UK and UVA narrative

[BLEEDBLUE444]

I'm starting to sense this rising underdog type narrative between UVA and Kentucky, just read a grantland piece saying the two teams could be more different, and I've seen the graphic with the Mcdonalds all Americans discrepancy and this that and the other, and talking heads seem to LOVE to praise UVA defense a lot... I don't really see what's that different defensively to be honest, they act like UVA is some hard working blue collar bunch of scrapers and we just walk on the court and hold our opponents to 55-60 point nights...

The truth is both UK and UVA bust their ass, communicate, help, get down in a stance, dive for loose balls, scrap, play tough, and flat out get after it on the defensive end... You can have all the talent in the world or not, you still have to do all the things I aforementioned in order to play defense like these two basketball teams do...

 

[UKWildcats#8]

UK plays better D than Virginia. We have much better players as well. That spells doom for them if they are fortunate enough to make it to the Final Four and play us.

 

[Big Blue 1977]

Wouldn't spend much time thinking about it. Once UVA drops some games, they'll be just another team in the second tier. Duke, Wisconsin, UL, and Gonzaga can explain how this works.

 

[KentuckyRLD]

UVA will lose four or five games in conference. When the seeding takes place they will be a 3 or 4 seed, maybe even a 5.

 

[SilentsAreGolden]

Originally posted by KentuckyRLD:
UVA will lose four or five games in conference. When the seeding takes place they will be a 3 or 4 seed, maybe even a 5.

You are high if you think UVA is going to be a 4 or 5 seed.

 

[BLEEDBLUE444]

UVA deserves all the credit in the world up to this point, here is the article I referenced beforehand, and I encourage those of you who have not done any research into UVA and what they are about to read this article... If Bennett does not leave UVA for Wisconsin we can pretty much count on them being a top 10 fixture in the college basketball landscape, and I welcome that personally

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/virginia-defense-pack-line-dick-tony-bennett/
This post was edited on 1/14 5:11 PM by BLEEDBLUE444

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/virginia-defense

 

[caneintally]

Originally posted by SilentsAreGolden:

Originally posted by KentuckyRLD:
UVA will lose four or five games in conference. When the seeding takes place they will be a 3 or 4 seed, maybe even a 5.

You are high if you think UVA is going to be a 4 or 5 seed.

UVA will lose 3-4 games in ACC play but now way they are lower then a 3 seed IMO.

 

[miracle7s]

who is going to beat UVA? the narrative was Duke and UVA would battle for the ACC crown but it appears Duke is finding it harder to gel than the most thought and UVA continues to roll. They have already beat NC State and Miami who both beat Duke, went on the road and won at Notre Dame. Virginia is FOR REAL. Justin Anderson is shooting 56% from 3. Now, even having said all that I still think UK is 8-12 points better than UVA.

 

[KMKAT]

Originally posted by KentuckyRLD:
UVA will lose four or five games in conference. When the seeding takes place they will be a 3 or 4 seed, maybe even a 5.

You meant Duke right?

 

[RondoBaller21]

Originally posted by miracle7s:
who is going to beat UVA? the narrative was Duke and UVA would battle for the ACC crown but it appears Duke is finding it harder to gel than the most thought and UVA continues to roll. They have already beat NC State and Miami who both beat Duke, went on the road and won at Notre Dame. Virginia is FOR REAL. Justin Anderson is shooting 56% from 3. Now, even having said all that I still think UK is 8-12 points better than UVA.

Duke, Louisville, and UNC will all beat Virginia

 

[kyups01]

Where are the statistics that support UVA being the best defensive team in the country? I've seriously heard many a talking head say they are the best defense, yet we are ranked #1 in about all the major categories, am I wrong?

 

[BLEEDBLUE444]

Look just being objective, the top half of the ACC is good, no shame in losing a road game or two to anyone in that group, and it certainly does not mean that you will be a two seed because of it...

 

[Seth C]

Originally posted by KentuckyRLD:
UVA will lose four or five games in conference. When the seeding takes place they will be a 3 or 4 seed, maybe even a 5.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

There aren't enough laughs for this post. Seriously, which TWENTY teams are better than Virginia? I mean for crying out loud, I've downplayed them most of the year but a 5 seed? You're crazy. They might slip to a 2 but that's about it. Even a 3 is very unlikely.

 

[IL Wildcat]

I think Virginia is clearly a good team, but the question is just how good are they? Take a look at their non-conf schedule and their great defensive stats become clearer...
NOV 14 @ JMU W79-51
Nov 16 vs NORF W67-39
Nov 18 vs SCST W75-55
Nov 21 vs GW W59-42
Nov 25 vs TNST W79-36
Nov 28 vs LAS* W64-56
Nov 29 vs RUTG* W45-26
Dec 3 @ #21 MD W76-65
Dec 6 @ VCU W74-57
Dec 18 vs CLEV W70-54
Dec 21 vs HARV W76-27
Dec 30 vs DAV W83-72
Jan 3 @ MIA W89-80 2OT
Jan 7 vs NCST W61-51
Jan 10 @ #13 ND W62-56
Jan 13 vs CLEM W65-42

That nonconference schedule isn't much. They did have a couple tough road games but the best team they faced OOC was Maryland, and it's debatable just how good they are. VCU is down this season. And even in the conference, their best win is Notre Dame, which is a good team at home, but that game went down to the wire. Miami took them to double OT. They've yet to face UNC, Duke, or Louisville, so just how good are they?

They don't face a decent team until Duke comes calling on Jan 31. At that point they'll have 3 tough games in a row. That's when we'll know how good they are. Until then, we'll have to deal with this same narrative. But that's fine with me. I think we know that in a head to head matchup UK would have the edge.

 

[Big_Blue79]

^ A good statistical model can account for strength of opponent's offense. Even accounting for pace, opponent, etc... on KenPom (as good as pretty much any model out there, and certainly better than talking heads or couch opinions) UVA is #3 in defense. UK is #1 (I believe San Diego State is #2). Virginia's a terrific team with an excellent defense. Why are some people so afraid to give credit where it is due?

 

[kyups01]

^^^I Def give em credit but many people say erroneously that they have the top D when in fact the do not, we do!

 

[crazyqx83]

UVA is kinda like we were under Tubby. Nice story during the regular season. The teams with all the pro talent always won the title.