Posts tagged Tony Bennett
Mike London making a good impression
May 6th
The coaches are out making their rounds on the rubber chicken circuit, schmoozing with donors. It appears that head football coach Mike London and assistant hoops coach Jason Williford made a pretty good impression in Suffolk.
I’m hoping to catch basketball coach Tony Bennett later this summer when he’s speaking to alums down here in my end of the state.
Still recruiting?
Apr 30th
Tony Bennett is still looking around, possibly seeking to add another player to the 2010-11 recruiting class. Bennett already has about thirty new kids in that class, so what’s another one?
I’d be pretty surprised if Bennett actually signed someone else. There are six kids coming in as first-years this fall, and I can’t imagine they’ll want 7 kids in the same class. To add another, it would have to be a player that the staff just couldn’t pass up, and there aren’t many of those guys still available.
Hoos in the NBA
Apr 27th
While watching the Dallas-San Antonio NBA playoff series, I keep having the same thought, and it came back to me while writing the post below about Sylven Landesberg.
We need more former Virginia players in the NBA.
Roger Mason, Jr., is really the only former Hoo in the NBA right now, though Mason’s Spurs are playing against a team coached by Rick Carlisle. Marc Iavaroni is still kicking around as an assistant coach. I am convinced that Sean Singletary will have a good NBA career…eventually.
Anyone else I’m missing? That’s a pretty thin roster of Hoos who are kicking around the league, only one of whom is a current player. If Singletary and Landesberg make NBA rosters next year, that’ll be three, and that’s a start. After seeing how much Tony Bennett’s NBA career seems to have helped him in recruiting, I can’t help but think having former Virginia basketball players playing in the world’s best basketball league would help in the recruiting process, as well.
Unfortunately, no one on the current roster appears to be a likely bet to make a future NBA roster. I have high hopes for the incoming recruits, but it’s too soon to tell.
At least our list of NBA players is more accomplished than this one.
Q & A time
Apr 26th
Sylven Landesberg has been answering questions here. I know a lot of UVa fans are down on Sylven after the way his UVa career ended, but there’s a lot of interesting stuff in here. Including this:
What would you tell high school basketball players if they asked you if UVa was a good place to play basketball?
i would tell them its a great school nd great experience
and this…
besides your teammates, what will you miss most about UVA?
hmmm… gus burgers lol
One more:
Should i be mad at Coach Bennett for you leaving?
no not at all coach is a great guy
Sylven made a dumb mistake by skipping that class, and Coach Bennett had little choice in his response…but we need to remember that Landesberg is still a kid. He planned on going pro after the season anyway, and I hope he has a ton of success. I hope Hoos will give him the benefit of the doubt.
Wahoo Basketball Roundup
Apr 20th
Lots of interesting news around Wahoo Nation today:
–Assane Sene needs to eat!
–Jeff Jones has announced his transfer destination: Rider. I wish Jones all the luck in the world.
–Sammy Zeglinski is recovering from hip surgery.
With only five scholarship players returning, Tony Bennett’s 2010-11 squad is going to be interesting to watch. It may not always be fun, but the development of the group will be interesting to UVa partisans. In Tony We Trust.
The offense
Jan 27th
Over at Dear Old U.Va., Ben takes a very interesting look at Virginia’s offense, and asks if they are headed in the wrong direction.
I agree with his general observation that sample sizes are too small to draw any grand conclusions. The problem Tony Bennett’s squad is facing is that they really don’t have very many legitimate ACC weapons in the offensive fold. Sylven Landesberg is a stud, and Mike Scott is a good low-post threat, and several others complement those two…but it’s tough to win in this conference without more serious threats.
That said, the team is efficient, they handle the ball well and take good shots. That goes a long way. Just ask Bob Knight, whose teams relied on just those offensive principles for years.
Can’t wait for the Hokies tomorrow!
Where’s Calvin Baker?
Jan 25th
Just a couple of weeks ago, we were discussing the fact that Calvin Baker seemed to find a role in the program, and had been named one of the team’s captains. Now, not so much. Jontel Baker has really taken off, and now this:
Following Virginia’s 69-57 loss at Wake Forest on Saturday, the normally talkative Tony Bennett suddenly turned laconic when asked to elaborate on guard Calvin Baker’s status. Baker, a senior co-captain, didn’t make the trip to Winston-Salem.
“Coach’s decision” was all Bennett would say.
On Sunday, sources confirmed to the Daily Progress that Baker’s situation is related to his displeasure with his reduced role on the team. The sources said Baker’s future status is in flux.
I can understand Baker’s frustration, but I’m not going to question the way Bennett has handled this team or the rotation. Bennett is doing an exceptional job, from my vantage point.
It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out.
Prepare to be impressed
Jan 24th
These videos were linked last night by Chris Horne, the recruiting guru over at The Sabre. Both provide a look at James Johnson, one of Tony Bennett’s recruits who will be enrolling at UVa in the fall. The first is a profile that aired on Fox Sports:
