I had the pleasure of watching a piece on now-former UVA point guard Reece Beekman yesterday. I must say I liked him before, and after the piece I can say the guy is a class act.
There’s been a lot of time the last few off-seasons here in Central Virginia to lament the seasons that have come and gone, and as Tony Bennett and staff scramble to plug and play, and try to piece together a good product for next season, you can’t help but wonder.
I don’t pretend to me an advanced metrics guy. I mean, I did OK in math until I hit trigonometry, and then, well, let’s just say I’m glad Mr. Morris was a tennis fan (I played tennis for four years in high school and was actually pretty decent). But all of that aside, how much better is UVA if Beekman had exercised the COVID option and gave it another shot next season? I think the short answer is “marginally better.”
In a world where Bennett is looking to have a big guard with a killer instinct like Ty Jerome, it seems like the level of uncertainty for the next floor general remains at a fever pitch. Sure, those teams had multiple guys who could get you a bucket if and when you needed it, but I’m not so sure we have that now, well, I’m almost certain.
I was a member of the hit parade wondering in bewilderment why Andrew Rohde kept getting all the minutes he did.
Especially when he often looked snakebitten on offense and was never a threat to kill you with his shooting ability. Yes, he was a different player up in Minnesota, and he should get some love for that. But UVA is not a top 3 seed in the ACC this last season without Beekman.
I wanna believe UVA will figure it out, heck, even evolve a little bit. Bennett has historically been able to get maximum bang for his buck from guys other major programs wouldn’t roll the dice on.
Maybe it’s point guard by committee, maybe it’s lots of different lineups and a smorgasbord of plug and play. The systems in place aren’t easily learned, we know that.
I want to believe someone will emerge as a reliable point guard. Replacing a guy like Beekman, Jerome, or even the feisty Kihei Clark are not things that the current college basketball landscape easily offers, even to elite programs. And though it’s been a hot minute since our ‘Hoos have had any measure of extra circular success, the program is still elite and I’m still a believer Tony will figure it out but it may have to be with a band and not a solo artist.
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