Dear Old U.Va.

Wahoo in review - Solomon Tat

Monday, April 13 2009 by Ben

Each week we'll be taking a look at one player on the Virginia basketball roster: how they did, where they were good, and, where they were bad.  Today's featured player is... Solomon Tat.

Virginia's Solomon Tat had a truly bizarre year. 

Think about this: Tat got almost as many DNP-CD's (11) as he did starts (8).  He wasn't injured at any point.  Even more strange is that, during those 8 starts, he only averaged 8 minutes per game. 

I honestly thought it was a decent idea that Dave Leitao moved Mike Scott to playing with the second team and Tat into the starting lineup.  In the basketball world, being a "starter" is a rather overrated moniker. In my mind, finishing is more important than starting.  Besides, sometimes being the #1 guy on the second team can do a lot for a team and the player.  Ask Lamar Odom or Manu Ginobilli (before the injury).

However, why start Tat if you're only playing him all of 4 minutes (Wake Forest)?  How can he make that much difference in a short period of time?  It remains another mystery of the Leitao era.

Surprisingly, Tat's short reign as a starter can be considered mildly successful, at least on the defensive end.

Make no mistake about it, though, Tat remains an unmitigated disaster on offense. 

He doesn't know how to create shots for himself or anyone else.  He's got hands made of gypsum (which, to be fair, is a rather soft stone).  The most number of field goals he took in a game was 4 in 21 minutes against BC. In that game, he scored a season-high of... two points.

Tat's defense, however, is a different story.  The guy is 6-5 and, you need tickets just to see him, because Mr. Tat puts on a heckuva gun show.  Effort is also never an issue with him.  He uses his strength as leverage against on somewhat quicker small forwards the defensive end.  He works his butt off on D and I think it showed a lot to the younger guys on defense as the season wore on. 

During his starts, even though he didn't play that much, Virginia improved immensely in terms of defensive efficiency, rising in rank (nationally) from the 120's to 64th.

In his senior season, for a new coach, Tat probably won't play "starter's minutes" (although, that might mean a bump up for Tat).  His limited offensive skills just won't allow for it.  However, Tat can be a guy Virginia can count on, for short stretches, to play a disruptive role on defense.

Update: Apparently, Tat had microfracture surgery on his right knee and is out of commission until late July.  Thanks to Kris from the Good Ol' Blog for pointing this out.  Incidentally, does anyone know of someone coming back from microfracture surgery that soon?

Past Wahoos in Review

Calvin Baker