (The international bigs too, but that was more expected.)
Most of these guys are seasoned so will be interesting to see if their habits can change.
5 Likes
The other thing to remember is that UVA now has a month before they face another P5 component. Lots of mistakes but thatās what happens when you scrimmage so early. This is all just high quality film for the team
15 Likes
Watched 1H:
Great!
- Threes!
- Fun chaos
- Elijah is in the rotation, for real for real
Needs work:
- Chemistry
- Getting used to P5 hoops
- Wings (we donāt have any)
- Paint points
- TDR canāt look like JAG
4 Likes
My āgetting used to non-Bennett ballā adjustment is trying not to get upset at guys for doing really dumb sh**. And I donāt mean over-aggressive dumb sh**. Just general, like, learning to play smart hoops dumb sh**.
(B/c TB didnāt put up with that)
5 Likes
Having been at Vandy and watching last night, my thoughts have not changed:
- It will take some time, but by tournament season we will be a tough out. Likely make tournament and win a game or maybe two.
- Mallory is better than Hall today. Get him more minutes early in season to work through the boneheaded plays so they will be cleaned up by tournament time.
- Tillis canāt play at this level.
- Lewis will get there but the jump in level is taking him time to adjust to. Thatās why he is tentative.
- Best post play since years of Ralph. GrĆ¼nloh is better than any true center that Tony had and is an NBA player. Onyenso is very talented - finishes well when he sees the pass, solid rim protection and hits open shot.
- De Ridder very solid but needs to be more aggressive offensively to have the impact he is capable of.
- White should start even though he did not play as well last night. He energizes the team and gets buckets.
- Eli looks to be coming on. Best raw defender on team. Is it me or do others wince fearing injury every time he gets fouled hard?
- We have to stop dribble penetration. Hall just not able to defend quick players is a real deficit - enter Mallory.
8 Likes
Yeah the glaring problem is that we donāt have any true wings. The point guard play is a weakness but teams with āweaknessesā can make and win tournament games. Teams with massive glaring holes on the other hand . . .
2 Likes
Watched a few minutes of 2H and felt like undermanned Nova was able to stay connected the whole game because they have guards/wings who could penetrate and we couldnāt really stop em.
Prob good to play more of a grown man ball team style of play under Willard
3 Likes
A little bit of that, a little bit of bad turnovers
Given that Odom complained postgame about how they were navigating switching and Lewis was part of multiple āwe left a guy wide openā switch breakdowns, I think heās gonna be the doghouse guy this year.
3 Likes
I wish EG just had an average or slightly below average jumper. He could be so freaking good. But itās gonna be hard to be out there on offense when you shoot 10% from 3 once people start scouting. And heās not really close on any of them. Looks the same as his first year
4 Likes
The jumper is an issue but he just generally needs to get used to hoops movement and situations again.
Feel like heās never gotten that benefit at this level. That wonāt solve his jumper issues but it will help
5 Likes
Heh, sorry, I deleted this because I thought it was maybe too sour even for me
3 Likes
Can he play some point guard without Hall and Mallory on the court? Feel like the offense would be lethal with him paired with White, Thomas, TDR, GrĆ¼nloh
2 Likes
There must be a reason Lewis has looked so invisible (at best) but heās still starting. Is it just Odom being like āthis has to work!ā? Does Lewis look invincible in practice because heās our only wing?**
@uva123 I liked the Elijah/Chance/Ugo/TDR defensive chaos lineup.
** I swear this sounded optimistic in my head.
4 Likes
Itās so interesting. Physically he looks the part. But heās more invisible out there than Stattmann
1 Like