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John GasawayESPN Insider
Forget the buyout, Virginia has achieved something much more valuable. One year after suffering the most shocking defeat in post-season history, the Cavaliers won the national championship on Monday.
Redemption was already assured with the Hoos' trip to the Final Four, but here's how Tony Bennett's team went even further and won a national title and what it would mean for this program.
The team synonymous with defense wins a title at the offensive
Virginia had 85 points in an eight-point victory over Texas Tech who, despite the extra time, had only 70 possessions. De 'Andre Hunter scored 27 points with four shots in 3 and 7 of 9 in the free throw line.
The Spartans have almost everyone back from a Final Four team and draft as team to beat next season.
Kyle Guy added 24 points and Ty Jerome added eight assists. The Hoos held the ball several times until the end of the clock and let Jerome create the dribble. This strategy proved excellent: UVa recorded 1.22 points per possession against one of the best defenders of NCAA tournaments in recent years.
Bennett's slow pace certainly did not hurt in March (and in April)
As a result of the overwhelming loss suffered by UMBC a year ago, it was often asked whether the deliberate tempo used by Virginia with such effect during the regular season did not constitute a stylistic obstacle when basketball win-or-go-to-home the day. It was a good question when the Cavaliers repeatedly underperformed their seed expectations.
Naturally, it is possible that some future Bennett teams will experience yet another shocking shock. Nevertheless, a direct causal loop between rhythm and fate is becoming more difficult after the tournament of 2019. The Hoos actually slow motion compared to the regular season, with only 58 possessions averaged over 40 minutes.
A national championship does not necessarily justify a whole basketball style, but a better question might be how we choose the styles that we think should be justified in the beginning.
Guy, Jerome and Hunter formed an exceptionally powerful trio in attack from November to April.
With regular season games averaging about 60 possessions and an evenly balanced offense in attack, it was difficult for a Virginia player to accumulate the kind of eye-catching statistics per game that drew the most attention. . Nevertheless, Guy, Jerome and Hunter have created an attack as good, if not better, than the legendary Cavaliers defense at stake in the ACC.
Throughout the season, the Hoos were able to generate a very large number of scoring chances (thanks to an extremely low turnover rate and a very good offensive rebound), and the Bennett team has took advantage of these opportunities to achieve a very high percentage of his 3. It's a recipe for scoring points in abundance and, although that does not happen at every tournament match, it's precisely the ### This approach allowed Virginia to survive Purdue in Elite Eight.
Jerome and Guy combined 49 points and nine points were scored by 3 against the Boilermakers, but that's Hunter who was just as indispensable in the game for the national title. The trio presented its opponents with a real dilemma of "picking your poison", and the result turned out to be a # 1 seed and possibly a national title.
Welcome to the semi-permanent carousel speculation, Chris Beard
The Red Raiders head coach announced a meteoric and historic rise in a basketball program that, prior to his arrival, had won a total of three NCAA tournament games since 2000. When this type of performance occurs in this type of context, feverish speculation about the future of the coach is going to be a given.
Take the example of the current coaching carousel. UCLA, as we write these lines, has a vacancy and, one could even say that, on paper, Beard is just as good, if not better, than Steve Alford in 2013 or Ben Howland in 2003. However, even if the Bruins and Beard do not meet, any coach hired for the position at Westwood is likely to create a high-level vacancy somewhere. A high-level vacancy somewhere will lead to speculation that Beard will accept the job every time and until new order.
Virginia will go nowhere, next season or in a short time
Hunter should enter the project, where he is projected as potential choice among the top five. In addition, Jerome appears as a late first round choice. Before Hunter and Jerome, however, no other Cavaliers are currently in the top 60 of the ESPN 2019 simulated board.
This hardly guarantees that no unnamed UVa player Hunter or Jerome will choose to leave early, of course, but in a rotation where the only senior player is Jack Salt, it seems that Bennett will have a solid core that will come back for 2019-20. . A small group of Guy, Kihei Clark, Mamadi Diakite and Braxton Key, for example, would be a force to be reckoned with in the VAC race.
Add to that that the Virginia Conference 85-19s play in the last six seasons and that there are very strong long-term trends for success in Charlottesville. It's hardly impossible for the Hoos to make their second consecutive Final Four in 2020.
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