While Florida’s Covid-19 cases and subsequent withdrawal from the competition may have put a damper on bubbleville for Virginia, there are still basketball games to be played at the Mohegan Sun. The Hoos will open their season by playing Towson, after originally being scheduled against Maine.
While it’s now the first of two decidedly unbalanced matchups, it will still be the first game of the season, and a chance to get a good look at Tony Bennett’s latest squad. There should only be one result for this game as far as the winner is concerned, but we’ll still learn plenty about this team despite their taking on a significantly lesser opponent. In no particular order, here are seven questions about this team that we hope to have an answer to by the end of Wednesday’s game.
1) Just how good is Sam Hauser?
We’ve heard so much about the fifth-year senior who transferred from Marquette, but now it’s time to see whether all the praise has been warranted or not. Certainly what he did at Marquette seems to indicate that he should be as good as advertised, but it’s been nearly two years since Hauser last checked in for a collegiate basketball game.
Hauser averaged over 40% from deep in all three of his seasons playing for the Golden Eagles, and he went for about 15 points and 7 rebounds per game in his final year. He’ll take on an even bigger role in this UVA team, and if his shooting is to the expected level it’ll be a huge boost. It’s a good bet to say that the hype will be justified, but we’ll know more after this Towson game.
2) How does this defense compare to last year’s?
With the offense that Virginia had going last year, the fact that they won eight games in a row to close out the season and nearly steal the ACC was mainly due to the defense. Sure, the offense got better, but having what many called Tony Bennett’s best ever defense was the main reason why the Hoos were able to give themselves a chance to win games. Nobody’s really expecting defense of last year’s level, but it will be interesting to see how close Tony Bennett can get them.
Looking at personnel, only Braxton Key and Mamadi Diakite are gone. Both were very solid defenders in the packline, but neither was a stand-out behind the ball. Morsell and Clark are back to continue shutting down opposing guards, and Huff will still be there to rack up the blocks. The other question about Hauser that wasn’t addressed above is his defense. He’s had a lot of time in practice to acclimate to the packline, but it’s up in the air as to how good he’s become, as is the overall level of the defense.
3) Will Woldetensae keep up his production?
JUCO transer Tomas Woldetensae didn’t get off to the greatest start a year ago, but he exploded onto the scene once ACC play started. On two separate occasions, the guard banged in seven threes in a single game, and he hit six in a third outing. He seemed to be cooling down by the end of the season though, so the question remains as to whether he’ll return as a solid three-point shooter.
Further than his play from behind the arc, Woldo’s going to need to develop something that at least resembles game inside the paint. The vast majority of his shots a year ago came from deep, and once teams started keying on him by the end of the year, there was nowhere to go for the sharpshooter. If he comes out firing from deep it’ll be a very good sign, but developing something other than that is also integral.
4) How consistent will Huff be?
Jay Huff is supposed to be one of the main pillars from which to build this UVA offense on this year. That’s all well and good, but you can’t have a pillar that stands strong for half the time and is on the verge of crumbling the other half. That was Huff last year. On the one hand, in his last three games he combined for 23 rebounds, 12 blocks, and 43 points. On the other, he had a seven-game stretch during ACC play with six games in single-digit points scoring.
As probably the third-best player on this team, Huff needs to upgrade his consistency by a large margin. For this team to reach its potential, he’ll need to average well into double-digits scoring, and close to that in boards. That shouldn’t be too much of an ask, but we’ll know more soon.
5) Will Morsell improve on offense?
Defense is going to get Casey Morsell onto the court, but he’s going to need to bring something new on the offensive end to stay there. Morsell will likely be named a starter by Tony Bennett, as he was when the season started last year. There were moments when he looked good, namely his breakout performance against Arizona State, but nothing close to looking dependable with the ball in his hands.
Casey’s defense is so good that if he even averages 6-8 points and a couple of assists per game he’ll probably exceed 30 minutes a game. If he can’t improve his shot and shore up the other holes of his offensive game, Morsell might be left too often for the bench. But a game against Towson is always going to be a good time to gain some confidence.
6) What will the three freshmen bring to the table?
Tony Bennett managed to reel in what—for Virginia—might be described as a perfect 2020 recruiting class. There’s the three-point shooter who can also get into the paint, the reliable point guard, and the standout scorer. And the cherry on top is that they’re all very good on-ball defenders. Right now, it’s not clear how much playing time the trio of Jabri Abdur-Rahim, Reece Beekman, and Carson McCorkle will receive in year one.
Abdur-Rahim should get solid minutes, while Beekman and McCorkle are more hampered by the depth at their positions. With that said, we should at least see Beekman taking over point guard duties for at least a few minutes at a time, in order to give Kihei a rest. The three of them might get a lot of time in the latter stages of the Towson game, which will hopefully be an indication of what they can provide going forward.
7) What will Caffaro’s role be this season?
With Mamadi Diakite gone, the door is open for Francisco Caffaro to take on a bigger role in this team. He only played 7.5 minutes last year, but with Mamadi done sucking up minutes that could have gone to Francisco, he’ll get his chance to prove himself. There were flashes on a few occasions last year, and ultimately a 7 foot, 250 pound center has a pretty high floor, regardless of how he improves.
Caffaro likely won’t start, but we should see plenty of him in the opener and hopefully get a better understanding of how Tony Bennett plans to use him the rest of the season.