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Cavaliers' defense a positive attribute
By Andrew Joyner  / Daily Progress staff writer
February 11, 2003

 

Until this week, even Virginia coach Pete Gillen had argued that some of his program’s biggest wins had come when his team simply outscored the opponent.
Wins the past two seasons over Duke at University Hall are prime examples, as it wasn’t a matter of Virginia stopping its opponent but rather that opponent not stopping Virginia.
In wins over Maryland on Thursday and N.C. State on Sunday, the credit did not lie with a stellar offensive display but with defense, a word that Gillen once said his players thought was “some town in Italy.”
Virginia limited the Terrapins to just one basket in the final nine minutes on Thursday and did the same Sunday as N.C. State was held scoreless over the final 2:56. Both Maryland and N.C. State shot 41.8 percent against Virginia. Those aren’t frigid percentages but Virginia’s defense was certainly at its toughest at the appropriate times.
When N.C. State attempted to setup up a game-tying 3-pointer by Julius Hodge, Virginia defenders Jason Clark and then Derrick Byars impeded the 6-foot-6 Hodge’s progress at each step. Hodge was left with a leaning, off-balanced attempt that bounded off the rim. Virginia’s victory ended a five-game losing streak to the Wolfpack.
“We locked down on them those last 12 seconds. We had to,” Byars said.
Added Clark: “Defense wins championships. You saw that with the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. … We did a good job of that today.”
According to sophomore forward Elton Brown, defense has been a particular emphasis this past week.
“Coach Gillen said that if we want to win, we have to start playing defense. He said that if we want to sit here and go to the NIT again, we should just keep playing defense the way we have,” Brown said. “The Maryland game was a wakeup call. If we can beat Maryland at Maryland with good defense, we can beat anybody anywhere.”
With its own offense sputtering, Virginia needed its defense. The Cavaliers shot just 43.6 percent from the field, including a 4 of 17 performance from behind the arc. They only had one field goal over the final 4:24 but received the winning margin courtesy of four successful free throws by Travis Watson and then Byars.
“This game gave us a lot of confidence for future games when we are struggling offensively. It’s important to know that you can win in games that you haven’t played your best. It gives the entire team confidence that you can pull out games in tough situations,” said Billet, who was 4 of 12 from the field and misfired on all six of his 3-point attempts but dished out seven assists without committing a turnover.
Added Gillen: “Our offensive execution today wasn’t very good but our defense was good enough to get a victory.”
Virginia trailed by nine midway through the second half and for a few moments it appeared that it would follow an unexpected road victory at Maryland with an uncharacteristic loss at University Hall, where Virginia entered as a perfect 9-0 this season.
That certainly would have been a momentum killer for the Cavaliers, whose win Thursday at Maryland made it conceivable that UVa could win the remainder of its games at U-Hall in order to reach the NCAA tournament.
“We wanted to prove we weren’t one-game wonders. This was one of our best victories of the year. Sometimes, teams like N.C. State have your number,” Gillen said.

Watson honored. Watson, who turned in back-to-back double-doubles as the Cavaliers posted wins over eighth-ranked Maryland and N.C. State, was named the ACC Player of the Week on Monday. In earning the award for the second time this season, Watson scored 30 points, grabbed 24 rebounds and had eight steals in the two games. The 6-8, 255-pound Brookneal, Va., senior shot 50 percent (13 for 26) from the field and had six assists and one blocked shot. In the Cavaliers’ 86-78 victory at Maryland, Watson scored 15 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds. In Virginia’s 61-58 win over N.C. State on Sunday, Watson scored a team-high 15 points and had a game-high 14 rebounds. Watson has 11 double-doubles in points and rebounds this season, and 49 in his collegiate career.

 

 

U.VA. NOTES
Feb 11, 2003

MILESTONE: Senior Travis Watson, who yesterday was named ACC player of the week, pulled down 14 rebounds Sunday in Virginia's 61-58 win over N.C. State. That pushed his career total to 1,005. Only one other player in U.Va. history has grabbed more than 1,000 boards: 7-4 Ralph Sampson (1,511).

The 6-8, 255-pound Watson, the ACC's leading rebounder in 2001-02, is first again this season (10.6 per game).

"He's a terrific player," Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek said. "He averages a double-double, so that shows you what he's capable of. When he gets nine rebounds, he's under his average."

Watson totaled 30 points, 24 rebounds, eight steals and six assists in U.Va.'s wins over then-No. 8 Maryland and N.C. State.

OOPS: Watson has had 17 turnovers in his past three games, including seven against the Wolfpack. U.Va. coach Pete Gillen attributed that to the nagging injuries that continue to plague Watson.

"Same old story," Gillen said. "He gets hurt a lot, he misses practice, so he's not in sync."

Watson, slowed by ankle and knee injuries, missed practice Friday and wasn't full speed Saturday.

"Every day there's something with him," Gillen said, "because he plays hard, and he plays straight up and down, so he gets kicked and kneed and everything . . . He still had a great game, but the reason he loses the ball as [much] as he did is, he wasn't in sync."

BROKEN PLAY: Virginia's defense prevailed Sunday as Wolfpack star Julius Hodge, covered by 6-7 freshman Derrick Byars, missed an awkward 3-point attempt at the buzzer. But the Cavaliers didn't follow the instructions their coach had given during a time out with 12.4 seconds left.

"People don't always listen to me," said Gillen, who wanted a Pack player fouled - though not in the act of shooting - to set up a one-and-one. "We didn't want to let them hit a 3 and tie it."

Junior guard Todd Billet said: "You want to foul, but at the same time, Hodge is a clever player where, if you go to you reach in, he may just kind of throw it up there and get three shots, or maybe make it and get a foul shot. You have to be wary of that."

VISITOR: Spectators at University Hall on Sunday included U.Va. recruiting target Donte Minter, a 6-8, 235-pound forward from Cleveland, N.C. Minter stars for the postgraduate team at Fork Union Military Academy, not far from Charlottesville.

As a senior last season, the left-handed Minter led West Rowan High to a 30-0 record and North Carolina's Class 3A title. In the state final, he scored 29 points despite playing with a broken left wrist. Minter signed with Appalachian State in November 2001 but didn't meet NCAA eligibility requirements.

FOOTBALL: The vacancy created by offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave's departure remains unfilled. If U.Va. coach Al Groh chooses to promote from within his staff, offensive line coach Ron Prince is likely to be Musgrave's replacement.

Prince, 33, has spent most of his coaching career working with linemen. If Prince is promoted, Andy Heck probably would take over as offensive line coach. The former NFL standout has been a U.Va. graduate assistant for the past two seasons, working with the tight ends.

Musgrave left last month to become the Jacksonville Jaguars' offensive coordinator.

MORE FOOTBALL: Of the 21 players who signed with U.Va. last week, none is a kicker, a sign of Groh's confidence in Connor Hughes.

Hughes, a true freshman who joined the team as a walk-on last summer, didn't play until Nov. 9 at Penn State. The Williamsburg resident finished the season 5 of 6 on field goal attempts and 16 of 17 on extra points.

"I thought he made very significant strides," Groh said. "If he can continue on from that point, it looks as if he's got a chance to have a very productive career. I think he's got a particularly good sense of only hitting the upright when the other team's offsides."

Late in the first half of U.Va.'s 48-22 win over West Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl, Hughes' 27-yard attempt bounced off the right upright. But WVU was called for being offside, and Virginia tailback Wali Lundy scored on a 4-yard run a play later.

REDD ALERT: Because of his size, Vince Redd might be the most intriguing of Virginia's recruits. He's a 6-6, 243-pound linebacker from Elizabethton, Tenn.

"It's going to be hard [for quarterbacks] to throw those three-step drops, isn't it, and get it over him," Groh said. "But it wasn't the height so much as the athletic ability" that made Redd attractive to the Cavs. "The height just makes it that much better. This is quite a reach, but I certainly fantasize over Ted Hendricks-type skills out there."

Ask if Redd knows who Hendricks is, Groh smiled and said, "I'm sure he doesn't. Most of the coaches on my staff don't know who Ted Hendricks is."

The 6-7 Hendricks, best known for his play with the Raiders, is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

- Jeff White

 

 

Quality of ACC determined by more than perennial powerhouses
Chip Knighton
 
The word "parity" gets thrown around a lot in the sporting world. Generally, it has to do with a team like the Baltimore Ravens winning the Super Bowl. However, these days there is a prime example –- possibly the very definition of the word –- floating around in front of the eyes of sportswriters across the country, and most of them choose to ignore it. ACC basketball fans, your chosen league is in one of its most competitive seasons in recent memory, no matter what Digger Phelps has to say about it.

The problem with the perception of the ACC has been unintentionally perpetuated by the Dick Vitales of the world. In the eyes of the college basketball public, if Duke or North Carolina isn't on top of the league, it's not worth watching and certainly not capable of NCAA Tournament success. Say what you will about personalities and stars being good for the league, but when commentators harp on one or two teams incessantly, it creates the impression that those teams are the only things the league has to offer.

The thing is, this year the ACC is much deeper than most years. It's not a problem of the teams being worse -- it's just that more of them are in a position to beat the best teams, especially when considering the remarkable home-court advantage the ACC has shown this season. Many fans have speculated that this advantage is because of questionable officiating, a point that I won't argue after seeing the last two minutes of the Virginia-N.C. State game. (I'm not complaining about the leeway Travis Watson got –- it's better than his usual treatment from the officials –- but I'm not blind, either.)

However, this home cooking is creating some strange results, such as Florida State's win over Duke and Georgia Tech's shocker over Maryland. Incidentally, with Virginia getting that road monkey off its back last Thursday against the Terps, Georgia Tech has claimed the position of the conference's most confounding squad. The Yellow Jackets now have a gaudy 11-0 record at home to go with a 1-8 line on the road, with the one victory away from Alexander Memorial Coliseum coming over that vaunted perennial powerhouse, Marist.

Despite the Jekyll and Hyde act put on by most of Tobacco Road, the ACC stands in good position as one of the top conferences. While this year there is no single dominant team like Duke has been in years past, the quality of league play should help conference teams come tournament time. After all, the ACC didn't have a dominant team last season, but that didn't stop Maryland from cutting down the nets at the NCAA Tournament.

Call me crazy, but the combination of tough conference play and bizarre officiating could benefit Virginia as much as any team. The Cavaliers have played their way back into NCAA Tournament contention over the past week with big victories over Maryland and N.C. State. Not only that, but each game seemed to dispel a separate myth for the Cavaliers –- that they can't win on the road (see Maryland), and that they can't win ugly (see N.C. State). The suspension of sophomore point guard Keith Jenifer has freed up more playing time for junior Majestic Mapp, who has excelled since returning from knee surgery.

The much-maligned Jenifer, however, could be a key to the Virginia season. Mapp, for all of his steady play at the point, physically is not ready to handle 30 minutes a game at point guard, and junior Todd Billet is better used at shooting guard. If Jenifer can accept a decrease in minutes when he comes back, his quickness can help the Cavaliers immensely. Jenifer's return would also strengthen an already-deep Virginia bench, which has undergone a renaissance over the past several games with the emergence of freshman Derrick Byars and the improved play of sophomore Jermaine Harper.

The Cavaliers also have a favorable schedule through the rest of the season, getting powerful Duke and Maryland at home, as well as a revenge game against Georgia Tech. Most of Virginia's road games look winnable, despite a daunting matchup with Wake Forest. If the suddenly-confident Cavaliers can get over ACC home cooking, they could be in prime position for postseason success. Which, believe it or not, would not be the death knell for the ACC, but rather another sign of the league's top-to-bottom strength.