Cold, Hard Truth

[Knucklehank1]

We can complain about the refs. We can complain about this or that. The reality is that this team lacks TOUGHNESS. UVA punched us in the mouth and we turned into a bunch of crying babies. The officials were letting things go and instead of sacking up and answering UVA's toughness, we played like a bunch of pansies. If Lee, Lewis and Onuaku want to be the men, then they need to act like the men. They were sulking around because they weren't getting calls. Upset that shots weren't falling. Feeling sorry because of a belly ache. Man up. Mahmoud and Spalding are lost causes this year in terms of toughness, but I think Snider, Mitchell, Johnson and Adel will follow the lead of the "Big 3". If they man up, then the majority of the team will follow.

This is one of the games where the response by the team will determine the rest of the season. We will learn a lot about their mental makeup on Monday.

 

[duanegop]

I agree with this very well-written essay. I thought UL backed down a little, due to UV's aggressive play. Then, UV got even more aggressive. You won't see this Monday. When UL responds, will the refs screw us? Will UL be afraid of getting bad calls?

 

[wilkie01]

And our ACC schedule is just starting to get hard. We will find out soon enough if this was just a fluke loss or the foreshadowing of bad times to come.

 

[CardFanDad]

I'm worried that we are just not fast enough, especially at guard, for elite competition. VA Tech blew by us at will. Our press is just now effective for the same reason. And now Virginia just pummels us. What worries me is that speed is not something that can be easily fixed.

 

[thecycle21]

I agree the are really lack quickness at the guard spot. They are really go to struggle against good quick guards. They didn't come to play today. They are really soft.

 

[REDFISTFURY3]

No need talking about the lack of quickness, this was brought up when complaints of Ricks recruiting this is what we got too work with slow , unathletic raw players.

 

[REDFISTFURY3]

I agree the are really lack quickness at the guard spot. They are really go to struggle against good quick guards. They didn't come to play today. They are really soft.

This is were Mathiang is sorely missed , he never lacked tenacity or being afraid. And we just don't have any type homecourt advantage whatsoever. Need to take 2-4 sections both sides of lower bowl and make it general admisson to get some , rowdiness down their.

 

[Knucklehank1]

This is were Mathiang is sorely missed , he never lacked tenacity or being afraid. And we just don't have any type homecourt advantage whatsoever. Need to take 2-4 sections both sides of lower bowl and make it general admisson to get some , rowdiness down their.

Now we get the requisite "blame the crowd" post. Rowdiness doesn't pay the bills. Anyways, the crowd wasn't the problem.

 

[REDFISTFURY3]

Now we get the requisite "blame the crowd" post. Rowdiness doesn't pay the bills. Anyways, the crowd wasn't the problem.

YELP

 

[Rollem Cards]

That tough early schedule has us beat down.

 

[kozmas]

This is the type of loss that will define us, will we get tougher from it and learn from our mistakes or will we let it get in our heads and not correct the problems. I thought Virginia was ready for us and we took them to lightly we were looking ahead to UNC instead. Virginia is a solid team and I was really impressed with them, they also remember how they lost last year in the YUM and wanted a little revenge. I also thought they did a good job of scouting us and shutting down what usually works for us.
This where I will disagree with the OP though, I thought Spalding and Adel were the only bright spots for us yesterday. That might be because Virginia was not prepared for them thinking they wouldn't be a threat to them. Spalding scored in double figures, had a good block and had a few rebounds and he didn't get much playing time. Adel hit some long range shots and played better outside than any of the starters. Virginia was a senior oriented team that had better team work and fundamental skills (like blocking out on rebounds) than we had.
This loss exposed some of our weaknesses and hopefully we will get better from it.

 

[Majestic Red]

And our ACC schedule is just starting to get hard. We will find out soon enough if this was just a fluke loss or the foreshadowing of bad times to come.

Frankly.

And I hope no one is using the excuse of "They were looking ahead to UNC", as if Virginia is some middle-of-the-road non-power conference team.

 

[T-Bone74]

Frankly.

And I hope no one is using the excuse of "They were looking ahead to UNC", as if Virginia is some middle-of-the-road non-power conference team.

Very true. And I think we are just a good team not a great team. Next few games will tell us a lot! We could end up 13-5 or 9-9 in conf....neither will surprise me.

 

[REDFISTFURY3]

Virgina is like the way Cincy used to be against us. We never matched up well with them just like Uk , some teams are just nitemares for certain teams. Like we are to Syracuse.

 

[REDFISTFURY3]

Bennets system and Calimari's are tuff for Rick too handle.