http://www.streakingthelawn.com/virginia-cavaliers-basketball/2015/3/3/8145557/ncaa-basketball-virginia-cavaliers-justin-anderson-louisville-cardinals

Appears he's likely to be back by Saturday. Don't care if he plays one or two minutes. Still a GREAT sign about how the rest of the season will go.

This guy ALWAYS brings a smile to my face.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/ncaa-college-basketball-rankings-top-12-wichita-state-shockers-big-12-maryland-terrapins-notre-dame-fighting-irish-gonzaga-bulldogs-kansas-jayhawks-wisconsin-badgers-arizona-wildcats-duke-blue-devils/

Last joke is particularly funny.

I am so sick and tired of hearing about Virginia basketball being boring. If you know anything about basketball at all, you realize that is a thing of beauty to watch. It is really tiring when defense is so revered in other sports. There is nothing like a 1-0 or 2-1 game in the baseball playoffs or a defense in the NFL being shut-down. Some of the most bally-hooed teams in history are because of pitching or defense. Look at the Atlanta Braves pitching staff or the Bears defense. I really don't give a crap if any of the talking heads like it or not. I used to watch the NBA when they still played "some" defense, but honestly don't watch it at all anymore. While at times, UVa's offense can be a grind to even watch, there overall team play and defense truly make it a masterpiece to watch. Not many people complained that you didn't score 8 or 9 runs off of Mariano Rivera in an inning. And talk about boring, he threw 1 damn pitch every time and you knew it was coming and couldn't hit it.

Just had to get that off my chest. These idiots on television are useless.

we just wanted to get to semi-final Saturday in the ACC tournament?

we just wanted to get into the Big Dance?

we wondered why Tony couldn't recruit a point guard?

we wondered if we'd ever win an ACC basketball championship again?

we wondered what it would be like to be Duke or UNCheat and be the dominant team in the ACC with the best coach and constant national accolades?

This season:

how much we would miss Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell?

how many games we would lose with Justin Anderson out?

what happened to Anthony Gill?


You know, it's a weird, weird feeling to be where we are. We have the best team in the ACC and are among the top teams in the nation. We may have the best coach in the nation. It's not "we hope we make the big dance" but "how do we hold on to a number 1 seed." For those of us who have been around for a long, long time, it's the Twilight Zone. We're not really sure that it's real, but we don't want to wake up if it isn't.

We have the national media Duke mafia hating on us and wanting rule changes to try and stop us. If there's any sign that we've hit the big time, that's it!

Does Salt from what people have heard at practice have the toughness to finish at the basket that Tobey doesn't?

I know he is still growing, but time is running out for him. If he could just finish easy baskets at the rim he would get 10 a night. Now looking back at it, wish Tobey would have taken a RS. Very glad we had enough deep Salt could.

"We didn't want it to take that long, but we definitely had to feel our way through the zone," Perrantes said. "Once we found our way, it was over."

Love Perrantes Quote!

Check out the latest episode of the CavsCorner Podcast, as we look at UVa's run to a second straight ACC regular season title and break down things heading into next week's ACC Tournament in Greensboro.

CavsCorner Podcast: Episode 103 (44:46)

Granted, we stil have the ACCT and the NCAAs to go, but you take a group of kids with talent, but nary a burger boy to be found, implement a system that will revolutionize basketball (just wait, before any massive change to something new the protests mount from those reluctant to face reality) and win in often dominant fashion over good teams all the while overcoming significant injuries. On top of that, he has created a team of players who play the game with consummate sportsmanship. Seriously, there is no other coach in his league unless you want to give the nod to Calipari for his ability to get so many one-and-dones to Lexington.

The kid had a really good playoff game last night. With Guy, Jerome and Sacha we have the core of a great class.

http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/high-school/2015/03/03/kyle-guy-leads-lawrence-central-past-jimmy-kings-roncalli/24352469/

Last night was crazy and not typical of UVA basketball. The turnovers and sloppy first half play. Gill had 5, Brogdon had 7, and Atkins had 3.

But I want to talk about Evan Nolte who has been the topic of much debate on the board. He doesn't fill up the offensive stats sheet but damn if you can't count on him to play a clean floor game. This has been the norm all year for him, too. He had 0 turnovers in 31 minutes to go along with 2 assists and 2 steals. He has had 11 turnovers all year in 456 total minutes. That is less than one turnover per 40 minute game. It actually averages out to a turnover every 41.45 minutes.

Let's contrast that with the other players. Brogdon averages a turnover every 19.87 minutes. Perrantes has one every 23.39 minutes. Justin has one every 24.88 minutes. Gill has one every 20.65 minutes. Atkins every 22.51 minutes. Tobey every 22.06 minutes. Shayok every 23.8 minutes.

Now, there are variables to consider. One is, Evan isn't a point guard. Also, he is not the focal point of the offense. That out the way, when he is on the court he values the ball and is trusted with it. It is not as if UVA tries to keep the ball out his hands. As a matter of fact, he helps bring the ball up the court many times when the other team is pressing the UVA inbounds. He knows better than to try and do it all himself and gets the ball out his hands at the appropriate time, never taking any unnecessary dribbles. Evan plays smart and when you have a turnover per minute rate twice as good or better than all but one of your teammates (he doesn't double up Brogdon or Gill), well, you are going to make your coach very happy. This may finally be the reason why Bennett keeps playing him that so many have been wondering out loud about. I may have helped locate the golden nugget. You are welcome.

Also, he has been more confident on the offensive side, lately. Yesterday he produced 6 points and 3 rebounds.

As I have the times UVa has done the Saturday/Monday deal, I decided against running a Weekend Wrap and went with a Tuesday column instead. Here, I look at how the Wahoos were able to lock up another ACC regular season title last night at Syracuse. And to me, it's about the mental and physical toughness UVa has shown for the past two seasons and the fact that the Hoos never relent.

Toughness leads to another ACC crown

Adrian Branch on Katz Korner just chose Duke as his team from the ACC that he would take to go deep into he NCAA Tourney. I have no problem with that choice if that's what he believes but my issue is with his reasoning and lack of knowledge in his choice. He chose Duke over UVA because as he out it UVA is a "one trick pony" , doesn't extend leads, and our pace leads to lots of close games. UVA is ahead of Duke in margin of victory and with Anderson, which Katz pointed out to him would be back, was right there in offensive efficiency. It's ok not to like our style or believe in Duke to make a deeper run but it's bothersome the lack of knowledge media members have when justifying why they don't want to believe in this team or like this team. I have said it again but on Sat March 14th I hope we get our chance at mighty Duke again.

I know we won last night, but we can't have a game like that again turning the ball over. We got sloppy early and late. Anderson will help some, but Hall and MS looked lost vs. the pressure.

With new information about UNC's ongoing cheating scandals, knowing Roy Williams is either the dumbest coach ever or at the heart of it, which I believe, as he was the one who benefited the most from it. I believe it is part of his job to overlook his players academics both for eligibility and attendence.

Jim Boeheim had an assistant coach that was a pedofile or just played ball with the ball boys. Now has some major infractions that he had to initiate or was certainly involved with.

Coach K, our Olympic coach, very ethical, bulls**t! He knew about Suliamon last year and only dismissed him from the team because an assistant to the program found out about it and quit her position and blew the whistle, otherwise Rasheed would still be part of the esteemed Duke basketball team.

Rick Pittino, loving family man, embarrassed both his family and university with a wild affair. Probably not as bad as the other Hall of Shamers but definitely not role model material.

Are these coaches good role models for student athletes and aspiring coaches? In my opinion they bring embarrassment to not only the ACC but College basketball. Let's hope they all retire soon before they bring more damage.

Hoping for a close game. Georgia is 19-9 and would like to solidify their tourney chances. They have won 3 in a row. They lost by 11 at Kentucky so they show signs of being able to hang. The line is -10.


I want the #1 ranking.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/03/virginia-uva-basketball-acc-champions-tony-bennett-justin-anderson-records

Gill had 7 offensive rebounds, and the entire Cuse team had 6. Perrantes outrebounded Christmas 5 to 4. We could have lost this game with our excessive turnovers, but we destroyed them on the boards.

http://johngasaway.com/2015/03/03/tuesday-truths-lessons-of-history-edition/

Still burns me that UVA went to the NIT in 2013...

Big 12, Big 10, Big East, according to Andy Katz. These 3 conferences are projected to make the biggest noise in NCAAT.
Katz did project UVA would get to final 4. However his terp sidekick says we are boring and won't go further than sweet 16.

No team ever from outside of the state of North Carolina has ever won back-to-back outright ACC regular season championships.



EVER!!!

Looks like Harold will be late 1st- early 2nd
Harris 3rd-4th round
With those times Max will only be able to play 4-3 end and needs to gain weight. 5th-6th round maybe?



Edge-rushing prospect Eli Harold put forth an impressive enough workout at Virginia's pro day Monday that could have upgraded his stock for the 2015 NFL Draft.

Harold, who measured at 6-foot-3 and 247 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine, performed a 34 1/2-inch vertical jump and did 24 strength lifts of 225 pounds at the pro day. He stood on his other numbers from the combine. Harold -- who is the 26th-rated prospect in Daniel Jeremiah's Top 50 rankings -- looked good in the position drills, showing a good burst with his hand in the ground.

Max Valles, OLB (6-5, 251) -- Valles ran the 40-yard dash in 4.88 and 4.84 seconds. He had a 36-inch vertical jump and a 9-9 broad jump. He stood on the rest of his numbers from the combine.

Anthony Harris, SS (6-1, 183) -- Harris, who was identified by CFB 24/7's Mike Hugueinin as one of the prospects facing a pivotal pro day, was unable to work out due to an injury. Harris only did the 40 at the combine, running it in 4.56 seconds.

Based on their workouts at Virginia's pro day, these two prospects are potential priority free-agent signings for NFL teams following the draft:

Henry Coley, MLB (6-1 1/8, 239) -- Coley ran the 40 in 4.95 and 4.98 seconds, so there is concern about his speed. Coley was a second-team all-ACC selection in 2014 and one of four team captains for the Cavaliers.

DreQuan Hoskey, CB (6-0, 180) -- Hoskey ran the 40 in 4.49 and 4.55 seconds. He had a 34-inch vertical jump and a 9-foot-11 broad jump

The last update to our ACC Power Rankings is now live on the front page and linked below. Have at it, folks!

Updated ACC Power Rankings

So what else is new with Duke alums - But fetus is taking up for us, essentially says we do everything right on O, not our fault we play such good D that other teams take 30 seconds to get a shot off and said what are we supposed to do, play crappy d and let 'em score to up the pace?

They're getting ready to tip it up in about 20 minutes up in Syracuse, as the No. 2-ranked Cavaliers will look to lock up another ACC regular season title against the Orange. We'll have game updates in this thread shortly.

As always, have at it folks...

Does anyone know if it's possible to get tickets within one of the visitor sections for the Louisville game this Saturday? I've never known how those sections get filled but I'm within driving distance and figured someone on the board might know. I'm an alum but not a VAF donor if either is relevant.