Tony Bennett and Jamie Dixon

[PeteCalvin]

The reach you're making with your Ennis story is pretty impressive. Nowhere close to true.

Then what's the real story? seriously, I'd like to know.

 

[Cowtown]

That's an interesting thought, PeteCalvin. As a believer in the law of many inputs, I'll say it's possible something like that was in the mix. The team's level of play had begun trending downward 3 or 4 weeks before the "blue shorts" game. What was responsible for that, I don't know/can't say. Maybe we just plain weren't as good as the undefeated record showed. Had the record begun to dog us and teams came prepared to give us their best shot? I'm sure that was part of it. The "short bench fatigue" and injuries angles were almost certainly part of it as well.

But whatever the reason, I and many others here had become frustrated watching Ennis dribble around the perimeter, possession after possession after possession using up most of the shot clock with no real attempt to create a scoring opportunity until there was only 5 seconds left. If I'm CJ or Rak, I'm wondering "Is it my breath? My deodorant?" If I'm a potential recruit, I'm wondering "Why can't the coach deal with that?" As a fan, I'm still asking why Boeheim and/or Ennis couldn't/wouldn't adjust. For as the tournament approached, everyone could see he was still playing a game that had long since been proven as no longer viable.

 

[realorange]

The bloom is off? They were the #1 overall seed. They lost their best player. Absolutely they still should have won. There are maybe 5-6 programs in the country that wouldn't hire Bennett immediately if he left UVA.

But there are a 100+ that would.
Tony Bennett is getting a lot of crap for this one game. Loose your dynamo off the bench and that can happen along with UMBC playing the game of their livesl

Think about the games we would have lost if we didn't have Waiters coming off the bench?

 

[Cusefan0307]

If you only can win playing one style you’re at a disadvantage when you get punched in the mouth.

 

[malpearl31]

That's an interesting thought, PeteCalvin. As a believer in the law of many inputs, I'll say it's possible something like that was in the mix. The team's level of play had begun trending downward 3 or 4 weeks before the "blue shorts" game. What was responsible for that, I don't know/can't say. Maybe we just plain weren't as good as the undefeated record showed. Had the record begun to dog us and teams came prepared to give us their best shot? I'm sure that was part of it. The "short bench fatigue" and injuries angles were almost certainly part of it as well.

But whatever the reason, I and many others here had become frustrated watching Ennis dribble around the perimeter, possession after possession after possession using up most of the shot clock with no real attempt to create a scoring opportunity until there was only 5 seconds left. If I'm CJ or Rak, I'm wondering "Is it my breath? My deodorant?" If I'm a potential recruit, I'm wondering "Why can't the coach deal with that?" As a fan, I'm still asking why Boeheim and/or Ennis couldn't/wouldn't adjust. For as the tournament approached, everyone could see he was still playing a game that had long since been proven as no longer viable.

That Ennis team had some similarities to this year's squad - both played at a real slow pace and both teams struggled from 3-pt range. That Dayton game was one of only 2 times in the past 10 years that SU failed to make a 3-pt basket. Hard to win when you're 0-fer from long range...

 

[Ghost]

But there are a 100+ that would.
Tony Bennett is getting a lot of crap for this one game. Loose your dynamo off the bench and that can happen along with UMBC playing the game of their livesl

Think about the games we would have lost if we didn't have Waiters coming off the bench?

I think all things considered Bennett is faring pretty well - it's a horrible circumstance, and perhaps it's just retrospect, but I feel like JB took it much worse for the Richmond debacle. I think you get a decent mix of opposing voices now just because there are sooooooooooo many more voices that are accessible. Then, the narrative seemed to just be, "how embarrassing." That was about it. Here you get some counter-narrative as well. Doesn't dull the pain if you're a UVA fan...but it's something.

 

[bnoro]

Then what's the real story? seriously, I'd like to know.

He wasn't even looking at the NBA until he saw where he was when the season ended. He wrote a paper before the season started about one-and-dones and how he wouldn't be one.

 

[Ajflood12]

The bloom is off? They were the #1 overall seed. They lost their best player. Absolutely they still should have won. There are maybe 5-6 programs in the country that wouldn't hire Bennett immediately if he left UVA.

I wouldnt personally want him given the brand of basketball but I wouldnt want him going to another ACC school