Tony Bennett = Pre-"Fool's Gold" Self?
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He said afterwards he forgot he could not move…
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Let’s imagine how we would play them.
First… we would have to really prepare to play them. In March, we would want to face them in the first game of the weekend, because we would need the week to prepare a specific game plan.
I confess… I haven’t watched them very much this year. They aren’t one of my favorite teams so their games can get boring.
I think I’d put all my focus on pace. Pace and defensive rebounds, and of course, defense. If we can get them into a low scoring %, and we hit the boards, we have a great opportunity to push tempo. Primary and secondary breaks. We would want to LIVE off of these! Let’s see how good their transition defense is, and what it will be after a while of being pushed up and down the court.
I think teams like Kansas pose the real threat to Virginia. A 4-guard offense that actually pushes tempo, and one dominant big in the paint. Doke will have to keep eating his Wheaties and developing his game more.
When we get stuck in half court offense, we need to push motion, and feed Doke for inside/out. Run them, run them, run them.
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Doesn’t West Virginia beat Virginia every year? That would be a bad 4-5 seed for Virginia. I really don’t feel bad for the ACC teams having to play Virginia once or twice when all the Big 12 teams have to play WVU twice. (Same difference)
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Yes, Virginia…there is a Santa Claus…
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@approxinfinity I’ve watched them a couple times this year, and I think their offense looks like a high school team.
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Personally I would throw a zone defense at Virginia. I think they do an excellent job of executing sets. Its not like Virginia does anything extraordinary to score but they execute so well, they screen well, they cut with purpose and guys share the ball.
Jerome & Guy are stone cold from outside and Hall is a junkyard dog. Hunter, the kid who made the 3 to beat Louisville is a really good young player, he’s only 6’7 but bouncy and has an insane wingspan (7’4) which allows him to play the 4 when they go big or the 5 when they want to switch all 5 on defense.
Back to why I would zone Virginia. Because I think it takes them out of their comfort zone. I mentioned execution is a reason why they have been so good. They limit how much guys have to make individual plays, its smart because I don’t think this Virginia team is a gifted scoring team. Guy is the one player that can create and they feature him the most but everyone else thrives because of well executed sets. I think it would give KU an edge because scoring on them is extremely difficult. You get forced into their pace because that’s what they do. In today’s age you think how hard can it be? Watch them and you realize just how locked in guys are. They get loose balls, they get tough rebounds, they force pressured shots. It’s not just their starters, its their bench as well.
Guard play would be the reason we’d prevail. Simply having 4 guys who can score. Marcus is coming around as well and honestly he’d fit like a glove defensively on Virginia. Guard play can beat them but it has to be a 1-4 (or 5) commitment.
Doke would be neutralized because I’ve yet to see a team that ISO’s them effectively on the block. Their pack line mentality would stop Doke from catching the ball and powering in. Bagley had some success against them but he’s got a wide array of moves and skill that Doke is still developing. We’d be smart to run a lot of pick and roll with Doke at the top of the screen and have him roll hard to the basket. We’d get some lob action out of it or an open shooter in the corner.
As good as Virginia has been in the regular season they struggle in March. I don’t see this team being different then past teams that have underachieved. This isn’t a terribly experienced bunch either going into the tournament. It’s a different beast. I have my reservations about how far they can go
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If KU can move the ball the way it was doing it against OU that Bilas called it a thing of beauty, it can get wide open shots. I am not sure UVA has seen anything like it…obviously OU had not.
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UVA, first 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed. Final Score: 42-41. They are the only team I could see losing to a 16 because the style they play gives them such a low margin for error. When is the last time a 1 seed played as slow as this UVA team?
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42-41? Only if the play 2 OTs.
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JayHawkFanToo said:
If KU can move the ball the way it was doing it against OU that Bilas called it a thing of beauty, it can get wide open shots. I am not sure UVA has seen anything like it…obviously OU had not.
Well to be perfectly honest the OU d will make your O look pretty darn good…
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Virginia’s issue will always be their lack offense. When they have to outscore someone, they can’t do it.
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Hey…they scored 67 last night…
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@JayHawkFanToo They’ve only reached 70 twice in ACC play. They can’t score enough against good teams having a good night.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 it seems they have the capacity to, since they shoot 38.7% from 3.
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KU vs Virginia in the F4 yuck. 10-15 seconds of offense followed by 40 seconds of D (rebounding is an issue).
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Virginia would be a real bad match up for us. Fortunately, the Final Four is when it would happen at this point it would appear.
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@JayHawkFanToo If the ball is not touched when you throw long the in bounds comes back to where the pass came from.
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Adel shuffled his feet once no one was initially open. Adel or Padgett should have called timeout as soon as the initial read wasn’t open to get it in bounds
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I’m not worried about Virginia. 1 Elite 8 appearance in 12 years of coaching for Bennett.
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Very interesting read. Clearly, you know more about Virginia than I do.
So much of my background education has been about controlling pace. I usually go there in strategies. Play at a good pace for us while forcing our opponent into a bad pace for them.
I know Bennett. Everyone focuses on his defense. Yes… his defense is outstanding. But it is his ability to control pace that really stacks up victories for him. I even think his sputtering offense helps further slow the pace. He limits possessions and he puts teams to sleep.
All of our guys, in the locker room, should punch each other in the face before going onto the court to play them. That creates instant adrenaline. It’s an old boxing trick that works.
We should then do it at halftime, too.
I know that sounds nuts. But consider the real strategy used by Virginia is to bring out a huge, soft, comfy mattress on the court for their opposition to sleep on!
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Watching Va is akin to waterboarding. The time you spend hoping you die and wanting to survive significantly overlap (as I understand).
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@HighEliteMajor If I was a UVA fan I’d appreciate the winning. As a fan of basketball that doesn’t care about UVA though…barf.
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I forgot to get back to my theory of zoning Virginia and how it would change the tempo of the game.
Everything Virginia does is a calculated move. Deliberately bringing the ball up slow, a disciplined defensive approach that puts the offense in a reaction mode that often frustrates the hell out of teams. They run primarily all their action in the last 15 seconds of the shot clock. KU takes a shot on average every 16 seconds.
Virginia likes to split the court in two, they run these 2 man action sets that some how confuse the heck out of defenses. I’ll take the duke game for an example. Statistically duke likes to play at a faster tempo then KU. And Virginia was able to make them play to their will. Virginia also had a ton of open shots created by executing sets to precision. I’m sure Duke broke down film and it still didn’t help them for most of the game it seemed. Duke wasn’t playing zone against them at the time and I thought it was a mistake because taking them away from running their man defense sets is a strategy I think someone like Self can use. What if Virginia takes the first available shot against a zone, what if their tempo changes by not being able to rely on getting shots they practice to get everyday for months. I think a zone would force them into a game where they shoot below average. I could be wrong, but it’s one way a team could force the tempo in a different direction.
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approxinfinity said:
@Texas-Hawk-10 it seems they have the capacity to, since they shoot 38.7% from 3.
I have seen them a couple of times and they are a very disciplined team and they ONLY take 3s when they are wide open which explain the high % and why they don’t take many shots.
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Remember, a team like UVA is susceptible to … waiting for the irony to kick in … a hot shooting team. UVA doesn’t worry me at all. If we’re on (not even “hot”), we win.
And @BeddieKU23, I think you’re on the right track. I think we keep a team like UVA thinking. Spring a full court press every 10th possession, hard pressure, token pressure, possessions of zone, then switch screens, then don’t switch. I do like zone vs. UVA. But I don’t think they get to the FF.
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Spot on. I agree , UVA probably runs into a hot shooting low seed team and goes out early. Maybe a Farokhmanesh relative is playing for a low seed team.
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Bravo!
