Why Dai Dai Ames should be Virginia basketball’s starting point guard

I sincerely hope that just because there was a changing of the guard for the Virginia Cavaliers men’s basketball program, you didn’t think there wouldn’t be any playing time controversy.

This is Virginia basketball; the season has tipped, which brings excitement, hope, doubt, and confusion. It is a part of the ride, and everyone should be used to it by now. The 2024 version of this beautiful mess is the point guard battle between Andrew Rohde and Dai Dai Ames.

Rohde got the nod as the starter for game one versus Campbell because Ron Sanchez chose to go with more experience on night one. This was a safe decision that was understandable given the unknowns on this team. Sanchez knew what he would get with Rohde running the ship.

He is more experienced in running the Virginia offense and defense than Ames is, and sending out a “safe” and experienced lineup to start the season is a reasonable explanation.

However, Rohde is not a natural point guard. A point guard is someone who facilitates, is smart with the ball, can handle the ball with ease, can beat their man off the dribble, can get the offense set and running as fast as possible, and controls the flow of the offense, making sure the right people get the ball.

There is room for Rohde to occupy minutes on this team, just not at point guard. He should be competing for minutes with Taine Murray as a role player coming off the bench at the two or three position.

Dai Dai Ames is the only healthy point guard on this team – that is, until Christian Bliss is healthy. He was recruited out of high school as a four-star point guard, the No. 2 point guard coming out of Illinois in his class, and has only gotten better with one year of college basketball experience under his belt.

He can light up the box score with his confident shot and nifty passing and is also a solid defender.

Ames has only one start for the Cavaliers vs. Coppin State in game two, so there is certainly a small sample size, but he aced the eye test. He proved that he not only can score at all three levels but is also confident in doing so.

Ames helped the offense get into motion quicker as Virginia averaged five more possessions per 40 minutes than they did compared to Campbell when Rohde was the floor general. That is an opportunity for 12-15 more points for the ‘Hoos per game. A massive difference.

His stat line was impressive. Ames ended the night with 13 points, three assists, three rebounds, and two blocks, with perhaps the most remarkable stat being zero turnovers. He played a complete game at point guard, creating easy shots for others, scoring at all three levels, running the offense efficiently and confidently, and aggressively getting to the rim.

That is a point guard. That is what will help Virginia improve offensively and ultimately win games.

For Ron Sanchez, this is not the time to play safe lineups and experiment with an “experienced” guy at a position he does not play well.

As I said before, this team currently has only one healthy point guard. Dai Dai can’t play all forty minutes, but he can play twenty-five or thirty if he stays out of foul trouble. The question is, who fills that void when Ames needs a breather? If the answer is Rohde for ten minutes a game, that time should be spent with playmakers surrounding him, and his role should be to get them the ball.

Rohde is simply doing what the coaches ask him to do. After all, the fact that he may have to keep playing point guard is not his fault.