Word leaking out from inside the UVA Basketball program is that the coaching staff is frustrated with redshirt freshman guard Christian Bliss, who has yet to suit up this season after suffering a foot injury in the preseason.
Now, officially, no, we’re not hearing any of that frustration, to the point that interim head coach Ron Sanchez, asked about Bliss during his weekly ACC Zoom call on Monday, came across as being understanding.
It doesn’t take much to read between the lines, though.
“Well, right now, you know, Christian has, you know, the opportunity to step on the floor and practice. He’s just not feeling, you know, good enough to get on the floor. And you know, that’s a player decision. You know, we as coaches aren’t going to force him to get up if he says that my foot is bothering me, you know, and I don’t feel like I can perform at the level that I want to,” Sanchez said.
That’s practically War and Peace from Sanchez, who has sidestepped questions on Bliss for weeks by quickly saying Bliss was “day to day,” or, when he was asked about Bliss after Virginia’s 70-50 loss to Louisville on Saturday, going with a simple and direct, “I have no update on Bliss.”
ICYMI
Sanchez could certainly use some help at point guard. Dai Dai Ames, who has started 11 games at point this season, has been relegated to limited minutes off the bench for the past two games, with Sanchez appearing to signal that the Kansas State transfer might not be a good fit with the Tony Bennett-influenced offensive approach, since Ames is more of a shoot-first guy than a distributor at the point.
The only other pure point guard on the roster is junior Andrew Rohde, with Sanchez trying to get freshman Ishan Sharma, recruited as a perimeter shooter, to learn how to play point on the fly.
Sharma got 15 minutes, to Ames’s nine, in the 70-67 win over NC State last week, then got 17 minutes, to Ames’s 10, in the loss to Louisville.
You may remember the backstory with Bliss, a former four-star recruit – that he bypassed his senior year of high school after committing to Virginia, deciding it would be more valuable to his development to serve a redshirt year while getting better playing the likes of Reece Beekman, now in the NBA, in practice every day.
Seemed like a solid plan, until Bliss had that redshirt season behind the scenes cut short by an ankle injury that required surgery.
The 6’4” New York City product figured heavily into the plans for the 2024-2025 season before the preseason foot injury that still has him on the sidelines.
“We’ll continue to nurse him,” Sanchez continued his answer on Bliss on Monday’s Zoom call, “and our doctors have done a fantastic job with him. You know, right now, it’s a decision that, you know, he has to feel good enough and comfortable enough and confident with his foot in order for him to get on the floor.”
Asked a follow-up on whether team doctors have cleared Bliss, Sanchez said he would have to address that to his training staff.
“I think that right now, we’ve done everything we could,” Sanchez said. “This is more of a player feeling, you know, if he doesn’t feel healthy, then, he’s not.”
Video: What’s up with Christian Bliss?
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Chris Graham
