The Virginia basketball team made its return to the John Paul Jones Arena floor this past weekend, playing in front of the home fans for the first time since Senior Day against Louisville back in 2020. With the roster divided into two teams for the Blue-White scrimmage, the Cavaliers played for approximately 30 minutes in separate segments. Some players flipped teams approximately halfway through the event.

The Hoos played man to man defense as you’d expect, while the offense varied a little bit but generally stayed within the familiar motion concepts from the Tony Bennett era. Wrinkles on either side of the ball such as post traps or elevator screens were saved for real games on another day. With that as the backdrop and a few days for fan reports to circulate and thoughts to marinate, let’s take a look back at Sunday’s action. Here are 12 takeaways from the Blue-White scrimmage.

5 Quick Takes

First, a few short thoughts.

1. Gardner’s undersized offense. One of the primary concerns surrounding incoming transfer Jayden Gardner surrounds his interior offense. Can he, listed at 6’6″ on UVA’s roster, be as effective around the basket against ACC defenders as he was while playing against East Carolina’s opponents? The in-person look in the scrimmage addressed those worries to me going against three guys listed at 6’10″+. The combination of quick footwork and jumps with physical contact that bounces potential shot blockers away from him should fair fine against many defenders. He bumps the defender out of the way and then gets off the floor before the defender can recover to contest as effectively.
2. Ball screens. The projected starting lineup featuring Kihei Clark, Reece Beekman, and Armaan Franklin looks like it could be more effective driving the ball than some combinations the past two years. All three could be effective in ball screens with physical screeners like Gardner, Francisco Caffaro, and Kadin Shedrick. The big thing from the scrimmage: UVA built in ball screens frequently and naturally within possessions vs. simply setting a high ball screen first. That’s a good sign to me.
3. Defensive pests. Speaking of Beekman and Franklin, the first look at those two together defensively for the first time was downright exciting. Both contain the dribble, but still pressure and pester the ballhandler at the same time. Both have the ability to get deflections and steals without getting beat at the same time. Beekman ranked 11th in the ACC in steal percentage last season at 2.7% and Franklin ranked 13th in the Big Ten in the same category at 2.3%. Franklin was in a Pack-Line scheme too so there’s no concerns of how it will translate either. That creates potential for some easy buckets at times, which you saw in the scrimmage, and that could be a way to cover for offensive worries that some fans have.
4. Switches. Virginia switched on defense more than I expected for a scrimmage setting. That included Gardner on to guards (and at times even Kadin Shedrick). That versatility could be useful as a way to change up the Pack-Line.
5. Shedrick’s development. If Virginia is going to keep it’s string of success going this season, redshirt sophomore Kadin Shedrick will need to make a move from bit player to big contributor. The early signs in this scrimmage is that his development curve is on track. He looks stronger and more prepared to soak up bigger minutes. He also flashed some skill potential with hooks over both shoulders and short face-up jumper.

7 Deeper Thoughts

And some longer thoughts from the event.

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