3/9/02 - Same Shit, Different Day

By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Must wins equal can’t wins for the Virginia men’s basketball team.
Playing for a possible berth in the NCAAs, fifth-seeded Virginia likely was sent to the NIT with a 92-72 defeat to N.C. State, the Cavs’ third loss to the Pack this season.
The loss was Virginia’s ninth in its past 12 games and was its 11th straight postseason loss and eighth straight ACC setback.
“We’re disappointed. I thought we had three good days of practice and preparation, and unfortunately we didn’t carry it over into the game,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.
Of particular emphasis during those practices was the Cavaliers’ defense, which had allowed its past five opponents to shoot at least 50 percent from the floor. While that might have been stressed, the results were not better Friday.
The Wolfpack (21-9), which is likely heading to its first NCAA tournament since 1991, shot 60.4 percent from the field and a blistering 13 of 18 from behind the 3-point arc, including an astounding 9 of 10 in the second half. The Wolfpack’s 3-point percentage for the game (72.2 percent) was the second-best effort in ACC tournament history.
“I thought we defended pretty well but we didn’t have our hands up. Some of them were pretty deep, but we didn’t have a hand in their face all the time,” Gillen said. “It’s frustrating. We worked on defense for three days but honestly we played harder in practice than we did in the game.”
N.C. State’s Anthony Grundy scored a career-high 32 points and was 4 of 6 from the 3-point line as he continually darted through the porous Virginia defense for both inside layups and perimeter shots. He became the third player in the past six games to record at least 30 points against the Cavaliers.
“We got brilliant play from Anthony today,” N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said.
Added UVa’s Roger Mason Jr. “He’s an All-ACC player and showed why today. Every time we made a run, he seemed to hit a basket for them. He does the things they need him to do.”
Archie Miller added 16 for the Wolfpack, all of which came in the second, and Illian Evtimov netted 15.
Mason led Virginia (17-11) with 24 while Chris Williams added 16 and Adam Hall had 10. Travis Watson, the ACC’s leading rebounder, had just three boards and eight points as he was plagued with foul trouble most of the game.
“He was frustrated. He had some bad luck. He gets in foul trouble and that gets him frustrated and he sometimes loses some of his focus,” said Gillen of Watson, who missed the final six minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second with foul trouble.
That rebounding effort was reflective of Virginia’s performance as a whole. The Wolfpack outrebounded the Cavs, 32-23. N.C. State also beat Virginia at the free-throw line as it made 21 of 26 attempts from the stripe compared to 15 of 25 by UVa.
The Cavaliers, who usually suffer from bad starts, especially when playing outside of U-Hall, did take a 14-7 advantage after the game’s first six minutes, but that lead quickly dissipated. The Wolfpack responded with an 8-0 run to seize the lead followed by both teams battling to take the lead. Eventually, the Wolfpack slowly seized control thanks to 17 first-half points from Grundy and took a 42-35 lead into halftime.
The Cavaliers made only one serious run in the second half as they reeled off 10 of the half’s first 15 points to pull within 47-45 with 17:51 remaining. It could have been down to one, but Chris Williams was unable to complete the three-point play. That missed free throw by Williams, in hindsight, signaled the beginning of the end for the Cavaliers. They made four turnovers on the next six possessions, and N.C. State was quick to seize those opportunities.
Paced by three 3-pointers over the next four minutes — two by Miller and one by Evtimov — the Wolfpack opened a 57-48 advantage with 13:51 left. From that point on, Virginia would get no closer than seven as the game clock and the Cavaliers’ NCAA chances ticked down toward zero.
Gillen and Mason continually used the word “frustrating” to describe their day but surprising might have been more accurate. A win and the Cavaliers likely were bound for the NCAAs but just as they have done several times in this losing stretch, the Cavaliers could not muster what it took to win a game it so badly needed.
“I’m really surprised because I know the talent we have on this team. When we practiced, we beat each up and played harder than we did today against N.C. State. It was more intense in practice then it was out here tonight,” Mason said. “That’s frustrating because I know what we are capable of as a team.”
As for the postseason drought, Gillen tried to downplay his program’s streak of futility.
“Each team is a different team and each game is a different game. Hopefully, we’ll get invited to play somewhere after Sunday night and hopefully we can get a victory,” Gillen said.
As for where that will be, Gillen lobbied his team’s case briefly.
“I’ll let the experts decide. We’re 17-11 that’s who we are. We have a pretty good RPI [No. 43 on Saturday, according to collegerpi.com] but today was big for us,” Gillen said.
“I think we are one of the best 64 teams in the country and I think we deserve to be in. We beat the defending national champions and I wish we could have won today. The problem is we’re like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Some games we’re there and some games we’re not,” Mason said.
Hall had his own spin on Virginia’s chances.
“We set our goals high of reaching the NCAA tournament. If we don’t, we’ll go home and start watching it on TV,” Hall said.

By JOHN GALINSKY
Daily Progress staff writer
Going into the 2002 season, the buzz about the Virginia men’s lacrosse program revolved around two attackmen: senior Conor Gill and freshman John Christmas. Understandably so. Gill was a two-time All-American, while Christmas was the nation’s top recruit. Their pairing created all sorts of excitement in the Cavalier camp.
UVa’s third attackman?
Oh, yeah, some kid named Joe Yevoli.
The name already was familiar in lacrosse circles. Yevoli’s father, Joe Sr., was an All-American attackman at North Carolina in the 1970s. Joe Jr. was a prize recruit in his own right. But compared to Gill and Christmas, Yevoli’s arrival at Virginia received scant attention.
“At first, I was a bit concerned that Joe would feel overlooked,” UVa coach Dom Starsia said. “But he’s making his own way and delivering his own message.”
Indeed, Yevoli has made a name for himself by scoring eight goals in his first two college games. He had four against Drexel, the most by a UVa rookie in his debut in five years, then matched that feat against Syracuse last Saturday.
Going into today’s game against defending national champion Princeton at Klockner Stadium, Yevoli is the team leader in goals by three (over Billy Glading) and has two more goals than Christmas (4) and Gill (2) combined.
While no one is suggesting that Yevoli is better than his running mates, it is clear he belongs with them. Now the buzz isn’t about Virginia’s devastating duo at attack. It’s the terrific trio.
“Conor is the senior All-American with all the accolades and John comes in with all the flash,” Starsia said, “but you’d be making a mistake by calling Joe Yevoli our third attackman.”
If you want to call him that, however, Yevoli won’t mind. He sounds genuinely amazed at times to be on the same field with his more-heralded teammates.
“At first, it was weird — here I am playing with Conor Gill and John Christmas,” he said. “I had heard so much about both of them. They’re great players. It’s awesome to be playing with them. ... All the attention they got, I guess that kind of helped take some of the pressure off me.”
Yet it is Yevoli, perhaps more than Christmas, who came to Virginia with a college-ready game. While Christmas has had some trouble learning to play without the ball in his stick, Yevoli is an excellent off-the-ball cutter who can finish adeptly with either hand.
Raised in the lacrosse hotbed of Long Island, N.Y., Yevoli — a natural righty — learned how to use his left effectively. His father made sure of that.
“When we played catch in the backyard, my dad would always make me catch and throw left-handed,” Yevoli said. “Then in Little League, my dad would always put me on the left side. He knew it would help me in the long run if I could use both hands.”
“As a former defenseman myself, I can tell you that a guy who can split to both hands equally is just deadly to cover,” Starsia said. “All three [of Virginia’s starters] are as ambidextrous as any set of attackmen in the country.”
Yevoli scored two goals on left-handed shots against Drexel. His first three goals against Syracuse also came as a lefty. His final one — a spectacular right-handed, behind-the-back shot — tied the game at 13 with 6:23 remaining.
Though the Cavaliers lost, 15-13, Yevoli earned plenty of respect for his performance.
“I didn’t realize how smart a player he was until [last] Saturday,” Starsia said. “Early in the game, [Syracuse defenseman Billy] St. George knocked the ball out of his stick a few times. Joe stopped going right at him, but he tortured him going away from the ball. It’s rare for a freshman to know his limitations and to be able to adapt in a game like that.”
Yevoli also has won the respect of his teammates.
“He’s good,” Gill said. “He’s not going to carry the ball as much as John, but he moves without the ball, he uses both hands and he knows how to play.”
Said Christmas: “I think our freshman class is sensational. It’s going to be fun playing with Joe for four years.”
Yevoli says he feels the same way. While scoring 108 goals in his final two seasons at St. Anthony’s High School in Massapequa, N.Y., he figured he would follow in his father’s footsteps and go to North Carolina. But he visited UVa last fall and fell in love with the program and the school, as well as the chance to play with Gill and Christmas.
“This one year with Conor is definitely going to help me a lot,” he said. “Every day, Conor has something to show me. He’s so experienced; I can learn a lot by playing with him. ... Playing with John is great, too. He’s so quick, he can force double teams and that leaves me open. If we have good chemistry now, imagine how good it’s going to be.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C.
For Virginia basketball, the postseason has grown into a giant ball of frustration, an embarrassing exclamation point that has swollen to unimaginable proportions since the conclusion of one of the greatest season’s in the program’s history.
That was 1995-96 when former coach Jeff Jones’ Cavaliers marched into the NCAA’s Elite Eight, losing to eventual national championship runner-up Arkansas. Little did enthusiastic UVa fans realize that would be the last postseason basketball victory of any variety for at least the next seven years. Repeat, seven years. No, that is not a typo.
Since that time, Virginia hasn’t scratched in the ACC tournament, the NCAAs or the NIT. That’s 0-11 for those who are counting.
Comparatively, during that same span, every other team in the ACC, even Florida State and Clemson, have won at least seven times in one or all of those three postseason tournaments.
Friday afternoon, the frustration continued to mount as UVa dropped its seventh consecutive opening-round game in ACC tournament play, in a 20-point blowout to an N.C. State that closed out its three-game sweep of the Cavaliers, 92-72.
The defeat dropped Virginia to 17-11 overall, essentially 7-10 against its own league. After los-
ing nine of its last 12 games overall, the last two by 20 points each, the Cavaliers throw themselves at the mercy of the NCAA tournament selection committee, who unless they’re smoking something in their seclusion, are expected to look the other way and sentence UVa to basketball’s hinterland. Yes, we’re talking NIT.
What made Friday’s early exit so pathetic was yet another example of Virginia lacking the intensity required to pull out such a victory against an N.C. State team that, while good, isn’t exactly a squad that makes opponents quake in their sneakers, like say a Maryland or a Duke.
In fact, N.C. State, at 21-9, doesn’t have a single victory over another team that will make the NCAA tournament.
“When a game gets very intense, you have to keep matching that intensity,” said UVa coach Pete Gillen, who has not led the program to a postseason win in six opportunities (0-4 ACC, 0-1 NCAA, 0-1 NIT). “We didn’t do that.”
Virginia put forth a poor defensive performance, as the Wolfpack became the sixth straight opponent to shoot at least 50 percent against the Cavs. State hit 60.4 percent of its shots for the game (29 of 48) and 66.7 percent in the second half (14 of 21).
The Wolfies also hit 13 of 18 shots from beyond the 3-point line, a staggering eight in a row during one second-half stretch. The performance was the second-best 3-point shooting in ACC tournament history, only behind Virginia’s 5 for 5 in 1983 when the league used a shorter bonus line of only 17 feet, 9 inches.
“I can’t remember a team I coached against hitting 13 of 18 threes,” Gillen said.
Some defense might have helped. State guards Anthony Grundy (4 of 6), Archie Miller (4 of 4), and Illian Evtimov (4 of 5) carved up UVa’s defense, often hitting wide-open jumpers. While Gillen pointed out that many of the long-range bombs came from 23 to 25 feet, there still was no hand-in-the-face, or hands up in the air.
Rebounding wasn’t much better. The Cavs had outrebounded State in both regular-season matchups but were beaten on the boards by a 32-23 count.
“It was the same Virginia team we’ve seen all year except for maybe a little March Madness in them,” N.C. State forward Josh Powell said.
Roger Mason Jr., who led UVa with 24 points, was at a loss as to why his teammates couldn’t play with the same intensity in a game that meant everything to them, as they did in practice sessions leading up to the tournament.
“I’m really surprised because we have talent on this team,” Mason said. “It is more intense when we practice than it was here today. That’s really frustrating.”
After the Cavaliers’ pathetic defensive effort at Maryland last Sunday, Gillen placed a special emphasis on that phase of the game in practices. But as Gillen said, “You are who you are.” And Virginia finished dead last in the conference in field-goal percentage defense for a reason.
“It’s very frustrating. We worked on [defense] for three days but we played harder in practice,” said Gillen. “We didn’t play as hard or as desperate as we needed to.”
No wonder Mason characterized his own team as a Jekyll and Hyde kind of thing.
Mason pleaded UVa’s case for an NCAA bid by pointing out the Cavaliers beat defending national champion Duke. But that was one of only three wins in the final six weeks of the season.
Only four teams in ACC history have a worse streak in the opening round: Clemson with streaks of eight, nine and 10 straight defeats at different spans of its ACC tourney play, and Virginia with a 10-game, one-and-done streak from 1960 to 1969.
It’s certainly not what Gillen came to Charlottesville to do. Ditto that for Mason, Travis Watson and the rest.

U.Va. drops 7th straight ACC tourney opener
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© March 9, 2002

CHARLOTTE -- With an NCAA tournament bid almost certainly on the line, Virginia needed to play with urgency and passion Friday.

Instead, coach Pete Gillen said, ``We played harder in practice than we did in the game.''

After allowing its last five opponents to shoot at least 50 percent, Virginia knew it needed to tighten its defense.

Instead, the Cavaliers allowed N.C. State to shoot 60 percent for the game -- 67 percent in the second half -- and make 13 of 18 3-point shots.

Coming off a roller-coaster regular season, Virginia needed an ACC tournament win to make a fresh start.

Instead, the Cavaliers continued their late-season slide, losing 92-72 to N.C. State in an ACC quarterfinal game at the Charlotte Coliseum.

The loss was Virginia's fifth in its last six games and ninth in its last 12. It kept alive a pair of nagging streaks. Virginia has now lost in the ACC tournament's opening round seven years in a row and has dropped 11 straight postseason games overall.

The defeat was also Virginia's third this season to N.C. State, and this one had a familiar feel. As it did a month ago in Raleigh, N.C. State carved up Virginia with its motion offense.

``You've got to defend better,'' Gillen said. ``We worked on it, but we just didn't do it.''

Senior guards Anthony Grundy and Archie Miller each hit four 3-pointers for N.C. State. Freshman Ilian Evtimov also made four 3-pointers. N.C. State (21-9) made its first eight 3-point shots in the second half. Its lone miss was an off-balance attempt by Grundy that he took as the shot clock ran down.

``Three-pointers can kill you,'' Virginia guard Roger Mason Jr. said. ``When they're going for them, they're a very tough team to defend.''

Grundy, who finished with 32 points, hit some shots from well behind the arc, with a defender not far away. But many of Miller's and Evtimov's shots were uncontested.

``I don't know what to tell you,'' said center Travis Watson, when asked how the Wolfpack got so many open shots.

Grundy, an All-ACC guard, also scored on an array of spinning, fading, elastic shots, with defenders draped on him. He made 11 of 15, and also had five rebounds and four assists.

Grundy had 17 by halftime, and N.C. State clung to a seven-point lead. Virginia cut the lead to two early in the second half, but Watson picked up his fourth foul shortly after, and five of N.C. State's next six baskets were 3-pointers.

Watson sat for seven minutes after picking up his fourth foul. He returned with 9:41 left, only to miss a layup and commit three quick turnovers.

By then, N.C. State had stretched its lead to 78-65. Virginia never challenged again.

``When we practiced, we beat each other up harder than we played against N.C. State,'' Mason said.

Virginia grabbed just 23 rebounds to N.C. State's 32. Watson, the ACC's leading rebounder, had just three.

Mason led Virginia with 24 points. He had to work hard for most of them, however, as Virginia never established continuity on offense.

``Virginia battled,'' N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said. ``We were at the top of our offensive game today and made shots.''

At 17-11, the Cavaliers are left to sweat out Selection Sunday. Gillen declined to comment on whether Virginia -- seen as a ``bubble'' team that needed at least one win in the conference tournament -- deserves an NCAA berth.

Mason said last week's win over Duke proves the Cavaliers are worthy of an at-large bid.

``Out of 64 teams, I feel like we deserve to be in. We beat the defending national champs,'' Mason said.

But Mason added that Virginia is ``like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Some days we're there; some days we're not.''

Mason, a junior, said the most frustrating thing is that three years into his career, he's still looking for his first postseason win.

U.Va. defense takes a sabbatical
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© March 8, 2002

CHARLOTTE - Maryland shoots 73 percent in a half and scores 69 points in 20 minutes.

Wake Forest forward Darius Songaila makes 11 of 13 shots as the Deacons roll up 92 points and shoot 58 percent.

What do these offensive outbursts have in common? All came against Virginia, the ACC's least-disruptive defensive unit.

For the second straight year, a shot attempted against Virginia in an ACC game has a better chance of going in than a shot attempted against any other team. The Cavaliers, who open ACC tournament play against N.C. State today at the Charlotte Coliseum, allowed ACC foes to shoot 48 percent this season, worst in the conference.

That's actually an improvement over last season, when Virginia allowed ACC opponents to shoot 49.8 percent. But for a team that made shoring up its halfcourt defense a preseason priority, it's a disappointment.

Virgina's defense has been particularly generous during the Cavaliers' late-season skid. Virginia (17-10) has lost four of its last five and has allowed its opponent to shoot at least 50 percent in each game.

``We think defense is a town in Chile,'' joked coach Pete Gillen. ``We don't know what defense is. .Something you put around your house to keep out de dog and de cat.''

Virginia's defensive woes are not the result of lack of effort. The team spends more than half of practice working on defensive concepts.

The Cavaliers proved they are capable of defending by clamping down on Duke in the last eight minutes of their 87-84 upset win. Still, the Blue Devils missed some open shots they normally make.

Virginia lapsed again against Maryland, which ran up 111 points, just a point shy of its highest output of the season.

Virginia's style leads to some natural defensive problems. The Cavaliers like to run and press when possible.

``Anytime you do that, you're going to give up some baskets,'' said N.C. State coach Herb Sendek, a former Kentucky assistant. ``We did at Kentucky.''

But Virginia has not pressed as much as it did last season. This year's team is not as quick, and has been involved in more halfcourt games, Gillen said.

That's where Virginia has been vulnerable. The Cavaliers don't have a shot blocker, and when center Travis Watson gets in foul trouble, they have difficulty defending inside.

On the perimeter, they've had trouble stopping opposing guards from penetrating.

``My take on Virginia is they defend pretty ferociously at 60 and 70 feet and rather permissively inside 20,'' said Dick Tarrant, a radio and television analyst and former University of Richmond coach. ``They give up a lot of easy baskets. That can be because when you extend your defense, you gamble.''

With an NCAA bid likely on the line today, Virginia has little margin for error. N.C. State spread the floor and shot 51 percent in its most recent win over Virginia, 85-68 on Feb. 6. The Wolfpack also beat Virginia on Jan. 5, 81-74.

``We haven't helped each other out like we should,'' guard Roger Mason Jr. said. ``We haven't played good team defense. If one person gets beat, no one else is stepping up.''

If Virginia's defense doesn't step up today, the Cavaliers could step down -- to the NIT.

In a very big game, Cavaliers come up very small
The Virginian-Pilot
© March 9, 2002

CHARLOTTE -- This much Pete Gillen's reeling Cavaliers may have going for them: There aren't 65 Division I college teams that deserve to be in the NCAA tournament.

It's just a thought, but one to which U.Va. can still cling now that it has badly squandered an opportunity to impress the selection committee on the court.

The twaddle that serves as background noise for college hoops this time of year -- nonstop chatter from Dickie and Digger, byzantine blatherings about strengths of schedules and conference power ratings -- just distracts fans from the poor quality of undergraduate ball being played from sea to shining sea.

Do all teams really earn their way into the tournament? How many get there strictly by default?

Backstage at the ACC tournament Friday, mavens reached into the record books to suggest that it is too early to presume U.Va. is NIT bound. This assumes that there is a long-shot, at-large candidate that looked worse than the Cavaliers did against North Carolina State.

But wait, whispered ACC historians. The 1998 Florida State team entered the NCAA field with a 6-10 conference record. And then there's the selection committee, which is headed up by the N.C. State athletic director and includes other ACC officials. Perhaps they'll hold their noses and make U.Va. the ACC's fifth invitee.

Besides, didn't senior Adam Hall miss 10 games with an injury? Wasn't Travis Watson under the weather for that trip to Missouri?

Evidently, there's a lot more to this selection process than expecting a school to just win, baby.

One argument U.Va. and its fans can't use is that the Cavaliers look like anything resembling a tournament team. They haven't for the better part of a month. Didn't on Friday afternoon, when even desperation was not enough to drive them past their incompetence.

Naturally, Gillen attributed his team's fifth defeat in its last six games to suspect defense, a common lament. He said the Cavaliers practiced hard for three days on defense, but ``didn't carry that over to the game, not for the whole game.''

Apparently not, seeing as how N.C. State shot 60 percent and scored 92 points. It was the most points by a Wolfpack team in the ACC tournament since 1978.

Said Roger Mason Jr., who led the losers with 24 points, ``Some games we're there and some games we're not.''

``I couldn't imagine the season coming down to this,'' said Hall, shaking his head. ``To come down to must-win games.''

U.Va. is such a disappointment because the Cavaliers were rated so highly for most of the season. Overrated, it's clear.

The poll numbers -- U.Va. was ranked as high as No. 4 in the country -- were ``fool's gold,'' Gillen said outside the locker room. ``I didn't think we were that good, but you can't tell your guys that.''

Gillen believes the Cavaliers ``might have thought we were better than we were. Subconsciously, we might have thought we'd arrived.''

One source of information that Virginia beat reporters exploit too infrequently is the weekly call-in show that Pete Gillen holds most Monday nights.

Although I never missed the coach's show when George Welsh was heading the football program, I'm not sure I had listened to Gillen for more than a couple minutes at a time until this past Monday night.

Perhaps the most interesting revelation this week came when Gillen said of Todd Billet: "He's going to be somewhere in the starting lineup, whether he plays point guard or if we play two point guards if Majestic Mapp is healthy."

Billet started all 58 games in which he played during his first two years at Rutgers, so, in all likelihood, he did not transfer to Virginia with the idea that he would be coming off the bench. Nevertheless, I was surprised by Gillen's lack of hesitation in tapping Billet as a starter for 2002-2003.

Freshman Keith Jenifer has played almost 21 minutes per game this season, almost exclusively at point guard. If Billet starts at the point or if he and Mapp start, where does that leave Jenifer? If Billet and Mapp start, you know that Roger Mason Jr. is going to start somewhere, so does that mean UVa will use three guards?

That's not an unconventional approach nowadays and, while talking to the media on the ACC coaches' teleconference Tuesday, Gillen did mention Jenifer as one of four prospective point guards for next year, along with Mapp, Billet and Mason.

In fact, at the end of the call-in show Monday, Gillen tapped Jenifer as the Cavaliers' player of the week for his play against Duke, when he had the go-ahead basket and finished with 10 points and six assists, compared to two turnovers.

Nevertheless, you have to wonder how he fits in the puzzle for next year.

Billet must have been stretching when measured at his listed 6 feet, so it will be difficult to guard taller shooting guards in the ACC, but he is a shooter and, if the Cavaliers need anything, it's a shooter. He made 158 3-pointers in his two years at Rutgers, shooting 40 percent or better from 3-point range in both seasons.

In his second year at Rutgers, Billet was 82-of-202 on 3-pointers in 27 games. In 27 games leading up to the ACC Tournament, Mason is 77-of-207, which ranks him fifth in the ACC in made 3-pointers. Of the players in front of him, only Clemson sophomore Tony Stockman returns, so UVa can claim legitimately that it goes into the 2002-2003 season with two of the ACC's top 3-point shooters.

MASON SAID THURSDAY that part of his motivation for returning next year is the opportunity to play with his fellow 1998 signee, Mapp, who is nearing the end of a second straight season of inactivity.

There are those who question whether Mapp will play again after twice undergoing reconstructive knee surgery. To those I would point out that Mapp travels with the team -- I don't think he's required to do so -- and certainly acts as if he will be back. (He hasn't done interviews.)

"He's not feeling any pain," Gillen said earlier this week. "There's not much swelling after he works out. He's going to talk to his doctor [and] possibly visit his doctor. We hope to have him back."

Mapp's surgeon, who has never been identified, reportedly is based on the West Coast. Assuming Mapp does return, there will be a question of how much the two years away from competition will have eroded his skills, not to mention his mobility. Fortunately for Mapp, one of his chief attributes as a point guard is his mind and the way that translates into leadership.

IN A PHONE INTERVIEW with UVa football coach Al Groh, the conversation turned to the absence of Cavalier graduates in the coaching profession, at least compared to their counterparts from Virginia Tech.

Tech football signees this year included Marcus Vick, whose brother played at Tech; Jonathan Lewis, whose brother is on the Tech roster; Brandon Gore, the son of a Tech alumnus; Darryl Tapp, Mike Imoh, Cary Wade and Aaron Rouse, whose coaches played for Tech; Lamar Veney, whose coach is the brother of the Tech trainer, and Brenden Hill, who will join his teammate (Marcus Vick) to Blacksburg.

Two Virginia signees with previous UVa connections are Tom Hagan, whose mother graduated from UVa and whose father graduated from UVa medical school; and D'Brickashaw Ferguson, whose older brother is a student at UVa but doesn't play football.

Of the Hokies in coaching, Groh said, "That's life. Most guys are very professional and while they may have a rooting interest in the school they went to -- which is perfectly normal and I think they should -- I think they respond to professionalism, too."

"If we're out there doing the right things and going business the right way, they are certainly very responsive to us."

NORTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL linebacker Justin London never visited Virginia before signing with UCLA but says he followed the ACC while he was growing up (his father played at North Carolina State) and liked the Cavaliers.

So, what happened in his recruiting?

"To me, the coaching staff was not as down to earth as it should be," London said. "When I think of Virginia, I don't think of a national-championship team. I thought the coaches were a little cocky and confident for where the program was at the time. They came on a little strong.

"They're recruit like they're a Top 10 team and they expect you to visit, automatic. It works with some people. All the other guys seem to love it. They got five out of the top 10 [in-state prospects], right? It just wasn't a tactic that worked with me."

SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, when asked what the Cavaliers intended to do with offensive linemen Kevin Bailey, one of the UVa assistant football coaches said, "That's the $64,000 question."

Bailey, a starter at left tackle for the first part of the season, moved to center prior to the Cavaliers' upset victory over Georgia Tech and played there for the final three games.

While Groh believes Bailey can be an outstanding center and play that position at the next level, he recently talked about a tentative offensive lineup that included Bailey back at left tackle. Two of Bailey's junior classmates, center Jay Green and guard Micah Kimball, will be given a chance to win starting jobs in the spring.

Bailey, senior tackle Mike Mullins and sophomore guard Elton Brown are set.

In surveying a lengthy list of unopened e-mails this week, my eyes moved quickly to a couple of familiar names, Chris Ferguson and Jeff Schneider.

Virginia Tech men's basketball fans will remember Ferguson and Schneider as a pair of former Hokies, Ferguson an assistant coach and Schneider a player. I couldn't wait to read what they had to say.

Rather, this Ferguson and this Schneider were Maryland basketball fans who were enraged by comments I made last week about Terrapins assistant Jimmy Patsos.

To recap the March 1 edition of Notebook Plus, the "lead" item dealt with a column that had appeared on cnnsi.com in which Sports Illustrated college basketball writer Seth Davis quoted an unnamed ACC assistant coach as saying Virginia has "some low-character kids."

It was easy to suspect Patsos because of a confrontation that had occurred during the first Maryland-Virginia game this season, when there was a shouting match in front of the Terps' bench that eventually caused the ACC office to reprimand UVa assistant Walt Fuller.

What bothered Ferguson, Schneider and other Maryland fans was my observation that I had watched Patsos for 10 years on the sideline and that he "always had struck me as kind of a punk."

It was an impression, nothing else, because I had never met Patsos. But, the Maryland fans let me hear about my use of the "p" word.

"Funny, the ACC reprimanded the fat Virginia coach -- not GW [Gary Williams] or Patsos -- but you don't mention that," Schneider wrote. "You're a prick writing for a stupid redneck newspaper. Have fun it the NIT."

Another e-mailer, GaTerp67, wrote, "Unless you have proof positive that Jimmy Patsos made the comments you attribute to him, you are guilty of sandlot pandering to the masses in hopes of getting some level of recognition. If I were Jimmy, I'd take your sorry excuse for journalism and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. Talk about being a punk!"

Jeff Kern said, "A punk is a writer at some low-rent rag newspaper taking shots at a guy he doesn't know. ... You aren't jealous that Patsos is the assistant head coach at Maryland while you are relegated to working in Roanoke, are you?

"Quit trying to make a name for yourself, whoever you are. Make yourself feel better with a quick trip to the Waffle House for some flapjacks and grits. There, corn pone."

In a second e-mail, Schneider referred to me as a "moron" and Steve Kassell wrote in the subject line of his e-mail, "You truly are a jerk." Henry Smith said I must be "the only idiot on earth that spends time watching assistant coaches."

IN A RESPONSE to the 12-15 e-mailers who responded negatively (there were 3-4 positive responses), I wrote that I was no longer in the business of offering retractions.

I swore off retractions after the first Virginia-Clemson game, when I wrote that the Tigers were the latest team to expose Virginia as a fraud. The Cavaliers, who were 9-2 at the time, won their next five games and I wrote a subsequent column admitting that "fraud" was probably an inaccurate description.

I've had a lot of readers say subsequently that they agreed with my initial assessment but I still feel that fraud implies some intent to mislead. It was not Virginia's fault that it was ranked No. 11 in the preseason and got as high as No. 4 after a 9-0 start.

The pollsters were wrong in thinking so highly of UVa when it didn't have a proven point guard. "Overrated" was probably the best description of the Cavaliers for the first three months of the season, although there was some degree of "underachieving."

BUT, I DIGRESS. I told the Maryland fans that I was not going to offer a retraction, but I do feel that fairness is a virtue and I'm not opposed to presenting differing points of views.

What resulted was a healthy dialogue with several of the e-mailers, most notably Mike Lonergan, the men's basketball coach at reigning Division III champion Catholic. Lonergan, deep into the D-3 playoffs again this year, took time off from game preparations to send me four e-mails.

"Jimmy is a good guy and he never talked to Seth Davis," said Lonergan, who describes Patsos as his best friend. "If you knew him, you would know he doesn't talk behind people's backs. Jimmy is a great guy and not a punk.

"There aren't many good guys in this profession but Jimmy is definitely one of them -- as is coach Gillen and [assistant] Tommy [Herrion]. You can really hurt a guy like Jimmy's career by making up stuff about him. I just hate to see him ripped in the press."

Nobody disputed that Patsos cursed at UVa guard Keith Jenifer in Charlottesville, nor would I dispute that Jenifer may have provoked the verbal attack. I'm not sure that Lonergan disagreed with my observation that head coach Gary Williams has a reputation and gets away with behavior that might not be as appropriate for an assistant.

"Billy Hahn [an ex-Maryland assistant] always told Jimmy and I to NEVER talk negatively about the competition because it will burn you," Lonergan said. "I have followed that advice and I think Jimmy has as well.

"When you work for a guy like Gary and played for [ex-Catholic coach] Jack Bruen, the games are like war -- everything goes to protect your bench area. I have been guilty of some things, like when guys like you write the facts -- good or bad. I just didn't think Jimmy would dog Virginia like that."

AFTER MY OPEN INVITATION, Steve Kassell wrote back and apologized for calling me a jerk. (That wasn't required.) "As a former journalist myself, I really took umbrage with statements that really had no place in the article," he said. "Would you agree that it could have been put better?"

I do think I could have used another noun that said basically the same thing without angering so many people.

"I am not a friend of Jimmy's, but a friend of a friend," David Winters wrote. "I've met and been around Jimmy seven or eight times over the past 10 years, the first time before he even had the Maryland job. Even if I was not with my friend who knew him, if I were to see him while I was out, he would acknowledge me."

Clearly, Patsos has his supporters and he has told Maryland basketball SID Kevin Messenger, among others, that he did not make the comment to Seth Davis. So, all is well. Somewhere out there, there is an assistant who referred to Virginia's "low-character kids," provided it wasn't printed in error, which would be even worse.

"I wanted to let you know that I agree with you 100 percent on the Seth Davis article," said Phillip Runkel, one of the few e-mailers who reacted positively to last week's column. "I could not believe that he would make a general statement about UVa's basketball team ... a comment like that DOES taint all of them."

WEBSITE HOST JIM ELLISON said he did not edit my comments about Patsos because he felt I would get a lot of reaction. (Thanks, man). But, when I wrote "flyer," he again changed it to "flier," just to annoy me.

I KNOW VERY FEW NFL people, but while covering the ACC Tournament, I ran into Carolina Panthers PR director Charlie Dayton, who held the same job at Wake Forest in a former life, and asked how the NFL recognizes years of experience.

The subject of professional experience has been a topic of discussion in Virginia since UVa sent a flyer to its recruits in which it outlined 56 years of pro experience for its staff, not counting graduate assistant and 12-year NFL vet Andy Heck for some reason.

"Say a player goes to camp, gets cut, then comes back the next year," I said to Dayton. "Is he listed as a rookie?"

"He would be listed as having one year's experience," Dayton said. "But, say he went to training camps for four straight years and was cut each year. He would still be listed as a one-year pro until he played in the regular season."

According to Dayton, an NFL player does not get a full-year's credit for pension purposes unless he has been with the team for four regular-season games.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Virginia Cavaliers didn't look or play like an NCAA tournament team yesterday, and they're not likely to be one when the field is announced tomorrow night.

For the seventh year in a row, Virginia lost in the ACC tournament's first round. In yesterday's second quarterfinal, fifth-seeded N.C. State shot as if it were playing 5-on-0 and routed fourth-seeded U.Va. 92-72 before 23,895 at the Charlotte Coliseum.

"It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," said junior guard Roger Mason Jr., who led the Cavaliers with 24 points. "Some games we're there. Some games we're not."

The Wolfpack (21-9), a lock for the NCAA tournament, will meet top-seeded Maryland (26-3) in today's first semifinal. Virginia (17-11) headed home to Charlottesville to await the NCAA se- lection committee's verdict.

Things look bleak for U.Va., which has collapsed in dramatic fashion since climbing to No. 4 in the polls before Christmas. Even with that extended slump, however, many analysts believed all U.Va. needed was a victory over State to secure an at-large bid to the NCAAs. Instead, Virginia turned in yet another abysmal defensive effort, lost for the ninth time in its past 12 games and probably assured itself its second trip to the NIT in three seasons.

"We put ourselves in this situation," senior forward Adam Hall said. "We had an opportunity to control our own destiny, and we failed. That's the bottom line."

Virginia made 7 of 15 attempts from 3-point range and shot 48.1 percent overall. When coupled with solid defense, that's good enough to win most games. But U.Va., for the sixth straight game, allowed its opponent to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor. The 'Pack, in a textbook display of its spread offense, shot 60.4 percent the floor. It hit a cool 72.4 from beyond the 3-point arc, hitting 13 of 18 attempts.

Talk about dejà vu. Two weeks ago, Georgia Tech made 15 of 25 3-pointers at University Hall.

"It is very frustrating," Gillen said of his team's defensive effort against State. "We worked hard on it in practice for three days. But, honestly, we played harder in practice than we did in the game."

Some of State's 3-pointers were contested, but many came on wide-open looks. In the second half, the 'Pack approached perfection from long range, hitting 9 of 10, the only blank coming on an off-balance attempt by all-ACC performer Anthony Grundy as the shot clock ticked down.

No one begrudged Grundy a rare miss. The former Hargrave Military Academy connected on acrobatic drives, buried four treys and scored a career-high 32 points. State's other senior guard, Archie Miller, went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc and scored all 16 of his points after intermission.

"Today what these guys did in the backcourt was nothing short of sensational," said coach Herb Sendek, whose Wolfpack improved to 3-0 against the Cavs this season. In those games, State totaled 33 treys.

U.Va., which trailed by seven at the break yesterday, had a chance to make it a one-point game with 17:51 remaining. But senior forward Chris Williams, who'd been fouled on a basket that made it 47-45, missed the free throw, and Miller promptly bombed in a 3-pointer at the end. Another Miller trey made it 54-45 with 16 minutes left, and Virginia never got closer than six thereafter.

The Cavs committed 10 of their 16 turnovers in the second half to hurt their comeback bid. Two other stats jump off the final sheet: Virginia was outrebounded 32-23 and made only 15 of 25 free throws.

For the second straight game, center Travis Watson, the ACC's leading rebounder and a second-team all-conference selection, pulled down only three boards. Watson, who rarely touched the ball in the first half, picked up his fourth foul with 16:48 left and Virgina down five. He spent the next seven minutes on the bench and wasn't effective when he returned.

The 6-8, 255-pound junior finished with eight points and five turnovers.

"When he gets fouls, he gets frustrated and loses some of his focus," Gillen said.

There was plenty of frustration to go around. Virginia has dropped 11 straight postseason games, the last six under Gillen. The Cavs have lost eight consecutive ACC tournament games, the third-longest skid in the event's history.

Asked if his team deserved an NCAA tourney bid, Gillen said, "I have no comment on that. I'll let the experts decide. We're 17-11; that's who we are."

CHARLOTTE -Ilian Evtimov watched his first ACC Tournament game from the eye of the storm.

He stood on the wing, whipping passes to N.C. State shooters Anthony Grundy and Archie Miller. He waded onto the muscle beach under the basket, ramming bodies and snatching rebounds. He floated out to the foul circle and, left alone whenever clueless Virginia jammed the lane, launched his disarmingly precise jumpers.

Everything clicked, evoking joyful howls from Wolfpack fans in the crowd of 23,895. "The gym was loud," Evtimov reported. "It was packed. It was more than I thought it was going to be."

Nearly everything went in, burying Virginia 92-72 under a long-range avalanche. Senior Grundy scored a career-high 32 points. Senior Miller added 16 and freshman Evtimov 15.

The bombers combined to hit 12 of 15 3-point attempts. The Wolfpack's 13-for-18 performance ranked above every 3-point shooting exhibition other than Virginia's 5-for-5 run in the 1983 semifinals, when the experimental 3-point line was 2 feet closer than now.

"Anthony hit a couple," Evtimov said. "Archie hit a couple and I hit a few. It was like a virus. A good virus."

The virus spread and devoured the Cavaliers, who lost their eighth straight tournament opener, the third-longest streak in the ACC's 49-year history. The Wolfpack, wobbling some down the stretch of a 20-9 regular season, applied soothing ointments to raw ego bruises and advanced to the semifinals against Maryland.

Evtimov, the European import who spent two prep seasons in Winston-Salem, relishes the next confrontation.

"If you would tell me that we had to play them right now, I'd go out on the court right away," he said. "I can't wait."

He waited 10 years for this chance on this stage, working to fulfill his presumed birthright. Brother Vasco played briefly for North Carolina. Today, at 6-10 and 260 pounds, Vasco pounds other power insiders for a Russian pro team. Their mother played pro basketball. Their father, 46-year-old Ilia, serves as player-coach of a second-level pro team in Lyon, France, the city 18-year-old Ilian considers the closest thing to his hometown.

Ilian spent his sophomore year of high school in New York. He wanted to live with an American family and complete his prep education here. The solution: Evtimov moved in with Vasco's in laws, Steve and Beverlie Cooke, commuting 20 miles from their King home to R.J. Reynolds High School. Evtimov averaged 14 points for the state 4-A champions.

A visa problem disrupted plans for his senior year. The solution: He transferred to private Bishop McGuiness High School and moved in with Drs. Terry and Ann Bogard, whose son Josh played on the team. Evtimov averaged 21.5 points for the state finalists.

He tentatively selected Davidson, but major schools started recruiting him in the spring after his senior season. State was the first big suitor and eventual winner. Carolina called only once, to check out his intentions. "They didn't recruit me seriously," Evtimov said.

His range became evident at midseason, when Coach Herb Sendek elevated Evtimov (6-7, 225 pounds) to the starting lineup. He scored 15 points against Temple, 16 against Duke and 18 against Clemson. Evtimov, a 38-percent shooter with an equal number of turnovers and assists, averaged 6.6 points overall but 8.8 against ACC opponents.

He belonged on the conference's All-Freshman team, which was led by roomie Julius Hodge. Somehow, teammate Josh Powell beat out Evtimov for the last spot, although Powell's contributions were quite modest in the final 11 games.

"I was disappointed," Evtimov said, emphasizing that the oversight didn't bother him much because the team's success overshadowed any award. Besides, his development reaffirmed his commitment to practice and validated his alignment with Hodge, the flashy New Yorker.

They played together in a Raleigh summer league, and Hodge figured they would make good roommates.

"I knew he was a hard worker, and I knew I'd be going to the gym at all hours of the night," Hodge said.

They often meander over to Reynolds Coliseum after returning from road games, shooting and playing until 1 a.m. or beyond. Hodge couldn't sleep after the last Carolina game and hit the gym at 3 a.m.

"Ask him about the 3-point shooting contests we have," Evtimov said.

Hodge conceded Evtimov's outstanding touch from far afield. "But," Hodge said, "ask 'Shoush' about the one-on-one games."

"Shoush" Evtimov - he received the endearing nickname from his mother as a child in Bulgaria - gives the nod to Hodge and his lightning first step. "He's from New York," Evtimov said. "His game is one-on-one. My game isn't one-on-one. It's more European." He prefers shooting or passing while facing the basket.

Evtimov assumes that he will approach his father's height of 6-9 and might reach his brother's weight, gaining 40 pounds or so once the weightlifting accelerates. Regardless of body type, he will retain the shooter's technique learned from his father as an 8-year-old in France.

"I was shooting on the side baskets while he was practicing with his team," Ilian said in impeccable English. "After practice, we did shooting drills and kept building on them from that day. I didn't always like the workouts, but I knew I would have to practice to get better. I can still remember the first day when he told me how to shoot a foul shot. Every time I would shoot the ball the wrong way, he would get on me and try to correct it."

The corrections worked. On a day when his risky passes cost State seven turnovers, Evtimov's four assists and 5-for-8 shooting padded the Wolfpack's 60-percent accuracy.

"Shoush" went swish, swish. So did his running mates, and the right combinations opened the semifinals door.

3 guards in UVa's future?

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