Bennett doesn’t believe criticism of Clark is warranted, as PG comes through at Tech
Posted on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, 7:07 pm
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By Jerry Ratcliffe
Photo by John Markon
ATLANTA — Kihei Clark is a man who lives with pressure, and lately that pressure was amped up after a Virginia three-game losing streak.
The Cavaliers’ point guard, who surprisingly rose to acclaim as a key figure on UVA’s national championship team as a freshman last year, has become the target of critics for a loose handle on the basketball. True, his 58 turnovers this season is far more than a year ago’s 39 for the entire season.
Still, Tony Bennett will remind critics that he’s asking a lot of Clark, and has no problem with how the sophomore has responded. Not only is the California guard responsible for bringing the ball up the floor and distributing it to teammates, but for contributing points and harassing opposing point guards.
After a nine-turnover game in a loss to Florida State last Wednesday, Clark came through big time on Saturday night in Atlanta when he helped Virginia out of its losing slump with a 63-58 win at Georgia Tech. His line score was rather impressive: 40 minutes, seven points, seven assists, two turnovers, three steals and three rebounds for a plus-5 rating.
The 40 minutes cannot be overlooked. Bennett has had to depend on Clark to carry the load. He’s averaging 36.5 minutes per game, 39 minutes in ACC games, well above his numbers from last year.
His scoring is up, more than double actually — 10 points a game this season, up from 4.5 a year ago. He’s putting up an average of 11 points per game in ACC games so far this year.
Oh, and his assists are way up, 101 so far this season compared to 97 in 38 games last year.
As far as Bennett is concerned, any criticism of Clark is unwarranted. Bennett said he does not read newspapers and was unaware that his point guard had been targeted by critics.
“That stuff matters not to me,” Bennett said. “People want to criticize … go for it.”
It was obvious that the Virginia coach did not agree with those who have been barking about Clark’s play this season.
“He has such a load on his plate,” Bennett said. “He has to do so much. I think at times, he’s played like a warrior and been remarkable, and of course, there’s times that he hasn’t played his best, but he’s got to do that. Some guys have been thrust into spots that probably we weren’t planning on.”
Last season, Clark had Ty Jerome at point guard and Kyle Guy, who could also play the point, as part of a three-headed monster in the backcourt. This year it’s Clark and walk-on Chase Coleman and true freshman Casey Morsell.
Other than missing a few free throws, Clark was pleased with his game at Georgia Tech.
“I know I’m in a tough situation but I continue to grow with it every day. I just try to get better,” Clark said. “It’s my job and everybody on the team has to do their job at a high level. I try to do my job as best I can.”
Jay Huff, who had a career-high 17 points in the win, with several of those the benefit of some snazzy Clark passes, quickly came to the defense of his point guard.
“We trust him,” Huff said. “We know whatever happens, there’s a lot of pressure on him and he handles it better than anyone I’ve ever seen at his position. It’s really difficult to do what he does so well.
“There are people that might have that much pressure on them but he does it to an extent that’s very impressive to me. His defense, man, it’s just hard to get past him. He’s a pest on defense.”
And the passes?
Clark often penetrates the paint and finds ways to feed his big men the ball for dunks with sometimes amazing — unnoticed by the public — passes. And then, there are the Alley-Oop passes.
“Time must slow down for him or something,” Huff said about Clark’s ability to find the open man. “I’ll be standing there not sure what’s going on and all of a sudden I’ll see a basketball coming toward me, and it’s like, ‘Oh, my turn.’”
For Clark, it’s only second nature to dish out assists and help his team win.
“When I up-fake, it allows [teammates] to make second cuts and get open,” Clark said. “They do a really good job when I get in the paint and a big [man] comes over. They make it easy for me. I can throw it up, wrap-around pass, bounce pass, but credit to my teammates.”
As far as the turnovers, nobody is harder on Clark about those than Clark himself.
So, as Bennett said, if people want to criticize, go for it.
