Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Podcast Link

So Michael Pittman (@WahooBasketball) was nice enough to ask me to join his podcast with the famous (infamous?) Phony Bennett to recap the first week of the season. The plan is, according to Michael, is to record about every week or two so stay tuned for future shows.

Enjoy!

Friday, November 14, 2014

Let the Games Begin

Nearly eight months ago, I was surrounded by hundreds of utterly dejected Virginia fans, staring at the TV screen of Mustang Harry's, a bar in Midtown Manhattan, just a block away from Madison Square Garden, I was in the exact same place about 6 hours earlier, as the bar was one of a few designated Virginia bars for the weekend. Obviously, the mood was quite different at 1 AM than it was around 7 PM. Before the game, everyone was just so incredibly excited. You could tell just by looking at the number of people wearing blue and orange in this one bar that UVA was going to be well represented in the stands of the newly renovated Garden. I don't even remember people talking all that much about the game beforehand. It just seemed like everyone was so thrilled to be a part of something so "big." Seven hours later, those same people were at a loss for words.

Most of the people who made the trip to MSG, especially those from outside of the city, came into the weekend with a similar plan, which was to essentially "make a weekend" out of the game. I even know plenty of people who made the trip even though they didn't have tickets (which ended up costing a few hundred dollars just to get in the door). So, while the game was obviously the main attraction, I got the feeling that everyone was excited to just experience New York while Virginia was in town. I think this is why I will always remember that weekend as one of the best weekends of my life. A few weeks later back in Charlottesville, I talked with Joe Harris about that weekend and he felt the same way. It was clear that the loss stung, but he too mentioned how amazing the overall experience was. I think the reason why we look back on that weekend positively, despite the pain of such a loss, is because of how big the stage was. It doesn't get much bigger than playing Michigan State in the first NCAA Tournament game at MSG in 60 years. When I left New York on Sunday morning, all I was thinking was, "Man, I want to do this again."

It's easy to think about the "what ifs." What if Anthony Gill didn't hurt his ankle? What if Joe had hit that open three when UVA was building a lead in the second half? What if the refs had called Keith Appling for pushing off of Teven Jones?



This brings me back to Mustang Harry's. We had been in the bar for about 5 minutes when the UVA-MSU highlights started playing on SportsCenter. Some fans walked away from the TVs, some ordered a round of drinks, and others simply prepared to relive their agony. When the Appling pushoff played on the screen, one fan screamed "$%(#" Normally, this is when you'd try and get as far away from the person yelling expletives, but in this context, he was just saying what we were all feeling.

So we, as Virginia fans, could have spent this entire offseason asking "what if." And usually, I'm the first to think about these "what ifs," but for whatever reason, I haven't spent much time dwelling on them at all. Instead, my focus has been on how can we get back to this stage. How can we get to within a few plays of the Final Four? How can we win a National Championship?

These are the questions we are now asking of this program and it's awesome. I can get used to reading articles UVA basketball and seeing the phrase "legitimate national title contender" pop up frequently.

Keys to the Game:

This preview will be short and sweet for a few reasons. First, what I love to do and what I think I'm really good at is analyzing film. Well, there just isn't any film to analyze, at least not of JMU. With the suspensions of Andre Nation and Matt Vodanovich, the Dukes are a completely different team. I don't even think they know what to expect tonight. They only really have two guys that are even somewhat proven. Ron Curry is their biggest threat. The 6'4 Guard from NJ scored 9 pts on 3-7 shooting last year. He's a balanced guard in that he has a decent shot and has enough athleticism to drive to the bucket. I think he could very well have some success against UVA tonight, but the Dukes will need much more than that. The only other returning player who played more than 20 mpg last year is 6'7 wing Jackson Kent. The Sophomore Kent had 4 points against the Hoos last year. He'll obviously be asked to play a bigger role tonight. Personally, I'm not sure he's ready for it. While I haven't seen him since last year's game, I'm going to assume he's still quite skinny. That's a problem against guys like Malcolm Brogdon, Justin Anderson, and Marial Shayok. I have a feeling Kent will struggle unless he heats up from deep. Outside of those two, the other name to be familiar with is Yohanny Dalembert. The half-brother of Samuel Dalembert showed flashes of potential in last year's game. He's a 6'8 PF/C with solid athleticism and decent strength for a sophomore. I remember noticing him doing some nice things defensively and altering some shots. Still, he wasn't able to make any sort of an impact on the offensive end of the floor.

This brings me to my main point regarding this game. Look for Virginia to pound the ball inside. UVA has size, strength, and ability in the post that JMU just cannot match up with. Last year, Anthony Gill went 5-5 and never really broke a sweat. In fact, Virginia's three returning big men, GIll, Mike Tobey, and Darion Atkins, combined for 31 of the team's 61 points. None of JMU's returning post players scored a point. I expect all three of Gill, Tobey, and Atkins to have big games tonight. Also, JMU still has Malcolm Brogdon to deal with as well. I have read that Matt Brady has been tweaking his defenses often in the offseason. If players aren't certain what they're supposed to be doing on that end, you can be sure that Malcolm will take advantage of it.

The biggest area of concern for Virginia is clearly three point shooting. With London Perrantes and Evan Nolte sidelined, who is going to step up and knock down shots? Well, I'm sure Tony Bennett would like the answer to that question to be "No one, because we'll be able to score at will from close range." But if we struggle early and fail to knock down our shots, this one could be closer than it should be.

Still, Virginia just has too much talent, experience, size, and discipline to let the Dukes hang around for too long. This game will be a good experience for a team looking to replace two SR leaders. Opening with a road game in what should be a somewhat hostile arena will prepare the team for its biggest non-conference tests: trips to Maryland and VCU.

I'm looking forward to watching basketball again. I'm excited to see what Devon Hall can do as starting PG,  how Marial Shayok will factor into the rotation, whether guys like Mike Tobey and Justin Anderson have improved their games, and how we play as a team compared to what we looked like last March.

This was a fairly basic preview. As we learn more about the team and the opponents, I'll go into greater detail. Still, I'm excited to be writing about Virginia basketball again. It should be another incredible year.

I've got the Hoos winning 67-45.