UVA is so impressive

[Newhouser]

Watching them in our first game and now seeing them at 13-5. Bennet takes a back seat to nobody.

 

[orangecuse]

Actually, when I watch that team play, I honestly continue to be miffed as all get out how they manage to continue to win, even with the fact that they could just as easily be 9-9 with literally so many last second W's that just as easily could've been L's. They truly do not have that much talent, IMO, and it's really a testament to just how good of a coach Bennett is.

 

[bpo57]

They're amazing. Win every close game. Every game played at their pace. Unbelievable.

 

[MSOrange]

Yeah I wish for their "bad" seasons.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I was thinking the same thing today. Cruddy team. Whipped into shape and performing well. Bennett is a major dude.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

They win, but they are generally awful to watch. I would be very unhappy if Bennett was tapped to replace JB.

 

[Orange Barrel]

Bennett should be arrested for what he does to this game.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Bennett should be arrested for what he does to this game.

We could have said the same about our offense for the last 6 years until very recently.

 

[gmoney44]

They win, but they are generally awful to watch. I would be very unhappy if Bennett was tapped to replace JB.

odds are extremely high that whoever replaces JB want be able to hold a candle to Bennett.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

odds are extremely high that whoever replaces JB want be able to hold a candle to Bennett.

I have faith in John Wildhack to get it right. He knows this isn't an entry-level position.

 

[Orange Barrel]

We could have said the same about our offense for the last 6 years until very recently.

We could have, but this thread is about UVA.

 

[Cusefan0307]

If we were 22-7 I wouldn’t care if we beat Duke 2-0.

 

[Cheriehoop]

It’s like some of our past teams, their excellent defense gets some good close wins even when their offense fails. Bennett recruits players willing to play their defense and waits till their offense catches up. Expending so much energy on defense every game takes some getting used to for many players to adjust their offense. I would love to see their practices. It results in having some ugly basketball games being so defensive minded (we heard that from our own fans when our defense was elite) but it obviously can work if the players, staff commit totally to it.

If UVA start having players each year leave after their freshman, sophomore years - it will eventually effect them too. It will depend on their ability to fill their roster with patient dedicated players committed to defense as much if not more than their offense for Bennett’s system to excel. If he has to reach too deep, too early to his bench or to incoming freshman , he’ll have to adjust too. Bennett likes to redshirt young players not ready (like Huff, Diakite and Hunter, Salt from last year’s team). It will be interesting how he adjusts as recruiting improves how it will effect his winning redshirt strategy.

 

[NineOneSeven]

It’s like some of our past teams, their excellent defense gets some good close wins even when their offense fails. Bennett recruits players willing to play their defense and waits till their offense catches up. Expending so much energy on defense every game takes some getting used to for many players to adjust their offense. I would love to see their practices. It results in having some ugly basketball games being so defensive minded (we heard that from our own fans when our defense was elite) but it obviously can work if the players, staff commit totally to it.

If UVA start having players each year leave after their freshman, sophomore years - it will eventually effect them too. It will depend on their ability to fill their roster with patient dedicated players committed to defense as much if not more than their offense for Bennett’s system to excel. If he has to reach too deep, too early to his bench or to incoming freshman , he’ll have to adjust too. Bennett likes to redshirt young players not ready (like Huff, Diakite and Hunter, Salt from last year’s team). It will be interesting how he adjusts as recruiting improves how it will effect his winning redshirt strategy.

It did affect them this year. Which is why they aren’t one seed good. Still obviously safely in the tournament.

 

[Townie72]

I have faith in John Wildhack to get it right. He knows this isn't an entry-level position.

Based of what I know of Wildhack's history, this really is an act of faith on your part.

The guy has spent his whole career as a television guy, especially television production. There's very little executive experience in it that would suggest he knows anything at all about hiring coaches.

He's a smart guy and highly motivated. But beyond that ...

 

[Oakland]

UV turned out better than I thought they would. They have replaced Hunter and Salt quite well, but as expected, the guard play for UV is down quite a bit from last season and that is holding them back. Key is an interesting player and Clark is good but not special.

I watch very little non-Cuse BB but caught most of this game because I had it recorded in case our game run over. What a pleasure it was. I didn't see a single bad ref call, a few 50/50s but you are never going to eliminate those. They called hand checking on Duke at least 3 times and a charge! Very clean game though. Excellent MTM defensive on both sides, lots of plays on the O side. Despite the low scores, there was plenty of action.

I have been a proponent of the zone defense for a long and it has served SU very well, but after 25+ years of it, I'm tired of it; I'm hoping our next coach is a MTM guy. Despite our mediocre recruiting for some years now, we are only one good player away from a good season. How nice would it be to have a Jay Huff (not to mention Carey) on our team - we could easily have 5 more wins!

Watching them in our first game and now seeing them at 13-5. Bennet takes a back seat to nobody.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

Based of what I know of Wildhack's history, this really is an act of faith on your part.

The guy has spent his whole career as a television guy, especially television production. There's very little executive experience in it that would suggest he knows anything at all about hiring coaches.

He's a smart guy and highly motivated. But beyond that ...

Totally an act of faith.

 

[FrancoPizza]

I have faith in John Wildhack to get it right. He knows this isn't an entry-level position.

And yet we have a poster in Kansas City, supposedly well connected, that claims it will be Red... and he has as much head coaching experience as I do.

 

[Townie72]

Totally an act of faith.

Well, Gross decided he would trust others that he expected to know what they were doing. Turns out they didn’t.

I suspect Wildhack knows he doesn’t know.

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

And yet we have a poster in Kansas City, supposedly well connected, that claims it will be Red... and he has as much head coaching experience as I do.

Almost added a wink to the post. If it's Red, I have faith in JH to clean house quickly if it doesn't work out. He knows how much the program means to the perception and identity of the university.

 

[Townie72]

Almost added a wink to the post. If it's Red, I have faith in JH to clean house quickly if it doesn't work out. He knows how much the program means to the perception and identity of the university.

How quickly are we talking about? Everyone gets a couple of years, don’t they?

 

[Bulldog04]

I don’t disagree that SU needs to recruit better but Bennett is the best coach in the country with the worst roster. He has a 5-7 guard. 3 star players and yet his system dominates. I would give any amount of money for lesser talent and more wins lol

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

How quickly are we talking about? Everyone gets a couple of years, don’t they?

Three max. No inside info here, just going on my sense of JH.

 

[bpo57]

I just hope the decision on whom to hire isn't based on whether the candidate is an "SU guy". Get the best guy you can find, whether he has SU connections or not. And don't be afraid to open up the wallet.

 

[Townie72]

I just hope the decision on whom to hire isn't based on whether the candidate is an "SU guy". Get the best guy you can find, whether he has SU connections or not. And don't be afraid to open up the wallet.

There’s a school of thought that SU guys may be the most likely to succeed here in the short and even the intermediate term.

Someone coming in from outside “The Family” who brings a different style of play may seem like a huge risk. Continuity would seem to have some value here.

Posters on here have the luxury of imagining fantasy replacements who are able to rescue the program and bring it back to the peak years and beyond. In the real world that Wildhack and the Chancellor have to live in, they do not have that luxury.

Red is a safe choice, especially JB recommends and supports it.