Cavs hope loss to Terps
doesn’t lead to slippery slope
By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer
Up by nine points at home with three-and-a-half minutes to go against the No. 3
team in the nation? UVa men’s basketball coach Pete Gillen said he’d take
his chances with those odds “100 out of 100 times.”
In bettors’ parlance that would be called a sure thing.
Ultimately, however, collapse would be the word most accurately fitting No. 8
Virginia’s 91-87 loss to Maryland at University Hall on Thursday night.
An apparent season-defining victory whirled into a possible season-deflating
loss for the Cavaliers (14-4, 4-4 ACC), who now find themselves at a crossroads
for the second time in a three-and-a-half week span.
Their season’s first hiccup — consecutive losses to N.C. State and Clemson
to begin the ACC campaign — resulted in a five-game winning streak. Now, with
back-to-back losses to No. 1 Duke and No. 3 Maryland, the Cavaliers will have to
muster up a similar stretch again if they wish to avoid a stress-filled NCAA
Selection Sunday.
That loss at Clemson was a 16-point blowout and sometimes such losses are easier
to recover from because flaws are addressed, attitudes refocused and corrective
changes made. Losses such as Thursday rarely present such easy solutions. An
apparent win that morphs into a mind-numbing loss can take weeks to recover
from. Just ask Maryland, who last season blew a 10-point lead to Duke in the
final 54 seconds of a game at Cole Field House and proceeded to lose four of its
next five games.
“You don’t think about losing a game like this at all,” said junior guard
Roger Mason Jr., who finished with a season-high 29 points Thursday. “We
weren’t aggressive. Call it complacent or whatever, but the bottom line is
that we probably thought the game was over with. They made a charge at the end
and there was no more time left at the end.”
Time, or more precisely games, is not something Virginia is blessed with at the
moment as the loss dropped them to fifth place in the ACC after the first half
of the league’s season. Maryland’s collapse to Duke came early in the ACC
season and after that five-game stretch, the Terrapins redirected their season
and marched to the Final Four. The Cavaliers do not have the benefit of such
recovery time. They have nine regular-season games remaining starting with road
contests at No. 24 Missouri on Sunday and N.C. State next Wednesday.
Again, that schedule only grows more daunting as this Maryland loss lingers.
“It’s tough to think about those games now. This game was so important for
the moment. I can’t think about Sunday because we let this game slip away and
that hurts,” Mason said.
For 37 minutes Thursday, Virginia played perhaps its best basketball of the
season. It overcame an early eight-point first-half deficit to take a 46-44 edge
at halftime. Mason and junior center Travis Watson propelled the team through
the second half as it built that nine-point advantage. Those last three minutes,
however, erased the good that had come before it.
The Cavaliers faltered on their chances to take control of the game from that
point on. Watson had a chance to complete a three-point play with 3:22 left that
would have given Virginia an 84-74 advantage. Instead, Watson, who missed all
but one of his four attempts from the line, clanked the shot long off the rim.
That miss spurred a 17-4 Maryland run to end the game that was aided by a
handful of more UVa blunders down the stretch.
First, senior Chris Williams missed his own attempt to complete a three-point
play that would have given UVa an 86-78 lead with 2:40 left. Instead, Drew
Nicholas’ subsequent 3-pointer cut it to 85-81 with 2:26 left. Then, Jenifer
attempted an ill-advised runner with the shot clock at about 30 seconds that
gave the ball back to the Terps. Virginia would only score two points in the
final 2:40 as their other possessions produced shots and looks only slightly
better than Jenifer’s.
“We had some turnovers. We missed some free throws and Nicholas hit two big
3s. One of our young players took a bad shot with a floater in the lane,”
Gillen said. “I think we played not to lose rather than playing to win. It’s
a game we should have won but we slip away.”
Now, Gillen and his troops head to Missouri hoping their season will not slip
away as well.
Surprise, Surprise
The Next Mark Twain?
Among his many talents, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is a noted author. He's written several self-help, motivational, secrets-of-my-success type books, but he appears to have a future in fiction as well. How else do you explain that the Blue Devils, after an unexpected loss to Florida State in early January, suddenly began complaining that nobody respects them any more?
Sophomore guard Chris Duhon was perhaps the most loquacious, saying that "everyone has been calling us soft, saying we're not tough" and decrying that opposing teams "want to disrespect" the Blue Devils. Yeah, right. Disrespect a team that has spent the bulk of the past three seasons atop the national polls? Has won five straight ACC regular season championships and three straight tournament titles?
If Coach K truly convinced his players that the rest of the country thought they were overrated, then he needs to put down his whistle and take up pen and paper. There's no telling what kind of stories he can concoct with an imagination so vivid.
Either that, or maybe his players just aren't as bright as we all thought they were. Since half his team is going to graduate from such a rigorous academic institution in a meager three years - something that the typical Duke student with his 1450 SAT can't even do - that can't be the case, can it?
Is The Pack Back?
After a decade-long absence from the NCAA Tournament, NC State is making noises that the drought might finally be over. An impressive 16-5 start is not a fluke. The Pack is doing things it hasn't done in a long time - like winning on the road (5-1 record), shooting free throws well (a league-leading 74.0 percent), protecting the ball (a league low 12.8 turnovers per game), playing good defense (leading the league in scoring defense and ranking second with a +4.6 turnover ratio) and putting the ball in the basket (74.6 points per game, its highest average in seven seasons). And this has all been accomplished with three freshmen - Julius Hodge, Ilian Evtimov and Josh Powell - in the starting lineup.
There's still time for the wheels to come off, of course. NC State finds itself in a tough five-game stretch, beginning with Wednesday's loss to Wake Forest. The Pack must travel to Maryland, host Virginia and then play at Florida State and Duke. If NC State can avoid disaster over the next two weeks, the Pack should be dancing in March.
Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus
And he's been giving the Cavaliers a high ranking all year! How else do you explain that the Cavaliers have been ranked in the top 10 virtually the entire season and have lost to almost every decent team they've played? Virginia's signature victory so far was an 86-74 triumph over Wake Forest in Charlottesville on Jan. 17. Big deal.
The Cavs have lost at home to NC State, were whipped on the road at Clemson and struggled to win at North Carolina and Georgia Tech - hardly indicative of a top 10 team. Pete Gillen's bunch may yet prove it belongs in the nation's elite - but it'd be nice if they did something to deserve a high ranking.
Oh, How The Mighty Have Fallen
It was generally expected that UNC would struggle this season. The early departures of Joseph Forte for the NBA and Ronald Curry and Julius Peppers for the NFL robbed the Heels of talent and depth. Still, even the most ardent of UNC haters would have had a hard time imagining that UNC would be 6-12 with home losses to Hampton and Davidson, a six-game losing streak and prospects that next year might not be much better.
The Heels will rebound. But it is doubtful they will ever achieve such a sustained level of excellence UNC fans enjoyed from 1965-2001, when the Heels never finished lower than third in the ACC regular season and posted a winning record every year. Welcome to our world, Heels fans. We sure did miss you.
An Upset For The Ages
That Duke lost an ACC game isn't a huge shock. That they lost at Florida State, however, is nothing short of stunning. FSU, which had earlier lost at home to Western Carolina and American University, nipped the Blue Devils 77-76 on Jan. 6. The Blue Devils hadn't lost to a team that posted a losing record in the conference since the ACC Tournament in 1997, when NCSU knocked off Duke in the quarterfinals.
Signs pointing to UVa for Parham
By DOUG
DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays
Bill Brown has been turning out Division I-A prospects for more than 20 years as the coach at Potomac High School and most recently Hylton but never has he experienced the intensity that has surrounded the recruiting of linebacker Ahmad Brooks.
Brooks is rated the No. 1 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times.
"It's jumping," said Brown, who had an ear glued to the phone for most of the afternoon Friday. "There are three or four schools still in the hunt and they've been relentless."
So have a variety of Internet services and "all of those dot-coms have been calling me," Brown said, "but I don't call them back."
The suspense probably will end Monday, according to Brown, who said Friday that Florida State "has not been eliminated." Brooks' other finalists are Tennessee, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
There were plans for a fifth visit to Penn State, "but it was always, always the fifth choice," Brown said. "It was always, 'I'm not very interested because I've been there for the Nike camp at Penn State this spring.'
"Nothing against Penn State. It's a great school and with great tradition. He doesn't want to go to Pennsylvania. It's not the part of the country that this kid wants to be in. I'm sorry, but it's not."
There have been other cases on which Brown has felt a need to oversee the decision-making process, but not this one. Brooks' father, Perry, was a defensive tackle for the Washington Redskins. His mother knows what she wants for her son.
"In this kid's case, his parents went on every visit and are very involved in him being somewhere where they feel comfortable as well," Brown said. "Sometimes, kids make a decision on who had the best fraternity party and that's not the case here.
"If it's a case of kid just bouncing around and not using good judgment and not getting good advice about how to deal with it, I would be inclined to say, 'I've had enough.' In this case, it's being done the old way. [The parents are] excellent and that's not always the case."
That's not to say Brown and Brooks haven't spoken and will speak this weekend.
"I've asked him questions about every one of his visits," Brown said. "I tell him, 'Ahmad, you've got to get up in the morning. Are you going to like the dorm you live in? Are you going to like the cafeteria? Are you going to like education? The social life? The football?
"He came back from one school and said he wasn't really impressed with the campus. He felt the other campuses were more conducive to what he likes. I'm sure the kid had fun, I'm sure his parents let him have fun, but, at the same time, I'm sure they were serious visits.
"I don't think he'll base his decision on anything frivolous. I've talked to this kid on a number on occasions. I haven't grilled him, but here at the end, he and I are having some serious talks and the answers he is giving are very mature."
It was common in Virginia this year for many of the top prospects to speak via phone or e-mail "and I think Ahmad did some of that early in the process," Brown said. "It may have been for a while, but I think he's pulled himself out of that network."
As early as the summer, Parade All-America linebacker Kai Parham pitched the idea of both players making early commitments to Virginia and there were reports of a similar conversation following their official visits to UVa over the weekend of Jan. 18.
The indication from various sources Friday was that Parham is likely to sign with the Cavaliers and that a commitment may be imminent.
"Where the Parham kid goes to school is of no interest to Ahmad Brooks," Brown said, "and that's not a knock on that kid. I think the kid's a great kid. ... D.J. Walton is sitting over there at Virginia Tech. [Walton] played with Ahmad here for three or four years, but that's not going to be a deciding factor on whether he goes to Virginia Tech or not."
There have been plenty of rumors concerning all of the uncommitted players, one of which was that Brooks would have difficulty meeting NCAA eligibility guidelines. Brown doesn't think that will be an issue.
"He made the honor roll this semester," Brown said. "We just got the semester grades. He didn't make anything below a "B." So, he's on a good track right now. If he maintains that, he's fine."
I'M NOT SURE I could write a book about Warwick High School football
coach Tommy Reamon. Maybe a collection of short stories would be a better
idea.
The shortest chapter would cover my most recent conversation with Reamon, when
I asked if there was any timetable for an announcement by Warwick quarterback,
Marcus Vick, the No. 2-rated prospect in the state.
It lasted 41 seconds.
DOUGHTY: "Do you have a timetable at this point for Marcus?"
REAMON: "I'll call you by Monday. That's the best I can tell you."
DOUGHTY: "So, you will have a decision by Monday?"
REAMON: "You're looking for words, Doug. I've got a problem here. I will call you when we have a press conference set up."
DOUGHTY: "You may call me Monday to say there's a press conference Tuesday, Wednesday or whenever?
REAMON: "Right. Yes, sir."
DOUGHTY: "OK, is he still at four, or has he narrowed it down?"
REAMON: "Doug, this conversation's going to end. Bye."
Click.
MOST ANALYSTS believe that Vick is likely to follow his older brother, Michael, a star quarterback for two seasons at Virginia Tech before his selection as the No. 1 pick in the 2001 NFL Draft.
Tech also has stepped up its pursuit of one of Marcus Vick's teammates, wide receiver Brenden Hill, who is taking an official visit to Tech this weekend. Tech has been recruiting Hill for a while and had intended for a while to bring him to campus for a visit, but, at last, there may be a scholarship available for him.
The Hokies are entertaining nine prospects this week, including Highland Springs defensive lineman Noland Burchette, one of the first players to commit to Tech this past summer. Also on hand will be 2001 signee Fred Lee, a wide receiver from Harrisburg, Pa., who is still attempting to meet Division I-A eligibility standards.
Three of the weekend visitors have offers: Burchette, Lee and Hill. The others are Blacksburg defensive back Scott Sterrett, Grundy fullback-linebacker Luke Dales, Kellam kicking specialist Brandon Pace, King George tight end David Weedon and Deep Creek teammates Josh Hyman and Donte Newsome.
Dales, who has drawn comparisons to 2001 senior fullback Jarrett Ferguson, is a scholarship possibility. Hyman and Newsome are likely to attend prep school, while Tech is looking at Sterrett, Pace and Weedon as walk-ons.
VIRGINIA'S VISIT LIST for the weekend has undergone some changes. As of Thursday night, the Cavaliers were expecting place-kicker Connor Hughes from Group AA Division 4 champion Lafayette. Hughes would be a walk-on candidate at this point.
Bethel linebacker Jonas Watson, who had made an oral commitment to William and Mary before the Cavaliers made a late push, has elected not to visit. However, the Cavaliers are bringing in 6-6, 280-pound Brett Tobin, an offensive lineman from Pulaski, Wis., who made an early commitment to Vanderbilt.
UVa had a number of football recruits on hand Thursday night for the Cavaliers' men's basketball game with Maryland. They included quarterback Anthony Martinez, cornerback Stefan Orange, running back Jason Snelling, defensive end Darryl Blackstock and offensive linemen Brad Butler and Ronald Darden.
ONE PLAYER ON THE RISE since the end of the season is Lake Taylor linebacker Marvin Mitchell, rated No. 31 among the state's top prospects by The Roanoke Times. Lake Taylor coach Hank Sawyer said Mitchell has offers from -- and is deciding between -- Tennessee, Maryland, Boston College and West Virginia.
U.VA. NOTES
WATSON'S WAY: After Duke beat Maryland at Cameron Indoor Stadium last month, Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski called Maryland guard Juan Dixon his favorite ACC player who wasn't a Blue Devil. Maryland coach Gary Williams' favorite non-Terrapin might be Virginia center Travis Watson, the ACC's leading rebounder.
Watson, a 6-8, 255-pound junior, had a game-high 12 boards Thursday night in eighth-ranked Virginia's 91-87 loss to No. 3 Maryland at University Hall. Ten came at the offensive end.
"I haven't seen a better offensive rebounder with who we've played the last couple years," Williams said after the game. "This summer, when I get time, I'm really going to study the Virginia tapes, not just our games, to see what makes him so good.
"I know one thing, he just works really hard. But there's something else. He does a great job of finding the ball early, and he moves his feet to get to where the ball's coming off the rim."
BOILING POINT: Look for a more intense rivalry between U.Va. and Maryland in the wake of a second-half incident that halted play for several minutes.
With the Cavs leading 74-70, senior forward Byron Mouton had the ball near the Maryland bench when Williams called a timeout with 6:05 remaining. At that point, according to U.Va. officials seated at the scorer's table, Mouton elbowed Watson. As the teams headed their separate ways, Virginia point guard Keith Jenifer and Watson lingered near the Terps' bench.
That drew the ire of Maryland assistant Jimmy Patsos, who yelled at Jenifer to get back to Virginia's bench. Williams, too, yelled at Jenifer, who responded in kind, prompting another outburst from Williams, witnesses said.
This brought U.Va. assistant Walt Fuller charging down the sideline to protect Jenifer and Watson, and coaches from both teams exchanged heated remarks until the referees pulled everyone apart.
In his postgame remarks to the media, Williams downplayed the incident.
There was a "tough call in the corner, and all 10 players were right there," he said. "It was just getting back to our bench, getting to their bench, that type of thing. That happens, but the referees did a very good job of getting everybody separated."
HALL SEEKS WAY BACK: Adam Hall is back, but the 6-5 senior did not make a triumphant return. In five minutes - two in the first half, three in the second - Hall attempted and missed two shots Thursday night, both from 3-point range. He had one rebound and one foul.
Hall hadn't played since Jan. 12, when he suffered a partial tear of the plantar fascia in his right foot late in a win over North Carolina.
In Hall's absence, freshman guard Jermaine Harper has emerged as an offensive threat. That's a good thing for Virginia, because Hall has shot poorly this season. After shooting 50.9 percent from the floor as a sophomore and 50.6 last season, he's at 39.3 this season. In ACC games, Hall is 2 for 14 from beyond the arc. Both treys came against UNC.
COMMITMENT COUNTDOWN: Football coach Al Groh has a commitment from one Parade All-American - defensive lineman Kwakou Robinson of Brooklyn, N.Y. - and the Cavaliers are among the finalists for four others. All are from this state: Heritage-Newport News tailback Michael Johnson, Princess Anne linebacker Kai Parham, Hylton linebacker Ahmad Brooks and Warwick quarterback Marcus Vick.
Brooks was selected as the nation's top defensive player by USA Today. Hylton coach Bill Brown said yesterday that Brooks probably will announce his college choice Monday. The NCAA signing period opens Wednesday.
"It's going to get decided over the weekend," Brown said.
Brooks had his final two in-home visits from coaches Thursday. The first was from Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer; the second, from U.Va. defensive coordinator Al Golden, Brown said.
MOVING UP: Virginia, which finished 30th in the Sears Directors' Cup standings in 2000-01, ranked 11th heading into the winter sports. Four teams from U.Va. advanced to the NCAA playoffs during the fall: women's cross country, women's soccer, field hockey and men's soccer. In the Sears Cup competition, schools receive points based on how their teams perform in NCAA championships.
MAKING THE GRADES: Three Cavaliers made the ACC's all-academic football team for 2001: offensive lineman Evan Routzahn, defensive end Ljubomir Stamenich and cornerback Rashad Roberson. Routzahn and Stamenich, who were repeat selections, played as graduate students last season. Roberson was a redshirt junior. He's not expected to return in 2002. - Jeff White
UVa faces tough road to recover from Maryland collapse
Whether they become flashbacks is the question of the day as the No. 8 Cavaliers recover from a 91-87 loss in University Hall. The emotional damage that blowing an 83-74 lead with just over three minutes to go has not been assessed.
"Duke beat Maryland this way last year," Virginia guard Roger Mason Jr. said. "They thought they had the game won. It got reversed on us."
Mason was referring to Duke's comeback from a 10-point deficit in the final minute for a 98-96 victory at Cole Field House last season. That led to the Terrapins losing four of their next five games, a fate Virginia could soon share.
Virginia (14-4, 4-4 ACC) can ill-afford a slump at this stage. All the ingredients for a four-game losing streak are present, coupling the defeats to Maryland and Duke over the last week with two difficult road trips to Missouri on Sunday and Wednesday to N.C. State, where the Cavaliers have never won under Gillen.
"It's just not something I'm looking forward to," Mason said. "After a loss like this, it just doesn't get any easier. But now we have to do what we have to do."
Mason scored 29 points Thursday, one short of his career high. But despite being a 91 percent free throw shooter, the Cavaliers did not make a huge effort to get Mason the ball while Maryland was making its charge in the final minutes. He attempted two shots in the final three minutes as well as getting to the line for a pair of free throws. Instead, Chris Williams and Keith Jenifer each attempted low-percentage runners in the lane.
Other than Mason, the Cavaliers missed 7 of 13 free throws in the second half.
Mason had about as complete a game as he has had all year. He made 8 of 21 shots from the floor, 5 of 11 3-pointers, and attacked the basket well enough to earn eight foul shots, making every one.
"I was just trying to be aggressive," Mason said. "That's what I work for."
Virginia was unable to put away Maryland at several points in the game. The Cavaliers fell behind by nine points early in the first half, battled back to a 26-26 tie nine minutes before halftime, and took the lead on a Mason 3-pointer a play later. But that momentum dissipated over the next four minutes, as Maryland tied the game at 32 and even took a 36-32 lead. Virginia then tied the game at 36, fell behind by four again, and rallied with an 8-0 run for a 46-42 lead just before the intermission.
The Cavaliers then took leads of seven and five points in the second half, only to have Maryland erase them. Of course, the biggest lead of all, the nine-point lead with 3:22 left, was erased as well.
"If you told me before the game we'd be up nine on Maryland with three minutes to go, we'd take that every time," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "A hundred out of a hundred."
Criticism doesn’t faze Snyder
Quin Snyder is not oblivious to the criticism leveled at him from fans and media in the aftermath of Missouri’s debacle Monday night at Kansas.
He’s aware of the increasingly popular notion that he isn’t getting enough out of a team that many expected to contend for the Big 12 title.
Snyder says he understands that it comes with the territory, especially after a 32-point loss to MU’s most bitter rival. But his focus hasn’t changed and neither has his optimism. He believes the Tigers (15-6, 5-3 Big 12) are on the right track now, even though they’ve split their last 12 games.
"The bandwagon by definition is fleeting. It’s temporary," Snyder said. "I think we’ve got great fans. They do deserve more, and we’re trying to give it to them.
"Our effort is there, and our hearts are in it, but we’re still young, so we’re inconsistent at those things. We’ve made adjustments, and we’ll continue to try to tweak it to get the most out of what we have. But our guys know this is a long-term deal.
"If I start going crazy and breaking stuff like the sky is falling, then that short-circuits our learning curve. I plan on being here next year, and we’re trying to build something that will last. … Right now, we’re going through growing pains. I’m experiencing them, too."
Now more than two-thirds of the way into his third season at MU, Snyder is getting comfortable dealing with those growing pains. He likens the Tigers’ recent struggles to similar stretches in his first two seasons.
"We’ve had moments like this every year," he said. "You get a honeymoon when you get a job. We had a honeymoon and all of a sudden Winthrop beats you" in 2000, "and you’re 7-6. Everybody goes, ‘Oh my gosh. This guy can’t coach. What have we done?’ But we managed to put it together and make the tournament.
"And then last year when Kareem" Rush "gets hurt and Clarence" Gilbert "had his" suspension "and everybody goes, ‘Oh no.’ But we were OK. Who knows where it’s going to go this year? I think we’re going through some stuff where this team is going to find its identity through adversity."
Snyder was considered one of the nation’s hottest coaching commodities just a few months ago. He took Missouri to the NCAA Tournament in his first two years and signed recruiting classes that drew raves from analysts.
Missouri rose to No. 2 in the nation after a 9-0 start. Fan interest might have been at its highest point ever at Missouri before the Dec. 15 home game against Iowa. But the Tigers lost to the Hawkeyes 83-65 and have struggled since.
"Everybody said, ‘Hey here’s this hot shot young coach,’ but I never said that," Snyder said. "I’m just trying to build a program.
"We were kind of announced before we’d arrived, and now we’re late because we were announced too soon. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to arrive. Eventually we are going to arrive."