Isaac McKneely looks to make a play for Virginia. ~ Photo by Kris Wright/TheSabre.com

The Virginia men’s basketball team hosts its annual Blue-White Scrimmage on Saturday and opens its season in 37 days when Campbell comes to town. With both chances to see the Hoos in the John Paul Jones Arena arriving soon, fans have a big question on their minds. Will UVA show any changes on offense?

The reasons for that question are two-fold. First, the Hoos struggled to consistently put the ball in the basket last season. They landed statistically at 62.9 points per game (354th nationally), 0.995 points per possession (254th), and 42.8% shooting (265th). That last number doesn’t capture the shooting rollercoaster – Virginia shot 46.2% on 2-pointers (323rd) where 67.4% of its shots came from. In other words, the Cavaliers didn’t hit shots consistently at the spots where they took 2/3rds of their attempts.

None of those stats describe the proverbial eye test. Unfortunately, the final game of the season captured that in front of the NCAA Tournament First Four audience when Colorado State ousted UVA 67-42 with national reporters piling on after the fact. The Hoos also lost 73-48 at then No. 10 Duke on ESPN in early March and got blasted 75-41 at Virginia Tech a couple of weeks before that. In other words, many of the really visible games where fans are tuned in the most turned out to be duds offensively.

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