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Virginia looking inward
 By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
Jan 23, 2003
 
Jimmy Buffett, an American poet/lyricist of some note, once sang of a man " … searching for answers to questions that bothered him so."

That description might fit UVa coach Pete Gillen at the moment.

Gillen's Cavaliers were dealt a 73-55 beating by Virginia Tech on Tuesday night in Blacksburg. It was Virginia's third-straight loss, dropped it to 1-5 in road games this season and was the 11th loss in the last 12 road games for the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers were outscored by the Hokies 19-3 down the stretch as Virginia's offensive sputtered from a plethora of turnovers and the simple inability to put the ball in the basket. The Cavaliers made just four baskets in the game's final 10:20 and at one point went seven minutes without a single field goal.

"We had some opportunities in the second half and didn't convert. That hurt us. They shot the ball well in the second half and got some second shots," Gillen said. "We just had too many turnovers. We were careless with the ball at times. … It was a physical game and you have to take care of the ball when it's physical."

That might explain the statistical component of the game. Virginia did commit 23 turnovers, Virginia Tech did register 16 steals and Virginia's shooting went cold in the second half while Tech's warmed up. Yet, the answer Gillen might be searching for has little to do with numbers and stats.

The Cavaliers were unable to match Virginia Tech's effort and intensity throughout the game. In a game that visibly meant quite a bit to the Hokies and their fans, the Cavaliers could not respond equally and crumbled beneath it.

"They had a lot of emotion. … I think we got discouraged in the second half. We missed some opportunities and got a little frustrated at different things that happened during the game," Gillen said. "The crowd got them going a got us a little frustrated."

While the Cassell Coliseum crowd had something to do with Virginia's demise, that is far from the total answer. The answer is lodged within the Virginia team equally if not more so than any Tech player or fan. It's the Cavaliers' own effort and intensity, especially when compared to the Hokies, that seems to be of a greater concern.

Junior guard Majestic Mapp said part of problem had to do with maturity. Specifically, the maturity and composure to handle the situation that confronted them.

"You have to realize that every game is important. You can't worry if the next game is an ACC one or a non-ACC one. You have to worry about the game you are playing today and tonight we just didn't have it," Mapp said. "We need to get better as a team. We need to mature as a team. We have a lot of young guys. You have to mature and get better a realize how important each game is."

Added Todd Billet: "This is one game. I don't think we need to start throwing up red flags. … We didn't perform the way we wanted to. We have to turn the page and look forward to Thursday against Wake Forest."

Regardless of Billet's summation, the red flags probably are up anyway after Tuesday's result. Virginia now faces No. 17 Wake Forest tonight in what is a must-win game in the middle of January. The Deacons are coming off impressive wins last week over Maryland and Georgia Tech as senior swingman Josh Howard has pushed Wake to a 12-1 start.

"I think we will bounce back. It's certainly disappointing to lose three in a row but with the people we play, that can happen," said Gillen when asked about the current state of his program.

Of course, Gillen seeks to avert the fate of Buffet's subject because that man was left " … recalling the answers he never found."

 

 

 

Cavs' season is out of control
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published January 23, 2003

Fifteen minutes following Virginia's 73-55 loss at Virginia Tech on Tuesday night, Cavaliers point guard Keith Jenifer sat outside the visitor's locker room in Cassell Coliseum - still in uniform, his head buried in his hands.

"Hey, Keith," a voice called from the floor, where pandemonium now ruled. Jenifer looked up, noticed a friendly face, and walked over for a brief conversation. Then he resumed his post outside the locker room and didn't acknowledge anyone for the next several minutes.

It was that kind of night for the Cavaliers, who lost a game that, considering the paths of the respective programs, they had no business losing. Virginia supposedly is one of the ACC's elite, a program that expects to make the NCAA Tournament every year. The Hokies have finished above .500 once since 1995-96 - which was also the last season they beat Virginia.

But in dropping their third game in a row, the Cavs (10-6, 1-3 ACC) did all the things losing teams do. They shot poorly, hitting 37 percent from the field in the second half. They were careless with the ball, turning it over 23 times. They gave up a mind-blowing 16 steals to the very team that is dead last in the Big East in that category.

"The ball was all over the place tonight," Virginia guard Todd Billet said. "All over the place."

Some might call Tuesday a microcosm of the Pete Gillen Era. In his four-plus seasons in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers have been plagued by the same problems. They still:

Can't defend when they need to. Though Tech shot only 40 percent from the floor, it scored on 10 of its last 11 possessions. Virginia, with newly hired assistant Rod Jensen serving as defensive coordinator, is last in the ACC in scoring defense.

Can't win on the road. The Cavs are 8-27 in conference road games under Gillen. And they're 1-5 overall this season on the road.

Tend to rise or sink to the level of competition. Virginia beat Kentucky and played Indiana tough in Maui. It won at Rutgers without Travis Watson and made Duke sweat in Cameron before losing 104-93. Yet the Cavs struggled at home against Long Island, East Tennessee State and Gardner-Webb.

Not long into Gillen's postgame press conference Tuesday night, somebody asked if he was worried about the season slipping away.

"Well, we're 10-6," said Gillen, whose team faces Wake Forest tonight in University Hall. "We had three killer games. We played at Duke and played them pretty tough. Clemson's a good team and we only lost by one. And Virginia Tech, obviously this is a giant game for them and they played better than us. I think we'll bounce back. We're disappointed (in) losing three in a row, but the people we play, that can happen."

No player has been reliable, not even Watson. Jenifer had given the Cavs decent play from the point until his six-turnover evening in Blacksburg. Billet, on a shooter's roll coming in, was 2-for-10. Wings Devin Smith and Derrick Byars have combined for 35 points on 13-of-36 shooting the past four games. Elton Brown has made eight of his last 19 attempts from the foul line.

Could the Cavaliers be headed back to the NIT?

"I don't think we have to start throwing up red flags yet," Billet said.

 

 

Prosser plans to add to Gillen's problems
No. 17 Deacons to visit struggling Cavaliers

By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER
 

Coach Skip Prosser of Wake Forest will visit a close friend who isn't doing so well tonight. Instead of bringing a fruit basket or get-well card, however, Prosser will try to add to his friend's misery.

Such is the complex and often contradictory nature of competitive athletics, particularly in a pursuit as competitive and athletic as ACC basketball.

Prosser's Deacons will play at Virginia, which is coached by Pete Gillen, the man who gave Prosser his first college-coaching job, at Xavier in 1985. The Cavaliers are coming off Tuesday's sobering 73-55 loss to cross-state rival Virginia Tech, their third straight loss and fourth in their past five games.

Virginia, in Gillen's fifth year as coach, is 10-6 and 1-3 in ACC play. Wake Forest is 12-1 and 2-1 and ranked No. 17 in the nation.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

"There's not a question that Coach Gillen has done so much for me and my family," Prosser said. "It's emotional before the game and it's emotional perhaps more so after the game, because you never want to see one of your buddies lose, and he probably feels the same way.

"But that's going to happen."

Gillen, who left Xavier for Providence in 1995, to be succeeded by Prosser, said he's no more pleased than Prosser over the reasons for tonight's reunion.

"It's a special game, and it's a game I hate to play," Gillen said. "I hate going against friends, and Skip is certainly a good friend of mine. It's a tough thing. But it's just a reality, unfortunately, that we both are in this league.

"Skip did a lot for me. In the eight years he worked for me as an assistant, he did a marvelous job. And he taught me probably more than I taught him. He's a marvelous coach and he has proved that by what he has done at Xavier and certainly Wake Forest."

The Cavaliers, picked by the media to finish fifth this season in the ACC, one spot ahead of Wake Forest, were outscored 27-7 in the final 10 minutes Tuesday in their first loss to Virginia Tech since 1996. Virginia committed 23 turnovers, had only one player, Travis Watson, score in double figures and was 1 for 6 from the free-throw line.

"They got a lot of calls," Watson told the Roanoke Times.

Gillen assessed the outcome differently.

"You can't have 23 turnovers anywhere and win," Gillen said.

The challenge for Wake Forest, besides playing a team desperately in need of a win, is that the game will be played in University Hall. The Cavaliers are 7-0 at home this season with victories over Georgetown and North Carolina.

And they also have, in 6-8 Watson, the leading returning scorer in the ACC this year and a candidate for conference player-of-the-year honors. Watson leads the Cavaliers with 14.9 points and 9.8 rebounds, followed by 6-0 wing guard Todd Billet (13.5 ppg), 6-5 wing Devin Smith 10.2 ppg), 6-9 forward Elton Brown (9.9 ppg), 6-7 freshman forward Derrick Byars (7.4 ppg), 6-3 guard Keith Jenifer (6.7 ppg) and 6-10 center Nick Vander Laan (6.4 ppg).

"They have a great inside scorer in Travis Watson, and a terrific perimeter shooter in Billet," Prosser said. "Both of those guys are veteran guys. Watson is a senior and Billet (a transfer from Rutgers) is a fourth-year junior. So they're men, they're not kids.

"Then you have a pure point guard in Jenifer running the show, really good wings in Byars, Smith and (Jermaine) Harper. And they have great size with Watson, Elton Brown, Vander Laan and Jason Clark. They have all the ingredients to have a very, very, very good team."

Last season the Cavaliers finished last in the ACC in field-goal defense, allowing opponents to average 48 percent. Through 15 games this season, Virginia was sixth in the conference in that category, while holding opponents to 42 percent.

"They seem to be playing a lot more zone from what they have in the past," Prosser said. "They're still pressing. They're still taking advantage of your mistakes. They really run well on turnovers. They may not be getting as much offense off of their defense as in the past, but from what I've seen they may be harder to score against than last year."

Jenifer, a sophomore considered to be one of the top point guards to enter college basketball last season, has had his moments this year, but few have come lately. After another disappointing performance by Jenifer at Virginia Tech, where he committed six turnovers, Gillen hinted he may give Majestic Mapp a longer look.

Mapp, whose last two seasons have been marred by four knee surgeries, has played in two games this season. He played six minutes against Virginia Tech, contributing one assist and a 3-point shot without committing a turnover.

"We should have played him more," Gillen said. "We're still learning about him, seeing what he can do."

Gillen will do everything he can tonight to see that his good friend Prosser doesn't return to Winston-Salem happy. The two have already met twice, last year at Charlottesville and in Joel Coliseum, and Prosser was asked earlier this week if, in time, fans and media will stop making a big deal out of the master-meets-pupil angle.

"In the long run maybe," Prosser said. "But what did Adam Smith say in Wealth of Nations? In the long run we're all dead anyway, so what's the difference?"

 

 

INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL | GREGG DOYEL
ACC refs make up calls, really
 

Pay attention to three of the most important people on the court tonight. Which ACC game? It doesn't matter. Any of them.

Watch the referees, and email me at gdoyel@charlotteobserver.com if they don't dole out make-up call after make-up call.

Not that I'm saying referees fabricate calls to appease angry coaches.

Ah ... the heck with it. That's exactly what I'm saying.

This is just one opinion. Draw your own, but pay attention tonight. You probably will see something like what I saw Saturday at College Park, Md.

• Seven minutes into the second half, Duke had been whistled for six fouls to one for Maryland. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski informed officials of that discrepancy, and what do you know? Three calls went against Maryland in the next 11 seconds.

Really.

• In that anti-Maryland sequence, the third foul was a reach-in, the kind referees had been ignoring most of the game. Maryland coach Gary Williams informed officials of that discrepancy, and referee John Clougherty walked over and said, "You'll get a call. You'll get one."

Really.

• Three minutes later, Duke guard Daniel Ewing was called for an offensive foul -- a charge -- 20 feet from the basket. Krzyzewski informed referees they were incorrect to make such a call at that point on the floor.

Within seconds, referees made a similar charging call against Maryland's Drew Nicholas, 50 feet from the basket. Krzyzewski nodded. Williams was irate.

Really.

 

 

 

Lepore's break: on Deacs' point

1-23-03
By BILL HASS, Staff Writer
News & Record

After being cleared to play basketball following an arduous rehab of a terrible knee injury, Wake Forest's Steve Lepore wondered where he would find minutes on the court.

He certainly didn't expect them to be at point guard, a position he never even played in high school. Yet that's where Lepore is getting some playing time, backing up Deacons starter Taron Downey. The 6-foot-5 senior was thrust into the role when freshman Justin Gray was sidelined after breaking his jaw.

Gray watches practice these days with his jaw wired shut. It could be another three weeks before he resumes practice. Without another scholarship point guard, coach Skip Prosser had to improvise for Downey's backup.

"Skip told me about it the day after Justin broke his jaw," Lepore said. "He said 'We're going to work with you; don't try to be (NBA star) Steve Nash out there, but don't try to do too little, either.'"

Prosser considered and rejected the ideas of using Josh Howard, who already does a multitude of things, and freshman wing players Trent Strickland and Richard Joyce. That left Lepore, mostly a 3-point shooter off the bench last season.

"We told Steve 'Just be steady, play to your strengths and not your weaknesses,'" Prosser said. "'If you're open, shoot the ball and make it, get us into our offense and make sure you play good defense at the other end.'"

Lepore isn't being asked to play the point for long stretches. In the two games Gray has missed, Downey played 37 and 38 minutes. Still, Lepore has to be make sure things go well when Downey comes out.

"I'm not going to beat too many people off the dribble with my quickness or my ballhandling," Lepore said, "but it's nothing I'm scared to do. I'm enjoying having the ball in my hands a lot instead of coming in and shooting the first time I touch the ball. Hopefully I can limit the turnovers and help lead the team."

Lepore is still logging most of his time at small forward and shooting guard, but this is another way to get on the floor. The fact that he can play at all is a testament to his determination.

In last year's ACC Tournament, Lepore dove for a loose ball and had a Georgia Tech player roll up on his left leg. The result was a ruptured patella tendon, which connects the kneecap to the quadriceps muscle.

The injury is considered worse than a torn anterior cruciate ligament. After ACL surgery, patients can usually move around in a week to 10 days. The patella tendon has to heal after surgery, requiring the leg to be immobilized up to two months. When the cast came off, Lepore's thigh had atrophied significantly.

"The patella tendon is crucial for your ability to run and jump and to cut," said trainer Greg Collins. "It's really a difficult rehab because you have to let the tissue repair before you start working on the muscle. Imagine completely pulling that tissue apart, then having to strengthen the quad back to where you can play. It's a long process."

Lepore worked on his rehab through both sessions of summer school. When practice began in October, he was still on the sideline, often walking with high steps while straining against a device looped around his waist with Collins pulling hard on the other end. That and many other resistive exercises began to slowly build the muscle back.

"It was extremely painful and very discouraging, one of the hardest things I've ever done," Lepore said. "It's a rollercoaster. Some days I felt great and some days it was like you forgot how to run or jump. Mentally, you can't get too high or too low. It's never as good as it feels or as bad as it feels."

Eventually Lepore could run straight ahead but not to either side. He probably won't be 100 percent the rest of the season, but every week he feels a little stronger.

"He's done a great job working on his lateral movement," Collins said. "His defensive slide has gotten a lot better. There's still some good days and bad days. You don't expect a complete recovery for at least a year after surgery, but he's getting better and better."

Lepore missed the first three games before being cleared to play against SMU. He made a brief appearance in that game but, with the eight-man rotation solidly set, got only a few minutes in some other nonconference games.

After Gray's injury, Lepore played nine minutes against Maryland and 22 against Georgia Tech. Prosser likes the experience he brings to the lineup, something the young Deacons sorely need.

"Any way I can help the team," Lepore said. "It's still the game of basketball. As long as we keep winning I don't care how long I play."

Or what position.

 

 

Cavaliers Seem to Feel Much Safer at Home
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, January 23, 2003; Page D07

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Jan. 22 -- The wreckage of an 0-3 road trip is behind them. Set aside -- for now -- are reminders that they have lost 18 of their past 24 road games. For their next two games, starting Thursday night against No. 17 Wake Forest, the slumping Virginia Cavaliers will be back in the friendly confines of University Hall .

U-Va. is 45-8 at home in the past 31/2 seasons, but that alone likely will not be enough to beat the Demon Deacons, whose only loss came at then-No. 1 Duke. After losing four of their past five games, the Cavaliers (10-6, 1-3 ACC) are hardly catching Wake (12-1, 2-1) at a good time.

Virginia's road trip began with losses at Duke and Clemson and concluded in ignominious fashion Tuesday, when a second-half collapse led to a 73-55 loss at Virginia Tech, a young team struggling to establish itself in the Big East. The Cavaliers made several of the same mistakes that had doomed them in previous losses, particularly on defense and at the free throw line, but afterward expressed confidence they can get back on track.

"This is one game," said junior guard Todd Billet, Virginia's second-leading scorer. "I don't think we have to start throwing up red flags, questioning everything on the team."

The Hokies were led by junior Bryant Matthews, a 6-foot-7 forward who dominated the game with a career-high 30 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals, and Carlos Dixon, another 6-7 forward who added 15 points. Similar players -- from North Carolina State's Julius Hodge and Georgetown's Gerald Riley to North Carolina's Jawad Williams and Long Island's JaJa Bey -- have given the Cavaliers problems all season at both ends of the court.

Wake Forest's Josh Howard, a 6-6, 203-pound senior, is one of the best forwards Virginia will face. He is the reigning ACC player of the week after averaging 26.5 points, 7 rebounds and 4.5 blocks in wins against Maryland and Georgia Tech.

"He's a monster," Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said. "He could be the MVP of the conference. . . . He's going to score. You just hope he gets 18 rather than 28."

The Cavaliers have trouble defending such tall, athletic wing players. Their only player in that mold is 6-7 freshman Derrick Byars, who has not contributed much in the past month. Small forward Devin Smith, at 6-5, 230 pounds, has been a step slow all season after having knee surgery in the fall, and none of the guards are big enough. Forwards Jason Clark and Travis Watson are more athletic than most post players but struggle trying to defend the perimeter.

Caught out of position, Virginia defenders are often drawn into committing fouls. In their six losses this season, the Cavaliers have made 71 free throws while their opponents have made 133.

Yet with home games coming up in the next seven days against Wake Forest and Florida State, Gillen said Virginia's aim is to "go 8-8 or better in the conference.

"We've just got to dig down," he said. "I think we're working at it, but we've got to work harder. We've got to be a little more desperate, a little more intense. Got to get the long rebounds, got to get the loose balls."
 

 

 

Cavs discover road bumpy
Deacons next in home test
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 23, 2003

They left the court at University Hall in high spirits Jan. 11 and with good reason.

The Virginia Cavaliers had just defeated ACC rival North Carolina for the fourth straight time to improve to 10-3, and point guard Majestic Mapp had played for the first time in nearly three years, drawing a standing ovation from the sellout crowd.

U.Va.'s other victims included Kentucky, Rutgers and Georgetown, and it looked like a team headed to the NCAA tournament.

Twelve days later, Virginia looks like a team that has lost its way.

Since beating Carolina, U.Va. has lost three straight games, all on the road, where its struggles under coach Pete Gillen continue. Virginia has dropped 11 of its past 12 road games. There was no shame in the Wahoos' 104-93 loss to then-No. 1 Duke on Jan. 15, but they broke down defensively in a one-point loss to Clemson on Saturday and then collapsed in all phases down the stretch against Virginia Tech two nights ago.

The Hokies (8-8), who trailed by one at halftime, closed with a 19-3 run and humbled U.Va. 73-55 before a raucous crowd at Cassell Coliseum. Only one Cavalier, 6-8 senior Travis Watson, scored in double figures. Sophomore Elton Brown, who started alongside Watson in the frontcourt, missed 5 of 6 free throws and failed to convert an uncontested layup that would have pulled U.Va. to 56-54 with about 5:15 remaining.

"I think we'll bounce back," Gillen said. "We're disappointed in losing three in a row, but the people we play, that can happen."

The stunning setback ended Virginia's six-game winning streak against Tech and ranks among the low points of Gillen's five-season tenure in Charlottesville. But U.Va. can't afford to indulge in self pity. The Cavs (1-3, 10-6) play host to 17th-ranked Wake Forest (2-1, 12-1) tonight in an ACC game that may determine the course of their season.

Gillen noted Tuesday morning that to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, an ACC team generally must finish at least 8-8 in conference play. Given the Cavaliers' recent history on the road, they have little margin for error at U-Hall.

"It's a very important game, especially because it's at home," junior guard Todd Billet said. "You have to defend the home court in the conference and get a league win."

Hokies swingman Bryant Matthews torched U.Va. for a career-high 30 points. Tonight, the Cavaliers face another athletic wing with the potential to light them up. Wake's Josh Howard, a 6-6 senior, averaged 26.5 points, 7 rebounds, 4.5 blocks and 3 steals in wins over Maryland and Georgia Tech last week.

"I think he really wants his senior season to be something special," said Wake coach Skip Prosser, a former assistant under Gillen at Xavier.

Prosser's predecessor at Wake, Dave Odom, coached Howard in 1999-2000 and 2000-01.

"Dave did a great job, and Skip's taken him to another level," Gillen said. "He's a monster. He could be the MVP of the conference. Certainly right now, if you put a gun to my head, he'd be the MVP."

If there was a bright spot for U.Va. against Tech, it was Mapp, who hadn't played since a two-minute stint against UNC. On a night when his teammates turned the ball over 23 times, the former McDonald's All-American handled the ball flawlessly and directed the Cavs' offense with an air of confidence rarely seen since Donald Hand's departure.

Mapp made a 3-pointer - his first points since March 15, 2000 - and had an assist in six minutes, and his playing time figures to increase. Had his teammates converted open shots around the basket, Mapp would have had at least two more assists.

"I thought he was great," Gillen said. "His knee isn't still strong enough to play a lot of minutes, but I thought he did a terrific job in a tough environment."