Tony Bennett: Virginia Remains Confident in Armaan Franklin’s Shooting
When Armaan Franklin transferred to Virginia, Tony Bennett and company were hoping that the Indiana transfer would give UVA’s perimeter shooting a much-needed boost. The junior guard shot 42.4% from three-point range last season at Indiana.
Franklin’s Cavalier debut on Tuesday night was an anomaly compared to the numbers he put up last season. Franklin made just one three-pointer on seven attempts and was 2/11 from the field as Virginia lost 66-58 to Navy in the season opener.
The Hoos went cold down the stretch of the game, as Franklin’s three-pointer with 15 seconds (after the game was already well out of reach) was UVA’s only basket in the last eight and a half minutes of regulation. Virginia made just four threes on a 25% shooting from three-point range in the game.
Despite Franklin’s unsatisfactory shooting performance, Tony Bennett and Virginia expressed a great deal of confidence and support in Franklin after the game.
“He’s a guy that shot the ball well in Indiana and he just had an off-shooting night,” Bennett said in the postgame press conference. “He got some pretty good looks and just had one of those nights. There’ll be nights he’s going to make them. I tell our guys, when you have an open shot, I don’t care if you miss it. If it’s a good shot, you take it with confidence and then you’re on to the next, and you have to play that way.”
Kihei Clark echoed Bennett’s sentiments, expressing confidence that Franklin will bounce back and shoot better in Virginia’s upcoming games.
“I mean, I didn’t shoot well either - we all just need to stay confident,” Clark said. “He [Armaan Franklin] knows he puts in the work, we all do. I just tell him to keep shooting because I know he can, he knows he can. It’s one game so we will just move on to the next.”
Franklin and the Cavaliers will look to improve their perimeter shooting in the second game of the season on Friday night against Radford.
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