My Take

[sutomcat]

Long night, at work, struggling so this is going to be short.

The crowd was pretty small but surprisingly loud. The student section actually showed up and made some noise. It could have gotten very loud if there was more to cheer about.

Someone sang a great NA and got one of the best ovations after I have ever seen. Nice.

A couple of people in my section fell asleep during the game. Literally. If it was ever going to happen, it was going to be last night. Ugly confluence of events.

Some character dressed in a giant orange wig, orange shirt and orange pants got the chance to try and make a shot from the Dunk & Bright bed. When he was asked who he was, he said 'Dome Dude' and took the opportunity to tell Melo his wife loved him. When he made the shot, he walked over to Melo and got a high five.

Melo and Bing both attended the game and were introduced to the crowd during one of the timeouts. Simultaneously using a split screen. I don't know who replaced Brett doing the game production but well done.

This looks to me like an historically bad rebounding team. No one is interested in getting offensive rebounds, we have no good shot blocker and it appears we will be without a real PG this season as well. So there are some problems to overcome.

That said, this should be one of the best outside shooting teams we have had. I think we have a lot of unselfish players who can pass it and there is real hope that the offense is going to be improved. We have the athletes and length to be a good defensive team as well. I am here to say there is hope.

I think there are going to be games when we shoot well and beat really good teams. And games where we shoot poorly and lose to not so good teams. We have a gaggle of athletic bigs. Can a couple of them develop into servicable rebounders? Sidibe and Guerrier are probably our best hopes and they were both disasters last night.

Girard might be the most popular player on the team right now. Already. Big ovation when he came into the game and whenever he did something right. His progress as a college player is going to be fascinating to watch. Few freshman start as fearless as he appears to be.

On the positive side, Edwards looked really promising late. I wonder why we didn't put Carey in when we were pressing? He seems like our fastest guy and most likely player to get steals in the open court.

 

[SmilinBob]

I think Cary and Sid are going to be Boeheims "projects" this year Tom. The quick hook guys.

 

[FrancoPizza]

We haven’t lost tomcat yet, folks. When we do that’s when John will be forced to do something.

 

[richmondcuse03]

He gave Carey time in first half but quickly yanked him after drive to basket got rejected in second half. He didn’t play great but we could have used someone to actually dribble drive.

i was actually very impressed by the VA defense. Yes they are physical and get away with a lot but I thought they were better positioned than past UVA teams and didn’t clutch and grab as much. They have a lot of solid, quick defenders. And we had nobody who could get past them one on one.

as others noted, our off ball movement was not great and significantly worse than the Carleton game. It was odd.

 

[corpjet]

I agree with sutomcat liked what I saw from the limited playing time of Edwards, I think this kid can develop into the Center we have needed for years!

 

[orangemass]

I agree with sutomcat liked what I saw from the limited playing time of Edwards, I think this kid can develop into the Center we have needed for years!

He needs to play. Marek at the 5 is mind boggling

 

[cuseguy]

He needs to play. Marek at the 5 is mind boggling

Marek will play the 5. He’s really not suited to play anywhere else and he serves as a good distributor up top. Edwards will be eased in, but he’s not strong enough to play many minutes.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Sounds like we need to find a way to get Dome Dude more shots.

 

[hoopsupstate]

uVA is a great defensive team but a pathetic offense team. They have zero shooters. If they are the 11th ranked team in the country, college basketball is awful. Our defense was just average and they couldn’t score 50. I think it shows how bad SU is.

 

[samspann1]

uVA is a great defensive team but a pathetic offense team. They have zero shooters. If they are the 11th ranked team in the country, college basketball is awful. Our defense was just average and they couldn’t score 50. I think it shows how bad SU is.

for the "our shots will fall" crowd, we actually outshot UVa from 3-point range. Won't our opponents' shots eventually fall as well?

 

[OrangePA]

Clearly UVA is very good defensively, but the Orange will never shoot well - even with talented shooters - if the players do not create good shots.

I saw maybe three good shot opportunities last night?

We need much more body on body - screening with picks - to get the shooters good opportunities.

There is very little at the center position this year.

 

[cuseguy]

Clearly UVA is very good defensively, but the Orange will never shoot well - even with talented shooters - if the players do not create good shots.

I saw maybe three good shot opportunities last night?

We need much more body on body - screening with picks - to get the shooters good opportunities.

There is very little at the center position this year.

JB said after the game that they need to start working on setting picks and screens. If so, makes you wonder what they’ve been doing in practice.

 

[Cusesky8214]

etan's take

 

[richmondcuse03]

etan as always spot on.

 

[JeremyCuse]

JB said after the game that they need to start working on setting picks and screens. If so, makes you wonder what they’ve been doing in practice.

That is a mind-boggling statement, what the hell have we been doing for 2 months?

 

[PhatOrange]

I thought the UVA defense was sticky and about as good as it gets. Bennett knows they're going to have to win with D this year because they have no offense so I think they've worked really hard on it. I also believe that D will be some of the best we see all year.

That said, our Offense has no movement. I don't understand what the plan is when a guard passes to the wing and then just stands around. Isn't the basic tenet of any offense to pass and cut? It's mind numbing to see guys pass and stand around against a m to m. AND we set weak and horrible screens to boot.

On the flip side, every Virginia player was in our shorts. We struggle to even get off shots. Step back 27 footers are just eye rolling bad. A wing and prayer.

Carey played fine last night and I'm really not even a fan. It was criminal that he beat his man off the dribble and took a decent shot in the lane - that got rejected - and then was benched because of it. He was the only guard that could dribble by Clark. Within one or two plays Girard drove and basically fell down turning the ball over. No hook. Buddy, Hughes and now Girard played last night with impunity. So I assume it'll be a loooong year for Carey and here goes JB forcing him out of the program.

 

[Sherman20]

He gave Carey time in first half but quickly yanked him after drive to basket got rejected in second half. He didn’t play great but we could have used someone to actually dribble drive.

i was actually very impressed by the VA defense. Yes they are physical and get away with a lot but I thought they were better positioned than past UVA teams and didn’t clutch and grab as much. They have a lot of solid, quick defenders. And we had nobody who could get past them one on one.

as others noted, our off ball movement was not great and significantly worse than the Carleton game. It was odd.

Well if JB had his forwards set multiple screens every possession so the kid could get open, that would help. Also some off ball screens for Elijah. The big guys need to do a better job of that as well. That said, Virginia’s defense is excellent, maybe even better than last season because of the length and athleticism along the back line and wing.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

I think we forced up way too many 3's way too early in the shot clock.

Of course, if we shot 15-29 instead of 5-29, it's a different story.

 

[Sherman20]

I thought the UVA defense was sticky and about as good as it gets. Bennett knows they're going to have to win with D this year because they have no offense so I think they've worked really hard on it. I also believe that D will be some of the best we see all year.

That said, our Offense has no movement. I don't understand what the plan is when a guard passes to the wing and then just stands around. Isn't the basic tenet of any offense to pass and cut? It's mind numbing to see guys pass and stand around against a m to m. AND we set weak and horrible screens to boot.

On the flip side, every Virginia player was in our shorts. We struggle to even get off shots. Step back 27 footers are just eye rolling bad. A wing and prayer.

Carey played fine last night and I'm really not even a fan. It was criminal that he beat his man off the dribble and took a decent shot in the lane - that got rejected - and then was benched because of it. He was the only guard that could dribble by Clark. Within one or two plays Girard drove and basically fell down turning the ball over. No hook. Buddy, Hughes and now Girard played last night with impunity. So I assume it'll be a loooong year for Carey and here goes JB forcing him out of the program.

Agree on all of this. Carey is the only guy that can beat his man off the dribble and get into the lane. I was mad when JB hooked him for that drive (if that’s what he was mad about, I don’t know). That’s what JB has been telling Carey to do—drive! And he’s still learning to play PG. Girard is not as athletic or quick so his driving ability against D1 athletes is still a work in progress. Why didn’t JB give Goodine more time? Buddy wasn’t shooting well, so you gotta see what the other guys can do. Goodine is a really good shooter and has driving ability, though still learning the PG position.

 

[cuseguy]

I thought the UVA defense was sticky and about as good as it gets. Bennett knows they're going to have to win with D this year because they have no offense so I think they've worked really hard on it. I also believe that D will be some of the best we see all year.

That said, our Offense has no movement. I don't understand what the plan is when a guard passes to the wing and then just stands around. Isn't the basic tenet of any offense to pass and cut? It's mind numbing to see guys pass and stand around against a m to m. AND we set weak and horrible screens to boot.

On the flip side, every Virginia player was in our shorts. We struggle to even get off shots. Step back 27 footers are just eye rolling bad. A wing and prayer.

Carey played fine last night and I'm really not even a fan. It was criminal that he beat his man off the dribble and took a decent shot in the lane - that got rejected - and then was benched because of it. He was the only guard that could dribble by Clark. Within one or two plays Girard drove and basically fell down turning the ball over. No hook. Buddy, Hughes and now Girard played last night with impunity. So I assume it'll be a loooong year for Carey and here goes JB forcing him out of the program.

Richmond was recruited as insurance for Carey. I have a sense we won’t have to worry about scholarships by the end of this year.

 

[dollarbill44]

I thought the UVA defense was sticky and about as good as it gets. Bennett knows they're going to have to win with D this year because they have no offense so I think they've worked really hard on it. I also believe that D will be some of the best we see all year.

That said, our Offense has no movement. I don't understand what the plan is when a guard passes to the wing and then just stands around. Isn't the basic tenet of any offense to pass and cut? It's mind numbing to see guys pass and stand around against a m to m. AND we set weak and horrible screens to boot.

On the flip side, every Virginia player was in our shorts. We struggle to even get off shots. Step back 27 footers are just eye rolling bad. A wing and prayer.

Carey played fine last night and I'm really not even a fan. It was criminal that he beat his man off the dribble and took a decent shot in the lane - that got rejected - and then was benched because of it. He was the only guard that could dribble by Clark. Within one or two plays Girard drove and basically fell down turning the ball over. No hook. Buddy, Hughes and now Girard played last night with impunity. So I assume it'll be a loooong year for Carey and here goes JB forcing him out of the program.

It was a nice drive, for sure, but you can't just drive into the lane and go up against a 7 footer with no plan. There also wasn't a cutter to pass to, which isn't his fault (coaching?).
He also made some boneheaded plays before that, so the accumulation of plays likely resulted in his reduced PT, not just that one play.

 

[Sherman20]

I agree with sutomcat liked what I saw from the limited playing time of Edwards, I think this kid can develop into the Center we have needed for years!

No doubt Edwards is gonna be very good in another year or two.

 

[FrancoPizza]

That is a mind-boggling statement, what the hell have we been doing for 2 months?

Maybe JB thinks pick-and-roll means picking nostrils and rolling the deposit.

 

[PhatOrange]

It was a nice drive, for sure, but you can't just drive into the lane and go up against a 7 footer with no plan. There also wasn't a cutter to pass to, which isn't his fault (coaching?).
He also made some boneheaded plays before that, so the accumulation of plays likely resulted in his reduced PT, not just that one play.

Oh please players do it all the time.

He really didn't make any boneheaded plays. He didn't do much of anything, positive or negative. He pretty much handled the defense being played on him though, no one else could. He had one drive where he was stripped and had an ugly 3-pt shot (joined the club).

 

[CusefanATL]

I think Cary and Sid are going to be Boeheims "projects" this year Tom. The quick hook guys.

sid didnt get any sort of quick hooks last night