It's Only the Beginning

Fantastic piece from Matt Norlander at CBS Sports, a must-read for every Hoofan as we work through this weekend of mourning:

Cavs, Tony Bennett booted but it's only the beginning for Virginia

I particularly like this quote:

Few certainties exist in college sports, but this I'm comfortable in saying: Bennett is building something to last in Charlottesville. He doesn't do swift and pretty. His program projects reflect the way his teams play: slow, methodical, with purpose -- and without arrogance or presumption.

Meanwhile, Whitey Reid from the Daily Progress pretty much nails the roster overview for next season, here:

Can Virginia sustain a high level of hoops success?

Of course, we'll go a little it more in-depth and slice the 200 minute pie, as we do annually here at Wahooze.  That's coming later.  But first, a few quick predictions:

• Darion Atkins and Teven Jones both transfer out.
• Bennett brings in a transfer from another program to sit out in 2014-15 and be ready to play in 2015-16.
• Justin Anderson faces a tough test from Evan Nolte for the right to start at small forward next season, and Nolte wins the battle.
• Devon Hall ends up being a revelation for us, and we end up going small a lot with Perrantes, Brogdon, Hall, Nolte/Anderson, and Gill on the floor together.
• B.J. Stith plays more than anyone thinks he will.
• Mike Tobey finally learns to play with aggression.
• We'll lose at least one assistant coach this offseason.

Finally, two other good articles for your lazy Sunday afternoon...

Bennett, Hoiberg: Two young coaches on fast track

From penthouse, Cavs maintain in-the-outhouse tone

Happy reading, Hoofans!  Work through the mourning; we're going to be okay.

I'm working on a post...

...ranking the top 10 seasons of Virginia sports since I really became an over-the-top Virginia die-hard in the early/mid 90s.

Specifically, I'm trying to decide where the 2013-14 season of Virginia Basketball fits in those rankings, without being a servant/slave to recency.  (I feel like it's #1, but I need to reflect on it a bit more.)

Here are the seasons I'm considering...


BASKETBALL
1994-95 (Elite Eight run with Junior Burrough)
2000-01 (Roger Mason, Travis Watson, etc.)
2006-07 (Sean Singletary & J.R. Reynolds)
2011-12 (Mike Scott)

FOOTBALL
1995 (UVA 33, FSU 28)
1998 (Aaron Brooks, Thomas Jones, Dex)
2002 (Tire Bowl win over West Virginia)
2007 (Chris Long)
2011 (Peach Bowl loss to Auburn)

BASEBALL
2009 (CWS 5th place)
2011 (Danny Hultzen, CWS 3rd place)

LACROSSE
2006 (Undefeated)
2011 (Unlikely National Championship)

It would really be helpful if you posted in the comments with any great seasons I missed or forgot, along with your thoughts on the seasons I listed above.  What are YOUR rankings?  Help me out, Wahooze Nation.

We love you, Joe and Akil.

Thank you, guys.  We love you, and we're going to miss you.

Great season, Hoos.

...

Go Hoos.

Wahooze Does Madison Square Garden

Guess where your fearless blogger is heading Wahooze Nation,

Here's a hint.

I was fortunate enough to have enough piles of money laying around (Amtrak points and a friend with a spare couch in Queens) to book the trip to New York City to watch your ACC CHAMPION VIRGINIA CAVALIERS fight their way to a Final Four birth this weekend.

I thought about live-blogging (that's a thing right?) a post throughout the game - but then I thought "what if the service is terrible in MSG?" Then I thought "I could just update one post about my trip and thoughts pre/post game." AND THEN I THOUGHT:

So that's what I'm going to do. Leave comments and I'll chat through those, but hopefully I'll add plenty of updates throughout the weekend here in this post - so keep checking back! To start us off before I head up to Little Charlottesville tomorrow:

7:19 pm Thurs

I am nervous in an excited way, not in a worried about the game way. Don't get me wrong, MSU is playing extremely good basketball recently and we could absolutely wind up losing this game - I've just got a quiet confidence in our ACC CHAMPION team and a little bit of Kendall's "everything from now on is gravy" cooling my stereotypical UVA-fan sense of dread.

6:36 am Fri

I have always hated daylight savings time. I do, on the other hand, love amtrak. 

I'm not surprised Wisconsin won big. This is not the tournament to be swayed by "this team always performs this way."

I am surprised Dayton won so big. Watching that game, it wasn't even as close as the score. 

Arizona and Florida played like 1 seeds. Hope the hoos do the same. 

8:07 am Fri

As you might imagine, there are a lot of boat shoes on this train. 

UVA fans are going to be out in full force tonight at MSG. If not for UConn, there could have been a dominating pro wahoos crowd tonight, but I'm not worried about fan support regardless. Greensboro was about 60% Duke fans and Wahoo fans dominated the noise and enthusiasm all game (though the fact that they were winning probably helped).

I hope UConn wins for a few reasons: UConn's always been my second team (dad is a Huskie). I don't want to play DeAndre Kane. Kevin Ollie is a good coach but he's not Tony Bennett good. 

2:22 pm Fri

The best thing about New York is the food. The worst thing is probably the smell. 

Digger phelps is on the tv talking about how the ACC was down this year. Apparently anytime a non Tobacco Road team wins the conference it's because of a "down year." I think we're looking at many more down years to come in the future. 

Digger also picked MSU to win because of their defense. Seriously.

8:16 Fri

Just found out they aren't selling beer here tonight. I dont understand. I don't know why I didn't know this. I'm really upset. Go Huskies. 

9:23 Fri

UConn looks really good. Not sure I like their fans. That flop in the UT/Michigan game was an embarrassment to the sport

10:54 Fri

Hoos have weathered the storm by taking better shots and forcing worse ones on defense. That's the obvious game plan. Let's keep it up. 

9:38 am Sat

Welp. Lost a tough one. Missed some shots we should have made. Left a few too many open layup/dunks for a really good team. Could've gone either way. Great season.

Hello, Sparty!

No need to reinvent the wheel here.  I'll just piggyback on two other really good game previews.

Streaking the Lawn: Michigan State vs. Virginia Preview

College Basketball Talk: Sweet Sixteen Preview

Here's my take on the game, in quick bulleted form.

• We're a 1-seed underdog.  Gotta love all of the inherent advantages in that.
• The Izzo-to-the-Pistons stuff from this week can only help.  Every distraction matters.
• Adreian Payne is the only Spartan player I really fear, but I have the utmost confidence in Akil's defense.
• We have to keep Michigan State out of transition.  Force them to score against our set defense, and we have the upper hand.
• I think it all boils down to this: Joe hits 4+ threes, we win.  Track that number as the game grinds along.

That's it.  I'm eerily confident.  It's all gravy from here, and I think this team - nay, this program - is ready to take this step, to announce itself on the national stage.  We're Virginia, and we have arrived.

Virginia 69, Michigan State 62

DAMMIT, WORK!

I have about forty-eleven posts I want to write, but time has not allowed.

Instead, here are two pretty awesome articles I've stumbled across this week, for your reading pleasure.

Is Virginia the Least-Respected Great Team in College Hoops History?

It's good of Grantland to atone for that dogshit from last week.  This new one is a really good piece and a great read.  Would recommend.

Ritchie McKay is ‘the other head coach’ for Tony Bennett and Virginia

I have a feeling Coach McKay is going to take over his own program sometime soon, maybe even this offseason.  I hope Tony Bennett is ready to replace an assistant or two.  Not sure McKay can really be replaced.

More soon, as time allows.