It's got to give our guys some confidence to know that they put a good beatdown on Villanova just some weeks ago. Nice also to be recognized with one first place vote. We should have had many more earlier this year before our "well-I'll-de-damned" slide against VT, GT and FSU, but nice to be recognized nonetheless. Our slide may well be what we look back on as the catalyst to greater success that really got its spark with the miracle comeback at Wake. Things are lining up nicely, but we need to keep it going by righting the egregious wrong from Blacksburg when the Hokies come to town this week.

From the ACC:

Virginia senior Malcolm Brogdon has been selected as the Atlantic Coast Conference Basketball Player of the Week, while Duke’s Luke Kennard earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors.

ACC basketball weekly honors are determined by a vote of a select media panel.

Brogdon averaged 24 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals in leading the then-ninth-ranked (now No. 7) Cavaliers to wins over Boston College and Pitt. The Atlanta native shot .684 from the field (13-of-19), including an 8-of-10 effort from 3-point range. Brogdon made all 14 of his shots from the foul line in the two games.

Brogdon tallied a game-high 27 points and six rebounds while shooting 7-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-5 on 3-point tries, in the 61-47 win over Boston College. He added a game-high 21 points (6-of-9 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc) and four assists in the 64-50 road win at Pitt. The two victories extended Virginia’s winning streak to six games, during which time Brogdon has averaged 21.7 points while shooting .583 from the floor overall, .552 from 3-point range and .968 from the foul line.

Kennard averaged 17.0 points – second-best on the team – during a 2-0 week for Duke, as the Blue Devils won at Georgia Tech on Tuesday and earned a home win over NC State on Saturday. The Franklin, Ohio, native shot .579 (11-of-19) from the floor, including 50 percent (6-of-12) from 3-point range, and knocked down each of his six free throw attempts on the week.

Kennard proved the difference-maker in Saturday’s 88-80 win over NC State with 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the floor. He went 6-of-11 from 3-point territory, tying Duke’s freshman record for 3-pointers in a game. The performance also extended Kennard’s Duke record for 20-point games off the bench by a freshman to four, and was his fifth 20-point game of the season. Kennard’s shooting percentage from the foul line (.922) continues to lead the nation.

This is the weirdest stat I've seen in a while, per ESPN's CL Brown:

"May sound crazy but no coincidence North Carolina's Marcus Paige is breaking out of his shooting slump at Notre Dame. The Irish use a Wilson basketball, which Paige has always said was his favorite. Past two years at NC State, which also uses a Wilson, he's 12 of 17 from the 3-point line."

As we saw many threads pointing to a weakness' on the road through our first 3 ACC losses, there were various opinions as to what would turn those wins into losses. Seemed clear to me MB was horrible those three road games, but great at home. There was no middle for Malcolm. ( worked way to hard for such a poor pun) Certainly more than one was a possible fix, especially when 2 of the losses were by a combined 6 points, IIRC. We have played better D, TB seems to be more comfortable with the rotation and the seconds years have played better. My point was we would win when MB started shooting on the road, at least closer anyway, like he does at home. I also felt that was a question of when, not if. Now know too, that I am not thumping my chest saying I was the only one who had this figured out. But check this out. First 3 road games in the ACC MB was 16/48 from the field and 3/18 behind the arch. Last three road games:22/38 and 6/15. Point Diff 1st 3 14.8, last three (road only) 20.67ppg.

Starts in 2018. Should be easy wins by that time and its good for ODU as well. Glad it was ODU and not Ohio St haha

Did the Can newton thread from this am get deleted? I was at work and missed the reason why.

I'll be going on the ACC teleconference in about 20 minutes with UVa's Tony Bennett. Check this thread for notes in a few.

This isn't the same team that we saw earlier. I am not sure what TB did but this team is playing some fantastic D and the offense is running much more smoothly. I am so proud that the guys turned the energy level up when they needed to. Playing like this we can beat anyone in the country and we will finish in the top two in the league if we keep playing with this level of intensity and confidence. Great work team.

I know some other guys on here are Bears fans. How pumped are you for this?

For those of you who aren't Bears fans, but love football, how good were these guys? I watched, but was only 4-5 years old so didn't understand the game like I do now. Just remember that defense took no prisoners and that team was cocky as cocky could be back in an era where they wouldn't be scrutinized for it like they would now.

The Panthers swag has nothing on those Bears. Super Bowl Shuffle was recorded after the Miami loss, yet they still went on to win the Super Bowl. That is swag, that is cocky.

Quite simply teams separate, or get jumbled this week. Between UL, Notre Dame, Pitt, and Duke, who has the toughest week? (hint -- trick question ... the answer is all of them)

UL vs. Duke and ND.
UNC vs. (BC and) Pitt.
UVa vs VT and Duke.
Miami vs. Pitt and FSU.
Notre Dame vs. Clem and UL.
Clemson vs. ND (and GT)
Pitt vs. Miami and UNC
Duke vs. UL and UVa
FSU vs Cuse and Miami.
Cuse vs. FSU (and BC).

Clemson-ND game guarantees loss #5 for one of those teams.
UL-Duke winner plays itself into title talk if it follows up with another win this week. If the loser loses again, they could lose touch with the lead pack.
One of Cuse or FSU will lose #6 this week and make it very hard to make the top 4(5).
The right combination of wins/losses could cull the regular season title down three or even two possible teams this week, or could open it back up to nine.

I'm an unabashed Broncos fan, and I won't apologize for it, but here is my prediction.

Denver's D gets at least 2 turnovers early, which throws Newton off his game. We're way better against the run than everyone is getting us credit for. Peyton throws 2 touchdowns.

Denver 24
Carolina 21

As of 20 minutes ago UVa was 1 game out of first place and UNC no longer holds that distinction. I know, the ban, but I prefer to focus on the reality of what is playing out on the court so Louisville is in first in my mind due to beating UNC. I don't expect that to last. I suspect Feb 27th may be for the regular season title.

The loss ended a 18 game win streak over VPI. We shot 28.6% from the field. The demise of our once proud program is disappointing.

Boy was I ever so very wrong about MB and his leadership. He has really asserted himself with this team and has been the focus of the turnaround. MB is CLEARLY the ACC POY.

CTB has righted the ship and has these kids playing to their potential. CTb always talks about execution and focus- and this team is doing both. The last 2 road games have been classic Virginia Hoops- amazing D surgical offense, intense effort and great teamwork.

When the Hoos play like this, its the most beautiful basketball to watch Dr Naismith smiles from heaven, because a team is playing hoops the way he imagined the game when he invented it.

This turnaround is directly linked to Malcolm Brogdon and Anthony Gill. These two 5th years have taken this squad and shown them how to play hoops the Tony Bennett way. The early ACC funk looks to be a thing of the past

Brogdon is the ACC POY- forget anyone else, and should be co player of the year national with Buddy Hield.

When the Hoos play like this, there is NO TEAM IN AMERICA that we can't defeat. Just keep it up until April guys! THIS IS THE YEAR!

It really has only been three concerns that I have had and two are related. First, the one that stands alone, offense. I have felt like Tony exhibits too much control over the offense and by control I mean not letting them move at a faster pace which I think would behoove them to do sometimes. The 2nd and 3rd are related. I have felt like the complicated principles of the packline D and the extreme focus to it that Tony demands can wear down the team as the season goes on and we see flame outs in the NCAAt.

That said, this is not meant as a thread for criticism. This is a thread with the intent of saying that despite those concerns, when Bennett ball is clicking n all cylinders, it is a beautiful thing to watch. It has taken me years to get used to it, it is not like anything else I have ever seen. The offense is methodical but when we are moving the ball effectively, even that can be pretty. The defense is like a continually fluctuating amoeba.

My dream is that one day one of these runs that we see during the regular season happens during the NCAAt. That UVa will be clicking on all cylinders come late March and April. That is my dream.

I saw this during the UNC vs. Notre Dame game. The 5 teams with the most wins on their home court versus top 5 competition were all ACC teams. Only 4 were historic ACC teams, one was Notre Dame who was in the 3 spot. I found that extraordinary. I know UNC and Duke have been very good but they were 2 of the other 4 along with Wake and NC State. I guess no other conference really has an all time fantastic duo like the ACC. Then I wondered how much of a prerequisite conference affiliation could be if Notre Dame was on the list. They have only been in conferences for maybe 20 years.

We all know the master of the pack line defense Tony has brought to Virginia. Statistically it may not even be close but those early Jeff Jones teams were very good on the defensive end of the floor and I think without looking at statistics off the top of my head we were always either in the top of the ACC in field-goal percentage defense and probably top 10 or 15 in the country as well. To be honest as good as we have been on defense, those teams in the early 90s in my opinion when against teams with better players who could score the ball better, we were solid. I just feel like this is a good topic for debate because both of those defenses were strong, but Tony's system is probably more defense oriented that Jeff's was so it be great to get the board's opinions on this as I've thought about this recently because those teams were not a slouch on the defensive end either.

About 20 minutes or so until the tip up in Pittsburgh between No. 9 UVa and Pitt. I'll be back with starters in a minute and then game updates.

As always, have at it folks...

Evan Nolte's game today was as good as he has played in over 2 years, and I couldn't be happier for him. His 3 pointer from the top of the key was big at the time he hit it, and his defense was outstanding throughout. Our starters are playing so well that when we can get performances like Nolte's today, we can beat anyone in the country. He's worked hard for 4 years, and he hasn't stopped working and playing hard. It's great to see it pay off. Good job Evan!

I have my season tickets. I just watched the highlights of games 2 and 3 of the CWS, and I am fired up.

The next regular season title UVa wins will put us in sole possession of the third most titles ever behind UNC's 29 and Duke's 19. It would be UVa's 8th title. Right now there is a tie for 3rd with NC State who hasn't won one since 1989. This includes ties at the top for all teams. So, some of UNC's 29 were ties and some of UVa's 7 were ties, etc....