Heels' roll has lost swagger
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
January 24, 2004

Today’s game got a lot more interesting in the past 36 hours or so.

Virginia coach Pete Gillen finished a teleconference with the media at approximately noon on Thursday.

He addressed his team’s game at North Carolina today and mentioned how the Tar Heels seemed on a roll after defeating then-No. 1 Connecticut last week.

About eight and one half hours later, that roll stopped hard.

Thursday night, the Tar Heels squandered a 24-point first-half lead at Florida State and the Seminoles ultimately prevailed 90-81 in overtime.

It certainly adds a little more spice to today’s game.

Now, Virginia enters the game with actually a better ACC mark (2-3) than the Tar Heels (1-3). Though Virginia has lost 14 of its past 15 ACC road contests and has not been all that competitive in its three ACC losses this season - especially the two on the road - today’s game has added significance in the ACC standings.

North Carolina is a team with tremendous offensive firepower with Rashad McCants, Jawad Williams and Raymond Felton. The Tar Heels are averaging 87.9 points a game compared to 76.9 for Virginia.

While defense is always an issue for the Cavaliers and even more so on the road, the Cavaliers’ defense pushed them to back-to-back wins over Florida State and Clemson. The Cavaliers held both teams to less than 34 percent shooting from the field as a certain focus has been placed on the defensive side of things since last week’s 75-57 loss at Georgia Tech.

“In this league you can’t win with offense. I’m talking about Virginia. We have some good offensive players but we’re not going to win trying to rely on our offense,” Gillen said. “For us to win, we are going to have to do a decent job defending and can’t let teams go crazy. We have to be more physical even though we’re not the biggest team in the league.”

The increased defensive presence has coincided with forward Jason Clark’s placement in the starting lineup. While somewhat limited offensively, Clark supplies energy on the floor and is likely Virginia’s best interior defender.

“Jason Clark gives us some physicality and some good defense. He gives us some presence around the rim. … It’s important that we play aggressive and physical. That’s the league,” Gillen said.

Of course, Gillen knows his team is in for a defensive assignment today is a little tougher than Clemson and Florida State.

“North Carolina is an offensive juggernaut. I think it’s unrealistic to think we can hold them to 32 percent shooting but we need to do our best and not let them shoot 56 percent,” Gillen said.

While defense may be worry and priority No. 1, Gillen is also dealing with the prolonged funks and slumps of two players, Derrick Byars and Elton Brown.

Byars has just nine combined points in the last five games and has noticeably lost confidence on the court. Brown has had his own inconsistent performances and has been benched in favor of the Clark-Donte Minter combination the last two games.

“He [Byars] is listening. He’s a very bright young man. We’re going to continue to work with him. I think it’s also a matter of persistence. He has to be determined and not get frustrated. Hopefully, he’ll snap out of it,” Gillen said.

As for Brown, Gillen said it’s also a matter of confidence and frustration.

“Elton is one of our best players. Right now, he’s not playing his best. He’s down. He’s very valuable and he’s our leading scorer. He could start Saturday or start again soon. That’s up to productivity. … He’s got to get back in sync a little bit,” Gillen said.
 

Two Virginia recruit targets go elsewhere
From Staff Reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
January 24, 2004

Two of Virginia’s out-of-state recruiting targets committed elsewhere on Friday, leaving the Cavaliers still in pursuit of a big-play wide receiver.

Doug Dutch, ranked the No. 10 wideout in the nation by Rivals and the No. 31 overall player in the country by SuperPrep, chose Michigan over Virginia, Maryland, Miami and Florida.

“He would have loved to have been able to pick all five schools because he really liked something about each one, but in the end he had to pick the place he felt best about,” said Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) coach Kenny Lucas.

Maryland made a last-ditch effort Thursday night but failed to land Dutch as well.

Meanwhile, Vorhees, N.J., Eastern Regional High offensive tackle Phil Trautwein announced he has committed to Florida, picking the Gators over UVa and Michigan State. He also had offers from B.C. and Tennessee.

The 6-foot-7, 310-pounder, ranked the No. 28 tackle in the nation by Rivals, and the No. 7 overall prospect in New Jersey by SuperPrep, said that Virginia was a lure because of its academics. He has family in Florida, which factored into his decision.

Another UVa target, Tristan Davis of Atlanta, Ga., said he will announce his decision on Feb. 1. Davis, a speedy athlete, will decide between Virginia, Mississippi State and Auburn.

“I like Virginia a lot and many people have counted them out, saying that I am headed to an SEC school,” Davis told Rivals’ writer Jamie Oakes. “That may be the case but it might not be either. All I have to say is, don’t sleep on Virginia.”

Olu Hall, the Gold List’s No. 1 ranked player in the state of Virginia by The Daily Progress, said he may wait until signing day (Feb. 4) to announce his choice between UVa, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, N.C. State and Purdue.

The 6-5, 220 DE still has visits to make to N.C. State (Jan. 23), and Virginia (Jan. 30).
 

Where's the ''D'' for U.Va.?
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 24, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Two games do not a trend make, particularly two games against the eighth- and ninth-place teams in the ACC.

But in a season marked by defensive breakdowns — letting a James Madison freshman burn them for 33 points in just his sixth college game, allowing their first three ACC opponents to shoot a combined 50 percent, yielding far too many open 3-pointers and uncontested layups — the Virginia Cavaliers have discovered the benefits of stout defense.

Virginia held Clemson to 31.6 percent shooting Tuesday night, two days after holding Florida State to 31.9. “Held” is a relative term, of course. Neither the Tigers nor Seminoles are fluid offensive machines. But Virginia coach Pete Gillen and his players are hoping it’s a start.

If so, the timing couldn’t be better. Virginia (12-4, 2-3 ACC) plays at North Carolina today, the first of six straight games against teams likely to make the NCAA tournament. The fate of the Cavaliers’ season could be decided in the next three weeks, and much will hinge on whether they can stop anybody.

“We’ve just got to defend,” Gillen said. “If we defend, we’ve got a chance. If we don’t defend, we don’t have a chance in many games in the ACC, or any game, because we’re not going to win with our offense.”

Gillen has been saying similar things for several years now. Yet, lapses in defense have contributed to Virginia’s disappointing finishes each of the last two seasons, when the Cavaliers started quickly before collapsing in February and March.

“I’ve stated publicly that defense has been the problem keeping Virginia from going from a good to a very good team,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said.

Two seasons ago, Virginia allowed opponents to shoot 48 percent in ACC games, last in the conference. ACC teams shot 36.9 percent from 3-point range against U.Va., seventh in the conference.

Gillen vowed then to make defense more of a priority. He even added Rod Jensen, a former head coach at Boise State with a reputation as a defensive specialist, to his staff.

Virginia made strides last season, holding teams to 45.5 percent shooting in ACC games, which ranked seventh in the conference; and 36.1 percent from 3-point range, which ranked sixth.

But through its first 14 games this year, Virginia appeared to be backsliding, as teams such as Duke, N.C. State and Providence had their way with Cavaliers defenders.

It was enough to frustrate fans and leave some longtime observers shaking their heads. How could Virginia keep making the same defensive mistakes, year after year?

“There’s something missing there,” said Dan Bonner, a TV analyst and former Virginia player who has worked many Cavaliers games the last few years. “To be perfectly frank, I look at it and don’t know what it is. I’d be a pretty smart guy if I could figure out what it is.”

Chalk some of it up to youth. Virginia is rotating five freshmen, and as Bilas put it, “Young players tend to fill their tanks on the offensive end, not on defense.”

But having young players doesn’t account for Virginia’s problems in past years, when the Cavaliers had more veteran teams. The constant has been Gillen, who arrived at Virginia with a reputation as a solid defensive coach.

“It’s not as if he doesn’t know what to teach or how to teach it,” Bonner said. Bilas said he chuckled at stories that touted Jensen’s arrival as a cure for Virginia’s defensive woes.

“Whether Jensen’s there or not, Pete can handle defense without any help,” Bilas said.

Gillen’s teams at Xavier and Providence employed a pressing, trapping style. They would “speed you up, to get you playing at a pace you don’t practice,” Bilas said.

Gillen has been unable to bring that style to Virginia, saying his teams have lacked the across-the-board quickness needed to press successfully in the ACC. They’ve pressed at times, but have been unable to play at the frantic pace Gillen prefers.

“My philosophy, honestly, is full-court, hard pressure with super quickness,” Gillen said after Virginia forced 23 turnovers in a win over Iowa State. “We have decent quickness, but we’re not playing the way I really, really, really want to play.”

Teams in general have not had as much success pressing as they did, say, 10 years ago, Bonner said. Pressing teams invariably give up some easy baskets, and improved 3-point shooting has made those baskets more costly.

Half-court defense has not been a Virginia strength, either. Whether in man-to-man or zone, the Cavaliers often have difficulty locating open shooters on the perimeter and defending post players inside.

Some of the team’s defensive struggles can be attributed to players’ physical limitations. Virginia has not had a shot blocker in recent years, for example and has lacked explosive quickness on the perimeter. That’s a recruiting issue, something Gillen is responsible for, Bonner said.

But Bonner and Bilas say Virginia’s biggest fault might be its mental approach to defense.

“Defense is something people really have to commit to,” Bonner said. “I don’t know if the guys at U.Va who are playing on the team at the moment are really committed to going out and guarding people.”

Said Bilas: “Before this year, you could say they lacked effort. They didn’t have a mentality to stop anybody.”

Players admit that the team’s defensive effort has occasionally lagged.

“Defense is 95 percent effort,” said forward Jason Clark, one of the team’s best defenders. “We all want to defend well. I guess being out there in the game situation, you lose focus. We forget what we talked about in practice on the defensive end.”

“It’s all about your mental approach to stopping your man,” guard Todd Billet said. “That’s what it comes down to in defense.”

The key to defense is in the details, Billet added. Virginia has several ways to defend a ball screen, for example, and, “if the guard and the big man aren’t on the same page, there’s going to be a breakdown,” Billet said.

Gillen praised his team’s effort the past two games, but said Virginia has much work to do. He cautioned against reading too much into two games.

“Maybe reality is somewhere in between,” he said. “We’re not going to hold teams to 32 percent, but hopefully teams aren’t going to shoot 56 percent either.”

Meanwhile, Gillen says he’s doling out playing time based on defensive ability, benching Elton Brown and Derrick Byars in favor of Clark and Donte Minter. J.R. Reynolds, one of the team’s better perimeter defenders, has also received more playing time lately.

“We’re telling guys, hey, playing time, defense is a big part of it,” he said. And, Gillen is quick to add, the biggest key to the remainder of the season.
 

Cavs looking for more than victories
Virginia is an impressive 12-4, but has lost by an average of 18 points.
By Doug Doughty

When there have been complaints about the Virginia men's basketball team this season, they rarely have dealt with the team's record.

The Cavaliers are 12-4 after their first 16 games, but it hasn't been a pretty 12-4.

Virginia's losses have been by 17, 15, 22 and 18 points, and at noon today the Cavaliers visit a North Carolina team that has scored more than 100 points in four games this season.

The Tar Heels are coming off a 90-84 overtime loss at Florida State, where Carolina blew a 24-point lead, but Virginia has lost 14 of its past 15 ACC road games.

"Sometimes, we're playing good teams and that can happen," said Gillen of his team's vulnerability to blowouts. "You just get whacked. I think this team has a good upside, though. I think we have a chance to get better.

"That's our challenge - to try and win as many games as we can - but also to improve. The last couple of years, we went backward a little bit. We haven't lost to mediocre teams this year, but the point is well-taken. We should have been more competitive."

In Virginia's four losses, no opponent has shot worse than 46.4 percent and three teams have shot better than 50 percent.

In two conference victories at home this week, Virginia beat a Florida State team that shot 31.9 percent and a Clemson squad that shot 31.6.

"Reality is somewhere in between," Gillen said. "We're not going to hold teams to 32 percent, but, hopefully, teams aren't going to shoot 56 percent. All we can do is keep emphasizing defense.

"We've stressed it all year, but now we're getting more playing time for the guys who play defense. There's always going to be a lot of criticism, but that comes with the territory."

Through its 14th game, Virginia had a starting lineup that included five double-figure scorers. The defensive improvement has coincided with the return of junior Jason Clark, who was voted the team's top defender a year ago but missed the first 12 games this season while on academic probation.

Freshman J.R. Reynolds, an early season starter, returned to the lineup after holding Florida State's Tim Pickett to nine points on 3-of-16 shooting. In his next game, Pickett scored 30 against North Carolina.

Over the long haul, Gillen said he doesn't think the Cavaliers can reach their potential without getting more consistency from junior center Elton Brown, who has had seven turnovers in 41 minutes during his last two games.

Brown almost cost the Cavaliers the Florida State game, when he picked up a charging foul in the final minute of regulation. The way he plowed into three Seminole defenders, there was talk of making him the early favorite for the Jacobs Blocking Trophy, a football award that was won this year by his cousin and namesake, a UVa offensive guard.

"Elton is one of our best players," Gillen said. "Elton right now is not playing his best. His confidence is a little bit down. He's very valuable. He's our leading scorer [and rebounder]. He's going to play a lot of minutes. He's got to mix up his offensive game."

If Brown's confidence is down, Derrick Byars' is nonexistent. Byars finally made a layup Tuesday night - his first field goal in four games - but is averaging 1.7 points over the last six games.

Byars is 4-for-28 from the field over that span, including 1-for-15 on 3-pointers, and has two rebounds in his last 50 minutes.

Byars has had shoulder problems, "but I don't think that's caused a slippage in play," Gillen said.

"I don't think that's the reason honestly. We've been talking to him. I think he's been relying too much on his jump shot. When you're shooting a 20-foot jump shot and trying to work yourself out of a slump, that's pressure."

 

Where are the All-Americans? Where they always were
Tech has five All-A's; UVa-bound Deke had big numbers
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays

Can't say I've ever seen this before:

When SuperPrep's most recent issue arrived in Friday's mail, with its 275 All-Americans, guess how many were from Virginia?

Zero!

Oops. Typesetter's error.

SuperPrep publisher Allen Wallace said Friday that there actually were 285 SuperPrep All-Americans, including 10 from Virginia, which is consistent with previous years.

They were No. 18 quarterback Sean Glennon, No. 25 running back Ahmad Bradshaw, No. 28 running back Branden Ore, No. 14 wide receiver Eddie Royal, No. 16 defensive lineman Olu Hall, No. 26 defensive lineman Chris Long, No. 58 defensive lineman Clint Sintim, No. 19 defensive back Kent Hicks, No. 21 linebacker Jerod Mayo and No. 24 linebacker Andrew Bowman.

Virginia Tech has commitments from three players on that list: Glennon, Ore and Bowman. UVa has commitments from Bradshaw and Long, and Maryland has a commitment from Hicks.

All four of the uncommitted players among the 10 in-state SuperPrep All-Americans are considering Tech and UVa.

Royal and Mayo are taking their official visits to Tech this weekend, Hall visited Blacksburg in early December and Sintim, who recently suffered a broken leg in basketball and required surgery, said he is going to try and get there.

Mayo and Sintim were at Virginia in December, Royal was at UVa last weekend and Hall is scheduled to tour Charlottesville next weekend.

TECH AND UVa will take their chances with a core group of uncommitted (and committed) state players, but both are still involved with some out-of-state SuperPrep All-Americans.

Two of them are among a group of 10 players -- eight of them uncommitted -- who will be at Tech this weekend. They are wide receiver Derrick McPhearson from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., and defensive lineman Carl Howard from Matawan, N.J.

Howard, son of former NFL cornerback Carl Howard, is rated the No. 12 player in the country at his position. McPhearson is 16th among wide receivers.

Other out-of-state players on Tech's list include 6-5, 260-pound defensive end Emmanuel Dunbar from Deerfield Beach, Fla., and 6-5, 230-pound linebacker-defensive end Hugh D'Imperio from Washington Township, N.J.

D’Imperio is scheduled to be in Blacksburg next week. Dunbar is visiting this weekend, along with Mayo, Royal, McPhearson, Howard and linebacker Maurice Reevey from Fork Union Military Academy.

The guest list also includes linebacker-defensive back prospect Purnell Sturdivant from Lake Taylor in Norfolk, All-Richmond Metro punter-placekicker Andrew Wilcox from Hermitage High School in Richmond and two committed players, Glennon and All-Group AA defensive lineman Brandon Holland from Northside.

Sturdivant, rated the No. 13 prospect in Virginia, has not committed publically but is considered a Tech lock. Wilcox is a walk-on candidate who can probably see where Tech needs help with its kicking game.

TECH HAS COMMITMENTS from a total of five SuperPrep All-Americans, including the 26th-rated running back, George Bell from Fayetteville, N.C., and the No. 14 defensive back, Rod Council, from West Charlotte, N.C.

Virginia lost out on a couple of SuperPrep All-Americans who have committed in the past 24 hours, Voorhees, N.J., offensive lineman Phil Trautwein, who picked Florida, and Washington, D.C., wide receiver Doug Dutch, who selected Miami.

The Cavaliers are still in the picture with the nation's No. 2-rated wide receiver, Dwayne Jarrett, from New Brunswick, N.J. It could come down to Virginia and Southern Cal.

Wallace operates SuperPrep out of Laguna Beach, Calif., and is close to the Pac-10 recruiting scene. He said Jarrett committed to Southern Cal on a recent visit.

"I don't think it's firm; it’s soft at best," Wallace said Friday. "USC still thinks it has a shot, but the longer it goes on, the more distance has to become a factor."

Other SuperPrep All-Americans that Wallace lists with Virginia are the above-mentioned Virginians; Columbia, S.C., offensive lineman Leon Hart; Millville, N.J., defensive lineman Dwayne Hendricks, and Birmingham, Ala., defensive back Simeon Castille. (I thought he had committed).

UVa seems to be in the same position with Hart as Tech is with Marshville, N.C., defensive lineman Marque Hall, hanging on by a thread.

SOME OUT-OF-STATE UVa recruits and where SuperPrep rates them in their respective states: tight end Tom Santi (No. 5 in Tennessee), defensive back Chris Gorham (No. 23 in Pennsylvania) and quarterback Scott Deke (No. 78 in California).

SuperPrep reports that Gorham missed the final five games of the season with a dislocated shoulder, but Deke (pronounced DAY-key) passed for 2,300 yards and 22 touchdowns for a Loyola team, that went 11-3 and defeated perennial power Long Beach Poly.

Tech recruit Mike Mangold was rated the No. 68 prospect in Florida but the Hokies may have to fight to keep him. Mangold is visiting Florida this weekend. Tech also has a commitment from Boca Raton running back Damian Sims, a defensive-back prospect, whom SuperPrep rates the No. 47 prospect in Florida.

Tech fullback recruit Mike Green was rated the No. 22 prospect in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., Woodson teammates Theodore Miller and William Wall were 24th and 31st, respectively on a list of the top prospects in the Mid-Atlantic (Maryland, D.C., Delaware). Wide receiver Bud Davis, who recently committed to UVa, was 21st on that list.

GATE CITY COACH Nick Colobro has four seniors whom he considers college material, including 6-4, 215-pound linebacker Danny Beasley, named co-Group A defensive player of the year. Beasley’s older brother, Chad, played on the defensive line at Virginia Tech and is now an offensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns.

Most of Colobro's would-be prospects have size, including 6-3, 265-pound offensive tackle Jared Wininger, 6-3, 175 wide receiver-defensive back Will Hubbard and 5-11, 190-pound quarterback Isaiah Spivey. All were named first-team All-Group A by the state coaches' association.



 

U.Va. can prove defense isn't fad
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published January 24, 2004

All year long - "believe it or not," he adds - Virginia coach Pete Gillen has stressed the importance of defense to his players. Each time they smacked their hands on the floor, let out one of those Howard Dean primal screams ... and offered little resistance in giving up easy basket after easy basket.

The breaking point came nine days ago, when an 18-point loss at Georgia Tech left Gillen more angry than embarrassed. So he hit the offenders where it hurt - in the "minutes played" category. Leading scorer Elton Brown and forward Derrick Byars, both starters from Day One, are now coming off the bench. Freshman Donte Minter and Jason Clark have replaced them.

Gillen's message: If you're not going to defend, you're not going to play. And since Gillen's ultimatum, the Cavaliers have won back-to-back games to at least plug a hole in a sinking boat.

"We're telling the guys, 'Hey, with playing time, defense is a big part of it,'" Gillen said. "We've been working on it a little bit more, and I think they've been understanding it a little bit more. We're rewarding the guys who play better defense. And hopefully, they're starting to buy into it a little bit more.

"We're trying to win. We're not trying to get kids minutes or points or exposure. We're trying to win, and for us to win we have to defense. Is it completely set in their psyche? Probably not. But hopefully, they're seeing that we had a couple of victories and our defense was decent."

The Cavs, who visit North Carolina at noon today, have seen the results. Before Sunday, Virginia (12-4, 2-3) had given up 50-percent shooting or better in four of its past six games. Its three ACC opponents were averaging 84.7 points a game.

But in consecutive victories over Florida State and Clemson, the Cavs finally showed a degree of dedication on the defensive end. Virginia held FSU to 31.9 percent shooting, the lowest figure by an ACC opponent in eight years. Two nights later, Clemson shot 31.6 percent and scored 50 points, the fewest the Cavs have allowed in a conference game in Gillen's six seasons.

"Our offense isn't always going to be there for us," forward Devin Smith said. "We have a lot of people who can score, but on any given night you can have an off game shooting. What we have to do is come out and stop the other team from scoring. That's the key to us winning, and everybody's realized that (with) the past few games."

Though this has been a good week for Virginia, the schedule gets tougher. After seventh-ranked Carolina (11-4, 1-3) today, the Cavs have a week off before visiting No. 10 Wake Forest. Then come home games against Maryland (Feb. 4) and N.C. State (Feb. 7) before a trip to No. 1 Duke on the 11th.

"We've just got to go down there and lay it on the line, play as hard as we can and just keep the momentum going," point guard Todd Billet said. "We've got two nice wins under our belt at home and we've got to keep going forward."
 

McCants not open to public
Heels sophomore shrugs off scrutiny, keeps thoughts private
RON GREEN JR.
Staff Writer

Perhaps surprisingly, the story of North Carolina sophomore basketball player Rashad McCants doesn't begin with a question but with a statement.

"The next Michael Jordan."

That's what James McCants wrote in the baby book after his first son was born more than 19 years ago.

"True," the father says.

If that's the case, why isn't Rashad McCants smiling?

Or is he?

"People don't know anything about me," Rashad McCants said recently, slumped into a leather chair deep inside the Smith Center after a recent game.

He seems content to keep it that way.

"It's perfectly honest. He doesn't care what people think about him," Devan Allen said.

She has been one of McCants' closest friends for several years. She grew up with him in Asheville and has seen behind the stone-faced mask like few have.

Allen knows when she rolls into Chapel Hill to visit, McCants wants her to pick up a double cheeseburger, pink lemonade and French fries from McDonald's.

McCants also likes to eat at Japanese steak houses and loves Winnie the Pooh cartoons.

"Ask him about Winnie the Pooh and I bet he'll smile about it," said Wes Miller, McCants' teammate at New Hampshire Academy for two seasons and again now at North Carolina.

"He might not elaborate but he'll smile."

Perhaps, but McCants, weary of the public beating he's taken over the past 12 months, declined an interview request this week. He'll talk to groups of reporters after games but the only one-on-one action he wants will be on the basketball court.

People "say what they want," McCants said after a recent game. "The people around me know I'm a good kid."

Ask teammate Sean May:

"He's not a people person, but when people get to know him, they pull him in with open arms."

Or Van Allen, McCants' high school coach in Asheville, who still keeps a touching (and private) poem the basketball player wrote about himself several years ago:

"I definitely know a different person" from what the public knows.

Or North Carolina coach Roy Williams:

"There has been so much (negative) attention on Rashad and it's totally unfair. He's not a bad kid."

Or James McCants:

"He's a great kid. I'm not going to say a good kid. He's a great kid. Never been in fights. Never kicked out of school. Never done anything to deserve strict disciplinary action."

Unless you count Williams wheeling around during a game against UNC Wilmington this season and, upon seeing McCants sitting and staring on the bench during the game, ordered him to the locker room until halftime.

McCants returned in the second half, played well and acted later like it was no big deal that he was scolded for his lack of emotion.

Perhaps no one in the basketball program's rich history has ever mastered the shoulder shrug as well as McCants.

"I've told him there are times on the court when you're acting like a jerk," Devan Allen said.

If McCants' freshman season was a turbulent rocket ride, his sophomore season has only recently begun to show signs of settling down.

He became an instant star as a freshman, leading the Tar Heels to an unexpected championship in the Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden, where stars gather. By midseason, however, he was out of the starting lineup and not long afterward, coach Matt Doherty was out of a job.

When Williams accepted the North Carolina job, he understood what he was getting in McCants. A moody, sometimes sullen wing player who might not be quite as good as he's been told he is but is still better than most college players.

"Moody" James McCants said. "That's so funny. He's not moody. No more than anyone else."

Williams rode McCants and all the Tar Heels hard immediately and it hasn't stopped. This isn't a team he created but one Williams is molding from what he inherited.

It has been frustrating. Williams captured national attention for benching McCants during the second half of a loss at Kentucky this month. The other starters came out, too, Williams pointed out, but the glare fell on McCants.

Reputations have a way of doing that.

"I've said many times playing time is not a right. It's a privilege you earn," Williams said.

"No one said anything about the fact I put Sean May on the bench for the final four minutes of the Connecticut game."

Perhaps because they were too busy watching McCants score the game's final 10 points, including consecutive three-pointers that ultimately beat the then-top-ranked Huskies.

"Amazing what a difference it makes when the shots go in," Williams said.

A close study of the final moments would also reveal that McCants made two major defensive mistakes, which forced the Tar Heels to play from behind at the end. If he has a weakness, it's on the defensive end where he has occasionally been good and often been dreadful.

McCants' performance against Connecticut had a storybook quality. A tight game against the No. 1 team in the country. Crowd screaming. One shot to win the game. Swish.

Plowing his way through the crowd that swarmed the Smith Center court after his winning shot, McCants looked almost stoic. Amid the roars and back slaps, he looked almost detached from the moment.

But then, just before he left the floor, a flicker of a smile showed on his face.

"He's never going to have one of those Isiah Thomas smiles," Williams said.

Funny thing is, at least to hear those close to McCants, he's one of the first guys in the locker room to start with the wisecracks.

If McCants is in part responsible for his image, it's in large part because of his body language. If you can't open the book, it can only be judged by its cover.

If it looks like he's pouting and he acts like he's pouting then ...

"For the most part when I look upset, I'm in the best mood," McCants said. "Someone will say, `Why do you look like your dog just died?' I'll say, `Man, I'm in a good mood.' Just because I don't want to jump up and down smiling doesn't mean I'm not happy."

Fair enough.

"I've told him before that if you have a bad game, you had a bad game," his friend, Allen, said. "That doesn't mean you go to the bench and pout.

"He knows."

If there is a darkness to McCants' personality, it stems from the expectations he puts upon himself.

Basketball has always come easily to him, even as a 13-year-old when his father would take him to Asheville community centers to play against grown-ups who marveled at the kid's broad shoulders, narrow waist and breathtaking physical ability.

When McCants came to play with the Charlotte Royals' AAU team as a 15-year-old, Rod Seaford remembers what he saw.

"He looked like Superman and played like Superman at times," Seaford said.

Seaford noticed one other thing.

"How much he wanted to please. He wouldn't accept his own failures," Seaford said.

If McCants wrestles with a demon, it could be his own expectations.

"The attitude on the court when he has a bad game, that's Rashad," Allen said. "He's not mad at the coach or his teammates. He's mad at himself."

It's not easy being the next Michael Jordan.
 

UNC's disappearing acts
BY NEIL AMATO : The Herald-Sun
namato@heraldsun.com; 419-6672
Jan 24, 2004 : 12:15 am ET

North Carolina seems adept at pouncing on opponents early, comfortably leaping to a double-digit lead, even in unfriendly arenas.

But the Tar Heels have found it difficult to finish teams off, even in victories. Never was that more evident than Thursday night at Florida State, when No. 7 UNC lost in overtime in a game that never should have gone to extra time.

Raymond Felton's steal and dunk made it 42-18 in the first half. Fans in Tallahassee groaned, and viewers to ESPN2 began revising plans to watch the game and tape "Friends."

Those who tuned out missed what is believed to be Florida State's greatest comeback. It was most likely the largest lead UNC had in a loss. The Tar Heels lost a 22-point second-half lead to Maryland on Jan. 8, 1997.

How did Thursday happen? UNC players aren't the only ones asking that question, a brain-teaser the Tar Heels will try put aside before today's home game against Virginia.

Florida State kept attacking, even trailing by 18 points with 12:40 left. The Seminoles outscored UNC 41-14 from that point, forcing overtime with a backup point guard's 3-pointer and winning 90-81 in overtime, when UNC launched outside shot after outside shot.

Tim Pickett led the way with 30 points. He had been 6-for-30 in FSU's previous two losses, but even a gunner like Pickett figured out what UNC didn't. Sometimes, it was OK to drive to the basket instead of shooting from long range. Pickett made 11 of 13 free throws. UNC (11-4, 1-3 ACC) shot 19 free throws and 29 3-pointers, making 2 of 14 after halftime.

It was the first time UNC had a 24-point lead and lost, but it's far from the first time this season that big leads have melted away:

-- Against Cleveland State, UNC cruised to a 29-16 lead but had to score the final 10 points to win 82-76, its lone road victory.

-- Against Wake Forest, the Tar Heels led by 11 in the first half at the Smith Center but lost 119-114 in triple overtime.

-- Against Kentucky, the lead was 30-20 early in the second half at Rupp Arena. But the Wildcats shot 55 percent after halftime and won 61-56.

-- Against Maryland, UNC went ahead 40-30 in the first half at the Comcast Center. The Terrapins seized momentum late in the first half, shot 54 percent in each half and won 90-84.

-- Against Connecticut, UNC led 55-39 early in the second half before the Huskies stormed back. The Tar Heels won 86-83, but UConn had taken a 77-73 lead in the final minutes.

"If we can't hold a lead, it doesn't mean anything," forward Jawad Williams said. "It's all about the final score at the end of the game. If we can't keep the lead, there's no point in having one."

The Tar Heels had trouble putting a finger on why they tend to play better in the first half than in the second. There are exceptions -- George Mason and Davidson, for example -- but the slides seem almost inevitable.

"I don't know what it is," sophomore Rashad McCants said. "I'm trying to figure it out. It's a mystery to me, how we can jump on teams in the first half and have our foot in their throat and they come back up and take the lead, and I don't understand it. I really don't."

The Tar Heels' problems are rooted in defense, and the numbers bear that out. UNC is 0-3 when the opponent shoots 50 percent, and its scoring and field-goal percentage defense are last in the ACC. In conference games, opponents are shooting 50.7 percent.

The Tar Heels get a chance to reverse that trend soon after the Florida State loss. The Cavaliers (12-4, 2-3) have league wins at home over Florida State (in overtime) and Clemson.

"It's definitely a roller-coaster ride," sophomore David Noel said. "We had great highs, and [Thursday was] a great low. Hopefully, we're going to even it out, to where it's little, bitty hills instead of big, giant hills. Once we get to that point, we'll pull out a whole lot more games like this."

UNC coach Roy Williams said after last week's Maryland loss that he couldn't sleep, even though the team arrived in Chapel Hill after 3 a.m. So he began looking through 15 seasons of box scores at Kansas, searching for 50-percent shooting against his team.

Perhaps he didn't sleep much upon his return from Tallahassee early Friday morning, because his first UNC team, in the last nine games, has allowed the opponent to make at least half its shots three times, the same number the Jayhawks allowed in 75 games the previous two seasons.

 

Cavs know wins start with 'D'
By RACHEL CARTER, Staff Writer

Of the ACC's nine teams, think of the ones with the toughest defenses, those that pick off passes, hound players into bad shots and make nuisances of themselves.

Did you think of Virginia?

Probably not, but the Cavaliers (12-4, 2-3) are trying to create a tough defensive identity so they can survive ACC play. Virginia is at No. 7 North Carolina (11-4, 1-3) at noon today.

"We're not going to win trying to rely on our offense outscoring people," coach Pete Gillen said. "So for us to have a chance of winning, we're going to have to do a decent job of defending and not let teams go crazy."

In Virginia's past two games, wins over Florida State and Clemson, the Cavs held the Seminoles to 31.9 percent field-goal shooting and the Tigers to 31.6.

"We [have to] keep hanging our hat on the defensive end," guard Todd Billet said. "We've got to have a mind-set that that's going to be an identity that we establish this year -- really scrappy, really make you earn every bucket you get."

The two ACC wins coincide with lineup changes. Disgusted by the lack of effort in a 75-57 loss to Georgia Tech on Jan. 15, Gillen benched Elton Brown against FSU and then Brown and Derrick Byars against Clemson.

"We've stressed [good defense] all year, believe it or not," Gillen said. "Now, we're getting more playing time to the guys who are playing better defense."

Under Gillen, UVa has struggled in the ACC, going 37-48. How the Cavs play defense in their upcoming games will help define Virginia's place in the ACC.

"I think they're starting to understand that a little better," Gillen said about the need for good defense. "Is it completely set in their psyche? Probably not. Hopefully they are starting to see."



 

Heels hurt, hungry
Tough defeat to FSU provides motivation for matchup vs. Cavs
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 24, 2004
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
U.VA. AT UNC
TODAY:
Noon ON THE AIR:
TV - ESPN; Radio - WRVA (1140), 11:30 a.m.

Roy Williams won't remember Thursday night fondly.

First, his North Carolina bas- ketball team blew a 24-point first-half lead and fell in overtime at Florida State - the biggest collapse in the program's storied history.

Then his beloved Kansas Jayhawks - the team he left to return to UNC - lost at home to the University of Richmond.

When Williams met with reporters in Tallahassee, Fla., the game in Lawrence, Kan., was still in the first half. But his night already had been ruined.

"We were awful - awful," Williams said when asked about the Tar Heels' defense on FSU guard Tim Pickett. "I hate to be so rude to you guys, but needless to say it's not a happy position right now."

If Williams isn't happy, his players aren't likely to be smiling, either. And that doesn't bode well for Virginia, which visits the Dean E. Smith Center today. Any chance that the seventh-ranked Heels (1-3, 11-4) might overlook the Cavaliers (2-3, 12-4), who have lost 14 of their past 15 ACC road games, probably has vanished.

Williams issued a stern challenge Thursday night - "I just know that we've got to decide if we're going to be a basketball team or not," he said - and his spectacular coaching record suggests his players will respond.

Virginia has won six of the past eight games in this series, but Williams wasn't on UNC's bench for any of them. He was at Kansas, where his teams thrived in his trademark up-tempo style. Carolina, behind cobra-quick point guard Raymond Felton, has proven adept at fast-break hoops, too. The Heels average 88 points per game, or, as Virginia coach Pete Gillen put it, "something astronomical."

U.Va.'s hopes for victory today probably hinge on its defense. In six seasons under Gillen, Virginia often has been the ACC's worst at stopping opponents. But the Wahoos held Florida State to 31.9-percent accuracy from the floor last weekend and Clemson to 31.6-percent shooting Tuesday night.

Not coincidentally, Virginia won both games.

"That's two games in a row now where our defense has been excellent," senior guard Todd Billet said, "and that's going to win us a lot of games if we keep that up this year. Because some days, if we have that defense and our offense is clicking, we're a pretty good team, and I like our chances against a lot of teams in this league."

Five players average in double figures for UNC, led by sophomore guard Rashad McCants (18.3 ppg). Sophomore center Sean May (16.1 ppg), junior forward Jawad Williams (14.7), junior guard Melvin Scott (11.9) and Felton (11.8) round out the Heels' starting five.

"They're an offensive juggernaut," Gillen said. "Holding them to 32-percent shooting would be, I think, unrealistic, but we'll do the best we can and try not to let them shoot 56 percent."

Virginia has lost conference games to N.C. State, Duke and Georgia Tech by an average margin of 19 points. State and Georgia Tech are tied for second in the ACC. Duke, the nation's top-ranked team, leads the conference.

"Sometimes we're playing good teams and we're not playing well," Gillen said. "With a team that's not super-experienced, we're going to get whacked sometimes. Our challenge is to keep getting better."

Of the Cavaliers' top seven scorers, only Billet (11.3 ppg) is a senior. Three are freshmen.

"We're going to have our ups and downs as a team," junior forward Devin Smith said. "We're going to have to grow together as a team and come together in certain situations."