UVA hires Tony Bennett

Yeah, that's him. Thanks.

 

I think this is a great hire for UVa. Bennett was national coach of the year at a school that is supposedly impossible to win at. He took Wazzu to two NCAA tourneys and a NIT. That's very impressive.

And about style of play, if teams play hard and show progress, people will come.

 

I want to punch you right in the baby-maker. Does that thing even work anymore?

 

First off, and I know this is probably not going to be a popular opinion ... but going back to the thread about the best coaches and that those coaches are not always the guys who get the big pub and have their team in the biggest moments: Bennett>Capel.

Granted, one has superior talent to the other and always will based on style, but if there are people in the country unaware of how good Tony Bennett is right now, that problem should fade now that he's coaching in the ESPNCC.

Bennett's biggest issue is that he had to go pretty deep for recruits and his success rate with developing some of those guys was not as high as it will be at Virginia. The reason his team this year did not make the NCAA Tournament is because there was no junior class as he whiffed on guys like Thomas Abercrombie (a New Zealand kid who was just a bad scholie) and Fabien Boeke (injury). If those guys are contributing even some time, this team has better depth and doesn't piss away three late leads against LSU, USC and Oregon State, is a 20-game winner and in the tourney.

As for Bennett's style not bringing the boys to the yard, it's funny how excited people get once you start whiffing the big boys with the knuckleball. If he's doing his job attendance will not be an issue. I think some people fail to recognize how truly awful Wazzu was before the Bennetts. I would have bet my house against Wazzu ever beating UCLA in Pauley or Arizona in McKale.

 

It does not.

 

Spot-on assessment, Lester.

Washington State was one of the handful of impossible jobs in major college hoops, along with Oregon State and Northwestern, and maybe Penn State, though PSU is at least an NIT regular. What he did in the Palouse should be commended.

 

is it a foregone conclusion that Bennett will play a slow-down style at Virginia? Was that his doing or simply a concession to the fact he didn't have the horses to run up and down with the UCLA and Arizona's of the world?

True, he's not going to beat the Dukies and the Tar Heels running up and down,either. At least not with the players they have NOW. But, granted, he probably has a better chance of recruiting studs to Virginia than he would in Pullman.

 

Considering he played at Green Bay under his dad, coached alongside his dad at Wisconsin and Washington State ... yeah, I think there's a good chance he's going to keep a similar system (which is actually more "up-tempo" than Dick ran).

Plus, why would UVa hire someone, then have him run a completely different system than he is accustomed to?

 

Word is Bennett's first call after taking the position went to Boo Williams. That right there makes me feel like he was a good hire.

 

His system is predicated on making his opponents play 35 seconds of defense and then play 35 seconds at the other end as well ... force them into impatience and then hit a ton of high-percentage shots. When it's going it's really a thing of beauty and I would be stunned if he goes away from it.

Arizona is the Pac-10 team that plays a style most comparable to UNC and the Wildcats looked like a bunch of drunks swinging at bees when Bennett was really locked in ... and they gave him the most issue when he wasn't.

 

Someone should proofread this story:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/sports/college/college_basketball/article/CAVS31_20090330-223703/244798/

In the story they list Bennett's record as 68-33 and then in the factbox it is 68-30.

Anyway, I'm fascinated by the hatred of Virginia fans of the hire. I love how dumb fans can be. The whole idea that Virginia could go out and just jack Rick Barnes or whoever.

 

Every time I think I might underestimate the intellect of the people we write for, I read the comments section of any newspaper and realize they are at least as stupid as I think they are.