1/27/02 - Cosmic Alignment

By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer

Duke, as UVa coach Pete Gillen is fond of saying, is Duke. The Blue Devils lose at home every time Jupiter aligns with Mars, Gillen quipped after the Cavaliers’ 93-59 victory over VMI on Thursday.
Certainly the two planets have not been in alignment when the Cavaliers have played at Cameron Indoor Stadium recently.
The Cavaliers have not won in Cameron since 1995 and have lost the last four games at the daunting arena by an average of 37.5 points. Last season, then-No. 10 Virginia was crushed by then-No. 2 Duke, 103-61. It was the Blue Devils’ largest margin of victory over a top-10 team and was believed to be the biggest rout ever between two top-10 teams.
In that contest, Virginia trailed 53-20 at halftime as the Blue Devils used a 23-0 run midway through the opening half that ended any semblance of drama in the game.
That history does not inspire a lot of hope or confidence for the Cavaliers tonight, but Gillen insists the Cavaliers will not concede the game.
“I’m crazy enough to believe we can win, but we’ll have to play a great game and get off to a great start,” Gillen said.
Good starts are not something the Cavaliers have had at Cameron nor anywhere recently. During its five-game win streak, Virginia has trailed at some point in the first half in each contest. VMI even held an advantage on the Cavaliers midway through the first half Thursday.
While the Cavaliers have managed comebacks in all those contests, they are aware that a poor start against the Blue Devils will not be as easy to rebound from. Instead, it would be next to impossible.
“We can’t let that happen again,” Roger Mason Jr. said. “We’ve said that before and we’ve had the luxury to get back in games. You don’t go into Cameron and do that. You don’t have that luxury there against the No. 1 team in the country.”
If a good start is necessary to stay with Duke at Cameron, Mason says it’s equally essential for a team to believe it can win in the building and not be daunted by the crowd and atmosphere, let alone the talent on the other team.
“You have to be confident going in there and I think that is something this team has,” Mason said. “You have to be confident. Good teams have gone down there and lost by a lot. It doesn’t matter to just have talent. You have to go down there ready to play.”
Added senior forward Chris Williams: “People see the Cameron Crazies going wild and Duke killing people there and they automatically think they’re going to lose and that kills them right off the bat. If you believe you can win down there, that’s the first part in getting a victory.”
While Mason and Williams know what to expect when they walk into Cameron tonight, UVa’s four freshmen have only been told what it will be like. Still, the freshmen seem to be looking forward to it rather than shying away from tonight’s game.
“Me, personally, I can’t wait to play at Cameron against the No. 1 team in the country on national TV,” UVa freshman Jason Clark said. “I’ve been waiting my whole life to play against a hostile crowd like this.”
Virginia has played its last four games without senior swingman Adam Hall. It’s unlikely Hall will play this evening but Travis Watson, who missed Thursday’s game with a hip pointer, is expected to play against the Blue Devils.

By JERRY RATCLIFFE
Daily Progress sports editor

Scattershooting around the ACC, while believing Virginia’s football recruiting picture will clear up a little this week ...
Coach Al Groh and his staff have already landed five SuperPrep All-Americans, including one of the magazine’s Elite 50, lineman D’Brickshaw Ferguson, and are still in the running for eight more All-Americans, including four more off the Elite 50 list: linebacker Ahmad Brooks, quarterback Marcus Vick, fullback Brandon Snow and wide receiver Maurice Stovall.
Heading into the weekend
UVa’s recruiting class, which is composed of 21 commitments, had already received high marks from a couple of the nation’s top recruiting services.
Rivals100.com had Virginia’s class ranked No. 23 in the nation, ahead of every ACC school except North Carolina (No. 21). Clemson was No. 26, Florida State 36th and Maryland 37th. Virginia Tech’s class was rated 45th.
Meanwhile, TheInsiders.com network, which is comprised of several recruiting services joining forces, Virginia’s class was rated No. 11 in the nation. No other ACC school or Virginia Tech were rated in that group’s top 25.
Such services are constantly changing those rankings as more players commit, so UVa’s and Tech’s rankings likely will move up this week.
The Hokies likely will get commitments from Fairfax running back Mike Imoh, a 5-foot-7 standout, who also considered Pitt and Wake Forest, and from Vick, who likely will announce his choice Tuesday. Vick is making his visit to Blacksburg this weekend and told Mike Farrell of Rivals (Farrell has his own site that focuses on the state of Virginia: farrellfiles.com) that Tech is going to be hard to beat come decision time.
Vick also said that older brother, Michael, has given a heavy endorsement to new Hokies quarterback coach Kevin Rogers, who was at Syracuse when the Orangemen tried to recruit MVI. Rogers came to Tech from Notre Dame where he was offensive coordinator.
Linebacker Kai Parham said he is torn between UVa and Tennessee and will announce his decision on ESPN on signing day. Parham said he tried to convince all the state’s top players to join forces and play for the Cavaliers during their visit here Jan. 18.
“I think if we all went to Virginia, we’d have a great team,” Parham told Farrell. “I’m calling Vick and Brooks to see what they’re doing. I think we could all do something special if we all went there but it doesn’t sound like everyone is going to and that make’s my decision harder.”
Wide receiver Stovall will choose between UVa and Notre Dame this week.
The Cavaliers had only one uncommitted prospect on campus this weekend, linebacker Mark Miller out of Briarwood Christian Academy in Birmingham, Ala.

Didn’t see stars. Albemarle grad Richard Williams, a standout at Gardner-Webb, was scheduled to play in his second postseason all-star game, Saturday’s Senior Bowl, but returned to school after he suffered a concussion in practice for the game earlier in the week.
Williams, who did not give up a sack this season at the small North Carolina school, played in the Blue-Gray game. He is anticipating going in the first few rounds of April’s NFL draft.

Carolina blues. Coach Matt Doherty said that everyone who is relishing the Tar Heels’ demise and making critical remarks about his coaching had better get their shots in now. The UNC coach is promising that the Heels will be back.
Perhaps not next year, when the 2002-03 Heels will be even younger than this year’s team, but perhaps in 2004. The question skeptics might ask, is, will Doherty still be around?
Doherty is trying to react the same way to the program’s slump as Mike Krzyzewski did at Duke in 1983, after the Blue Devils were pounded 109-66 by Virginia in the ACC Tournament, ending a frustrating year for Coach K’s team.
“Yes, yes, yes,” said Doherty. “My wife jokes with me that I can remember a kid’s SAT score or a kid’s phone number or I’ll forget maybe our anniversary. These games and comments will be with me forever.”
The Tar Heels suffered their sixth straight loss and fifth in a row in the ACC the other night against rival N.C. State, the worst streak by a Carolina team since 1952.
That was some relief for Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek, who up until the win over Carolina, was only 2-24 against UNC and Duke during his years at State.

Free throws ... An old colleague told this story the other day on the late Ted Davenport, the former VSAF director who recently passed away. Davenport, who was somewhat of a wheeler-dealer when it came to finding hard-to-get hotel rooms and game tickets, was in need of lodging at a premiere hotel late one night and the lady said there were no vacancies.
Davenport asked the lady, “If the president showed up right now, would you find him a couple of rooms?”
The woman said, of course she would.
That’s all Davenport needed. “Well, the president can’t make it. We’ll take that room.”
The lady was so amused by the clever tactic that she gave him the room.

Relax. Take a deep breath. Keep your eyes fixed on the court. Ignore the face-painted future lawyers, doctors and stockbrokers screaming at you from the student section. Just play.

That's easier said than done, U.VA. AT DUKEof course, for visiting basketball teams at Duke University's storied Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"Every time Jupiter aligns with Mars is when they lose at home," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said of the Blue Devils. "It's not very often."

The Cavaliers, 8-41 all-time at Cameron, haven't won there since a 91-88 double-overtime victory on Jan. 14, 1995. But the ACC schedule sends them to Durham, N.C., once every season, and they'll be there tonight to face the defending national champions. Gillen's counterpart, Mike Krzyzewski, has three of the ACC's top five scorers in juniors Jason Williams (21.5 ppg), Carlos Boozer (18.5) and Mike Dunleavy (17.4).

"There's no pressure on us," Gillen said. "Duke's the No. 1 team in the country."

The Blue Devils were ranked No. 2 when they played host to the No. 10 Cavaliers on Jan. 13, 2001. Duke ran off 23 unanswered points in the first half and led 53-20 at the break. The final was 103-61 - the Devils' largest margin of victory against any top-10 opponent.

"It's important that you try to match them early, let them know you're going to be in the game," Virginia guard Roger Mason Jr. said, "because they do want to come in and try to blow you out early."

Top-ranked Duke (5-1, 17-1) has matched the best start in school history. The seventh-ranked Cavaliers (4-2, 14-2) are flying high, too, having won five straight since falling at Clemson on Jan. 8.

"You definitely don't want to go into Duke on a slump," said sophomore forward J.C. Mathis, who had 20 points and 15 rebounds Thursday against Virginia Military Institute. "You want to come in with a little momentum, playing well, playing with confidence."

Virginia also comes in short-handed. Senior guard Adam Hall hasn't played since injuring his right football Jan. 12 against North Carolina, and he's not expected back tonight. Junior center Travis Watson, the ACC's leading rebounder, is likely to play, but he missed the VMI game with a hip pointer and probably won't be 100 percent.

If Watson returns, Gillen will have nine scholarship players to throw at Duke, including four freshmen. All four average at least 12 minutes per game.

"It's going to be a new experience for the freshmen," Mason said of playing in front of the Cameron Crazies. "But it's still basketball, and you can't get caught up in everything else. I think when teams do that, it's rough."

One of those freshmen, 6-8, 225-pound Jason Clark, grew up watching Duke games on TV. Things may change when Clark takes the court tonight, but he didn't sound intimidated after blocking eight shots against VMI.

"Me, personally, I can't wait to play at Duke against the No. 1 team in the country on national TV," Clark said. "This is what I've been waiting for my whole life, playing against a hostile crowd like this."

The same goes for classmate Jason Harper, a 6-3 guard who scored a career-high 13 points against VMI.

"That's one of the reasons I picked Virginia: to play in the ACC and play against teams like Duke," Harper said.

Gillen said: "We'll have to play a great game, but I'm crazy enough to think we can win."

EXTENDED SCHEDULE? If the University of Virginia succeeds in adding a 13th regular-season football game for 2002, it would most likely be one of these "preseason" events: the Jim Thorpe Classic, the Black Coaches Association Classic or the Hispanic College Fund Classic.

Among the possibilities for U.Va. is a game with Colorado State on Thursday, Aug. 22, at Scott Stadium, sources said.

Virginia went 5-7 in 2001, its first season under coach Al Groh. Colorado State finished 7-5 after beating North Texas State 45-20 in December at the inaugural News Orleans Bowl. Coach Sonny Lubick's Rams won five of their last six games.

If Virginia can't reach an agreement on a 13th game, it will open Aug. 31 at Florida State, then play host to South Carolina a week later.

The Cavaliers opened 2001 against Wisconsin in the Eddie Robinson Classic, so they would require a waiver from the NCAA to play in another "preseason" game in 2002. Teams usually are limited to one appearance every four seasons in such games.

EXTRA EFFORT: Until Thursday night, 6-8 sophomore forward J.C. Mathis had scored more than nine points only once as a Cavalier. That's also the number of games in which he'd grabbed more than nine rebounds. Still, he's a favorite of Pete Gillen, and Virginia's coach was delighted with Mathis' career game - 20 points and 15 rebounds - against Virginia Military Institute.

"He spends an awful lot of time in the gym," Gillen said. "He probably spends more time in the gym than any of our players. He goes for three, four hours. He doesn't go home. Somebody brings him a Coke, and he shoots. So his hard work paid off."

His breakout performance notwithstanding, Mathis has modest statistics. He's averaging 6.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2 turnovers and less than one assist, while shooting 46.7 percent from the floor and 44.1 percent from the line.

"I don't have one consistent role where they call plays for me," Mathis said. "It's just different things for me different nights. Sometimes I do things that show up in the stat sheets, sometimes I don't."

REJECTION: Only one player in U.Va. basketball has blocked more shots in a game than Jason Clark did against VMI: Ralph Sampson. The 7-4 Sampson had 12 blocks against Army on Dec. 22, 1979. Clark had eight against the Keydets, a tour de force that moved him into second place in the ACC race.

Clark, a 6-8, 225-pound freshman from Virginia Beach, is averaging 1.8 blocks. Maryland senior Lonny Baxter (1.82) leads the ACC. Baxter, however, starts for the Terrapins. Clark averages 12.5 minutes per game.

He's also the only Virginia post player with more assists (nine) than turnovers (seven). Mathis has 12 assists and 32 turnovers; Travis Watson has 16 and 33; and Elton Brown has six and 23.

BOLD CAPS: Braden Campbell didn't coast through his senior football season after accepting a scholarship offer from U.Va. in July. Campbell, a 6-5, 260-pound lineman from Slippery Rock High in Pennsylvania, was named to the first-team offense when The Associated Press made its all-state selections for big schools. Campbell is projected to play defensive end at Virginia.

Also named to the all-Pennsylvania first team, as a specialist, was Maurice Stovall of Radnor. Stovall, best known as a wideout, will choose between Virginia and Notre Dame next week.

BOLD CAPS: Lineman Ronald Darden, who committed to Virginia on Tuesday after visiting last weekend, stands 6-4 and weighs 320 pounds.

"When you see him, you're going to say, 'Wow.' That's how impressive he is," said Brad Wilson, Darden's coach at Glen Burnie High near Baltimore.

"You have big kids that are 'sloppy big,' but he's not sloppy," Wilson said. "He's built like a man."

Darden, who recently turned 17, is expected to play on the offensive line at Virginia. "The one thing that's really impressive about him is how quick his feet are," Wilson said.

LACROSSE ACCOLADES: Two Virginia men's lacrosse players - senior attackman Conor Gill and sophomore goalie Tillman Johnson - have been named preseason All-Americans by Lacrosse Magazine. A third Cavalier, senior defenseman Mark Koontz, was cited as one of five "Players to Watch." Koontz, who's recovering from a broken bone in his arm, may move to long-stick midfielder this year.

U.Va. opens its season Feb. 24 against Drexel at Klockner Stadium. - Jeff White

By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, January 27, 2002; Page D05

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Jan. 26 -- Virginia has lost 84 percent of its games at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, including 12 of its last 13. Last season, the Cavaliers lost 103-61 there, the Blue Devils' widest margin of victory against a top 10 opponent in program history.

The No. 7 Cavaliers say they need to forget those numbers when they head to Durham to face the No. 1 Blue Devils on Sunday night.

"You can't be amazed by the atmosphere," said junior guard Roger Mason Jr., who leads Virginia with 18.1 points per game. "It's still basketball. You can't get caught up in everything else. Last year and the year before that, we did that, and we had it rough.

"There have been good teams that go down there and lose by a lot. It doesn't matter that you just have talent; you have to be ready to play."

Mason and his fellow veterans will have to get that message across to the four freshmen in Virginia's regular rotation, all of whom have played crucial roles in the Cavaliers' five-game win streak.

"Last year was my first experience," said sophomore forward J.C. Mathis, who had career highs of 20 points and 15 rebounds against Virginia Military Institute on Thursday. "With the veterans being a year older, I think we're better prepared to play at Duke."

The Cavaliers (14-2, 4-2 ACC) will be at less than full strength against the Blue Devils (17-1, 5-1) because of a handful of injuries. Senior swingman Adam Hall likely will miss his fifth straight game because of a right foot injury, though he has shed the protective boot he was wearing and is close to returning. Junior center Travis Watson sat out for the first time in his career Thursday because of a hip pointer, but he has a history of playing through pain and likely won't let the injury keep him from facing the nation's top team.

Watson was not available to comment after Thursday's game, but Mason, who has played through a shoulder injury for the past three and a half games, said definitively, "Yeah, Travis will play."

"I don't want to speculate," Gillen said Thursday night. Watson and Hall "both could not play [or] they both could play. Adam hasn't practiced, so it might be tough for him. We just have to see. Both of them are a concern."

Virginia, which upset Duke last season in Charlottesville on a layin with less than a second left, likely will need a steady performance from freshman point guard Keith Jenifer to beat the Blue Devils for the second straight time. Last year at Duke, senior point guard Donald Hand and the Cavaliers could not get anything going on offense, missing 23 of their first 27 shots to fall behind 39-9.

Virginia has made a habit of starting slow this season, and Duke likes to jump on opponents right out of the gate. A continuation of those trends could doom the Cavaliers on Sunday.

"It's important that you try to match them early," said Mason, who committed six of Virginia's 23 turnovers in the loss last season. "Let them know you're going to be in the game, because they want to come in and blow you out early."

If the Cavaliers can stay close early, Gillen said they have a chance at ending their seven-year losing streak in Durham.

"There's no pressure on us; Duke's the number one team in the country," Gillen said. "They lose at home every time Jupiter aligns with Mars. . . . I'm crazy enough to think we can win, but we have to get off to a good start and we have to play a great game."

UVa faces daunting task playing at No. 1 Duke tonight
By Steve Argeris
The News & Advance

Duke has this year's near-certain Player of the Year in Jason Williams, next year's near-certain favorite for the same honor in Mike Dunleavy, and three or four others who have a crack at postseason honors.

The result? A No. 1 ranking, a 17-1 record and a well-lighted runway to the conference title at 5-1, having already beaten Maryland once, with ease. The only mark against that record came on Jan. 1 in a one-point loss to Florida State in Tallahassee. Even then, the Blue Devils did not play poorly; rather, the Seminoles were superb. Since then, Duke has won five games by an average of nearly 20 points.

"We've tried to get our team rejuvenated after having three games in six days last week," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, referring to a 19-point win at N.C. State, a 21-pont win over Maryland and a 23-point win over Wake Forest, three of the league's top five teams. "As much as you can say they were physically fine, they were emotionally spent. And that emotional can be a more difficult tired to come back from than the physical."

The recovery was complete at Boston College Thursday night, when Duke raced to a 29-point first half lead and cruised to an 88-78 win, shaking aside one of the nation's best back courts of Troy Bell and Ryan Sidney, who each had eight turnovers.

This is a classic Duke team, stocked with players who all can shoot and pass well. No one jumps to early leads better, or makes the fast-break 3-pointer - perhaps the ultimate killer of opponents' momentum - like the Blue Devils. They are dangerous as soon as the ball crosses midcourt.

The latest team to try to offer some turbulence is Virginia (14-2, 4-2), ranked seventh in the country. The Cavaliers' last six trips to Cameron Indoor Stadium have all been losses. From last year backwards, the Blue Devils' margin of victory has been 42, 20, 46, 44, 19 and 10 points.

Virginia has just about one highlight from Cameron Indoor Stadium in recent years, when Donald Hand drove the lane and dunked over seven-footer Casey Sanders, late in the second half with the deficit already over 40 points.

"Duke loses in Cameron when Jupiter and Mars align," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "It almost never happens."

If Duke has a major weakness, it is on the glass, with a rebounding margin of just plus 0.2. The Blue Devils also make just 68 percent of their free throws, and it soon could be as much of an Achilles heel for Williams (a 63 percent shooter) as Shaquille O'Neal. If the Cavaliers manage to keep the game close late, it would a logical move to foul Williams rather than let him anywhere near the basket. He has not shown the ability to rise to the occasion (at the line) in crucial situations, though he is as good a clutch 3-point shooter as anyone in the country.

Williams, Dahntay Jones (11.8 ppg) and Chris Duhon (109 assists) form perhaps the best perimeter game in the country, and it's a tough argument to play devil's advocate against. Duhon is a playmaker, Jones is a utility man and Williams is a true superstar. Freshman Daniel Ewing has been precociously solid as the first man off the bench.

Then, throw in Boozer and Dunleavy, who might be the most effective front court in the league, averaging 36 points and 15 rebounds per game between them. Dunleavy is the best inside-out player in the ACC, and Boozer capitalizes on the Duke guards' ability to spread the floor to get open time and time again inside for easy layups and dunks.

If Travis Watson, who missed Thursday's game with a hip pointer, is able to play today, as expected, then the Cavaliers have a potential advantage whenever the Blue Devils go to their post reserves, though foul trouble for Dunleavy and Boozer has not yet been a major concern.

Duke's reserve forwards and centers are Casey Sanders, Nick Horvath and Matt Christensen, and they combine for 5.1 points and 6 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game. Virginia, along with starters Watson and J.C. Mathis, has two quality big men on its bench, Jason Clark, who had 8 blocks against VMI Thursday, and Elton Brown, who is a strong candidate for his second ACC Rookie of the Week award after scoring 51 points over three games this week.

Virginia played three games in the first five days of this week, starting with Florida State on Sunday, Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Tuesday and VMI at home Thursday night. The only near-miss was a four-point win over the Yellow Jackets in a five-game winning streak.

But with Watson banged up, Roger Mason Jr.'s shoulder not at 100 percent and Adam Hall likely out another game with a foot injury, a short bench will have to produce wonders today for the Cavaliers to better their recent fate in Durham, N.C.

Just This Side of Hades
Duke Preview
Brett Wood, Special to TheSabre.Com, January 26th, 2002.

Sunday night's contest at Cameron Indoor Stadium is both the end and the beginning of exceptionally difficult stretches in Virginia's schedule. The nation's top ranked Duke Blue Devils will be the Cavs' fourth opponent in eight days. Duke will also be the first game in a "murderer's row" lineup of games that includes a home game against the third ranked Maryland Terrapins and road contests against Missouri and North Carolina State.

Now appears to be a good time to delineate what the Hoos must accomplish to make the big dance. The losses to Clemson on the road and North Carolina State at home are lead weights around the Cavs' ankles in their pursuit of an invitation to March Madness. Those two unexpected setbacks have displaced the Hoos from competing for the top of the league to scrounging to remain in the upper half. I believe a 9 - 7 conference record and landing no lower than fourth place is a must for Virginia to go dancing.

Let's start with the scenario that the Cavs are swept by both Duke and Maryland. Virginia can still obtain the five additional conference wins by beating North Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Clemson in Charlottesville and stealing a pair of road wins from the trio of Wake Forest, Florida State, and North Carolina State. Winning one out of the four games against Duke and Maryland would place the Cavs in very good shape to finish 9 - 7 and opens the door to a 10 - 6 finish.

A 9 - 7 record by itself doesn't guarantee NCAA tournament participation, not if the Cavs end up in fifth place. A third place finish in the conference is possible but will require help from other teams. North Carolina State's fast start to a 5 - 2 conference record, with their only losses to Duke and Maryland, presently has them squarely in the driver's seat for third in the ACC. Assuming that State loses twice more to the conference bullies, Herb Sendek will have to find a way to blow at least three more games. He's proven capable of just that, but State looks awfully good right now.

Wake Forest, despite their three losses, is also an obstacle to the Cavs' post season hopes. While Virginia has two "bad" losses on its rap sheet, Wake's losses to Maryland, Duke, and in Charlottesville had to have been anticipated. Wake could lose twice more to the Terps and Devils, split with the Wolfpack and beat the Hoos in Winston-Salem on their way to a 10 - 6 season.

The bottom line is that Virginia fans better start pulling for Georgia Tech, Clemson, Florida State, and, ugh, North Carolina, to play spoiler to the Wolfpack and Deacons. If State and Wake win all the games they're supposed to, the Cavs' ticket to March Madness may end up in someone else's mailbox.

The picture for the Cavs could brighten considerably with a road victory over the Duke Blue Devils. Duke isn't invincible and a Wahoo victory isn't impossible, but it would require a remarkable effort on the Hoos' part and probably an extra share of good fortune that is scarcely found by visitors to Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke isn't 17 - 1 and ranked number one solely on Dookie Vitale's ravings. Mike Krzyzewski has this season's likely National Player of the Year in Jason Williams and next season's in Mike Dunleavy as well, plus two other future NBA first round draft choices on the roster.

Duke is averaging 91.2 points per game and has a 20 point scoring margin over opponents. They're shooting .482 from the field and .367 from the arc. The Devils love to generate offense from turnovers and enjoy a positive 6.4 turnover margin. On the down side, Duke breaks even with opponents in rebounding and shoots a mediocre .682 from the foul line. I thought rebounding and free throw shooting would hold the Blue Devils short of a championship last season. Obviously I was wrong.

Jason Williams (21.5 points, 5.0 assists) receives more press coverage than Osama Bin Laden thanks to the endless and pointless droning of Dookie V. That's not to say that he isn't a great basketball player, he is. Williams is an explosive athlete who can take the ball to the hole against anyone. His perimeter shooting is a little streaky but when his shot is on he can't be defended. Free throw shooting is Williams' occasional Achilles' heel.

Next year's likely POY, Mike Dunleavy, Jr.,(17.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists) has developed dramatically in this three years in Durham. Skilled but frail as a freshman, he has grown to 6' 9", added thirty pounds, and has emerged as major offensive force. While I admit to being an ardent admirer of Dunleavy's basketball skills, the comparisons drawn recently to former Indiana State and Boston Celtic star Larry Bird as a collegiate player are absurd! Anyone mentioning Dunleavy and Bird in the same breath is either a delusional Duke fan or never witnessed Bird's play in college. Dunleavy is an outstanding college player and will likely be a very successful pro, but Larry Bird was something very, very special and his legacy shouldn't to be cheapened by comparisons to every tall white guy who can shoot.

Carlos Boozer (18.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, .600 FG%) probably benefits more from his teammates than any player in the country. The powerful Alaskan has the luxury of open interior space to go over, around, or through his defender due to the long-range shooting prowess of his teammates. Boozer's combination of size, strength, and surprisingly nimble feet makes him almost impossible to stop one-on-one. A healthy Travis Watson is probably the best match in the ACC for Boozer, but healthy is the least accurate description of Bubba's present physical condition.

Sophomore Chris Duhon (9.5 points, 6.1 assists) is an outstanding playmaker and can be a deadly three point marksman. Junior Dahntay Jones (11.8 points, 4.3 rebounds) was a star in the Big East before transferring from Rutgers to Duke. Freshman guard Daniel Ewing (6.4 points), Duke's sixth man, is a very impressive young player who will slide into Jason Williams' spot next year.

After Ewing, Krzyzewski's bench drops off considerably in quality and in minutes played. Back up center Casey Sanders (1.7 points, 1.9 rebounds) has concrete hands. Fellow post reserve Matt Christensen (1.9 points, 2.0 rebounds) has fewer physical skills than Sanders but does seem to know what he is supposed to be doing on the floor. Nick Horvath (1.5 points, 2.1 rebounds) has more skills than either Sanders or Christensen, but at 6' 10" is more of a perimeter player. If we see anyone else on the floor Sunday night wearing white, it will either mean that someone is getting married at half time or the Cavs are on the short end of a major blow out.

The one real advantage Virginia may have over Duke is in rebounding. Rebounding, along with Jason Williams' charity tosses and rampant acne among the fan base, has been a recurring glitch in Duke's program for several years. For all of his physical prowess, Boozer hasn't been a dominating rebounder. The Cavs' rebounding advantage was the difference in their victory in Charlottesville last season, but that was with Travis Watson and Adam Hall attacking the boards. Watson is probable but gimpy and Hall will be a spectator. Furthermore, with Krzyzewski's intimidation of the officials greatly magnified when playing in Durham, the whistles will likely short-circuit an offensive rebounding assault by the Cavs.

This isn't a game about strategy. Duke isn't going to alter its game plan for the Hoos. We won't see zones or gimmick defenses. The Cavs must simply play their best game and hope for the ball to bounce their way.

Sunday night is an opportunity. The odds aren't in Virginia's favor, but this is the stuff from which great games are born.

BIG-TIMERS: Parade All-American A.J. Nicholson and USA Today Defensive Player of the Year Ahmad Brooks were among the handful of visitors at UT this weekend.

Nicholson, a linebacker at Mt. Tabor High School in Winston Salem, N.C., said the Vols stack up well against other schools.

"The coaches are nice and I liked the players," said Nicholson, a 6-2, 230-pounder who has also visited Texas, Florida State and Miami, Fla. "I like the tradition here and the family atmosphere. I've just felt real comfortable."

Nicholson, who had 180 tackles and 11 sacks last season, is scheduled to visit North Carolina next weekend.

"I didn't expect it to be like this - I thought it would be more of a small country town, not some metropolitan area," said Brooks, a 6-3, 240-pound middle linebacker. "Tennessee's never been out of the picture with me. After this weekend, I'll have to think harder about it."

Brooks, who had 207 tackles and three sacks last season, has visited Virginia Tech, Virginia and Florida State. He'll visit Penn State next weekend.

Mason saw handwriting on walls

Recruiting lists shorten for Cavs, Hokies