The title sums it up. I don’t really think anyone else deserves to be written about. Or deserves any respect from this game (If there is a person, it’s Marquis Rankin. Kid put it all on the line last night and didn’t hold back).
Erick is a top 5 player in the nation. He can get a shot off in any situation, and will most likely make it. He EMBARRASSED everyone that tried to guard him. Jontel Evans? Ha, nice try “best on-ball defender in the ACC.” Doug Browman? Yeah, he’s still on the ground from that broken ankle. Erick is ridiculous. THIRTY-FIVE points. 35!!!!!!! That’s the most against UVa since JJ Redick’s 40 in 2006. At one point in the second half I wanted him to shoot every time down the floor. Pull-up from three. I’d much rather have that than Jarell Eddie with a silly turnover or Robert Brown forcing a shot.
It is the single most frustrating thing to watch a player try as hard as possible and have the rest of his team almost give up on him. It reminded me a lot of the Orange Bowl against Stanford, when Tyrod literally had to do everything while the rest of his teammates disappeared.
HE HAD NO HELP. Jarell was the second leading scorer with 9. But it took him 11 shots to get there. He made TWO of them. When he had an open three I expected him to make it. That’s what he’s good at. He is a junior, don’t you think by now he would be able to consistently score game in and game out? We NEEDED him. He had a couple open threes in the first half that could have gotten our team started off right. Miss, miss, miss.
Robert. I have no comment. He’s my favorite player. I tend to defend him and cut him a little bit of slack, but he needs to figure out his shot. Maybe he needs a change in mechanics? Something has to change.
Let me give you a quick little summary of the game, or how it went in my mind at least. UVa 3-pointer. UVa 3-pointer. UVa 3-pointer. E.G. 3-pointer. E.G. 3-pointer. UVa 3-pointer. UVa 3-pointer. UVa 3-pointer. Unacceptable.
I saw a lot of people that got upset at Coach Johnson and have already started to give up on him. His in-game adjustments we’re practically non-existent. With that said, look at the spot he was put in. 7-8 scholarship guys. Many of which he didn’t recruit for his style of play. I say wait it out. Let him get who he wants. Let him FULLY implement his style of play. Let him have a full bench so he can go all out.
The scariest thought of all though, what will we do without Erick?
Comments
Next year we might not win a game, and no I'm not joking, we literally might go winless. And I agree that it is in no way JJ's fault, but he's going to be fired after next year. There's no conceivable way to keep him and it's unfortunate because he might actually be able to be a good coach. But we'll probably never find out.
Maybe in ACC play.
Hell, there's even a chance we could finish this season at 2-16. I highly doubt it'll happen, there will be a couple games that enough players show up to that we'll get the W.
But I honestly think that with our current lineup, next year is going to be terrible. 0-18 is a real possibility, unless a couple guys step up.
But, there's no way we go completely winless, we should still beat the Georgia Southerns of the world. Oh wait...
You guys are scaring the piss out of me....because you may be right.
Thats just ridiculous.
We will make the NCAA tournament next year. Mark my word. You heard it here first.
Just after we make the Final Four this year, right?
Hot seat
This season started off fast and has cooled down considerably. The team is probably at where most people thought they would be, just didn't get there the way they thought. I just don't see JJ being on the hotseat this early. He is going to have to get a couple recruiting cycles under his belt before anything is done and with Smith already here and 4 guys coming in next year, the change is already in place.
I think the hot 7-0 start masked what a rebuilding process this would be. Erick Green might be the best player on the floor in every game we play from here on out, but after that, we don't have much. I figured Brown and Eddie would blossom, especially with all the attention Green gets from defenders, but they haven't been overly impressive.
Doh-Doh (yes I spell it like Homer Simpson would say it) was expected to be a major contributor this year, and at the very least Montrezl Harrell could have added minutes off of the bench. It's a credit to JJ that he was able to get Green to come back for his senior year, Wood to enroll, and is is squeezing all the potential he can from non-scholarship players. It's unfair to criticize JJ because he's only halfway through his first season, has no previous head coaching experience, and he has a budget staff to lean on. However, life is mostly unfair, and it seems JJ's seat is starting warm (already). Jim Weaver deserves a ton of blame. Based on performance, I don't think Seth deserved to keep his job, but the timing of his firing was totally botched. Weaver doesn't spend big, and you don't bargain shop the night before Christmas.
Regardless, this is going to be a tough road, and what we need more than anything else is a talent injection. If I'm going on nothing but Rivals stars, Donte Clark seems like the only ready-to-play prospect in the incoming class (http://rivals.yahoo.com/virginiatech/basketball/recruiting/player-Donte-...). The rest will probably need time to develop.
Either way, I'm going to support JJ. He was put in a tough position and is doing his best to win with what he has. I've accepted it's not going to be pretty.
as bad as the defense is
The offense isn't that great either. There isn't much movement and the passing game is atrocious. Opposing defenses can just double team the player with the ball without a worry that someone will cut to the basket... It's up to Erick Green to take all these contested 3's, and while he does that well, the rest of the team is giving him no help.
i wonder if the rest of team is just watching erick because they know he's probably gonna take the shot. they're losing confidence, and he's losing confidence in them. eddie and raines need to step it up as upperclassmen and take some goddamn pressure off of erick
#greenforwooden
#greenfornaismith
#greenforaccpoy