Cavs not nitpicking about NIT this season
The Cavs, who seemed to lack motivation in a home NIT loss last year, welcome the opportunity to extend their season in 2003.
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Among the consequences of Virginia's 83-76 loss to Duke on Friday night was UVa's elimination from NCAA Tournament consideration.
The Cavaliers knew they had to win the ACC Tournament to make the NCAA field, a goal that eluded Virginia for the second year in a row and fifth time in six years.

Coach Pete Gillen and his players were hoping Friday night that a 15-15 record would get them into the National Invitation Tournament.

"Honestly, nobody starts the year wanting to go to the NIT because the NCAA proves you're one of the 65 best teams," point guard Majestic Mapp said, "but we want to prolong our season and the NIT gives us a chance to play again."

Virginia has lost eight of its last nine games, but there has been an awakening in the past week, starting with an 80-78 overtime victory Sunday over 14th-ranked Maryland.

No.12 Duke (22-6) did not have an easy time with Virginia, which led 30-29 at halftime, saw Duke take the lead and stretch it to 11 and then cut the deficit to five on five occasions.

On the only possession that Virginia trailed by five and had the ball, freshman Derrick Byars missed a 3-point shot with 4:02 remaining.

Byars, a 6-foot-6 freshman, was 5-for-5 from the field at that point and scored in double figures (11) for the first time in eight games. Byars also had defensive responsibility for explosive Duke freshman J.J. Redick, who finished with 12 points after earlier lighting up the Cavaliers for 34 when the teams played in Durham, N.C.

"We came out with the idea that we would stop Redick from going crazy but another of their players went off on us," Mapp said. "We didn't want Redick to get 34, but Daniel Ewing got 34, or whatever it was."

Ewing, whose previous high was 19, finished with 32 in his first start since Feb.5. He became the sixth player to score 30 or more points against UVa this season, four in the past eight games.

Ewing, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, was added to the starting lineup when Duke decided to go with four perimeter players and bring former starter Casey Sanders, a 6-11, 235-pound senior, off the bench.

Ewing's 3-pointer with 18:46 remaining gave Duke its first lead of the second half, 34-33, and sparked a 14-2 run that coincided with five Virginia turnovers.

The Cavaliers hit 56.9 percent from the field in their second-most accurate performance of the season. They shot 59.2 percent against Clemson - in another loss - and are only 3-4 when shooting 50 percent or better.

Duke shot much better in the second half (57.1 percent) than the first half (46.2), which has been a pattern in recent Virginia games. So were the turnovers for a UVa team that is a distant last in the ACC in turnover margin.

After going 0-for-7 on 3-pointers against Maryland, Virginia sophomore Devin Smith made four of five Friday and finished with a team-high 19 points. Sophomore forward Elton Brown, scoreless at the half, had 15 points in 11 second-half minutes.

"To me, nobody can stop me when I get it," said Brown, who had gone 4-for-18 in three games since he was benched at Florida State for being late to breakfast. "I can score. I've just got to work on my defense so I can play in [all] situations. When Travis [Watson] was out, I'm like, 'I've got to step up.'

"I haven't been playing. You can't do nothin' if you're sitting down. I'm a guy who's got to be in there early. If I sit down for a while, it's hard for me to get going. When I play big minutes, I'm productive."

Brown stewed on the bench for several minutes after he was called for a technical foul by official Larry Rose with 12:29 left.

"I didn't say anything to him," Brown said. "I was talking to Travis like, 'Travis, talk to him, [an unnamed Duke player] threw an elbow at my head. He was like, 'Brown, I don't want to hear nothin'.' I turned away and he gave me a technical."

Brown was among the UVa players who said they would be excited to play in the NIT, a switch from last year, when the Cavaliers lost 10 of their last 13 games and seemed to lack motivation in a home NIT loss to South Carolina.

Athletic director Craig Littlepage is with the NCAA Basketball Committee this weekend in Indianapolis, but Gillen has many connections in New York, home to the NIT.

"We'll certainly make some calls," he said.

 

Some coaching for Cavs' coach
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Mar 16, 2003
Contact Bob Lipper at (804) 649-6555 or e-mail blipper@timesdispatch.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. Idon't pretend to know Pete Gillen the person very well, but I'll accept it as a given he's an OK guy - that he performs good works, is kind to little, old shoe-company reps and would never go so far as to "shoot the mayor of Main Street" as he reassuringly advised us the other day about the problem children who've populated his Virginia roster this year.

It's Pete Gillen the basketball coach who needs work. He's 15-15 this year and zip for the postseason since arriving at U.Va. five topsy-turvy campaigns ago. His crew was bounced from the ACC tournament Friday night. He's two down and eight to go on the preposterous 10-year deal the school cut for him when it conjured glimmerings of upward mobility.

It's fair to say he's not delivering on the investment. It's useless to speculate about how much more rope U.Va. and its disgruntled boosters will give him. It's time for him to wise up and consider a few alterations. They might not save the ship, but they'd at least make the rigging a little more secure. As in . . .

1. Rethink personnel procurement. Take a look at U.Va.'s depth chart, for openers. Of the nine players in Gillen's original rotation this year, two burned half their eligibility at other colleges, one was a junior college transfer, two detoured from high schools to military academies to get their transcripts in order and two others were AAU-pipeline kids who vaulted time zones to suit up for high schools in rural Virginia.

Notice any other elite programs - particularly in the ACC - that throw together a squad like this? You want to fashion a cohesive product and shape players into a functioning system (although I'm not entirely sure Virginia has one), you generally try to recruit solid kids off high school campuses. Some of them might even be relatively unspoiled and arrive without agendas.

Gillen's slapdash approach reflects the hyperkinetic personality you see on the sideline. Better he should take a breath, draw up a blueprint and become choosier.

2. Stick to what you know. Gillen made his reputation at Xavier with a frazzleball scheme - force tempo, press and run. The patch-quilt team he's now assembled can do neither. Unless Gillen's gotten religion at clinics and fancies himself a born-again tactician, he needs to import players who do what he orchestrates best.

3. Stop burning timeouts like a pyromaniac on uppers. You hit the panic button after, say, Duke scores back-to-back baskets for a one-point lead less than four minutes into the game, you're not just a little bit of an oddball, you're sending messages to your players that aren't exactly helpful.

4. Don't talk defense, play it. Gillen vowed to raise U.Va.'s defense from the dead this season. He hired a defensive expert from, uh, Boise. The upshot? The Cavs' resistance is as weak as it ever was. They rarely provide weak-side help. They were shredded by Duke in the second half Friday. They'll never move up in the league unless they can stop people.

5. No excuses. Gillen blamed losses last year on his players for not following instructions. He blamed this year's loss at N.C. State on the refs. He blamed the loss at Florida State on a hard week of travel and frayed emotions. He blamed the loss against Georgia Tech on not having his regular point guard in the lineup.

As recently as three days ago, Gillen raised anew the issue of Roger Mason's early defection to the NBA. He also made Keith Jenifer sound like a cross between a jackrabbit and Isiah Thomas. Enough already. You ever hear Gary Williams whine about how good Maryland might be if Chris Wilcox hadn't turned pro? Guess what? Good players leave nowadays. You accept it and move on.

As for Jenifer, besides being banished for just cause, he (1) lost his starting spot on merit before getting punted and (2) was maybe the eighth-best point guard in the league. Making him sound indispensable is lame - not to mention demeaning to the guys you're using in his place.

Here's the thing: For $900,000 per annum, Gillen should be expected to hand-check adversity and deliver. Last November, noting how much of his time is consumed by recruiting and other obligations, Gillen said, "The last thing I do is coach." If he doesn't want that for his legacy, he needs to make some changes - and soon.

 

'T' gives Brown incentive
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published March 16, 2003

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- With 12:29 remaining in Virginia's quarterfinal loss to Duke Friday night, Cavalier forward Elton Brown was called for bumping Shelden Williams in the post. He apparently said something that referee Larry Rose didn't appreciate because he was quickly whistled for a technical foul.

And, just as quickly, Brown was benched by Virginia coach Pete Gillen.

After simmering for a few minutes, Brown returned a new man. In the game's final eight minutes, he scored 12 points on 6-of-6 shooting. That included an 8-foot fade-away after a ridiculous spin move. But Brown, who had just three points until then, denied the 'T' lit a fire.

"It didn't matter to me," he said. "It's just like a foul to me."

Brown maintains he said nothing to Rose, that he simply told teammate Travis Watson that Williams had hit him in the head. Brown seemed more upset about being benched.

"I was just mad," he said. "(Gillen) took me out. I wanted to play."

STILL STREAKING. Virginia's last postseason win of any kind came on March 24, 1995, a 67-58 win over Kansas in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals.

Let's put that in perspective. Bill Clinton was still in his first term. Derrick Byars, a freshman on this year's Cavalier team, was 10 years old. And Gillen had just completed his first season at Providence.

Virginia has since lost 12 consecutive postseason games, 13 counting the loss to Arkansas in the '95 regional final. The Cavs have lost eight straight ACC quarterfinals, the longest streak since Clemson dropped 10 in a row from 1965-'74.
 

Troubled times for Cavs
Gillen hasn't won in the postseason.
Losses, suspension frustrate coach, fans
By CHIP ALEXANDER, Staff Writer
GREENSBORO -- Pete Gillen's voice was loud and sharp, his words echoing about a mostly empty Greensboro Coliseum.

"Keep your head up," the Virginia coach shouted Thursday. "Keep your head up."

It was an instruction, a reminder that his players keep their eyes trained down the court when dribbling. But it also was a phrase the Cavaliers (15-14, 6-10) doubtlessly heard often from their coach in what proved to be a troubling, trying season.

Heck, Gillen probably said it to himself a more than a few times.

"It was very frustrating, one of the toughest I've ever been through, honestly," said Gillen said, whose team faces Duke tonight in its ACC Tournament opener.

It's not the kind of season anyone at UVa expected in October 2001, when Gillen was awarded a 10-year contract that would pay him a total of $9 million. He seemed just the right fit, a man who came to UVa in 1998 and appeared to quickly rejuvenate the program.

What followed was an underachieving 17-12 season in 2001-2002. The Cavs, who were 20-9 and reached the NCAA Tournament the year before, were bounced from the NIT in the opening round.

That gave Gillen a postseason record at UVa that was anything but perfect: 0-7, with four losses in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals, two in the NIT and one in the NCAA Tournament.

This season was even worse. Gillen first suspended point guard Keith Jenifer, then finally booted him off the team in early February after a fighting incident on campus. Senior center Travis Watson, as talented as any player in the ACC, wasn't always motivated and found himself bounced from the starting lineup late in the season for missing class.

"It was frustrating with problems with players off the court," Gillen said. "Not bad kids, but kids making bad decisions."

Virginia was routed by Virginia Tech. After edging N.C. State 61-58 on Feb. 9, the Wahoos began to lose. Virginia dropped seven in a row, including a miserable 78-72 loss at Ohio University.

"Virginia Tech's a tough game when you have all that hate," Gillen said. "Ohio U, it was their Super Bowl. We've had some good wins this year, but you have to be ready to play every night."

The Cavs whipped Kentucky early in the year. They beat Wake Forest and nearly swept the Deacons. And Virginia upset Maryland in overtime last Sunday in its final regular-season game.

"It doesn't fit -- those good wins and our 6-10 record," guard Todd Billet said. "That's why it has been so frustrating for everyone.

"It has been tough on [Gillen]. The coaching profession is a business and there's constant pressure to succeed. To succeed nowadays is to win. Basketball is such a big part of Coach's life that it had to be hard to handle."

Athletics director Craig Littlepage, who gave Gillen the big contract, continues to support the coach. Plans continue for a new $128 million arena that will replace University Hall and seat 15,000.

But Gillen concedes that at times he feels the weight of expectations, of all the years and money committed to him.

"I feel horrible that we're 15-14, that we let a lot of fans down, let the school down," he said. "I take the blame.

"I'm not going to change my rules for kids. You've got to go to class, be on time, be respectful, do what's right. We have to make sure the guys we recruit are going to do this."

That being said, Gillen smiled when asked if he might follow the lead of Texas Tech coach Bobby Knight and forfeit his salary for a poor season.

"No, I'm a tight Irishman," he said. "My money goes right to my back yard in tin cans."