I know I'm dating myself, but didn't that used to be a column in SI? Think it was during the NFL season.
Anyway...had no intention of fighting Friday afternoon traffic and going to the Morgan State game, but my 11 year old talked me into driving down from NOVA and checking things out at JPJ. We picked up 3 seats in section 305 for under $30, so definitely the "cheap seats". Here's my breakdown of the 2015-16 Hoos after round one...
1. Malcolm - Definitely not his best night, but he's Malcolm. He tends to play best when it counts most, and we probably could have squeaked out a win with Evan and the walk-ons playing the majority of the minutes. If we're still seeing comparable performances in late December, I'll be concerned...but 3 years of history proves we won't.
2. AG & Mike - Both could have scored every trip down. AG missed some bunnies early on, but was just shaking off some rust...he'll be All ACC this year. Mike was pretty much unstoppable, as would be expected against such an overmanned opponent. FWIW I've been Mike's biggest fan and biggest critic (sometimes in the same week), but I wouldn't trade our interior guys for anyone in the conference. I still want to see Mike put it together for 4-5 games in a row though.
3. LP - I'm a little conflicted on LP's role. Like him playing off the ball, and he shot well from deep...he seemed to have a little trouble getting into the flow when not the primary ball handler though. I'm on board with the 3 ball handlers on the floor strategy, but hope LP doesn't get lost in that shuffle. Have a strong suspicion this will all work out, but just a little weird not seeing the offense always run through him.
4. Shayok - Going into the game with MSU, I thought he'd be the leading scorer. He ended up with donut. His looks from 3 were good looks, and didn't think he was forcing things...like Malcolm, just not his best night.
5. DT - Umm...wow. I try not to get too excited about practice reports, but this kid lived up to the hype and then some. Do we really have him for 3 seasons? Filled the stat sheet in every way imaginable and had a 0 in the one area of the stat sheet you want a 0...TO's. He's going to be a handful for teams to gameplan against...thought 36 hours ago that Shayok would be the 5th starter, but how do you keep this kid off the floor?
6. Hall - I've said more than once here that I pull for him as much (maybe more) than anyone on the team. He reclassified, then took the RS, then didn't transfer after last season. I love his game so much, and was so happy to see him perform at the level he did in the opener. With DT & Shayok in the fold, he probably doesn't get that 5th starter spot, but IMO he's a strong candidate for 6th man of the year in the ACC if he plays anywhere close to how he did against MSU.
7. Wilkins - Easy to get lost in the shuffle with how DT & Hall performed, but a very solid performance. He'll play plenty this year and him versus Diakite will be a very interesting battle for the starting PF slot in 2016-17. If he makes the jump Akil did between SO and JR season, look out.
8. Nolte - Always want to see a SR go out on a high note, and he's waited his turn, but I just see too much talent in front of EN for him to have a legitimate chance to start and play major minutes this year. Still see him as a regular rotation player, and I'd be willing to bet we win at least one or two games because he has a lights out performance, but he struggled. Hope I'm wrong, but he looks like #9 in a 9 man rotation.
9. Reuter - Um, another wow. I know he played against better competition in his HS practices at Brewster than he played last night, but this kid has "it". I've followed UVa hoops for a "few" decades, and frankly there have only been a handful of opening night performances that I thought were significantly better, despite only 10 minutes. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm not sure exactly where his minutes will come from this year, but he could be special down the road. Great anticipation, soft touch around the basket and passes like a Guard...just seems to know where to be a half second before he needs to be there. I wasn't expecting much, but came away very impressed.
10. Salt - Love his energy, and he may have gotten the best individual crowd reaction of the entire night. He's not better than Reuter though, so not sure he breaks the regular rotation. That said, I wouldn't cringe if he came in the game against a formidable opponent, and if Jack Salt is your 11th man...you're in pretty good shape.
Anyway...had no intention of fighting Friday afternoon traffic and going to the Morgan State game, but my 11 year old talked me into driving down from NOVA and checking things out at JPJ. We picked up 3 seats in section 305 for under $30, so definitely the "cheap seats". Here's my breakdown of the 2015-16 Hoos after round one...
1. Malcolm - Definitely not his best night, but he's Malcolm. He tends to play best when it counts most, and we probably could have squeaked out a win with Evan and the walk-ons playing the majority of the minutes. If we're still seeing comparable performances in late December, I'll be concerned...but 3 years of history proves we won't.
2. AG & Mike - Both could have scored every trip down. AG missed some bunnies early on, but was just shaking off some rust...he'll be All ACC this year. Mike was pretty much unstoppable, as would be expected against such an overmanned opponent. FWIW I've been Mike's biggest fan and biggest critic (sometimes in the same week), but I wouldn't trade our interior guys for anyone in the conference. I still want to see Mike put it together for 4-5 games in a row though.
3. LP - I'm a little conflicted on LP's role. Like him playing off the ball, and he shot well from deep...he seemed to have a little trouble getting into the flow when not the primary ball handler though. I'm on board with the 3 ball handlers on the floor strategy, but hope LP doesn't get lost in that shuffle. Have a strong suspicion this will all work out, but just a little weird not seeing the offense always run through him.
4. Shayok - Going into the game with MSU, I thought he'd be the leading scorer. He ended up with donut. His looks from 3 were good looks, and didn't think he was forcing things...like Malcolm, just not his best night.
5. DT - Umm...wow. I try not to get too excited about practice reports, but this kid lived up to the hype and then some. Do we really have him for 3 seasons? Filled the stat sheet in every way imaginable and had a 0 in the one area of the stat sheet you want a 0...TO's. He's going to be a handful for teams to gameplan against...thought 36 hours ago that Shayok would be the 5th starter, but how do you keep this kid off the floor?
6. Hall - I've said more than once here that I pull for him as much (maybe more) than anyone on the team. He reclassified, then took the RS, then didn't transfer after last season. I love his game so much, and was so happy to see him perform at the level he did in the opener. With DT & Shayok in the fold, he probably doesn't get that 5th starter spot, but IMO he's a strong candidate for 6th man of the year in the ACC if he plays anywhere close to how he did against MSU.
7. Wilkins - Easy to get lost in the shuffle with how DT & Hall performed, but a very solid performance. He'll play plenty this year and him versus Diakite will be a very interesting battle for the starting PF slot in 2016-17. If he makes the jump Akil did between SO and JR season, look out.
8. Nolte - Always want to see a SR go out on a high note, and he's waited his turn, but I just see too much talent in front of EN for him to have a legitimate chance to start and play major minutes this year. Still see him as a regular rotation player, and I'd be willing to bet we win at least one or two games because he has a lights out performance, but he struggled. Hope I'm wrong, but he looks like #9 in a 9 man rotation.
9. Reuter - Um, another wow. I know he played against better competition in his HS practices at Brewster than he played last night, but this kid has "it". I've followed UVa hoops for a "few" decades, and frankly there have only been a handful of opening night performances that I thought were significantly better, despite only 10 minutes. As I mentioned in another thread, I'm not sure exactly where his minutes will come from this year, but he could be special down the road. Great anticipation, soft touch around the basket and passes like a Guard...just seems to know where to be a half second before he needs to be there. I wasn't expecting much, but came away very impressed.
10. Salt - Love his energy, and he may have gotten the best individual crowd reaction of the entire night. He's not better than Reuter though, so not sure he breaks the regular rotation. That said, I wouldn't cringe if he came in the game against a formidable opponent, and if Jack Salt is your 11th man...you're in pretty good shape.
