A month ago, a column I wrote, then doubled down on by authoring a follow-up, sticking to my opinion that the finish line may be closer for Tony Bennett than many thought, drew a firestorm of response.
That was after a 76-60 loss in Raleigh against NC State. That was the third of what would become a four-game road losing streak for UVA.
Here are a few of my remarks in that Jan. 6 article:
“Virginia coach Tony Bennett has a young team, and playing some of the younger players will come at a cost.”
I stand by that, a month, and six straight ACC wins later, three on the road.
The Cavaliers followed up that clinker against the Wolfpack with a 19-point drubbing by Wake Forest.
Virginia was simply getting beat on both ends of the floor.
The explanation?
Young players just not experienced enough playing together.
Another excerpt from that January column: “The transfer portal simply isn’t a ready-made solution in Virginia’s complex system.”
It wasn’t.
But six games later, all wins, Bennett has Virginia back in the ACC upper echelon once again.
How?
The transfer portal and players are becoming more comfortable with each other.
Saturday’s 66-65 win at Clemson was an exclamation point to the above-mentioned facts.
And they have me thinking that my comments about Tony being close to the finish line, a perfect example of “revenge, being a dish best served cold.”
Jake Groves and Jordan Minor, both transfers, played a huge part in the Cavaliers win over Clemson Saturday.
Groves, had his second straight sizzling-hot shooting performance, going 7-of-9 from the floor for 17 points, while Minor, who was fantastic today with nine points and nine rebounds.
It’s at this point I can start smelling the crow.
Early January, with UVA 2-3 in ACC play, I wrote Minor off as a “swing-and-miss” in the transfer portal.
Groves?
I assumed he was in Charlottesville because Oklahoma didn’t need him anymore.
Maybe both are frequent readers of AFP.
But without a doubt, my comments about this being the finish line for Bennett was the melting point.
I’m still catching heat about that.
A six-game winning streak will have that effect.
And I’m still not completely backing off that opinion.
I hope later this season that I will, but for now, I say I have cautious optimism regarding Virginia.
The six straight wins are impressive, especially that three have been on the road.
But a deeper dive into the six-game winning streak offers up these facts. Only one team, NC State, has a winning conference record; the composite conference record of all six opponents is 21-40.
Things will get tougher.
Considerably tougher, starting Monday night with Miami in Charlottesville.
Virginia still has remaining games with Duke and UNC, plus a road trip to Blacksburg against Virginia Tech.
But before anyone, or everyone, else jumps to the wrong conclusion that I’m simply hedging off my earlier thought that Coach Bennett may be growing weary of this new world order of college basketball, I am not.
This must be frustrating and satisfying at the same time.
Bennett and the staff are doing an excellent job of molding this group of players into a typical Virginia-like squad and will be a tough out down the stretch.
The frustrating part for Bennett – the offseason will be a repeat of last year. Roster turnover, and again having to wade back into the transfer portal to rebuild the team for another season.
Starting over, again.
As big of a Virginia fan as anyone, I hope Coach Bennett gets comfortable with this annual challenge.
So far this season, he is transitioning fine.
And I’m hoping that cold crow is as good as cold pizza.
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