Virginia “Blows Out” the Tar Heels
Sunday, January 31 2010 by Tim - 1 comments
cAs the broadcast of today’s Virginia/North Carolina basketball game ended, the announcers stated very matter-of-factly that the Cavaliers had “blown out” the Tar Heels. Virginia didn’t do everything perfect in this game… but I think that description was fairly apt. In dominating the Tar Heels for their first win in Chapel Hill in eight years, the ‘Hoos played a game that must have made first-year coach Tony Bennett proud. They held the Heels to just 30 points in each half – and UNC just barely got to 30 in the second half. Even better, they held them to only 5 points in the first 10 minutes of...
Headed in the Wrong Direction?
Wednesday, January 27 2010 by Ben - 5 comments
There's been reason to jubilate over the recent success of the Wahoos. As I've argued to friends and bloggers, the reason for Virginia's success was primarily a function of their offensive firepower. With Landesberg creating in the lane, Scott in the post, and a bevy of three point shooters, the offense was humming. It reached its zenith against Georgia Tech - a top 15 defensive squad - where Virginia scored 121 points per 100 possessions (PPP). I'd argue that the offense has really come in three stages: the "figuring it out", "on fire", and where we are right now. Below, I've plotted Virginia...
Cautious Optimism
Wednesday, January 20 2010 by Ben - 0 comments
While the current ACC standings give us all a little bit of a high - go ahead check them again , last time this week, though - I'd like to tell everyone to take a deep breath. I won't say that I was the first person to sound the "These guys might be better than you think!" alarm; the BP guys have that covered . However, I did quip a few weeks ago before the UAB game that Virginia's bad luck might have been the reason they were a sleeper team. So, I was actually right about something. Hoorah. That still doesn't change what this team is: a middle to bottom ACC team. Which is to say, a pretty darned...
Virginia Playing “Sound” Ball in Win Streak
Sunday, January 17 2010 by Tim - 0 comments
Around 10pm last night, I walked out of John Paul Jones arena and into the brisk weather, a smile on my face and a throng of fellow Wahoos surrounding me. The comments from the crowd were telling: “We’re baaaack!” said an excited father to his son (who, incidentally, was probably too young to remember when we were last 3-0 in the ACC). “Man, that was fun!” said a guy about my age to his girlfriend. “You know, they just played a solid game. It’s as simple as that,” said an older gentleman speaking to another older gentleman. “Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” said one clearly drunk undergrad. OK...
Halftime Pics
Wednesday, January 13 2010 by Tim - 1 comments
Some folks asked for pics from the halftime show at tonight’s game. It was the same show on Monday for the Women’s game against Maryland, and I snapped a few there. Nothing great, but it’ll give people the idea (click for larger)....
How has Virginia been so good at offense?
Wednesday, January 13 2010 by Ben - 1 comments
68, 80, 72, 72, 70 - These are the points scored on Virginia's five game winning streak. They're nice totals, but we're not exactly talking about Tennessee dropping 124 points on UNC-Asheville. In terms of points per 100 possessions (PPP), though, Virginia has been spectacular - averaging 116 PPP during the streak. Currently, Virginia has the 3rd best offense in the ACC behind Duke and Maryland and just ahead of North Carolina. Can't say that's a sentence I thought I'd be writing. Some of that may have buoyed by the great performance versus Hampton (135 PPP). However, they have played very well...
Because it's a special day
Tuesday, January 05 2010 by Ben - 2 comments
Kiddies. It's a special day. Today, EA announced that NBA Jam would be back. OOOhhh.. I spent many a day playing this on my Sega Genesis - the Detroit Pistons were the best. Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas had some mad defensive stats and could shoot threes. I was unstoppable. In other news, I am also a loser. In honor of that, let's look at a power ranking the three-man teams that would make up the ACC - remember you could change out your team at halftime. (Starters in bold ) GT - Gani Lawal, Derrick Favors, Mfon Udofia FSU - Solomon Alabi, Devidas Dulkys, Chris Singleton UNC - Ed Davis, Deon Thompson...
Virginia Has The Best Defense of Its Kind in the Nation
Thursday, December 31 2009 by Ben - 3 comments
Virginia is leading the nation (not the ACC, the nation ) in free throw defense . I figured the arrival of Tony Bennett would usher in a new era of defense for the Wahoos. I just didn't realize what kind of power that Bennett has. The man can move the ball... with his mind. There's no other explanation.Wright Moves Into Tie for Second on Scoring List
Wednesday, December 30 2009 by Tim - 0 comments
Just a quick update here. With her double-double (19 points, 10 steals) last night, Monica Wright helped the Cavaliers win the Marriott Cavalier Classic that they host at JPJ. But the story within a story is that Wright has now moved up into a tie for second on the U.Va. all-time scoring leader board . She is tied with Heather Burge (89-92, twin sister Heidi is at #19) with 2058 career points, one of only three Cavaliers to score more than 2000 points in a career. The other, of course, is Dawn Staley (89-92). Staley has 2135 points, but it is looking more and more like the beloved former Cavalier...
Can we think of Virginia basketball as a sleeper team still?
Tuesday, December 29 2009 by Ben - 0 comments
I can't shake the feeling that this year's team might still break out. If Mike Scott can get healthy... If Assane Sene can learn the defense... If Sylven could start making a few threes...If, if, if. But wait! As you've come to expect of me, I tend bring a few stats to the party. I went to the always awesome kenpom.com and dragged up his "luck" statistic. Now, "luck" basically measures the difference between what we expect from a team, based upon its offensive and defensive efficiency, and the team's actual winning percentage. For this exercise, I'm looking at the teams with the worst luck. Then...