A victory for UVa to relish
Former UVa standout Roger Mason Jr. watches his former teammates win an ACC road game for the first time in more than a year.
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - This was the way they always hoped it would be, with Roger Mason Jr. sitting in Virginia's locker room with his fellow 1998 signees and savoring a Cavalier victory over a top-10 team.
Much has happened since Mason joined Travis Watson, Majestic Mapp and Jason Rogers in coach Pete Gillen's first full recruiting class, but for one magical night, everything came together Thursday at the Comcast Center.

Mason was merely a spectator, having left college early for the NBA, but Watson and Mapp had pivotal roles as struggling Virginia knocked off No.8 Maryland 86-78 in the most unpredictable two hours of the Cavaliers' season.

"If we beat Maryland up there in a hostile environment, we could beat a lot of teams," said Gillen, the sacrificial lamb last March, when the Terrapins closed Cole Field House with a 102-65 trouncing of the Cavaliers.

UVa (13-7, 4-4 ACC) had not won an ACC road game in more than a year and was a 13-point underdog to a Maryland team that had won its 14 previous conference home games.

The Terrapins (14-5, 6-2) led by as many as 12 points in the second half and were sitting on a 10-point lead, 69-59, before going more than nine minutes and 18 possessions without a field goal. Maryland missed 13 straight shots from the field before Drew Nicholas scored on an uncontested dunk with five seconds left.

Sophomore guard Devin Smith, signed out of junior college after Mason started talking about the NBA, came off the Cavaliers' bench to score 17 points in 18 minutes. Watson added 15 points and 10 rebounds for his 48th career double-double.

UVa's unlikely third double-figure scorer was Mapp, who made nine of 10 free throws and finished with 11 points, one off a career high established in 2000, before he suffered a knee injury that would sideline him for 2 1/2 seasons.

"I wanted to be a leader, so I wanted the ball at crunch time," said Mapp, whose 19 minutes represented his most extensive playing time in six games since his return.

The Cavaliers were without sophomore Keith Jenifer, their point guard for most of the season, who was suspended indefinitely after his arrest Sunday on misdemeanor charges of assault and battery.

Jenifer already had lost his spot in the starting lineup, with Todd Billet moving from shooting guard to point guard. One effect of the suspension was increased playing time for Mapp and another guard, Jermaine Harper, who had played a total of 25 minutes in the previous four games.

Harper, whose confidence grew during a 12-minute stint Thursday, hit a 3-pointer with 6:25 left that gave UVa a lead it would not relinquish at 70-69, and a second 3-pointer moments later capped a 16-0 run.

Maryland coach Gary Williams raged at his players for leaving Harper alone in the left corner, just as he had vented his frustrations at the end of the first half, when UVa went the length of the floor for a buzzer-beating layup by Derrick Byars that put the Cavs on top 47-45.

"It looked like we thought we could get away with not playing our 'A' game," Williams said. "I hope it hurts for two-and-a-half days. I hope it really hurts, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour, until the ball gets thrown up [Sunday] at Georgia Tech."

Virginia shot 55.2 percent from the field in the first half and 49.1 percent for the game, but it looked as if the Cavaliers would be undone by sloppy ball-handling. However, after committing their 20th turnover with 11:47 remaining in the second half, they didn't have another miscue the rest of the way.

"We took care of the ball," Gillen said. "That was the big thing."

After a shaky first half, Billet had five assists and one turnover in the second half. Neither Mapp nor Harper had a turnover in the second half as Jenifer's absence enabled Gillen to use nine players for at least 12 minutes apiece.

"In coaching today, you're not only coaching to win," Gillen said. "You're trying to keep people happy and keep them on ship. It's hard to play 10 players. Nine is a little more manageable,"

That doesn't mean the Cavaliers couldn't have used Mason, hoping to play for the Chicago Bulls this season after undergoing fall shoulder surgery. Mason, decked out in a throwback jersey, has family in suburban Maryland and took advantage of the NBA All-Star break to watch his old team.

"It would be nice to be coaching him this year," Gillen said. "I told him we had a uniform for him."

 

Game, not fame
In the NBDL, fans are few but it's all about getting 'the look'
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Feb 08, 2003
Bob Lipper at (804) 649-6555 or e-mail blipper@timesdispatch.com

ROANOKE This is the night Cory Alexander shows he's still got a tad of the right stuff. The night Jamal Robinson shows some we-didn't-know-he-had-it-in-him stuff. The night Donald Hand shows the same old stuff. But you want to know the defining moment of this National Basketball Development League matchup between the Greenville Groove and Roanoke Dazzle? It's when Dazzle backup center Sah-u-Rah Brown is handed the microphone moments before tipoff.

"I want to thank you for your support," Brown tells the audience. "I see a lot of familiar faces out there, which is a good thing."

The bad thing being there's maybe 300 souls scattered around the lower stands of the Roanoke Civic Center, meaning it's no chore to pick a face out of the crowd.

Welcome to the NBDL, humble stepchild of the NBA and home of the whopper - that being the attendance figure of 1,007 the Dazzle somehow conjures for the evening's stat sheet. Birthed by NBA commish David Stern two years ago as an in-house, minor-league answer to the sagging but still ticking CBA, the NBDL exists as a training ground for fill-in help in case Paul Pierce or Scottie Pippen goes down with a hangnail.

Fifteen NBDL players - seven this season - have so far gotten call-ups from the NBA. That's why - and not to stage a Virginia Cavaliers reunion - Alexander, Robinson and Hand were in Roanoke a couple of Wednesdays ago.

"You want that legit look from people to see you," Robinson said. "You don't come into this league for money. It's strictly for the look."

Robinson, who's played in the CBA and overseas, raised eyebrows on this occasion by nailing long-range jumpers and attacking with an abandon he rarely demonstrated during a U.Va. career that ended in 1997. Hand, still barreling into the lane two years removed from U.Va. - but finding no Elton Brands or Alvin Joneses blocking the route - sank all 13 of his free throw attempts and finished with 21 points, six assists and five turnovers. Alexander, an NBA player for six seasons after leaving Charlottesville in'94, rang up 26 points and 13 assists.

"Of course, getting to the NBA is the ultimate," Alexander said. "But my thing is just playing. I know when I'm 40 years old, I can't do this. At 29, I can't give away opportunities."

His efforts this night were observed by a Spurs scout and applauded by a crowd that would've been dwarfed by the thousands Alexander once umm, dazzled, in ACC arenas. Early in the first period, somebody tried to launch a "Here we go Dazzle, here we go" chant. The cry was heeded by a single fan who began a rhythmic clap that echoed forlornly in the near-empty building.

"We're still trying to find our niche in some of our marketplaces," the NBDL's president, Phil Evans, said.

Translation: Attendance is softer than the Groove's defense.

Evans is yet another U.Va. man - a Class of'84 grad and law school alum who segued from a San Diego firm to the CBA front office and then to the NBDL's headquarters in Greenville, S.C. There, he studies grim turnstile counts for a league based in eight Southeastern towns that owe more allegiance to college football and basketball than to Terrence Shannon and Kevin Lyde.

Greenville and Mobile, Ala., are particularly weak when it comes to fan support, Fayetteville, N.C., and Huntsville, Ala., relatively sturdy. The league claims average per-game attendance of about 1,300 - but who knows?

"I wouldn't say profitability is the key," Evans said. "The NBDL serves a very important purpose for the [NBA] in the development of not only players, but coaches, officials and front-office personnel. Obviously, we'd love to make money. That is not on our radar screen right now."

Nor are many of its players - they mostly being of marginal skill as defined by the NBA and higher European leagues and of limited marquee value to marketing specialists. The Dazzle got so desperate a few weeks ago that its sales staff went door-to-door in downtown Roanoke to peddle tickets for a Monday game. It announced a crowd of 1,700 that night - but again, who knows?

"It has been more difficult than I thought it would be," said Dazzle President Dennis Robarge. "Every time I think we're getting the word out there - every time we think everybody knows what the Dazzle is - we'll get, 'What do you guys play again?'"

The league, meanwhile, is in a cost-cutting mood. It trimmed the schedule from 56 games to 50 this season and lowered ticket prices - the Dazzle's listed scale runs from $6 to $19 per seat - but the masses aren't buying. The only homecourt advantage a team might get is from being more familiar with the dead spots on its floor.

"That's a huge difference," Alexander said. "Ever since I was in high school, I played in front of pretty big crowds. Here, every night out you've got to provide your own motivation. You don't have the crowd to boost you up."

He's not complaining - not about fan support or bus travel or take-home (NBDL salaries range from the low to mid-20s; the NBA minimum is $325,000) or skimpy per diems. Alexander's just happy to have a stage, and on this night he gets basketball's equivalent of a curtain call when he pulls up on the break and drains a jump shot.

"Let's make some noise for your Roanoke Dazzle!" the p.a. announcer booms.

The response does not require ear plugs.
 

U.VA. NOTES
Feb 08, 2003

FAMILIAR FACE: Virginia got a boost Thursday night from Roger Mason Jr., who was among the sellout crowd at Maryland's Comcast Center. Mason, who grew up in Silver Spring, Md., visited with his former teammates and coaches before and after U.Va.'s 86-78 upset of defending national champion Maryland.

"I think it was a big lift. Everybody was hugging him," Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen said yesterday. "We had a uniform for him."

Mason, who led U.Va. in scoring in 2000-01 and'01-02, passed up his senior year to enter the NBA draft. He's a rookie guard with the Chicago Bulls. Mason, who had an operation on his shoulder in September, hopes to make his debut soon.

"He's a great guy," Gillen said. "He was as happy as our guys were that we had a good game. He's part of our family."

BALANCED ATTACK: Of the nine Cavaliers who played against Maryland, each scored at least four points. Eight played 17 minutes or more, and the ninth, Jermaine Harper, played 12. Reserves Devin Smith (17 points), Majestic Mapp (11), Harper (eight) and Nick Vander Laan (seven) contributed exactly half of U.Va.'s scoring.

"It was a complete team effort," junior guard Todd Billet said.

Before reserve point guard Keith Jenifer was suspended indefinitely Monday, Gillen was trying to find time for 10 players, a difficult task. Nine are "a little more manageable," Gillen said.

PASSING FANCY: Billet once had 11 assists in a game for Rutgers. In his first 19 games at Virginia, however, the junior guard never had more than four assists. Against Maryland, Billet had eight.

He also shined defensively against senior Steve Blake, one of the nation's premier point guards. Blake scored 12 points but missed 6 of 10 shots from the floor and had a game-high six turnovers.

Billet "kept him from dominating the game," Gillen said. "I thought a big part of the victory was making Blake earn his points."

INVESTIGATION CONTINUES: Jenifer isn't likely to be reinstated for Virginia's game tomorrow against N.C. State at University Hall, Gillen said. The sophomore from Baltimore was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery after an altercation with another U.Va. student early Sunday. Jenifer was suspended for what U.Va. called "conduct detrimental to the team."

Jenifer is scheduled to appear Feb. 28 in Charlottesville General District Court. Gillen declined to say whether Jenifer might return to the team before then.

"Information's still being gathered by different sources," Gillen said.

On a teleconference with reporters yesterday, Gillen was reluctant to discuss Jenifer's case. But he said that "sometimes you just have to walk away. . . . If trouble comes to you, you just have to walk away."

FIVE-YEAR PLAN: Football coach Al Groh said Wednesday that the Cavaliers' 2003 roster will include five fifth-year seniors: quarterback Matt Schaub, fullback Kase Luzar, long-snapper Ryan Childress, wideout Ryan Sawyer and center Kevin Bailey. Among those who won't return for a fifth year are linebacker Stan Norfleet, defensive lineman Justin Walker and offensive linemen Ben Carber and Micah Kimball.

Barring any unexpected attrition, U.Va. will have 10 players in their final season of eligibility in 2003: Schaub, Luzar, Childress, Sawyer, Bailey, cornerbacks Curry, Jamaine Winborne and Art Thomas, linebacker Raymond Mann and wideout Michael McGrew.

COURT CASES: U.Va. football players Elton Brown and Almondo Curry, each facing a charge of misdemeanor assault and battery, made their initial appearances in Charlottesville General District Court yesterday. They were told to inform the court March 17 who will be representing them, a clerk at the court said, and then a hearing date will be set.

Brown, a sophomore offensive guard, and Curry, a junior cornerback, were charged Jan. 19 after another U.Va. student, Ayoola Keith Olorunsola, contacted university police about an incident that allegedly took place Jan. 18.

PROUD PAPA: Wednesday was a day to remember for Mike London, U.Va.'s recruiting coordinator in football. Not only did the Cavaliers land a class that's widely ranked among the nation's top 25, but one of London's sons accepted a football scholarship from Division I-AA power Massachusetts.

Brandon London, a 6-4, 190-pound wideout, is enrolled in Fork Union Military Academy's postgraduate program. He graduated from Albemarle High. Mike London, a former City of Richmond police officer, played and coached at the University of Richmond. - Jeff White

 

Coach rubs in pain of Va. loss
'Hope it hurts for 2 1/2 days,' Terps' Williams says of rare home setback to Cavs; UM visits Ga. Tech, 10-0 at home; Late letdown, blown lead add to irritation of loss
By Gary Lambrecht
Sun Staff
Originally published February 8, 2003

COLLEGE PARK - The Maryland Terrapins concluded the first half of their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule by failing to finish an important job against Virginia, and Terps coach Gary Williams wants his team to feel the pain deeply.
Thursday's 86-78 upset loss to the unranked Cavaliers gave the Terps much to swallow.

By blowing a 12-point, second-half lead primarily due to Virginia's superb three-point shooting, by failing to score a basket for a late nine-minute stretch, by watching the Cavaliers obliterate a 69-59 deficit over the game's final 9:06, the No. 8 Terps wasted a precious opportunity to beat Virginia for the 10th straight time at home.

The loss dropped Maryland into a first-place tie in the league standings with Wake Forest. It marked Maryland's first ACC defeat at home since Feb. 14, 2001, when Florida State handed the Terps their final setback before advancing to the school's first Final Four. It was also the Terps' first defeat to a team currently unranked.

And during a season in which road victories are excruciatingly tough to come by, Maryland (14-5, 6-2) became the first ACC team among the league's top six schools to lose to a conference opponent on its home court. The league is now 28-8 at home in conference play.

The Terps, who have now lost more games than last year's NCAA championship team, next play tomorrow at Georgia Tech, which is 10-0 at home. That commences a stretch that sends the Terps on the road for three of their next four games. Five of Maryland's remaining eight conference games are away from Comcast Center.

"I hope it hurts [his players] for 2 1/2 days. I hope it really hurts," Williams said of the late collapse against Virginia. "I hope they think about it 24 hours a day, 60 minutes an hour. I hope they don't put it behind them until the ball gets thrown up at Georgia Tech.

"I think there's a tendency when you come from behind and you get the lead, you think you did what you had to do to win the game. You pay for that, especially this year in college basketball. We played the last nine minutes like we played early in the game. We got the lead and gave them some open looks. We fell down a little bit defensively and couldn't put the ball in the basket."

Maryland, which spotted Virginia an early 33-20 lead, rubbed it out with a 17-2 run, then surrendered the final basket of the first half to trail at the break 47-45 -the most first-half points allowed by the Terps this season. They seemed to regain control by opening the second half with a 13-2 burst.

During that surge, Maryland forced turnovers and consistently got the ball inside, where senior center Ryan Randle scored all of his eight second-half points, as the Terps took a 58-49 lead. They extended the lead to 65-53 with 12:46 left, and that's when Virginia's explosive bench took over.

During the next nine minutes, Virginia sophomore reserve guards Jermaine Harper and Devin Smith, a junior-college transfer, doused the home crowd and stunned the Terps with a combined six three-pointers, with Smith hitting four of them before finishing with a team-high 17 points.

Maryland went cold at the worst time. After an 18-footer by freshman forward Travis Garrison gave the Terps a 69-59 lead with 9:06 to go, the Terps did not record a basket for nine minutes. Maryland shot just 36.4 percent in the second half.

"When we got that lead, I thought we were going to come away with the win if we played hard and executed," said point guard Steve Blake, who had a game-high six turnovers to go with 12 points and five assists. "Some of us got lazy, I guess. It hurts. I'm going to be upset for the next couple of days. I've got to use that anger to make my team better. I'm not quite sure what happened."

What happened was a Maryland team that prides itself on depth got whipped by a deeper squad on a disheartening night.

Virginia's bench outscored Maryland's, 43-18. Part of that was due to brief appearances by backups Jamar Smith and Chris McCray, who were two key contributors to Maryland's 7-1 January record. They played a combined seven minutes on Thursday.

The Cavaliers, showing little drop-off without suspended point guard Keith Jenifer, protected the ball in crunch time, scored inside effectively with center Travis Watson and bombed the Terps with 12 three-pointers, the most allowed this year by Maryland.

"Virginia hit big shots, open shots, and we didn't. But we didn't compete at times. That's the most frustrating thing," senior forward Tahj Holden said.

"I think we've been into the season long enough to know everyone is going to play hard against us. But there's no reason they should play harder than us. We had a chance to put ourselves in a good position. Now, we're scratching and clawing again."
 

Commentary: Gillen Leads Troops Past Terps
By Chris Wallace
Date: Feb 7, 2003

Shocking, unbelievable, mind-boggling. Well, just insert your own adjective here. The Virginia men's basketball team goes on the road and takes it to No. 8 Maryland at the shiny new Comcast Center, 86-78. It really doesn't sound right in all honesty. After all, we're talking about -- in recent history anyway -- one of the worst road teams in the nation and one of the best home teams. Give the Cavaliers credit, and there's a lot to go around, but there's only one place to start.

UVa coach Pete Gillen has been getting hammered --and I've driven a few nails myself -- as of late for his team's poor performances on the road. My biggest complaint has been the lack of intensity the Cavaliers have traveled with, and I think that responsibility belongs to the coach. He should have his guys ready to go, and if guys aren't ready, they need to get yanked. That hasn't been the case at times this season, and I don't know who could argue that assertion.
But I have never doubted the man's knowledge of the game or his ability to coach. I have maintained this season that Pete Gillen hasn't accomplished the things he's accomplished purely out of good fortune. A 202-75 record in nine years at Xavier, before anyone ever heard of Xavier, is not the result of a lucky run. But Virginia, fans wanted to see some fire out of this team, a true passion, and we all got to see that on Thursday night. And it started with Gillen.

Gillen was as animated on the sidelines at the Comcast Center as he has been at any time at Virginia. His shirt was drenched, his collar disheveled, the referees were getting an earful. Pete Gillen matched Gary Williams' well-documented intensity on the sideline Thursday night, and his players followed suit.

Gillen said after the game that he believed his team could win and he certainly coached like it. His enthusiasm and passion and fire were contagious, make no mistake about it. If you think the players weren't sitting there at times watching Pete, you're wrong. Players want to see their coach fight, and Gillen came ready for a slugfest. And as a result, it was the Cavaliers -- now 13-7 overall and 4-4 in the ACC -- landing most of the power shots, with Devin Smith (17 points) showing an especially devastating right hand.

The Cavaliers opened strong grabbing a 13-point lead in the first half only to see Maryland storm back to grab the lead. But Virginia never wilted during that run, and thanks to a driving layup at the buzzer by Derrick Byars the Cavs led 47-45 at the break.

But the second half started poorly. Virginia missed it's first five shots and Maryland grabbed a bit of a working margin. But you still knew that it was a different Pete Gillen on the sideline. Elton Brown, who had some very good moments in the game, opened the second half as if he had cement in his shoes. The burly sophomore was just standing around and it cost Virginia on the glass as the Terps got a couple of offensive rebounds and putbacks. So Pete ripped him out of the game less than three minutes into the second half in favor of Nick Vander Laan. And Brown sat and watched for quite some time. But when he came back, the Newport News native was ready to play and showed some real effort down the stretch at both ends of the floor.

Still, it was Virginia down 10 with about seven minutes to play. Enter Smith and Jermaine Harper. That duo combined to hit four 3-pointers and spark a 16-0 run that put Virginia up 75-69 with about three minutes to play, stunning the 17,000 red-clad Terrapin faithful. But while the jumpers were dropping during that span, the defense was an even bigger story as UVa really got after the Terps. Every shot was contested and it seemed as if Travis Watson grabbed every rebound, although Smith and Vander Laan had a few big ones as well.

That stretch of basketball gave Virginia a chance to win the game, and they put a vice lock on the win with more good defense down the stretch and some solid free-throw shooting, most notably by Majestic Mapp, who hit 9-10 on the night. The heroes were plenty and by now everyone has seen a box score and knows the numbers. And there were lessons to be learned, just as Elton Brown learned. Guys like Smith and Harper had been playing less and struggling during their time. But great teams have players that aren't concerned with their playing time. Great teams have players that play as hard as they can no matter how much time they log. Smith and Harper played like that on Thursday and Virginia benefited from that mentality.

But it all started with Gillen. He set the tone and his players responded. Virginia fans can just hope that the kids learned what can come from an effort like this. There's no question that UVa has the talent to compete at a high level, just ask Maryland, Wake Forest and Kentucky. That kind of effort will lead to victories. The Cavaliers have too much depth and too much balance to be outclassed, if they come to play and are willing to work on defense.

And the schedule sets up well the rest of the way for Virginia. After all, the Cavs have already taken trips to Maryland, Duke, Georgia Tech and N.C. State. That means only a trip to Wake remains against the upper echelon teams in the league. It also means five ACC home games down the stretch in cozy University Hall, where Virginia has yet to lose this season. The first of those five comes on Sunday against the Wolfpack. State has dominated the series as of late and won by 12 in Raleigh last month. But Virginia should win this game at home, even though the Pack's style of play doesn't suit the Cavaliers. But it will likely be a battle and battles are won with good generals. Pete Gillen went into the Comcast Center like Patton on Thursday and Virginia fans will be looking for more of the same Sunday.