UVa hopes for quick start against VMI
By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer
Make no mistake, Virginia junior guard Roger Mason Jr. will take a road win, any
road win like the Cavaliers earned on Tuesday night at Georgia Tech.
He just would prefer not trailing for 37 minutes in such a game before taking
the lead and eventually eking out a win. A nice solid start in which his
Cavaliers grabbed an earlier lead and controlled the game would be just fine
with him. No more 8-0 starts by opponents like the Yellow Jackets took a few
minutes into the game Tuesday.
“We have to cut that out. We can’t let teams keep doing that to us,” Mason
said.
Tuesday’s bad start by the Cavaliers continued a trend of poor starts to games
this season. In wins against Virginia Tech, Rutgers, North Carolina, Wake
Forest, Florida State and now Georgia Tech, the Cavaliers trailed by at least
five at some point in the first half. Furthermore, most of those deficits came
early in the game, sometimes even before the first TV timeout, as was the case
Tuesday in Atlanta.
Of course, UVa coach Pete Gillen has his own whimsical take on the disturbing
situation.
“I’m not going to give any pregame talks anymore. I’m just going to say,
‘Go do it. Shake those dudes.’ I’m just going to give them some street
talk about going out there and kill those sons of guns. I don’t know,”
Gillen quipped.
He was not finished, either.
“I write ‘War and Peace’ on the blackboard. I do this and do that and they
just don’t listen to me,” Gillen continued. “I’m not going to give a
pre-game talk. I’m going to give a post-game talk in the pre-game and pre-game
talk after the game. Every game we have a bad start so obviously it’s bad
coaching and we have to do something different.”
As comical as Gillen’s words might be, it is doubtful that the situation is a
laughing matter for the Cavaliers. Of course, in most of those bad starts,
Virginia has come back to win, so …
“We obviously don’t come out planning to put ourselves in a hole but
sometimes it just happens. That’s not the game plan, and we find ourselves
battling to get back into the game,” junior center Travis Watson said. “It
makes me angry a little but that’s basketball. Some teams just start out
hitting their shots early and on fire but with the talent out there everyone is
capable of hitting shots. It’s just when you hit them.”
History would indicate that the Cavaliers likely will not have a bad start
tonight against VMI. Virginia has won 21 straight meetings with VMI and is 13-0
against the Keydets at University Hall. VMI, which enters the game with a 6-11
record, has not beaten UVa since a 95-75 win in Lexington on Dec. 9, 1964. At
that time, Gillen was a 17-year-old freshman at Fairfield University in
Connecticut.
That is not to say the game lacks intrigue. The contest comes sandwiched between
Tuesday’s victory over Georgia Tech and a date looming Sunday with No. 1 Duke
in Durham, N.C. Furthermore, VMI freshman forward Jason Conley leads the nation
in scoring (28.6 ppg) and the Keydets are averaging nearly 80 points a contest.
With Virginia averaging slightly more than 81 points a contest, it is likely
that a high-scoring affair is set for University Hall tonight.
Note. The University of Virginia athletic ticket office announced the
tickets made available for sale Wednesday for the UVa men’s home basketball
games against VMI (tonight) and Clemson (Feb. 10) are sold out.
A limited number of tickets for the Georgia Tech game at University hall on Feb.
23 will go on sale Feb. 11. Tickets cost $15. For more informational call,
1-800-542-8821 or (434) 924-8821.
| Brown starting to play big |
| Elton Brown scores 20 points Tuesday to help Virginia to a rare win at Georgia Tech. |
| By
DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
ATLANTA - Although his team had just won its fourth straight game, Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen might have been able to predict one question that followed the Cavaliers' 69-65 victory over Georgia Tech. At what point will Elton Brown be considered for the starting lineup? Brown, a 6-foot-9, 265-pound freshman, was unstoppable in the low post Tuesday night, when he had career highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds as seventh-ranked UVa (13-2, 4-2 ACC) won in Atlanta for the first time since 1995. Brown played 24 minutes, most of it at the expense of sophomore J.C. Mathis, who has scored in double figures once all season and is shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 44.1 percent from the free-throw line. Brown is shooting 56.8 percent from the field, including 9-for-11 against the Yellow Jackets, and 70.3 percent on free throws. He is averaging 8.8 points despite playing fewer than 15 minutes per game. "J.C. does a lot of things that go unnoticed," said Gillen, whose regular praise for Mathis often falls on deaf ears in the media. "We'll consider [a change]. I think we'll stay with our same lineup. "Certainly, Elton's been playing great. That's got to be in the mix somewhere, but I think we're going to go with J.C. We needed scoring and Elton certainly gives us that." As has been their pattern, the Cavaliers fell behind early Tuesday night, then rallied when Brown entered the game. In the first half, when UVa trailed 8-0 and later 33-23, the Cavaliers outscored the Yellow Jackets by 10 points when Brown was in the game. "I wouldn't say he did it quiet fashion," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said, "but he did it through little things, like putbacks. He came into the game shooting surprisingly well on 3s. He was only 6-of-9, but we were concerned about his outside shooting. Tonight, he did it around the basket." UVa was nursing a 66-65 lead when Brown grabbed the rebound of a Chris Williams miss and was fouled on his follow attempt. After banging his first attempt hard off the backboard, he swished the second and gave the Cavaliers cause to breathe more easily. "I've got to get used to the [hostile] crowd," Brown said. "Being a freshman and being at the line, it threw me off at first. The second shot, I took my time and said, 'We need this win,' and blinked everybody out." Brown, who started at Clemson when Travis Watson had been unable to practice for two days, didn't seem unusually anxious to move ahead of Mathis. UVa actually has three power forwards, including Jason Clark, who is the best shot blocker of the three and has the most rebounds per minute played. "I don't think anybody wouldn't want to start," Brown said, "but, right now, my role is to come off the bench [and] bring some energy, some offense and some rebounding. That's it. I'm on a winning team. Anybody on this team could start." Brown could make Gillen's position more indefensible if he improves his post defense. "He's been doing extra," UVa co-captain Roger Mason Jr. said. "I got on him early and told him, 'You're not going to become a great player by doing regular stuff, practicing every day.' You've got to do extra and he's been doing extra. This is what I expect out of him." Mason, still nursing a sore right shoulder dislocated Jan.15 against Wake Forest, was 1-for-7 on 3-pointers and is 3-for-23 on 3s in UVa's last three road games. Still, he played 40 minutes for the third time in six games. In another, he played 39. "It kind of tightened up on me," Mason said, "but I don't think about it. Some of the shots looked like they were going to be there, but what do you do? You just play. I'm the point guard out there and I've got to make sure the team wins and stays together. |
ACC NOTES
SLOW STARTERS: In its ACC opener, which it lost, Virginia fell behind N.C. State 12-3. Against Wake Forest, which it beat, U.Va. trailed 21-10. Against Georgia Tech on Tuesday night, Virginia turned the ball over on each of its first three possessions and trailed 8-0 before even attempting a shot.
The Cavaliers rallied to win 69-65 in Atlanta, but their pattern of slow starts continues to frustrate their fourth-year coach.
"I'm not going to give any pregame talks any more," Pete Gillen said. "I'm just going to say, 'Just do it,' right? 'Shake those dudes . . . Kill those sons of guns.'
"I write 'War and Peace' on the blackboard, do this and do that, and obviously it doesn't make a difference. They don't listen to me, so I'm not going to give a pregame talk. I'm going to give a postgame talk for pregame, and a pregame talk after the game. Every game we get a bad start. Obviously it's bad coaching, so we've got to do something different."
FULL NELSON: In his past four games, Georgia Tech freshman Ed Nelson has averaged 15.3 points and seven rebounds and made 23 of 41 field-goal attempts. Against U.Va., the 6-7, 250-pound forward hit 6 of 11 shots and scored 15 points.
"I thought Nelson was spectacular for them," Gillen said. "I can't believe he missed five shots. It seemed like every time he shot it went in."
In his first 15 games, Nelson scored in double figures only three times.
STUCK IN THE CELLAR: Georgia Tech (0-6, 7-12), which advanced to the NCAA tournament last season, Paul Hewitt's first as its coach, remains the only ACC team winless in conference play. The Yellow Jackets led for the first 36 minutes and 51 seconds Tuesday night. U.Va.'s offensive rebounding proved decisive in its comeback.
"I'm very proud of the effort," Hewitt said, "but as I told them in the locker room, the reality is that we didn't do what we needed to, to close the game out. Missed shots, turnovers, those things happen when kids are out there playing hard. But when you have to get that big rebound down the stretch, you got to get it; there's no two ways about it."
WOE IS UNC: Fortune has not smiled on North Carolina this season. Not only has the Tar Heels' best player, senior forward Jason Capel, been sidelined because of a concussion, starting guard Jackie Manuel is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his left foot. Manuel is a 6-6 freshman from West Palm Beach, Fla.
MUST-SEE TV: Last week's showdown between No. 1 Duke and No. 3 Maryland at Cameron Indoor Stadium was the most-watched regular-season college basketball game ever on ESPN. The Blue Devils won 99-78.
SNEAK PREVIEW: ACC fans can check out future Blue Devil J.J. Redick, Terrapin-to-be John Gilchrist and future Cavalier J.R. Reynolds in the Richmond area Feb. 2 at the "Super Saturday Slamfest."
Redick, a shooting guard from Cave Spring High in Roanoke, and Gilchrist, a point guard from Salem High in Virginia Beach, signed with Duke and Maryland, respectively, in November. Reynolds, a junior guard at Roanoke Catholic, has committed to join Virginia's program in 2003-04.
Salem will meet Cave Spring at 3 p.m. at the Robins Center. At Douglas Freeman High, Roanoke Catholic will play Patrick Henry (Ashland) at 5:15 p.m. - Jeff White
Glen Burnie star decides on U.Va.
The defection of offensive tackle Randy Hand, who recently withdrew his commitment to Virginia, opened up a football scholarship for Ronald Darden, who took an official visit there last weekend.
A 6-4, 320-pound lineman from Glen Burnie High near Baltimore, Darden accepted when U.Va. offered him a scholarship Tuesday night. He chose Virginia over East Carolina and William and Mary. Maryland also had offered him a scholarship at one time, Darden said yesterday, but later pulled it.
Darden has a 4.2 grade-point average and scored 1,000 on the SAT. Academics have long been a priority in his home. Not until 2000, in fact, did Darden don cleats and shoulder pads for the first time, at Maryland's summer camp. His mother gave grudging approval for her son to play football.
"My junior year, I came out there for something to do," Darden said, "and my mom was like, 'If you drop one letter grade in any subject, I'm kicking you off the team.'"
Darden, who played offensive guard and defensive tackle at Glen Burnie, made The Baltimore Sun's All-Metro second team on offense in 2001. He played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl early this month in Texas, where his East teammates included Kwakou Robinson, who has committed to U.Va., and Virginia recruiting targets Maurice Stovall, Ahmad Brooks and Kai Parham. - Jeff White
Taking on big boys
Call it the shoehorn theory of scheduling. Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia wanted to play each other in basketball, so they made it fit.
The seventh-ranked Cavaliers (13-2) take a break from their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule tonight to play VMI (6-11) at University Hall at 7:30. Virginia follows VMI with a home game against Duke on Sunday and a game at Maryland one week from today.
"Because of scheduling conflicts, this was the only time we could fit this game in," VMI coach Bart Bellairs said. "It's not a great time for either one of us. But we really wanted to play this game. I have such tremendous respect for [Virginia coach] Pete Gillen. Playing against an ACC team is something that helps our recruiting. Our kids get excited. I love the personal challenge."
The money helps, too. VMI will bring in about $100,000 this season, Bellairs said, from games such as tonight's and games in December at Kentucky and Villanova.
The odds are heavily stacked against VMI tonight. Virginia holds a 98-15 overall edge. The Cavaliers won 89-70 last season at VMI (the teams play there again next season), their 21st consecutive victory over the Keydets.
VMI, Bellairs said, had a chance to play a non-Division I opponent and rack up a probable victory. Taking this game instead was a no-brainer.
"The game will get media coverage, we get a chance to expose our young kids to big-time basketball," Bellairs said.
VMI had lost seven consecutive before winning at Appalachian State on Monday. The Keydets started three freshmen and two sophomores in that game. One freshmen, forward Jason Conley, had 34 points and 13 rebounds. He's leading Division I in scoring at 28.6 per game.
"Jason played the best game he's played," Bellairs said of Monday's game. "If there's such a thing as a quiet 30-something, he got it. He did it in so many different ways."
The No. 7 Virginia men's basketball has the chance to maintain its recent winning ways against VMI tonight at University Hall.
Virginia (13-2, 4-2 ACC) is coming off of a narrow 69-65 win over Georgia Tech on Tuesday, the Cavaliers' first victory in Atlanta in seven years. Virginia completed a stunning fourth-quarter comeback over the Yellow Jackets, but cannot count on repeat heroics against the Keydets (6-11, 1-6 Southern Conference).
"We have to find a way to get off to a better start," junior guard Roger Mason Jr. said. "We can't do this every game."
The Cavaliers have been playing without senior forward Adam Hall, who will be sidelined again tonight with a right foot injury he sustained against North Carolina on Jan. 12. Although the Cavaliers have missed Hall's defensive contributions, Virginia's freshmen have stepped up to fill the void.
Freshman guard Jermaine Harper virtually shut down the Yellow Jackets' top scorer Tony Akins, holding the senior guard to two points on Tuesday. Harper also gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the game with a three-pointer late in the second half.
VMI boasts young strength as well. The Keydets' main threat comes in the form of Jason Conley, a 6-foot-5 freshman forward who leads the nation in scoring with an average of 28.6 points per game. Conley has been his team's highest scorer in 16 of their 17 games thus far.
Expect Conley to bring the heat against Virginia - he has a knack for putting up points in big games. Against No. 9 Kentucky on Dec. 5, Conley had a team-high 24 points and against Villanova on Dec. 22 he had a career-high 38.
Virginia will need to shut Conley down early to contain the Keydets.
The Cavaliers, who will be playing their third game in seven days, must also to fight off fatigue.
"Playing so many games in one week is tough" Mason said.
On paper, the Cavaliers hold several distinct advantages over the Keydets. Although VMI has enough height to match Virginia, no Keydet over 6-foot-6 weighs more than 225 pounds, while Virginia has plenty of muscle under the basket in 6-foot-9, 265-pound forward Elton Brown and 6-foot-8, 255-pound center Travis Watson.
"We have so much power down low so we have to bang it inside," Brown said. "That is a strength of ours."
Brown was huge for the Cavaliers on Tuesday, posting a double-double with 10 rebounds and 20 points.
VMI is coming off of their first win since December, a 93-91 victory over Appalachian State on Monday.
No
Rest for the Weary Pete Gillen's basketball team has to feel like they've been rode hard and put
up wet. A Sunday win against Florida State in a game that was more difficult
than the final score would indicate, a narrow escape Tuesday night from the
house of horrors in Atlanta with another victory, and now a Thursday night game
back in Charlottesville. Adam Hall is out with a foot injury, Roger Mason, Jr.,
is playing with a bad shoulder, and Travis Watson has an assortment of injuries
that would sideline several lesser men. Other players have the normal nicks and
dings from playing a rigorous schedule where bodies routinely impact with the
hardwood and a variety of elbows, knees, and other bony body parts of opposing
players. Getting banged up during the season is normal. Playing four games in
eight days isn't. There's no time to heal and no time for the soreness to fade.
The victory over Georgia Tech was as ugly as it gets. The Cavs played poorly
in several phases of the game and still managed a win, thanks in great part to
freshmen Elton Brown's 20 points and 10 boards and Jermaine Harper's 9 points, 5
of which came in the last 3:10 of the game, and outstanding defense on Tony
Akins. Winning on the road, especially when you've left the "A" game
at home, is always a plus. The confidence gained by Brown and Harper in lifting
the team to victory will pay dividends later in the season. They now know that
they can make the big plays when the game is on the line and so do their
teammates.
The schedule makers managed to overlook the weeklong gaps between games in
December to plunk VMI in the middle of the ACC schedule. I like the idea of
playing a relatively weak non-conference opponent during the conference schedule
to allow reserves to stretch their legs and the regulars to have some fun. I
hate the idea of making that game one of four in an eight-day stretch. It has
created a serious disadvantage for Virginia heading into Cameron Indoor Stadium
next Sunday to face Duke. I don't know if the fault lies in the UVA Athletic
Department or elsewhere, but somebody screwed up royally in this writer's
opinion.
Calling VMI relatively weak shouldn't be interpreted that I consider VMI a
bad team. By "relatively" I mean compared to ACC opponents. I have
great respect for VMI's students, athletes and coaches. They've chosen a
challenging path and should never be disrespected or taken lightly. VMI usually
plays over their heads against Virginia and they won't take anything back to the
locker room with them after the game. Expect the Keydets', or as they like to be
called, the Runnin' Roos, to take their best shot Thursday night.
The Keydets are 6 - 11 thus far in the '02 season, but they've been
competitive against most of the teams they've played. One of their wins was a 90
- 69 drubbing of Charleston Southern, a mutual opponent. They're averaging 78.5
points per game in Coach Bart Bellairs' uptempo scheme shooting .424 from the
field. The Keydets are also being pounded on the boards as they have a -7
rebounding margin.
VMI's defense apparently isn't stopping many people as their opponents are
shooting .470 against them. However, they are forcing 21.6 turnovers per game.
Sounds like a press that produces either turnovers for VMI or easy baskets for
their opposition. Gee, I've seen that before somewhere.
VMI has an amazing freshman wing by the name of Jason Conley (28.6 points,
7.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, .456 FG%). Conley had 34 points and 13 rebounds
against Appalachian State Monday night. At 6' 5" and 175 pounds, he seems
most effective in mid to short range. His three-point shooting accuracy is only
.317 though he fires up 9.5 treys per game. Conley is an excellent free throw
shooter at .860 from the charity stripe. Somebody better put the glove on Conley
Thursday night.
Sophomore Radee Skipworth (14.4 points, 4.3 rebounds) fills the other forward
slot. Skipworth is a very good athlete and scorer in his own right but at 6'
6" and 195 pounds, he's going to have a tough time in the paint against the
likes of Travis Watson and Elton Brown.
The guards are sophomores Daron Pressley (9.2 points, 2.4 assists) and Ben
Rand (8.1 points, 3.1 assists). Rand is VMI's most accurate three-point shooter
at .438. Rounding out the starting line up is Zach Batte (3.9 points, 3.3
rebounds), a 6' 9" junior who plays center.
The bench includes freshmen 6' 8" forward Tim Allmond (3.4 points, 3.4
rebounds), 6' 6" forward Preston Beverly (2.9 points, 2.1 rebounds), and 6'
7" forward Esau Eatman (1.9 points, 1.1 rebounds) and sophomore guard
Richard Little (2.8 points, 4.5 assists).
This is a very young team with good athletes and quickness but not much size.
Virginia simply needs to take care of the basketball to keep the Keydets from
getting easy buckets off turnovers. The Cavs' size advantage in the paint should
result into plenty of second chance baskets. VMI may eschew the press to zone
the Cavs, but Bellairs has been fairly obstinate about sticking to his normal
game plan even when facing a vastly superior opponent.
Looking at the big picture, I'd love to see Gillen put the four freshmen on
the floor as much as possible Thursday night, especially Jason Clark who hasn't
had quite as much playing time recently. Ideally, playing time for Mason, Jr.,
and Watson should be limited to 24 minutes or less. The walking-wounded need
some pine time.
If VMI sticks to their full court style, this game could be very
entertaining. It couldn't possibly be as much of a Maalox special as the Georgia
Tech contest. At least we hope not.
VMI Preview
Brett Wood, Special to TheSabre.Com,
January 23rd, 2002.
Attention Students,
I want to thank all our students for the great support of our
basketball team this season. Our students have been one of the main
reasons why our team has gotten off to such a good start this year.
Our goal is to have a basketball team that our entire University can
be proud of both on and off the basketball court.
Our team just finished playing two rugged ACC games on Sunday and
Tuesday against Florida State and Georgia Tech. Our players are a
little banged up and we are physically and emotionally drained from
these two ACC wars.
We play VMI on Thursday, January 24, at 7:30 p.m. here at University
Hall. VMI is a very scrappy team and it will be their Super Bowl
and World Series combined into this game. We badly need our
students to give our players some energy and life so we can respond
to this in-state challenge. I was an assistant basketball coach
at VMI many years ago around the Russian Revolution. Rasputin was
in junior high school and was not a big name yet. Our VMI team
played Virginia and it was the end of the world for us. We need
our students to help give our tired and beat up team some energy and
support.
Our next home game is against Maryland on Thursday, January 31, at
7:00 p.m. Maryland is one of the top three teams in the United
States and we will also need your support against their great team.
I also want to thank those enthusiastic students who are camping out
for our last few home games. Our players and our coaching staff
really appreciate your enthusiasm for our team. Thanks again for
all your support for our men's basketball team.
Sincerely,
Pete Gillen
Head Coach, Men's Basketball
Virginia Tech, Virginia add football recruits