My Take

[bballbeadle]

Yes I saw him and Ryan Blackwell after. His son was with him

Oh, our faithful fan Cuse in Seattle, how are you doing today? Are you back home? Are you still here? That was quite the, er, game for you to fly across three time zones to watch!

 

[pfister1]

Regarding the crowd - the price for tickets was ridiculous for a Wednesday at 9PM game. Lower tickets not even facing the court (beyond the baseline) were $140. I have traveled up to Syracuse for a couple football games this year and I cannot imagine how they find people up there willing to spend $140.

You didn't look very hard. I found the best seats I've ever had in the Dome last night and paid just $75. There were many, many options in 309, 310 and 311 for $30 or less. Those 300 level seats seem like they are far away, but they are actually decent seats and in some ways offer a better perspective than the 100 level.

 

[two3zone]

There were many, many options in 309, 310 and 311 for $30 or less.

The only place to have a true fan experience.

 

[SWC75]

Here's the player I want to see this year:


He wasn't evident in this game.

 

[malpearl31]

I was thinking along these same lines. We need our PG to score with some efficiency, especially with guys like Sid and Marek who aren't expected to ever actually shoot. I was wondering if Howard Washington might get some run, because he really seems like the only true PG on the squad right now, but his shot isn't good enough for JB to trust him out there. Feel bad for the kid.

I personally think there's zero chance that we see Howard Washington play any meaningful minutes... but based on last night's performance, never say never...

 

[tbonezone]

my take. glad i didn't stay up to watch. no listen. i'll catch a replay and comment further but jeez...

 

[two3zone]

I personally think there's zero chance that we see Howard Washington play any meaningful minutes... but based on last night's performance, never say never...

If Bras and Washington couldn't get a minute in a game where we had nothing working I doubt they have a game where they play 10 or more minutes.

 

[malpearl31]

If Bras and Washington couldn't get a minute in a game where we had nothing working I doubt they have a game where they play 10 or more minutes.

The reluctance to give Braswell some minutes bothers me more... at least in theory, we have some guards who are capable of scoring. But at the F/C spot (aside from Hughes, who is really more of a 2-guard in my eyes) we had nobody on the floor last night who seemed capable of scoring.

 

[SUbear]

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.

I have no idea what you were watching, but Carey was horrible last night as a point, he has speed but no feel for the game. Did not initiate any offense at all. Ball handling was better than last year, but still very shaky. He dribbled into the bigs and got blocked because he can not make a shot that is not a layup and no power five team will let him do that consistently. For a true freshman Girard outplayed him by a yard, but Girard has some growing to do too. Shooting by everyone was terrible and spacing was terrible. Team has a lot of room for improvement, lets hope they all get better and fast.
I hated this as a first game for a young team.

 

[SUbear]

But then what happened in the 2nd half when Girard was in? Joe G has stones and oozes confidence, which I like, but he has weaknesses (defense, driving ability) that are Carey’s strengths. Agree that he might be a bit better passer than Carey at this point but not by much. I still think Carey has the higher upside as a PG because of his speed and athleticism, but it may take a long while to get there. He was also a good shooter in HS. Not sure what happened with that.

He was not a good shooter in HS, he was a good scorer, big difference. His game was speed and driving by, which is fools gold for him at this level. He must develop a mid range shot that he consistently hits when he initially beats his man, which he can do most of the time, however if he tries to go to the basket he will usually get blocked by the bigs.

 

[cuseinseattle]

Oh, our faithful fan Cuse in Seattle, how are you doing today? Are you back home? Are you still here? That was quite the, er, game for you to fly across three time zones to watch!

A night in the dome is better than a night any where else. I’m at faegan’s right now and just had dinner at varsity. Heading to nyc tomorrow

 

[cliftonparksufan]

i hope someone emerges but based solely on last night, while none of the 3 played well I didn’t think they played all that poorly. And of the 3 I thought Girard was the worst (but nothing by much). Had the only turnovers, his strength is shooting and that was poor and he got killed on defense. I hope we don’t see much of Buddy and Girard together. Might be our weakest backcourt defensively in years. I’d prefer to see a platoon type thing. Play Carey and Buddy together and Goodine Girard together.

Pretty sure he put Goodine and Girard in together in the 1st half. But didn't matter who he played, we had nothing going on.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Good news:

We will be forced to get most of our offense via the three ball. Hit most of them when they were good looks and not jacks. Should make a lot of threes when not playing UVA. Hughes, Buddy, Girard all have great strokes.

We don't have to get embarrassed at MSG again this year. Barclays is a better place to lose ugly.

Bad new:

Everything else.

But how many of those guys can create their own 3 ball shot if we are not setting pics or driving and passing back out. And why is Marek hoisting up threes. That's not his game.

 

[two3zone]

But how many of those guys can create their own 3 ball shot if we are not setting pics or driving and passing back out. And why is Marek hoisting up threes. That's not his game.

I remember people talking about him playing the 2 and being a deep threat in his recruting thread.

 

[rrlbees]

Pretty sure he put Goodine and Girard in together in the 1st half. But didn't matter who he played, we had nothing going on.

yea he did.

 

[OrangeDW]

etan's take

Couldve sworn I saw Etan in the crowd behind the commentators. Had to be him, right? If so, did he get put on the video board too?

 

[kcsu]

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.

Fantastic insight. Carey makes a great move beats his man goes hard to the rack the kid makes an excellent play and he is benched because an opposing player makes a great block. Yet Buddy throws up a dozen bricks and doesn't sit. Total baloney by JB. Unbelievable.

 

[two3zone]

Couldve sworn I saw Etan in the crowd behind the commentators. Had to be him, right? If so, did he get put on the video board too?

Yeah him and his son were there.

 

[OrangeDW]

Fantastic insight. Carey makes a great move beats his man goes hard to the rack the kid makes an excellent play and he is benched because an opposing player makes a great block. Yet Buddy throws up a dozen bricks and doesn't sit. Total baloney by JB. Unbelievable.

Forgot that Jalen played like 12 minutes in the first half and we scored 2 points? In that time he hit the top of the backboard, bricked two FTs, and hit all backboard on a layup.

Im sure Jimmy didn’t. You guys aren’t being very honest about this, if you think the poor kid was doing ok and got unfairly pulled just because he got his shot more violently beaten than the little kid did in the Sportscenter commercial by Stuart Scott.

 

[MSOrange]

Forgot that Jalen played like 12 minutes in the first half and we scored 2 points? In that time he hit the top of the backboard, bricked two FTs, and hit all backboard on a layup.

Im sure Jimmy didn’t. You guys aren’t being very honest about this, if you think the poor kid was doing ok and got unfairly pulled just because he got his shot more violently beaten than the little kid did in the Sportscenter commercial by Stuart Scott.

I'm just picking and choosing various threads to scan today. My sanity can't take much more but well done on the Stuart Scott comparison

 

[SmilinBob]

sid didnt get any sort of quick hooks last night

True but I was responding to the Carey not playing and added will happen for the rest of the year.

 

[JRHEETER]

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

lol probably learning Man defense since JB said he would use it a lot this season lol