Tony Bennett's built a contender at Virginia in an unconventional way
The Cavaliers have zero McDonald's All-Americans and no projected future first-round NBA Draft picks. Still, they might be on their way to a second straight ACC title.
By
Gary Parrish
•
4 min read
Tony Bennett loves to watch movies and quote movies. So it was no surprise, during a phone conversation, when the Virginia coach went straight from talking about his team into discussing a scene from a sports classic while making a larger point about the Cavs.
"I don't know if you remember the end of Rocky III," Bennett said, at which point I assured him I absolutely remember the end of Rocky III, if only because I once had a dog -- Mickey Goldmill Parrish -- named after Rocky Balboa's initial trainer.
(I was raised on those Rocky films!)
"OK," Bennett said. "So Apollo trains Rocky in that movie, and he keeps telling Rocky that he wants a favor at the end. So they end up in this little gym at the end, and Apollo wants a rematch because he couldn't live with [the loss to Rocky at the end of the previous film]. And then Apollo says to Rocky, he says, 'You fight great ... but I'm a great fighter.' And it's a little like that for us. We don't look at ourselves as this great team. We look at ourselves as a team that, when things are right, we can play at an excellent level."
In other words, Virginia is more of a developed winner than a naturally gifted champion, more Rocky than Apollo. The Cavaliers might not be a great team in the traditional sense. But they have the ability to play great. And they do way more often than not.
The top of this week's Associated Press poll looks like this:
- Kentucky (13-0)
- Duke (11-0)
- Virginia (11-0)
The first team listed (Kentucky) has 10 former top-50 247Sports recruits, nine McDonald's All-Americans and nine of the top 65 NBA prospects in the world, according to DraftExpress.com. So it's simple to see why the Wildcats are great. The second team listed (Duke) has eight former top-50 247Sports recruits, nine McDonald's All-Americans and three of the top 20 NBA prospects in the world, according to DraftExpress.com. So it's also simple to see why the Blue Devils are great.
And then there's Virginia.
Number of former top-50 recruits: Zero
Number of McDonald's All-Americans: Zero
Number of projected future first-round picks: Zero
"We don't have quite the individual talent," Bennett acknowledged. "But we have some sneaky-good players, and I think people are starting to recognize that."
If not, they better.
Because while folks debate whether Kentucky can enter Selection Sunday with a perfect record, here's something that's gone mostly unnoticed: KenPom currently projects Virginia, just like UK, to be a favorite in every remaining game on its schedule.
That doesn't mean UVA will go undefeated, of course. But it does mean Virginia is the only undefeated team besides Kentucky that KenPom doesn't believe should ever be an underdog. And it also means Virginia is statistically more likely to win the ACC than Duke.
If it happens, that'll be back-to-back ACC titles. And it doesn't matter much that two of the top five players from last season's team -- namely Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell -- are no longer around. Virginia is, through 12 games, significantly better offensively and slightly better defensively than last season, according to efficiency numbers posted at KenPom.
So what in the world is going on here?
In a league with four Hall of Fame coaches and five of the past 12 national champs, how did Tony Bennett build an ACC power at a school that hadn't been to a single Sweet Sixteen since 1995 before he took Virginia to the Sweet Sixteen last season? And, more to the point, how'd he do it without a collection of top-50 prospects and preordained pros?
"We've built through experience," Bennett said. "There's a level of simplicity to it."
Still, it's hardly a simple thing to do.
And, either way, what's funny is how Bennett rejects all of this on principle, specifically the idea that he's built a power comparable to Duke, UNC and Syracuse, you know, all those schools he beat last season en route to Virginia's first outright ACC title since 1981. In fact, Bennett genuinely doesn't even view his team as one of the nation's best this season even though every reputable measuring device suggests the Cavaliers are terrific.
"I think college basketball is interesting this year," he said. "I think you have three or maybe four or maybe five elite teams, and I don't even put us in that group; I really don't. But I do think there are three or maybe four or maybe five elite teams, and then there's a group of teams that are next that have the ability to play excellent basketball."
And that's where Bennett places his Cavaliers -- in that next group.
In other words, Kentucky is a great fighter. And Duke is a great fighter.
They are Apollo Creed.
But Virginia?
Virginia is more Rocky Balboa.
Virginia isn't a great fighter, per se. But Virginia undeniably has the ability to fight great. And, no matter how you label it or spin it or whatever, the Cavaliers have been fighting great consistently for well over a year now, and in two totally different seasons.
Their next so-called bout is Saturday's ACC opener at Miami.
As Apollo once said, Ding ... Ding.
>> Who's looking good for NCAAs? Top 25 (and 1) | Bracketology
