Following in their footsteps
Jackets' Crittenton motivated by his predecessors
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 24, 2007

Georgia Tech point guard Javaris Crittenton has a piece of paper that he always carries around. On it, are the stats of his predecessors - former Yellow Jacket guards Mark Price, Kenny Anderson, Travis Best and Stephon Marbury.
“I always look at that before my games,” Crittenton said. “It’s a special thing to be at Georgia Tech. Those guys are gone, but to be playing at the same school they went to and trying to do some of the same things that they accomplished - it’s special.”
Crittenton is well on his way.
This season, the Atlanta native leads all ACC freshmen in scoring, assists and steals - and he is leading Georgia Tech in scoring (14.6) and assists (5.6). His development is one of the major reasons the Yellow Jackets have won five out of their last six games.
“I don’t always hear his name in conversation for ACC Rookie of the Year,” said Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, “but it’s hard for me to think that there’s somebody else who has as much responsibility as a freshman and is playing as well.
“When they don’t mention his name, I wonder, ‘Am I watching the same season everyone else is watching?’”
This afternoon, Charlottesville gets a chance to see Crittenton when Virginia (18-8, 9-4) plays host to Georgia Tech (18-9, 6-7) at John Paul Jones Arena.
UVa, which is tied for second with Virginia Tech in the ACC, is coming off a terrible loss to last-place Miami on Wednesday. Seventh-place Georgia Tech won at Wake Forest, 75-61.
Today’s game will feature two of the top point guards in the country in Crittenton and Virginia’s Sean Singletary.
Crittenton said he’s looking forward to the matchup.
“I remember him from high school when he played at a tournament in Delaware,” Crittenton said. “It’s going to be tough.
“He’s quick, he’s strong and gets to the rim at will in a lot of the games I’ve seen. He’s a great point guard.”
Singletary has an equal amount of respect for Crittenton’s game.
“He’s a good player,” Singletary said. “I know what he’s capable of. He’s a very talented young guy, [but] I’m really not too focused on the matchup. I just want to see if we can get the team going and get our rhythm back. If we get our rhythm back, all that other stuff will fall into place.”
Crittenton, who was ranked as the best point guard in the country by Rivals.com when he came out of Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, had a few hiccups earlier in the season as he tried to adjust to the college game.
“It has been a transition, but not a tough one,” he said. “There are a lot of things to learn. I feel like the point guard position is the hardest position to play in basketball, period.
“And [in college], there’s guys who are as big and as strong as you are.”
What makes Crittenton unique is his combination of size, strength and speed. At 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, he’s a tough guard for just about anyone.
Today, Crittenton will most likely look to capitalize on his 4-inch height advantage on Singletary.
“I always try and post-up smaller players,” he said, “so I look forward to that.”
In addition to worrying about Crittenton, Virginia will also have to contend with his roommate - fellow freshman Thaddeus Young, Georgia Tech’s second-leading scorer.
Crittenton and Young bonded the moment they met.
“We talk to each other all the time about our performances and what we think the other needs to improve on,” Crittenton said. “It’s good having someone come in with you. He’s a great athlete and a great person to be around.”
It’s probably only a matter of time before Crittenton and Young are drawing NBA paychecks. However, Crittenton said he hasn’t given much thought to how long he’ll stay in college.
“I’m just trying to get my team victories and not look too far ahead,” he said.
When Crittenton was growing up, his favorite pro player was Marbury, who is now with the New York Knicks. A few years back, Crittenton met Marbury at the NBA All-Star game.
Crittenton has also talked frequently with Anderson, Price and Best, all former NBA players.
One of Crittenton’s favorite hobbies is watching old videos of the former Georgia Tech guards.
“I like all of them, but I really like Kenny Anderson’s game,” Crittenton said. “He’s the guy I have the most film on, [but] it seems like I have a little bit of every one of those players’ games in me.”
A scary thing if you’re Virginia.

Dunks
Georgia Tech leads the all-time series, 36-27. The Yellow Jackets won last year’s meeting in Atlanta, 63-54. In that game, Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds were a combined 4 of 30 from the field.

INSIDE THE GAME

Scouting Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets’ top two scorers are freshmen - Javaris Critenton and Thaddeus Young. Tech has won five of its last six and is 1.5 games behind fifth-place Duke in the ACC.

Scouting Virginia: Mamadi Diane, the Cavs’ third-leading scorer, was held to just two points in a loss at Miami on Wednesday. UVa has had five games in which no more than two players have scored in double figures.

 

Virginia pulls out a close one
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
February 24, 2007

Casey Lambert has been the subject of plenty of ribbing throughout the first two weeks of Virginia’s baseball season.

As the Cavaliers pounded opponents by lopsided margins, the left-handed closer’s career save total remained stuck at 32.

No. 33 finally came on Friday.

Lambert used a curveball in the bottom of the ninth to get Bucknell first baseman Matt Angelo to ground into a game-ending double play, securing a 2-0 victory for Virginia at Davenport Field.

“There has been a joke going around that I wasn’t going to get a save,” Lambert said. “That’s fine with me as long as we are scoring runs like we have been.”

The seventh-ranked Cavs (8-1) needed Lambert after failing to convert numerous scoring opportunities - UVa left 12 runners stranded on base and had another runner thrown out at the plate.

Virginia also failed to take advantage of seven walks by Bucknell starter Mathew Wilson (0-1).

“That’s going to happen,” said UVa coach Brian O’Connor. “Baseball has failure all in it. Greg Miclat is one of the hottest hitters in college baseball and today he was 0 for 4.”

Despite the Cavaliers’ inability to break the game open, a lone run in the fourth off on a sacrifice fly from Mike Mitchell and an RBI single from catcher Beau Seabury in the eighth provided ample support for starting pitcher Sean Doolittle.

The hard-throwing lefty scattered four hits over six innings, while fanning eight Bison batters.

Doolittle, who improved to 3-0, said something “clicked” for him after the third inning.

“I was having trouble with my breaking ball early,” he said. “I was just trying to get ahead early.”

Doolittle, who failed to get a hit in four plate appearances, said his counterpart, Wilson, deserved credit for Virginia’s struggles offensively.

“He was mixing it up,” Doolittle said. “We couldn’t really find a pattern.”

O’Connor turned to reliever Jake Rule to bridge the gap between Doolittle and Lambert. After allowing a one-out walk in the seventh to put two runners on, Rule fielded a hard-hit comebacker from Bucknell catcher Shawn Hirsch and started a double play.

“Turning those clutch double plays is important,” O’Connor said. “When you have pitchers that throw strikes, it certainly helps.”

Due to the threat of impending weather on Sunday, Virginia will finish the series with the Bison today with a doubleheader that starts at 1 p.m. Both games will last nine innings.

 

Possession arrow, Virginia
Singletary says he's not prepared to say goodbye to college life for the NBA
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Feb 24, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE University of Virginia basketball fans aren't likely to relax until the deadline passes for underclassmen to apply for the NBA draft, but Sean Singletary says his plan remains the same: to return for his senior season.

His coaches at U.Va. may be in wait-and-see mode, knowing that a strong postseason showing could boost Singletary's NBA stock, but the 6-0, 185-pound junior from Philadelphia didn't equivocate in an interview Thursday.

"I haven't done enough growing as an individual and as a basketball player yet to make that type of jump," Singletary said.

As a sophomore, he became the first Cavalier in 14 years to be named to the all-ACC first team. This season, Singletary leads U.Va. in scoring, assists, steals and 3-pointers made and ranks second in rebounding.

The NBA is a definite goal for Singletary, who would probably be a late first- or early second-round pick this year. But he's no in rush to leave college.

"I know I'm not done growing as an individual, and as a man I'm not done," said Singletary, 21, echoing comments he made earlier this month to The Washington Post.

"I'm not ready to enter that type of lifestyle. I need to get my degree, and I'm not ready as a basketball player yet."

That Singletary, an anthropology major, plans to stay at U.Va. doesn't surprise Jim Phillips, his basketball coach at Penn Charter School in Philadelphia.

Singletary's mother, Phillips said, would probably be more proud of her youngest son for earning a degree from U.Va. than for playing in the NBA.

Jacqui Singletary, who's a cancer survivor, attended Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College) outside Philadelphia.

"She came from an impoverished family and struggled but was able to beat the odds and get an education and study hard and be successful in life," Singletary said. "So she stresses that, and it's real important to me to do that, because I understand the importance of education. I also want to make my grandmother and my mother happy."

Another factor: Singletary is enjoying the Cavaliers' move into the ACC's upper division.

"Maybe this would be different if the first two years they'd had more success," Phillips said.

The Wahoos finished 14-15 in 2004-05, their last season under Pete Gillen. With Dave Leitao in charge, U.Va. went 15-15 last season.

"Sean's never really lost in his life," Phillips said. "I think now he's getting that taste of winning [in college], and that's got to entice him [to stay]."

No. 24 Virginia (9-4, 18-4) hosts ACC rival Georgia Tech (6-7, 18-9) today at John Paul Jones Arena. A victory would almost certainly lock up a bid to the NCAA tournament for U.Va.

Singletary, who's averaging 18.4 points. 4.7 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals, teams with J.R. Reynolds to form one of the nation's premier backcourts. His overall field-goal percentage is poor -- 40.4 -- but Singletary is shooting 40.1 percent from 3-point range, second-best in the conference. He's the ACC's fourth-leading scorer.

"I give myself a C-plus," Singletary said. "We could have won a lot more games if I'd been sharper."

He acknowledged, however, that he's improving. Singletary said Leitao's influence on him has been profound.

"It's definitely a blessing in my basketball life, but also in my spiritual life and life as a whole," Singletary said, "because we don't only talk about basketball. We talk about spirituality, education, family. We talk about everything. When you have that chemistry and that type of connect, then on the court I'm like an outlet of him."

Leitao said: "I'm just happy and fortunate and blessed to be alongside him, because I know guys like him don't come along very often."

Singletary's faith in Leitao is unwavering. Which begs this question: What if Leitao decides Singletary is ready for the NBA and advises him to leave this year?

"Gotta listen to Coach," Singletary said.

Then he smiled.

"No, I think my mind's made up that I'm going to stay," he said.

 

Virginia tops Bucknell for sixth straight win
Va. Tech works extra to down The Citadel; UR, VCU triumph
Richmond Times-Dispatch Feb 24, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia won its sixth consecutive game with a 2-0 victory over Bucknell yesterday at Davenport Field in the opener of the three-game set between the teams.

"Today was a great baseball game with excellent pitching and hitting on both sides," coach Brian O'Connor said. "You aren't going to score 10 runs every single game, and today's game is more typical of how our conference games will be. We got superb pitching today and did a good job of manufacturing some runs."

Sean Doolittle got the win for Virginia, allowing just four hits and striking out eight in six shutout innings of work. Jake Rule allowed one hit over two innings of relief, and Casey Lambert recorded his first save of the year by working a scoreless ninth. Mathew Wilson allowed one run on four hits in six innings for Bucknell, but took the loss.

Beau Seabury and Mike Mitchell were the offensive stars for the Cavaliers, each going 2 for 3 with a RBI.

 

What's the benefit of Miami athletics?
Hokies a better fit than Hurricanes
By Doug Doughty

Every now and then, I’ll challenge other reporters to tell me another city that’s more centrally located for ACC coverage than Roanoke.

It wasn’t too long ago that a Roanoke reporter could comfortably cover the ACC by car.

If I’m not mistaken, ex-columnists Bill Brill and Bill Cate would fly into the Greenville-Spartanburg airport and rent a car for the drive to Clemson, but, if you ask me, that’s more trouble than it’s worth.

I’ve gotten to Clemson in less than five hours, almost the same amount of time it would take to get to Virginia Beach.

You could almost make the case that it’s almost as convenient to drive to Georgia Tech, at 6 ½ hours on a good day, than it is to fly.

Of course, this comes from me, a notorious non-flyer. I had avoided airplanes for more than two years before I flew to Miami this week for the Virginia men’s basketball game with Miami.

I came back with one overriding thought: What’s this school doing in the ACC?

Most of the time, I’ve driven to Florida State (10 ½ hours) in recent years and I was surprised to learn this year that I could get to Boston College just as quickly, if I managed to avoid New York and Boston during rush hour.

I even drove to Miami once, for the regular-season finale to the 2005 football season, but there were extenuating circumstances. Our family had spent Thanksgiving in Myrtle Beach, where my older son was playing in a golf tournament.

I can’t say I wish I had driven to Miami this time, but flying was no bargain. To get a decent rate of $178 for a round trip, I had to drive 200 miles to Dulles. Once I got to Miami, it was one expense after another, from exorbitant hotel rates to steep cab fares. The traffic was outrageous.

So, it’s a costly trip for The Roanoke Times, but what does that have to do with Miami being in the ACC?

That brings us to the game, held at the BankUnited Center, a 7,000-seat on-campus arena that opened in 2003. It’s a decent facility, but on Wednesday night, with 19th-ranked Virginia providing the opposition, the Hurricanes drew a crowd listed at 3,707.

I’m here to tell you that there weren’t 2,000 people in the building at game time and a big chunk of that was a group of UVa fans behind one of the baskets.

I can’t imagine what it was like when the Hurricanes had home crowds listed at 2,858 for Boston College and 3,099 for North Carolina State.

You’d have to think that a 68-60 upset of No. 19 Virginia was one of the high points of the Hurricanes’ season but the game story was on the fifth sports page of the Miami Herald, which was loaded with spring-training coverage of the Florida Marlins, another lightly followed team.

You couldn’t even find a score of the 7 p.m. game matching Boston College and host Virginia Tech. No boxscore, story or roundup.

That’s not intended to knock the Miami Herald, although it would have been nice to get a score. Seemingly, nobody cares about University of Miami basketball and you have to wonder about Hurricanes football, too.

A recent ACC Sports Journal piece said that the Orange Bowl has become such a dump that it is no longer a routine stop when prospects come to campus on recruiting trips.

Fans don’t go there either. The announced crowd for the Hurricanes’ final home football game against Boston College was 23,308. In its previous home game, Miami had drawn 41,504 for Virginia Tech – nearly 30,000 fewer fans than had attended the season opener against Florida State at the Orange Bowl.

Obviously, that had something to do with Miami’s 7-6 record and clearly contributed to Larry Coker’s ouster as head coach. But if the Hurricanes are going to draw only when the team is contending for the national championship, then that’s a pretty weak fan base.

University of Virginia fans are thought to be fair-weather, but there was an announced crowd of 56,632 on Oct. 19 to watch Virginia play North Carolina. That was for a Thursday night TV game after the Cavaliers had lost five days earlier at East Carolina to drop to 2-5.

Three years after the most recent wave of ACC expansion, it is clear to me that of the three newest members – Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College – that the Hokies are the best fit, which is what they said all along.

You’ll never get Brill to admit that ACC expansion was a good idea, but even he would have to admit that the setting of a college town like Blacksburg is more in line with the other ACC schools than Boston or Miami.

Conference commissioners would gladly trade TV markets for newspaper coverage, but in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., you’ll usually find Georgia Tech and Maryland on the front page of the sports sections. Even with its pro franchises, many of them lackluster, Atlanta has a heavy college following.

Miami isn’t going to go away, but let’s remember why it was so important to have the Hurricanes in the ACC – to create a 12-team league and set up a football championship game that drew an announced crowd of 62,850. There may have had half that many people in the seats.

Clearly, Miami has some issues to address, issues for which there might not be a solution. As for me, I’ve got to come up with some better travel plans.
 

Cavs seek to rebound
Virginia hopes to erase memories of Wednesday's loss with a win today against Georgia Tech.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
February 24, 2007

So much for the Virginia men's basketball team's stunning month of success dulling any drama for the regular season's final games. The Cavaliers won nine of 10 games from Jan. 16 to Feb. 17 before falling 68-60 Wednesday at Miami.

The month-long run - which came after a three-game losing streak that had some questioning the Cavaliers' chops - essentially assured Virginia its first NCAA tournament berth since 2001. The loss at Miami injects some intrigue into the season's final three games, starting with today's 3:30 p.m. home game against Georgia Tech (18-9, 6-7 ACC).

No. 24 Virginia (18-8, 9-4) is trying to lock up one of the top four seeds for the ACC tournament. That would assure the Cavaliers an extra day off before they try to win three games in three days for their first ACC tourney title since 1976, the only time they won it.

The Cavaliers are tied with Virginia Tech for second place in the conference.

They have two games remaining after today: Thursday at home against the Hokies and next Saturday at Wake Forest.

Virginia figures to have an edge today. It is 14-1 at the new John Paul Jones Arena. Georgia Tech is 1-7 on the road, and the Yellow Jackets' NCAA tournament resume could use some gussying up. Assume at your own risk after Wednesday's result. Miami had lost eight of its past nine games and is one of the ACC's three worst teams.

But the Hurricanes played with more zest than the Cavaliers in the second half, when Virginia scored just 25 points - its lowest-scoring second half of the season - and was outscored 7-0 over the final 25 seconds.

"Miami had the edge, especially in the second half, on how they approached the game mentally," Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao told reporters afterward, indicating that, for the second time in three league games, his team lacked passion. He had made similar statements after a 27-point loss at Virginia Tech.

At halftime Wednesday, with the Cavaliers leading 35-26, "I challenged them to be better," Leitao said. "We weren't. We were worse."

A month erased memories of last season - when the exhausted Cavaliers went 15-15, 7-9 ACC - and guaranteed their first winning ACC record since 2001.

The regular season's final three games could forecast how deep into March they carry that success.

Petrino holds out hope that Kerney might stay
By D. ORLANDO LEDBETTER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/24/07

Indianapolis — Falcons coach Bobby Petrino is not closing the door on defensive end Patrick Kerney returning to the team.

Kerney, a first-round pick in 1999 and one-time Pro Bowl selection in his eight seasons with the Falcons, voided his contract Friday and is scheduled to become a free agent on March 2.

"Yeah, he did void his contract," Petrino said Friday. "Certainly, we would love to have Patrick back. But he's going to explore his options in free agency. We just have to wait and see what happens."

The Falcons are expected to have about $10 million under the salary cap. With Indianapolis and Cincinnati placing franchise tags on Dwight Freeney and Justin Smith, Kerney would be the top-rated defensive end in free agency.

The Falcons have been in talks with Kerney's representatives but could not reach an agreement on an extension.

 

Virginia sends top guard duo against Crittenton
By MATT WINKELJOHN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 02/24/07

By many signs, Javaris Crittenton is growing up fast as a college point guard, his passion and play over the past six games lifting Georgia Tech from a team that had a laughable shot at the NCAA tournament to one with serious life.

Once 13-8 with a 2-6 ACC record and a four-game losing streak, five wins in the past six games have elevated Tech's status, and today Crittenton will have no choice but to move to the head of the class at Virginia. There, he'll meet Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds, perhaps the nation's top backcourt.

Small wonder the Cavaliers (18-8, 9-4 ACC) were atop the ACC until an upset loss Wednesday at Miami. If you have a shot against anybody so long as you have good guards, Virginia is doubly blessed.

"Because the ball's in their hands so much, they can control the tempo of the game," said Tech coach Paul Hewitt, whose team is 18-9, 6-7. "Offensively, they're both outstanding shooters and can both get to the rim."

Crittenton has been going there and doing that too, averaging 20.2 points, 5.7 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 steals in the past six games. In some ways, he's not much in arrears of Singletary, a point guard, or Reynolds, a shooter, individually, although together they score 37.5 points per ACC game.

Only Florida State's Al Thornton (22.4 points per ACC game) has outscored Reynolds (20.8). Singletary (16.7) is No. 7, Crittenton (16.5) No. 8.

Tech did quite a job for quite a while on Thornton, limiting his touches in the first half at FSU on Feb. 13, when he scored five points. He picked up his third and fourth fouls quickly in the second half, yet still threw a scare into the Yellow Jackets with 11 more points before Tech won.

There was one of him, but there will be two of them today.

Hewitt said he probably won't deploy players much differently, meaning he does not plan to play his best perimeter defenders — Mario West and D'Andre Bell — more than usual. It might help the Cavs if he did because by taking shooter Anthony Morrow off the floor, Virginia — with the ACC's stingiest field-goal defense (41.1 percent) — would have that much less to defend.

The 6-foot Singletary is No. 2 in ACC games in 3-pointers made (2.54 per game) and percentage (38.4). The 6-foot-2 1/2 Reynolds is more likely to attack the basket. Foul him, and you send an 86.7 percent free-throw shooter to the line. Still, Reynolds doesn't seem to get his due.

"Absolutely, I don't think," Cavs coach Dave Leitao said on a conference call with reporters. "Sean has got a reputation in these parts and nationally. J.R. started off the season slow, but arguably could be up there with Sean and [Virginia Tech's Zabian] Dowdell as the best ... guards in this league."

Crittenton wants to be in that class, but at times has tried to do too much too fast, as if he has something to prove. He'll have to be steady today.

"I've learned that good things can happen if you're poised and patient," Crittenton said.