There isn't much to say about Virginia's season-ending loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to Florida. The Gators chomped the Cavaliers, 65-39, and that pretty much describes everything one would need to know. It was an embarrassing offensive performance in which no Virginia player reached double figures. Mamadi Diakite got his first start and led the Cavaliers with nine points and had six rebounds and a block. Jack Salt had one of his best games with eight points and 10 rebounds. Marial Shayok had seven points off the bench, and London Perrantes and Darius Thompson ended up with six points each. Virginia made just 1 of 15 3-pointers and shot 29.6 percent overall.
Virginia got more bad news, though not entirely unexpected, Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday,
coach Tony Bennett announced Shayok and Jarred Reuter were going to transfer. On Thursday, Thompson followed suit.
A couple days ago, it looked like everyone except Perrantes would be back for the Wahoos for the 2017-18 season, along with DeAndre Hunter and Jay Huff, who redshirted this year, and incoming freshman Marco Anthony. Now, that is not the case.
What does it mean? Your guess is as good as mine. Obviously, a lot of times, players transfer to get more playing time, and that could certainly be the case here.
Reuter, an undersized 6-foot-7 forward, only averaged 10.8 minutes this season. He had nice touch on his baby hooks, but just wasn't very athletic or fast, which hurt him on both offense and defense. He wasn't even seeing a ton of time on a team that was limited in the post, and Jack Salt was clearly favored by Bennett since he started every game. Salt is bigger and did a better job on defense than Reuter. His move is not surprising. He will have two years of eligibility left and was not a big part of the team. He could see the
writing on the wall, that his playing time was not likely to increase.
Shayok and Thompson, though they thrived in the UNC Wilmington game, were inconsistent in their playing time and also how well they played. Shayok was particularly hot and cold, saving the Cavaliers from defeat against Clemson and UNCW, but he also disappeared for games at a time. He would make almost every shot, and then sometimes struggle badly not only on offense with poor shots and turnovers, but on defense. Shayok averaged 8.9 points -- which ended up being second on the team -- and 20.6 minutes this year and started 14 games. Thompson averaged 6.2 points and 20.8 minutes and started 15 games.
Thompson never quite seemed like a fit. His strength came on fast breaks, and of course, that is not something Virginia emphasizes. The program's philosophy on defense didn't necessarily seem to suit him, though he was third on the team in steals (behind Isaiah Wilkins and, incidentally, Shayok). Still, you got the sense he could maybe thrive in a different offense. He didn't seem aggressive in UVa's offense, though that could have been his fault just as much as Bennett's. And again, he might just need a different scheme where he feels more comfortable. All of these guys were given ample opportunities to grab a role and shine, and none quite did. Thompson was getting passed over by Ty Jerome at point guard, and would have been the primary backup at that spot next year. As a fifth-year senior, he was probably wanting to start. So it is understandable if he wanted more guaranteed playing time. Thompson plans to graduate from UVa, so that means he will be immediately eligible where ever he goes.
Shayok's decision was a little more puzzling to me. If you follow my blog, you know I have been high on him for awhile, going back all the way to the beginning of the 2015-16 season, really. I've always thought he oozed potential, particularly on offense. And I think he showed that at times. But he showed inconsistency, too. However, he was poised to be the team's leading returning scorer and sure, his playing time was maybe
going to be eaten into by Kyle Guy and perhaps Hunter, but I just kept thinking he was going to take off at any moment and seize a bigger role, and maybe his senior year would be when he was really going to shine. But now that doesn't have a chance to materialize.
I understand that the slower offensive system is not for every player. It actually seemed like a detriment to Thompson's game. But Shayok had a chance to score in double figures for sure next year. Plenty of players have thrived in Bennett's system on offense: Malcolm Brogdon, Justin Anderson, Joe Harris, Mike Scott, Anthony Gill, Perrantes, and Guy appears to be headed in that direction. I saw no reason why Shayok could not have either, if he could put it all together. But I imagine he and Thompson will go to a more free-flowing system and hope they get even more playing time there.
Bennett has always favored defense over offense, and Guy said as much this year once he started playing more at the end of the regular season. He said he realized he needed to put forth effort all over the floor. You just hoped that players like Shayok and Thompson could've taken advantage of their opportunity, but instead they are going to be looking to play more elsewhere. There's a fine line between Bennett emphasizing defense and snuffing out aggressiveness and creativity on offense, and this year's team, especially down the stretch, seemed to be too hesitant on offense. It's hard to fault Bennett for what he's accomplished the past few seasons, I just hope he is being careful when doling out playing time decisions. With that said, this year's team ended up scoring 66.1 ppg (less in conference), third most for any season under Bennett, just barely below 66.2 points per game in 2013-14. Last season's Elite Eight team was the best at 71 points per game.
Some people are speculating that this could mean that Hunter, a 6-foot-7, 212-pound guard/small forward/wing, has looked really good in practice. And that could be. Maybe Thompson and Shayok saw that Hunter would play a major role next season on the wing/small forward spot and take some of their time (this makes more sense for Shayok than Thompson). That's an exciting prospect, and hopefully there is truth to that.
In the end, these losses hurt Virginia's depth next year, but for the most part, these were role players who never did grasp a larger chunk of playing time or become significant, more indispensable cogs. And it was unlikely any of them -- barring maybe a senior-year revelation/true breakout by Shayok -- would've in the future.
Virginia got more bad news, though not entirely unexpected, Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday,
 |
| Marial Shayok had a career-high 23 points against UNCW, but his playing time was inconsistent over the past couple years. |
A couple days ago, it looked like everyone except Perrantes would be back for the Wahoos for the 2017-18 season, along with DeAndre Hunter and Jay Huff, who redshirted this year, and incoming freshman Marco Anthony. Now, that is not the case.
What does it mean? Your guess is as good as mine. Obviously, a lot of times, players transfer to get more playing time, and that could certainly be the case here.
Reuter, an undersized 6-foot-7 forward, only averaged 10.8 minutes this season. He had nice touch on his baby hooks, but just wasn't very athletic or fast, which hurt him on both offense and defense. He wasn't even seeing a ton of time on a team that was limited in the post, and Jack Salt was clearly favored by Bennett since he started every game. Salt is bigger and did a better job on defense than Reuter. His move is not surprising. He will have two years of eligibility left and was not a big part of the team. He could see the
 |
| At 6-foot-7, Jarred Reuter had a hard time dealing with the height and athleticism of other forwards in the ACC. |
Shayok and Thompson, though they thrived in the UNC Wilmington game, were inconsistent in their playing time and also how well they played. Shayok was particularly hot and cold, saving the Cavaliers from defeat against Clemson and UNCW, but he also disappeared for games at a time. He would make almost every shot, and then sometimes struggle badly not only on offense with poor shots and turnovers, but on defense. Shayok averaged 8.9 points -- which ended up being second on the team -- and 20.6 minutes this year and started 14 games. Thompson averaged 6.2 points and 20.8 minutes and started 15 games.
Thompson never quite seemed like a fit. His strength came on fast breaks, and of course, that is not something Virginia emphasizes. The program's philosophy on defense didn't necessarily seem to suit him, though he was third on the team in steals (behind Isaiah Wilkins and, incidentally, Shayok). Still, you got the sense he could maybe thrive in a different offense. He didn't seem aggressive in UVa's offense, though that could have been his fault just as much as Bennett's. And again, he might just need a different scheme where he feels more comfortable. All of these guys were given ample opportunities to grab a role and shine, and none quite did. Thompson was getting passed over by Ty Jerome at point guard, and would have been the primary backup at that spot next year. As a fifth-year senior, he was probably wanting to start. So it is understandable if he wanted more guaranteed playing time. Thompson plans to graduate from UVa, so that means he will be immediately eligible where ever he goes.
Shayok's decision was a little more puzzling to me. If you follow my blog, you know I have been high on him for awhile, going back all the way to the beginning of the 2015-16 season, really. I've always thought he oozed potential, particularly on offense. And I think he showed that at times. But he showed inconsistency, too. However, he was poised to be the team's leading returning scorer and sure, his playing time was maybe
 |
| Darius Thompson has skills that seem better suited to a fast-paced offensive system. |
I understand that the slower offensive system is not for every player. It actually seemed like a detriment to Thompson's game. But Shayok had a chance to score in double figures for sure next year. Plenty of players have thrived in Bennett's system on offense: Malcolm Brogdon, Justin Anderson, Joe Harris, Mike Scott, Anthony Gill, Perrantes, and Guy appears to be headed in that direction. I saw no reason why Shayok could not have either, if he could put it all together. But I imagine he and Thompson will go to a more free-flowing system and hope they get even more playing time there.
Bennett has always favored defense over offense, and Guy said as much this year once he started playing more at the end of the regular season. He said he realized he needed to put forth effort all over the floor. You just hoped that players like Shayok and Thompson could've taken advantage of their opportunity, but instead they are going to be looking to play more elsewhere. There's a fine line between Bennett emphasizing defense and snuffing out aggressiveness and creativity on offense, and this year's team, especially down the stretch, seemed to be too hesitant on offense. It's hard to fault Bennett for what he's accomplished the past few seasons, I just hope he is being careful when doling out playing time decisions. With that said, this year's team ended up scoring 66.1 ppg (less in conference), third most for any season under Bennett, just barely below 66.2 points per game in 2013-14. Last season's Elite Eight team was the best at 71 points per game.
Some people are speculating that this could mean that Hunter, a 6-foot-7, 212-pound guard/small forward/wing, has looked really good in practice. And that could be. Maybe Thompson and Shayok saw that Hunter would play a major role next season on the wing/small forward spot and take some of their time (this makes more sense for Shayok than Thompson). That's an exciting prospect, and hopefully there is truth to that.
In the end, these losses hurt Virginia's depth next year, but for the most part, these were role players who never did grasp a larger chunk of playing time or become significant, more indispensable cogs. And it was unlikely any of them -- barring maybe a senior-year revelation/true breakout by Shayok -- would've in the future.
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