Cavs face tough road test
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 16, 2004

Virginia got well at home and now goes somewhere that has been unkind to it as of late.

The Cavaliers are coming off an 82-80 victory over then-No. 15 Georgia Tech on Saturday but tonight travel to Florida State, a place where they have lost two straight and three of the last four.

The road has been a tough place for the Cavaliers in general as they have lost 17 of their last 18 ACC games away from home.

The Seminoles have been particularly good at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center this season. They are 14-1 in the building and are 5-1 in ACC games there, having defeated Maryland, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech.

“We’re coming off a tough, emotional game and will now play a good Florida State team that is playing particularly well at home,” said UVa coach Pete Gillen, whose team beat FSU in Charlottesville in overtime on Jan. 18.

This week will be an especially interesting one for the Cavaliers. After their trek to Tallahassee, the Cavaliers complete the week with another road game at Clemson.

The Cavaliers have played well effort-wise in both their past games but it remains to be seen if any positive feelings from Saturday’s game will carry over tonight.

If there is a positive to build on for the Cavaliers, it has been the play of freshman T.J. Bannister, who is a native of Jacksonville, Fla.

Bannister had 15 points and seven assists against the Yellow Jackets on Saturday.

Bannister has given the Cavaliers much-needed quickness at the point and that has allowed the Cavaliers to speed up their dormant transition game.

“We have to get some easy baskets. You don’t want teams to be able to dig in defensively. We want to get into transition more, get some steals and push the ball. We want to play fast,” Gillen said.

Perhaps more than any technical basketball aspect, the Cavaliers seem re-energized and re-focused after a players’ only meeting prior to last Wednesday’s contest at Duke.

The meeting was called by senior tri-captain Todd Billet.

“I knew they had a meeting. Todd suggested it. That’s good. It’s their team. I take responsibility when we lose but it’s their team. They’re the ones that have to want to play. They’re the ones that have to do the things on the court. They have to do it for each other more than anyone else,” Gillen said.

 

Can big Billet 3 lift Cavs?
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
February 15, 2004

In a preseason contest against the Coaches vs. Cancer All-Stars, Virginia senior guard Todd Billet connected on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift the Cavaliers to a 91-90 win. That was Nov. 18 in what was a fairly meaningless preseason exhibition game.

When Billet nailed a trey Saturday with 2.4 seconds remaining that gave Virginia a badly needed 82-80 victory over No. 15 Georgia Tech, it was quite meaningful.

“Yeah, I’d say it was a little bigger than that one because this was in an ACC game against a ranked opponent,” Billet said.

Time will tell exactly how much more important it was compared to the one in November. It could spur a late-season push or it could be just a momentary bandage for Virginia’s woes.

Again, time will tell.

Certainly if the former is the ultimate result, it may be remembered as the biggest shot in Virginia coach Pete Gillen’s tenure given the circumstances surrounding it. The Cavaliers had lost five games in a row and Gillen’s job security had certainly become a major topic surrounding the program.

Again, only time will tell if Billet’s shot as it swished through the basket completely reversed Virginia’s fortunes.

One thing that can be surmised at the moment is that Virginia’s effort in its last two games and the quality stretches of basketball it produced is a positive for the players and the program. After a home loss to N.C. State last week, the Cavaliers looked like a beaten and downtrodden team, searching for any kind of answers.

“We know we have to play that hard to beat a quality team,” Gillen said.

Added Devin Smith: “We know we have to play with 100 percent [effort]. … Our effort shows that even though we’ve been losing we’ve been giving it all that we can. We’re showing we still have some fight left in us.”

Instrumental in Virginia’s win Saturday was the play of freshman point guard T.J. Bannister. Bannister had career highs in points (15) and assists (7). He also connected on a pivotal trey in the second half, which was the first in his UVa career after misfiring on the first 10. It was also perhaps the most meaningful trey hit by a UVa point guard not named Billet in quite some time.

“He’s done a lot of extra work. Most freshmen think they are going to come in and be stars because they were stars in high school and that’s all they ever knew,” Gillen said. “He got knocked down a little but he came back and did the work he had to do.”

 

Hokies find potholes on road to ACC basketball
By TOM ROBINSON, The Virginian-Pilot
© February 17, 2004

Hard as it is to take, sometimes 30-0 just happens.

That kind of run gets rolling, you call timeout. You call another time out. And then another, trying to find the brakes. You struggle to keep your team’s eyes on the next possession, not on the nearest exit. You try to body up. Throw a hand in their face. Collect a put-back. You run your usual stuff, you take your usual shots.

But 10 minutes later, you look up and the other guy has rattled off 30 consecutive points. And you are losing a real live Division I college basketball game by the staggering score of 32-3.

About then, you remember that somewhere, somebody really did warn you that there would be days like this.

Sundays, for instance, when Rutgers would sink seven straight buckets, including four 3-pointers, and 11 of 17 in its run — while you missed 11 in a row. When you weren’t turning it over.

“It’s not a lot of fun,’’ Seth Greenberg, Virginia Tech’s coach, says the day after the Scarlet Knights dropped 30-0 on the Hokies in Piscataway, N.J. “Unfortunately, we had one of those nights.

“The biggest thing was making sure our guys continued to compete. You don’t quit on them. We coached them right to the very end.’’

That end — Rutgers’ 85-52 victory — stopped the Hokies’ two-game conference winning streak. That alone should tell you that Tech, at 3-7 in the Big East and 10-11 overall, hasn’t been as bad as a lot of people figured.

The Hokies are in 12th place in their league, the final qualifying spot for the Big East tournament. If they stay above Miami and St. John’s, the Hokies will make their first tournament in their fourth and final Big East season.

Tech is ACC-bound, you might have heard.

It would do the Hokies, who are both terribly young and strapped for scholarship talent, a world of good to reach Madison Square Garden. So what if they end up making a hasty departure back to Blacksburg.

Give Greenberg and Tech that much, with Duke, North Carolina and company sharpening their knives.

“We need to keep the guys focused on what it takes to be successful: playing hard, defending, taking good shots, trusting your teammates, those things,’’ says Greenberg, who came to Tech from South Florida before this season.

“If we get so caught up in the prize instead of how to get there, we’re not going to get there.’’

The Hokies are crawling there at the moment because they are primarily senior forward Bryant Matthews — an all-conference possibility averaging 23 points and nine rebounds — and six other scholarship guys ripening on the vine, for better or worse.

A seventh, would-be senior Carlos Dixon, is sitting out with a knee injury. That’s where the unofficial eighth scholarship player, Bryan Randall, comes in.

Frank Beamer’s starting quarterback has filled a need for Greenberg the last 10 games, logging about 17 minutes per and making 8 of 22 3-point shots.

But more important to Greenberg is how Randall lends the Hokies a dynamic presence that the coach trips over himself to describe.

“Bryan’s greatest contribution is who he is. He’s a magnificent young person,’’ Greenberg says. “He does the right thing. He says the right thing. I’m better off just for having him around.’’

It’s those things that help keep a guy going, when the threat of 30-0 is still all too real.
 

BIG-GAME THREAT
By Jack Corcoran
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Now batting, Tim Pickett.

"He's what I call a home-run hitter," Clemson men's basketball coach Oliver Purnell said Monday. "In baseball a guy might be 0 for 3 coming up, but if he's a home-run hitter he can end the game with a swing. Tim Pickett can end the game with a flurry. He's a tremendous player."

Pickett's first at-bat was a blast Saturday, scoring eight points in the opening 63 seconds of Florida State's 65-52 victory over Clemson. He comes into tonight's game at the Civic Center against Virginia ranked fifth in the ACC in scoring at 15.9 points per game.

Pickett was swinging for the fences but striking out the last time the Seminoles faced Virginia.

Pickett was 3 for 16 from the field on Jan.18 in Charlottesville, Va. He missed eight of his nine shots from 3-point range, including the potential game-winner on the next-to-last possession of regulation. The Cavaliers pulled away for a 76-67 win in overtime. FSU's fourth straight loss was Pickett's third straight rough outing.

"I was real low," Pickett said. "I didn't question myself. I know that faith is something you can't lose. I really kept faith in myself, knowing there was going to be a time that shots would start falling. Not thinking about shooting but just shoot it."

Pickett's 9-for-40 slump bottomed out at Virginia.

"We were not playing real good basketball at that time," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "And I thought Virginia did a very good job of taking some things away from him. I think like most shooters, you get to a point in the season where things seem as though they're not falling."

That's not the case these days. Pickett has averaged 20.3 points in the eight games since his nine-point performance against Virginia. He has shot from just about everywhere - and hit. He has connected on 30 of 59 (50.8 percent) from 3-point range, making him 78 for 186 (41.9 percent) on the season.

"The 3-point line is irrelevant," North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek said. "He can shoot with range well beyond that stripe on the floor."

Pickett struggled with his shooting percentage from 3-point territory last season, converting on 32.4 percent. But he trails only Duke's J.J. Redick (43.2) in the conference rankings this season.

"I take a lot of pride in that," Pickett said. "I feel like this is just the beginning. I work on my shot a lot."

The Seminoles (17-8, 5-6 ACC) have the chance to return to .500 in league play against Virginia (13-9, 3-8), which would put them in a three-way tie for third place with Georgia Tech (18-6, 5-5) and Wake Forest (15-6, 5-5). They also have the opportunity to show something to the Cavaliers, who snapped a five-game losing streak Saturday against the Yellow Jackets. FSU went 0 for 9 in overtime in the first meeting.

"We didn't play at all like ourselves," Pickett said. "We let a lot of things get away, and we didn't execute. We feel like we have to (throw) that first punch like we did against Clemson. We have to show them that we're not that same ballclub. We're going to try to get them out of the gym as soon as possible."

 

Winning isn't the only thing
Littlepage says Gillen will be assessed on a number of factors
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 17, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The University of Virginia's decision to retain or dismiss men's basketball coach Pete Gillen won't be based simply on wins and losses. So said Athletic Director Craig Littlepage, a guest last night on the Cavalier Call-in radio show.

"I don't think there is a certain number of wins or anything along those lines," Littlepage told a U.Va. graduate student who asked how much more it will take for Gillen to keep his job.

"I, as athletic director, would look at, quote-unquote, the full body of work: what it is that's been done over the duration of time, over the duration of a coach's tenure, over the duration of a competitive season; what they've done in terms of all the other measurements, in terms of recruitment, their retention of student-athletes, graduation rates."

Gillen's team ended a five-game losing streak Saturday with a dramatic win over then-No. 15 Georgia Tech at University Hall. U.Va. (3-8, 13-9), the ACC's eighth-place team, plays tonight at Florida State (5-6, 17-8). Gillen was en route to Tallahassee last night and so couldn't join host Mac McDonald as usual on the weekly radio show.

In six seasons at Virginia, Gillen has a 99-74 record. Only one of those victories has come in the postseason, and his record in February and March is 19-41. Gillen's contract, which pays him about $900,000 annually, runs through June 2011, and most of the money is guaranteed, sources said.

Littlepage, a former Division I basketball coach, said he talks regularly to Gillen about the Cavaliers' program.

"I try to do that with all my coaches, but particularly with [Gillen] this season, because it's been such a critical year," Littlepage said. "As I said, I will continue to work and support the coach. I'm not looking necessarily for a certain number of wins. I want to see what it is that's our position as a program over time."
 

ACC NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Feb 17, 2004

ABOUT-FACE: Virginia, which has been criticized for not always playing hard or with a sense of purpose, earned praise for its 40-minute effort in last Wednesday's loss at Duke. Three days later, the Cavaliers played with passion again, and this time they rallied to upset then-No. 15 Georgia Tech at University Hall.

Perhaps the players-only meeting held before the Duke game contributed to U.Va.'s turnaround. Pete Gillen's players had heard the rumblings about his job security and felt they could do more to help their coach.

"As players, we're out there, and Coach can do all he wants, but if we're not performing up to level, and we're not doing what we need to do, giving 100 percent, it's hard to take that, because he's getting all the blame," said senior guard Todd Billet, who suggested the meeting.

"So I think the players kind of looked at ourselves in the mirror and said, 'Are we playing as hard as we can? Are we doing everything we can to help the team win?' So I think from that perspective, guys are digging in and looking into themselves and giving a total effort, because that's all Coach asks every day."

Billet's 3-pointer with 2.4 seconds left lifted Virginia to an 82-80 victory over the Yellow Jackets. That snapped U.Va.'s five-game losing streak.

"We needed this win, because we still got a chance" to salvage the season, junior forward Devin Smith said.

Virginia (3-8, 13-9), the ACC's eighth-place team, visits Florida State (5-6, 17-8) tonight. The Seminoles are tied for fifth with North Carolina.

The win over Georgia Tech "was extremely important," Billet said. "Especially when you're losing, there's a lot of grumbling and stuff. Winning cures a lot of things. We were in bad need of a win, and hopefully now this'll give the team a shot in the arm and give the fans a shot in the arm, kind of rejuvenate everybody."

Of U.Va.'s 11 scholarship players, five are freshmen. Of those five, only forward Jason Cain has yet to start a game.

"Virginia's a very young basketball team that happens to be in the wrong league at the wrong time with that much youth," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said.

HOT STUFF: N.C. State's five-game winning streak is the ACC's longest. The Wolfpack (9-2, 16-5) upset conference leader Duke (10-1, 21-2) on Sunday night, stopping the Blue Devils' run at 18 games.

"I was particularly impressed with State's veterans," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Senior forward Marcus Melvin and junior swingman Julius Hodge are three-year starters for Pack coach Herb Sendek. Senior guard Scooter Sherrill is a two-year starter. Sophomore forward Ilian Evtimov, who missed last season with a knee injury, started 11 games in 2001-02.

"I think experience is always coveted," Sendek said. "There's nothing like having guys who've been through the [ACC] round robin and know what it takes.

HONORED: The ACC's latest player of the week is Melvin, who had 11 points and 10 rebounds in a win over Florida State and 18 points and 11 boards versus Duke. Against the Blue Devils, Melvin made 7 of 9 shots from the floor, including 3 of 4 from beyond the arc.

Wake Forest's Chris Paul is the ACC's rookie of the week. The freshman point guard averaged 23 points, 5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 2 steals in wins over Clemson and then-No. 13 Cincinnati. Paul had 30 points and seven rebounds - both career highs - against the Bearcats.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION: Five products of Hargrave Military Institute's postgraduate program are playing in the ACC this season: Virginia junior Jason Clark, Clemson junior Sharod Ford, Maryland freshman Hassan Fofana, N.C. State sophomore Cameron Bennerman and Wake Forest sophomore Trent Strickland.

Joining them in 2004-05 will be Hargrave guard Isaiah Swann, a Florida State recruit. Coach Kevin Keatts' team at the Chatham school is 22-1 this season and ranked No. 1 among the nation's postgraduate teams.

"You get kids who come out of there, they're pretty well-disciplined, they're willing to work hard," Maryland coach Gary Williams said.

DOING HIS PART: In 15 seasons at Xavier - the last seven as head coach - Skip Prosser gained a keen appreciation for the school's bitter rivalry with the nearby University of Cincinnati.

Prosser left Xavier for Wake Forest after the 2000-01 season, but he hasn't gotten away from the Bearcats. Cincinnati beat Wake 103-94 in 2001-02. The Demon Deacons avenged that defeat Sunday, edging Cincinnati 91-85.

Asked if he'd received any congratulatory calls or e-mails from friends at Xavier, Prosser said, "There were actually several Xavier fans at the game. We went out to dinner [Sunday] night, so I heard a lot." - Jeff White
 

U-Va.'s Smith Learns to Play the Pain Game
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, February 17, 2004; Page D03

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Feb. 16 -- Sometimes the pain isn't so bad. Sometimes the ice packs and heating pads and vigorous stretching make Devin Smith's lower back feel almost normal, at least for a while. Most of the time the Virginia forward just has to deal with it, whether he's at home, in class or on the basketball court.

"It's getting to the point now where it's a struggle each game whether I'm going to play or not," he said.

Still, he plays. He plays well, in fact, scoring 12.7 points and grabbing 5.5 rebounds per game. In what has been a frustrating season for the Cavaliers, Smith has been his team's best all-around player: a strong, tough tri-captain who is among the ACC's top three-point shooters.

"Most guys wouldn't have played at all," said Virginia Coach Pete Gillen, who ranks Smith among the most courageous players he's had in 19 seasons. "It takes a special guy to do that. . . . It's amazing what he's doing, considering he doesn't practice. He hasn't practiced in a month."

The injury is as painful as ever, but Smith plans to grit his teeth and do his part as the Cavaliers (13-9, 3-8) push toward a berth in the NIT. Two days ago against Georgia Tech, Smith scored all 16 of his points in the second half as Virginia upset the nation's No. 15 team on a last-second shot. The Cavaliers play at Florida State (17-8, 5-6) on Tuesday and at Clemson (9-13, 2-9) on Saturday, seeking to end a streak of 17 losses in 18 conference road games.

Smith, a 6-foot-5 junior, admits the injury hampers him, but he needs only to look around the Virginia locker room to know he's not alone in pain. Backup center Donte Minter is playing with a torn muscle behind his right kneecap. Point guard Majestic Mapp had two serious knee injuries that damaged his promising career.

"It all happened for a reason," Smith said. "That's just the way I try to look at it. Just try to stay positive about it. Just take it in stride."

He isn't sure exactly when he suffered what was eventually diagnosed as a herniated disc. It might have been as long ago as October. But he vividly remembers the day in mid-November when he had to drop out of practice after feeling pain shooting down his legs. "Ever since then, it's been constantly there," he said.

He was able to start 11 consecutive games early in the season, but in a Jan. 15 game at Georgia Tech, he fell awkwardly a few times. He has started only one of eight games since. Last week he sat out the game at Duke to rest.

Yet Smith said the pain affects his play less now than it did at first, when he played cautiously, afraid to risk aggravating the injury.

"In the beginning I was trying to pick and choose what I was doing," he said. "Now I just try to block it out. I just try to block the pain out and play off adrenaline, because that's really the only thing I can do. . . . Just deal with the pain after the game is over with."

That clearly was Smith's plan when Virginia hosted Florida State on Jan. 18, three days after he got roughed up at Georgia Tech. He spent the first seven minutes of the game on the sideline, riding an exercise bike, but soon after entering the game he took a charge. On the next defensive possession, he went up for a block and crashed hard to the floor with two players.

No problem. Smith was scoreless in the first half but finished with 21 points -- as usual, finding his rhythm after his back loosened up. He had seven points in overtime to lead the Cavaliers to their first ACC win.

"He was on the floor twice within a minute [of coming into the game]. That just shows you how hard he plays," said fifth-year guard Todd Billet, a fellow captain. "Even with a herniated disc, he's diving on the floor, taking charges. That's toughness."
 

Cavaliers face Florida State away tonight
Coming off home win against Georgia Tech, Virginia looks to keep postseason hopes alive
Robert Amanfu
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Virginia will continue its fight to stay alive in the ACC with a trip to Tallahassee to face Florida State tonight. The Cavaliers (13-9, 3-8 ACC) are still basking in the glory of their dramatic win over Georgia Tech on Saturday and coach Pete Gillen could not be prouder of his team. In a game where the Cavaliers were down late in the second half, the team recovered to pull off a memorable win ending a five-game losing streak.

"[I am] most proud of the fact that we knew [Georgia Tech] would make a run because they are a tremendous team," Gillen said. "We came back and that showed a lot of heart and character."

Senior Todd Billet, whose last gasp three pointer won the game, said he believes the win was just what the team needed in the midst of the season.

"This win is extremely important," Billet said. "When you are losing, there are a lot of grumblings and stuff. Winning cures a lot of things. We were in bad need of a win. Hopefully, that will give the team a shot in the arm and rejuvenate everyone."

Virginia will be looking for the same heart and character they showed on Saturday against the Seminoles (17-8,5-6), who have dropped only one conference game at home this season and are coming off a win against Clemson. Most importantly, the whole team will have to come out to play.

"It's a tough league; different guys are going to step up each night," Billet said. "Maybe Byars or Forbes steps up next game, you always have to be ready."

Responsibility also rests on the young shoulders of freshman point guard T.J Bannister, whose exemplary play against the Yellow Jackets played a role in Virginia's victory.

"We need quickness," Gillen said. "That's been our problem at the point guard position. T.J. had a great night tonight. When your point guard plays well your team plays well."

Other offensive responsibility might fall to Devin Smith, who continues to contribute despite playing through pain.

"He has not practiced in a month," Gillen said, referring to Smith. "He is playing with a lot of pain. He makes big baskets for us."

Rebounding might also play an important role in the game tonight especially since the Seminoles have been consistently out-rebounded by their opponents this season. Virginia out-rebounded Georgia Tech 32-30, an improvement over the early part of the season that was not lost on Gillen.

Rebounding "was important because we are not a great rebounding team," Gillen said. "Rebounding is desire and athleticism. Our guys wanted it, we were very hungry today. Rebounding is a big key to the game."

The Cavaliers held Florida State to 31 percent shooting the first time the teams met this season and will look to repeat the same defensive effort tonight. After three recent losses, it will be crucial for Virginia to keep the score close entering the stretch in order to keep their flickering NCAA hopes alive.