Cavaliers can't hold on at home
UVa fails to keep up with 'Noles in overtime
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
January 12, 2006

With of all their big men fouled out, this was the University of Virginia lineup against Florida State with about three minutes left in overtime at University Hall last night: 6-foot-5 Adrian Joseph, 6-foot-4 Mamadi Diane, 6-foot-3 J.R. Reynolds, 6-foot Sean Singletary and 5-foot-10 T.J. Bannister.
Yeah, you could say the Cavaliers were in a bit of trouble.

Virginia's lack of size - and depth - picked a bad time to show itself as Florida State overcame a five-point deficit with less than three minutes left in the game to earn an 87-82 overtime win in front of 7,556 at University Hall.

"It hurts," said Cavs guard J.R. Reynolds, who scored 17 points. "Once our big guys got in foul trouble, we didn't have anybody else to go to. It was very tough on us."

The Seminoles, led by Al Thorn-ton's 22 points and nine rebounds and Alexander Johnson's 16 points and nine boards, shot a whopping 60 percent from the field.

It was the highest that a Virginia team has allowed an oppo-nent to shoot since last season against Wake Forest (61 percent).

In previous losses to Fordham and Georgia Tech, Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao was irate. After last night, he seemed frustrated more than anything else.

"We didn't look like we had spent any time practicing defense," Leitao said. "We let them have the post. We gave up dribble penetration. We didn't get hands up on shooters. You name it, we did it."

Still, the Cavs (7-6, 1-2) came within a smidge of winning their second straight ACC game. They stayed close with some good shooting of their own (50 percent in the first half). They also took pretty good care of the basketball (just 12 turnovers).

Adrian Joseph, who had been invisible for much of the game, stroked a 3-pointer from the wing to put Virginia up 77-72 with 2:48 remaining in regulation.

But then the Cavs went into a stupor.

Reynolds, who had 17 points, missed a quick jumper. Then, the Cavs allowed the Seminoles' Isaiah Swann to hit a running bank shot that resulted in a 3-point play.

Sean Singletary, who led the Cavs with 27 points, lost the ball on the Cavs' next possession; and the Seminoles' Todd Galloway scored on an uncontested layup to knot the game with 1:17 left.

After a timeout, the Cavs lost track of the shot clock as they stood around and watched Singletary throw up an airball from long range.

"We were up 77-72 and we started getting real vanilla," Leitao said.

The Seminoles (11-2, 2-1), who had the ball with 39 seconds left, appeared to take the lead on a driving shot by Thornton, but he was whistled for an offensive foul as he plowed into Reynolds.

The Cavs got the ball back with 13 seconds left and a chance to win. Joseph seemed to have a decent look at a jumper with about four seconds left, but he passed to Singletary in the corner. Singletary swung the ball to Diane, who shot an airball from 3 at the buzzer.

"He got hesitant," said Leitao of Joseph. "He dribbled it toward the baseline. Lack of aggression, lack of execution on our part."

The Cavs' offensive funk con-tinued into overtime. They turned the ball over, missed free throws and played tentative. They were just 2 of 8 from the field in the extra session.

Without Tunji Soroye, Jason Cain and Laurynas Mikalauskas for most of the overtime, the Cavs had no inside game to speak up. Leitao said he's used to it.

"I think every game we've had so far we've had to manage foul trouble," Leitao said. "We have three inexperienced post defenders and only three guys. We lack depth and we have guys that lack [size], so when we face teams that have very offensive-minded post play-ers, [we] pay a price."

Cain said the Cavs stayed from the fundamentals Leitao has been harping on all season.

"We have to stop gambling, cheating and things like that," he said.

Thornton, who possesses a nice inside-outside game, did pretty much whatever he wanted. Ditto for Johnson.

"We never could seem to shake them," said Seminoles coach Leo-nard Hamilton. "We feel pretty fortunate to be able to come away with the victory."

Bannister, making his return to the lineup after missing much of the year with a sports hernia injury, said the team needs to do a better job on the defensive end.

"They were real tough to guard," he said. "When our big men fouled out, we didn't have an answer for it."

DUNKS. The Cavs play at Vir-ginia Tech on Sunday ? Singletary fell to the floor in pain in the final minute of the game and had to leave the floor for one possession. Leitao said it was cramps ? Diane had one of the most spectacular plays of the season. In the first half, he re-ceived a pass in transition on the wing and went in for a baseline reverse dunk.

 

Rotating doors of skill, talent
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
January 12, 2006

If the ACC wasn't tough enough when Duke, North Carolina and Maryland were loaded with talent over the past few years, along comes parity.
Well, almost.

Throw the Dookies, current kings of the hill, out of the equation for now. Except for an unexpected close call at Cameron Indoor Asylum in early December, Coach K's boys have been practically untouchable.

Not so for the rest of the league. There's not a whole lot of difference this go round between the bottom feeders and second place. Maybe this league, annually raided of blooming talent by the NBA, is a bit down. But it's not out.

Any given night

Last night's Florida State win at Virginia in overtime was a perfect example of what's going on in the conference. The Seminoles had won only one ACC road game in their previous 34 trips until shooting the lights out at U-Hall, a place where FSU had dropped its last six in a row.

Meanwhile, Clemson, which lost at UVa a few days ago, beat Wake Forest in overtime. Add in Carolina's escape at Virginia Tech and a handful of other league games that have been decided by five points or less and it looks like it's going to be a wild one boys and girls.

"I think you're going to see teams winning on the road, winning at home, winning all over the place," said FSU coach Leonard Hamilton after Wednesday night's game. "Even though teams are winning at home or losing on the road, most of them are close games. The games could go either way, so you really can't say that the home team is dominating or the road team is dominating or that they're significantly better than anyone else because the games are going down to the wire."

Virginia's Dave Leitao, getting his first taste of the basketball-rich league, came to a similar conclusion after nosing out the Tigers last weekend. Just about every game is going to be a bloodbath, which is why the Cavalier coach said he cherished his first league win.

Trying to be positive

If the experts are right, it could be UVa's only league win. Leitao doesn't believe that, nor do his players. But the Cavs, picked last in the league's preseason poll, may not be favored in another ACC game the rest of the year.

That's the bad part.

The good part is that as inexperienced and short on depth as the Wahoos are, they still can at least make games interesting. If their big guys can stay out of foul trouble - all three of 'em fouled out against the Seminoles - and the team can put up a better defensive effort than last night, Virginia has the guards to at least give itself a chance to win a close game at the end.

Trouble is sticking around to the end. Obviously, Leitao doesn't have the bodies to throw around that most of the other league teams enjoy. When Tunji Soroye, Jason Cain and Laurynas Mikalauskas had all been tagged with four personal fouls each with 4:30 remaining in regulation, Leitao didn't

have many options.

After all three fouled out and he looked down his bench, there weren't a lot of options. With eight scholarship players on the roster and three out of the game, it was like coaching a one-legged man in a shin-kicking contest.

Thank goodness that guard T.J. Bannister finally had recovered from a sports hernia injury that had kept him sidelined practically the entire early season or it would have looked like YMCA ball at the end.

The Virginia coach wasn't in a good mood when all was said and done. He knows that holding court, particularly against the weaker teams in the league (if there is such a thing this season), is crucial to making progress.

That's why when he was quizzed about the goings on in overtime and the end of regulation, when his Cavaliers went a span of seven consecutive minutes (the last 2:47 of regulation and the first 4:25 of OT) scoring but a mere free throw, he bounced the answer back to sportswriters.

"I thought we lost the game in the first half," Leitao said.

That's when FSU, loaded with scorers and averaging 80 points a game coming into town, shot 60 percent from the field. It was close to 70 percent the first 13 minutes of the half before the 'Noles slightly cooled off.

Second half, same as the first. Well, actually worse for the Hoos. FSU shot 64.7 percent over the final 20 minutes of regulation before outscoring UVa 10-5 in overtime (four of the Cavs points came in the final 35 seconds).

This wasn't what Leitao wanted or expected from his team. He complained that it looked like his team hadn't spent any time practicing defense.

Still, his team had several chances to win down the stretch and couldn't get it done. Maybe it was inexperience, a lack of confidence, not knowing how to win, a lack of bodies, or a combination of all the above.

More fodder for film study, game plans and practices before the Cavs, now 7-6, 1-2, travel to Blacksburg on Sunday afternoon to face the Hokies, looking for their first ACC win.

Whatever the outcome, look for it to be another thriller-diller. That's just the way it's going to be in this year's ACC.

 

U.Va. runs out of manpower in OT loss to Fla. State
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 12, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE — This one hurt.

Had the Virginia Cavaliers been able to hold off Florida State on Wednesday night, instead of falling 87-82 in overtime at University Hall, they would have awoken this morning perched near the top of the ACC standings.

Cause for celebration? Hardly. Thirteen conference games remain. But for a team picked to finish last , opening ACC play 2-1 would have been a nice way to start the season, particularly with more highly regarded teams such as Wake Forest, Boston College and Virginia Tech still winless. It would also have marked the first time since 2002 that a Virginia team had its head above water in conference play.

Instead, they let an opportunity slip away, allowing Florida State to shoot 60 percent, including 8 of 15 from 3-point range.

“They’re a rhythm team that averages 80 points per game, and we never took away their rhythm,” coach Dave Leitao said.

Forty-five minutes proved to be five too many for Virginia, which began the night with eight scholarship players. By the end of regulation, the Cavaliers were down to seven. Halfway through overtime, they were down to five, none taller than 6-foot-7.

The lack of size left Virginia defenseless inside. But then again, Virginia (7-6, 1-2 ACC) was defenseless most of the night, all over the court.

“We didn’t look, in my estimation, that we had spent anytime practicing defense,” Leitao said.

Still, Virginia hung around, getting an all-out effort from point guard Sean Singletary, who pumped in 27 points and handed out seven assists. J.R. Reynolds added 17.

Virginia seemed to have things in hand in regulation, when Adrian Joseph hit a 3-pointer to put the Cavaliers up 77-72 with 2:47 left.

But then Virginia’s offense “started to get real vanilla,” as Leitao put it. Mostly, the Cavaliers stood around and watched Singletary try to take his man off the dribble. He turned the ball over with about 90 seconds left, then shot an air ball on the next possession.

Florida State pulled even at 77, but then Reynolds drew a charge on Al Thornton. That was one of the few times that Thornton, who finished with 22 points, was slowed all night.

“I really thought we were going to win it,” Reynolds said.

Leitao called time with 13.4 seconds left to set up a final shot. Freshman Mamadi Diane’s 3-pointer from the corner missed everything.

Overtime was a scrum. In the end Virginia simply ran out of bodies. Center Tunji Soroye had fouled out with 3:18 left in regulation. Forward Jason Cain fouled out with 3:09 left in overtime. Laurynas Mikalauskas, the team’s only other post player, picked up his fifth foul with 2:30 left.

Florida State, meanwhile, rotated fresh players in and out. Thorton and Alexander Johnson (16 points) did most of the damage inside. Guard Isaiah Swann made 4 of 6 3-point attempts and finished with 17 points.

Virginia will be shorthanded all year, although guard T.J. Bannister, who has missed virtually the entire season with a sports hernia, played for the first time in more than a month, logging 18 minutes.

Leitao said coaching the Cavaliers this year is like trying to play poker with a short deck of cards. “You’re trying to manage your hand every single game,” he said.
 

London is expected to join Virginia staff
Richmond Times-Dispatch Jan 12, 2006

Mike London, who recently completed his first season as the Houston Texans' defensive-line coach, is expected to return to the University of Virginia as defensive coordinator. An announcement from U.Va. is likely to come by this weekend.

London, 45, met with U.Va. coach Al Groh this week in Dallas. They were there for the American Football Coaches Association's annual convention. London is to meet with the Texans' owner today.

As coordinator, London would also coach the Cavaliers' defensive linemen. Levern Belin, who succeeded London as defensive line coach last year, and new hire Bobby Diaco would work with U.Va.'s linebackers.

Belin played linebacker at Wake Forest and has coached that position at several schools.

London, a graduate of Hampton's Bethel High and the University of Richmond, was Groh's defensive line coach for four seasons (2001-04) before leaving for the NFL. He also was the Cavaliers' recruiting coordinator for three years. London's younger brother, Paul, played defensive back for Virginia in the '90s.

In addition to his stint at U.Va., London has been an assistant at William and Mary, UR and Boston College. - Jeff White

 

Too hot to handle
Sharpshooting 'Noles gun down Cavaliers in OT for ACC road victory
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 12, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- No way Florida State could shoot that well for the whole game, right?

Wrong. The Seminoles, torrid from the floor in the first half, never cooled off last night against ACC rival Virginia.

FSU made 30 of 50 field-goal attempts (60 percent), including 8 of 15 from long range. The 'Noles' marks- FSU 87 U.VA. 82manship enabled them to rally for an 87-82 overtime victory before a disappointed crowd of 7,556 at University Hall.

"They're a rhythm team that averages 80 points a game," U.Va. coach Dave Leitao said. "And we really never took away their rhythm."

After a charging foul on FSU forward Al Thornton with 19 seconds left and the score 77-77, Virginia (1-2, 7-6) had a chance to win in regulation. But the Cavaliers' final possession went awry. Sophomore swingman Adrian Joseph, who had buried a trey at the 2:46 mark, passed up an open 3-point attempt with about 5 seconds left. The ball ended up in the hands of freshman swingman Mamadi Diane, whose 3-point shot fell short of the rim as time expired.

For the Cavaliers, this was a war of attrition, and the numbers favored their guests. Leitao has only eight scholarship players -- five fewer than the NCAA allows -- and by the 2:30 mark in overtime, three of them had fouled out. That they were the team's only post players -- Tunji Soroye, Jason Cain and Laurynas Mikalauskas all but dashed Virginia's hopes of pulling this one out.

For the final 150 seconds, U.Va.'s lineup consisted of the 6-7 Joseph, the 6-5 Diane, 6-2 J.R. Reynolds, 6-0 Sean Singletary and 5-10 T.J. Bannister, who's recovering from a sports hernia and played for the first time since early last month.

"You never want to play a card game [where] you only got two kings and two aces, three jacks, one queen," Leitao said. "Would you like to play poker like that? I know I wouldn't, and that's what we've got to do. So you try to manage your hand every single game, and sometimes cards come your way, and you're OK, and a lot of times they don't."

Singletary, a sophomore from Philadelphia, led all scorers with 27 points and also had seven assists and five rebounds in 40 minutes. Cramps forced him out of the game at one point, and by the final buzzer, Singletary's exhaustion was such that he could barely walk off the floor.

"I'm concerned that we're maybe not even to the halfway point in the year, and he's really, really, really banged up," Leitao said. "He gives enough to the program that probably equals what about three guys give, and when you do that, and you get in these wars, his body has suffered for it."

The victory was only the second for FSU (2-1, 11-2) in its past 34 conference road games. It didn't come easily. Joseph's trey with 2:46 left in the second half gave U.Va. a 77-72 lead, and the home fans roared, anticipating a second consecutive ACC win. FSU failed to score on its next possession, and with 2:10 left, Virginia had the ball and a five-point lead.

From that point, though, Virginia self-destructed. Reynolds missed a pull-up jumper, and FSU guard Isaiah Swann, an Oak Hill Academy product, converted a three-point play to make it 77-75. After a Singletary turnover, Seminoles guard Todd Galloway scored on a layup to make it 77-77 with 1:17 left. Another U.Va. turnover followed, this one on a shot-clock violation, and if not for Reynolds' good defense -- he took the charge on Thornton -- Leitao's club might never have made it to overtime.

 

Cavs' next QB could be Sewell
Coaching staff took steps to get extra looks at redshirt freshman
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 12, 2006

After Schaub came Hagans. After Hagans comes . . . Sewell?

That may well be the case at the University of Virginia, whose starting quarterback in 2005, Marques Hagans, was a senior. Don't be surprised if his successor is freshman Jameel Sewell, a Hermitage High graduate who redshirted this season.

About midway through the season, U.Va. coach Al Groh decided to accelerate Sewell's development. For the rest of the year, at some point in every practice, Hagans would turn over the first-team offense to Sewell, who'd run six plays.

Looking around the huddle and seeing such veterans as Wali Lundy, D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Brad Butler, Sewell recalled last week, he would say to himself, "Man, I'm an itty-bitty freshman in there with the big dogs."

The experience didn't intimidate him, Sewell said, but "it was intimidating seeing that big boy Ahmad Brooks on the other side of the line."

Groh said last week that he wanted to get Sewell "attuned to that, have him get used to stepping in with the first-team offense. That doesn't mean that the job is his, but we thought that would certainly enhance his ability to compete for the job this spring."

U.Va. football figures to have many storylines this offseason. None is likely to receive more at- tention than the quarterback competition.

For now, at least, Groh plans to keep Vic Hall at cornerback, which would leave as many as four quarterbacks battling in spring practice for the starting job: Sewell, rising sophomore Scott Deke, rising junior Kevin McCabe and, perhaps, Christian Olsen, a rising senior. Olsen was Virginia's No.2 quarterback in 2005, but Groh was noncommittal last week when asked if he would return next season.

The Cavaliers' other quarterbacks know the system better than he does, Sewell acknowledged, but "I'm a competitor. I'm looking forward to" the coming battles.

The Hagans Era ended last month in Nashville, Tenn., where the 5-10 dynamo known as "Biscuit" led Virginia past Minnesota in the Music City Bowl. After the game, Sewell said, Hagans "told me he wanted me to be the man next year and take control."

A 6-2, 216-pound left-hander, Sewell runs well. Still, his style is not to be confused with that of Hagans, who took over as Virginia's No.1 quarterback in 2004 when Matt Schaub left for the NFL. Hagans, a breathtaking scrambler, carried 115 times in 2005, often leaving befuddled defenders in his wake.

"I'm not the magician himself. I'm not Marques," Sewell said with a laugh. "I don't see anyone who can do what he can. I try to make the first guy miss and still get the ball downfield to my wideouts."

When spring practice begins, each quarterback will have opportunities to impress U.Va.'s coaching staff. But a depth chart has been established, even if Groh won't publicly disclose it.

"We're certainly not going to have a free-for-all out there," Groh said. "We tried to use a portion of our pre-bowl practices to begin sorting out the process, so we can have a plan for it. That process already has begun."

Sewell said: "I kind of feel that I should be at the top as long as academics don't hold me back or anything like that."

Winter conditioning for the Cavaliers starts this month. Spring practice begins in late March.

"I'm ready to get at it right now," Sewell said.

 

Cavaliers offer post to London
Virginia hopes to bring back Mike London, a Bethel High graduate, to be the Cavaliers' defensive coordinator.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
January 12, 2006

Virginia has offered its vacant defensive coordinator position to former Cavaliers' assistant Mike London, according to a source with knowledge of the offer. The source wished to remain anonymous and wouldn't divulge details of the offer because it has not been finalized. The source said an official announcement could come as early as Friday.

London, a Bethel High graduate, was U.Va.'s defensive line coach from 2001 through 2004. He was the Cavaliers' recruiting coordinator from '02 through '04. He would replace Al Golden, who left U.Va. in December to become Temple's head coach.

After the '04 season, London became the defensive line coach for the NFL's Houston Texans. His future in Houston is in limbo, since the Texans fired head coach Dom Capers on Jan. 2. London still is under contract with the Texans.

London declined comment. Virginia coach Al Groh did not return a telephone message.

Groh interviewed London at the American Football Coaches Association convention, which was held in Dallas from Sunday through Wednesday.

London would not resume his duties as recruiting coordinator, since quarterbacks coach Mike Groh, Al's son, now handles that role.

In addition to Golden, Virginia lost three assistant coaches in December. Associate head coach and outside linebackers coach Danny Rocco became the head coach at Division I-AA Liberty. Offensive coordinator Ron Prince became Kansas State's head coach. Inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Mark D'Onofrio became Golden's defensive coordinator.

On Dec. 27, Groh hired Central Michigan assistant Bob Diaco as linebackers and special teams coach.

Three days later, in the Music City Bowl, Mike Groh and wide receivers coach John Garrett served as co-offensive coordinators. Al Groh would not say whether either of them are candidates for the full-time coordinator job. But he has publicly expressed interest in former Wisconsin offensive coordinator Brian White, who is not being retained by new Badgers coach Bret Bielema.

In conference games this past season, Virginia's defense ranked 11th of 12 Atlantic Coast Conference teams in rushing, passing and total defense.

At least one Cavalier was pleased to hear about London's possible return.

"I'm just excited about the prospect of him coming back," sophomore defensive end Chris Long said. "I heard about him (possibly) coming back."

London coached Long for just one year. But Long and his fellow defensive linemen kept in touch with the coach during the past season. "It was just real evident to me as a player that he really knew his stuff," Long said. "He knows our (3-4) scheme well, which is unique to college football.

"He's a players' coach."

Virginia falters in overtime
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
January 12, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia was every bit Florida State's offensive equal for 40 minutes Wednesday night, keeping up with the Seminoles' torrid shooting and frenetic pace despite fewer bodies and much less athleticism.
Overtime was a different story.

The Cavaliers lost to the Seminoles 87-82 in overtime at University Hall, floundering offensively down the stretch. After connecting on 47 percent of its shots during regulation, UVa couldn't get anything to fall in OT, going 2-for-8 from the field, scoring just one point in the first 4? minutes of the extra session and watching FSU pull away with eight free throws.

Virginia (7-6, 1-2 ACC) missed a chance to get its conference record over .500 for the first time in four years.

Florida State (11-2, 2-1) won for just the second time in its last 34 ACC road games. Al Thornton scored 22 points to lead a Seminoles offense that turned in one of its best offensive performances of the season. FSU shot 60 percent from the field and was 8-for-15 from 3-point range.

"We didn't look like, in my estimation, that we had spent any time practicing defense," Virginia head coach Dave Leitao said. "We sat behind the post. We gave up middle penetration. We didn't get a hand up on shooters. You name it, we did it."

The Cavaliers did manage to match the Seminoles point-for-point, though, trailing 47-45 after a wildly offensive first half in which both teams shot better than 50 percent and grabbing a lead midway through the second half. The teams went back and forth before Virginia took its largest lead of the night with 2:48 left when Adrian Joseph took a feed from Sean Singletary and drained a 3 to put the Cavaliers ahead 77-72.

Virginia went cold after that. Its next three possessions consisted of a missed jumper and two turnovers, one on a lazy pass by Singletary and one on a 35-second shot clock violation after Singletary air-balled a 3.

"I would say we weren't aggressive enough," said junior point guard T.J. Bannister, who had zero points and five assists in 18 minutes, his first action since reaggravating a sports hernia injury in early December against Georgia Tech. "We were accepting the fact that we were up five. ? We were playing more just to be safe instead of just going all out."

"We got real vanilla," Leitao said.

The Seminoles took advantage. Isaiah Swann, who finished with 17 points, pulled FSU within two on a three-point play and Todd Galloway's breakaway layup following a steal tied the game at 77 with 1:18 remaining.

The Cavaliers had a chance to win after J.R. Reynolds drew a charge to give them possession with 19.2 seconds left. Joseph passed up an open shot at the top of the key and gave it to Singletary, who drove the lane and kicked it out to Mamadi Diane on the baseline. But Diane's 3-pointer at the buzzer came up well short and drew air.

"It was a lack of aggression, a lack of execution on our part," Leitao said.

That may have been the Cavaliers' last real chance to win the game. All three of Virginia's post players - Tunji Soroye, Laurynas Mikalauskas and Jason Cain - fouled out by the 2? minute mark of overtime. UVa had all five of its remaining scholarship players on the floor by the end, playing right into a deep Florida State squads hands.

"That's who we are," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We don't necessarily feel that we're more talented than anyone else, but we feel if we play hard and aggressive ? then maybe we can have an advantage because of our quality of depth."

"I think in just about every game we've had to manage foul trouble," Leitao said. "When you face teams like this who have very good offensive-minded post players, then you pay the price."

UVa had one last-gasp chance. Singletary, who fought through leg cramps and several tumbles, banked home a runner in the lane, his team-high 26th and 27th points of the game, to cut the Seminoles' lead to 83-82 with 11.6 seconds left.

FSU's Ralph Mims made two free throws at the other end before Reynolds, who finished with 17 points, had a potential game-tying 3-pointer blocked by Thornton with just seconds to go, capping yet another close game that got away from Virginia in the end.

"I feel bad for Coach Leitao because some guys aren't playing as hard as they should," Bannister said.

"He keeps trying to reinforce that every day in practice, but it seems like some people aren't picking it up yet."