Tony Bennett holds his team back, He has Dean Smith syndrome.
Dean Smith was the only person that held Michael Jordan to a college scoring average during his 3 years at UNC to 17.7 pts per game.
Yes he was a good coach (and great humanitarian), but he was a better recruiter.
When you got to UNC you played controlled and at a pace within the system. When Smith's teams got up by 8-10 pts, he put it in cruise control and got conservative and ate clock. The 4 corners was used in the last 2 minutes.
By doing this he allowed other teams to stay within reach. Yes UNC won a lot of games doing it Smith's way, but he also had to turn his athletes loose in the last few minutes of lots of games. They won most of them, but they lost a few they should have won.
Like Smith, Bennett allows teams to stay close, and only turns his kids loose at the end when the games are close. Usually they win, but occasionally a VT comes along.
Against VT recently, UVA's great little guard scored four 3's in a hurry when he got turned loose. Then VT had a run, then Bennett's team erased a 10 pt VT lead within seconds when they got a green light to play full speed. Everybody was shooting 3's and making then. But this time, it didn't work out.
If I was coach at UNC in the past, and now was coach at UVA with their talent and depth, I'd cut the players loose at the tip off and leave teams in the dust.
Dean Smith was the only person that held Michael Jordan to a college scoring average during his 3 years at UNC to 17.7 pts per game.
Yes he was a good coach (and great humanitarian), but he was a better recruiter.
When you got to UNC you played controlled and at a pace within the system. When Smith's teams got up by 8-10 pts, he put it in cruise control and got conservative and ate clock. The 4 corners was used in the last 2 minutes.
By doing this he allowed other teams to stay within reach. Yes UNC won a lot of games doing it Smith's way, but he also had to turn his athletes loose in the last few minutes of lots of games. They won most of them, but they lost a few they should have won.
Like Smith, Bennett allows teams to stay close, and only turns his kids loose at the end when the games are close. Usually they win, but occasionally a VT comes along.
Against VT recently, UVA's great little guard scored four 3's in a hurry when he got turned loose. Then VT had a run, then Bennett's team erased a 10 pt VT lead within seconds when they got a green light to play full speed. Everybody was shooting 3's and making then. But this time, it didn't work out.
If I was coach at UNC in the past, and now was coach at UVA with their talent and depth, I'd cut the players loose at the tip off and leave teams in the dust.
