Reece Beekman: DNP
Reece Beekman was in sweats on the bench during Virginia’s 66-46 win over Albany last night. UVA coach Tony Bennett hopes the rest will get Beekman closer to full health with the bulk of the ACC schedule looming.
“We need Reese as close to 100 percent as possible, and it just, I think it’s improving, it just didn’t feel quite right. And we decided let’s give him a full week and then reevaluate,” Bennett said.
Beekman injured his ankle in Virginia’s 70-68 win over Michigan on Nov. 29, then injured a hamstring sometime between then and the 55-50 win over JMU a week later, when he reinjured the hamstring and had to depart after playing just four minutes.
The junior hasn’t been 100 percent or anywhere near since the first injury, and his health has been a big factor in Virginia’s sluggish play of late.
There was a school of thought that Bennett may have rested Beekman for the games with Houston and Miami, but he was out there, limping his way to four points and five assists in the 69-61 loss to Houston, and looking better against Miami, going for 10 points and nine assists in the 66-64 loss.
“A hamstring pull can take a little while, so we’ve got to be as smart as we can, and just respond and read how he’s feeling and keep giving great rehab and then rest,” Bennett said. “So, this will be a good seven-day period, and we’ll reevaluate, and hopefully he’ll be good to go, but you know, it will always be what’s best for him.”
Still searching for the right lineup combinations
With Beekman on the sidelines, Bennett went at the start with Isaac McKneely as the third guard, alongside Kihei Clark and Armaan Franklin, and he also made a change in the post, starting Ben Vander Plas with Jayden Gardner, Vander Plas replacing Kadin Shedrick in the starting lineup.
He was rewarding Vander Plas for his output in the loss at Miami, in which he scored 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
BVP didn’t end up getting much out of the opportunity. Bennett lifted him after he picked up a foul at the 18:02 mark of the first half, and then he went to the bench for the rest of the half after picking up his second foul at the 8:17 mark.
Vander Plas ended up getting just 15 minutes, scoring three points on 1-of-4 shooting and pulling down two rebounds.
McKneely didn’t light things up, either. The freshman had five points on 2-of-7 shooting, three rebounds and two assists in 28 minutes of floor time.
“I mean, without Reece, it changes our dynamics,” Bennett said. “I tried to start with Ben and Jayden and see a different look. You know, Ben obviously played well against Miami. He picked up two quick fouls, or a quick foul and then picked up another one, so then we ended up bringing in Kadin, who gave us a nice lift off the bench and did some good stuff.
“We’re still trying to, in a way, find the right rotations, and then this throwing in, you know, without Reece, it changed things,” Bennett said. “When Kihei’s off the floor, we’ve gone big at times. Got to play Ryan (Dunn) some, played some three, some four when he got in there. So, it’s good to get looks at those guys. I thought Francisco (Caffaro) did a good job.
“So, yeah, really valuable to get all those guys looks, but we needed to play, and you know, that’s college basketball. You guys get tired of me saying that line, but if we’re not right, anybody will play with us, and if we’re right, we’ll play with anybody, and that’s just reality,” Bennett said.
Early offense
Some fans – and some of my colleagues on media row – get frustrated watching Virginia walk the ball up the court when it seems that there could be more opportunities to get good early looks from at least occasionally pushing tempo.
Virginia did actually get 14 fast-break points last night, including eight in an early stretch of the second half that included a couple of open threes, so, there’s that.
Bennett was asked his thoughts on early offense, and how it fits in with what he wants to do, both offensively and defensively.
“I have no problem with a rhythm good shot, and on to the next. I think that has to be the mindset,” Bennett said. “This generation has a different mindset, for the most part, than probably the way, you know, I was coached, or the way others were, so you just think you push hard, but there has to be a balance of encouragement.
“When guys, you know, maybe they miss a shot, or when you see them drop their heads, don’t even do that. Take that shot, great shot. Because you never know, you watch the NBA, these great players, they’ll miss a bunch of shots, and then all sudden, they get on a roll.”
Nice bounceback game for Armaan Franklin
Since his 26-point outburst in the 86-79 win over Baylor on Nov. 18, Armaan Franklin had scored an average of 6.2 points per game over the last seven, including putting up a goose egg on 0-of-7 shooting in 13 minutes in the 66-64 loss at Miami on Dec. 20.
On Wednesday, Franklin poured in 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, with a nice variety of threes, midrange jumpers and rim runs.
“I challenged Arman after the Miami game, and he came back and he practiced really tough and hardnosed, and I thought he brought that into the game,” Bennett said. “The shots he took, the way he defended, and again, I always tell our guys, very few guys can play so flawless and perfect, you’re gonna make some mistakes, but can you play through and beyond and get to the next play and not let it affect other parts of your game.
“I thought that’s what he did, and then you know, he got some pull-ups, he got obviously some transition threes, couple good drives, and just really locked in defensively, so that was good, and even in the Miami game, I thought he defended well, but he just had a hard offensive game, which happens at times, but I thought he bounced back well,” Bennett said.
Franklin, who missed his first four shots before hitting a jumper at the 12:37 mark of the first half, said it was important to “see one go in.”
“I know I got a couple good looks in the beginning, they just didn’t fall,” Franklin said. “So, just being able to track more, try get closer to the rim, see a couple go, get back to, you know, the midrange pull-up, which I’m pretty, pretty good at, I feel like, then just going from there, and just trying to be aggressive and stay on the attack.”
Muggsy
Kihei Clark, who had eight points and 10 assists, changed the atmosphere in JPJ with back-to-back backcourt pickpockets of Albany point guard Malik Edmead.
Bennett said he told Clark afterward that he hadn’t seen that happen before, but then remembered an NBA teammate, Muggsy Bogues, do that in a Charlotte Hornets game.
“You just don’t see that. Because once a guy picks your pocket, when you get picked, you’re like, OK, I’m gonna, like, no more. At least that’s how you think,” Bennett said. “But he just guessed. And I think he wanted to go for a third one, right? Like, don’t you dare pick up another foul. But that was good. Because it got the crowd into it, but it, yeah, just ignited our defense.”
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Chris Graham
