“I understand he’s got a lot of friends in the coaching profession, and coaches are going to stick up for one another, but this is the worst loss in NCAA Tournament history and it happens to be about the fifth straight BAD loss for him in the Tournament. That’s not a blip, that’s a pattern.”
Yahoo Sports columnist Pat Forde talked with JT The Brick and Tomm Looney about the role Tony Bennett had in one of the most pathetic losses ever taken in the history of athletics. After Virginia shockingly became the first 16 seed to lose to a 1 seed in NCAA Tournament history, by 20 points no less, Forde penned a controversial column denouncing Bennett’s defensive-minded system that almost completely abandons offensive tempo, as the Cavs ranked 314th in Division 1 in points per game this season.
In his column, Forde wrote, "It is time to deconstruct the towering fraud that is Virginia basketball" and called the Cavaliers a 'heavyweight with a glass jaw'.
Despite averaging nearly 27 wins a year in his last seven seasons at Virginia, Bennett has advanced to an Elite Eight just once, to go with only one Sweet Sixteen, two second-round losses, and two first-round exits, despite being a one seed in three of those tournaments (’14, ’16, ’17) and a two seed in another (’15).
Forde says Bennett’s extended history of coming up the smallest on the biggest stage has to make us seriously question whether or not his system can work in the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t think you can count on being able to grind everybody slowly down and hope to make enough shots to go to a Final Four or go to a National title,” Forde said. “I’m sorry, until he gets something done in March I think there’s a major flaw there.”
Listen to the interview below.