Virginia Basketball Notes: Tipoff Week Arrives!

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Anthony Gill and the Hoos are ranked No. 6 to open the season. ~ Kris Wright

Finally, tipoff is almost here. Virginia basketball fans have eagerly counted the days since the end of last season and the start of a new year full of promise. The season begins Friday at 7 p.m. against Morgan State.

The Cavaliers enter the new season carrying a No. 6 national ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches’ polls. After winning 60 games over the past two seasons with many of the same faces on the roster, expectations are sky high as well. UVa isn’t ignoring those things, but the players insist they remain focused on the daily tasks of improving and gelling as a team.

“We really don’t pay attention to it, but having that target on our back doesn’t allow us to rest,” senior forward Anthony Gill said. “We can’t some out soft and we can’t come out not ready to fight. That ranking puts that target on our back to make sure we go out and work hard every day.”

“We get after it in practice. We really do,” sophomore Devon Hall said. “It’s all competitive. We’ve been doing a lot more up and down stuff. The teams have been evened out so it’s been competitive.”

Hoo fans got a glimpse of that depth at the Blue-White scrimmage on Oct. 24. Several players made an impression from veterans like Gill and Malcolm Brogdon to newer faces like Jack Salt and Darius Thompson.

The latter duo spent last season redshirting. Thompson does have college experience after playing his freshman season at Tennessee before transferring after a coaching change to Virginia. A year ago, he worked in practice against the likes of Brogdon and Justin Anderson, now in the NBA. This season, he’ll be in the mix to start or provide minutes in the backcourt.

Still, replacing Anderson’s production and providing more playable depth isn’t something Thompson views as solely his responsibility.

“I don’t really feel like it’s on my shoulders,” Thompson said. “We’re just here playing as a team. We may have high rankings or whatever, but it’s really what’s within ourselves. We go against each other every day trying to better ourselves. We don’t really worry about what everybody else has to say. We just do what we think we need to improve and work on.”

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Marial Shayok shot 38 percent from 3-point range last season. ~ Kris Wright

Shayok’s Shot

Virginia sophomore Marial Shayok could pick up more minutes as a sophomore after the departure of the aforementioned Anderson. Shayok averaged 3.8 points in 14.6 minutes as a freshman a year ago while shooting 40.5%, 38.0%, and 63% from the floor, the 3-point line, and the free throw line respectively.

Despite a solid debut campaign with reasonable shooting percentages, the Canadian sophomore focused on trying to refine his shooting stroke this offseason.

“I’m just trying to keep my elbow in 90 degrees,” Shayok said. “I’m still working on it. Obviously, I can do a lot to improve it. I’m just trying to get my follow through strong and make it more consistent.”

Why would someone who made a fair amount of shots look to change his form? Shayok said seeing a guy like Anderson improve his shot and listening to coach Tony Bennett, still the NCAA record holder for career 3-point percentage, was all the motivation he needed.

“I feel like being around a lot of great players like Malcolm and seeing how Justin’s shot improved so much last year and being with Coach Bennett and he’s been such a great shooter,” Shayok said. “That’s how you get motivated really. Every day, [Coach Bennett is] telling me things I can do to improve it and just listening and putting it to work before practice, after practice, and during practice. It’s been great.”

Lead Or Combo?

UVa redshirt sophomore Devon Hall came to Virginia after playing mostly point guard for his father at Cape Henry Collegiate. He averaged 8.0 assists per game as a senior in that role and reclassified his recruiting class to come join Toy Bennett’s program. The emergence of London Perrantes, however, gave the Hoos the luxury of redshirting Hall.

Perrantes, of course, is still on the roster as is combo guard Malcolm Brogdon, an All-American. For Hall, it doesn’t matter if you call him a point guard, a lead guard, or a combo guard. He said he has learned to play better off the ball when it is required and that the positions are mostly interchangeable in Bennett’s offensive system anyway.

“A guard,” Hall said. “I’m a guard. I’ll pay one, two, or three. It doesn’t matter. I was more of a lead guard in high school but we’ve got guys like London, Marial, Darius, Malcolm – it doesn’t really matter. Put me in either spot. We all know the same position.”

Hall put the redshirt year to good use, starting a transformation on his strength, conditioning, and eating habits. That took Hall from 6’5″ and 210 pounds down to 203 last season. He’s since rebuilt that lost weight back with more muscle and less fat to check in at 209 this preseason. He credited nutritionist Randy Bird and strength coach Mike Curtis with getting him dialed in on that part of his career.

“When I was coming out of high school, I was eating whatever I wanted,” Hall said. “Including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, whatever after games. Whenever I was hungry, I was eating a full meal. I learned how to balance my diet talking to Randy Bird and figured out what was best for my body and literally transforming. That was helping me a lot and working with Coach Curtis.”