Seven Questions for Virginia Basketball to Answer Before the Houston Showdown

With an 8-0 resume that features among the most spectacular wins within the nation, there is no doubt that Virginia stays one of many high 5 groups within the nation at this level within the season. With that mentioned, the final three video games – every of them tight wins by slim margins – have raised some questions for the Cavaliers, who should discover solutions for them with some urgency, particularly with a date with No. 1 Houston on the horizon. 

Luckily for UVA, a favorably-placed 10-day break for ultimate exams provides the crew ample time to relaxation from the latest hard-fought video games, get better from accidents, and clear up some issues in apply earlier than the showdown with the top-ranked Cougars on Saturday, December seventeenth. Among the issues that have to be addressed are merely a matter of getting wholesome – the hamstring/ankle harm to Reece Beekman and no matter situation Kadin Shedrick has that’s inflicting him to be hit within the head in seemingly each recreation, for instance. Others would require some work, like Virginia’s regarding drop-off in free throw and three-point capturing numbers. 

This is seven questions for the Virginia Cavaliers to reply over the break earlier than the matchup with Houston:

1. Will Reece Beekman be 100% wholesome for the Houston recreation?

That is clearly the primary and largest query all UVA followers might be questioning about for this recreation. All issues thought-about, Virginia may play a improbable recreation towards Houston and nonetheless lose if Reece Beekman is not on the court docket. Given the way in which the Cavaliers regarded towards JMU after Beekman exited the sport with the hamstring harm, particularly on the offensive finish, it is extremely clear that each the ground and the ceiling of this crew are considerably lowered with out Reece Beekman. 

Tony Bennett did not have a lot info to supply about Beekman’s situation within the postgame press convention and we possible will not study anything about his progress till pregame warmups on the seventeenth. On a transition layup early within the JMU recreation, Beekman apparently aggravated a hamstring problem which will or could not have been associated to the ankle harm he suffered at Michigan. He was clearly not working at 100% within the second half at Michigan or in your complete Florida State recreation. The Cavaliers did effectively on protection towards JMU regardless of not having Beekman, however they’re going to positively want him towards the Cougars with their speedy and athletic guards. The larger concern is how a lot the Virginia offense regressed with out Beekman, changing into very stagnant and missing rhythm with out his playmaking talents. Kihei Clark took over the offense as he has accomplished incessantly all through his profession, however as we’ll get into later within the article, that model of the UVA offense is much from essentially the most environment friendly.

Defeating Houston would require this crew to be at its finest. Reece Beekman’s worth was confirmed past a shadow of a doubt by the way in which UVA struggled with out him. Virginia head coach Ethan Saliba is among the finest within the enterprise – his efforts to get Beekman proper over the subsequent week and a half is arguably the single-most necessary consider whether or not the Cavaliers will be capable of run with the Cougars on the seventeenth. 

2. How a lot Kihei is an excessive amount of Kihei on offense?

Kihei Clark has been flat-out good this yr. Whereas his determination to return again for a fifth season was met with some blended reactions, Clark has silenced the haters by taking part in among the most effective basketball of his profession. He took a slight step again to let Reece Beekman be the first ball-handler, however has stepped up his effectivity – hitting threes and attending to the basket with way more success whereas limiting his turnovers. When Beekman bought damage, although, all of the sudden Clark was thrust again into the function he performed in 2019-2020, when the Cavaliers lacked a secondary playmaking ball-handler. 

All through the sport towards JMU, there was a variety of standing round ready for Clark to make one thing occur, versus the fluid ball-movement and constant screening motion that had powered Virginia’s offense to its sturdy begin. The end result was a lackluster 55-point effort towards a JMU protection that had given up 80 or extra factors thrice this season. The fault for UVA’s poor offensive manufacturing shouldn’t be positioned on Clark, who recorded 18 factors, seven assists, two rebounds, and a steal whereas taking part in virtually your complete recreation. Clark performed very effectively aside from on the free throw line, the place he uncharacteristically made simply six of his 12 foul photographs after coming into the evening capturing 81.5% from the charity stripe. Fatigue and exhaustion possible performed considerably of a task in that drawback. 

When Beekman is wholesome, the difficulty of “overusing Kihei Clark” will not be actually an issue. Virginia seems to have discovered stability between working him and Clark as the first level guards. The 2 nonetheless share the court docket for in depth stretches, however every of them have realized find out how to be more practical off-ball, which has lots to do with their enhancements as three-point shooters. Whereas some thought letting Beekman run the offense with out Clark is likely to be produce the most effective model of UVA’s assault, it appears the lineups with each Beekman and Clark on the court docket are literally essentially the most environment friendly. 

3. Can UVA get constant, aggressive, and dependable play from the entrance court docket?

A giant a part of Virginia’s offensive woes needed to do with UVA’s incapability to win within the paint and on the glass regardless of possessing a major measurement benefit over JMU. Tony Bennett made the precise transfer to take a seat Francisco Caffaro for the sport, as he would have struggled to maintain up with the smaller, extra athletic JMU bigs. However Kadin Shedrick ought to have had a discipline day on the inside. As an alternative, Shedrick struggled to get good positioning within the low publish and UVA could not get the ball to him. Shedrick ended up taking simply three photographs, making solely of them and ending with two factors and 5 rebounds. 

Shedrick blocked 4 photographs within the recreation, however he was additionally a tad over-aggressive on a few of JMU’s photographs on the rim, which allowed for offensive rebounds and simple putbacks. One in every of Shedrick’s block makes an attempt resulted in a goaltending name on a JMU layup that wasn’t even near stepping into. In an consequence that may solely be attributed to poor positioning on box-outs or a scarcity of effort, Virginia misplaced the rebounding battle 41-33 to a a lot smaller JMU crew, together with 13 offensive rebounds. 

Jayden Gardner offered the aggression UVA wanted within the entrance court docket, scoring eight of his 14 factors within the second half and accumulating eight rebounds. When a JMU 6-0 run tied the sport at 42-42 with lower than eight minutes to play, Gardner went on a private 5-0 run to place the Cavaliers again in entrance. Gardner has tremendously improved his protection this season and rediscovered his groove on offense, scoring in double figures in five-consecutive video games after failing to succeed in that mark in every of UVA’s first three video games. 

His drop-off in free throw capturing is disturbing although. Gardner elevated his free throw proportion from 73.7% in his final season at East Carolina to 79.3% in his first season at UVA. Thus far this yr, he is made simply 23 of his 38 free throws makes an attempt – 60.5%. Whereas there’s a hope that he’ll finally regress upwards to his traditional common, there was a visual change in his capturing type. Gardner appears much less comfy taking the free throws, not utilizing his legs and never giving his shot a lot arc. Gardner might want to get that sorted out in apply as a result of his free throw capturing has been a giant a part of his scoring manufacturing all through his profession. 

4. What is going on on with Virginia’s total free throw capturing?

Virginia’s total free throw capturing troubles should be mentioned in their very own part since free throw misses alone almost value the Cavaliers every of their final two video games. UVA let Florida State hold round late on Saturday as a result of some missed free throws after which the identical factor occurred towards JMU on Tuesday however to a a lot better extent, as Virginia missed 12 of its 24 free throw makes an attempt. Jayden Gardner and Kihei Clark have been the primary culprits, combining to shoot 10/20 from the road. Tony Bennett attributed among the drawback to fatigue from the Cavaliers taking part in high-energy, full crew protection for your complete recreation. That is definitely a worthy excuse, however making free throws on the finish of shut video games is a non-negotiable to be a profitable crew. 

5. How a lot of a trigger for concern is Virginia’s drop-off in three-point capturing over the previous few video games?

Maybe much more regarding than the free throw misses within the final two video games is Virginia’s decline in three-point capturing numbers over the past a number of video games. The Cavaliers began out on fireplace from past the arc – hitting on 44.0% of their three-point makes an attempt vs. NC Central, 52.0% vs. Monmouth, and 64.3% vs. Baylor. Within the 5 video games since then, UVA has shot above 35% from three solely as soon as and that was a 50.0% capturing efficiency on solely eight makes an attempt towards Michigan. Virginia shot 29.4% vs. Illinois, 33.3% vs. Maryland Jap Shore, 26.3% vs. Florida State, and a season-low 23.8% vs. James Madison. The Cavaliers are producing fewer open appears from three and even the open photographs aren’t falling as usually. Among the droop might be attributed to Virginia’s opponents responding to UVA’s early success in capturing threes by deliberately working the Cavaliers off the three-point line and forcing them to get their factors on the within. However efficient inside play from Jayden Gardner, Kadin Shedrick, and Francisco Caffaro can solely get this crew to this point. The three-point capturing should turn out to be extra constant and dependable.

Can Ryan Dunn and Isaac McKneely proceed to be relied upon in late-game conditions?

Ryan Dunn and Isaac McKneely each performed prolonged minutes late within the recreation towards JMU. A part of it was circumstance-based, because the harm to Reece Beekman and foul bother for Armaan Franklin pressured Tony Bennett to go to Dunn and McKneely, respectively. 

Dunn being on the ground late in shut video games is changing into an necessary development and it is a product of his unimaginable on-ball defensive work. The prolonged 6’8″ guard was tasked with defending Takal Molson, who scored 20 factors within the recreation and was virtually solely liable for JMU nonetheless being within the recreation at that time. Molson bought the higher of Dunn for a layup to make it a two-point recreation with a minute to go, however then Dunn responded with back-to-back clutch performs, scoring on a robust baseline drive after which forcing an errant cross from Molson for a turnover to basically put the sport away. Dunn completed with 4 factors, 5 rebounds, and three blocks in simply 19 minutes, a statline that does not almost encapsulate the influence he had on the sport. His two baskets have been the 2 most memorable buckets of the sport, as he delivered a thunderous transition dunk that energized the gang at JPJ and sparked a 7-0 run for Virginia within the first half after which had the dagger layup to place the Cavaliers up by 4 factors with 36 seconds left. Dunn’s capability to not solely provide dependable protection in crunch-time conditions, but in addition play a task on offense is definitely giving Tony Bennett much more cause to belief the younger freshman in key conditions shifting ahead. 

Isaac McKneely, in the meantime, is having some bother discovering his three-point stroke proper now. After making 5/8 threes within the win towards Monmouth, he is made solely 5 of his final 30 makes an attempt, together with a 1/11 mark over the past two video games. McKneely made a few errors on the defensive finish, however with Beekman out and Armaan Franklin in foul bother, he did moderately effectively down the stretch and gave UVA some nice minutes on the finish of the sport. He completed with 4 factors, two rebounds, one help and a steal in 25 minutes. McKneely is not prone to be repeatedly relied on in late-game conditions, nevertheless it’s nonetheless good to see him get that have early in his profession. 

How good can Virginia’s protection be this season?

This is not a lot a query as it’s an exclamation. JMU got here into Tuesday evening’s recreation with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense at 93.3 factors per recreation. Sure, a few of these numbers have been inflated by poor opponents, however the Dukes have been additionally ranked second within the nation in discipline aim proportion. Virginia held JMU to 27.3% capturing and solely 50 factors, greater than 43 factors beneath its scoring common. And the Cavaliers did that with out their finest defender in Reece Beekman, among the best defenders in all of school basketball. 

UVA is now ranked 14th in KenPom’s adjusted defensive effectivity metric. This crew confirmed it could actually rating with the most effective within the nation early within the season. Now, the Hoos are starting to indicate that they will defend at their traditional normal as effectively. The final time a Tony Bennett crew operated at that stage on each ends of the ground, the Cavaliers minimize down the nets on the finish of the season. However, it is nonetheless very early and there is the query of building consistency at each ends of the ground, significantly for the offense which has began to wrestle. The showdown towards Houston on December seventeenth will function an appropriate barometer for what Virginia can obtain this season, win or lose. 

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