As they (Louisville and FSU) should be. They're not good.
When that happens, please let me know. Because I saw the SEC/ACC Challenge. One conference had double-digit wins--and it wasn't the ACC.The hell with the Big Dawgs...time for the ACC to take some of these Big Dawgs to the veterinarians.... If you catch my drift
Yeah, no. Not buying that one at all.
herhoopstats.substack.com
Here's a gift link to the full piece: Why is Cal women’s basketball so much better this season? full article
As a UVA alum I sure hope they do not take this approach. I would be extremely disappointed in my alma mater. Nothing infuriates me more than when a coach is denied resources for years, gets fired, and then their successor is given the keys to the kingdom and everyone thinks they are just a fabulous coach. Let's see what Coach Mox can do with adequate resources If she doesn't produce after that, then look for a new coach. NIL and conference tv deals run recruiting now. UVA's cupboards were almost bare at every level until Ohanian's generous commitment. Only fair to let Mox try with a more even playing field.
I was at the game and would agree that even though there was a talent disparity, ND ran efficient set plays to beat the Hoos zone, while the Hoos didn't play much of a team oriented offense at all. Consequently, ND had 32 assists to VA's 8.
Did they set their ceiling when they lost to #19 Michigan State?
Well UVA was playing at #3 Notre Dame to expect a strong performance might be a stretch. Going up against the #1 or 2 leading scorer and steals leader in Hidalgo, then Miles is top 5 in assists and just got her third triple double this year, a top ten rebounder in King, then top it of with the #2 in blocks, Koval, it's not a recipe for a good day.
They beat Coppin State by 8 points (same Coppin State team that just lost to Maine by 11). How's that?
Why, though? What's the sense in throwing money at a problem that will still be a problem? Mox's coaching is a problem (teams oftentimes look unprepared, undisciplined, and unmotivated). Will $776,000 a year for NIL (which will, presumably, be spread out among the entire team) change that? I don't think so. UVA may be able to overpay for third-rate talent for that price tag, but that may get the program back to the NCAA Tournament. It won't guarantee anything beyond that unless there is a change in leadership.
When I see team after team failing at a school, I think change needs to start with administration. How do you know the problem is Mox? Maybe she has only been able to get undisciplined recruits bc the money and reputation for sports just aren't there? Or school policies/traditions prevent her from running things the way they need to be?.Sometimes money does fix things. If Duke makes it to the final four in the next 4 yrs, it will very much be money that puts them over the hump. Money allows you to get the pieces you need vs just finding good parts to work with.
Teams that lack resources can still show signs of competence. I remember watching a UVA vs. Louisville game 5-6 years ago and came away thinking that there's no way that Tina Thompson should be a head coach anywhere, let alone the head coach for a Power 4/5 flagship university. The final score wasn't terrible, but you could tell by watching the actions of the players that they weren't well coached. They made mistakes that high school players typically don't make.
I was surprised by VA's gameplan with Lattimore. The commentators kept raving about her 6'4 frame and 6'9 wingspan. But she sat at the top of zone all night. Meanwhile they gave up so many 3's and got destroyed on the boards.
As someone who's had connections within a prominent athletic department before, I've been privy to how things operate behind the scenes. UVA's athletic department doesn't appear to be running smoothly, as the AD has botched hires in the more prominent sports (football, for example). Tony Bennett's resignation was not really on her, so I won't give her grief about it. However, she badly botched one women's basketball hire and looks to have hired another dud on the level of Joanne Boyle.
Yes, I'm well aware of the pretentious nature of many (but not all) UVA alums. 2019 was a painful time for me (as someone who does not root for their men's basketball team). I'm not here to denigrate UVA's academic reputation because, outside of Duke, Stanford, ND, and Cal, it either holds its own against or exceeds that of the other ACC institutions. But I am well aware that the UVA diehards see their school as Diet Harvard. And even though it's not, the academic reputation is still lofty enough to be a draw for recruits.
Because Alexis insinuated that the money would be "transformative" and he announced it in front of all the young women. Hard for that to be the case if one player gets $500K while the others get $10K. Also, he's Serena's husband--so I'd like to continue to think highly of him.
Coaching (or lack thereof).
I'm not talking about academic policies. UVA will take almost anyone academically. I can tell by the current roster and it was like that when I went there.
I agree with that 100%, as I'm not someone who believes that Coach Kara is the sun, the moon, and the stars (she's got her faults, which can rear their ugly heads at the most inopportune times). That said, she's shown herself to be a pretty good coach without those immense financial gifts (something that Mox hasn't done). She's not Marissa Young good, but she's good. She wasn't my first (or second, or third) choice, but she's done reasonably well so far--all things considered (navigating COVID, having to consider Duke's academic reputation during recruiting battles, washing away the stench of the previous coach, etc.). If the NIL money that Duke is set to receive over the next year takes the program back to true national prominence, then it doesn't matter to me that Kara isn't Dawn, Kim, or Geno.
I agree with the bolded part, but it's not unreasonable to expect the team to look competent now. They hardly ever do, which is a major concern for a coach in her third season of ACC basketball. Neither she nor her assistants knew the ACC landscape two seasons ago, so them getting blasted during conference play didn't surprise anyone. But for them to be 0-2 at this point with a double-digit home loss to an average BC team and a 41-point loss to ND (not even their worst loss of the season) is concerning. It suggests that there's no progression. They should be in the, "we're not going to beat the teams at the top, but we'll make things difficult for them" phase. Instead, they aren't even beating the teams they should beat while getting annihilated by those teams at the top.