The Virginia basketball Blue-White Scrimmage provided 30 minutes of running clock action and plenty of first impressions for Cavalier fans to comb through while waiting for tipoff. While it was a mostly simple scrimmage, there were some hints of what’s to come when it comes to what may have been the most popular offseason topic: changes on offense. So the Double Bonus is back in two parts to take a closer look.

Pick Up The Pace

When it comes to tempo, it’s an unavoidable topic. Virginia plays a methodical style under coach Tony Bennett so the talk around pace frequently finds its way into conversations. Last season, fanned the flames there quite a bit as UVA finished last in adjusted tempo (per 40 minutes adjusted for opponent) per KenPom.com at 59.2 possessions per game and second to last unadjusted at 62.7 possessions per game per TeamRankings.com.

Even knowing that Bennett’s teams grind on defense and prefer strong shot selection on offense, the drastic drop in efficiency (ninth to 88th unadjusted for tempo, eighth to 50th adjusted for tempo) and sluggish recruiting season left plenty of room for criticism. That can of worms can range from ‘Trust Tony’ to ‘transition dang it!’ and everywhere in between. Ultimately, the question at the heart of it all is this: will Virginia play faster and get out of the bottom 10 nationally in tempo?

The easy answer is probably not. Yet, the transition from four-year starter London Perrantes to Ty Jerome and Nigel Johnson as lead guards could make the easy answer wrong. At the very least, it could change the rhythm of the offense if not the tempo data. In the scrimmage, both teams seemed to get the ball up the floor and into the initial offensive movement faster than a year ago. Johnson and Kyle Guy, in particular, looked to attack unsettled defenses with the dribble when the opportunities presented themselves.

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