Tobacco Road Ramblings and Questionable Hires

I decided to make a blog because I have a lot of things to say regarding the world of sports, and I figured this would be an easy way for me to collect my thoughts. I'm gonna be doing a lot of UVA stuff, but will also throw in my thoughts from big games and headlines.

First topic of the day...UNC vs Duke

This was a highly anticipated matchup between 2 of the ACC's top teams. It lived up to the hype all the way until the final few minutes when Duke inevitably collapsed. Why did they "inevitably" collapse? Because this team is just like every other Duke team from the previous few years. No inside game. They love the 3 ball. But as the saying goes, "You live by the 3, you die by the 3." In this game, Duke died by the 3. They shot 8-24 from deep, which is very pedestrian, but in the second half they put up some UVA numbers and went 2-15 from the 3. Clearly those numbers aren't going to cut it. Henderson and Scheyer, two of Duke's top shooters, finished 3-13 from 3. There are always going to be nights when the shots simply won't fall for a team. What makes teams great, is when they are able to find other means of scoring. Duke doesn't have any other means of scoring. Their big man is Brian Zoubek (an uncoordinated 7 footer) who played 9 minutes and scored 2 points. Lance Thomas is their other big man (standing at 6'8") who had 5 points in 20 minutes. If Duke ever wants to make a run in the tourney, they're going to need to find a low post scorer.
That being said, UNC played extremely well last night. They put up 100 on a Duke team that gives up around 60 points a night. Ty Lawson is unbelievable. He's quick, smart, and a great finisher. He absolutely exploded in the 2nd half and gave UNC the run they needed to put Duke away. Ty put up 25 points (without even connecting on a 3) to go with 5 assists. To show how dominant UNC is as a team, Wayne Ellington (the team's top shooter) only connected on 1-6 3's, yet the Heels still eclipsed 100 points. Every single starter for the Heels had double digit points. This team is real good, everyone produces.

Second topic of the day...Bob Pruett retires

For those of you who do not who Pruett is, he was the Defensive Coordinator for the Hoos this past football season and was appointed Associate Head Coach in the off-season. With his move to Associate H.C., Bob Diaco (the former special teams coach) moved up to D.C. I had the understanding that Pruett would still oversee the defense and help out Diaco. But Pruett's retirement leaves 2 major problems.

First Problem: Diaco is unqualified. Our special teams were atrocious under Diaco. Let's take a look at some special team stats under Diaco's leadership courtesy of NCAA.com (the number in the parenthesis is the national rank out of 119)...

2008
Kick Return Avg - 20.7 yds (70)
Punt Return Avg - 6.6 yds (92)
Net Punt Avg - 35.6 yds (52)
Avg Allowed/Kick Return - 21.6 yds (72)

2007
Kick Return Avg - 19.8 yds (89)
Punt Return Avg - 9.0 yds (56)
Net Punt Avg - 34.8 yds (62)
Avg Allowed/Kick Return - 21.2 (60)

2006
Kick Return Avg - 23.9 yds (11)
Punt Return Avg - 8.2 yds (67)
Net Punt Avg - 34.8 yds (60)
Avg Allowed/Kick Return - 22.6 yds (102)

As you can see, most of these stats rank in the bottom half of Division I. Yet this man is now overseeing the defense. Diaco was the D.C. at Central Michigan during the 2005 season. His stats there (once again courtesty of ncaa.com):

2005
Yards Allowed/Game - 394.5 (74)
Points Allowed/Game - 23.6 (46)
Rush Defense - 113.7 (20)
Pass Defense - 280.7 (108)

Obviously the pass defense jumps out as a red flag, but our secondary should be very solid this year with Ras-I (a straight up stud), Chris Cook (coming back after a year off for academics), Chase Minnifield (developing into a very good corner), and the hard hitting Corey Mosley. Not to mention Anthony Poindexter now coaching the secondary. Diaco's stats really are nothing to brag about, but Al Groh has never had a bad defense, and I don't see that ever changing under Groh. Regardless, I am not sold on this promotion, and hope that it turns out better than the Mike Groh promotion.

Second Problem: Pruett had some serious recruiting ties to the Tidewater Region. This region is very deep in talent, and one that Tech has dominated in recent years. This recruiting class showed Pruett's influence as 7 of the 25 recruits were from that area. Hopefully, Groh will be able to continue Pruett's success in the the Tidewater Region. I'm thinking he will with Latrell Scott now on staff. Scott graduated from Hampton and is known for his strong recruiting.