The big news circulating prior to Virginia’s most recent game was that Kihei Clark had, shockingly, been dropped from the starting lineup. Some knew it an hour early through the magic of Twitter, others experienced a moment of surprise when they saw the teams line up for the tip. Either way—even for the Kihei Clark pundits that had arisen from the depths at the first sign of weakness—seeing Virginia begin a game without the 5-foot-9 point guard had to be startling.
It’s difficult to dispute the decision, at least when focusing on how Kihei’s played this year, but Bennett’s adjustment could have a much farther reach than just one game. It goes without saying, but Kihei was the main source of offense for Virginia last year, the catalyst for everything that happened. Without the point guard the Hoos would have been completely lost on offense. The list of clutch plays is nearly endless, and Kihei led the ACC in minutes per game.
But there’s no denying that there were rough stretches, and while they were progressively diminished as the season chugged along, the point guard was not immune to bad outings. At the time, it was easy to pass these off as a result of the mostly stagnant offense that he was surrounded with. But with a much more talented supporting cast, that excuse is no longer valid.
While everyone is entitled to the occasional rough patch, now that Tony Bennett has left him for the bench once, it starts to feel like a bigger issue. There are also a host of other very talented guards on the roster, most of which have impressed so far. Let’s run through Virginia’s rather extensive list of guards (with the exceptions of Jayden Nixon, Chase Coleman, and Malachi Poindexter who, while very talented basketball players, are unlikely to see much of the floor) and talk a little about what we’ve seen from them so far and what we expect to see going forwards.
Kihei Clark
So after a quick two-sentence hiatus, we’re back to Clark. Through three games, he’s averaging 24.3 minutes, 5.3 points, and 2.7 assists per game. Those averages are accompanied by a 30.8% field goal percentage, including zero made threes. Kihei hasn’t looked quite as crisp moving the ball as would be expected, nor has he looked like the same player that he was a year ago.
These problems are significant, and they cannot simply be ignored or passed off as a fluke. But neither can they be viewed as a definitive summary of Clark’s capabilities. Kihei is still the same guy he was a year ago, and we would all do well to remember that. There may be some issues with adjusting to the new offensive sets or with the new teammates he has, but hopefully he can get it going soon. Even if he does though, his role will be decreased from what it was last year, as there are other guards that can help this team in other ways.
Casey Morsell
Casey’s defense is phenomenal, it has been phenomenal, it will be phenomenal.
Okay, now that that’s said, time to focus on his offense. I came to the eye-opening conclusion while looking at stats that Morsell’s and Clark’s numbers so far this season are equal, if not tilting slightly towards the former. Without wasting the space describing them, Casey leads or is tied in every category except for assists (trails by 1.4 APG), all while averaging 8.6 less minutes per game.
While stats only carry so much weight this early on, they are worth taking note of. With that said, there are still some inherent problems with Morsell’s offense that cannot be denied. For starters, he fades away on every shot he takes, no matter how open it is. The other major problem is that he rarely completes drives to the basket, too often stopping short or trying and failing to take on a big man.
On the positive side, however, the thing that was lacking the most from his game last year was confidence, and that seems to be remedied. Morsell hasn’t looked scared of taking open looks, it’s just the other decisions that he makes and the amount of those shots that fall that are the problems.
He lost his starting spot after two games, but those guard spots are going to be in constant flux all season and he can no doubt earn it back. Casey just needs to iron out a couple of things on the offensive end and the potential is far greater than most realize.
Reece Beekman
Beekman has been one of the more pleasant surprises through the first week of the season. Seeing him get quality minutes against Towson came as a little bit of a surprise, and he followed that up by being easily the best player in a Virginia uniform in the USF loss.
He’s a very good ballhandler and passer, and has a quick first step that allows him to get into the lane and make things happen. The only problem with Beekman is that his 174 pounds don’t allow him the opportunity to do some things that his more bulky teammates can.
But despite that small problem, Reece has looked very good. It’s not a stretch at all to say that he’s been Virginia’s best guard so far this season. Expect him to keep helping the team with 20ish minutes, whether from the starting lineup or off the bench.
Trey Murphy III
Murphy has been another boost to this team, but in his case it was really unexpected. He wasn’t cleared to play by the NCAA until less than 24 hours before Virginia’s season opener, and suffice it say that he helped out quite a bit in that game.
It’s still a small sample size, but the Rice transfer is averaging over 53% from deep, and has gotten into double figures scoring in two out of three games. Murphy adds yet another perimeter threat to this volatile offense, with the ability to get points in the paint as well. He’s already added two posters, but size is an issue with Murphy as well.
He’s been working with strength and conditioning coaches on that front, and it seems to have helped a little, but another few pounds would add another dimension to a long list of things that he can do offensively. Trey likely won’t start, but all signs point to him being another valuable piece offensively.
Tomas Woldetensae
The way that Tony Bennett uses Tomas Woldetensae over the next few months of this season is going to be truly fascinating. He doesn’t exactly bring anything to the table that the Hoos don’t already have. He’s a good defender, an okay passer, and he’s starting to develop a mid-range game. From beyond the arc, he can go off and start hitting threes at any time without warning, but otherwise does not bring anything new on the offensive side.
It’s going to be interesting to see Tony Bennett balance out the rotation with Woldetensae’s three-point shooting. My guess is that he plays it mostly by ear. If Woldo’s having a hot night, great. Leave him in there. If he’s missed a few in a row, get him out and let somebody else have a chance.
And really, that sums up the guard situation this year. With so many talented guards, if one guy is having an off night there are five others waiting to step in and fill his shoes.
Kody Stattmann
While Stattmann looks good at times, makes the occasional beautiful move, and scores some points, there’s a worry that those are superficial notes. He didn’t do much against good opponents last year, and it’s tough to imagine Stattmann getting any of the big minutes down the road. As mentioned above, if nobody’s playing well a spot might open up, but once we get to ACC play the odds are low that Kody will play more than 5-10 minutes a game.
Jabri Abdur-Rahim
The top recruit of the 2020 class, Abdur-Rahim’s limited minutes have been a sore point for many Wahoo fans. Recruiting implications aside, it shouldn’t be much of a worry that his minutes have been restricted so far. Sure, it was expected that Jabri would play more significant minutes, but the season is young and there’s still plenty of time. And just to reiterate, this guard corps is so deep and talented that unless he can prove to make a difference when on the court he’s not going to play.
Carson McCorkle
McCorkle falls mainly into the same boat as Abdur-Rahim, with one notable difference. While we don’t know for sure how Abdur-Rahim is going to fit into the system yet, McCorkle’s path was already laid by one of his predecessors: Kyle Guy. The similarities are too obvious to ignore. Aside from their similar physical features, both are knockdown three-point shooters with quick releases who can get around guys. Again, don’t expect to see much of him this season, but in a couple of years McCorkle will be a starter and fan favorite to boot.
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