Virginia Predictions...

[sugrad68]

I watched their game last night vs. Texas A&M. Not much of a bench. Dunn is a stud. Not too impressed
with them offensively. Not a strong rebounding team which helps us immensely. But defensively -- damn they are good!! As usual. It would be nice if we were able to speed them up but I doubt it will be possible. I expect the line to be UVA by about 8-10. I think we will click and stun the crowd. 61-55.

 

[mark79]

great post...I actually think Naheem could be a huge key this game as well...if he can dominate the paint, UVA will be in trouble...obviously benny can help there.

i think the keys for SU win will be: 3pt defense and no long lulls in the offense...if UVA takes away driving lanes...what will be SU's answer on offense??

if the offense is successful, I think SU wins.

UVA doesnt seem to have the interior players to hurt opponents...so it will be won or lost on the perimeter, imo

also, many virginia connections on the current roster: brown, judah, JT etc...hopefully a little extra juice there to help find a win. huge game.

really want to beat UVA for once haha

Oh, and we can add Benny Williams to your list. He is from Bowie, Maryland which borders Virginia.

 

[mark79]

I watched their game last night vs. Texas A&M. Not much of a bench. Dunn is a stud. Not too impressed
with them offensively. Not a strong rebounding team which helps us immensely. But defensively -- damn they are good!! As usual. It would be nice if we were able to speed them up but I doubt it will be possible. I expect the line to be UVA by about 8-10. I think we will click and stun the crowd. 61-55.

Good comments.

They will try to shut down Judahs penetration with their extremely aggressive hedging techniques. I would love to see if Judah can burn them with quick passing.

Their physical Virginia hedging and trapping defense is usually allowed in the games I have watched at JPJ and if they are allowed to mug our guards someone else will need to step up.

Finally, Judah will need to get foul calls when he is hit on his drives. It won’t be popular for the refs to call a lot of fouls at JPJ. If he doesn’t get many calls, he will need to adapt quickly and get others involved.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Anybody know why ESPN's matchup predictor only gives us a 10% chance against Virginia? That seems bananas.

Plus Virginia profiles weird. They have two guys averaging double figures and Beekman is their scoring leader at 11.9.

They seem annoying and boring. I'd love for Quadir to show them how to win with some style.

 

[corpjet]

Tony Bennett - 75
Tony Soprano - 79

 

[Ragman2000]

The Saltine Warrior is a bold bad man 76

If the Cavalier was one of the three amigos, he'd be Dusty. 72

 

[mark79]

Anybody know why ESPN's matchup predictor only gives us a 10% chance against Virginia? That seems bananas.

Plus Virginia profiles weird. They have two guys averaging double figures and Beekman is their scoring leader at 11.9.

They seem annoying and boring. I'd love for Quadir to show them how to win with some style.

They are still one of the slowest pace teams in the country even though they do run a bit more than the past. I say press them from the very start. They are not the best ball handling team and we need to take them out of their comfort zone.

 

[SRHoo]

Snows a little bit 64
Snows a lot 59

Hopefully I didn’t butcher that too bad.

Seriously though, this is a different UVa team from the last few years, that is evolving, but has some pretty high upside.

The good:
1. Much better defensive group. Beekman & Dunn are elite. Dunn might be the most physically gifted defender we’ve had in the TB era, and might be playing himself into the lottery despite not being a dominant scorer. This group is much more aggressive in the passing lanes with steals than what you’ve seen previously.

2. Multiple shooters. We’ve struggled some from 3 since the championship season, but McKneely, Groves & Rohde are capable of getting hot. Beekman & Dunn aren’t great shooters, but you can’t leave them open either.

The not so good:
1. We’ve gotten our butt kicked on the offensive glass. Pretty much against every P6 school we’ve played.

2. Weak interior. Blake Buchanan is a freshman, and will be very good. He went toe-to-toe with Florida’s bigs, but hasn’t been stellar against other decent competition. He’s a work in progress, but we don’t have much interior depth. Groves is more 3 than 5, and we have a transfer (Minor) who unfortunately has made no impact so far.

Should be a good matchup tomorrow. Interested to see Cuse without JB for the first time in my life.

 

[Irt4su]

Justin Taylor’s Moms address 58
Justin Taylor’s Moms heart 71

 

[Goin' Deep]

UVa HAS mostly been a pretty physical team .
If officials "let them play", Mintz doesn't get those calls
and this game is first one to 52 wins.

Cuse 62
Cavs 55

 

[Sbucketball]

We need Bell to shoot well in this game, and maybe Taylor and Cuffe too, to win. It won't be easy to score inside. Also need to win the aggregate of the turnover and rebound battle, as both teams are good at forcing TOs but bad at rebounding.

Beekman is going to guard Judah - he's a lockdown defender but has a slightly banged up knee.

 

[M2MPrinciples]

UVA's defense is back to being a menace but the offense still isn't there yet (pace-adjusted).

I think our rebounding performance against LSU while encouraging was a little fluky because so many of them came from missed threes that led to longer rebounds. We'll need all hands on deck on the glass since it's one of the few weaknesses we can exploit if we're conscientious and don't shy away from contact.

UVA sends everyone back in transition, but Judah might be one of the rare guys who can push them there, so that's something to keep an eye on. I'd love to see him get their bigs in early foul trouble, but if he doesn't get calls Red will need to adjust quickly.

Bell and Justin need to be on again since I'm not counting on JJ and Benny to provide much firepower from deep.

 

[mark79]

UVa HAS mostly been a pretty physical team .
If officials "let them play", Mintz doesn't get those calls
and this game is first one to 52 wins.

Cuse 62
Cavs 55

That’s gonna be key. That’s why I want to see us press a lot to get us running and away from their set defense (and get us some layups).

 

[atlanticuse]

Uva 59
Cuse 38

 

[EnviroSciGuy]

Blue and orange 64
Blue and orange 61

 

[JOC44]

Mike Sheehey 97
Tom Sheehey 49