I think you nailed it again.
With his defense-first style I think Beard is the safest and surest bet for consistent regular season success. Even though at times it is about as painful to watch as a poetry reading contest hosted by a stuttering academy. Beards team win in the regular season and produce very consistently game to game. But we’ve seen with Barnes, regular season success only means so much to Texas fans. If given a choice I think the vast majority of Texas fans would take 5th or 6th place finishes if it meant more sweet 16/elite 8 chances. That’s what Shaka was really meant to produce I think.
Now so far, Beard has had excellent success in the dance, but I believe ultimately the most consistent winners in March are the teams with the best and most consistent offenses. Yes Virginia beat Tech for the championship in 2019, but Virginia also was the first 1 to lose in the first round the year before and got dropped in the first round again this year. When your goal is turn every game into a 60-55 rock fight sometimes you end up on the wrong side of 60.
All that is why I think I’d prefer to go with Ivey. Now, maybe Ivey goes back to his Barnes roots and we start playing in your shirt man to man again. But from what I’ve heard he’s a true pace and space disciple. Plus I’ve heard from basketball guys I very much respect that Royal is absolutely the real deal as far as having a basketball mind. I also just like the idea of one of the toughest and most underrated players we’ve ever had coming here and having success versus someone who has a tendency to throw grown man-baby tantrums on the court.