Virginia Basketball: Early Concerns for Cavaliers in 2014-15

When you're 5-0 and ranked in the Top 10 of the college basketball poll, life is pretty good.

For the Virginia Cavaliers, who won their fifth straight blowout on Tuesday night, life is indeed exactly that.

The Hoos are off to their best start in Tony Bennett's six years as head coach and are playing efficient basketball on both ends of the floor. Not only are the Cavaliers playing stingy defense, they are shooting 48 percent from the floor as a team.

So is everything perfect in Charlottesville?

Well, not quite.

Here are three early concerns—albeit minor—for the Virginia Cavaliers thus far in the season. 

London Perrantes

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London Perrantes

In four games this season, sophomore point guard London Perrantes is averaging 27.5 minutes per game, but he has scored just 16 points and has dished out only nine assists.

Is there a reason for concern with Perrantes yet?

It's tough to say.

Outside of George Washington, the Cavaliers haven't really played anyone. Perrantes also missed the first game due to a violation of team rules in the offseason, and he injured his foot when practice began in early October.

Could the foot injury be hampering Perrantes more than he's letting on?

That's a possibility. Foot injuries can be tricky. Malcolm Brogdon missed an entire season two years ago because of a broken foot, while former UVA guard Jontel Evans was never the same his senior season due to a foot injury. 

It's obviously early, but Bennett would like to see his point guard start rounding into form as the schedule in December will pick up. 

The Schedule

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Darion Atkins dunks over a JMU player in the season opener

It's not the Cavaliers' fault they haven't played a good team outside of George Washington—and yes, they did throttle GW after a slow start.

As the schedule picks up in December, though, some of UVA's younger players will be tested on a whole new level.

The Hoos play at Maryland, at VCU and have a home date with Harvard in December, and each of those teams can potentially beat Virginia.

Maryland and VCU beat the ACC champs last season, don't forget.

December is the month in which we find out if the Cavaliers miss Joe Harris and Akil Mitchell.

Harris' scoring has seemingly been replaced by Justin Anderson's ascension to the starting lineup, but has Mitchell been capably replaced?

Mike Tobey and Darion Atkins have taken turns starting in the low post for Virginia, and both have played well. Tobey scored 13 points and pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds in Tuesday's win over Tennessee State.

Remember, though, that was Tennessee State.

The Cavaliers need a strong December heading into ACC play in January. With Louisville now in the conference and Duke fielding a roster full of McDonald's All-Americans, it's a much stronger group than last season. 

Turnovers

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Virginia forward Anthony Gill battling for a loose ball

The Cavaliers thrive on outstanding defense and taking care of the ball on offense, but it's been a struggle thus far even against weak competition.

Opponents have turned over the ball 57 times, while Virginia has turned over the rock 53 times.

That cannot continue or it will spell trouble for UVA.

The Hoos are currently tied for No. 157 in turnover margin, behind teams such as Radford, Prairie View and USC Upstate. 

The biggest contributors to the turnovers have been big men Atkins and Anthony Gill. Gill touches the ball a lot, as he's UVA's best inside player. Atkins, though, is known more as a defensive player. That inefficiency on offense will likely lead to Tobey playing more late in games because he's better on the offensive end. 

The good news for Virginia is that Malcolm Brogdon and Perrantes have combined for just nine turnovers.

Fortunately for the Hoos, this is a correctable issue and one that Bennett is surely emphasizing with his team.