Moving on up

The last time I wrote a post, we had just beat Tennessee State, 79-36, to improve to 5-0. I, like everyone, was obviously excited. But I still had some fundamental concerns about this team.

Did we have a shooter that could stretch the floor? Could Justin Anderson keep up his torrid pace? Would London Perrantes regain form? How would the freshmen fit into the rotation?

But after an impressive week knocking off both Maryland and VCU on the road and then a 49-point dismantling of Harvard -- the Ivy league champions that have made the tournament the past several years -- my doubts have essentially been erased.

First off, everyone on the team has improved their shot, making us more diverse and that much more dangerous. I was very concerned about the loss of Joe Harris because he was a guy that could consistently drain jumpers while guys like Malcolm Brogdon and Justin Anderson drove to the hoop.

But this season, it seems that basically anyone playing the 1-3 positions (and even the 4 when Evan Nolte is on the floor) is a threat to shoot. Perrantes, Brogdon, Anderson, Shayok, Hall, and Nolte all have legitimate jumpers that must be respected.

Instead of essentially relying on one guy and then taking contributions where they come like we did a year ago, most of our lineup can knock down an open trifecta. If that's not scary to opposing defenses, it damn well should be.

Specifically, junior G/F Justin Anderson has been the biggest surprise. Perhaps he shouldn't be, given that he played starters' minutes a season ago en route to ACC 6th man of the year. But that was primarily for his dunks and defensive energy consistently coming off the bench.

This new version of Justin is a complete player -- an NBA prospect. He is shooting 60% from beyond the arc while leading us with 15.1 points per game (2 more than Malcolm, who is second on the team). Meanwhile, he still has the capability to guard essentially any position on the court.

The junior is in the top five in Kenpom's player of the year rankings and steadily moving up draft boards. Don't consider it a forgone conclusion that he will be in Charlottesville at this time next year.

Now for Perrantes, who had some early season struggles -- he missed the opener against JMU due to suspension and had some uncharacteristic turnovers early on. But as he nears 100% after recovering from a foot injury, he appears to be back.

While only averaging three points per game and shooting just 26% from deep, he maintains an assist-to-turnover ration of three -- which considering his slow start, is pretty good.

Bennett has said London is more of a rhythm shooter and seems to have found his groove in practice. I'm hoping -- and inclined to believe -- that his form will come as a shooter like it did a year ago when he buried some clutch three's in big-time moments. But even if he doesn't, his CaliSwag has done plenty so far in simply distributing the rock. Any points are an added bonus.

And finally, let me address the rotation. I had absolutely no idea how it would play out. Would Hall sub in for Perrantes and Brogdon? Would Wilkins or Nolte be the first off the bench in the front court? How about who would even start -- Tobey or Atkins? And at what position would Shayok see most of his action.

So far, a lot of these questions are still unanswered. But that has turned out to be for the best.

Last season, we had a pretty set eight-man rotation with the starters -- Perrantes, Brogdon, Harris, Mitchell, and Tobey -- with Anderson, Gill, and Atkins as the primary subs, with a splash of Nolte here and there.

But this year, Bennett has more depth to toy with than he ever has. For that reason, he can adjust the rotation to create the better matchup with our opponent.

For example, Wilkins saw a lot of early season minutes, but played a minimal part in the victory against VCU. The reason? Nolte's experience and ball handling was more of an advantage against the havoc.

Similarly, some games Hall and Shayok split pretty equal minutes, giving them both rest as well as experience. But other games Hall doesn't see the floor. It's not because Hall can't play -- he most certainly can -- but because Shayok's athleticism provides a better matchup.

We have 10 guys that can play and be effective, and like an NFL coach with his inactive list, Bennett is able to manipulate his lineup game-to-game to find the 9 guys that matchup best against the opponent.

And diving even further, this can only help us as ACC and tournament play approach. Not only will guys have to play fewer minutes, but practice will also me more beneficial as they go up against better players. Oh yeah, and only Atkins is a senior. Bennett has built the sustained success he predicted.

Now we have climbed to No. 5 in both major polls, and the Kenpom computer rankings actually have us No. 2 -- only behind Kentucky!

When I look ahead, there are no clear losses. Obviously Duke and Louisville will be tough tests, but there is not a team on the schedule we can't beat. Sure, we'll probably pick up two or three conference losses along the way, but those should be losses that garner excitement and perhaps court storming by the opponent.

As the national pundits are finally realizing, this Virginia program is a legitimate national title contender. It's about time the "boring" stigma go, replaced by the notion of the most well-coached, best defensive team in the country.

As always, Go Hoos!