A Devil of an afternoon
UVa exits ACC tournament
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
March 13, 2004

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Over the past several weeks, Virginia has made the big shot or big play when it needed to. The Cavaliers just couldn’t do it again Friday.

Duke, never quite in danger nor ever quite out of the woods, held off Virginia 84-74 behind 27 points from Shelden Williams and 26 from Daniel Ewing in the ACC quarterfinals at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Duke (26-4), the tournament’s five-time defending champion, advances to face Georgia Tech in today’s first semifinal. Virginia, which snapped a eight-game ACC tournament losing streak with a win over Clemson on Thursday night, fell to 17-12. The Cavaliers, who have won five of their last eight games, are an extreme longshot for an at-large NCAA berth and likely will make a third straight trip to the NIT.

“We had a chance to possibly steal the game but we just didn’t make enough plays. We couldn’t make that play to cut the lead to two or three. … I’m proud of our team. They played hard and with effort but weren’t able to make those plays when we needed them,” said Gillen, whose team trailed between six and nine points for most of the second half and by just five twice in the final three minutes.

Added Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski: “It was a gutty performance by Virginia. We knew they would be ready to play today. They have a lot talent and my hat is off to them.”

J.R. Reynolds, who scored 18 against Clemson, had a career-high 20 points for the Cavaliers while Elton Brown added 14 points and six rebounds. Devin Smith, showing signs of his ailing back in consecutive games, finished with eight points while Todd Billet had just two points as he made just foul shots and was 0 of 5 from the floor.

Duke led 46-40 at intermission and then managed to extend that lead to 54-40 on a three-point play by Williams with 17:01 remaining. Virginia was certainly teetering on the verge of being blown out but got back in the game with an 8-0 run that put the deficit back to six with 14:56 remaining.

Whether it was fatigue from playing two games in about 18 hours or inability to make a key shot at the right time, the Cavaliers never could reduce the lead to less than five points.

“Quite a few times I really felt we were one play away but that’s the game. We had a chance to win but we had to play at a higher level. We needed Devin and Todd to be at the top of their games and they weren’t. We also didn’t make enough defensive stops,” Gillen said.

Frequently, Virginia’s inability to convert on the offensive end was compounded by a basket by Williams or more often Ewing on the other end of the court.

Ewing, who scorched Virginia for 32 points in last season’s ACC quarterfinal, was left off all three All-ACC teams earlier in the week and showed a certain intensity streak attached to that Friday.

“I don’t think it was anything about Virginia or anything else. I was just able to pick our team up by making some big plays to help carry us,” Ewing said.

Added Gillen: “Ewing is a great player. Some guys on our staff think he is Duke’s best player.”

Still, Virginia did cut the lead to five in the waning minutes but was again unable to cut it further as Duke made nine of their final 10 attempts from the line to finally finish off the Cavaliers.

“I think we probably needed an ‘A’ game today and we got a ‘B’ game. They had that little cushion and we couldn’t break it. We just couldn’t get that basket when we needed it,” Billet said.

As for any NCAA hopes, Brown tried to make Virginia’s case even though it’s probably a little unrealistic at this point.

“I still have hopes for it. We won the last five out of eight games and the ACC is good. Three of the wins came against top 25 teams and any of those three teams could go to the Final Four,” Brown said.
 

Plot thickens: Should Cavs keep Gillen?
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
March 13, 2004
GREENSBORO, N.C.

Another day, another chapter in the ongoing saga of Pete Gillen’s job security. Before, during and after every game the Cavaliers have played over the past week, the storyline on the Virginia basketball coach’s future has hurled more twists and turns than any new-fangled thrill ride.

Friday’s 84-74 loss to the ACC’s king of the hill in the league tournament’s quarterfinals should not hurt Gillen’s chances of returning for the fourth year of a remaining seven-year contract. Only

14 hours after putting in overtime to oust Clemson in the “play-in” game, the embattled coach had to duct-tape his team together for another run at Duke, a team that in Gillen’s estimation is the “best team alive, dead or yet-to-be born.”

Still, his Cavaliers were down five with two-and-a-half minutes to play before the Blue Devils ended the drama. Or at least the basketball suspense.

The question on the minds of 23,745 fans and media covering the event, even other coaches after the game was, “What about Pete?”

Thumbs up or down?

It won’t be that simple, at least not for a while. Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage is sequestered along with the rest of the NCAA tournament selection committee at a hotel in Indianapolis through the weekend, so don’t expect any smoke signals emitted from Carr’s Hill until a later date.

Littlepage has purposely remained mum on what he is leaning toward. He’s waiting until the last tick of the last game until he throws cold water on either the Keep Pete supporters or the Gillen Must Go folks.

For instance, what if he had decided to dump his coach prior to the ACC tournament? The Cavs played well and could make a run in the NIT. Or, what if he had given Gillen a vote of confidence and the team had dropped its contest against Clemson, or loses an NIT game by double figures to say, Virginia Tech or Richmond?

While allowing his coach to twist in the wind, picking sides early would have only incensed one of the two camps. In this case, maybe a just-the-facts-ma’am approach is best.

A case for retention

Winning five of the last eight, knocking off three top 15 teams in the process, winning on the road, halting the program’s ACC tournament losing streak and pushing Duke to the final minutes made the case for keeping Gillen a strong one.

Resting at 17-12 and almost certainly headed toward the NIT, Gillen appears safe for another year barring disaster in next week’s continuance of the postseason.

Along the way Friday, Gillen picked up support from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. Asked his opinion of Gillen’s neck-in-the-noose situation, Coach K didn’t hold back.

“If anybody’s thinking that, they’re idiots,” Krzyzewski said in defense of Gillen. “He is playing an awful lot of

freshmen. He has everybody back except Billet. He had two freshmen [T.J. Bannister and J.R. Reynolds] that played over 50 minutes [in the back-to-back games]. He has Elton Brown back.

“Sometimes with a younger team, especially in this league, it takes you a while to find your chemistry,” Krzyzewski said. “In the month of February, and now March, Virginia has played everybody well or won. I mean, c’mon, this guy has won 400 games. He is one of the top coaches and one of the best guys in the business.”

Before his exit from the arena, the Duke coach couldn’t help but add another comment.

“I’ll have to ask Pete, ‘Who are the idiots who are concerned about your job?’” he said.

Even Gillen’s detractors would be hard-pressed to find fault with his coaching job this weekend. His decisions to turn up the defensive heat against Clemson in crunch time turned the Tigers upside down.

Likewise, Gillen’s defensive plan to disrupt Duke sharpshooter J.J. Redick’s offense was effective. His play design with 3.5 seconds remaining in the first half to give Reynolds a 3-point shot was well designed, although the ball rimmed out.

Still, Pete backers believe there is more than hope for the future. Gillen has designs on bringing in no worse than a top 30 recruiting class next season with a blue-chip point guard in the mix.

Most of all, he has his team believing again.

“If we play like we did over the past month, this team could be special next season,” said Brown, a junior center. “It won’t be a close call this time next year. It will be more like what seed we are playing for.”

Senior guard Todd Billet said from his perspective, he wanted to leave this program with positive momentum, to give the freshmen and returning players a mindset they were part of a good team that could win in this league.

Brown believes had the players listened to Gillen earlier this season, their fate wouldn’t be as cloudy today.

“The last few games we woke up and said, ‘Maybe we need to listen to Coach Gillen,’” Brown said. “We listened, but did we really hear him? Did we use his knowledge on the court? Once we started listening we won five out of seven in the toughest conference in the country.”

Gillen didn’t linger over the issue very long after the loss.

“I’m doing the best I can,” he said. “I’d like to be [at Virginia] for a long time.”

Making a run in the postseason would make that decision a no-brainer.
 

Reynolds rising to the top
Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
March 13, 2004

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The overall future of the Virginia men’s basketball program may be a little ambiguous, but the last two days have produced Virginia’s star of the future: J.R. Reynolds.

Reynolds netted 18 points against Clemson on Thursday in the ACC first-round contest and then scored a career-high 20 against Duke on Friday in the quarterfinals.

While the cumulative total was best among the Virginia players, it was clear on more than one occasion that Reynolds has essentially become Virginia’s go-to-player on the court.

Reynolds finished the two games connecting on 6 of 2 3-point attempts. Reynolds made three of those treys in the first half Friday as he essentially kept Virginia in the game.

“J.R. Reynolds was unbelievable,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The 6-foot-2 Roanoke native also clearly outshined fellow Roanoker, Duke sophomore guard J.J. Redick, on Friday.

While Reynolds finished with 20 points, Redick, a second-team All-ACC selection, struggled with his shot and foul trouble.

Redick scored just five points on 1-of-6 shooting and collected four fouls, two of which were of the offensive variety.

At least to start the game, Reynolds guarded Redick as it harkened back to a Cave Spring (Redick) against Roanoke Catholic (Reynolds) battle from their high school days.

“I’ve played against him a lot of times, but it’s probably my best overall game against him. I’ve played against him a lot and I know what he likes to do on the court,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds entered the game averaging just less than 10 points a game in a season that has finished much stronger than it began.

At the beginning of the season, Reynolds was hampered by torn ligaments in his thumb. Even after the thumb healed, Reynolds struggled to regain his shooting touch and just as he did, was sidelined again. This time it was a viral infection and rash around Christmas.

Reynolds has now started Virginia’s last 10 games and reached double figures in seven of those games.

“J.R. is playing great and is an emerging star. … He is playing with a lot of confidence. He’s strong. He’s shooting well, driving the ball well and playing good defense. He’s definitely a burgeoning star,” Gillen said.
 

Virginia, Princeton both down but not out
By John Galinsky / Daily Progress staff writer
March 13, 2004

For more than a decade, every time Virginia and Princeton have met in men’s lacrosse, it has been a collision of superpowers. Since they began playing annually in 1992, one team - and often both - has been ranked in the top four. The Cavaliers and Tigers have combined to win eight of the past 12 national championships.

Today’s matchup at Klockner Stadium, however, has a different dynamic. Instead of vying for a slightly higher perch among the nation’s elite, both teams are trying to avoid sinking into the depths of mediocrity.

No. 7 Princeton (1-1) is coming off a nine-goal loss to No. 1 Johns Hopkins, while No. 17 Virginia (1-3) is reeling with three straight defeats.

“If someone said, ‘Who are the two most desperate teams right now?’” said Tigers coach Bill Tierney, “you’d have to say, ‘Princeton and Virginia.’”

Still, both Tierney and UVa’s Dom Starsia are reluctant to place excessive importance on today’s outcome. The season is young, both point out, and the loser still has time to right itself. No sense in making their players any more anxious than they already are.

Yet for the Cavaliers, especially, a victory is crucial for their confidence. Having fallen to Air Force, Denver and Syracuse, they already have incurred more losses than they did last season, when they went 15-2 and claimed the NCAA title. They need to win to avert their longest losing streak since 1987.

“No one’s panicking. We have some tough games coming up and if we lose one or two of them, it’s not the end of the world,” said sophomore attackman Matt Ward. “At the same time, we’ve got to start clicking pretty soon and get some ‘W’s. Right now, it’s pretty much go time. We dug our own hole. Now we have to dig ourselves out of it.”

Ward has been one of the bright spots for Virginia. He has nine goals and nine assists, both team highs, and recorded a career-high seven points (three goals, four assists) in last Saturday’s 18-12 loss to the Orangemen.

But Ward says he has been as guilty as anyone of pressing too hard and making too many mistakes. The Cavaliers lost their top three midfielders from last year’s team, so the three returning attackmen - Ward, Joe Yevoli and John Christmas - were expected to carry the offense. So far, they have struggled in that role, while the middies have been largely unproductive.

“I think on attack we’ve tried to put everything on our shoulders and that’s not what we should be doing,” Ward said. “By us trying to do too much, we’re not letting the midfielders show what they can do. I think if we play great, they’ll play great. It’s a team game and you have to trust your teammates.”

Christmas did not play in last week’s game because of a strained groin muscle, but he has practiced since Wednesday and is expected to play today. Not so fortunate is senior attackman Justin Mullen, who started against Syracuse but tore an ACL and is out for the season.

Surprisingly, the Cavaliers had the most trouble on defense last week. All-American goalie Tillman Johnson allowed all 18 goals and made just 10 saves. But Starsia says he is not concerned about Johnson or discouraged about his team’s play overall.

“I don’t think the score was indicative of how we played. I certainly think there were some things to be encouraged about,” Starsia said. “I actually think we defended them pretty well. We made some mistakes of inexperience and Syracuse made us pay for every one.”

Princeton is even more inexperienced than Virginia. The Tigers lost 13 seniors from last year’s team and they start three freshmen, so last week’s 14-5 loss at Johns Hopkins did not come as a complete surprise to Tierney.

“Playing at Homewood Field in front of 6,500 people with the game on TV, all the freshmen had that deer-in-the-headlights look,” Tierney said. “This is another tough road game at Virginia, but hopefully we’ll be a little more used to it and we’ll be able to play a little better.”
 

Rested Duke outlasts U.Va. in ACC tourney
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© March 13, 2004 | Last updated 1:01 AM Mar. 13

GREENSBORO — Maybe it was as much as anyone could have reasonably expected. About 14 hours after they beat Clemson on Thursday night, the Virginia Cavaliers tipped off against Duke — the No. 1 seed and five-time defending ACC tournament champion — in a quarterfinal game Friday afternoon.

The Cavaliers hung tough and stayed close for most of the game. But they were never able to mount a serious threat and fell 84-74 at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Now, Virginia (17-12) will likely await a Sunday night call from the National Invitational Tournament. The Cavaliers will also watch Sunday evening’s NCAA tournament selection show, just in case.

“You never know what can happen,” guard Todd Billet said. “There’s no direct science to how they do things. It’s very subjective.”

Virginia would have greatly enhanced its NCAA case with an upset of Duke, but the Cavaliers were going to need a more efficient performance than the one they turned in.

“We had a chance to possibly steal the game,” coach Pete Gillen said. “We just didn’t make enough plays.”

Virginia was behind by only five, at 73-68, with 2:31 remaining, but was unable to creep any closer.

“If we could have gotten to three points ...” freshman T.J. Bannister said. Then, things might have been different. But Duke (26-4) tightened its defense in the final 10 minutes and made 13 of 14 free throws in the final 5:07 to win its 16th straight ACC tournament game. The Blue Devils will play Georgia Tech (23-8) in a semifinal game today.

Shelden Williams led Duke with 27 points. Daniel Ewing had 26.

“Daniel, I thought, carried us in the first half and Shelden in the second half,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. They needed to, with guard J.J. Redick struggling through a 1-for-6 shooting day. Redick played just 20 minutes because of foul trouble and shot just 1 of 5 from 3-point range.

Virginia’s perimeter shooters had problems of their own. Billet went 0 for 5 from the floor, 0 for 3 from behind the 3-point arc. Devin Smith missed all three of his 3-point attempts.

Smith, who has played all season with a herniated disc in his lower back, looked noticeably stiff playing on just 14 hours rest.

Only freshman J.R. Reynolds had any success from outside. His three 3-pointers in the first half helped keep Virginia within six at the break.

But Reynolds didn’t hit a 3 in the second half, and the 6-foot-9 Williams began controlling things inside. Williams blocked three shots while Luol Deng and Shavlik Randolph blocked four each. Duke scored 26 points off 18 Virginia turnovers.

“It was a gutty performance by Virginia,” Krzyzewski said. “For them to come in like this in such a short amount of time, speaks volumes about the way the team has been the last month of the season.”

Virginia won five of its final eight games, including three wins over ranked teams. Whether it’s enough to impress the NCAA tournament selection committee remains to be seen. Virginia finished just 6-10 in the ACC and its nonconference schedule was weak.

“The head of the committee said they’re going to take the best 34 at-large teams,” Gillen said. “I think we’ve got a chance to be in that 32, 33, 34.

“It’s an outside shot, yes, but I think there’s a chance.”
 

Coach K can't believe Gillen is in trouble
By Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.com
981-3125

GREENSBORO, N.C. - As soon as he completed his postgame news conference Friday, Mike Krzyzewski's avowed mission was to look for Virginia basketball coach Pete Gillen.

"I'll say something like 'Who are the idiots who are concerned about your job?'" Krzyzewski said after his top-seeded Duke team had put away Virginia 84-74 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. "He'll probably have a list of them."

Krzyzewski expressed surprise - mock surprise, perhaps - at the suggestion that Gillen was in trouble.

"With his wife?" Krzyzewski asked.

"Thank God, my wife's doing all right," Gillen said later.

The original question concerned Gillen's job status, which has been a topic of considerable discussion since the Cavaliers' 2-8 start in ACC play.

"I hadn't heard that," Krzyzewski said. "I would find that kind of hard to believe. Obviously, in the month of February and now into March, Virginia's played everybody well or won.

"They've just been a really good basketball team. If anybody's thinking that [Gillen needs to be gone], they're idiots, I would think. This guy's won almost 400 games. He's one of the top coaches and best guys in the business."

It was similar to the testimonial Krzyzewski gave to North Carolina State coach Herb Sendek last month, not that Sendek was in any trouble at the time.

"The last month of the season, he's [Gillen] been playing a lot of freshmen," Krzyzewski said. "He's got everybody back except [Todd] Billet."

J.R. Reynolds and T.J. Bannister each played 34 minutes against Duke on Friday, and UVa's five freshmen accounted for 91 of a possible 200 minutes in playing time.

"Reynolds was unbelievable," Krzyzewski continued. "Sometimes with a younger team, it takes you longer, especially in this league. It takes you awhile to find your chemistry."

When apprised of Krzyzewski's comments, Gillen expressed appreciation but provided little information on his status for a seventh season as Cavaliers coach in 2004-05. He has seven years remaining on a 10-year contract he signed before the 2001-02 season.

"We'd like to continue for a long time," Gillen said, "but it's the school's choice. They can get rid of me at any time. I'm proud of my kids. All I can say is, I gave my best. I certainly have a lot of problems. I make a lot of mistakes. I give it my best shot and, I think, did a pretty good job with the guys we had on our team."

 

Close doesn't do it for UVa
J.R. Reynolds has a big game and J.J. Redick doesn't, but Duke has more scoring options.
By Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.com
981-3129

GREENSBORO, N.C. - When it left the premises Thursday night after beating Clemson in overtime, Virginia might have agreed to a scenario that would have had the Cavaliers trailing top-seeded Duke by five points with two minutes remaining Friday.

UVa found itself in just such a position at Greensboro Coliseum, where the Blue Devils began their bid for a sixth straight ACC title.

For the ninth straight year, Virginia will be watching the semifinals on television, but the Cavaliers provided some good theater Friday before falling 84-74.

The No.1 seed has beaten the No.8 seed in 32 of 34 ACC Tournament meetings, but Virginia (17-12) twice cut the deficit to five in the closing minutes, the second time at 75-70 on two free throws by Todd Billet with 1:35 remaining.

The Cavaliers had J.J. Redick trapped on the sideline before Gary Forbes was called for a foul with 1:33 remaining, and that began a 9-0 Duke run to put the game out of reach.

The Blue Devils (26-4) did not have a field goal in the final 4:42 but made seven straight free throws and 12 of their last 13.

"It was a gutty performance by Virginia," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "For them to come in and play like this, in such a short period of time, speaks volumes about the way that team has been the last month of the season."

The Cavaliers, who finished the regular season in a tie for seventh, will resume play in the National Invitation Tournament if a highly improbable NCAA invitation does not materialize.

"I think it's a long shot, but I think there's a slight chance," UVa coach Pete Gillen said. "It depends on a couple of things. The head of the committee said, 'We're going to take the best 34 at-large teams.' I think we've got a chance to be in that 32, 33 or 34."

Virginia entered the game as a 16 1/2 -point underdog and trailed by as much as 84-70, but it was much closer than that for most of the game. Duke took a 46-40 lead at halftime, but not before J.R. Reynolds' 3-point effort rimmed out at the buzzer.

Reynolds, a freshman from Roanoke, had scored 18 points in an 83-79 victory over Clemson and picked up where he left off. He had 12 points at the half Friday, including three 3-pointers.

Reynolds finished with a season-high 20 points but couldn't forgive himself for missing two free throws with 3:34 left. Until that point, Reynolds was 10-for-11 from the line for the tournament.

"That would have cut it to what?" Reynolds asked. "Five. I don't know what happened."

For most of the game, Reynolds also had defensive responsibility for fellow Roanoker and five-year AAU teammate J.J. Redick. Redick, who got into foul trouble and played only 20 minutes, finished with five points.

"I know what he likes to do," Reynolds said. "When you've played against somebody for as long as I have against J.J., it's got to help."

Redick had three fouls by the half and began the second half on the bench.

"It was a disruptive game for him," Krzyzewski said. "They tried to take him out of the game, he missed some stuff and then he got into foul trouble. When he got his fourth foul [with 13:55 left], I'm going back and forth because I know it's going to be a close game. I want to make sure I have him in the last two minutes."

Redick leads the ACC in free-throw percentage, but his teammates got the job done at the line. Duke was 21-for-24 from the line in the second half. Shelden Williams, a 6-foot-8 sophomore shooting 65.5 percent from the line for the season, went 11-for-13 overall.

Williams, who had failed to reach double figures in four of his previous nine games, finished with a career-high 27 points.

"I have known for the past few games that I haven't been playing like I should and I was trying to make a statement," said Williams, who added a game-high eight rebounds. "I wanted to make a point today of turning over a new leaf and getting back to playing the way I was earlier in the season."

Junior guard Daniel Ewing had a season high with 26 points. He scored 32 against Virginia in the first round of the 2003 ACC Tournament.

"Our goal was to try to stop Redick and Ewing," Gillen said. "If Daniel Ewing is only honorable-mention all-league, that shows you what a great league this is. In any other league, he'd be first-team [or] second-team at worst. We know Ewing is a great player."
 

Basketball won't be lacking in expanded ACC, Packer says
Krzyzewski: Only an idiot would fire Gillen

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Now that Virginia Tech has achieved men's basketball respectability, it is reasonable to think the Hokies will take off next year when they join the ACC.

Personally, I'm not sure the ACC was as weak as its critics suggested in recent seasons and I'm not convinced that the ACC has been as super as its supporters claim this year, but I may be in the minority with that view.

Longtime ACC commentator Billy Packer, who had not seen Virginia all season before calling the Cavaliers' game Friday against Duke, thinks the ACC will be even better next year "if there aren't wholesale losses to the NBA," he said.

"I think the separation between the ACC and the other leagues will be even greater next year than it was this year."

I don't think first-year Tech coach Seth Greenberg or anybody else thinks the Hokies are about to take the ACC by storm (sorry about the cliche; I'm in a hurry), but the ACC views its newcomers more favorably from a basketball standpoint than some outsiders do.

"When Georgia Tech joined the league [in 1980], it was coming off a 4-23 season and had just lost to Baptist," assistant ACC commissioner Mike Finn said Friday. "None of these teams are like that."

Virginia Tech and Miami, which join the ACC for the 2004-2005 season, are 15-14 and 14-16, respectively. Boston College, slated to make the move from the Big East to the ACC in 2005-2006, takes a 23-8 record into the Big East Tournament semifinals Friday night.

The question becomes: will the NCAA Basketball Committee look favorably on the reconstituted ACC and recognize the conference's strength with seven or eight bids? Big East expansion in the 1990s was not accompanied by a comparable jump in NCAA representation.

WHEN PACKER MEN TIONED possible losses to the NBA, names that came to mind are North Carolina sophomores Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton, N.C. State junior Julius Hodge and Duke freshman Luol Deng.

By taking a commitment last summer from California point guard Quentin Thomas, new North Carolina coach Roy Williams all but acknowledged that he expected to lose point guard Felton to the pros. Felton no doubt would attract NBA interest, but he has not had a great year, as reflected by his selection to the All-ACC third team.

Even if Felton stayed, a scholarship opening could be created by the departure of ACC scoring leader McCants. McCants has a tendency to pout when things don't go his way and he hasn't always been on the same wavelength as his two head coaches, Williams and Matt Doherty.

As the No. 1 prospect in last year's high school class, Deng saw a group of lesser-rated players make themselves available for the NBA draft, but he hasn't had a sensational year; plus, he's said he's coming back. Hodge might be the most complete player in the ACC but he is said to be listening to an older brother, a teacher in New York, who is preaching patience.

ACC TOURNAMENT visitor Howard Garfinkel, co-founder of the Five-Star Basketball Camps and a mentor for Virginia's Pete Gillen and other coaches, said he believes the above-mentioned Doherty is the frontrunner for the opening at St. John's.

Garfinkel thinks that Manhattan coach, ex-UVa assistant and native New Yorker Bobby Gonzalez represents the "total package," but he says St. John's has gone the Manhattan route before, most recently with Fran Fraschilla, and is wary of a repeat.

Jim O'Brien is a possibility after resigning as coach of the Boston Celtics, but Garfinkel thinks St. John's is enamored with Memphis coach John Calipari, previously in the New York area as coach of the New Jersey Nets. However, St. John's may not have enough money to get Calipari out of the mid-South.

GARFINKEL SCOFFED at the suggestion that St. John's might come after UVa coach Pete Gillen, whose Cavaliers dropped to 17-12 with an 84-74 loss to top-seeded Duke in the ACC Tournament. After the game, Blue Devils' coach Mike Krzyzewski expressed shock at the notion that Gillen might be in trouble.

"With his wife?" said Krzyzewski before having it clarified that Gillen's job might be in jeopardy. "I would find that kind of hard to believe. I hadn't heard. Obviously, in the last month, Virginia's played everybody well or won. They've just been a really good basketball team. If anybody's thinking that, they're idiots."

BEFORE LEAVING THE podium, Krzyzewski took a parting shot at former Roanoke Times sports editor Bill Brill, said to be on a cruise to either Spain or Mexico with his wife. Brill is skipping the ACC Tournament this year for the first time in 41 years.

"Hey, Doughty, I heard Brill's going to come back speaking Spanish," Krzyzewski yelled across the room.

One of Brill's friends responded, "The first thing he'll learn how to say is, 'I found my ball in the rough.' "
 

Virginia Jury Is Out on Gillen
By John Feinstein
Saturday, March 13, 2004; Page D12
GREENSBORO, N.C.

There was a moment Friday afternoon when the impossible seemed possible. Elton Brown had just hit a tough 10-foot jump shot in the lane to cut Duke's lead over Virginia to 73-68 with 2 minutes 30 seconds left in the game and the somnambulant crowd at Greensboro Coliseum suddenly had life. Whenever a No. 1 seed gets into serious trouble in the ACC tournament, the neutrals in the crowd suddenly become rabid fans of the underdog. That is especially true when the No. 1 seed in trouble has won the tournament the past five years.

So, the fans came to their feet, urging the Cavaliers to get a stop and make Duke really sweat. There was no stop and, ultimately, just some trickles of perspiration for the Blue Devils.

"We just couldn't make a play when we had to," Virginia Coach Pete Gillen said, 45 minutes later after the threat had died along with Virginia's dreams of an NCAA tournament bid. "The chance was there. Maybe if the committee is watching the game and they see us within five of a great team late in the game like that after playing an overtime game 14 hours ago, they'll give us some consideration. . . . "

His voice trailed off. He knew better. Virginia was a solid basketball team the last month of the season, beating three ranked teams and playing Duke tough Friday, but the Cavaliers dug too deep a hole in January. They will play in the NIT for the fourth time in Gillen's six years at Virginia.

Which raises the larger question: Will this be Gillen's last year at the school? At this moment the most definitive answer to that question is: maybe.

"I honestly don't know what's going to happen," Gillen said, standing in a hallway outside his locker room, still drenched in sweat almost an hour after Duke's 84-74 victory. "I think I've done a good job this year. We've improved even though our best player [Devin Smith] has had back problems in the last month.

"I definitely want to stay. We've got two freshmen starting and the only player we lose is [Todd] Billet. We've got three kids coming I think will really help. This has been frustrating. I've never been through this before. It's been humiliating, embarrassing. There's a lot of pressure at Virginia. The expectations are high, which they should be. I still have confidence in myself as a coach. But if they get rid of me, they get rid of me."

The question for Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage and those above him in the school's administration is whether they judge Gillen on the last month or on the last year. Littlepage wasn't around Friday because he is in Indianapolis with the other nine members of the NCAA men's basketball committee. Littlepage has refused to say anything publicly about Gillen's status, playing the "we'll review everything at the end of the season" game. Virginia sources say he has been just as close-mouthed with Gillen, which may explain why Gillen, even with seven years left on a contract that pays him $900,000 annually and is almost all guaranteed, is still extremely nervous about his future.

"We're still paying the price for last year," he said. "We took a couple of kids we shouldn't have, not bad kids but kids who aren't U-Va. kids. Other schools, they might have been fine. Not at Virginia. Virginia's different than a lot of places, which is good. Some schools, you can slap a girl one day and be playing the next. That's not true at Virginia, and it shouldn't be true. We got hurt though because those kids got into trouble."

The players in question -- Keith Jenifer and Jermaine Harper -- are both gone. But the stain from their offcourt misdeeds remains. A trip to the NCAAs might have wiped the slate clean, but the Cavaliers came up one victory shy of that.

"At least our fans gave us a nice hand at the end," Gillen said. "That made me feel pretty good."

So too did the comments of Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who expressed shock when asked during his postgame news conference his response to the notion that Gillen's job might be in trouble. "Pete's in trouble?" he said, repeating a question. "With who, his wife? I would find it hard to believe that his job's in trouble."

Krzyzewski has become America's Defender of Troubled Coaches in recent years, but he certainly seemed sincere about Gillen. He can relate to the notion of angry alumni because his boss, Tom Butters, received death threats when he extended his contract in 1983 after Krzyzewski had gone 11-17 in his third season at Duke. Virginia's not 11-17, but this is Gillen's sixth year, not his third.

Friday was, in many ways, a microcosm of his tenure in Charlottesville. There were flashes of serious potential, most notably from freshman guard J.R. Reynolds and sophomore forward Jason Clark. But Smith's back was sore and Billet was shut down by Duke's quick guards. Every time the Cavaliers looked ready to make a serious run and take the lead, either Daniel Ewing (18 points in the first half) or Shelden Williams (18 in the second) would make the critical play that Gillen was searching for from his team. In the end, Virginia walked off the court with heads held high, receiving congratulations for hanging close until the end, but still short of the goal.

"That was a hell of an effort," Terry Holland, the ex-Virginia AD said, shaking Gillen's hand. Holland hired Gillen in 1998. As an ex-coach, Holland knows that great efforts are nice but rarely save coaches in trouble. Holland has made a point of staying under the radar this month, making it clear to anyone who asks that the decision on Gillen will be Littlepage's. If there is one saving grace for Gillen, it is that Littlepage is also an ex-coach who knows the pain of being fired.

But as the sounds of the Georgia Tech-North Carolina game bounced off the walls Friday, Gillen did not appear consoled by that thought, by Krzyzewski's words or by his team's effort.

"This has been hard," he said. "Really hard. I don't lose sleep over it, but it isn't something I've ever been through before. I really think we can be good next year, a top 30 team at least. I'd like to be around to see this thing through. . . .

"Whatever happens, I know I can walk out of here feeling I gave it my best shot. That's all you can do in life, give it your best shot. I've done that."

Whether that best shot will be good enough apparently hasn't yet been decided. Which might explain why Gillen had to force a laugh when someone repeated Krzyzewski's line about his wife to him.

"I'm okay with my wife," he said. "The rest of my family might be another story."
 

Devils shut door on Cavs
Virginia knocks, but it can't gain entry to the semifinal round
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 13, 2004

GREENSBORO, N.C. - If yesterday's first quarterfinal turns out to be Pete Gillen's final ACC tournament game as Virginia's coach, he'll look back with pride on his team's effort.

Some 14 hours after rallying DUKE 84 U.VA. 74for an overtime victory over ninth-seeded Clemson in the tourney's play-in game, the eighth-seeded Cavaliers took the court at the Greensboro Coliseum again.

Their opponent this time, however, was peerless Duke, not hapless Clemson. The Blue Devils have blown out Virginia many times in recent years, but they happily settled for an 84-74 victory before 23,745 fans yesterday.

With 1:35 remaining, Duke led by only five. U.Va., the ACC's worst rebounding team, beat the Devils 32-29 on the boards.

"It was a gutty performance by their kids," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It speaks volumes for the way that team has been over the last month of the season."

Coach K later passionately endorsed Gillen, whose future at U.Va. remains uncertain despite his team's late-season surge.

"He's one of the top coaches and best guys in the business," Krzyzewski said.

The Cavaliers, who opened with two quick baskets, lost the lead 128 seconds into the game. They never recovered it but never stopped competing, ei- ther. Senior guard Todd Billet's two free throws pulled U.Va. to 75-70 with 1:35 remaining, and the sizable anti-Duke portion of the sellout crowd roared its approval.

The fifth-ranked Blue Devils weren't fazed. They answered with nine straight points - all from the foul line - to move a step closer to their sixth ACC tourney title.

"We had a chance to possibly steal the game," Gillen said. "We just didn't make enough plays, didn't get enough stops."

Top-seeded Duke (26-4) will meet fourth-seeded Georgia Tech in today's first semifinal. Virginia (17-12) heads home to await an invitation to the NIT. Had the Cavaliers knocked off Duke, they would have received serious consideration from the NCAA tournament's selection committee, but Gillen conceded that the NCAAs are now "a long shot."

Virginia held Duke sharpshooter J.J. Redick to five points. It couldn't stop junior guard Daniel Ewing or sophomore center Shelden Williams. Nor could the Cavaliers connect consistently from long range. They were 0 for 6 from beyond the 3-point arc in the second half and 4 for 15 from the game.

Ewing, the MVP of last year's ACC tournament, in which he torched U.Va. for 32 points in the quarterfinals, wasn't selected first-, second- or third-team all-conference this season. The slight miffed him. Had ballots been distributed yesterday, the voting would have been different. He scored 26 points, 18 in the first half.

The 6-9, 245-pound Williams, a second-team all-ACC choice, hit 8 of 9 shots from the floor and 11 of 13 from the line for a career-best 27 points. He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and blocked three shots.

"I've known for the past few games that I haven't been playing like I should have," Williams said. "I was trying to make a statement today."

Virginia's J.R. Reynolds made one, too, as he had against Clemson. The freshman guard from Roanoke, Va., where he battled Redick in high school, had a career-high 18 points Thursday night. He scored 20 yesterday.

"Reynolds was unbelievable," Krzyzewski said.

U.Va. fought gamely, but Duke slowly pulled away in the first half. The Blue Devils led 11-10 at the first TV timeout, 20-17 at the second, 26-22 at the third and 35-30 at the fourth.

The score at the break was 46-40. After a Duke turnover with 3.5 seconds left, Virginia called a timeout to set up a play that nearly worked. Freshman point guard T.J. Bannister passed to an open Reynolds at the top of the key, but his 3-point attempt at the buzzer went in and out.

"We just couldn't get over the hump," said Bannister, who struggled with turnovers (seven) but sparked his team with nine points, five assists, four rebounds and one steal.

Junior center Elton Brown contributed 14 points and six rebounds for the Cavaliers, who entered having won five of their previous seven games.

"They're really a different team than the one we played a month ago," Krzyzewski said.

As expected, the quick turnaround after the play-in game hurt U.Va. Billet, who'd scored 20 points in 39 minutes against Clemson, failed to make a field goal yesterday for only the third time in his college career. Junior forward Devin Smith, the warrior who's been playing with a herniated disk, had only eight points and two rebounds in 27 minutes.

"I was proud of our effort," Gillen said. "Our execution just wasn't as good as it needed to be."