Familiar story: U.Va.‘s men can’t seal the deal
By Jeff White
Published: March 1, 2009
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Once again the University of Virginia men's basketball team
put itself in position late to steal a victory. Once again the Cavaliers failed
to do so.
U.Va. lost by five at N.C. State last weekend and by seven to Miami on Thursday
night. The Wahoos' opponent yesterday was No. 13 Wake Forest, and with 2:15 left
it was a three-point game.
But all-ACC candidate Jeff Teague faked U.Va. senior Mamadi Diane off his feet
and then coolly hit a 3-pointer that doubled the Demon Deacons' lead. From
there, Wake won it at the line. The Deacons made their final nine free throws to
seal a 70-60 victory before an announced crowd of 11,065 at John Paul Jones
Arena.
"There's definitely frustration," U.Va. freshman Sylven Landesberg said, "but we
know that we're not even playing our best basketball, we're just playing decent
basketball, and when we get back to playing our best, we can pull out these
wins, instead of letting them be close losses."
Virginia (3-11, 9-16) is running out of opportunities. Only two regular-season
games remain for fourth-year coach Dave Leitao's team, which has lost two in a
row and 11 of 13.
Among ACC teams, U.Va. ranks last in field-goal percentage defense, and Wake
(9-5, 22-5) came in shooting a league-best 50 percent from the floor. Virginia
spent most of the game in a 2-3 zone that disrupted Wake's offensive rhythm. The
Deacons missed often - they were 25 of 58 from the floor - but U.Va.'s inability
to rebound out of its zone was pivotal.
With Virginia's tallest player, 7-0 freshman Assane Sene, sidelined by a
sprained right ankle, Wake grabbed 15 offensive boards and turned them into 14
second-chance points. For the game, the Deacons, the ACC's tallest team,
outrebounded the Cavaliers 42-28.
Many coaches, including Wake's Dino Gaudio, believe it's more difficult to
rebound out of a zone, but Leitao wasn't buying that.
"Rebounding essentially is an aggression statistic, and what we do sometimes,
man or zone, is we'll play through the possession, the shot goes up and we kind
of wait for somebody else to get it," Leitao said. "As opposed to five white
shirts knocking each other over to get it."
Virginia led once, at 2-0. In the second half, it was 37-36 when Landesberg fed
Mike Scott down low, but the 6-8 sophomore missed a contested jump hook, and the
Deacons ran off seven straight points.
In his penultimate game at the JPJ, Diane came off the bench to score 12 points,
but U.Va.'s offense, as usual, struggled. Miami had clamped down on Landesberg,
and Wake focused on him, too.
"We said that five guys have to guard him," Gaudio said.
Landesberg finished with 10 points, nearly eight fewer than his average.
"Every time I touch the ball, it seems like, they're just flooding to my side,"
Landesberg said. "So it's just real hard to try to make a play happen."
Junior guard Calvin Baker led the Cavaliers with 13 points, but he also had five
turnovers for the second straight game. Virginia, which had 16 turnovers against
Miami, had 17 yesterday.
"It's hard to give the ball back as many times as we do and [be successful],"
Leitao said. "I would much rather shoot the basketball and miss, take a bad shot
and miss, throw a hook shot from halfcourt and miss, than turn it over, because
it leads to easy baskets."
Wake Forest handles sloppy Cavs
Two days after committing 16 turnovers in a loss, Virginia gives up the ball 17
times against the Deacs. | Wake Forest 70, Virginia 60
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- For most of the afternoon Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena,
Wake Forest demonstrated why it hadn't won a road game in exactly six weeks.
Fortunately for the Deacons, they were playing Virginia.
Carelessness continued to be the Cavaliers' byword as they lost for the 11th
time in 13 games, 70-60.
UVa (9-16, 3-11 ACC) had nine assists and 17 turnovers. That followed a Thursday
night loss to Miami in which the Cavaliers had eight assists and 16 turnovers.
As assist-turnover ratios go, "ours has been bad all year long," Virginia coach
Dave Leitao said. "It's hard to give the ball back as many times as we do and
still physically and especially philosophically stick to a game plan.
"I'd rather take a bad shot and miss or throw up a hook shot from midcourt than
turn the ball over because [turnovers] lead to easy baskets. This is something
that we have preached."
Saturday's affair was a virtual carbon copy of Thursday night's game, which was
tied 55-55 until the Hurricanes outscored the Cavaliers 7-0 over the final 2:41.
On Saturday, 13th-ranked Wake had seen its advantage slip to 56-53 before the
Deacons grabbed the last seven rebounds of the game. Wake (22-5, 9-5)
outrebounded Virginia 42-28 for the game.
"I thought, if we could rebound and run, that maybe we could get more energy,"
Leitao said. "I thought, in the second half, we allowed far too many second
shots."
For the second game in a row, Virginia shut down one of the ACC's leading
scorers, Wake sophomore Jeff Teague, who was scoring 20 points per game.
On Thursday, the Cavaliers faced Miami senior Jack McClinton, who was averaging
more than 23 points in ACC play. McClinton finished with 11 points but that
included a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left that stretched a 57-55 lead to 60-55.
Teague finished with 12 points Saturday on 2-for-9 shooting from the field, but
his step-back 3-pointer with 2:11 left increased Wake's lead from 56-53 to
59-53.
"It's the second game in a row where great players make great plays," Leitao
said. "I was impressed as much by his lift-fake as anything. We had a guy [Mamadi
Diane] who flew by him and he got the open shot. You give a good player an open
shot at that time of the game and, odds are, they're going to make it."
Teague had come out of the game with 3:41 left, only to return at the 3:12 mark.
"When he was sitting on the bench before I put him back in, I said: 'Jeff,
you're not a good player; you're a great player,'" Wake coach Dino Gaudio said.
Gaudio went on to tell Teague: 'You've just got to worry about the next
possession. Every time you're open, I want you to shoot.' And, he hit a big, big
3 for us. I think it was a big 3 for him, too, but it was a big 3 for us."
One reason that Virginia was hanging around on an afternoon when it was shooting
poorly (41.1 percent), rebounding poorly and turning the ball over was Wake
Forest's free-throw shooting.
The Deacons made only 9 of 21 free throws before going 9-for-9 from the line
during the final 58.3 seconds.
Wake had four double-figure scorers, none with more than 12. Virginia junior
Calvin Baker, who had the defensive assignment on Teague when the Cavaliers were
in man-to-man, had a game-high 13 points.
UVa freshman Sylven Landesberg did not score in the first half -- his second
straight half without a field goal -- and finished with 10 points.
"As we prepared for the game, we said, 'Five guys have to guard him,'" Gaudio
said. "When he has the ball, you've got to take a step towards him. When he
bounces it, you've got to take another step. When he bounces it another time,
take another step. We just want to shrink the lane on him. He's really, really
good off the bounce. He scares me."
Landesberg was averaging 17.8 points before Saturday.
"It had a lot to do with the game plan," Leitao said. "Both Miami and Wake flew
big people at him on penetration. The other part of it is, I told him two or
three different times today that he's pressing and that he wants to make that
money ball, that 18-point shot to get him back where he needs to be."
Losing rebounding battle does Cavaliers in against Deacons
By Larry O'Dell | The Associated Press
March 1, 2009
CHARLOTTESVILLE - — On a day when both teams' stars struggled,
Wake Forest's Jeff Teague provided just a little bit more offense than
Virginia's Sylven Landesberg.
Teague scored just 12 points — eight below his average — but hit a crucial
3-pointer with 2:11 left after Virginia had pulled within 56-53 on Mike Scott's
jump hook. It was one of only two 3-pointers for Wake Forest and the only one
for Teague, who finished 2-for-9 from the floor.
Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio said he gave Teague a little pep talk with about 4
1/2 minutes left, telling him "every time you're open I want you to shoot. And
he hit a big, big 3 for us."
Landesberg, who leads Virginia at nearly 18 points per game, had an even more
frustrating afternoon. He scored just 10 points.
"When you guard Sylven, five guys have to guard him," Gaudio said. "When he
takes a dribble with the basketball, just take one step closer to him."
The Demon Deacons (22-5, 9-5 ACC) shot poorly against Virginia's zone defense,
but they more than made up for it with dominance under the basket. They scored
22 of their first 24 points on layups, putbacks and dunks, many of them in
transition. Fifteen of their rebounds came at the offensive end.
"I think rebounding is essentially an aggression statistic," said Virginia coach
Dave Leitao, clearly unhappy with Wake's 42-28 advantage in that category. "I
think every man looks at the other man sometimes to grab a rebound, and
obviously that is not the proper mindset."
Virginia (9-16, 3-11) was without its most imposing inside presence, 7-foot
center Assane Sene, who injured an ankle in Thursday night's loss to Miami. Sene,
who leads Virginia with 34 blocked shots, was replaced in the starting lineup by
Tunji Saroye, whose only field goal of the game gave the Cavaliers their only
lead at 2-0.
After Saroye's layup, Wake Forest went on an 8-0 run. The Cavaliers, who've
gotten off to a lot of slow starts this season, committed five turnovers in the
first four minutes and trailed 30-24 at the half.
Wake Forest scored the first four points of the second half, but Virginia
responded with a 12-3 run to pull within one at 37-36. Landesberg had six points
in the spurt, including his first basket on a runner with 17:48 left.
Harvey Hale answered with a 3-pointer to start a 7-0 Wake Forest run, and the
Cavaliers could get no closer than three the rest of the way. The Demon Deacons,
who had been awful from the free-throw line, hit their last nine foul shots to
close out the win.
Al-Farouq Aminu and Chas McFarland scored 12 points for the Demon Deacons.
Former Woodside High star Calvin Baker led Virginia with 13 points. Mamadi Diane
added 12 in just 17 minutes off the bench.
Virginia's 1984 Final Four team was honored during a halftime ceremony. That
team went only 6-8 in the ACC but received a surprise at-large invitation to the
NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers beat Iona, Arkansas, Syracuse and Indiana to
reach the Final Four, where they lost to Hakeem Olajuwon-led Houston.
Cavs can't keep Teague silent
March 1, 2009 5:39 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE--
The University of Virginia men's basketball team fell behind by at least 20
points in four of its first seven Atlantic Coast Conference games.
The Cavaliers have found a way to avoid the disastrous outcome, but winning is
still proving to be a difficult chore.
They suffered a 70-60 loss to No. 13 Wake Forest yesterday in front of 11,065 at
John Paul Jones Arena, their third straight defeat.
Just as in the previous two setbacks, the Cavaliers (9-16, 3-11 Atlantic Coast
Conference) were in the game until the final minutes.
"It's definitely hard to swallow," sophomore guard Jeff Jones said of the
Cavaliers' recent hard-fought losses. "In the beginning of the season, it was
lopsided games. We're fighting. We've found a way to have energy, but we've got
to continue to execute on offense and get out of those slumps."
Wake Forest sophomore guard Jeff Teague was in a slump yesterday until he came
alive at the wrong time for Virginia.
Teague, an all-ACC candidate who averages 20.0 points per game, was held to 12
points on 2-of-9 shooting from the floor.
But he connected on a crucial 3-pointer from the left wing that gave the Demon
Deacons (22-5, 9-5) a 59-53 lead with 2:11 remaining.
Teague delivered a pump-fake, and allowed Virginia senior swingman Mamadi Diane
to fly past him.
"That hurt," Jones said of Teague's shot.
Wake Forest junior center Chas McFarland added a three-point play with 1:24
remaining to put the Cavaliers away, but it was Teague's 3-pointer that caused
Virginia the most grief.
For head coach Dave Leitao, it was reminiscent of the 3-pointer Miami star guard
Jack McClinton drained with 47 seconds left to give the Hurricanes a five-point
lead in their 62-55 win over Virginia on Thursday.
"You give a good player an open shot at that time of the game, odds are they're
going to make it," Leitao said. "McClinton did the other day. That's what good
players do."
Virginia has a good player of its own, but standout freshman guard Sylven
Landesberg hasn't performed that way lately.
Landesberg (17.8 points per game) scored just 13 points on seven shot attempts
against Miami. He was held scoreless in the first half yesterday en route to a
frustrating 10-point performance on 3-of-10 shooting.
Wake Forest head coach Dino Gaudio said he told his team that all five players
had to guard Landesberg, meaning every time he took a dribble, a defender needed
to move toward him.
Leitao said his prized first-year player needs to stop pressing and attempting
to connect on the "money-ball, that 18-point shot to get himself back where he
needs to be."
"I feel a lot of pressure," Landesberg said. "Defenders are on me. Every time I
touch the ball, I feel like they're just flooding to my side. It's just been
real hard to try to make a play happen."
Despite Landesberg's off-game, the Cavaliers were in the contest until Teague's
big shot. They led just once, but never trailed by more than 10 points until the
final minute.
Virginia junior guard Calvin Baker scored a game-high 13 points. Diane added 12
off the bench.
Three players scored at least 12 for Wake Forest, while reserve point guard
Ishmael Smith added 10.
Virginia was undone by a 42-28 rebounding disadvantage, with Wake Forest
collecting 15 offensive boards.
The Cavaliers also committed 17 turnovers compared with just nine assists.
"I'd much rather throw a hook shot from half-court and miss than turn it over,
because it leads to easy baskets," Leitao said.
The Cavaliers visit Clemson on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Teague’s triple sinks Virginia
By Whitey Reid
Published: March 1, 2009
In a handful of games this season, one could make the argument that Virginia got
out-coached.
But Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena, that certainly wasn’t the case.
Virginia coach Dave Leitao came up with — and had his team execute — a
near-perfect defensive game plan.
There was just one problem: Leitao’s squad got killed on the boards and coughed
up the basketball like a series of bad meals from a fast-food joint.
Wake Forest, behind 12 points apiece from Al-Farouq Aminu, Jeff Teague and Chas
McFarland, handed Virginia its third straight loss — a 70-60 setback in front of
a crowd of 11,065.
That huge two-game winning streak of Virginia’s — the one that came on the heels
of an eight-game losing skid — is starting to feel like it happened a pretty
long time ago.
“It’s definitely frustration,” said Virginia freshman Sylven Landesberg, “but we
know we’re playing decent basketball. We’re not even playing our best
basketball. We’re just playing decent basketball — and when we get back to
playing our best, we’ll be able to pull out these wins instead of them being
close losses.”
The only problem with that is the fact there are just two games remaining in the
regular season and Virginia (9-16, 3-11) finds itself seven games below .500.
For the second straight game, Landesberg was held in check. Virginia’s leading
scorer had just 10 points, nearly eight below his season average.
“I feel a lot of pressure,” said Landesberg, when asked about opposing defenses
that have been designed to stop him. “Every time I touch the ball, it just seems
like they’re flooding toward my side.
“It’s just real hard to make a play happen.”
Landesberg didn’t score his first basket until nearly three minutes had elapsed
in the second half. At times, he forced the issue, committing a team-high five
turnovers (Virginia finished with 17).
Still, Virginia, thanks to solid defense — they held the best-shooting team in
the ACC to 43-percent shooting — was never out of the game.
“I thought that from a strategically standpoint,” Leitao said, “if we could take
away their rhythm offensively — one by [limiting] fastbreak points and two by
making them move around and pass the ball multiple times on offense that we
could somehow physically and especially psychologically dig into their rhythm.”
Mike Scott (eight points, five rebounds) cut the lead to three with just over 2
1/2 minutes remaining, but Teague answered with a 3-point dagger at the other
end. The shot was eerily reminiscent of the 3-pointer by Miami’s Jack McClinton
that killed the Cavaliers on Thursday night.
On the play, Teague faked Mamadi Diane out of his shoes, then calmly collected
himself and drained the triple.
“It was the second game in a row where great players make great plays,” Leitao
said. “I was as impressed by his lift fake on that.”
Teague had been 1 of 8 from the field until that point. Just before the shot,
Wake Forest coach Dino Gaudio gave his star a little pep talk on the sidelines.
“I said, ‘Jeff, you’re not a good player, you’re a great player. Every time
you’re open, I want you to shoot the ball,’” Gaudio said.
The final blow to Virginia came shortly after Teague’s 3 when McFarland scored
on a put-back basket as he was being fouled. McFarland drained the free throw to
boost the lead to nine points with 1 minute and 24 seconds left and that was
pretty much it for Virginia.
“We definitely did a good job on defense,” said UVa guard Jeff Jones, “but on
offense we went through those little slumps that we go through and not scoring
for two or three minutes — that’s something we have to overcome.”
For the game, Virginia was outrebounded, 42-28, which put a big dent in part of
Leitao’s gameplan.
“I thought that if we could rebound and run, that maybe we could get more energy
ourselves,” he said. “I thought in the second half we allowed far too many
second shots which dug into our ability to run and get transition baskets, [and
that] helped them.”
Dunks
Landesberg said he had not seen the recent speculation by ESPN’s Chad Ford that
called him his “Top Sleeper” of the 2009 NBA Draft. “I haven’t really talked
about that [with my family],” said Landesberg, when asked about whether he had
thought of declaring for the draft. “I just want to finish out the season —
focus on the season…I guess I’ve been having an OK season, but I don’t feel like
I’ve accomplished anything. I want to be able to go to the NCAAs, make it far in
there, have a successful ACC season. I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished
anything yet.” … Freshman Assane Sene missed the game due to the ankle sprain
that he sustained in the loss to Miami on Thursday. Tunji Soroye replaced him in
the starting lineup and finished with four points, five rebounds and two blocks.
Leitao said Sene’s status for the Clemson game is still up in the air. … The
school honored the 1984 Virginia team during halftime. The team featured Ricky
Stokes, Othell Wilson, Jim Miller and Olden Polynice, among others.
Deacs win on road, 70-60
Teague's 3-pointer helps Wake Forest get victory
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: March 1, 2009
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Wake Forest, the favorite bill of fare for ACC bottom
feeders, was looking awfully appetizing for an awfully long time yesterday
against struggling Virginia at John Paul Jones Arena.
But although the shots wouldn't fall, neither would the 13th-ranked Deacons. Not
this time against this team.
Jeff Teague hit a back-breaking 3-pointer with two minutes left, and the Deacons
-- after struggling mightily at the line for 38˝ minutes -- made their final
nine free throws to pull out a 70-60 victory.
Wake Forest improved to 22-5 and 9-5 in the ACC with its first road win since a
Jan. 17 victory at Clemson. Virginia fell to 9-16 and 3-11 with its 11th loss in
13 games
"All wins in this league are good," Coach Dino Gaudio of the Deacons said. "The
wins on the road are great."
In a game that had little in the way of atmosphere and even less rhythm or flow,
the Deacons struggled against a packed Cavaliers' zone. They shot 43 percent
from the floor, missed 12 of their first 21 foul shots and didn't hit a shot
from deeper than 12 feet until Harvey Hale's 3-pointer with 14 minutes left.
No Deacon had more than the 12 points scored by Teague, Chas McFarland and Al-Farouq
Aminu.
The Cavaliers never led after scoring the first basket of the game, but the
Deacons never put them away until the final minute. In the end, Wake Forest's
defensive effort and rebounding made the difference.
Virginia shot 41 percent from the floor -- hitting just 6 of 22 from 3-point
range. Wake Forest had a 42-28 rebounding advantage.
"Coach always tells us that the good team, the great teams, can win when their
shots aren't falling," junior L.D. Williams said. "I feel we played a good
defensive game.
"They hit a lot of 3s early in the game, but we knew if we kept guarding them
then the shots wouldn't fall in the second half."
The Deacons' lead fluctuated between four and seven points for most of the
second half until baskets by Mamadi Diane and Mike Scott pared it to 56-53 with
2˝ minutes left.
Teague, who had recently re-entered the game, took a pass from Ish Smith left of
the key, faked a shot as Diane flew past, reset his feet and drilled the
3-pointer for a 59-53 lead.
Diane, bothered by McFarland's height and reach, missed inside for the
Cavaliers, and McFarland answered with a three-point play for a 62-53 lead with
1:24 remaining.
Teague had made only one of eight shots from the floor before his big 3-pointer.
"I stayed confident the whole game," Teague said. "I was just missing some easy
shots.
"Like at the beginning of the game, I had a wide-open layup, and it just slipped
out of my hands. I knew it was going to be a rough night. But you've got to step
up and make big plays if you want to be a big-time player."
Gaudio said that the right player had the ball in his hands at the right time.
"When he was sitting on the bench before I put him back in I said, ‘Jeff you're
not a good player. You're a great player. And you've just got to worry about the
next possession, the next 4˝ minutes of the game. That's all. And every time
you're open, I want you to shoot the ball,'" Gaudio said. "And he hit a big, big
3 for us. I think it was a big 3 for him too, but it was a big 3 for us."
Calvin Baker hit six of nine shots from the floor and led Virginia with 13
points, and Diane contributed 12 points in 17 minutes.
But the Cavaliers' leading scorer, freshman Sylven Landesberg, failed to score
in the first half and made just 3 of 10 field-goal attempts for the game and
finished with 10 points.
Landesberg entered the game averaging 17.8 points. Williams, Teague and James
Johnson all took turns guarding him, with plenty of help from their teammates.
"As we prepared in the short time we had, we said ‘Five guys have to guard him.
When he has the ball, you've just got to take a step toward him. When he bounces
it once, take another step. When he bounces it another time, take another
step,'" Gaudio said. "We just wanted to shrink the lane a little bit so he sees
a mass of bodies in there. Five guards have to guard him. He's really good off
the bounce."
The Deacons got another lift off the bench from Smith, who hit four of six shots
from the floor and finished with 10 points, two assists and only one turnover in
27 minutes.
"Ish Smith has been playing great for us," Gaudio said. "When he's in the game,
we play at another speed.
"He finds guys. He sets guys up. He set up Harvey with that 3 he got. He creates
offense for us."
Questions abound as March arrives
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: March 1, 2009
March Madness — or as they say around these parts nowadays, March Sadness —
arrived overnight without a whimper.
Wake Forest left town Saturday with its first road win since Jan. 17, a 70-60
win over Virginia, leaving the Cavaliers to ponder their immediate future.
Sitting at 3-11 in the ACC with two games to go won’t require much pondering.
UVa fans can’t be feeling good about their basketball program. It’s a mess. Two
more losses would equal the program’s record for ACC futility at 3-13, the same
as when Jeff Jones’ last team came unraveled.
That cost Jones his job.
Another chance
Coach Dave Leitao is not on the same hot seat, according to our sources.
However, the current temperature of Wahoo Nation reads somewhere between
frustration and apathy.
Message boards are breathing fire and at least one local sports talk show has
called for a coaching change. UVa fans are exasperated about the program’s lack
of success: 14 seasons with only three NCAA appearances, and just one
first-round win (over Albany two years ago).
Many of them are still trying to figure out what to make of their fourth-year
coach and whether he can pull the program from its doldrums.
A recent poll on our Web site asked Virginia fans how they felt about the
current state of their basketball program, and by comparison, Obama vs. McCain
was a nail-biter.
Fifty percent of you voted for “very upset.”
Another 29 percent clicked on “worried.”
The loss to Wake, which hasn’t exactly been a terror on the road (the Deacs had
lost four straight), didn’t help matters. Any Wake win over Virginia is like
pouring salt on a wound to Wahoos, who look at the size and resources of the two
schools, then ask, “If they can win, why can’t we?”
Good question.
Suffering by comparison
While it was meant to be a moment of celebration, bringing back the 1983-84
Final Four team to commemorate its 25th anniversary on Saturday only reminded
Wahoo fans of how things used to be. Wonder what that group of gutty Cavalier
ballers must have thought as they watched the current crop of players lose their
11th game out of the last 13?
Olden Polynice, Tom Sheehey, Othell Wilson, Ricky Stokes, Jimmy Miller, Kenton
Edelin, Dan Merrifield, Tim Mullen, Ken Lambiotte, Kenny Johnson — guys who
delivered, guys who sometimes willed themselves to win — must have wondered what
has happened to Virginia’s glorious basketball program.
Like the rest of us, they had to cringe at times during the loss to the Deacons.
The Cavaliers played a decent defensive game and shut down Wake scoring machine
Jeff Teague for the most part. However, there were embarrassing breakdowns in
other key facets of the game: rebounding, ball-handling, scoring.
All the while, Leitao’s hook was quicker than Simon Cowell’s, and the Cavaliers
play with one eye looking toward the bench.
Just like Miami’s chief threat, Jack McClinton, a couple of nights ago, Teague
was mostly handcuffed until crunch time. That’s when the Deacons’ hot shot
drilled in a killer three, just as McClinton did when it counted most.
Both clutch shots dashed any Wahoo hopes of an upset.
Meanwhile, Virginia had no answer. Star freshman Sylven Landesberg (3 of 10, 13
points) was quiet most of the game offensively as ACC teams have figured out how
to contain the league’s top candidate for rookie of the year honors.
Carolina’s Roy Williams was the first to figure it out — find a way to clog the
driving lanes, keep him out of the middle, take away his strength. Everyone has
Xeroxed the plan, adding their own little twists.
“We said it takes five guys to guard him,” Wake coach Dino Gaudio revealed.
“Shrink the lane so he can’t drive.”
Landesberg, a fierce competitor with loads of potential, must develop a
mid-range jumper and a consistent 3-pointer in order to negate what defenses are
doing to him. His three treys against Miami threw a scare into Gaudio, who
thought his strategy could be blown up if the Virginia scorer got hot from the
perimeter, but that never happened.
Virginia’s issues lie much deeper than Landesberg expanding his repertoire.
Until those problems are fixed, the Cavaliers aren’t likely to beat anyone
unless the opponent beats itself. Wake outrebounded UVa 42-18 and took advantage
of 17 Wahoo turnovers, often beating the Cavs down the floor for layups and
dunks.
Give Leitao credit for his dissatisfaction with that phase of the game, which he
admitted has been awful all season long.
“I would much rather us take a bad shot and miss, throw up a hook shot from half
court, than turn it over because [turnovers] lead to an easy basket,” the
Virginia coach said.
It’s his job to fix it.
Virginia fans are waiting and wondering.
Cavaliers cruise to 12th ACC title
By The Daily Progress Staff
Published: March 1, 2009
In College Park, Md., Virginia won its 12th ACC championship on Saturday night
behind repeat Most Valuable Swimmer Matt McLean.
“What a great accomplishment,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “Our
team rose to the highest level in every race. They battled their hearts out. All
the credit goes to the athletes and to my staff. We try and do everything we can
to make them be all they can be. There is such pride in the tradition of
Virginia swimming and the family we have built.”
McLean won the 200-, 500- and 1,650-meter freestyle events in dominating
fashion. Miami’s Rueben Ross was named most valuable diver as he won both the 1M
and 3M events and took second on the platform.
Virginia took the championship with 832 points followed by Florida State (640),
North Carolina (504.5) and Georgia Tech (474.5).
McLean demolished the ACC record in the 1,650 by over 10 seconds to take his
third gold medal in 14:25.12. Second-place Taylor Smith (UVa) touched the wall
in 14:45.00 to secure his first silver medal of the meet.
Scot Robinson and Pat Reams also won gold medals for the Cavaliers, who took
first place in the 400 free relay.
Virginia Captures 12th ACC Crown
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 02/28/2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Virginia men’s swimming and diving team captured its
12th Atlantic Coast Conference crown, including its 10th in the past 11 years,
Saturday at the Eppley Recreation Center Natatorium in College Park, Md.
Sophomore Matt McLean was named the meet’s most valuable swimmer for the second
consecutive year with three individual event wins in the 200, 500 and 1650
freestyle events.
Virginia finished with 832 points, in front of second-place Florida State (640)
and third-place North Carolina (504.5).
“What a great accomplishment,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “Our
team rose to the highest level in every race. They battled their hearts out. All
the credit goes to the athletes and to my staff. We try and do everything we can
to make them be all they can be. There is such pride in the tradition of
Virginia swimming and the family we have built.”
McLean is the first men’s swimmer in conference history to win the award in
consecutive years and only the third to win it twice, joining former Cavalier
Luke Anderson and Brendon Dedekind of Florida State.
Virginia’s 400 freestyle relay team of Scot Robison, Peter Geissinger, John Azar
and McLean capped the 2009 championship meet with an NCAA A cut and a
conference, school and meet record. The Orange and Blue finished with a time of
2:51.50 to break Florida State’s time of 2:54.53, set in December. The previous
meet record stood for 12 years. In 1997, the Seminoles clocked a time of
2:55.22. Virginia’s previous school record in the event was set in 2002 by Adam
Kerpelman, Luke Anderson, Luke Wagner and Jonathan Haag.
In the first event of the evening, McLean posted an NCAA A time in the 1650
freestyle and set a conference, school and meet record in the event, finishing
in 14:35.12. The previous ACC record was held by former Cavalier Fran Crippen,
who clocked a mark of 14:46.05 in 2003. Teammate Taylor Smith also notched an
NCAA A mark to take second in 14:45.00. John Snawerdt took eighth (15:09.58, B)
and Darren Ankosko (15:14.04, B).
Robison claimed his first ACC individual title in the 100 freestyle. After
breaking the conference record in the preliminaries, Robison clocked an NCAA B
time of 43.14 to take first-place honors. Freshman Peter Geissinger finished
sixth overall with a mark of 43.94.
Senior Ryan Hurley also won his first individual championship Saturday in the
200 breaststroke. He recorded a winning time of 1:55.14, an NCAA B mark, to lead
a quartet of Cavaliers in the finals heat. John Azar placed fifth (1:56.77, B)
while Ian Vogt was seventh (1:58.43) and Tim Hayes finished eighth (1:59.30).
Senior Pat Reams defended his title in the 200 butterfly, taking first in
1:43.82, an NCAA B time. Robertson went on to place third (1:45.42, B) and Vogt
finished sixth (1:46.41, B).
Rookie David Wren led Virginia in the 200 backstroke, placing fifth in the event
with a time of 1:43.74, an NCAA B mark. Eric Olesen finished seventh after
touching in 1:46.34.
2009 ACC Men’s Championships
Team Standings
1. Virginia 832
2. Florida State
640
3. North Carolina
504.5
4. Georgia Tech
474.5
5. Virginia Tech
379
6. NC State
238
7. Duke
207
8. Maryland
203.5
9. Clemson
196.5
10. Boston College 74
11. Miami 57
Talented Atkins considers U.Va.
RECRUITING - Norm Wood | Inside Recruiting
March 1, 2009
Every time Eric Atkins toed the free-throw line this season, he
instinctively rubbed the cross on his left bicep, a ritual he performed before
every free throw to honor his own personal basketball hero.
Atkins, a 6-foot-1, 170-pound junior from Mount St. Joseph's High in Baltimore
credits his success on the court to his father, William. Though William passed
away in the summer of 2007 after enduring a lengthy struggle with cancer, Eric
still feels his presence. When Eric makes his college decision between Virginia,
Notre Dame and Massachusetts, he knows his dad will be right there with him.
"I love playing the game for him, because he's the one that put the basketball
in my hands," said Atkins, who added he got the tattoo — his first — during this
past winter holiday break. "I just want to make him proud with anything I do."
It's safe to assume Eric has done just that.
Atkins said he's likely to announce his college decision in the next week or
two. After finishing his junior season with an average of 23 points per game on
his way to earning Baltimore Catholic League player-of-the-year honors, U.Va.,
Notre Dame and UMass have to be salivating at the prospect of adding him to
their roster in 2010.
"He's getting everybody's best defensive shot and he's still scoring," said
Mount St. Joseph's coach Paul Clatchey, who has been selected as one of the
coaches April 1 for the McDonald's High School All-American game.
Clatchey, who has coached at Mount St. Joseph's for 17 years, said he definitely
considers Atkins one of the best players he has coached. Clatchey added
Villanova and Vanderbilt have been in to the school recently to watch Atkins
practice, and Maryland has also recruited him hard.
Atkins said many schools expect him to play point guard, but a few programs
indicated they might give him a shot as a combo guard. He visited Notre Dame two
weekends ago, and he has been to UMass twice. He went to Charlottesville on the
weekend of Jan. 23 and saw Florida State get a 75-61 win against U.Va., which
has assistant coach Bill Courtney recruiting him.
Atkins plays during the summer for the D.C. Assault AAU team, which also
features UMass commitment Maxie Esho and Duke commitments Tyler Thornton and
Josh Hairston. That's elite company, but by winning the BCL player-of-the-year
award, Atkins has proven he belongs.
"My mom asked me if since I got it during my junior year, if I'd be able to do
it again," said Atkins, whose team lost Friday night in the BCL tournament
semifinals. "I want to win it back-to-back now, but I want to make sure I don't
(lose focus) and we win (the BCL championship)."
Atkins, who averaged 16 points as a sophomore and eight points as a freshman,
has had to change his approach to academics in high school. Before high school,
he was home-schooled. He went through an adjustment phase when he got to Mount
St. Joseph's as a freshman, when he said "academics weren't one of my
priorities."
He said his mom and dad got him motivated to study with one simple revelation
drummed into his head over and over again: don't study, don't go to college.
Now, Atkins now carries a 3.1 grade point average.
With his academics in order, Atkins is working on adding some pounds to his
frame. He's probably not going to be 6-6 like his dad was, but Atkins knows he
needs more weight to hold his own in an elite college conference, and continue
honoring his dad's memory.
"My strength is one thing I need to improve on," Atkins said. "I'm pretty slim
right now. Other than that, I think I just need more shooting consistency. I had
a couple of off-games this season. I know people have off-games, but I want to
have less off-games."