Just a quick note to say thanks for your excellent coverage of UVA Basketball. I discovered you a couple years ago and realized your (unpopular) perspective aligned with mine regarding the limitations of Tony Bennett ball in the changing dynamics of the NIL transfer portal era.
What was always a gimmicky scheme to limit possessions (slow!) and be offensively efficient with overzealous D, Bennett was always fishing for talent from a very shallow pond.
It was simple to see that with increasingly progressive rules for transfer, the gears were going to grind if Bennett wouldn’t materially change his scheme. And boy, have they ground.
The next four months will be important to see where Carla Williams heads for our next coaching hire and hopefully a complete programmatic reboot to a more stylistically appealing model securing talent to get us back to a perennial top 10 program.
That is, if Carla is still living in the hook this spring.
Jay
I’m not of the mindset that it will be Carla Williams who will make that decision. I’m still tracking down whether she will sign an extension with her contract set to expire in May.
Tony Bennett stepped aside because he, wisely, realizes that his approach won’t work in this era. Credit to him for being able to admit that, and not just continue to collect checks for the next seven years.
Until recently, I was of the same line of thinking about Tony doing more with guys who had been overlooked, but in retrospect, he had some guys – Malcolm Brogdon, Joe Harris, Justin Anderson, Ty Jerome, De’Andre Hunter, Jay Huff, Trey Murphy and Sam Hauser (transfers, one year), more recently, Reece Beekman and Ryan Dunn – who were going to be NBA guys no matter where they played.
The issues that led us to where we are now: a couple of big recruiting misses (Casey Morsell, Jabri Abdur-Rahim); COVID hitting right after the national title, limiting our recruiting momentum; and then the advent of the NIL/transfer era.
I’m confident that the folks over there will get it right.
In the meantime, it’s weird being in the middle of a UVA Basketball season without the pressure (and fun) of following a good team.
*****
Great article this morning. You captured my frustration with this year’s version of the ‘Hoos. I was at the game, and left early in the second half. I knew exactly how it was going to end.
I have been an ardent fan since my first year at UVA in 1980. This is the first time in 44 years that I left a game before it ended. They have thrown in the towel for the season. No one is having fun, and the product is simply unwatchable.
Oh well, a new coach and a slew of new players next year may hopefully change the trajectory. Welcome to college basketball in 2025!
Michael
Last night was the first time that I had to fight the urge to turn the game off and just start writing.
The first minute of the second half was the end – the and-one basket, the third foul on Jacob Cofie, leading to him being benched for the next eight minutes, which was the start of the downhill slide.
This season has the feel of Dave Leitao‘s last season. I wrote after the loss to Liberty that he was going to be done, at a point where UVA really didn’t do that kind of thing – Leitao was in Year 4 of a five-year deal – but even then, we saw the writing on the wall.
Ugh. It’s going to be a long winter.
*****
Two comments. I feel bad for Dai Dai Ames. I know nothing about the guy, but he can handle the ball fairly well and create his shot.
Without him, the offense that they run is not going to produce many wins, especially since their defense has gone downhill. I get the feeling that it’s a team going through the motions. Everyone is waiting for the axe to Ron Sanchez to fall, and then most will transfer.
I also enjoy your Ron Sanchez quotes, where you show his “you knows.” Most people use various connectors such as “like”, “umm”, “so”, etc. I hope Sanchez sees his press conferences and sees his quotes so he can try to correct his “you know” habit. Like, you know what I’m saying?
Rob
I get the feeling that the guys have checked out as well. This is a rare winter for us.
On the “you know” thing: when I was first starting out in radio, 20-plus years ago, my wife, who has a broadcast communications degree from Virginia Tech, would give me a count on how many times I said “umm” or “you know.”
That bit of humility was a big help.
*****
Tony Bennett walking away may have been a good thing for him, but the timing was horrific, and to see him back in the building a week later and ongoing, smiling with Carla Williams is just beyond hubris or comprehension.
Looking back at the Bennett years, he definitely had some high-level talent that worked in the program and have worked in the NBA. He also had talent that works at other university programs, but not in his rigid, D-first, no transition game. See Dai Dai Ames. Those are recruiting mismatch failures.
When he was hired to be the UVA Basketball coach, he said his limited possession style was a necessity due to the talent imbalance, and he’d let up on the reins when he had better players. Well, we know that never happened. Just like the “offensive adjustments” that were to be the hallmark of this year’s team, LOL.
His regular-season success was very impressive, but so were his post season collapses, and no one should ever buy the “redemption” story for 2019. Back to back was the goal. Or three-peat.
I digress.
Congrats on your success with AFP!
Jay
The biggest UVA Athletics surprise of my lifetime will be TB’s inability to take the next step after the 2019 championship. He still ran his program like a guy who was having to roll the ball uphill. His first pillar – humility – may have been his undoing.
I’m the luckiest guy in the world that I make a good living covering UVA sports. The little kid who grew up worshipping Ralph Sampson, Terry Holland and George Welsh 40-some years ago wouldn’t believe that possible.
Share
Chris Graham
