Gillen hopes future is brighter
for struggling Virginia
By ANDREW JOYNER
Daily Progress staff writer
“I promise we’ll be better next year.”
Those were the words UVa men’s basketball coach Pete Gillen uttered into the
public address announcer’s microphone at University Hall on Wednesday night
after his Cavaliers concluded their season with a 74-67 loss to South Carolina
in the first round of the NIT.
It’s a promise that was meant not only to soothe the feelings of the fans in
attendance but also a team that finished its season by losing 10 of its last 13
games of the season.
The Cavaliers, who were 9-0 and No. 4 in the country in the first week of
January, finished the season 17-12 after losing in the first round of the NIT, a
tournament few figured they would play in back in January.
While it might be easy to say that Virginia was one of college basketball’s
bigger disappointments this season, perhaps the best assessment of the
Cavaliers’ season came from an unlikely source: South Carolina coach Dave
Odom.
“The first day the balls were broken out, people had Pete, I think, unfairly
in the top 10. All year. They had them up there forever. The pressure mounted
instead of rescinded,” Odom said. “He lost Majestic Mapp for the season. He
lost Adam Hall for double-digit games. That’s tough. It’s very, very
tough.”
Gillen’s own summary might not be better than that of the verbose Odom.
After the game Wednesday, Gillen admitted the season was frustrating and that is
a word his players also used frequently in postgame discussions.
“It’s been such an up-and-down season. It’s just been very frustrating,”
said senior forward Chris Williams after his final game in a Virginia uniform.
The single point when this season turned poorly for the Cavaliers is of some
debate, but it would be hard for the final 3:24 of the Jan. 31 home contest with
Maryland not to receive the top votes. In that game, the Cavaliers had the
then-No.3 Terps down nine and on the verge of improving to 15-2 on the season.
Instead, the Cavaliers crumbled in those final three minutes as the Terps
escaped with a 91-87 victory.
From that point on, Virginia won only three more games, though one was against
defending national champion Duke at U-Hall on Feb. 28, in which the Cavaliers
rallied from a 15-point deficit with eight minutes to go for an 87-84 win.
“This season ended on a bad tick. We’ve lost to good teams. We’re 17-12 in
a great league and played a hell of a schedule with a lot of young players
without a veteran point guard and a lot of injuries,” Gillen said. “I’m
disappointed and frustrated we didn’t win more. We couldn’t overcome our
deficiencies of not having a veteran point guard. Our perimeter shooting has to
improve and our defense certainly has to improve.”
The hope, as Gillen said in his PA announcement, is that some of those
deficiencies will be erased next season. Majestic Mapp, who has now missed two
seasons after tearing the ACL in his right knee in August 2000, is expected to
return to action next season, health permitting, for his long-awaited sophomore
season. Mapp and Todd Billet, a junior transfer from Rutgers, certainly should
handle that veteran point guard void. Billet, who made 158 3-pointers in his two
seasons with the Scarlet Knights, is the kind of shooter who will not allow
teams to play the zones that were so effective against the Cavaliers this
season.
The two deficiencies, however, in which the remedies are not so imminently
attainable are in the areas of defense and chemistry.
Virginia allowed its last seven opponents to shoot at least 50 percent from the
field, and at times its pressing and trapping style yielded too many open looks
and easy baskets that proved to hard to recover from. As Gillen noted after his
team’s 112-92 loss to Maryland on March 3 in which his team allowed the Terps
to shoot 61.5 percent for the game and a blistering 72.1 percent in the second
half, his players have to learn they can’t simply outscore people.
“We definitely have a lot of work to do,” UVa assistant Tommy Herrion said.
As for chemistry, the Cavaliers had visible instances and some behind-the-scenes
ones that seemed to disrupt a squad that returned four starters from a team that
won 20 games and reached the NCAA tournament the season before. At times, some
players seemed disgruntled with playing time, and a team with several veterans
and several newcomers never reached the cohesion it needed to be effective.
Such issues have led to the normal rumors of transfer and departures that
normally beset teams that struggle mightily after beginning with high
expectations. Any chemistry issues likely will become not only the
responsibility of Gillen and his staff, but of Roger Mason Jr., Travis Watson,
Mapp and Billet, who appear to be the cornerstones of next year’s squad.
Mason and Watson, both second-team all-ACC performers this season, have
reiterated several times the past month their intentions to return for their
senior seasons and not tempt the NBA waters. The Cavaliers should return
sophomore guards Keith Jenifer and Jermaine Harper, sophomore forwards Elton
Brown and Jason Clark as well as juniors J.C. Mathis and Nick Vander Laan, a
center transfer from California.
The Cavaliers also have signed Derrick Byars, a 6-foot-7 swingman from Memphis,
Tenn., who is rated by several recruiting experts as one of the top 10 best
small forwards in the country.
If the Cavaliers can match their talent and depth with good chemistry next
season then they might achieve the success that was expected of them this
season.
“Things didn’t go exactly as we wanted to this season, and you are always
looking forward to that next opportunity and next game, but that’s a long ways
away. I think right now, in this moment, people are still thinking about this
game and this season,” Mason said.
From WVU to Marshall, it's not like Tech-UVa for Elmassian
By DOUG
DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays
You know all those state basketball championships and AAU Tournaments that used to be held at University Hall in Charlottesville?
Who would have thought they had an impact in football recruiting?
Consider a statement made recently by Ahmad Brooks, the No. 1 football prospect in the state, after he signed with Virginia:
"I've been playing basketball at the University of Virginia since I was little -- that's where our team played for the AAU state championship -- and I just felt that God was giving me a sign that I should go there," Brooks said.
Something in his gut told Brooks that he should sign with the Cavaliers because, after visiting Tennessee on Jan. 25, it looked like he would be joining the Volunteers
Brooks, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound linebacker from Hylton High School in Dumfries, had been to UVa over the weekend of Jan. 18.
His parents went on all visits with him.
"From the bat, I thought they wanted me to go to UVa," said Brooks, whose father, Perry, played defensive tackle for the Washington Redskins. "But, after they saw Tennessee, they were like, 'Tennessee's a good school.' After I saw Tennessee, I really thought I was going to go there. I felt that Tennessee was in a big lead."
Brooks took visits to UVa, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Florida State. Apparently, Florida State did not wow either Brooks or his parents.
"When they saw Florida State, they were like, 'Naw, that's not the place,' " Brooks said. "It wasn't what I expected. It wasn't what they expected. Florida State ... I don't know what to say about it.
"I thought Florida State was going to be just like, clean, and everything about the school was going to be awesome. I found that other schools had what Florida State had."
(Ed. note: Having visited Florida State more than a dozen times, I can see what Brooks mean. The campus is pushed up against the main drag, Tennessee Street, and lacks some of the atmosphere -- away from football -- that surrounds other campuses.)
If Florida State was fourth with Brooks, Virginia Tech was a clear-cut third.
"I never felt that Virginia Tech was in the lead," Brooks said. "I had a friend [ex-Hylton teammate D.J. Walton] who went to Tech, so I kept them on the list for that.
"After I saw Tennessee, I really thought I was going to go there, but something wasn't telling me that inside. The place for me was UVa."
Brooks realizes that some of his post-signing thoughts may not be consistent with what was reported while he was uncommitted, but there was a reason for that.
"On Sunday and Monday, after you made a visit, there would be at least 10 calls from your house," Brooks said. "Most were from Internet people and they basically asked the same thing over and over.
"You get tired of getting the same questions and repeating the same answers. At times, I didn't feel like talking to them, so I played around with them. I really didn't know what college I wanted to go to off the jump. Sometimes, I'd confuse myself sometimes with what I had told people."
While Brooks was looking for signs and welcomed divine intervention, there were a number of factors in his decision. One was the expense that his parents would have incurred by travelling out of state on a weekly basis. Another was the repeated efforts of UVa coach Al Groh and defensive coordinator Al Golden to make him feel special.
It did not go unnoticed when Brooks came off the field following Hylton's first game of the season, against Stonewall Jackson of Manassas, and Groh was standing outside the locker-room door.
"That kind of shocked me," Brooks said. "I always figured I'd see him toward the end of the season, but I wasn't expecting to see him then. He always told me I was their No. 1 guy. That showed me he meant it."
A MOVE FROM WEST VIRGINIA to Marshall won't be anything out of the ordinary for longtime football assistant Phil Elmassian, who coached at Virginia Tech from 1985-86, Virginia from 1987-90 and later at Tech from 1993-94.
Moving from West Virginia to Marshall might be easier because the two schools don't play each other. Plus, Elmassian was at WVU for only one year before parting company with head coach Rich Rodriguez, who had hired him away from LSU to be the Mountaineers' defensive coordinator.
Elmassian's brief stay in Morgantown raises the question of why he ever left LSU, where he was Nick Saban's defensive coordinator. The perception was that Saban had a background on defense and essentially was his own coordinator, "but there's absolutely no truth to that," Elmassian said.
"It was so demanding, not so much Nick of myself, but I'm going 4:30 in the morning till 12:30 at night, six days a week for seven straight weeks. I could have done that for another year. I don't think I could have done that for three [years]. Those weren't his demands. That was me."
"That was how I felt like I had to do it. I knew exactly what I was getting into. He's [Saban] a great football coach. I have great respect for him. People are like, 'Aw, Phil couldn't run his defenses.' I ain't like that. It didn't faze me. I wanted a chance to learn, learn an NFL style of defense. It was very good for me. Should I have left [LSU]? No. Did I? Yes."
But, isn't Elmassian is the kind of guy who will put demands on himself?
"I'm my own worst enemy," he said.
So what happened at WVU?
"Was there a philosophical difference between me and Rich Rodriguez?" Elmassian said. "Absolutely. From organization to practice schedule to communication. But, like I say, 'Don't pick a side in a divorce.' Two wrongs don't make a right, not that I was the greatest communicator either."
IN RECRUITING: Iona College is the destination of first-team All-Group AAA quarterback Mike Biehl, a 5-11, 165-pound quarterback from Salem High School in Virginia Beach who was rated the No. 89 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times. Biehl passed for a state-record 3,630 yards and 34 touchdowns in 11 games but received little interest from Division I-A programs and even Virginia I-AA programs because of his size.
Virginia was among the schools that inquired about Rudolph Foye, a 6-3, 210-pound defensive end from Heritage High School in Newport News before he signed with Hampton. Maryland, West Virginia and Clemson were among the schools that inquired about Foye but ran out of scholarships before he met NCAA requirements for freshman eligibility. Foye was 92nd on The Roanoke Times list.
Another late signee was wide receiver Zohn Burden from Salem High School in Virginia. Burden, who signed with Virginia State, inadvertently was left off The Roanoke Times list of the top football prospects in the state. Burden tentatively had been projected for a spot in the top 50.
At mid-afternoon Friday, there was late word that VMI had received a commitment from the state's No. 91-rated prospect, Potomac High School quarterback Gary Price, who, at 5-9, is likely to play wide receiver or cornerback for the Keydets.
MY APOLOGIES GO OUT to Virginia fundraiser and former Cavaliers' defensive tackle Joe Hall, involved in apprehending two students who interrupted playing of the National Anthem with their foul chants at the Duke-UVa game. In the March 1 edition of Notebook Plus, I said that Hall was 50 pounds lighter when he played for the Cavaliers, when, in fact, he has dropped 50 pounds since his playing days.
Site host Jim Ellison tries to edit my copy but, in this case, he doesn't know the suddenly svelte Hall. Ellison is familiar with my references to media gadfly Jeff White of the Richmond Times Dispatch and thought I was in error Thursday when I wrote that White had been fishing for compliments "for" Richmond Coliseum general manager Larry Wilson.
Ellison thought I meant that White was fishing for compliments "from" Wilson, which is entirely possible, but, in this case, it is clear (if only to me) that White has been conducting a one-man campaign to restore the good name of the Richmond Coliseum. The Richmond Coliseum was site of the Michigan-UVa game that had to be canceled in November when the ice melted through the basketball floor.
While we're dealing with apologies and clarifications, I must note that friends of Charlottesville sports writer Andrew Joyner have taken offense to Joyner being called Frat Boy. While the aging Joyner continues to be spotted at fraternity and sorority affairs, multiple e-mailers say he is better known as "Fatback" because of a partiality for pork products.
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Kyle Werman's bases-loaded single capped a three-run ninth-inning rally as Virginia slipped past top-ranked Florida State 11-10 Friday in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams. Down 10-8, Virginia (12-7, 1-0) began the rally with a sacrifice fly from Dan Street to cut the lead to one before Joe Koshansky tied the game with an RBI single. Eric Roman (0-2) gave up all three ninth-inning runs to take the loss for FSU (22-5, 0-1). FSU's Matt Lynch was chased after 41/3 innings as Virginia jumped out to a 8-4 lead after six innings. Andrew Riesenfeld had two home runs and three RBIs for the Cavaliers. The Seminoles took the lead back with a six-run eighth as the first six batters all got hits, highlighted by a three-run homer by pinch hitter Blair McCaleb. Ryan Barthelemy went 3 for 5 with a solo home run, and Tony McQuade went 4 for 5 . FSU and Virginia play a doubleheader today at noon. Both games are on Sunshine (cable 28) and WFLA (1270 AM). VIRGINIA HANDS NO. 1 FLORIDA STATE 11-10 LOSS IN ACC OPENER With the score tied at 3-3 after three innings of play, Virginia
opened up an 8-4 lead with two runs in the fourth, one run Ryan Barthelemy and Tony Richie got the six-run eighth going for
the Tribe with back-to-back singles to start the inning. Matt Street drew a walk from FSU closer Eric Roman to lead off
the bottom of the ninth inning. Mark Reynolds dropped Roman (0-2) took the loss after giving up three runs on five hits
in the ninth. Virginia's Alan Zimmerer (1-0) was the Barthelemy (3-for-5, HR) and Tony McQuade (4-for-5, triple) led the Seminoles offensively. The two teams will complete the series Saturday with a 12:00 noon
doubleheader. Both games will be carried live by |
UVa.'s Ryan continues to
amaze, and survive
STORRS, Conn.
Virginia is celebrating Debbie Ryan's 25th year as head coach. Ryan is celebrating life.
She's cancer-free nearly two years after undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer, one of the most deadly forms of the disease.
"It makes the highs really high. It makes winning a lot more fun and it makes losing not nearly as difficult," Ryan said. "I'm much better able to put things behind me and not dwell on them."
The illness began as a nagging stomach ache in the fall of 1999. Ryan said it felt as if something was stuck. Tests didn't pinpoint the problem until nearly a year later. Right up until her diagnosis, Ryan didn't miss a day of work.
Radiation followed surgery in August 2000 and what followed then was astounding.
"When they found the cancer in me it was small, and it was removable, which is highly unusual with pancreatic cancer," she said yesterday.
Ryan has Virginia (17-12) in the NCAA tournament for the 19th straight year. Her teams made the Final Four three years in a row from 1990 through 1992.
The eighth-seeded Cavaliers will face No. 9 Iowa today in a Mideast Regional opener. There she is reunited with Geno Auriemma, coach of top-ranked Connecticut.
Auriemma served as Ryan's assistant from 1980 through 1985 and was one of the first people to call her when she disclosed her illness to the media.
"She was able to build a program at Virginia at a time when very few people were able to do that," Auriemma said. "She did it on her hard work. She outworked everybody."
When Auriemma learned of her illness, he was traveling with the U.S. Olympic team and asked the team doctor about pancreatic cancer. The response was disheartening.
"He said forget about percentages. Nobody makes it," Auriemma recalled.
But Ryan did and is lending a hand to other cancer patients.
"I've become very much a cancer recovery advocate. I raise money for the cancer services department at the Cancer Center at UVa. so that other patients have the same kind of treatment I received," she said.
Ryan's surgeons were amazed her recovery.
"The tumor they took out of me was just sitting there dormant. They said my body must have fought the heck out of it," she said.
Auriemma is not surprised.
"All that stuff that made her really good as a coach and made her build that program at Virginia is probably, in the end, what won out," he said. "She's one tough girl, and I guess she was just not going to lose to this thing."
Big names, quick exit
Mark Bradley
-
Staff
Saturday, March 16, 2002
Chicago --- So the careening game unfolded like it had to unfold: The McDonald's All-American against the guy from Connecticut who committed to Creighton on the final day of a signing period because he had no other firm offers. The guy from Connecticut faked right and dribbled left. The McDonald's All-American was left lurching. The guy from Connecticut rose and, in the house Michael Jordan built, became Michael Jordan.
"He made a bad shot," Billy Donovan said, but it's funny how the opponent always seems to make bad shots to beat Florida. The Gators take their high school All-Americans and try to dazzle you with talent; the less-favored opponents take what they can get and seek to coach their pedestrian players into All-American performances.
"We wanted to make a name for ourselves," said Brody Deren, the center for the Creighton Bluejays. He smiled. "Chalk another one up for the mid-majors."
Creighton over Florida in double OT was more than just a team from the little leagues toppling one of the big boys. Creighton over Florida in double OT was a case study of how basketball pedigrees matter less than how basketball is played. Florida wouldn't have given Terrell Taylor a look when he was exiting Bridgeport (Conn.) Central High, Florida being one of those schools that believes the way to excellence is paved with prep flashes. But what was Terrell Taylor, MVP of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Conference as a high school senior, on Friday?
"The best player on the floor," Donovan said. "It wasn't even close."
Funny how that happens. The big names go to Florida or Duke or the NBA lottery, and the smaller outposts are left to rely on a quaint concept: "Sometimes our guys take a hit because they're not as athletic, but they're coachable. . . . I don't think our guys have to take a back seat," Creighton coach Dana Altman said. "Just because you're not on somebody's All-American list, I don't think that's fair."
Lists are imperfect things. The ending of this riotous game was perfect in its symbolism. Florida has three McDonald's All-Americans but no mesh. Having risen to No. 2 behind imperial Duke, Florida lost eight of its last 15. Earlier this week the Gators actually fought among themselves, LaDarius Halton punching Brett Nelson in the face. Terrell Taylor hit them harder still.
The Gators led by eight points inside the final three minutes of regulation. Three flying Taylor treys sent the game to overtime. Florida led by four with 40 seconds left in the second OT, whereupon Taylor drove the baseline for a difficult 10-footer. By then the Gators' coaches were issuing simple defensive instructions, screaming "Taylor" every five seconds. (Kyle Korver, the Creighton star, had fouled out.) Somehow the message was lost. The Gators, Donovan would say, "got beat by a guy running around trying to catch the basketball."
Taylor's last shot came against a zone, against the non-defender (Nelson) stationed in that sector. Why not man-to-man? Why not assign stopper Justin Hamilton to Taylor? "If I had my 'druthers, I'd rather have had Justin on him," Donovan said. So why overcoach?
It has been a sobering season for Donovan, the erstwhile boy wonder. He seemed unable to maximize resources, unable to get his team's attention. "Our sense of urgency by certain guys wasn't what it needed to be," he said Friday, and sometimes urgency is a foreign concept to the most gifted. Sometimes the biggest talents are the hardest to prod.
Four seconds to go, Terrell Taylor on Brett Nelson. If you were picking by reputation, you'd take Nelson. And that's what Taylor did: He took Nelson. The wilting Gators were in the wrong defense against the wrong man, and that man --- a sub on a No. 12 seed --- sent Florida home to ponder the direction of its program. Or, failing that, to get an early start on another crop of McDonald's All-Americans.