The Race to Replace Will Graves

There wasn't much of interest in the Virginia game on Saturday - the Cavaliers just aren't good this year - so I focused on the two players set to pick up the slack, Bobby Frasor and Larry Drew. Neither of them impressed:

Name              FG   3FG    FT   R   TP   A   TO  BLK   S  MIN
Frasor, Bobby    1-4   0-2   0-1   3    2   3    1   0    0   15
Drew II, Larry   0-1   0-0   0-2   1    0   0    2   0    0    7

Frasor made his first lay-up before missing his next three shots all in the first thirteen minutes of the game; Drew was equally ineffectual on offense, and it's no surprise both played fewer minutes than their season averages.  Comparing minutes played to the previous game against Maryland, and Roy Williams definitely spread the playing time more amongst the starting five than the bench, possibly in preparation for tomorrow's Duke game. Either way, there isn't much indication on playing time going forward.

While Drew as a freshman has the greater capacity for improvement, and the team could get a leg up on next year by giving him more playing time, I wouldn't count out a Bobby Frasor resurgence. He ran the point freshman year, remember, and acquitted himself well. Behind Lawson his sophomore year he had his best shooting performance on only ten minutes per game of playing time. His evolution was cut short by the injury junior year and hampered this season by limited playing time. But recall how quickly Quentin Thomas improved when given the opportunity last season; a couple more minutes of playing time and a game or two to find his feet and Frasor could definitely be a calming, unexpected scorer on the floor for the Heels.