Heels could get Cavs
back on winning track
By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Virginia guard Roger Mason Jr. told his teammates after
Tuesday’s loss at Clemson that the team must chose which path it wants to take
at this juncture: the winning one or the losing one. He also added that there is
“a fork in the road” for the Cavaliers, and it appears that fork is located
right outside North Carolina’s Dean E. Smith Center.
In a place in which it has won just four times, the Virginia men’s basketball
team (9-2, 0-2 ACC) will try to notch what in some ways could be a season-saving
victory today over the struggling the Tar Heels.
While downplaying the importance of games is almost commonplace among both
players and coaches, the Cavaliers are not taking that approach with today’s
contest.
“It’s very safe to say it’s our biggest game of the year. We’re last in
the league right now and we have to play hard and we have to win that game,”
Mason said after Tuesday’s loss to Clemson.
A loss would drop Virginia to 0-3 in the ACC with a home contest against No. 20
Wake Forest looming Tuesday night. Of course, it is not as if Virginia has had
great starts to its ACC campaigns in recent years. The program has lost its last
seven ACC openers and has not had a winning mark in its first three ACC contest
since the 1995-96 season when the Cavs stood 3-0. Last year, Virginia began its
ACC campaign 1-3 but won eight of its remaining 12 conference games to finish
9-7 in the league.
Still, 0-3 is 0-3, and that is a place where the Cavaliers don’t want to be.
“We just need to stick together now and practice hard and get ready for that
game. Like Mason said, it can get a whole lost worse than this,” senior
forward Chris Williams said.
The game is just as crucial for the Tar Heels (5-7, 1-2), who likely cannot save
their season at this point but could save face a little. In their last game, the
Tar Heels suffered a 112-79 loss to the No. 4 Terrapins in what was their most
lopsided ACC loss ever. That came just four days after the Tar Heels fell at
home to Wake Forest 84-62 in what was their biggest ever loss at the Smith
Center.
“I think we need to muster that anger up. I don’t think we did, and that’s
why I was a little disappointed after the Wake Forest game,” North Carolina
coach Matt Doherty said. “We didn’t come back with that kind of anger and
energy that I wanted. Hopefully, that’ll come out tomorrow [today].”
While Doherty might not know exactly what to expect from his own team, he is
just as confused as to what to expect from Virginia.
“It comes down to their confidence level. How is Virginia? Are they fragile or
are they confident and mad? Duke’s an experienced team that got mad and took
it out on Georgia Tech [on Thursday]. It’s going to depend on how Virginia
is,” Doherty said.
Some of the Cavaliers’ identity crisis at the moment might stem from believing
they are the No. 7 team in the country instead of playing like the No. 7 team in
the country, according to Mason.
“At this point, I think that we’ve read into ourselves a little too much.
We’ve bought into the fact that we think that we’re very good and better
than we are. The bottom line is that we are not as good as we think we are,”
Mason said. “The only way that you are going to be good in the ACC is if you
come and practice hard every day.”
For Gillen, it is almost as if his players are finally acknowledging what had
been already been a fear of his for quite some time.
“No question we have to dig down. Maybe we think that we’re a little better
than we are,” Gillen said. “I agree that we think that we are a lot better
than we are. We have to look in the mirror right now and dig down.”
For UNC's Capel, it's best of times,
worst of times Before the season, Jason Capel sounded like a man who had been working for
others his whole life and was finally opening his own business. Capel was going to have a team of his own. He'd be the senior leader, the
offensive focal point, the guy talking in those free-throw line huddles.
``I've waited a long time for this,'' the North Carolina senior said.
After all the waiting, the team Capel leads is, by UNC standards, a dud. With
a 5-7 record heading into today's game against Virginia, Carolina is on pace for
its worst finish in 40 years. Several historic streaks -- 37 straight top-three
finishes in the ACC, 31 straight 20-win seasons, 27 straight NCAA appearances --
are in dire jeopardy.
Capel can't be blamed for all of that. Statistically, he's having his best
season. He averages 17 points per game and leads the ACC in rebounding, at 10.4
per game. He's ninth in the conference in assists and, along with Virginia
center Travis Watson, is one of just two players in the league averaging a
double-double.
``Jason's settled nicely into his role as a leader,'' coach Matt Doherty
said. ``His rebounding is a direct correlation to his effort. He fights for
everything.
``He's comfortable with what he's doing right now.''
Not completely comfortable. Capel may be content that he has hit his goal of
averaging a double-double this season.
``But we're not winning, so I can't be happy.''
Not when it's his team. UNC has three other seniors, but it's Capel who is a
coach's son, the guy who has played every position, the one able to both bring
the ball up and post-up.
``I think the guys respect me, because I know the game pretty well,'' he
said.
A natural small forward, Capel has been forced to play power forward this
year. At various times, he's played all five positions. Mostly, he battles foes
several inches taller, like Indiana's Jared Jeffries and Maryland's Chris
Wilcox.
Capel says he's playing a more cerebral game this year. Both on and off the
court.
``I have to keep everybody intact, everybody positive,'' he said. ``It's a
challenge I'm up to. It's a challenge I'm not running from. I like the
responsibility.''
Capel has been a precocious sort from his days as an eighth-grader playing
varsity ball in Greensboro. He moved to Chesapeake when his father, Jeff, became
coach at Old Dominion, and he led Indian River to the state semifinals as a
freshman. He was the Group AAA Player of the Year the next season, then
transferred to St. John's Prospect Hall in Maryland.
Capel signed with UNC and has been a fixture in the lineup for four years.
Until this year, every team he's played on -- high school and college -- has won
big.
``I've never experienced anything like this season before,'' Capel said.
``It's tough. We have the ingredients to have a good team; we just don't have
the experience.''
Forget leadership 101. Capel views his challenge as more akin to
graduate-level work. He thinks he'll be better for it.
``It's been tough, but I'll probably look back on this as one of the best
times I've had,'' he said. ``Helping young guys, finding myself.''
Finding himself double-teamed, occasionally. With scorers Brendan Haywood and
Joseph Forte gone to the NBA, Capel is drawing more defensive attention. His
shooting percentage is down. He shot 47 percent from the field and 41.8 percent
from 3-point range last year, and is at just 41.9 percent overall and 28.8
percent from 3-point range this year.
He was a combined 2 for 22 from 3-point range in consecutive losses to
Hampton, Davidson and Indiana, puzzling for someone who shot 40.2 percent from
behind the arc during his first three years. It's been fodder for critics who
see Capel as a nice complementary player but not someone talented enough to
carry a team.
Capel could blame a sore hamstring that he pulled last summer working out at
Indian River and has been nagged by all year. But he's played with pain most of
his career, battling through back problems that eventually required surgery.
Over the years, he's become adept at blocking things out, whether it's the
pain of a sore hamstring or the negative buzz about this year's team.
``We can't worry about what people are saying,'' he said. ``It's just
basketball. There are people fighting wars right now.
``We want to take it seriously, but we want to keep a sense of fun.''
By ED MILLER, The
Virginian-Pilot
© January 12, 2002
| Cavaliers, Tar Heels looking to rebound |
| UVa and North Carolina each will attempt to snap two-game losing streaks today in Chapel Hill. |
| By
DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
There is no end to the responsibilities Roger Mason Jr. has assumed at Virginia, where he has moved to point guard this season while remaining the Cavaliers' primary shooting threat. On Tuesday, it was also Mason who addressed his teammates after a 68-52 loss to lowly Clemson. "This is not the worst it can get," Mason told reporters after Virginia had fallen to 0-2 in ACC play. "It's bad right now - and we feel terrible - but it's not going to just go away. "I told them that everybody has to look in the mirror and change this because we're at a fork in the road right now." The Cavaliers (9-2, 0-2) return to action today in Chapel Hill, N.C., against North Carolina (5-7, 1-2) at noon. Like Virginia, the Tar Heels are looking to snap a two-game losing streak. Wake Forest led Carolina by as many as 27 points before beating the Tar Heels 82-64 in Chapel Hill; then, Maryland handed Carolina a 112-79 shellacking on Wednesday night in College Park, Md. Virginia and Carolina were picked third and fourth in the ACC, respectively, before the season. The Tar Heels were 19th in the nation before losing to Hampton in the season opener, and UVa remains No.7 after getting as high as No.4. "We have to play harder; that's the bottom line," Mason said. "Xs and Os are great. Those are needed to win games, but you've got to play hard, especially defensively." It has been fashionable over coach Pete Gillen's four-year tenure to blame losses on poor defense, but nobody has shot 50 percent this year against the Cavaliers, who rank second in the ACC in field-goal percentage defense. Clemson shot 53.3 percent in the second half Tuesday night, but only 40.6 percent for the game. N.C. State, an 81-74 winner over the Cavaliers last Saturday in Charlottesville, shot 60.7 percent in the first half but cooled off to 49.1 percent for the game. A bigger problem for UVa has been its own shooting, including 36.4 percent from the field at Clemson, where the Cavaliers were 2-for-25 on 3-pointers. "Whew!" Mason said after the game. "I knew we didn't shoot well. I didn't know it was 2-for-25. When you don't play defense and you don't make shots, then you go on the road in the ACC and you lose. Period." In 2000-01, the Cavaliers had exactly 100 fewer turnovers (399) than the opposition (499). This year, with the departure of four-year starting point guard Donald Hand and a season-ending injury to heir apparent Majestic Mapp, UVa has four fewer turnovers (190) than the opposition (194). There has been considerable speculation that the Cavaliers might turn to freshman point guard Keith Jenifer, who played 20 minutes Tuesday and had nine points, two assists and one turnover. When he plays, it removes some of the ball-handling burden from Mason. "It definitely does," Mason said. "I think it was his best game of the season. If he gets his confidence and plays like that, he's going to help us." North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said Friday that he was contemplating a change in his starting lineup but wouldn't elaborate. The Tar Heels also have been plagued by the absence of a veteran point guard and learned this week that former starter Ronald Curry is done playing basketball. Doherty has been consumed by his own problems, specifically the Tar Heels' inability to throw "a counter punch," but he hasn't been oblivious to Virginia's recent play. "Does it surprise me?" Doherty said. "On one hand, yes. You'd think they'd win at home because they're ranked No.4 in the country, but this league is all about surprises if you don't 'bring it' or you don't perform. "Performance is a big thing because you can bring it, but you still might not perform. To me, performance is shooting the basketball and the ball going through the hoop." |
Afros and left hands? Who had the best?
By
DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive
to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Thursdays
As late as last Saturday, I had convinced myself that Virginia freshman point guard Keith Jenifer was a recruiting bust and probably would not complete a four-year career with the Cavaliers.
Now, I find myself debating the wisdom of UVa starting Jenifer on Saturday at North Carolina.
Am I a man of conviction or what?
A lot of UVa fans don't want anything of me after my assertion that Clemson had exposed the Cavaliers as a "fraud" -- maybe a little harsh, I'll confess -- but the Jenifer situation is worth examining.
By most accounts, Jenifer had his best game of the season Tuesday, when he played 20 minutes and had nine points, two assists and one turnover in a 68-52 loss to Clemson.
Just over 72 hours earlier, Jenifer had played 12 minutes against North Carolina State, when he was undressed at midcourt by fellow Hargrave Military Academy graduate Anthony Grundy, whose steal and layup started the Wolfies on a 14-3 run leading to an 81-74 victory.
If the Clemson game was a turning point, it might be traced to Jenifer's decision to unroll his customary corn rows and play with a billowing Afro.
(On press row, that raised the question, "Who had the best Afro in UVa men's basketball history?" Radio analyst Jim Hobgood mentioned his old teammate, Lamont Carr, but, now that I think of it, Mike Owens might rate the edge, although Roanoke Times prep editor Robert Anderson votes for Bobby Stokes.)
If the Cavaliers started Jenifer at point guard, that would enable Roger Mason Jr. to return to his more natural shooting guard. More than that, senior Adam Hall could return to small forward, where he spent his first three years.
Hall, with NBA aspirations, probably jumped at the opportunity to play shooting guard, a position for which his 6-foot-5 frame is ideal. However, Hall has not made a 3-point field goal since Dec. 8 in a drought that reached 0-for-12 after the second of back-to-back 0-for-4 outings.
Hall and fellow senior Chris Williams killed the Cavaliers on Tuesday, when they were a combined 2-for-18 from the field, including 0-for-9 on 3-pointers. These are two players who UVa is counting on for leadership -- two of their three co-captains, in fact -- and, by the end of the game, the Cavaliers couldn't afford to have them on the floor.
Presumably, Hall and Williams will regain some semblance of their former form and should remain in the starting lineup. If you start Jenifer, the most likely casualty would be sophomore J.C. Mathis, who has started the first 11 games to mostly unfavorable reviews.
IF MATHIS COMES OUT of the starting lineup, that leaves the Cavaliers with four post men -- Mathis, Elton Brown, Jason Clark and Jason Clark -- among their five scholarship reserves. That is one of several examples of the poor chemistry that might doom this year's team.
Things would have been better if point guard Majestic Mapp had not reinjured his knee, requiring a second reconstruction, and they should be a lot better next year if Mapp is close to 100 percent next year. A lot of their current problems would not have arisen if Mapp were running the show.
On the other hand, I see chemistry problems of another sort next year. Let's say Jenifer becomes the starting point guard for the rest of the year. Then, the Cavaliers will have three point guards next year, including Mapp and Todd Billet, a transfer from Rutgers.
Presumably, Billet could play shooting guard next year and his 82 3-point field goals last year at Rutgers reflect how much he will be able to help UVa. You could play Mapp and Billet together, but Billet would be an undersized (6-foot) shooting guard and Mason would have to play small forward.
Again, it looks like some people would have to play out of position, but that's a topic of conversation for another day. The question is this season and whether Virginia can somehow win one or both of the next two games (North Carolina on Saturday; Wake Forest at home Tuesday) because it's possible they could start the ACC season 0-4.
I'm not sure that the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C., is the best place for Jenifer to make his starting debut, but, what's that they say? Desperate times call for desperate measures? Less than one week after exiting the ranks of the unbeaten, even coach Pete Gillen admits that things are looking desperate.
A RECENT DISCUSSION on the merits -- or lack of -- of Mathis' running, left-handed one-handers started a debate in the UVa media room. The topic was UVa best all-time left-handers, company in which Hobgood felt he certainly belonged.
After John Crotty and Travis Watson, Hobgood felt he had a strong case as the No. 3 left-hander, although students of more recent UVa history opted for Ted Jeffries. Tim Mullen and Willie Dersch also received some support.
As always, UVa Insider readers are invited to furnish their opinion. The panelists, in this case, had little background before 1970.
Dosh announcement scheduled for Monday
By DOUG
DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays
Not only will be the second- and third-best quarterback prospects in Virginia being staying in state, but I believe the No. 1-rated QB will pick either Virginia Tech or Virginia.
The Cavaliers received a commitment earlier this fall from Patrick Henry-Ashland quarterback Anthony Martinez and Benedictine quarterback Patrick Dosh has called a news conference for Monday, at which time he is expected to announce his choice of Tech.
Martinez and Dosh were Nos. 12 and 19 on The Roanoke Times' rating of the top prospects in Virginia.
The top-rated quarterback and No. 2 prospect overall is Marcus Vick, younger brother of former Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick, the top selection in the 2001 National Football League draft.
Marcus Vick has taken an official visit to Miami and will be at Tennessee this weekend. He will go to Virginia (Jan. 18) and Virginia Tech (Jan. 25) after that.
There has been a shortage of information on the younger Vick in this column, based in large part on my inability to pin down Warwick High School coach Tommy Reamon, once a regular contributor to this column.
Reamon had to cut short back-to-back phone calls, first when he was visited by a repairman and second when he said he was in the middle of putting up Christmas tree lights.
It was enough for me to think I was getting the runaround.
Fortunately, I was mistaken. When I got in touch with Reamon earlier this week, it was like old times. He didn't tip his hand, but it is clear that Vick has Reamon's blessing if he wants to go to either Tech or UVa.
Reamon likes his players to stay in state, but Virginia had to serve its penance because Reamon didn't like the way UVa treated Aaron Brooks. Last year, Reamon was not happy when the Hokies would not offer a scholarship to linebacker Melvin Massey, who signed with UVa.
"He's a player, baby," said Reamon of Massey, who was redshirted this season. "They love him."
Reamon was skeptical when the Hokies brought in three quarterbacks last year, including Bryan Randall, who played nearby in the Group AA Bay Rivers District -- one step below the Group AAA Peninsula District in which Warwick competes.
Reamon said he would sit back and watch and, to his credit, that's what he has done. Randall did not wow anybody as the backup to fourth-year junior Grant Noel and now the Tech quarterback situation is cloudier than ever.
"Listening to Noel's comments after the bowl game, he's very confident, he's excited, he thinks he's the man," Reamon said. "Someone has to be in that position ."
Reamon did not want Michael Vick playing as a true freshman, when he was redshirted as Al Clark ran the show in 1998, so you can be darned sure that he wouldn't object if Marcus were redshirted.
While Marcus was telling reporters during the season that he would not go to Virginia Tech, Reamon never went that far.
"I told people what I thought and they chose not to listen to me," he said.
Reamon said earlier this week that he felt Tech had made "some great moves, management-wise," clearly a reference to the hiring of Kevin Rogers as quarterbacks coach. It was Rogers, while at Syracuse, who got the Orangemen in the final two for Michael Vick.
"They've done an excellent job of recruiting Marcus and letting him know he's special and needed," Reamon said. "The process is going on. Virginia has done an excellent job of recruiting him, too."
Reamon likes Mike London, the UVa assistant in charge of recruiting the Peninsula, and he feels comfortable with the Cavaliers' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Bill Musgrave.
I'm sure Reamon would let Marcus Vick sign with Virginia. But, would big brother Michael be as quick to sign off on Marcus wearing orange and blue? I don't think so. That's why I think the Hokies will get MV2.
LOOKING AT THE OTHER UNCOMMITTED players in the state, I would rate Tech the leader for No. 4 Jonathan Lewis, No. 8 Justin London, No. 11 Mike Imoh, No. 15 Darryl Tapp and Dosh.
I would give Virginia a slight edge with No. 1 Ahmad Brooks, based largely on an upcoming visit to Charlottesville on which he will be joined by many of the state's other top prospects, and a little bit bigger edge with No. 3 Kai Parham, No. 6 Michael Johnson and No. 9 Marcus Hamilton.
If all those predictions come through, that would mean that the top nine uncommitted players in the state would go to Tech or UVa and I doubt that's going to happen. "Beware of Tennessee," I've been told by more than one person.
Among the in-state players still considering the Vols are Brooks, Vick, Parham, Johnson and No. 21 Antwan Stewart, a running back-defensive back from Potomac High School who made an oral commitment to Virginia in November.
Stewart said Thursday night that he never notified the Cavaliers that he was decommitting, that they understood he was still going to look at other schools and that they still were very much in the picture, pending his visit next week. If Virginia still wants him, I think UVa will get him.
AN EXAMPLE OF HOW The Roanoke Times Top 25 has changed over the years is No. 26 Jimmy Williams, a defensive back from Bethel High School in Hampton who has offers from Tech, UVa and West Virginia. That would have been good enough to make the Top 25 in any other year.
I hear that Williams, who transferred from Hampton High School to Bethel after his junior year, is close friends with UVa freshman and former Hampton quarterback Marques Hagans. That might give the Cavaliers an "in" with Williams.
At Warwick, Reamon has sized up the recruiting interest in Williams and wonders how No. 37 Brenden Hill, a wide receiver for Reamon, isn't given the same consideration by recruiting analysts. Hill has offers from UVa and WVU, and Tech has invited him for a visit.
Williams, who played quarterback for Bethel, is seen as a possible strong safety or outside linebacker. Reamon thinks Hill, at 6-3 and 205 pounds, has similar athletic ability and the versatility to play a number of positions.
Reamon realizes the possibility that some schools might recruit Hill to get at Vick, "but, if I sense that, they're not going to get very far," he said. "That could happen, but I think I've been around long enough to see what's going on."
That's why Reamon encouraged Hill to consider a lower-level Division I-A program (Kent State) and a Division I-AA program (Norfolk State). "We have that conversation regularly," Reamon said, "but, let me tell you, Brenden Hill can play for anybody."
In Reamon's eyes, so can Andrew Henderson, a 6-2 cornerback who made the all-area team picked by the Newport News Daily Press. Henderson didn't make The Roanoke Times Top 100, but that's easily explainable. About the time his name would have come up, the dishwasher repairman came calling.
Cavs, Heels aim to end ACC skids
After watching his team stumble in its past two games, University of Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen probably doesn't know what to expect today against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. The Cavaliers are a mystery to the Tar Heels' coach, too.
"I don't know where Virginia's heads are," Matt Doherty said yesterday. "Are they confident and mad, or are they fragile? We'll see."
In a similar situation, the Heels' buddies from Durham played with palpable intensity Thursday night in their first game since losing at Florida State.
"Duke's an experienced team that got mad and took it out on Georgia Tech," Doherty said.
Can fourth-ranked U.Va. (0-2, 9-2) take its frustrations out on unranked UNC (1-2, 5-7) today? Only once has Virginia prevailed in the Dean Smith Center. Then again, history seems irrelevant this season when it comes to Carolina basketball.
Four nights after Wake Forest pounded them 84-62 at the Dean Dome, the Heels fell 112-79 to fourth-ranked Maryland on Wednesday at Cole Field House, their worst-ever loss in an ACC road game.
"The biggest disappointment to me the last two games was we didn't give - and this is hard for me to say - our best effort," Doherty said.
When Wake and Maryland hit Carolina, figuratively speaking, "we didn't throw a counterpunch," Doherty said. "I guess that's the best way of saying it. We maybe threw one of them. We need to throw a ton of them until the final horn sounds."
At least one Heel hasn't backed down: senior forward Jason Capel, who leads his team in scoring (17 ppg) and rebounding (10.4). "I thought Jason Capel responded magnificently in those games, but Jason needs help," Doherty said.
UNC has been to 27 straight NCAA tournaments, a national record. It has posted 31 consecutive seasons with at least 20 wins, another NCAA record. It has finished third or higher in the ACC for 37 straight seasons.
All those streaks, and others, are in jeopardy this season, UNC's second under Doherty, who played for Smith in the early'80s. It's revenge time for Carolina opponents, a fact Doherty and Dick Vitale discussed the other night in College Park.
"It's still North Carolina coming into Cole Field House or Wake Forest coming here," Doherty said. "It's not like they're overlooking us. They're anxious to pay back for 30-some years of Carolina's dominance in college basketball."
From a team that finished 26-7 in 2000-01, UNC lost Brendan Haywood and Joseph Forte to the NBA. Bruising forward Julius Peppers recently declared for the NFL draft and has given up basketball. Yet another two-sport athlete from UNC, Ronald Curry, the starting point guard last season, has also opted not to return to the hoops team, Doherty said.
Many Carolina fans are already talking about the 2002-03 season, when at least three blue-chip recruits will come aboard. Doherty, however, hasn't given up on this season.
"I'm not looking toward next year," he said. "I'm looking toward Virginia."
And Virginia is looking toward North Carolina. The Cavaliers rose to No. 4 in The Associated Press poll, then lost at home to N.C. State on Jan. 5. U.Va. followed that defeat with a 16-point loss Tuesday night at Clemson.
Now comes Carolina. Asked at Littlejohn Coliseum if it was safe to call this Virginia's biggest game of the season, junior guard Roger Mason Jr. said, "It's very safe to say that. We're last in the league right now, and we have to play harder. We have to win that game."
Time for Tar Heels to get tough
By BARRY SVRLUGA, Staff Writer
CHAPEL HILL - In the days
after Wake Forest pummeled North Carolina a week ago, UNC basketball coach Matt
Doherty expected certain things from his Tar Heels. A response. An energy level.
An attitude of "hey, forget what people are saying, forget how awful we
were. We're proud, we're competitive, and we won't let that happen again."
But no. What Doherty got four days later against Maryland was a passive,
tentative performance in a 112-79 loss, and "that, to some degree, shocked
me," he said.
As his players got ready to face No. 7 Virginia at noon today, Doherty
questioned how hard they have been playing.
"The last two games, and it's hard for me to say this, I felt like we
didn't give the best effort," he said Friday. "I think when you go
into a game, you have intentions of doing that. But when things went wrong
early, we didn't.
"We have to come out and fight, fight every possession, scrap every
possession. I think when you have some young guys and a team takes it to you
early, from the beginning, we didn't react well. We didn't react with the
toughness I wanted."
Doherty has said all along that he wants to see certain qualities in his
players each and every day: effort, toughness and improvement. The way the Heels
(5-7, 1-2 ACC) have been blown out in their last two games is making it tougher
to extract those qualities, even in practice.
"I thought we'd come back with more anger and energy in practice, and we
didn't come back with that kind of anger and energy that I wanted," Doherty
said of the Heels' post-Wake practice sessions.
The past two days have been spent discussing how to acquire those traits.
Forget the defensive problems. Forget the offensive mistakes. As he runs his
fingers through his hair in search of a solution, Doherty said the Heels are
working more on their attitude. It isn't easy.
The team's three freshmen --Jackie Manuel, Melvin Scott and Jawad Williams --
have never been through anything like this, and they certainly didn't expect to
be so embarrassed in their first months in Carolina blue.
So, the job of holding the team together falls to the veterans.
"I've been trying, and I don't know [how]," senior forward Jason
Capel said. "You try to do it by actions. You try to do it verbally. But
guys have to respond. They have to take it upon themselves to do it. So I don't
know. I'm at a loss when it comes to that right now, because I've tried it all
year."
Doherty, too, sounds at a loss from time to time. He tried to shake up things
by starting Adam Boone at point guard in place of Scott against Maryland, but
the Heels still committed a season-high 25 turnovers. Virginia (9-2, 0-2), which
loves to press and run as well, will go right at UNC despite the Cavaliers' own
two-game losing streak.
The coach said he might tweak the starting lineup again today, but "I'm
not ready to reveal that right now." What concerns Doherty more than who
starts is how his team responds today. He said it had better be different than
the response against Wake and Maryland.
"In the first few minutes, we didn't throw a counterpunch," Doherty
said. "We tried to against Maryland. We tried to against Wake Forest. But
we need to throw a ton of them until the final horn sounds."
He is trying everything to figure out the best way to reach this team. The
past two days have been important in that process, he said.
"You talk about it," Doherty said. "You address it when it
arises in practice, in games. You've got to hold players accountable."
That can be a shock to them, particularly the freshmen, who are praised
throughout the recruiting process, then picked apart upon their arrival. All
three freshmen have struggled, and none has improved consistently with each
game. But they say they understand Doherty's point.
"I know our youth plays a role in it, but that's no excuse for not
playing tough," Scott said. "Young or old, we've got to do that. It
comes to a point where we've been playing ball for a while, and there's really
no excuse for not playing tough and being aggressive and attacking."
Scott is the most vocal of the three freshmen, and he has generally looked
less frightened than Manuel and Williams, who were more heralded coming out of
high school. So watching the freshmen go into shells and come out of them begs
the question: Do they have the tough makeup Doherty wants?
"I want to think so," Capel said. "I think so. I know they
want to, deep down inside. But being in front of all those people can bring the
youth out of you."
Cavs Soul Search As Offense Falters
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, January 12, 2002; Page D05
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Jan. 11 -- With many of his teammates already in the showers, Virginia senior Chris Williams faced the media after Tuesday's 68-52 loss to Clemson and tried to describe what went wrong.
"It was a lot of everything," Williams explained. The No. 7 Cavaliers had fallen to 0-2 in the ACC by losing to a team that couldn't beat Yale. The slump that began with last Saturday's loss to North Carolina State was threatening to turn into a downward spiral.
The Cavaliers blamed their defense for the home loss to the Wolfpack, though they went nearly eight minutes without a field goal late in the game. Now after a stagnant performance at Clemson, the offense has become a concern.
As the Cavaliers (9-2 overall) prepare for Saturday's game at North Carolina, their season-opening nine-game winning streak is a thing of the past. The offensive and defensive breakdowns that haunted Virginia in its last two games will not disappear just because the struggling Tar Heels (5-7, 1-2) are next on the schedule.
"I told the team that this is not the worst it could get," said junior tri-captain Roger Mason, U-Va.'s leading scorer. "It's bad right now and we feel terrible, but it's not going to just go away. Everybody has to look in the mirror and change it, because we're at a fork in the road now."
Virginia Coach Pete Gillen employs a system of tight defense and transition baskets, but half-court offense has not been a strength.
On Tuesday, the Tigers stayed in an aggressive 2-3 zone, slowing the game and challenging the Cavaliers to hit from the perimeter. The plan worked, and Virginia shot 36 percent, including 2 of 25 on three-pointers.
Williams and Mason talked of fixing the offensive problems with more hard work in practice. Mason said he feels the Cavaliers still are not playing hard enough.
"X's and O's are great, and they're needed to win games, but the bottom line is you've got to play hard," Mason said.
Among those struggling is senior shooting guard Adam Hall, who has made less than 40 percent of his field goals this season and just one of his last 21 three-pointers.
With Hall struggling, Gillen may look for help from freshman Keith Jenifer, who had his best game of the season against Clemson. In 20 minutes, Jenifer posted season highs with nine points and three steals and was the only Cavalier with more assists than turnovers.
"Keith was one of the few bright spots we had," Gillen said. "I thought he did a great job. I don't know for whom, but we might have to get him in the game more. He penetrated and he made some nice passes."
Whatever the solution, Virginia needs to improve to collect a rare win at North Carolina and leave Georgia Tech as the only ACC team without a conference win.
UVa seeks to get back on track today at North Carolina
Host North Carolina (5-7, 1-2 ACC) is damaged goods this year, but Virginia (9-2, 0-2) has not looked convincing in losses to N.C. State a week ago and Clemson Tuesday.
"We think we're better than we are," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said after the Clemson loss, referring to the Cavaliers' No. 7 ranking.
Compounding the problem, the Cavaliers' road performance has not been stellar in the four years of Gillen's tutelage, and Virginia has been dreadful in Chapel Hill historically. The Cavaliers are 4-57 playing at North Carolina, 1-15 in the Smith Center, with Gillen's 1999-00 team the only UVa squad to win there.
Virginia begins a five-game stretch that could go a long way towards determining the direction of the Cavaliers' season before the Jan. 27 trip to Duke. After the Tar Heels, UVa hosts Wake Forest on Tuesday, Florida State on Jan. 20 and VMI on Jan. 24. The Cavs' lone road game in that stretch is Jan. 22 at Georgia Tech.
To call each of those games a must-win (other than VMI) is an overstatement, but the importance of not digging the hole any deeper is clear for the Cavaliers, who do not have any overly impressive nonconference wins. Georgetown dropped out of the polls this week and appears to be a mid-level Big East team, while Auburn is shocking no one. Both are 0-2 in league play, last in their respective divisions, and have five losses already. No team Virginia has beaten has less than five losses at this point.
It remains to be seen whether Gillen will make a lineup change; the last major adjustment to the starting lineup came in 1999-00, when he moved freshman Roger Mason Jr. into the lineup with 10 games remaining over senior Willie Dersch.
This year, Travis Watson remained at center, Mason shifted to point guard and J.C. Mathis started at power forward, shifting Chris Williams and Adam Hall to small forward and shooting guard, respectively. The latter three have each struggled.
"Playing two big men is a bit different for us," Gillen said Tuesday afternoon. "Last year, we shot a lot more from outside. We're still trying to find ourselves."
The Cavaliers have not gotten much out of Mathis (5.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game in 18.3 minutes, but also 24 turnovers). Hall's shooting percentage (39.8 from the field, 21.4 from 3-point range) and scoring average (9.9 per game) are the lowest of his career. Williams went scoreless for the first time in his career against Clemson.
"It's been very difficult," freshman guard Jermaine Harper said. "These are our leaders, our go-to guys, and they're struggling."
There has been increasing talk of Virginia "going small", returning to the type of lineup that enabled them to play with everyone in the conference last season (though that was equally erratic, losing games at home to Georgia Tech and on the road to everyone but Florida State and Clemson). That line of thinking makes Harper and fellow freshman guard Keith Jenifer likely candidates for more playing time. Harper has shown defensive prowess and athleticism on offense, and is a more capable ballhandler than Hall.
Jenifer, who had a season-high nine points Tuesday, is quick and a terrific passer, but starting at point guard in the ACC is a heavy burden to bear. Jenifer is not yet on the level that Maryland's Steve Blake and Duke's Jason Williams (both one-time freshman starters at the point) or former North Carolina playmaker Ed Cota were at this stage in their careers.
"We have to begin playing (Jenifer) a little bit more," Gillen said. "It's tough to take guys in and out of the lineup. Sometimes I mess up and take guys out too soon. … (Starting Jenifer) could happen. It's not going to happen real soon. If he steps up and improves, it could happen."
Gillen said that a few hours before the Clemson loss. Another defeat this afternoon, coupled with another solid outing by Jenifer in reserve, could move that timetable up in a hurry.
Rock
Bottom? That's where the loser of Saturday's contest between Virginia and North
Carolina will find themselves in the eyes of their fans. When ESPN scheduled to
televise the noon game I'm sure they expected a contest between a pair of ACC
powers. Now it looks like a preview of the Les Robinson Invitational. These are
two teams with that are playing far below their talent level.
The 5 - 6 Heels are fighting to avoid their first losing record since 1962.
They have losses to Hampton, Davidson, Indiana, Kentucky, College of Charleston,
and Wake Forest. Despite the presence of a bevy of former high school
All-Americans, the 2001 National Coach of the Year, Matt Doherty, has been
unable to duplicate the highly efficient offensive play for which the Heels have
long been known. Carolina is shooting a miserly 41.7 percent from the field,
33.3 percent from the arc, and 62.6 percent from the charity stripe. They've
also suffered from a case of fumble-fingers, turning the ball over 23 more times
this year than their opponents. Considering how much difficulty the Cavs have
had holding on to the ball this season, this could be the first game in college
hoops history that ends without a shot attempted.
Senior forward Jason Capel (16.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists) is
having a good, but not great final campaign. Capel's shooting has been erratic,
hitting only 24.1 percent from three-point range, but he's capable of offensive
explosions. Fellow senior Kris Lang (12.2 points, 7.3 rebounds) is the only
other double figure scorer on the team. Like Capel, Lang can be a force at times
but has been anything but consistent this season.
Freshman Jawad Williams (9.1 points, 2.9 rebounds) was supposed to be the
future of the Heels. So far he hasn't had a bad freshman year, but only
sportswriters who wear Michael Jordan underwear will vote him on the conference
All-Rookie squad. Fellow frosh Melvin Scott (6.7 points) and Jackie Manual (6.5
points) are also promising young talents that are still on the low end of the
learning curve.
Sophomore guard Brian Morrison (9.1 points, 3.2 assists) is equally capable
of shooting either team out of the game depending upon whether his shot is on or
not. He's been cold more often than hot this season, but with the Hoos' luck
recently he'll be deadly accurate within 30 feet Saturday for sure. Scott and
Morrison are two of the quartet that spend time at the point guard spot for
Doherty. Adam Boone (3.5 points, 2.7 assists) and, on occasion, junior Jonathan
Holmes (stats not worth mentioning) also fill in and do so just as poorly as
Scott and Morrison. Point guard play has been Carolina's most glaring deficiency
this season and there isn't much hope of improvement.
Rounding out the Heels that will likely make an appearance are senior insider
Brian Bersticker (4.6 points, 3.2 rebounds) and forward Will Johnson (6.2
points, 3.7 rebounds). Johnson, who is technically a walk-on as he is attending
UNC on an academic scholarship, has started many games and has played solidly.
Former McDonalds' All-American point guard Ronald Curry has yet to announce
whether or not he will join the basketball team this season after completing his
stellar career as the Heels' football quarterback. While Virginia fans would
love to see Curry rejoin the basketball squad before Carolina travels to
Charlottesville in February so that they may express their admiration one final
time, he may not want to jeopardize his can't-miss first-round NFL draft status
with a basketball related injury.
Strategy? Well, even Doh'matt isn't stupid enough to play UVA man-to-man.
Expect zone Saturday and practically every other time the Cavs step out on the
floor until they figure out how to score against it. As badly as the Heels have
played, if their shots are falling Saturday they could very well hand Virginia
its third conference loss.
To say that Virginia has been excruciatingly painful to watch in its first
two ACC games is like saying the Earth is round. This team isn't as bad as it
has played but it must figure out how to score against a zone defense. Roger
Mason, Jr., cannot succeed as a one-man perimeter offense. Someone else has to
find a way to get open and sink jump shots. The Cavs also must commit themselves
to the kind of individual effort on defense necessary to win at this level.
Players on the worst team in the ACC will score if they continual have open
looks at the basket. The season hasn't been flushed yet, but a loss Saturday
will start the lever downward.
Virginia winning in Chapel Hill has been as frequent an occurrence as full
solar eclipses visible from Charlottesville. Even with the Heels playing like
thumbs, turning things around this Saturday will be a tall order for the Cavs. A
win and perhaps the sun will peak through the clouds, just a bit. A loss will
mean we had better start thinking NIT.
North Carolina Preview
Brett Wood, Special to TheSabre.Com,
January 11th, 2002.
Either beat UNC or stumble to 0-3
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published January 12, 2002
Chris Williams, soft-spoken under normal circumstances, was barely audible. Adam
Hall sat slumped in a sofa, his stocking cap pulled down almost to his nose.
Travis Watson wore a scowl that warned every reporter in sight not to come
within five yards.
Predictably, nobody in Virginia's locker room was in a cordial mood following
Tuesday night's 68-52 loss at Clemson. But Roger Mason Jr., the Cavaliers'
leading scorer and emerging spokesman, was willing to give his take. The team
had overrated itself, he said. And now it faced a fork in the road.
Correct on both points. Though Virginia (9-2, 0-2 ACC) has put itself in an
early hole, it is an early hole. Over the past 18 seasons, the Cavaliers have
started 0-2 in the conference six times. Virginia made the NCAA Tournament in
four of those years, though never seeded better than fifth. Only once - in 1990,
Terry Holland's final season - have the Cavs started 0-3 and made the field.
Virginia's chance to make things right begins today at North Carolina, where it
has won only four times in 61 games. Next comes Wake Forest, the nation's
19th-ranked team, in University Hall on Tuesday night.
"It can go two ways," Williams almost whispered Tuesday night.
"It can get a whole lot worse, and we can go on a losing streak, or we can
stick together and make it a whole lot better."
Looking back, there were trouble signs early. The Cavaliers had to fight back
from a 19-point deficit Dec. 1 to beat Virginia Tech, a team that is 2-7 since.
They were outscored 34-29 in the second half by Charleston Southern, now 3-11.
Still, Virginia showed tenacity in a quality victory at 16th-ranked Georgetown.
When the Cavs jumped to No. 4 in both polls on Christmas Eve, it marked their
highest spot since the 1982-83 season, Ralph Sampson's senior year.
Since beginning conference play last Saturday, Virginia has stumbled. First came
an 81-74 home-court loss to N.C. State. Then the meltdown at Clemson, which
dropped the Cavaliers' ACC road record to 6-19 under Pete Gillen. In the past
two games, Virginia has led for 4 minutes, 35 seconds.
"Maybe they were thinking they're better than they are," Gillen said.
"But you've got to play."
What has been the problem? As Williams said Tuesday night, "a lot of
everything."
The offense has been erratic, with 42-percent shooting and 9-of-45 accuracy from
behind the 3-point arc. Though the obvious book on Virginia is to play a zone
defense, the Cavaliers always seem to be stunned to see one.
Defensively, U.Va. allowed N.C. State to shoot 61 percent in the first half and
Clemson to hit 53 percent in the second. A Wolfpack freshman named Ilian Evtimov
torched the Cavs for 15 points, almost tripling his previous career high. A
Tiger senior named Jamar McKnight scored 25, which quadrupled his career scoring
average.
With the departure of four-year starter Donald Hand and Majestic Mapp's ongoing
knee problems, the only true point guard on the roster is freshman Keith Jenifer.
Gillen was encouraged by Jenifer's play at Clemson but would love to
fast-forward to next year, when transfer Todd Billet and presumably Mapp will be
available.
Gillen expected this to be one of his deeper teams, but that was before
sophomore Maurice Young, the first swingman off the bench, decided to transfer.
Now, the first four players in reserve are all freshmen.
Still, it's too early to consider Virginia finished. The Cavaliers have as much
talent as anybody in the league, save for Duke and Maryland. North Carolina
(5-7, 1-2) is struggling, which makes today's game far more winnable.
But talent alone won't turn this season around.
"We've got to get our act together," Gillen said. "Everybody's
good in this league, and you have to have character and toughness."