Groh top coach in ACC
U.Va. boss honored; Littlepage extends his contract to 2011
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2007 - 12:10 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Three days after his football team closed the regular season with a loss to Virginia Tech, University of Virginia coach Al Groh had much more to celebrate.

Yesterday afternoon, Groh was named ACC coach of the year for the second time in his seven seasons at U.Va. Earlier in the day, Athletic Director Craig Littlepage announced he'd added a year to Groh's contract, which now runs through Dec. 31, 2011.

"This is an indication of confidence on my part and the university's part in the work that Al and his staff have done," Littlepage said, sitting next to the 63-year-old Groh, who didn't look especially comfortable during his boss' remarks at John Paul Jones Arena.

"I think it's also a good indication in the confidence that we have in the future direction of the football program, both in the short term -- that is, in the upcoming bowl game -- as well as the long-term future."

Virginia is 9-3. The No. 22 Cavaliers expect to learn Sunday to which bowl they'll be invited, most likely the Champs Sports or the Gator. Groh's overall record at his alma mater is 51-36, including a 31-25 mark in ACC games.

"I've always considered it to be an honor and a privilege to the head coach at the University of Virginia, and I look forward to doing that for quite a while," Groh told reporters. "I don't coach for contracts. I coach for the players and for the sense of accomplishment that comes with our achieving together, but I certainly do appreciate this gesture."

Groh received a new contract before the 2005 season. It included the provision that each December, starting in 2006, U.Va. could add a year to the deal, thus keeping the contract's length at five seasons. Littlepage opted last November, after the Cavaliers finished 5-7, not to add a year.

Not getting his contract rolled over, Groh acknowledged yesterday, made his job more difficult.

"The way it came out last year caused some people that we recruit against to blow it into a bigger issue than what it was," he said. "And so it has been a factor in some circumstances."

Groh was paid $1.7 million in 2005, and his contract includes an annual 5-percent cost-of-living increase. He's due to receive about $1.97 million from U.Va. in 2008.

For being named ACC coach of the year, Groh will receive a $25,000 bonus from Virginia, all of which, he said yesterday, will go to his assistants.

Groh previously was honored by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association in 2002, when U.Va., expected to finish near the bottom of the ACC, tied for second.

This season, the Wahoos were picked to finish fourth in the Coastal Division, and they opened the season by losing 23-3 at Wyoming. That embarrassing defeat prompted a disgruntled U.Va. fan to paint Beta Bridge, a campus landmark, with this message: GROH MUST GO!

In early September, the notion that Groh would be named ACC coach of the year in late November would have struck many as laughable. But Groh never lost faith in a team that ultimately would set an NCAA record by winning five games by two points or fewer.

"It's rare that a team goes through a season that there's not some bumps that they have to deal with," Groh said. "Ours just happened to materialize a little earlier and cause quite a few people to fall into their Chicken Little mode."

U.Va. bounced back from the Wyoming debacle to take its next seven games -- the program's longest winning streak in 17 years -- and finished with a 6-2 record in ACC play. Had the Cavaliers beaten Virginia Tech last weekend, they would have advanced to the ACC championship game.

Of the 71 coach-of-the-year votes cast by ACSMA members, Groh received 38. Twenty-two went to Boston College's first-year coach, Jeff Jagodzinski, 10 to Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer and one to Clemson's Tommy Bowden.

"When a coach is cited in this way, it's always when his team has had an outstanding season," Groh said. "I'd say probably seldom has the coach who was cited been elevated as high by the players and the staff as I have been."

 

Groh gets honor, extended contract
On the same day he's named ACC coach of the year, UVa's coach has a year added to his deal.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

As it became apparent that Al Groh was in the running for ACC football coach of the year, there was little reason to wonder about his job status.

Virginia could have waited until Friday to exercise the rollover clause in Groh's contract, but why wait?

Before his coach-of-the-year selection became public Tuesday, Groh learned that Virginia had extended his contract through the 2011 season.

"I don't coach for contracts," said Groh, whose Cavaliers finished the regular season with a 9-3 record and should learn their postseason destination Sunday. "I coach for the players and a sense of accomplishment."

Groh was also ACC coach of the year in 2002, his second season at the Cavalier helm.

He received 38 votes in balloting made public Tuesday. Jeff Jagodzinski of Boston College was second with 22 votes, Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer had 10 and Clemson's Tommy Bowden had one.

"When a team is fortunate enough to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, they get a trophy symbolic of that achievement," Groh said. "We're not going to get that trophy this year, but, when a coach is cited in this way, it's always when his team had an outstanding season. So, this is our team trophy this year."

When Groh received a new five-year contract prior to the 2005 season, Virginia announced that the pact would extend through the 2010 season, which actually spanned six seasons.

As a result, there was no rollover following a 7-5 season in 2005, ostensibly because the plan was never to have the contract cover more than five years.

However, when the Cavaliers finished 5-7 in 2006, Littlepage cited performance reasons for his decision not to roll over the contract.

"The way it came out last year caused some people who we recruit against us to blow it into a bigger issue than it was," Groh said. "So, it has been a factor in some circumstances."

The Cavaliers opened the season with a 23-3 loss at Wyoming that left Groh as the object of derision.

The team plane had not touched down in Charlottesville before UVa's famous Beta Bridge had been painted over with the message, "Groh Must Go."

The Cavaliers recovered to win nine games in a 10-week span and were tied for the Coastal Division lead before losing to Virginia Tech 33-21 this past Saturday at Scott Stadium.

"It's rare that a team goes through a season without some bumps that it has to deal with," Groh said. "Ours just happened to materialize a little early and cause quite a few people to fall into their Chicken Little mode."

Groh's contract extension came less than 24 hours after two other ACC coaches -- Chan Gailey at Georgia Tech and Ted Roof at Duke -- had been fired, .

Georgia Tech has won seven games or more in each of Gailey's six seasons.

"It shows the treachery of the landscape," Groh, 63, said. "I've thought a lot more about those coaches in the last 24 hours than I have about any personal security for me.

"Ted's a young guy starting out. Chan's a guy with pretty good credentials. He's been to a couple of Super Bowls and been the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys and had his team in the [ACC] championship game last year.

"He's not a Johnny come lately. [He's a] pretty good coach."

Talks about the contract were initiated by Littlepage on Monday.

"Craig would confirm this," Groh said. "I had to tell him, 'Wait a second. I haven't looked at it for a year.' "

The contract Groh signed in 2005 called for him to receive $1.7 million per year, with an annual 5 percent adjustment for cost of living. He will receive approximately $1.87 million this year and just under $2 million in 2008.

The contract also calls for Groh to receive a $25,000 bonus for being named ACC coach of the year.

"It doesn't matter what the bonus is," Groh said. "It's all going to the assistant coaches."

Littlepage said the Cavaliers will go to one of three bowls -- the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta, the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., or the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla. It will be the fifth bowl since the 2002 season for the Cavaliers.

Groh caught flak last year for questioning how much the Cavaliers would have benefitted from a bowl bid had they gone 6-6, "but I felt we could put the month to better use in preparing for '07 than practicing for a game that people wouldn't pay all that much attention to," he said. "Looking back, the time was well spent."
 

Groh earns honor, extension
Virginia leader named ACC's top coach, later receives contract rollover
by Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 27, 2007

Al Groh could have strolled into John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday and thanked Wake Forest kicker Sam Swank, Connecticut’s inability to snap the football from the shotgun formation or the addition of instant replay.
Instead, Virginia’s football coach thanked his players. And Groh certainly had reason to be thankful.
In a three-hour window Tuesday, Groh was named the ACC Coach of the Year, and official word came out that the coach would receive an extra year on his contract.
Groh, also the ACC’s Coach of the Year in 2002, led Virginia to a 9-3 overall record and a 6-2 league mark. The Cavaliers, picked to place fourth in the league’s preseason poll, finished second in the division and one victory away from their first-ever trip to the ACC Championship game.
In the balloting by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association, Groh received 38 votes, which edged Boston College’s Jeff Jagodzinski (22 votes), Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer (10) and Clemson’s Tommy Bowden (1).
The award, Groh said, was something his players, who won five games by two points or fewer, should take pride in.
“When a team is fortunate enough to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, they get a trophy symbolic of that achievement,” he said. “We’re not going to get that trophy this year; but when a coach is cited in this way, it’s always when his team has had an outstanding season.
“So, this is our team trophy this year as opposed to the other one that a team can get. I’d say probably seldom has the coach who was cited been elevated as high by the players and the staff as I have been.”
Groh also seemed unmoved emotionally by the announcement of the contract extension, one that was made by Craig Littlepage, Virginia’s athletics director.
“I don’t coach for contracts,” Groh pointed out. “I coach for the players and the sense of accomplishment that comes from our achieving together.”
With the “rollover” year added, one that was not granted to Groh after the Cavaliers went 5-7 in 2006, the coach’s current contract extends through Dec. 31, 2011.
“Based on the outstanding work of Coach Groh, his staff and as well as the success of the 2007 football team, I’m pleased to let you know that coach Groh’s contract will rollover for a one-year period,” Littlepage said. “This is an indication of confidence on my part and the university’s part of the work that Al and his staff have done.
“And I think it is also a good indication of the confidence that we have in the future direction of the football program, both in short term - that is in the upcoming bowl game - and in the long-term future. I’m very pleased we are at this point.”
Groh’s contract was set to award him with $1.87 million this season, but that figure continues to climb, and will do so in future years with an annual 5-percent, cost-of-living increase.
By being named the ACC Coach of the Year, Groh receives a $25,000 bonus. That money, however, will not reach Groh’s bank account.
“It doesn’t make any difference what the bonus is, it’s all going to the assistant coaches,” Groh said.
According to his contract, one that Groh admitted he had not looked at for a year until Littlepage asked for a meeting Monday night, the coach will also receive $75,000 for leading UVa to a bowl game with a payout of more than $1 million. Another $25,000 will follow if the Cavaliers win.
Virginia awaits word to see if it will play in the Chick-fil-A, Gator or Champs Sports bowl.
A season-ending victory would give the Cavaliers their second 10-win season in program history and likely propel Virginia into the top 20 in the final rankings, which would also kick in at least $125,000.
 

Groh's big day: ACC COY, contract extension
By MELINDA WALDROP | 247-4634
3:32 PM EST, November 27, 2007
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE - When Virginia returned from a season-opening 23-3 loss at Wyoming on Sept. 1, coach Al Groh was greeted by a spray-painted message on the Beta Bridge, a campus landmark long used as a bulletin board: "Groh Must Go."

On Tuesday, Groh was named the ACC coach of the year and given a one-year contract extension after the Cavaliers rebounded from that rough start and a 5-7 season in 2006 to go 9-3 and come within a game of playing for the conference championship.

"It's rare that a team goes through a season that there's not some bumps that they have to deal with," Groh said. "You can look through almost all the teams in the country this year on every level. Ours just happened to materialize a little early, and caused quite a few people to fall into their Chicken Little mode."

Groh, a 1967 graduate of Virginia who's 51-36 in seven seasons at his alma mater, said he didn't take the criticism to heart.

"I never thought of it in individual terms," said Groh, who received a $25,000 bonus for the conference award. "I don't pay attention to those things. I just try to coach the team."

After the humbling in Cowboys country, Groh coached the Cavaliers -- picked to finish fourth in the ACC's Coastal Division in a preseason media poll -- to a seven-game winning streak and a 6-2 ACC mark. U.Va. lost the Coastal Division title and a shot at its first outright conference title to Virginia Tech last weekend, but can still record only the second 10-win season in school history with a victory in its upcoming bowl game.

Groh earned 38 votes from the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association to outdistance Boston College's Jeff Jagodzinski, who had 22. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer received 10 votes, and Clemson's Tommy Bowden 1.

"When a team is fortunate to win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship, they get a trophy symbolic of that achievement," Groh said. "We're not gonna get that trophy this year, but when a coach is cited in this way, it's always when his team has had an outstanding season. So this is our team trophy this year."

It already was a year to remember, as the Cavs set an NCAA record with five wins by two points or fewer. There was a last-second field goal to beat Middle Tennessee, a last-gasp touchdown drive to rally past Maryland and a missed field goal by clutch Wake Forest kicker Sam Swank to preserve a win against the Demon Deacons.

"We are very pleased, and have been, with what we have seen in the on-the-field performance -- in particular the way in which this team stuck together," Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said in announcing Groh's one-year extension. "That sort of theme, that sort of quality of a team, doesn't just happen by mistake."

Littlepage said the ACC award didn't play a role in his decision to extend Groh's contract, but "certainly it's affirmation of what we felt about the quality of our coach and the quality of our staff," he said.

Groh's deal, with an annual base compensation of $1.7 million, now runs through the 2011 season and includes an annual 5 percent cost-of-living increase. The coach can also earn up to a $75,000 bonus based on the payout of the bowl the Cavs play in.

Groh signed a six-year deal, running through Dec. 31, 2010, in August. Each December, the school can exercise an option to extend the contract by a year -- a move it chose not to make last season.

But Groh said the looming deadline each December doesn't enter his mind.

"I don't coach for contracts. I coach for players and the sense of satisfaction," he said. "I think it's an honor and a privilege to be the head coach at Virginia. It's fun every day and it's an honor to be with these players. I'm proud to be associated with them, and I look forward to being associated with them for a long time."

 

Cavs annihilate Northwestern
UVa lays down largest whooping in history of Challenge
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 28, 2007

Virginia's Mamadi Diane puts up a 3-point attempt in front of Northwestern's Craig Moore. Diane scored a game-high 22 points. (The Daily Progress/Kaylin Bowers)

With just less than eight minutes remaining in the first half of Tuesday night’s Virginia-Northwestern ACC/ Big 10 Challenge game, Adrian Joseph made a steal and raced unabated into the Wildcat backcourt.

Joseph jumped into the air and tried to throw down a double-pump reverse jam that LeBron James may have had difficult landing.

The ball rimmed out.

“I don’t know how I missed it,” Joseph would say afterward.

The worst part for Joseph was having to walk to the bench toward Virginia coach Dave Leitao just seconds later for a TV timeout.

“If I was a freshman, I would have been nervous,” said Joseph, smiling, “but I’ve been here four years, so nervous isn’t part of the question.”

Having the game well in hand was probably another reason for Joseph’s calm demeanor. The senior’s botched dunk seemed like the only Virginia shot that didn’t tickle the twine.

UVa shot a blistering 50 percent from 3-point range (16 of 32) en route to an easy 94-52 victory over Northwestern. The 42-point margin of victory was the largest in the history of the ACC/Big 10 Challenge.

The feel-good win was the perfect remedy for UVa, which was coming off a poor performance in the Philly Classic on Saturday.

“I don’t think anybody around here was too happy with what happened on Saturday,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao. “Once we got back in the gym and started talking about it and looking at it - our focus was on the next day and the next game.”

Mamadi Diane led Virginia (6-1) with 22 points and seven rebounds. Calvin Baker and Sean Singletary added 16 and 14, respectively.

Singletary also notched a career-high 10 assists.

“Anytime you have a team with competitive drive and respect for themselves, you want to get back in the gym and get things right,” said Singletary, referencing the team’s loss 74-60 loss to Seton Hall that bumped it out of the top 25. “We plan on having a great season this year, so we came out tonight and got a big win.”

Virginia’s defense, which had allowed Penn and Seton Hall to penetrate at will, put up much more fight. Northwestern (1-4) shot just 36 percent from the field, including a 29-percent clip in the second half.

“It just seemed like they knocked down everything,” said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody, “and we weren’t able to mount anything.”

In the early going, Northwestern’s funky 1-3-1 trapping zone gave Virginia some problems. Singletary had two turnovers that led to Northwestern fastbreaks.

But Singletary quickly figured out how to dissect the Wildcats. The Cavaliers started moving the ball better, which led to easy looks from the outside.

After Northwestern guard Michael Thompson hit a 3-pointer to pull the Wildcats to within 15-11, Virginia went on an 11-0 run. That included two 3-pointers from Baker and one from Joseph.

The Wildcats answered with a mini 7-2 run, but then Virginia poured it on with a 23-9 splurge to close the half.

“They were spreading it around and different guys were hitting [shots],” Carmody said. “They were just too much for us.”

The Cavaliers shot 61 percent from the floor in the first half, including a gaudy 12 of 20 from 3-point range. They led 54-29 at the break.

Virginia led by as many as 45 in the second half.

Leitao says Northwestern’s defense was the reason for his team’s high number of 3-pointers.

“We’re a good shooting team,” said Leitao, whose squad hosts Syracuse a week from today. “We took 32 today because 32 was the number that presented itself because they played a lot of zone.

“I’m not afraid to do that because we can make them.”

Dunks

Virginia has now won all three of its games in the Challenge against Northwestern and is 5-3 in the event overall. … Baker’s 16 points were a career high. … Diane’s six made 3-pointers were a career high. … Northwestern was just 4 of 15 from the free-throw line. … Fan favorite Andy Burns hit a jumper just inside the 3-point arc late in the game, to the crowd’s delight.

 

You call this a Challenge?
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com
November 28, 2007

So, you thought this was supposed to be a Challenge. The only challenge at John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday night was Virginia fans trying not to nod off during a 94-52 blowout.

Call this the Big Ten/ACC Snoozer.

Northwestern, which thanks to the TV suits, has become Virginia’s personal whipping boys in this annual late-November get-together between the two major hoops conferences, clearly wasn’t up to the task of challenging anyone.

A joke from the start

The Cavaliers, raising their record to 5-3 in the Big Ten series, opened fire on the slower, smaller Wildcats and didn’t let up. Once All-ACC point guard Sean Singletary figured out Northwestern’s 1-3-1 zone defense, it was all but over.

Virginia led 54-29 at the half on the strength of a dozen 3-point baskets from five different players.

Northwestern, dropping to 1-4 this season, did its best impression of the Washington Generals, the old Rent-a-Victim squad that used to make a living losing nightly to the Harlem Globetrotters.

The 42-point margin was the widest of any of the previous 75 games in the history of the Challenge.

ESPN’s ratings for this one probably wouldn’t have beat “Leave It to Beaver” reruns. Serves ’em right.

Unlevel playing field

We thought the entire concept of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge was to match-up teams that were of the same ilk. So, what’s wrong with this picture?

Northwestern finished tied for last in the Big Ten last season - actually the Big Eleven, but they refuse to change their name. Virginia was ACC co-champion with North Carolina.

The Cavaliers were picked fifth in this season’s media poll, perhaps lower than they should have been.

Northwestern?

“I don’t know if we have anything like that [preseason poll],” said Wildcats’ coach Bill Carmody. “If we did, it would probably be down toward the bottom. If [Virginia’s] champs, they should be somewhere else.”

The Tar Heels got Ohio State. Duke drew Wisconsin. N.C. State got Michigan State. Maryland got Illinois. Even Georgia Tech got Indiana for goodness sakes.

Virginia was matched with Northwestern for the third time in four years (the Cavs won all three). That would make more sense if this was one of those Brain Bowls that matches Rhodes Scholars between schools.

This is basketball and the Cavaliers should have drawn a tougher opponent, not that UVa coach Dave Leitao didn’t mind.

“I just play the game that they gave us in the Challenge,” Leitao said. “I’ll play whoever both leagues give us to play.”

Or whom ESPN decides the Cavaliers will play. I’m sorry, but this matchup lacked imagination. What did the guy in the boardroom say, ‘Well, that Virginia-Northwestern matchup looks good to me again.’

I mean, c’mon, man. Give it some thought, not afterthought.

Nothing personal to good-guy Carmody, but his team should have been playing a selection from the ACC’s basement brigade. The Chicagoans start three freshmen and are barely managing without their best player.

The Wildcats couldn’t even make free throws. Their 4-of-15 showing from the line (26.7 percent) is the fourth-lowest ever recorded against Virginia. Their 35.7 percent from the floor didn’t exactly make the Cavaliers sweat either.

“Needless to say, down by 40 points, we were never really in the game,” Carmody lamented. “Virginia is a great 3-point-shooting team and we just were not able to do anything about it.”

Obviously, Seton Hall, which handed Virginia its only loss in seven games, didn’t get that message. The Cavs were 7 of 28 from Bonusphere in that one.

Maybe this whole ACC/Big Ten Challenge thing would be a little more interesting if some more thought was put into the process. If this is to allow one conference to chestbeat its dominance over the other, then this was settled long ago.

The ACC has won the previous eight Challenges. In fact, only one Big Ten team (or is that 11?) even has a winning record in the deal. And that one, Michigan State at 4-3, might not have that record if the floor hadn’t been so slippery one night in Richmond ...

Oh, that’s another story.

 

Cavs romp to win
U.Va. hits 16 treys; margin of victory is largest in Challenge
Wednesday, Nov 28, 2007 - 12:05 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Fans at John Paul Jones Arena last night may have thought they'd mistakenly bought tickets for the ACC/ODAC Challenge.

Virginia's opponent, Northwestern, has only one win this season, and it came against Division III Benedictine. Last night, at least, the short-handed Wildcats bore little resemblance to a Division I team, and U.Va. destroyed them.

Northwestern came out in a 1-3-1 zone and stayed in that defense all night, allowing Virginia to enjoy 40 minutes of target practice. Led by junior swingman Mamadi Diane (22 points), U.Va. produced a dazzling display of marksmanship and romped 94-52 in an ACC/Big Ten Challenge game.

The 42-point spread is the largest margin of victory in the nine-year history of the Challenge.

"We just have a lot of good shooters," said Diane, who made a career-high six 3-pointers.

The first nine shots Virginia (6-1) attempted were from beyond the 3-point arc. Five went in. The Wildcats (1-4) hoped that the Wahoos would eventually cool off, but their shots kept falling.

"It just seemed like they knocked down everything," said Northwestern coach Bill Carmody, whose leading scorer and rebounder from 2006-07, forward Kevin Coble, has yet to play this season.

By halftime, the Cavaliers led 52-29 and had made 12 of 20 shots from long range. They finished 16 of 32 from behind the arc, and five players hit at least one 3-pointer.

"When you got your mojo going and everybody's got rhythm and you're sharing the ball," senior point guard Sean Singletary said, "then you're going to have nights like that."

In its Jan. 3 rout of Gonzaga, U.Va. set a school record by making 18 treys. For awhile last night, that mark seemed likely to fall.

"We're a good shooting team," third-year coach Dave Leitao said, "We took 32 today because 32 was the number that presented itself, because they played a lot of zone. I'm not afraid to do that, because we can make 'em."

Diane was 6 for 9 on 3-pointers, and reserve guard Calvin Baker went 4 for 4. Singletary went 3 for 6 and scored 14 points to go with his career-high 10 assists.

Equally impressive, Singletary, who often was careless with the ball in the first six games, had only two turnovers last night to help the Cavs bounce back from the 14-point loss they suffered to Seton Hall in Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Northwestern, which is expected to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten, shot poorly from the floor (35.7 percent) and worse from the line (26.7 percent). In the end, though, it "was clearly their offense and our defense that was the story of the game," Carmody said.

Virginia's starting center, senior Ryan Pettinella, went scoreless in 10 minutes, which is not all that unusual. Reserve post players Laurynas Mikalauskas and Mike Scott combined for 15 points, but U.Va. remains a team that rarely looks inside for offense.

"Would I rather take a layup over a jump shot? Most coaches would," Leitao said. "But again, we have far too many options on the perimeter to not encourage our guys to take them, especially in the first half when we're making them. Far be it from me to say, 'Guys, stop shooting, let's change our strategy.'"

The Cavaliers don't play again until next Wednesday, when they host Syracuse.

 

Long-range plan works out well for Cavaliers
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- More than seven minutes had elapsed Wednesday night before Virginia took its first field-goal attempt from inside the 3-point arc.

Nobody heard coach Dave Leitao complaining.

Eight of Virginia's first nine shots were 3-pointers and Northwestern had no answer in a 94-52 loss in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge.

It was the most points scored by a Northwestern opponent in coach Bill Carmody's seven seasons, and the Wildcats had allowed as many as 90 points on only one other occasion.

"Needless to say, down by 40 points, we were never really in the game," Carmody said. "Virginia is a great 3-point shooting team and we just were not able to do anything about it."

Junior forward Mamadi Diane made a career-high six 3-pointers and sophomore guard Calvin Baker was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc as Virginia improved its record to 6-1.

The Cavaliers had 12 3-pointers in racing to a 54-29 halftime lead and finished 16-of-32 from the line, two off the school record for 3-point field goals in a game.

"Would I take a layup over a jump shot?" Leitao asked. "Most coaches would, but we've got far too many options on the perimeter not to encourage our guys to take 'em. Especially in the first half, when we were making them, far be it from me to say, 'Guys, stop shooting. Let's change our strategy.'

"Right now, we're not going to be a pound-it-inside team. That's not our makeup. If I wanted to sell out to the 3-point jump shot, we would have attempted many more to this point. We were the best 3-point team in the [ACC] last year as far as makes and this year we're shooting more and making them at a higher percentage."

Baker, a transfer from William and Mary, was 6-for-6 overall and scored 16 points in 16 minutes.

"If you're a guy like Calvin Baker, who's a pretty good shooter, he becomes a better shooter because he's around shooters every single day," Leitao said. "It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just like rebounding is important to me, shooting is becoming that important to me, where we do it every single day."

Virginia shoots particularly well at John Paul Jones Arena, where it was 16-1 last season and has won 20 of 21 games over two seasons. The Cavaliers tied for the ACC regular-season championship last year and were picked fifth this season, which made the pairing with Northwestern somewhat curious.

"It's some TV thing," said Carmody, whose Wildcats have played the Cavaliers three times in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, losing all three times. "If they're champs, they should be someplace else, probably. I don't know exactly what the deal is. They're supposed to pair them the way you finished."

The Big Ten does not have an official preseason poll, "but, if they did have one, we'd have to be near the bottom," Carmody said.

Northwestern lost 12 of 14 conference games last year but boasted one of the Big Ten's top freshmen in 6-foot-8 Kevin Coble, who led the Wildcats in scoring and rebounding in 2006-07. However, Coble has not played this season and has returned to his Phoenix home to be closer to his mother, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

Northwestern's lone victory in five games has come over Benedictine, a Division III team from Illinois. The Wildcats shot 35.7 percent from the field Tuesday, converted only four of 15 free throws and were outrebounded 43-28.

UVa, which led by as many as 45 points, pulled Diane and Baker for good with 5:51 left. Diane finished with a game-high 22 points and the only other Cavaliers in double figures were Baker and Sean Singletary, who had 14 points and a career-high 10 assists.

It was the Cavaliers' fifth game in 11 days, three of them on the road, including a 74-60 loss Saturday to Seton Hall. Now, Virginia has five games, all at home, in the next five-plus weeks.

"One of the things we talked to the team about is the ability to bounce back," Leitao said. "I don't think anybody around here is too happy about what happened on Saturday."

 

U.Va.'s Baker majors in economy
Calvin Baker makes the most of his 16 minutes as Virginia pounds Northwestern.
BY MELINDA WALDROP | 247-4634
November 28, 2007
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Imagine what he could've done if he played the whole game.

Calvin Baker scored 16 points in as many minutes Tuesday night, going 6-of-6 from the floor, as Virginia dismantled Northwestern 94-52 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, the largest margin of victory in the history of the event.

Baker's perfect night, which included a 4-of-4 effort from 3-point range, was part of the Cavaliers' 52 percent shooting performance. U.Va., which shot 61 percent in the first half, tied a season high with 12 3-pointers in the first period and came within two threes of tying the school record of 18, set last season.

"When you see a teammate making shots, if you're a good shooter, that gives you confidence," Baker said. "And then when you shoot the ball, and you think it's going in, and your teammates think it's going in, and your coaches think it's going in, then it's going in."

Baker, a sophomore guard who transferred last season from William and Mary after a standout prep career at Woodside, has envisioned himself on a stage like Tuesday's for a long time. It's why he left the Tribe despite leading the team with 11.6 points per game as a freshman and sat out last season, practicing with the Cavs but prohibited from playing by NCAA rules.

"I was always told to be the best, you've got to compete against the best, so that's what I had in my mind," Baker said.

"... For any player, it's hard to sit out a year of competition. Just coming back this year, I was looking forward to it, and that added to the hunger that I wanted to play with."

Senior guard Sean Singletary, who had a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists as he picked apart Northwestern's zone, likes what he's seen so far out of Baker, who came into Tuesday's game averaging 9.9 points and 20 minutes per game.

"He's very aggressive," Singletary said. "A tough player. He defends real well, and he knows the game. And anytime you got that, and you got people around you that know the game, you're gonna get open opportunities, and you're gonna convert."

The Cavaliers (6-1) did plenty of that against the Wildcats (1-4), bouncing back from their first loss of the season -- a 74-60 loss Saturday to Seton Hall -- with a vengeance. Virginia made 12 of the 20 3-pointers it took in the first half and would have outscored Northwestern 36-29 on 3s alone. The Cavs finished the night 16-for-32 from 3-point range. Mamadi Diane scored 22 points for Virginia.

"It just seemed like they knocked down everything," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "... Different guys were hitting, and it was just too much for us." One of the guys doing the most damage, in the least amount of time, was Baker.

"He's going to get his shots because they present themselves to him," U.Va. coach Dave Leitao said. "He doesn't have to seek them out all the time. As long as he maintains that (role) while playing the kind of stabilizing defense that he has thus far, his opportunities are going to continue to come."

 

Cavs comfortable beyond the arc in win over Northwestern
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 28, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - You wouldn't peg a defensive-minded coach like Dave Leitao to be a fan of the 3-pointer. But the Virginia coach is coming around, dedicating serious periods of practice to shooting, just like he devotes sessions to rebounding.
Even an old school coach like Leitao can see this Cavaliers team is too good at shooting 3-pointers not to be taking them in bunches.

Virginia fired at will and connected often, making a season-high 16 3-pointers in a 94-52 win against Northwestern at the John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday, the most lopsided game in the history of the annual ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The 16 3s were two shy of the school-record UVa set last January against Gonzaga.

Junior forward Mamadi Diane led the barrage, making a career-high six from long range and finishing with a team-high 22 points.

"We have far too many options on the perimeter not to courage our guys to take them," Leitao said. "Especially the first half when we were making them, far be it from me to say, 'OK guys, stop shooting. Let's change our strategy.'"

The Cavaliers (6-1), who improved to 5-3 in the Challenge all-time, with a 3-0 record against Northwestern (1-4), made a season-high 12 3-pointers in wins against Howard and Arizona earlier this season.

They had that by halftime Tuesday.

Coming off a season-worst 7-for-28 effort from 3-point range in a loss to Seton Hall on Saturday, Virginia wasn't gun shy from the outset, attacking Northwestern's 1-3-1 zone with an endless stream of 3s.

The Cavaliers didn't attempt a 2-pointer until more than seven minutes had elapsed, going 5-for-9 from long range to take an early 15-8 lead.

"There have been times my first and second year where (Leitao has) kind of gotten on us: 'Stop relying on it. Let's get to the basket. Get fouls,'" Diane said. "But I think he's been just a little more lenient this year, being that we have so many guys who can shoot so well."

After Northwestern's Craig Moore made a 3 at the 13:43 mark, UVa reeled off 11 straight points, nine of which were by Calvin Baker, who was 6-for-6 from the field and finished with 16 points in 16 minutes.

The 3s kept falling and the lead kept growing, up to 27 at one point before the break. With just over two minutes left before halftime, Diane drained a 3 from the corner, his fourth of the half. Virginia nearly doubled up Northwestern heading into the locker room, leading 54-29.

The Wildcats, who had been giving up 65.2 points per game, never strayed from the zone and UVa kept firing away, taking 32 shots from outside by the game's end.

"It's only a bad thing when you're taking 30 and you're not making many," Leitao said. "As long as we're taking them in rhythm, we're just not shooting it because it's there, then I keep encouraging the guys to do that."

Point guard Sean Singletary finished with a season-low 14 but didn't have to do the bulk of the scoring. After committing two early turnovers trying to dribble out of the Wildcats' trapping defense, Singletary altered his game to distribute more. He finished with a career-high 10 assists, recording his second career double-double.

Everyone benefited. In addition to Diane's six 3-pointers and Singletary's three, Virginia got four from Baker, two from Adrian Joseph and one from Jamil Tucker.

"When you've got your mojo working and everybody's in a good rhythm and sharing the ball, then you're going to have nights like that," Singletary said.

Virginia made just over eight 3-pointers a game last season, tops in the conference, but shot just 36 percent from beyond the arc.

This year, the Cavaliers averaging over 10 a game, making them at a 44 percent clip.

"I'm not afraid to (shoot that many) because we can make them," Leitao said.

 

Leitao savors win, not excitement, 3-pointers provide
Steve DeShazo on the Virginia-Northwestern game
Date published: 11/28/2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE--Dave Leitao is as old-school as a basketball coach can be. He learned from a Hall of Famer in Jim Calhoun, and his Virginia teams often play more defense in a game than Pete Gillen's did in a month.

The 3-pointer is to coaches like Leitao what a cell phone is to an octogenarian--not quite a gimmick, but not exactly a necessity, either. Dr. Naismith invented basketball a century before the NCAA adopted the bonus shot, and the game didn't die without it.

Leitao's hair is now graying, but a mature dog can learn a few tricks. Witness last night against Northwestern, when the Cavaliers' first nine field-goal attempts (and 12 of their first 13) came from behind the arc.

Fortunately for Virginia, eight of those dozen went in, and the Cavaliers were well on their way to a ridiculously easy 94-52 romp, the largest margin in the nine-year history of the ACC-Big East Challenge.

Personnel and circumstance have turned what once was almost an afterthought into a key component of the Cavaliers' 6-1 start.

"I've never been like a Rick Pitino making [the 3-pointer] a primary part of the offense," Leitao said. "But because of our motion offense, we get a lot of looks. We've begun to look that way, recruiting-wise."

In his third season, Leitao still hasn't landed that stud center or power forward who becomes a program's building block. He does, however, have arguably the nation's best point guard in Sean Singletary and a supporting cast of perimeter players who are capable 3-point shooters--especially in John Paul Jones Arena.

Last night, the young Wildcats did Virginia a major favor by playing zone, and the Cavaliers made 16 of 32 3-pointers to erase all suspense early.

"We're a team where all the guys from 1-4 [guards and forwards], when we see a zone, we start hunting down 3-pointers," said junior Mamadi Diane, who made a career-high six long-range shots in nine attempts. "That's what we do best. Just about everybody out there can shoot the 3."

Of course, teams that live by the 3 often perish by it. In their only loss so far, Saturday against Seton Hall in Philadelphia, the Cavaliers made just 7 of 28 from distance. Just as hot shooting is contagious, bricks can become a team epidemic.

But given the makeup of his team, Leitao knows where his fate lies--at least on the offensive end. Virginia's post players don't scare anyone; in fact, the Cavaliers may actually miss Jason Cain.


"We're a good shooting team," Leitao said. "And we took 32 [3s] today because 32 was the number that presented itself and because they played a lot of zone. And I'm not afraid to do that because we can make them.