Cavs aim to extend surge against Canes
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
January 24, 2006

It might be pretty difficult to find a preseason publication that had the University of Virginia men's basketball team winning more than four ACC games.
The Cavaliers have a chance to win their fourth tonight when they host Miami at 9 p.m. - and they still have 11 games left on their schedule.

Four conference wins would match UVa's entire total from last season. It would also give the Cavs a three-game league winning streak - something that seemed improbable earlier in the season, especially after losses to Georgia Tech and Fordham.

In upsetting North Carolina last week, the Cavs looked like a different team than the one from early December.

"We're trying to just continue to build off the last two games," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said.

"It's equally challenging to bring a team back from a victory - an important victory - as it is from a defeat. We need to continue to challenge our guys to remain focused and understand the job at hand. That's what we've done the last couple of days."

The Cavs (9-6, 3-2 ACC) will be facing a Miami squad coming off a 65-61 home loss to Boston College on Saturday. Prior to that, the Hurricanes (11-7, 3-2) won four straight (three in league).

The Cavs will be focused primarily on stopping guards Guillermo Diaz, Robert Hite and Anthony Harris - the Hurricanes' top three scorers who account for 62 percent of the team's points.

"They come in with a three-guard tandem that is better than any collection of perimeter players that we'll see all year," Leitao said.

Miami coach Frank Haith is just as impressed with the Cavs.

"It's almost like a mirror-image of us," Haith said. "They play a lot like we do. Their guard play is very good. Their post guys are very physical.

"They're very aggressive and play extremely hard. Dave's done a great job of getting the kids to believe they can be successful in this league."

Many people - for pretty good reason if you go purely by the statistics - believe that post play is the Cavs' weak link. Haith isn't one of them. He's concerned about the Cavs' Jason Cain, Tunji Soroye and Laurynas Mikalauskas.

"Their post guys - a lot of people don't talk about [them]," Haith said, "but I thought in the Carolina game they were tremendous in what they did in terms of rebounding the basketball, getting them second [chances], blocking shots.

"Those guys are very active in what they do in screening, and score around the hoop probably a little bit better than our guys."

The Cavs had a season-high 12 blocks against the Tar Heels, including Cain's career-high five. In addition, Mikalauskas was a terror on the offensive glass.

The way Haith sees it, the Cavs will likely receive usual production from their leading scorers, guards Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds. The key will be stopping the duo's supporting cast. That strategy is the opposite of what most teams have tried to do against the Cavs this season.

Of course, Haith knows he can't ignore Singletary and Reynolds.

"Their perimeter players are very good," he said. "You have to contain those guys. Reynolds had 32 [points] against us in the ACC Tournament last year."

Another conference win by the Cavaliers would be huge for their confidence, as a date with second-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium looms Saturday. Leitao didn't want to touch that.

"I hesitate to look beyond [Miami] because everything is still so new and we're trying to move forward with smaller steps," he said. "I think I'd be really nervous if I looked at what we face over the next [few weeks] because there are so many challenges that lie ahead, and we have to be prepared for all of them."

DUNKS: Leitao on tonight's late start (to accommodate ESPNU): "Obviously, TV dictates it," he said. "I'm not a huge fan of it, especially when you have to wake up early the next day and go to school, but I understand the reasons."

The Hurricanes will likely employ a lot of 2-3 zone against the Cavs: "Most teams I've seen in our league have been man-to-man or different types of man-to-man," Leitao said. "This presents a different type of challenge. We have to look at the ways we can attack."

Against the Tar Heels, the Cavs' big men stayed out of foul trouble for the first time in recent memory. The Hurricanes don't have many low-post threats, but Leitao still wants his players to be careful: "My concern is foul trouble on the perimeter more than on the interior," he said. "We've got to figure out ways to keep guys' hands off people and keep feet moving, so we don't foul."

 

UNC gets boost after loss at UVa
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
January 24, 2006

Scattershooting around the ACC, while noting that UVa's upset over North Carolina last week hurt the Tar Heels more than it appeared on the surface ...
After the loss, several UNC players talked about how fragile the team's confidence was and that losing at University Hall didn't help. In fact, the team's only senior, David Noel, said he broke down crying after the game because he didn't know what to tell his younger teammates to help them pull out of their slump.

Beating Florida State on the road on Sunday did more than anything Noel could have said.

"I wouldn't say we were desperate, but it was very much needed for us," Noel said. "Especially after the confidence drop that we had after the Virginia game."

J.J. watching

Lots of luck to 0-5 Virginia Tech when the Hokies catch the wrath of a teed-off Duke team this week in Blacksburg.

The Blue Devils were knocked from their No. 1 perch against Georgetown in the MCI Center on Saturday, leaving one coach Mike Krzyzewski not so happy. The Hoyas shot 61.5 percent from the field against Duke, the third straight game that the Blue Devils have not played the old, suffocating 'D' they had become known for.

That wasn't the only thing that angered Krzyzewski.

"We were not worthy of our jerseys, of the Duke jersey," Coach K barked. "We could not match [Georgetown's] intensity for a whole half and that doesn't happen very often. Then all of a sudden we do 'J.J. Watching.'"

J.J. Redick scored 41 points in the game, but as far as Coach K was concerned, the rest of Duke's players should have bought tickets to sit in the stands if they were going to just stand and watch Redick play.

Senior center Shelden Williams scored just four points and lacked aggression.

"We've been in the penthouse all season having room service," Krzyzewski said. "Somebody jammed up the elevator today."

Down in Blacksburg, Hokies coach Seth Greenberg is scoffing that the loss was a wake-up call for the Dookies.

"Mike Krzyzewski wakes them up every single day whether it is a practice or a game," Greenberg said. "Duke is the standard. Duke is probably what Carolina was 10 years ago. They have a swagger, they have an arrogance in a positive way. They set the standard for how hard you have to play in this league."

It will be interesting to see how Krzyzewski gets his team's attention going into Tech, where Duke lost last year, and they nearly lost at home to the Hokies back in December.

Garyland

Maryland coach Gary Williams is now tied with former North and South Carolina coach Frank McGuire for third place on the ACC's career wins list with 142. He now trails only Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski in conference wins.

Williams needs only one more win to tie former Terps coach Lefty Driesell to become the program's all-time winningest coach with 348 overall wins. That could come Wednesday when Maryland visits Georgia Tech.


Hurricane Hite: Virginia fans should keep an eye on Miami's Robert Hite tonight, but then again, so should the Cavaliers' frontline.

Hite, only 6-foot-2, plays on the back line of the Hurricanes' tough 2-3 zone. Why? Because he has a 40-inch vertical jump.

"Rebounding is a passion of mine," Hite said. "I love to go up there and outjump a 6-10 guy for a rebound. And I know the team needs that from me. I definitely think I surprise [other team's] big guys. That's what I like."

Hite is averaging 5.7 boards per game.

Factoid of the week: Now that the curtain is starting to close on UVa's last season in aging University Hall, have you ever wondered what the Cavs record is in the joint?

Virginia has 397 wins in the building over 41 seasons (including this year) against 142 losses, a winning percentage of .737.


Quote of the week: "We've been a little like Baskin-Robbins this year. We've sort of had a lot of different looks and flavors."

- N.C. State coach Herb Sendek, whose Wolfpack are 15-3 overall, has sole possession of second place in the league and hosts Seton Hall (Wednesday) and plays at Clemson (Sunday).


Dee - fense: Speaking of the Wolfies, how about Cameron Bennerman's defense on Wake's Justin Gray, who came into the game as one of the league's hottest scorers.

Gray was held to 5 of 22 in the game and 2 for 11 from 3-point range in a 14-point performance.

"We watched tape of [Wake's] game against Maryland and Gray made 4-point shots falling out of bounds," said Sendek. "He was taking indefensible shots. I thought Cameron and Engin Atsur both did a good job on him."

Gray didn't make excuses.

"State did a good job of defending me," the Wake sharpshooter said. "It was one of those days."

Free throws: At 3-2 in the ACC, Virginia is only one win shy of its total win output in the conference last year, when the Cavs went 4-12. ...

Pottstown, Pa., running back prospect Brent Carter, who made his official visit to UVa over the weekend said he has eliminated Boston College from his list, which is now down to the Wahoos and Penn State. ...

If BC's Craig Smith can average 7.7 boards a game for the next 13 games, he will become only the second player in his school's history to reach 2,000 career points and 1,000 rebounds (Danya Abrams is the other). ...

Struggling all season at point guard, Wake Forest named freshman Harvey Hale as the starter and he delivered 16 points in 27 minutes against Georgia Tech and had four assists, then added eight points and three assists in 28 minutes against N.C. St. ...

Eleven of the ACC's 12 teams have at least two losses in the conference thus far. ...

UVa's Sean Singletary ranks third in the ACC in scoring (18 ppg) and assists (4.9). And, by the way, Singletary has averaged 20 points, six assists and 4.3 rebounds over the last six games. ...

Duke's J.J. Redick's 27.3 ppg scoring average is the highest in the league since Georgia Tech's Dennis Scott averaged 27.7 in 1989-90. ...

Both, by the way, grew up in Virginia. ...

Wahoo freshman Lars Mikaluskas is shooting an average of 59.3 from the field (35 of 59), and frontline teammate Tunji Soroye is fourth in the league in blocked shots, averaging 1.7 per outing.

 

UVA and Tech: A reversal of fortunes
Hokies coach Seth Greenburg, left, says his team isn't broke. Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao, right, says his team's hopes rest on shoulders of two players. JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGE AND FILE PHOTO
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 24, 2006

Scenes from a pair of basketball teams heading in opposite directions:

Thursday night in Charlottesville, a jubilant Laurynas Mikalauskas led a postgame charge to midcourt, where he was mobbed by students celebrating Virginia’s upset win over North Carolina.

“I went to the locker room and cried,” Mikalauskas said. “I was like, 'Man, that’s exciting.’ ”

Two nights later, in College Park, Md., a dejected Jamon Gordon limped into an interview room following Virginia Tech’s 81-72 loss to Maryland. Gordon winced at the pain shooting from his sprained left ankle and rested his head on a lectern for a moment before speaking.

“Something’s got to change,” he said. “We need to get better.”

It’s early yet in the ACC season, but the state’s two major-college programs are tracking on different paths.

At Virginia, picked to finish last in the conference, belief is rising. The Cavaliers, feisty and competitive under new coach Dave Leitao, are 3-2 in the conference, locked in a four-way tie for third . Virginia hosts Miami tonight, and a win would move the Cavaliers into a tie for second with N.C. State.

At Virginia Tech, frustration is mounting. The Hokies, a feel-good story in their first season in the ACC a year ago, sit last in the conference and at 0-5 are the only winless team. They host Duke, which is coming off an upset loss to Georgetown, on Thursday. Two days later, the Hokies travel to Wake Forest, which has won 25 of its last 26 at home.

Virginia Tech is staring at the possibility of an 0-7 start, while Virginia can make the halfway turn with a winning conference record .

Who knew? Not the people making preseason predictions. They had the short-handed Cavaliers pegged as hopelessly overmatched. The Hokies, who returned four starters from an 8-8 ACC team, were expected to be in the lower half of the conference’s competitive middle.

Both teams figured to have little margin for error, with thin benches and undersized frontcourts. So far, the Cavaliers have done the better job overcoming their lack of bulk and depth.

Nothing epitomized Virginia’s scrappiness more than the sight of several Cavaliers buzzing around North Carolina’s big man, Tyler Hansbrough, on Thursday. Pencil-thin forward Jason Cain used his quickness to block five shots, while Mikalauskas, Virginia’s lone power player, slung his frame at Hansbrough. Virginia’s guards and small forwards occasionally dropped down to harass the North Carolina freshman.

Virginia displayed the toughness Leitao had talked about instilling since arriving from DePaul, where his teams were known for defense and rebounding.

“One of the few things you can control in the game is trying to go after the backboards,” Leitao said Monday.

Virginia has done just that. Despite their lack of size and bulk, in conference games the Cavaliers are grabbing 5.4 more rebounds per game than their opponents, the second-best margin in the league.

Even guards are getting it done. Virginia’s starting backcourt of Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds has grabbed an average of 9.4 boards in conference games.

“We’ve accepted that challenge to go after the ball,” Leitao said.

The Cavaliers have accepted the challenge on defense as well. In conference games, Virginia limits teams to 41.3 percent shooting, second in the conference. The Cavaliers are also blocking nearly five shots per game.

Offensively, Virginia has relied on Singletary and Reynolds, who combine for 32.9 points per game, roughly half the team’s average. Singletary has averaged 20 points over the last six games, Reynolds 18.1 over the last seven.

“If we have any hopes of continuing to do well, it’ll be on Reynolds and Singletary’s shoulders,” Leitao said.

“If” is the operative word. After Miami, Virginia plays at conference leaders Duke and N.C. State. The second-half schedule includes trips to Maryland and North Carolina. Singletary, averaging 36 minutes per game in conference play, has already had to sit out practices to rest his aching body.

“I’d be really nervous if I took a look at what we face over the next week or two or three,” Leitao said.

Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg would be, too, particularly with his team already in an 0-5 hole. The Hokies have dropped those games by an average of five points.

Last year, Tech won three straight conference games in January by a total of four points.

“It’s just flip-flopped this year,” Gordon said.

Exactly why is hard to pinpoint. Tech returned four starters from last year’s team, and, in Gordon and Zabian Dowdell, has one of the most experienced backcourts in the league. Center Coleman Collins has become one of the ACC’s best big men.

But the Hokies rank last in the ACC in rebounding margin and have allowed conference opponents to shoot 46 percent, eighth in the conference. On offense, Tech takes care of the ball, ranking first in turnover margin. But the Hokies don’t get much scoring from the perimeter.

Greenberg pointed to the loss of small forward Carlos Dixon as a partial reason for Tech’s struggles. Dixon not only averaged 13.8 points per game, he often guarded the other team’s top scorer.

“We’re not getting what we want from that position,” Greenberg said.

Wynton Witherspoon and Markus Sailes have rotated at Dixon’s old spot. Witherspoon has grabbed just 1.3 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. Sailes averages 4.7 points in 25.

Tech seemed to miss Dixon particularly badly Saturday night, when Terrapins small forward Nik Caner-Medley burned the Hokies for 23 points.

“He was tougher than us, especially in the second half,” Greenberg said.

Tech’s toughness, or lack of it, was a theme that came up often after Saturday’s loss.

“Last year, we were defense-first,” Dowdell said. “Now, I think a lot of guys may be offense-first, like we’ve got to outscore people.”

No matter the cause of Tech’s woes, it’s far too soon to panic, or to try to re-invent things, Greenberg said. Monday, on the ACC’s conference call with reporters, he used the term “stay the course” several times.

“We’re not broke,” Greenberg said. “We’re nicked and scratched.”

As Greenberg pointed out, the Hokies haven’t been blown out of a conference game. If they work on getting better each day in practice, wins will result.

While that’s not the most profound sentiment, it’s one the team is clinging to at the moment.

“If we stop fighting,” Gordon said. “We’ll end up 0-16.”

 

Virginia won't jump ahead
The Cavaliers are keeping their focus on tonight's game against Miami.
BY MELINDA WALDROP
247-4634
January 24, 2006

For now, Dave Leitao isn't a big-picture kind of guy.

Tonight, his Virginia men's basketball team - 9-6 and off to a surprising 3-2 start in the ACC after Thursday's upset of No. 24 North Carolina - takes on a Miami squad that is off to an equally good start. Then, on Saturday, the Cavaliers head to Cameron Indoor Stadium to play No. 2 Duke.

The Cavs have won back-to-back league games and are tied with three other teams for third in the ACC. But Leitao doesn't want to discuss how the upcoming schedule presents his inexperienced team with an opportunity to keep confounding preseason expectations of another poor year.

"I hesitate to even look beyond today, because everything is so new and we're still trying to move forward with smaller steps," Leitao said Monday. "I think I'd be really nervous if I took a look at what we face over the next week or two or three because there are so many challenges that lie ahead."

Leitao is concerned enough about the Hurricanes, who have defeated Maryland and North Carolina. Miami (11-7, 3-2) features three guards who are scoring more than 10 points per game, paced by Guillermo Diaz's 16.5. The Hurricanes often use a 3-2 zone that has Leitao fretting because his team doesn't face that scheme often.

Miami coach Frank Haith sees cause for concern as well - cause that looks familiar in the Cavs' backcourt balance of Sean Singletary (18 ppg) and J.R. Reynolds (14.9 ppg).

"(Virginia) is almost like a mirror image of us," Haith said. "They play a lot like we do. Their guard play is very good. Their post guys are very physical. They're aggressive and they play extremely hard. Dave's done a great job of getting those guys to believe they can be successful in this league."

After U.Va.'s 72-68 defeat of North Carolina in Charlottesville on Thursday, Leitao was reeling in expectations that mushroomed beyond preseason predictions, which had the Cavs finishing last in the 12-team ACC.

"It's equally as challenging to bring a team back from a victory - and an important victory - as it is from defeat," Leitao said. "We've got to continue to challenge our guys that way."

While Leitao tries to keep his players grounded, Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg is working to lift his team's spirits after another disheartening loss. Saturday's 81-72 defeat at Maryland dropped the Hokies to 0-5 in the ACC and 10-8 overall.

"Our guys will bounce back," Greenberg said after the loss. "We continue to play hard, and we've had a chance in every game."

None more so than Dec. 4, when Sean Dockery's 40-foot buzzer-beater gave the Blue Devils a 77-75 victory over Tech.

On Thursday, Duke comes to Blacksburg for the rematch. The Blue Devils (17-1, 5-0), who were upset last year at Cassell Coliseum, suffered their first loss of the season Saturday, 87-84 to Georgetown. Duke got 41 points from J.J. Redick against the Hoyas but couldn't stop Georgetown's pinpoint backdoor cuts.

"It's not like we have not had close games," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday. "We've just been able to win them, and as a result, the reality sometimes doesn't set in that you're weak in certain areas or you're not doing certain things well. ... When you win, sometimes it overshadows a poor performance."

The Hokies wouldn't know about that. Their efforts in close games continue to go for naught.

"We've had a chance game after game after game," said guard Zabian Dowdell, who led the Hokies with 21 points against Maryland. "I know I sound like a broken record, but it's true. As long as we continue to work hard in practice, everything will eventually take care of itself."

That's an approach Virginia's Leitao can appreciate, even if his team is experiencing something different.

"I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, not only in terms of preparation, but also in feeling like we've won a game and automatically arrived, or lost a game and the world's coming to an end," Leitao said. "We've got to continue to take it, if not a day at a time, a moment at a time."

Canes thriving in the zoneIn the ACC world of man-to-man defenses, UM is throwing its opponents out of sync with an effective 2-3 zone.

BY CAMMY CLARKcclark@MiamiHerald.com

In the Atlantic Coast Conference, most men's basketball teams are known for playing primarily man-to-man defense. Then there's the University of Miami and its bread-and-butter stopper: the 2-3 zone.
It doesn't surprise teams, but the zone does frustrate opponents unaccustomed to it.
''Zone kind of screws teams up a little bit,'' UM guard Robert Hite said.
Entering tonight's game at Virginia (9-6, 3-2 ACC), the Hurricanes are ranked No. 1 in the 12-team conference in scoring defense, allowing just 61.3 points per game.
The Hurricanes (11-6, 3-2) also are second in the conference in field-goal defense, holding teams to an average 38.9 percent shooting.
Defense is especially important for UM, which is tied with Virginia for lowest scoring average in the ACC at 68.7 points per game.
Maryland coach Gary Williams and Clemson's Oliver Purnell both cited UM's 2-3 zone as a key reason their teams lost at BankUnited Center this season.
And first-year Virginia coach Dave Leitao has been preparing his team for it ever since its upset of North Carolina on Thursday.
Of course, Leitao on Monday would not give away his strategy to ''attack a very effective and active 2-3 zone.'' But he said: ``We continue to prepare and look where the highest percentage shots come from.''
With UM's starters in the lineup, guards Anthony Harris and Guillermo Diaz form the front line, while the back line features 6-2 Hite on the right-side baseline, 6-10, 265-pound Gary Hamilton in the middle and 6-9 Anthony King on the left. This works with their three-guard lineup because of Hite's jumping ability that enables him to battle bigger players for rebounds.
And this defense is the major reason UM coach Frank Haith said he is able to play his talented threesome of 6-2 guards at the same time.
''They're quick,'' Maryland's Williams said. ``Those three guards get their hands on a lot of balls on the perimeter of the zone. . . . And their big people do a good job of taking up room. We tried to penetrate, but struggled all day. We got the ball inside, but we couldn't do anything with it once we got it in there. They have a good combination.''
UM also plays some man and other variations because, as Haith said, ``we got to fool people a little bit.''
The zone also prevents teams from scoring a lot of points in the lane.
''We're not that deep or physical where we can stop people once they get in the lane, so we want to discourage that,'' Haith said. ``We make people shoot contested jump shots. And when they go to certain areas on the court, we're going to trap them. That's how we get turnovers.''
Purnell, whose Clemson team scored only 38 points on 15-of-59 shooting against UM, said it was a combination of his team's ''stone-cold shooting'' and UM's zone.
''You got to locate their shooters,'' Harris said. ``A guy that is not known to shoot is going to have to hit 40 threes and going to have to have a career day to beat us.''
Against Virginia, UM knows where to focus its radar: guards Sean Singletary (ACC fourth-best 18 points per game) and J.R. Reynolds (14.9). Last year, Reynolds scored 32 to end UM's ACC tournament.
''The one thing I'm really proud of is how well we're playing defensively,'' Haith said, ``because that gives us a chance to win.''
 

Cavs host 'Canes tonight
TV pushes start back to 9 for teams' only meeting this season
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jan 24, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- When TV says "Jump," college conferences answer "How high?"

The mighty ACC is no exception. So what if ESPNU is not MIAMI AT U.VA.widely available? ESPN's spinoff station had a slot to fill tonight, starting at 9 o'clock, and so that's when the men's basketball teams from Virginia and Miami will meet at University Hall.

"Obviously, TV dictates it," U.Va.'s first-year coach, Dave Leitao, said yesterday. "I'm not a huge fan of playing at 9 o'clock at night, especially when you have to get up early the next morning and go to school again. But I understand the reasons why. We'll deal with it, just as Miami has to deal with it."

Hurricanes coach Frank Haith isn't elated about the late start on a weekday night, either. Even after study hall and team meetings, his players will spend hours in their hotel rooms today.

"At least on a weekend you got ball that the kids can watch on TV," Haith said.

Tonight's game matches two of the ACC's better backcourts. The top three scorers for Miami (3-2, 11-7) are guards Guillermo Diaz, Robert Hite and Anthony Harris.

Diaz torched Virginia for 26 points in Miami's win at University Hall last January. When the teams met again in the ACC tournament's first round, however, J.R. Reynolds scored a career-best 32 points to lift the Cavaliers to a 66-65 victory over the 'Canes.

Guards Sean Singletary and Reynolds lead U.Va. (3-2, 9-6), whose No.3 scorer is swingman Adrian Joseph.

"You know, it's almost like a mirror image of us," Haith said. "They play a lot like we do. Their guards are very good, and their post players are very physical."

ACC coaches preach about the need to "hold serve" at home, but that's not always easy to accomplish. Just ask Haith. His team lost Saturday to visiting Boston College and now must play three of its next four games on the road.

"I think you've just got to find a way to get it back," Haith said. "It's early. We've got a lot of games left to be played."

The Cavaliers haven't played since Thursday night, when they upset then-No. 24 North Carolina before a sellout crowd at University Hall and a national audience on ESPN. That victory came four days after U.Va. rallied to beat Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

"Dave's done a great job of getting his guys to believe they can be successful in this league," Haith said.

Now Leitao must make sure his players keep that success in perspective. He said that because of his players' lack of experience, "it's equally challenging to bring a team back from an important victory as it is from a defeat. We've got to continue to challenge our guys in that way to remain focused and understand the job at hand."

In 2004-05, the ACC had 11 teams. The addition of Boston College has resulted in several scheduling quirks. To wit: For the second straight year, the lone regular-season meeting between Miami and U.Va. is at University Hall.

"I don't know how they do it, but it is what it is," Haith said. "I don't know of anything we can do about it. . . . We've just got to go play the game."

 

ACC NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Jan 24, 2006

HELP FOR COACH K: Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski will coach the U.S. men's basketball team through 2008, which includes the Olympics in Beijing. The 2006 World Championships are in Japan, and Krzyzewski was delighted to hear that Kobe Bryant and LeBron James plan to play for the United States in both events.

"It's a great recruiting class so far," Krzyzewski said yesterday during the ACC coaches' teleconference.

"I'm really excited - especially after seeing Kobe scored 81 last night. Having marquee players like that, guys who are hungry to represent their country, two of the top players in the game, that's a great start."

MILLER TIME: In his first start for North Carolina, former walk-on Wes Miller turned in a performance he will remember with pride. The 5-11 junior from Charlotte, N.C., hit 6 of 10 shots - all from beyond the arc - and finished with a career-high 18 points in UNC's win at Florida State on Sunday night.

"He's just a tough, tough youngster who's a gym rat," Carolina's Roy Williams said on the ACC coaches' teleconference yesterday. "I don't think I've had anybody who'll do more workouts in the offseason than Wes.

"He does have some limitations for his size, but not for his heart, and that's the biggest part of his body."

BEDEVILED: Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg scoffed at the notion that Duke got a "wake-up call" with its loss to Georgetown on Saturday. Nor did he attach much significance to the fact that the Blue Devils lost at Virginia Tech last season and almost lost to the Hokies at Cameron Indoor Stadium in early December.

"I get a kick out of you guys thinking it is waking somebody up," Greenberg said. "They've lost one game. They're a terrific basketball team. Mike Krzyzewski wakes them up every single day whether it is a practice or a game."

More Greenberg, on Tech's budding rivalry with Duke:

"I think everyone has a rivalry with Duke. When you're at their stature, everybody wants a piece of you. That's just the way it is. Duke is the standard. Duke is probably what Carolina was 10 years ago - they have a swagger, they have an arrogance in a positive way. They set the standard for how hard you have to play in this league."

GOOD TO GO: Junior guard Jamon Gordon "is a go" for Thursday's home game against Duke, Virginia Tech trainer Keith Doolan said yesterday. Gordon sprained his ankle Saturday night early in the second half of the Hokies' loss at Maryland. Doolan said Gordon will receive twice-daily treatments.

Greenberg said he planned to have Gordon sit out yesterday's practice.

BOARD WORK: Virginia's guards aren't tall, and its frontcourt lacks bulk. That hasn't stopped the Cavaliers from rebounding well. They rank fifth among ACC teams in rebounding margin (plus 6.5).

Rebounding, first-year coach Dave Leitao said, is "more or less a mentality, and we've tried to emphasize that from day one and have been pretty successful with it. I think we've accepted that challenge to go after the basketball. Again, as I started this journey, I knew this was one of the few things you could control in a basketball game: to attack the backboards."

THE NIK OF TIME: Senior forward Nik Caner-Medley totaled 23 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots Saturday night in Maryland's win over Virginia Tech. Caner-Medley is averaging 13.8 points and six rebounds and ranks ninth among ACC players in field goal percentage and eighth in free throw percentage.

"I think Nik is showing by how hard he plays how important this year is to him," Terrapins coach Gary Williams said.

CLOCK IS TICKING: N.C. State (4-2, 15-3) is having a superb season, despite a minimal contribution from its most celebrated recruit for 2005-06.

Brandon Costner, a 6-8 freshman who was a McDonald's All-American last season, hasn't played since Nov.26. He has a leg injury and may take a medical redshirt.

Costner played in the Wolfpack's first five games and averaged 2.8 points and 2.6 rebounds.

"He's getting better, that's the good news," State coach Herb Sendek said yesterday. "But he has not returned yet to practice in any form."

ROUGH GOING: Life without Chris Paul - not to mention Taron Downey, Jamaal Levy and Vytas Danelius - hasn't been easy for Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons, 13-3 in the ACC last season, are 1-4 in conference play and 12-6 overall.

"That's the hand we're dealt. We're not going to make any excuses," Wake coach Skip Prosser said of his personnel losses. "Nobody's going to feel sorry for us because Chris and Taron and Jamaal and Vytas left."

The Deacons still have two of the ACC's premier players in senior guard Justin Gray and senior center Eric Williams, but their supporting cast has struggled.

REDICK, SMITH HONORED: Duke's J.J. Redick and Boston College's Craig Smith have been named as co-ACC players of the week. Redick, a senior guard from Roanoke, averaged 34.5 points, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals as the Blue Devils beat No.14 N.C. State 81-68 Wednesday and lost 87-84 to Georgetown on Saturday. Smith, a 6-7, 250-pound forward, averaged 18.5 points and 15.5 rebounds per game in the Eagles' 2-0 week. - Mike Harris and Jeff White

 

Cavs look to blow 'Canes away at home
After defeating Virginia Tech, UNC, Cavaliers hope to stay under radar while still accumulating ACC wins
Barney Breen-Portnoy, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Riding high on the wave of momentum built by two straight conference victories – over Virginia Tech and North Carolina – the Cavaliers (9-6, 3-2 ACC) will play host to the Miami Hurricanes (11-7, 3-2 ACC) tonight in University Hall. If Virginia is to breeze by these Hurricanes, it will most likely have to neutralize the scoring prowess of Miami's talented trio of perimeter guards.

Junior Guillermo Diaz leads the Hurricanes with 16.5 points per game and is closely followed by senior Robert Hite at 16.2 ppg. Rounding out the potent trio is junior point guard Anthony Harris, who is averaging 10.1 ppg after being sidelined for the first month of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot.

"[Miami's] three-guard tandem is as good of a collection of perimeter players as we will see all year," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "We have a very difficult challenge ahead of us."

Under coach Frank Haith, Miami primarily employs a 2-3 zone defensive scheme, a rarity in the ACC. Last Wednesday, Miami held Clemson to a mere 38 points in a home win.

"It presents a different kind of challenge," Leitao said. "We have to prepare and look for where we can work our offense best and get our high percentage shots from. Against a zone you've got to be able to move the ball around and play unselfishly."

The victory over Clemson capped off a three-game conference winning streak for the Hurricanes that also included wins over Maryland and North Carolina. Boston College snapped Miami's winning streak Saturday with a 65-61 victory in Coral Gables. The Hurricanes' only other conference setback was an 81-69 loss to N.C. State Dec. 18. The last time that Virginia faced Miami was in the first round of last year's ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers emerged with a narrow 66-65 victory, the last win under former Virginia coach Pete Gillen.

With a 3-2 conference mark, the Cavaliers will likely not be able to fly under the radar of ACC opponents much longer.

"We hope we don't [get respect]," sophomore J.R. Reynolds said, laughing. "We hope everybody just takes us lightly. Every game that we go into we feel like the underdog. But we know what we are capable of doing. Each day, in practice, we work hard, and when the game comes we give it all that we've got."

Junior forward Jason Cain seconded those notions.

"I don't know what the talk is around the league," Cain said. "I just know that we come in and try to play as hard as we can every day."

Winning also has strengthened the bond between Leitao and his squad. Virginia's players have now experienced the positive consequences of Leitao's doctrines.

"[Leitao] is a great coach," Reynolds said. "Each day we learn in practice, and we fully believe in his system."

A win tonight would give Virginia a full head of steam heading into Saturday evening's showdown in Durham with No. 2 Duke. The Cavaliers, however, cannot afford to look ahead on the schedule and seem to understand that every conference win is precious.

"Every game is a hard-fought game for us," Cain said. "Every win, we need, so we'll take it one game at a time."