Cavs need to focus on team
By JERRY RATCLIFFE
Daily Progress sports editor
Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering if the Cavaliers will make a
stand against No. 3 Duke on Thursday night …
Not only does Pete Gillen have to combat one of the nation’s most talented
teams in the Blue Devils and the emotions surrounding Senior Night, but his own
team’s three-game losing streak and internal problems.
Gillen said on his radio show Monday night that too many of his players were
more interested in their playing time and their statistics than winning. If you
were looking for reasons as to why Virginia is 6-8 in the ACC and 7-9 overall
since Jan. 1, you don’t have to look any further. Egos and selfishness can
spell disaster on any team.
No wonder Gillen was hot after the Cavaliers failed to run the offense he
ordered in the final one-minute collapse in the home loss to Georgia Tech last
Saturday.
Questioned call
The coach has caught flak from fans and media after calling for freshman
Jermaine Harper to foul Tech’s Tony Akins with 19.6 seconds to play, UVa
leading 80-77 at the time. Gillen didn’t want Akins to shoot a 3, tie the game
and send it into overtime. He gambled UVa would get the ball back, go to the
free-throw line and win the game, particularly if Roger Mason Jr., the ACC’s
all-time leading free-throw shooter, could get the ball in the offense Gillen
called for.
For the first time all season, Mason had missed the front end of a one-and-one
with 57 seconds remaining. From that point on UVa failed to get Mason the ball
by not running Gillen’s called offense and instead, center Travis Watson went
to the line twice in the final 27 seconds, missing the front end of a
one-and-one, then missing two free throws with 18 seconds to go.
Meanwhile, Akins hit both his free throws to cut UVa’s lead to 80-79. Tech got
the ball back after Watson’s final misses and won the game when Marvin Lewis
nailed a 3-pointer with one second to go for an 82-80 victory.
Asked Wednesday if he would have handled the late-game strategy any differently
if he had a do-over, Gillen said no.
“I would have done the same thing,” said Gillen. “Up six with one of the
best free-throw shooters on the line, about to go up by eight, no.
Unfortunately, Travis missed. We didn’t execute our press offense. We wanted
to give a foul [with 19.6 to go] because that’s what we do.
“We left Lewis wide-open for a three. You can second guess a million ways,”
said Gillen. “I’ve seen teams up three and let a guy take a three and it
goes into overtime. I don’t want that to happen. I want to get it into solid
free-throw shooter’s hands. As a head coach, I will take the blame but I
expect our guys to do what we ask.”
Looking to unify
With rumors flying about dissension, players threatening to transfer and the
possible departure of a key upperclassman after the season, Gillen has his work
cut out in trying to get a team unified to face perhaps the most unified team in
the country in Duke.
Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said Wednesday that his team was lucky that
Gillen’s strategy didn’t work.
“We were extremely lucky that Mason missed the front end
of a one-and-one,” said Hewitt. “I cringed when he went to the line. During
the time out, I articulated to our guys to keep the ball out of Mason’s hands
and here are the guys we want to foul. For Watson to miss three in a row, too,
we really got lucky.”
Meanwhile, Mason has told friends that he plans on returning to Virginia for his
senior year next season instead of declaring early for the NBA draft.
The streak. One of college basketball’s most incredible streaks will be on
the line tonight when Clemson plays at North Carolina. The Tigers have never won
in Chapel Hill, a 47-game streak that Clemson hopes to snap as a result of
UNC’s hapless season.
Carolina, which has won only seven games, has the Tigers and Duke remaining on
the schedule along with the ACC tournament and is danger of not winning 10 games
this season. Only 10 ACC teams have failed to win 10 overall games in a season
since 1971.
“We’re not talking about [the streak] or rallying around it,” said UNC
coach Matt Doherty. “We’re rallying around trying to win a game. I think
there can be pressure on us if we let it. It certainly is an amazing streak.”
One of the Tar Heels’ seven wins this season came at Clemson in a game that
wasn’t even close.
“This is probably the most vulnerable North Carolina will ever be because of
the class they have coming in next year,” said Clemson forward Dwon Clifton.
“To get put in the record books as the first team that’s beaten them … we
use it as motivation and a pick-me-up for this game,” said Tigers forward
Chris Hobbs.
Ratings game. Want great TV ratings? Just get Duke to play on your network.
Duke vs. Maryland Round One on Jan. 17 was the highest rating ever for a
regular-season game on ESPN, drawing a about three million viewers.
Duke-Maryland II on Feb. 17 drew the highest rating for a CBS regular-season
game since 1994.
Tom Chiappetta, director of media relations for Fox Sports Net, said Tuesday
that the first Virginia-Duke game this season drew a 1.29 rating (almost a
million homes), the most-watched basketball game ever on the 5-year-old network.
Chiappetta said that the Fox Sunday night ACC package is doing well, averaging
about a 0.5 rating (about 380,000 homes) through 17 games. That package will end
this season with UVa’s game at Maryland on Sunday (8 p.m.) in the last game
ever at Cole Field House, which the network will highlight.
“We’re starting to grow an audience on Sunday nights,” said Chiappetta of
the first year of a 10-year deal with the ACC. “We’re happy with the ACC and
this package.”
Fox Sports Net, which is composed of 21 regional sports networks across the
country, is rated ninth out of all the cable networks and reaches 78 million
homes.
Free throws … Clemson has had only two McDonald’s All-Americans in the
program’s history. … UNC coach Matt Doherty will tell you that can be
deceiving: “I was a McDonald’s All-American and that same year Clyde Drexler
and John Stockton were not, if you catch what I’m saying.” … Former N.C.
State All-American wide receiver Torry Holt has donated $100,000 to the Wolfpack
Club. … If Debbie Ryan doesn’t win ACC women’s coach of the year, there
ought to be an investigation. … Had the slippery floor at the Richmond
Coliseum not forced the cancellation of UVa’s game against Michigan State and
had the Cavaliers hung on to win that game, would we be having conversations
about the NCAA bubble? … ESPN has decided to give viewers two options for its
March 10 telecast of the premiere of “A Season on the Brink,” an unedited
version on ESPN and an edited version that bleeps over some language on ESPN2
(although there will also be strong language in the edited version as well, just
not as strong as the unedited).
Cavs happy Watson's on boards
CHARLOTTESVILLE Bobby Gonzalez never seems to stop talking or stop moving, especially on the recruiting trail. He "makes coffee nervous," according to his former boss. Even by Gonzo's standards, however, his pursuit of Travis Watson was extraordinary.
"That's the hardest I personally, individually, ever worked on one kid," Gonzalez recalled this week. "I was so locked in and focused, I was obsessed. I lost a girlfriend in the process. I was a madman."
Now head coach at Manhattan College, Gonzalez was a University of Virginia assistant when Watson played at Oak Hill Academy. He followed Watson to Russia, among other places.
"I just fell in love with him," Gonzalez said. "I just thought he was one of those undersized warriors that Pete Gillen had so much success with at Xavier and Providence."
Untold players fail to live up to their billing. Not Watson, who's turned out to be every bit as good as Gonzalez and Oak Hill coach Steve Smith predicted. Watson signed with U.Va. in the fall of 1998 - about a month into Gillen's first season as coach there - and enrolled the following summer. He grabbed 14 rebounds in his college debut and 16 in his first ACC game - against Duke no less. So what if he was the shortest starting center in the ACC?
"He's a special player," Gillen said.
A blue-collar worker, this Travis Jermaine Watson. His ACC counterparts include 6-8 Lonny Baxter, 6-10 Chris Wilcox, 6-11 Kris Lang, 6-9 Darius Songaila and 6-10 Nigel Dixon. When it comes to rebounding, they all look up to Watson.
"I just always had an eye for the ball," said Watson, a Brookneal resident who spent his 11th- and 12-grade years at Oak Hill in bucolic Mouth of Wilson. "It's just how bad you want it. The whole game, I'm going after it, because that might be the only time I get it in my hands."
USA Today crowned Oak Hill as national high school champion after Watson's senior season. Smith recalled, "I used to tell him in games, 'Bubba, go get us the ball. We got to have it.'"
Watson, who made the ACC's all-freshman team in 1999-2000, averaged 12.3 points and 9.1 boards (second only to Georgia Tech's 6-11 Alvin Jones) and was named second-team all-ACC last season. Now, with two regular-season games left in his junior season, he's poised to become the first Cavalier to the lead the ACC in rebounding since Ralph Sampson in 1982-83.
Sampson, of course, stood 7-4. The 255-pound Watson is at least 8 inches shorter. U.Va. lists him at 6-8.
"I thought we stretched him we called him 6-7," Smith recalled with a laugh.
For the record, Watson said, he's 6-7 in his bare feet, 6-8 with his shoes on. "I got some thick sole pads."
When and if he lands in the NBA, Watson will be an undersized power forward. At U.Va., he's been stuck at center, though that could change next season, when 6-10, 250-pound Nick Vander becomes eligible. If Watson is playing out of position, he's never looked out of his league in the rugged ACC, even as he's battled a string of injuries stemming from the pounding he takes inside.
Not since Sampson in 1982-83 has a U.Va. player averaged a double-double, a drought that's probably about to end. Watson ranks first in the ACC in rebounding (10.2 per game) and 14th in scoring (13.7 ppg). He's among the top 10 in field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage, notwithstanding his struggles from the line Saturday, when he went 0 for 3 in the final minute of a loss to Georgia Tech.
Watson scored a career-high 29 points against N.C. State on Feb. 6, and his outside shot has started to consistently fall in the past month. Rebounding, however, remains his forte. He grabbed a career-best 17 against Wake Forest last month and has twice ripped down 15 this season.
"You've got to make an effort to rebound," Oak Hill's Smith said, "and almost all guys won't make that, even your big guys. Travis goes after every rebound."
Watson's goals are many. He wants to win a national championship at Virginia, he wants to earn his degree, he wants to win the ACC's rebounding title, he wants to play in the NBA, he wants to collect a double-double every time he suits up. Watson also wants to grab 20 rebounds in a game, but he isn't sure if that feat is imminent. He's a marked man, after all.
"Nowadays, I got to dodge four or five people out there," Watson said, "so it's getting hard."
U.VA. NOTES
HARRIS HEADED TO HOFSTRA: Former University of Virginia tailback Arlen Harris has transferred to Division I-AA Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
Harris, who rushed for 581 yards and two touchdowns in three injury-marred seasons at U.Va., is eligible immediately at Hofstra, the defending Atlantic 10 champion.
A Parade All-American at Downingtown (Pa.) High, Harris began the 2000 season as the Cavaliers' top tailback. But he injured his knee in the opener, had surgery and appeared in only two other regular-season games.
Harris began his redshirt junior season as the No.2 tailback. He briefly became the starter after Antwoine Womack got hurt in last year's opener, but an injury again intervened. Harris didn't carry the ball in Virginia's final five games and wasn't likely to play much in 2002.
OFF THE MARK: U.Va. junior guard Roger Mason Jr. is no longer the career free-throw percentage leader in ACC men's basketball. Mason went 4 for 6 from the line Saturday against Georgia Tech, lowering his career percentage to 87.2. Charlie Davis shot 87.3 percent from 1969-71 at Wake Forest.
Each of Mason's misses Saturday came on the front end of a one-and-one. He hadn't missed in that situation all season.
ROUGH STRETCH: Unless it upsets ACC rival Duke on Thursday at University Hall, Virginia will finish with its worst February record in four seasons under coach Pete Gillen. The Cavaliers, 2-5 this month, went 2-5 in February in 1998-99, 3-4 in 1999-2000 and 5-2 last season.
EXPERIMENTING: Gillen has started a different lineup in each of Virginia's past four games. The only constants have been Mason and senior forward Chris Williams, though even the latter's role changed against Georgia Tech. Williams started at power forward, his former home, for the first time all season.
Joining Mason and Williams were junior center Travis Watson, freshman forward Jason Clark and freshman guard Jermaine Harper against North Carolina on Feb. 12; Watson, Clark and freshman guard Keith Jenifer against Wake on Feb. 17; Watson, freshman forward Elton Brown and Harper against Florida State on Wednesday; and Brown, senior forward Adam Hall and Jenifer against Georgia Tech.
HELP IS ON THE WAY: Virginia recruits J.R. Reynolds, a 6-3 guard, and Derrick Byars, a 6-7 small forward, had impressive weekends. Reynolds, a junior, hit five 3-pointers and scored 33 points Sunday to lead Roanoke Catholic to a 90-86 overtime win over Benedictine. The victory gave the Celtics their second consecutive State Catholic tournament title.
Byars, a senior from Memphis, Tenn., scored 27 points Friday to carry Ridgeway High to the District 15-AA title. The night before, Byars scored 24 in Ridgeway's semifinal victory.
MORE TO COME? Thursday's game against Duke was expected to be the last one at U-Hall for Virginia seniors Williams, Hall and Jason Dowling. It's looking more and more, though, like the Cavaliers (16-9) are headed to the NIT. Should that be the case, they'd probably be awarded a first-round home game.
Virginia, ranked No.4 in both polls in late December, fell out of each this week. The Cavaliers were No.15 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll and No.22 in The Associated Press poll last week.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY: U.Va.'s new recruiting coordinator in football, Mike London, has the most ties to the state of any member of coach Al Groh's staff.
London, 41, attended Tabb and Bethel high schools, played and coached at the University of Richmond and was a William and Mary assistant from 1990-93. Last season was his first at U.Va., where his brother, Paul, played defensive back in the'90s.
Mike London, who also coaches the Cavaliers' defensive linemen, succeeds Dan Rocco as recruiting coordinator. Rocco will continue as assistant head coach and outside linebackers coach.
"Dan did a marvelous job over the last 14 months coordinating our recruiting activities," said Groh, who cited the recently signed class that's widely ranked among the nation's top 10. "However, I simply need more of his help in the administrative area so that I may continue to devote my time to coaching and recruiting."
ELITE COMPANY: Dom Starsia collected his 100th victory as the Virginia men's lacrosse coach Sunday when his team drilled Drexel 20-5.
He's believed to be only the third coach to win at least 100 games at two schools. The others are Jack Emmer (Washington and Lee, Army) and Dave Urick (Hobart, Georgetown). Starsia, 100-36 at U.Va., went 101-46 at Brown. - Jeff White
Everyone knows the Roger Mason Jr. that can hit the 23-footer with a hand in his face. They know the player that hits 90 percent of his free throws every time he toes the line. They understand that he wants the ball in his hands with time running down and the game tied. But do they know who Roger Mason Jr. really is?
Do they know about the young man from Silver Spring, Md., who makes sure people say the "Jr." in his name to honor his late father? Do they know about the kid who grew up loving the Detroit Pistons while dreaming that one day he could be anything like the great Isaiah Thomas?
Mason, born Roger Phillip Mason Jr., found his love for the game earlier than most, in his grade school days. It was while playing AAU basketball one summer in middle school that the game of basketball took hold of Mason and never let go.
Then came high school, and the games didn't stop. During his freshman year, he embraced the fact that he could play big time college basketball.
Basketball "was year-round, because I played AAU and I played so much," Mason said. "Since I was in middle school playing AAU ball, I knew that I wanted to go play college ball, but it started to look more like a reality after my freshman year in high school."
Good Counsel was the school of choice for Mason, who transferred to the private school after his freshman year at Sidwell Friends. Year after year, Mason put out the big numbers as a Falcon. That translated into scholarship offers from anywhere Mason could want to play Division I basketball. Most people assumed he would head to Maryland. Most people assumed wrong.
Mason spurned his home state's Terrapins for an experience he felt Maryland simply could not provide.
"I went to the school that I wanted to go to," Mason said. "Maryland offered me a scholarship. Both told me that I was their priority at shooting guard. I got scholarship offers. I made the choice that was best for me. Looking back, I am really happy with my decision."
Mason came to Virginia relatively unheralded. While his solid high school career was impressive, some weren't sure what to expect from the "college" Mason. He didn't disappoint, however, quickly becoming a standout student-athlete on and off the court. Mason, who says his game most resembles that of his favorite player, Ray Allen of the Milwaukee Bucks, maintained his strong work ethic and love for the sport after high school.
"All we do is play basketball," he said, with a determined look in his eye. "We play pickup games all the time when the season isn't going on. Basketball is such a big part of our lives, that, besides academics, there isn't much time for anything else. That's what it was in high school."
That's the Mason that most people don't know. The player who shoots at Slaughter or North Grounds when his team isn't playing pickup games in U-Hall. The player who would rather take 1,000 jumpshots than party all weekend.
This is the Roger Mason Jr. that takes tough losses "10 times harder than any fan out there could possibly take a loss." The young man who says months like February can be unbearably frustrating all because the team has hit a losing streak.
"He is such a good person, along with a good player," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "He works so hard throughout the year. He is a team player and the type of guy you love to have on the team."
As dedicated as Mason has been throughout his career, there is the question of whether Mason will spurn his senior year to test the waters in the NBA draft. When naming friends in the NBA, such as Rodney White, Demarr Johnson and Joe Forte, one is quick to notice that all of those names left their colleges early. It is only natural to wonder if NBA stardom could pull Mason from Virginia.
Wonder no more.
"I will be back in school next year," Mason said, after a period of leaving his decision open to question in the media. "I've really enjoyed playing the season with these guys and it hasn't panned out the way I wanted to this year. Getting my degree is important. Right now I would definitely be coming back to school."
That statement typifies Roger Mason Jr. He is a young man who understands exactly what his priorities are, and that translates into good news for Cavalier fans. Very good news, indeed.
Pull this one out of the oven, baby. It's done.
Dead in the water. Wrapped up. Destroyed. Finito.
Flashback to late November. The Cavaliers' men's team was ranked No. 11 in the nation. And talk about high hopes!
"If we can beat Michigan State early and if Duke's having a down year..."
"And if we can play the same way at home as we did last season..."
"And if the four freshman can contribute right away..."
"And if Roger Mason Jr. can make a smooth transition to point guard..."
"Hey, we'll be the No. 1 team in the conference in no time!"
"Oh yeah. Third at the worst. We've got a good team here."
That was November. Yesterday, both Top 25 polls were released for men's college basketball, and Virginia didn't make the cut in either one.
So much for being a good team - you can lay those hopes to rest.
The Cavaliers missed four consecutive free throws Sunday in the closing minute. Good teams don't do that.
The Cavaliers allowed Georgia Tech - the worst shooting team in the conference - to make 55 percent of its shots. Good teams don't do that either.
Good teams can put away games they lead in the final minute. They win by playing the game at their own pace, not the opponent's. They can win when they force turnovers - as the Cavaliers do - and even if they don't - as the Cavaliers do not.
Let's face it: This is not a good basketball team. Not now. And it's not going to become one overnight.
But, you know what? You don't have to be a good team to make the NCAA tournament. Sometimes, you just have to play one great weekend.
One last gasp
There are two ways Virginia can guarantee itself a berth in the NCAA tournament, which begins two weeks from Thursday. One way is that the Cavaliers win their last two regular season games against No. 3 Duke and No. 2 Maryland.
Don't count on it. Virginia will play Maryland in Cole Field House's final game ever. The Terrapins and their sold-out crowd - some of whom have bought tickets for over $500 on ebay - will be more excited than Queen Elizabeth at her coronation.
The second way the Cavaliers can make the NCAAs is by winning the ACC tournament.
It just takes one great weekend. That's not likely, but it is possible. And it's happened before. If the Cavaliers, who certainly will stumble into the conference tournament, need inspiration, all they need to do is look back to 1993.
Only once in the past 12 years has a team that finished lower than third in the ACC regular season won the conference tournament.
That team, the 1992-93 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, started off the season ranked in the Top 15 and - after two big early-season victories - catapulted into the top 10. Sound familiar?
Then the Jackets started to slump. They lost two straight games to unranked teams and - after a short-win streak - they dropped four out of five games to conference opponents. The Yellow Jackets started 9-2. By the end of February, they were 15-9.
This is getting eerie.
The Yellow Jackets finished the regular season sixth in the ACC (Virginia currently is fifth) and were resigned to head to the NIT. But then the stars started to align. In Charlotte, Georgia Tech got its act together, first by pulling out a three-point win over nationally ranked Duke in the quarterfinals. Then they had an easy time beating seventh-seeded Clemson, which luck arranged to upset second-seeded Florida State.
In the final -- against the number one seed, North Carolina -- Georgia Tech's James Forrest played the game of his life: 27 points and 10 rebounds against the nation's No. 1 team.
The Yellow Jackets won by two and went on to a fourth seed in the NCAA tournament.
All thanks to one great weekend.