How far would Virginia have gone?
- Thread starter GillJET
- Start date
It’s hard to say. He was the most important player to their success...by a long shot. He also would have spent a lot of time guarding the wing (already forgot his name) from UMBC.
I thought this was the year uva was going to finally have their best shot. It would be be interesting to see how things could have played out w/o the Hunter injury.
I thought this was the year uva was going to finally have their best shot. It would be be interesting to see how things could have played out w/o the Hunter injury.
hard to know how much the Hunter injury affected the psyche of the other UVA players, but I don't think a missing 6th man alone overcomes a 20 point loss.
Its so hard to say. Theres that old Dean Smith quote which Sky, Dirt, Topps and some others remember no doubt: "For the NEXT game w/o a star player a team becomes MORE DANGEROUS, because the team BANDS TOGETHER to offset the loss." Smith then contended it was the 2nd game w/o said player that the team would feel the loss most.
I bring this up because I really thought w/Bennett's TEAM ORIENTED style the Cavs would still dispatch UMBC w/o Hunter w/relative ease, and somehow claw its way PAST a second game and maybe still get to the FF.
Ironically its the 2nd straight year the ACC TOURNEY champ didnt make it out of the first weekend. Even w/the Hunter injury still hard for me to believe. I feel for Bennett because in some respects I liken his situation to the gorilla K was carrying even as the best young coach in America: the inability to win a final four. Obviously Tony carries a different gorilla- unable to make it to a FF.
OFC
I bring this up because I really thought w/Bennett's TEAM ORIENTED style the Cavs would still dispatch UMBC w/o Hunter w/relative ease, and somehow claw its way PAST a second game and maybe still get to the FF.
Ironically its the 2nd straight year the ACC TOURNEY champ didnt make it out of the first weekend. Even w/the Hunter injury still hard for me to believe. I feel for Bennett because in some respects I liken his situation to the gorilla K was carrying even as the best young coach in America: the inability to win a final four. Obviously Tony carries a different gorilla- unable to make it to a FF.
OFC
Virginia will be good again next year, however, I don’t know how great they will be in the tournament though. I believe Guy and Jerome will be Juniors next year. I’m not sure what years the rest of the players are going to be though.
Guy and Jerome tend to be the type you might overlook or slide under the radar at times (typical Bennett type players) but both those guys get the job done and can shoot the rock...
OFC
We get it. You had a crush on Dean Smith.
I agree, though. W/o Hunter, not many would have predicted them to get out of their region and wouldn't have held it against them. They still shouldn't have had any problems getting passed UMBC w/o Hunter. That they did, and that they got blown out, tells me they wouldn't be playing tonight regardless.
We get it. You had a crush on Dean Smith.
Yeah right
Its funny, once Lefty Driessell took a MD team to play a UNC team to play at Chapel Hill late 70s/early 80s. Maryland big Charles Pittman ( a solid player ) had just gotten hurt, yet the Terps nearly pulled off the improbable upset. El Deano said after the game the Terps were SO MUCH TOUGHER to beat the first game w/o Pittman because the other guys banded together.
Word got back to Lefty, and the lefthander said "Thats one of Dean's great basketball tidbits." Not a lot of love lost there....Speaking of Driesell, congrats to the Duke grad for becoming enshrined this year in Basketball's HOF....
#RightOnLefty
OFC
Last edited:
Exhibit A: Hunter averaged only 20 minutes per game (season high of 30 minutes once).
Exhibit B: Prior post season history under Bennett
2012: Most wins by UVA in 17 years; lost in NCAAT by 26 to 7-seed Florida
2013: NIT
2014: ACC champs; 30 wins (19-2 in ACC games incl. ACCT); lost to 4-seed MSU in S16
2015: ACC champs; 30 wins (17-3 in ACC games incl. ACCT); lost to 7-seed MSU in first weekend
2016: 29 wins; lost to 10-seed Syracuse in E8
2017: lost by 26 to 4-seed Florida in first weekend
2018: ACC champs; 31 wins (20-1 in ACC games incl. ACCT); #1 overall seed; lost to 16-seed UMBC
Verdict? They blew it
Exhibit B: Prior post season history under Bennett
2012: Most wins by UVA in 17 years; lost in NCAAT by 26 to 7-seed Florida
2013: NIT
2014: ACC champs; 30 wins (19-2 in ACC games incl. ACCT); lost to 4-seed MSU in S16
2015: ACC champs; 30 wins (17-3 in ACC games incl. ACCT); lost to 7-seed MSU in first weekend
2016: 29 wins; lost to 10-seed Syracuse in E8
2017: lost by 26 to 4-seed Florida in first weekend
2018: ACC champs; 31 wins (20-1 in ACC games incl. ACCT); #1 overall seed; lost to 16-seed UMBC
Verdict? They blew it
I don't know. I said all along when UVA came up against a gritty team in the tourney that was shooting hot from 3 they could easily go down. They were definitely a tough, well coached team and they handed us an L at Cameron, but IMHO they could not score in bunches if/when the time came that they needed to do so to erase a deficit. Instead, they got down double digits and panicked. If UMBC didn't get them some other team would have before the FF.
One of my few regrets from this season is that we didn't get a second game against them.
Alan
One of my few regrets from this season is that we didn't get a second game against them.
Alan
Lefty is one of the all-time great smack-talking trolls. In Pat Conroy's memoir about playing ball at the Citadel (My Losing Season, which I highly recommend), he mentions that Lefty, then coach at Davidson, used to address opposing players loudly, telling them they were being underused and underappreciated at their current school, and how much better use he could make of them.
K was still a whippersnapper when Lefty was at Maryland, but considering the way he trolled Dean, I imagine he'd have caused K a few slightly less black hairs had he been around another 5-6 years. I probably appreciate Lefty more today b/c that's primarily hypothetical.
Dont forget Dean Smith was one of the great all-time smack talkers too, it just gets less play in NC. Marc Iavaroni at UVA, Iker Iturbe at Clemson were both called "dirty players" by Smith, and UK's Rick Robey had his mother's character questioned by Smith in an expletive deleted tongue lashing after a UK/UNC NCAA Tourney contest in the 70s.
OFC
Lots of good points against UVA, but this was their best season under Bennett. They really had a great season, not some fluke or something. And then that side of the bracket opened up big time.
As far as UMBC blowing them out, I wouldn’t put much into that. Watching that game, you could see the Virginia guys absolutely panic, and who could blame them? They knew they were staring down some infamous history.
As far as UMBC blowing them out, I wouldn’t put much into that. Watching that game, you could see the Virginia guys absolutely panic, and who could blame them? They knew they were staring down some infamous history.
Notre Dame was ACC Champ in '15.
2 losses each to MSU and Fla? And the 2 Fla losses were blowouts? Crazy.
Re: Exhibit A, keep in mind that Hunter was a freshman. He played in single-digit minutes four times, all w/in UVa's first 13 games, at which point he was averaging just 15 minutes per game. He edged out Jack Salt for 5th in mpg on the year. That speaks to his increasing importance as the season went along. And he was 6MoY in the ACC, too. I wouldn't downplay his importance to UVa.
Re: Exhibit B, that more than validates picking against them even w/ a healthy Hunter, but correlation and causation are different. History has nothing to do w/ it (not inherently, that is).
Yeah, they blew it, though.
Oh, they've all talked at some point. I don't really consider most of K's or Dean's rhetoric smack talk, so much, though. There was an element to Lefty's that left you wondering whether he was serious or just teasing. K and Dean may have come across as whiny or bitter or petty or passive-aggressive or whatever, but rarely would I say they were straight-up trolling.
Here is the deal
The NCAA tourney will expose any weakness.. and will break your heart.
believe me i know.
1986 - that ws a heart breaker there.
1994 - Grants senior year - he could have had 3 rings!
1998 - K's first loss in a regional title game. still don't see how we lost that one
1999 - best team to not win a title
2004 - JJ's 3 rimmed out - would have sealed the deal
but we had the unexpected too
magical 2010 and 2015
who knows what 2019 will hold...
The NCAA tourney will expose any weakness.. and will break your heart.
believe me i know.
1986 - that ws a heart breaker there.
1994 - Grants senior year - he could have had 3 rings!
1998 - K's first loss in a regional title game. still don't see how we lost that one
1999 - best team to not win a title
2004 - JJ's 3 rimmed out - would have sealed the deal
but we had the unexpected too
magical 2010 and 2015
who knows what 2019 will hold...
Last edited:
They will never break through in the tourney with their style. Can’t win 6 consecutive games in the tourney scoring 71 ppg. Big fan of Tony Bennet but they are what they are.
My thoughts exactly. I think they have to score more points to win 6
I think Virginia can win it with their style. They just don’t allow themselves much room for error.
Similar threads
