Boiled down, basketball is a game of possessions. Winning a game requires one, if not both, of two things — scoring points more efficiently than an opponent, or simply creating a higher number of shots. What makes the sport so compelling to millions around the world is that there is no simple formula for either.
For the past decade under Tony Bennett, Virginia basketball’s answer was to slow the game down — methodical offense and the notorious packline defense — while others tried to speed it up. Now, under Coach Ryan Odom, it is the opposite.
The new-look, No. 16 Cavaliers (15-2, 4-1 ACC) play an aggressive brand of basketball. They pressure after made baskets, they take shots early in the shot clock and they shoot a lot of three-pointers. It is a system that asks players to buy into their roles, and also to play those roles with energy, consistency and precision.
Few players exemplify this dynamic better than freshman center Johann Grünloh.
One of the more notable adds from Odom’s first offseason in Charlottesville, Grünloh was projected by some as a possible second-round pick in June’s NBA Draft. Born in north-western Germany, Grünloh joined professional club Rasta Vechta as a teenager, rising through their youth teams and eventually earning professional experience in the top flight of German basketball.
Now, the 20-year-old seven-footer makes up one half of what Odom recently called a “two-headed monster.” Grünloh and senior center Ugonna Onyenso are two of the most fearsome shot-blockers in the nation, both menaces in drop coverage who consistently deter rim attempts and allow the guards to play more physically in the Cavaliers’ high-pressure system.
“My role is to kind of slow it down so a guard can fight back in front,” Grünloh said. “It’s not to jump at the ball or stop him high, my role is to stop him at the rim [and] give the guard as much time to fight back in front to make it a two-on-two again.”
Negating rim attempts is part of what makes Grünloh so vital to that possession-by-possession equation for winning basketball games. With 44 blocks on the season, he ranks 10th in the country in blocks per game, all while often avoiding swatting at the ball to mitigate the risk of fouling.
“Sometimes you’ve got to go straight up and they have to shoot over you,” Grünloh said. “If it’s a block it’s cool but if not they’ve still got a hard shot.”
In a system that asks for comfortability within a given role, Grünloh’s style of play has allowed him to excel on both ends of the floor. He plays low-usage basketball where he thrives as a screener and under the basket — he has made 67 percent of his close two-point attempts and already has 20 dunks on the season — but his offensive abilities do not stop there.
Those ancillary offensive skills are especially visible with his floor-spacing ability. Odom and the Virginia staff have encouraged Grünloh to take three-point shots when left open, and he has made a handful up to this point. The percentages are improving, currently at 34 percent, but simply having a center with a real volume of three-point attempts can force opponents’ hands.
“When a five-man can shoot like Johann can it’s just a blessing for guards that like to get downhill, like myself and our other guards. It just opens up the floor and it just spaces out when one through five can shoot, pass and dribble,” graduate guard Malik Thomas said.
Grünloh’s offensive game is certainly more of a complimentary asset in the Cavaliers’ attack. He does not find himself at the free throw line very often, nor is he particularly effective from that location, but Grünloh is a polished play finisher who is comfortable far away from the rim, leading the team in two-point shooting percentage.
Revisiting his value on a possession-by-possession level, Grünloh is a capable scorer that opens up a lot offensively for Virginia. But that is not where the big man thrives. The Cavaliers are a top 10 offensive rebounding team in the country — an accolade to which every player has contributed — but Grünloh has by far been the most important player in getting those second chances at shots. He has 51 offensive rebounds on the season — 13 better than his next teammate — averaging more than three per game.
To place in perspective just how pronounced Grünloh’s two-way impact is, one need only look at the past two decades of basketball data and analytics. Since 2008, only seven high-major freshmen have had an effective field goal percentage over 50 percent, a block percentage above 10 and an offensive rebound percentage above 10, all while making at least one three-pointer. Six of them are active NBA players and former first-round picks — one is Johann Grünloh.
Admittedly, that is a very specific statistical query — and it does not suggest that Grünloh, who came to college from a professional league and not a high school, holds a candle as a prospect to star NBA players like Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns or Joel Embiid. However, it does speak to the degree to which Grünloh is affecting winning on both ends.
For a system like Odom’s, which forces opposing teams to start their actions late in the shot clock with full court defense, and in turn, thrives in pace and movement on the offensive side, an anchor like Grünloh only increases in importance against tougher competition. As the season progresses towards an ACC tournament and possibly a national one, an excellent drop defender, play finisher and offensive rebounder could be the difference maker in tight games.
In those competitive spring conference matches, Grünloh’s thus far strong play will be tested by the most imposing front courts the Cavaliers have faced. He has thrived against smaller and younger centers, but players like SMU sophomore Samet Yigitoglu, North Carolina junior Henri Veesaar and Duke sophomore Patrick Ngongba all possess legitimate size and unique skillsets that will challenge Grünloh on both ends.
The good news is that Grünloh came to Charlottesville with experience playing against bigger, more experienced frontcourts — now, he is in a role in which he can excel by doing the little, simple things right. He has proven himself this year to be a player who wins his team more possessions, adding substance on both ends that has made Virginia one of the best teams in the nation.
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