They just fainted in Charlottesville

[orangecuse]

I'm still not sure why people keep saying this three games in 7 days thing. Don't they usually play three games in 8 days? Does the one extra day really give them that much relief?

Yes, I know we only play 6 guys with any regularity, but I'm sure JB accounts for that during practice time by not beating them up.

Just hate this excuse for poor play. These kids are in great shape, and the college game allows for practically an excess of stoppage in play. Play your friggin bench more JB, especially Roberson. JB should've never made that comment in last night's presser (it game across bush league to me) especially considering the 30 or so hours that the State players had to endure just attempting to get to the Dome.

 

[omniorange]

I mentioned this in another thread, but so far I think you would have to say UVA has played a tougher schedule in conference. By the end of the year that will flip, since we're still going to Duke and UVA, plus Maryland and FSU. But the toughest road game we have played in league so far is @Pitt. UVA has played @Pitt, plus @ Duke. Pitt and Duke are third and fifth in the ACC standings; Carolina is sandwiched between them, both teams have played UNC at home. You've then got 4 teams at 6-6 or 6-7, Clemson, NC State, FSU, and Maryland. We've played 2 games against those teams, State and Clemson at home. UVA has played 5 games against those 4 teams; FSU and Maryland at home, plus FSU, State, and Clemson on the road.

By the end of the season, that will probably flip, cause of the tough road games we have coming up, but so far, we've probably been the beneficiaries of the unbalanced schedule compared to UVA.

W/L and H/A records is one way to look at it. But another way to look at it is in terms of Defensive Efficiency (since defense travels more so than offense).

In that regard we hold the slight edge. We are 6-0 against conference teams averaging Top 50 in the nation in DEff, while they are 5-0. They are 4-1 against conference teams ranked between 51-100 in DEff, while we are 3-0. Overall we are 9-0 while they are 9-1.

When we expand this beyond the conference and look at overall records, we are 10-0 against Top 50 DEff teams, which might be tops in the nation. And 6-0 against teams ranked 51-100. They are 6-2 and 4-3. So overall 16-0 vs 10-5.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[samspann1]

This from a UVA basketball fan? Seriously, you haven' t been relevent since Sampson. This season so far is about as good as you could ever hope.

are you forgetting about the glory years of Bryant Stith, Cory Alexander and Curtis Staples?

 

[orangecuse]

LOL. A Syracuse fan talking about gifts and opposing team incompetence. Priceless. You should do a little research or maybe even watch a game. We've won nine of our 12 conference games by double figures and led by 20 or more in the second half of eight of those games, including winning at NC State by 31. Looking forward to March 1.

You guys are having a great season no doubt. Makes you kind of wonder though (based upon the stats you mention) why UVA isn't getting more respect or ranked higher nationally. Maybe, the ACC is just an average at best league this year, I don't know? The 31 point win I witnessed at State, imo, was one of those games where the margin was not really a reflection of the winning team's superiority, but more along the lines of you're not as good as your best win and not as bad as your worst loss...or something like that. Good luck the rest of the year.

 

[omniorange]

It's "your" ceiling. Must not have studied in the excellent Communications department at your University? Not too worried about what our ceiling is, I'm pretty happy with the way our season has played out and the future looks good as well. As for you guys, we'll see what happens, but in my book your team is the weakest No. 1 I've seen in any sport since Luke Donald!

Cheers,

Oh, the grammar police got me again. What are you, 6 years old?

The Wahoos future trajectory, assuming they have a future at all, is similar to Pitt, but without the refs and the game itself to make it sustainable. In other words, it's coming about a decade too late.

In case you haven't noticed, the NCAAs want more scoring in all sports. And the clutching, grabbing, and shoving Bennett's teams are notorious for getting away with now will be less and less as time goes on. Dixon at least began to see the light and tried playing a different style for a while until Durand Johnson got hurt.

But I'll give the devil his due in that his "pack-line" d will likely be effective against SU since our best players are drivers and not spot up mid-range jump shooters. Their d will definitely test the patience of both our forwards, Fair and Grant.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Knicks411]

W/L and H/A records is one way to look at it. But another way to look at it is in terms of Defensive Efficiency (since defense travels more so than offense).

In that regard we hold the slight edge. We are 6-0 against conference teams averaging Top 50 in the nation in DEff, while they are 5-0. They are 4-1 against conference teams ranked between 51-100 in DEff, while we are 3-0. Overall we are 9-0 while they are 9-1.

Interesting way of looking at it; is it really true defense travels more than offense? I know it's a thing people say, not sure how true it is. But I'm not sure how true it isn't, either.
But I still believe on some level you have to adjust for home and road.

 

[wallacecuse]

are you forgetting about the glory years of Bryant Stith, Cory Alexander and Curtis Staples?

Oh yeah, didn't they beat Kansas to get to a Sweet 16 or something, 18 years ago? Seriously, this is Pitt-level dialogue.

 

[310Pigpen]

LOL. A Syracuse fan talking about gifts and opposing team incompetence. Priceless. You should do a little research or maybe even watch a game. We've won nine of our 12 conference games by double figures and led by 20 or more in the second half of eight of those games, including winning at NC State by 31. Looking forward to March 1.

Your team has a great nickname btw :rolling:

 

[orangetrojan]

LOL. A Syracuse fan talking about gifts and opposing team incompetence. Priceless. You should do a little research or maybe even watch a game. We've won nine of our 12 conference games by double figures and led by 20 or more in the second half of eight of those games, including winning at NC State by 31. Looking forward to March 1.

 

[omniorange]

Interesting way of looking at it; is it really true defense travels more than offense? I know it's a thing people say, not sure how true it is. But I'm not sure how true it isn't, either.
But I still believe on some level you have to adjust for home and road.

For a game whose ultimate goal is to win 6 games on neutral courts, I think road wins, while nice, don't come close to telling the real story.

Look at Pomeroy who just recently said the Shockers road win over St. Louis is more valuable than any of our home wins. And in terms of perception he could be right.

Yet St. Louis' home record, which was 12-1 when he made this statement, had been achieved by playing only three teams in the Top 50 in DEff. The Shockers (at 8) and then two other teams in the 40s. The best home win by the Billikens actually happened yesterday when they beat VCU. Meanwhile we have beaten at home Nova, Pitt, Indiana, Eastern Michigan, UNC, and now Clemson, all Top 25 in DEff.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[cusefan88]

UVA has lost double digit games every year for the last decade. I guess everybody has to have a moment in the sun. Ralph Sampson is not coming through that door...

 

[SRHoo]

It would be silly for me or any UVa fan to argue our place in history against Syracuse. From 1981-1995 we had a very respectable 15 year run with 2 FF's, and 3 other Elite 8's. It hasn't been pretty since 1995, but Bennett has the program on the right track, and I'm confident he'll have us near the top of the ACC and a regular in the NCAA's for a long time.

The pleasantries...I have nothing but respect for Boeheim and your program. He's built Syracuse into a national power without the storied histories of Kentucky, North Carolina, UCLA, Indiana, etc. He's done it the right way, with good talent, but without rosters loaded with Burger Boys. He has a system in place, and IMO is one of the best x's & o's guys in the business...probably ever.

This Syracuse team deserves the #1 ranking, and despite close games, you've managed to do something no one except Wichita State has done...avoid tripping up. We haven't done that, you have. That said, this is a VERY different UVa team from the one that was finding its identity in Nov & Dec, and lost some we shouldn't have OOC.

However, when I look at 'Cuse right now, I see a team that isn't very deep, and a little vulnerable. Future could certainly prove me wrong, but I feel good about our chances in Charlottesville.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

It's "your" ceiling. Must not have studied in the excellent Communications department at your University? Not too worried about what our ceiling is, I'm pretty happy with the way our season has played out and the future looks good as well. As for you guys, we'll see what happens, but in my book your team is the weakest No. 1 I've seen in any sport since Luke Donald!

Cheers,

Pretty ballsy to crticize someone else's spelling in a post replete with spelling and grammatical errors.

 

[jncuse]

W/L and H/A records is one way to look at it. But another way to look at it is in terms of Defensive Efficiency (since defense travels more so than offense).

In that regard we hold the slight edge. We are 6-0 against conference teams averaging Top 50 in the nation in DEff, while they are 5-0. They are 4-1 against conference teams ranked between 51-100 in DEff, while we are 3-0. Overall we are 9-0 while they are 9-1.

When we expand this beyond the conference and look at overall records, we are 10-0 against Top 50 DEff teams, which might be tops in the nation. And 6-0 against teams ranked 51-100. They are 6-2 and 4-3. So overall 16-0 vs 10-5.

Cheers,
Neil

Basically they played at Duke, we played Duke at home. That is the only difference.

Its going to be a good game, and its nice to have a different rival this year other than Duke.

 

[tbonezone]

while i fully appreciate the thoughtfulness put into this post i would hope that you might realize that rooting for syracuse is indeed in your own best self interest. you are currently ranked #17th in the polls with 5 losses. you ain't ever gonna hop us in the polls. your best hope at bettering your own standing would be in facing an undefeated syracuse team march 1st. why would any thinking cav fan have rooted for the wolf pack?

 

[Alsacs]

This thread is dumb. UVA on 3-1-14 will decide the ACC regular season, but ALL I CARE ABOUT IS MSG ANDbeing the East 1 seed.

 

[Knicks411]

For a game whose ultimate goal is to win 6 games on neutral courts, I think road wins, while nice, don't come close to telling the real story.

Not the whole story, but my point was it's different playing a top 50 team at home than on the road. (using the criteria you were using above). Saying we have x top 50 wins and someone has else has Y top 50 wins doesn't mean much too me without some adjustment for home/road.

And I think there might be too much focus on defensive efficiency. Eastern Michigan is really good defensively; they are 14th overall, but the offense is terrible. I mean, they rank (a lot) higher than Duke defensively, but do you really think the two are comparable?

 

[Knicks411]

while i fully appreciate the thoughtfulness put into this post i would hope that you might realize that rooting for syracuse is indeed in your own best self interest. you are currently ranked #17th in the polls with 5 losses. you ain't ever gonna hop us in the polls. your best hope at bettering your own standing would be in facing an undefeated syracuse team march 1st. why would any thinking cav fan have rooted for the wolf pack?

Because they want to win the regular season title.

 

[tbonezone]

sorry but would they not do that with a victory over us? (assuming 1 loss each) yet in the big picture it's a much bigger fish no ? just think it thru.

 

[Knicks411]

sorry but would they not do that with a victory over us? (assuming 1 loss each) yet in the big picture it's a much bigger fish no ? just think it thru.

They would do it if they beat us. But if we lost one this one, there would be a chance they could lose to us and still beat us out.

I think you are overestimating how much of a difference there would be for seeding purposes between beating us if we had beat State and if we hadn't. They might get more press on ESPN or whatever, but not much in March.

 

[tbonezone]

if they lose to us it's a moot point. over. realistically.

 

[Knicks411]

if they lose to us it's a moot point. over. realistically.

I think you're right it's coming down to that game. If they lose to us, they'd need us to end on 3 losses. If we lost last night, and then lost to Duke, is it possible we lose at Maryland or Florida State? There's a chance, but then again, UVA would need to win at Maryland

 

[longislandcuse]

What's Marylands deal? Are they any good? Layman looked NBA mode out there against Duke.

 

[SRHoo]

What's Marylands deal? Are they any good? Layman looked NBA mode out there against Duke.

Maryland has plenty of talent, they've just underachieved. Had them 6th in the league in the preseason.

 

[rrlbees]

Maryland has plenty of talent, they've just underachieved. Had them 6th in the league in the preseason.

Where did you have SU? Who were your top 5? Just curious?