Cavs' big men hoping for an inside job
Sharpshooters need to remember post players, Leitao says
Saturday, Dec 22, 2007 - 12:10 AM Updated: 12:34 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Adrian Joseph admits that the University of Virginia basketball team's many 3-point specialists sometimes forget about their larger teammates inside.

"We get carried away," said Joseph, one of six Cavaliers to have made at least five treys this season.

Mike Scott, one of U.Va.'s big men, has noticed. The other night against Howard, the 6-8, 233-pound freshman from Chesapeake established good position on the blocks several times early in the game. Each time, Scott called in vain for the ball.

"It's definitely frustrating," he said, "because you work on the defensive end hard, you rebound, you box out, and you run hard and you get good post position, just for them to swing the ball to the other side."

Scott didn't stay silent. In no uncertain terms, he reminded U.Va. guards Sean Singletary, Calvin Baker and Jeff Jones to look inside.

"I got on Sean, I got on Calvin, I got on Jeff," Scott said. "I told them, 'I'm open. They're not checking us. No one can check us down in the post, so give us the ball.' And that's what they did."

Scott finished with a career-high 15 points, and 6-8, 240-pound sophomore Jerome Meyinsse added nine in the Cavaliers' 79-65 victory over the Pirates.

This is Dave Leitao's third year as U.Va.'s coach, and until now he's never had a low-post option as gifted offensively as Scott. Starting center Tunji Soroye averaged 1.8 points in 2005-06 and 2.1 last season. Power forward Jason Cain averaged 7.4 points as a junior in 2005-06 and 6.8 last season.

Leitao, whose team hosts Elon this afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena, says he has to remind his perimeter players to get the ball inside. At the same time, he doesn't want them to pass up good looks.

"It's a hard thing," Leitao said, "because if I get that out of whack and then we're not real good on the inside, then we've lost our way a little bit."

His players must learn "that the ball has to enter that 15-foot area more than it does," Leitao said, "but know that when it does come back out we'll get even better shots from the perimeter. Again, it becomes a work in progress."

With three of the team's centers - Soroye, Ryan Pettinella and Laurynas Mikalauskas - unavailable because of injuries Wednesday, Scott played 20 minutes and Meyinsse a career-high 22 against Hampton.

"It allowed me to get into the flow of the game," said Meyinsse, who turned 19 the day before. "I think that helped me contribute a lot. It helped me be more aggressive, because I knew if I made a mistake I wouldn't come out of the game."

Scott's role has been steadily increasing this season, and he started against the Pirates. But Meyinsse came in averaging only 5.5 minutes.

"I think I deserved to play a little bit more," he said. "I just have to start showing that I can play in practice. I think I did that over these past two weeks. Now that my opportunity has [come], I have to take advantage of it."

Of Virginia's big men, Scott is probably the best shooter, but Meyinsse (pronounced Me-yin-see) isn't far behind. Leitao said he and assistant coach Steve Seymour have been encouraging the Baton Rouge, La., native to "stop banging guys so much and always taking it into the teeth of it. He's got a terrific turnaround jump shot. He can face up and shoot the ball. He made a couple of those baseline turnaround [shots against Hampton]. And that's more how he can be effective, because he has a good touch."

 

Could Virginia use a shakeup?
Some Cavs starters stuck in slumps
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
December 22, 2007

With the exception of the center position - a spot where his team has suffered a slew of injuries - Virginia coach Dave Leitao has started the same players in all 10 of UVa’s games this season.

That trend will likely continue this afternoon when the Cavs (8-2) host Elon (5-6) at John Paul Jones Arena.

But should it?

After a scintillating road debut at Arizona in which he was 5 of 7 from 3-point range, Virginia freshman Jeff Jones has struggled. In the seven games since, the guard has yet to hit another 3-pointer and is just 9 of 35 from the field.

In the win over Hampton on Wednesday night, Jones was benched in favor of sophomore walk-on Calvin Baker to start the second half.

“I thought Calvin was just managing the game a little bit better,” Leitao explained. “It wasn’t like he was scoring a lot. He was managing better.

“Jeff continued to be a little bit passive on the perimeter and not taking it into the teeth [of the defense]. He got a little bit confused when we were switching on defensive assignments … we were only up four [points at the half], so I thought to just go with that strength of what Calvin was giving us.”

But Leitao probably doesn’t want to make the change permanent because Baker, while a little bit more seasoned than Jones, may be better suited to coming off the bench given his scoring mentality. Pairing Baker with Sean Singletary in the backcourt could disrupt the team’s offensive balance.

Of course, Leitao could play Mamadi Diane at guard, slide Adrian Joseph to small forward and give someone like Will Harris or Jamil Tucker a shot at power forward. However, he has seemed reluctant to do that given Diane’s ball-handling ability and penchant for finishing plays rather than creating them.

Plus, moving Diane to the ‘2’ is probably a little more tinkering than Leitao wants to do with the opening of conference play just a couple weeks away.

Diane, like Jones, is coming off a poor performance against Hampton. In 18 minutes, the junior was 0 of 5 from the field for zero points.

Leitao could see the poor game coming.

“It’s not like it just happened,” Leitao said. “He hadn’t had great practices the last few days. It could be school or it could be whatever. It was a cycle.”

Diane played just one minute in the second half.

“The thing about it with him is that he hasn’t really been through that in the 2 1/2 years that he’s been here,” said Leitao, when asked about Diane’s limited action. “It was as much that the other guys like Will and Jamil were giving us some stability, so I kind of just rode that out.”

Leitao said Diane doesn’t have anything to worry about, at least for right now.

“He’ll be our starting small forward, as he has been,” Leitao said, “and we’ll just continue to work to make sure that he plays better for us.”

Ideally, Leitao doesn’t want to have to bench anybody.

“I want to be able to make the proper substitution because a guy needs a break,” he said, “not because he’s not playing the way we’re asking him to play.”

The most interesting changes pertaining to playing time will take effect when Tunji Soroye, Lars Mikalauskas and Ryan Pettinella return from injuries. With Jerome Meyinsse and Mike Scott playing well, there aren’t going to be enough minutes for everybody.

“I’ve got some decisions to make - or they have some decisions to make on who’s going to play based on how well they perform,” Leitao said.

Dunks

Virginia has won all five previous meetings with Elon. … The Phoenix, out of the Southern Conference, lost to Penn, 67-64, on Thursday night. UVa defeated Penn, 100-85, in the Philly Classic last month. … The Cavs’ plus-14.6 rebounding margin is the biggest in the nation.

 

Meyinsse performance may increase his role
Jones continues to struggle
By Doug Doughty

If I were one of the five injured Virginia basketball players who were unavailable for the Cavaliers’ game Wednesday against Hampton, I might want to do everything possible to speed up my recovery.

The Cavaliers’ train may be ready to leave the station without them.

In particular, Ryan Pettinella and Lauris Mikalauskas had to take notice of the nine-point, nine-rebound performance turned in by Jerome Meyinsse when he was given 22 minutes of playing time in a 79-65 victory over Hampton.

Meyinsse has been largely ignored in discussions of the 2007-2008 season or even 2008-2009. That’s when newcomers Assane Sene and John Brandenburg will be joining the program and most observers figure they will offset the departure of Pettinella and fellow senior Tunji Soroye.

With the scant playing time (33 minutes) he had given Meyinsse until this point, coach Dave Leitao had not given much indication that Meyinsse figured prominently in his plans.

Of course, this is low-major Hampton we’re talking about, but could Leitao have counted on nine points and nine rebounds from Pettinella or Mikalauskas? Pettinella had started the first eight games of the season before shin splints intervened and Mikalauskas took his place against Longwood.

Mikalauskas was not in uniform Wednesday as the result of shoulder issues and, while Pettinella was dressed out, he only would have played in an emergency. Also sidelined were Soroye (knee), Solomon Tat (abdomen) and guard Sammy Zeglinski (foot).

Soroye and Tat haven’t played all season as the result of preseason operations, but both have returned to practice and should be available after the start of the year, if not sooner.

Freshman Mike Scott started at center and contributed 15 points and six rebounds, but it’s no longer a surprise when he plays like that. Scott has been playing out of position, seeing more time at center than forward, but nobody doubts that he has a bright future. He’s been playing that way for a while now.

You can get away with playing Scott (6-8, 233) at center if there is another power player on the floor with him. Natural small forward Adrian Joseph has been a surprisingly good rebounder to date but Virginia may need more of a post presence when the ACC schedule starts.

It would help if Meyinsse (6-8, 245) were a little taller, but he has put on muscle since the end of the 2006-2007 season. Besides, if he were 6-10, maybe he wouldn’t have been available in the spring of his senior year in high school.

With the return of the four injured forwards or centers, Leitao has “got some decisions to make or they’ve got decisions to make based on how well they perform,” he said.

Meyinsse bulled his way to the hoop on several occasions but also made a nifty turnaround and attempted a jump hook.

“Mike would probably rival [Meyinsse] as the two guys in the low post who have the best touch,” Leitao said. “What I’ve tried to get Jerome to do – and coach [Steve] Seymour does a real good job with the big guys – is to stop banging guys so much.

“He’s always taking it into the teeth of [the defense]. He’s got a terrific turnaround jump shot, he can face up and shoot the ball. That is more how he can be effective. Getting the shot off without the defense banging him is to his advantage.”

Another subtle shift Wednesday night was Leitao’s decision to start Calvin Baker ahead of freshman Jeff Jones in the second half. Jones finished with six points and two assists in 14 minutes, but missed two more 3-pointers and is now 0-for-11 from behind the arc except for a 5-for-7 night at Arizona.

“Jeff continued to be a little bit passive on the perimeter, not taking it into the teeth,” Leitao said. “He got a little bit confused when we were switching [defensively] and we were only up four, so I just decided to go with the stability that Calvin was giving us.”

In the context of a 76-57 victory over Longwood, described by Leitao as one of UVa’s most uninspired efforts of his tenure, it was reasonable to think that he might “go off” again Wednesday. But, the Cavaliers found a way to right themselves and his parting impression was positive.

“I’m going to keep asking for more,” Leitao said. “It was better today than it was against Longwood, but we’ve still got a ways to go, particularly at the defensive end. I always tell the guys, ‘If you guard a man and a half, and you do the math, they’ve got five and we’ve got more than five.’

“I was wondering how we would play after a 12-day layoff. We hadn’t played really good basketball before then and we were [going up against] a team that is pretty difficult because they play in a way that disrupts your rhythm. That’s why teams average 55 [or] 56 points against them.

“Do I think we played a great game? No. But, I thought we played pretty well, given the circumstances, not just the layoff but the injuries. It makes you think you’re on the road to becoming a better team.”
 

'I was meaner'
Improving on his '06 campaign, Virginia's Chris Long harassed offenses this season and headlines The Roanoke Times' All-State Football teams.
By Mark Berman
981-3125

When Chris Long looks at game film of himself from last year, he is disgusted.

Seriously.

"Each year I feel like you should be able to look at the guy from last year on tape, that being you last year, and really just frankly be disgusted with his play," the Virginia defensive end said Friday. "It's got to be like a whole 'nother person, that's how much you should improve every year.

"I took steps to doing that this year, improving a lot. ... It's not the same guy."

That drive to better himself certainly paid off this season.

Long, who went from being a second-team All-ACC pick in 2006 to being a unanimous All-American this season, has been named the state Division I defensive player of the year by The Roanoke Times sports writers who cover college football.

Tim Hightower, a Division I-AA All-American running back who helped Richmond reach the I-AA semifinals, was chosen The Roanoke Times' state Division I offensive player of the year.

Virginia Union quarterback Lamar Little is the small-college Offensive Player of the Year for Divisions II and III and the NAIA. Washington and Lee strong safety Kyle Luby is the Defensive Player of the Year for Divisions II and III and the NAIA.

Long, a senior who finished 10th in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, is expected to be a high pick in the NFL Draft in April. He was the ACC defensive player of the year and earned the Ted Hendricks Award as the best defensive end in the nation.

"I'm a guy that learns every day. I'm not a natural," said Long, the son of former NFL great Howie Long. "I didn't come into college without a long way to go. ... I still have a long way to go.

"I've been around some guys that can roll out of bed and just play football, but I'm not one of them. I love football, ... but it took me awhile to get better and better at my craft and get better within this defense."

Long, whose 9-3 team will play Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day, ranks third in Division I-A with 14 sacks. He has recorded 75 tackles, including 19 for loss. Long has picked off one pass, forced two fumbles, broke up seven passes, had 22 QB hurries and blocked a kick.

"This year I was in better shape," he said. "I was quicker. I was more instinctive. I finished off plays. I was a better tackler.

"I was meaner. I was probably playing angrier. ... You're never content, but it sure helps to have the memory of a 5-7 season."

Long reaped first-team All-America honors from The Associated Press, the American Football Coaches Association, The Sporting News, The Football Writers Association of America and the Walter Camp Football Foundation. He also won the Dudley Award as the state's top Division I player, as determined by a media vote.

 

Barber among January Tech enrollees
Coaching changes could aid Cavaliers
By Doug Doughty

In a recent piece on the process of “grayshirting,” I noted that I was not aware of a situation in which a Virginia student-athlete had graduated from high school in December.

Media gadfly Jeff White, for one, took me to task for not making the distinction between early enrollment and grayshirting, which is more accurately described as delayed enrollment.

Now comes evidence that my first supposition may have been in error.

While trying to determine which of Virginia Tech’s 2007 signees would be enrolling in January, I learned Friday that Edison High School senior Ben Barber will be joining the Hokies in January.

January enrollees whom Tech has the option of counting against its 2007 or 2008 scholarship quotas are Barber, defensive tackle Courtney Prince from Mitchellville, Md., and Gwynn Park High School, and linebacker Alonzo Tweedy from Hermitage High School.

Prince and Tweedy originally signed with the Hokies last February and presumably could have enrolled this summer but elected to delay their enrollment.

Of the 23 players who signed with Tech in February, five have not yet enrolled in school – Prince, Tweedy, Patrick Henry-Ashland running back D.J. Thomas, Osbourn Park linebacker Quillie Odom and Sumter, S.C., all-purpose threat Kendrick Pressley.

Odom and Pressley spent the fall semester at Hargrave Military Academy but have not yet met NCAA qualifying guidelines and will require at least one more semester at Hargrave.

Thomas, injured last summer in the Virginia High School Coaches’ Association All-Star Game, was not a qualifier out of high school and did not attend school this fall while rehabbing his injury.

Thomas has expressed the intention of improving his test scores to a point where he can enroll at Tech next fall, but the qualifying standards have been tweaked since he was in high school and some have suggested he might be better-served by going to junior college.

MIKE CAMPBELL, the Rockbridge County product who serves as principal at Centreville High School in Fairfax County, says that Barber was able to graduate in December because Edison has a 4-by-4 curriculum.

“You only take four courses each semester,” Campbell said. “Those kids who took Algebra and History in the first semester are going to finish those and now they’re going to move on to Government and Algebra 2 in the second semester.”

At Centreville, on the other hand, if a student signs up for Algebra 1, he or she takes that class for two semesters. Classes are shorter and students take as many as six or seven in the same semester.

“Those are year-long courses,” Campbell said. “If a kid from Centreville wanted to go to Virginia Tech at mid-year, it would be really difficult right now.”

Campbell said the 4-by-4 setup is not widespread, “but it’s getting more and more attention,” he said. “In a year, you can get eight courses in, instead of seven courses. I like it because it really concentrates you. I love the concept but it does create some logistical problems along the line.”

Edison and Centreville both belong to the Fairfax County School System, which has been pushing dual enrollment.

“If you can go to Virginia Tech and take a course, you also can get credit at the high school,” he said. “I’m not sure, but Ben Barber might be taking these courses at Tech and also getting high-school credit.”

(Campbell, previously the principal at Westfield High School, the Group AAA Division 6 champion this year, says to look out for Centreville. Centreville has two promising juniors in 6-6, 260-pound offensive tackle Luke Bowanko and 6-3, 230-pound linebacker Mike Upham).

THE WAY RECRUITING is nowadays, Virginia is likely to feel the effects of a nine-win season more with the 2009 class than it is this year, but this is also a time of year when coaching situations change.

It wasn’t surprising to hear that linebacker Donovan Miles from Brooke Point High School in Stafford might be reopening his recruiting and Jamie Oakes of rivals.com reports that linebacker Christian Wilson from McKees Rock, Pa., has advised the Cavaliers of his interest.

Miles committed to West Virginia before the season.

Wilson had committed to Michigan as an H-back, but the arrival of new coach Rich Rodriguez and his spread offense from West Virginia casts some doubt on the role of the H-back in the Wolverines’ new scheme.

The Rodriguez situation should impact the recruiting situations at several schools because he uses a scheme that requires uncommon personnel sets. A player recruited by West Virginia for Rodriguez’s scheme might not be as good a fit for the new coach, and the same for players previously recruited by Michigan.
 

Cavs ready to grind it out
Virginia aims to slow down game, get physical with Texas Tech
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
December 22, 2007

The buzz in and around the McCue Center the past two weeks has centered solely on Texas Tech’s offense - and justifiably so.

The Red Raiders, Virginia’s opponent on New Year’s Day in the Gator Bowl, lead the nation in passing and put up 41.8 points per game.

Stopping Texas Tech’s vaunted aerial attack, an operation that has successfully hurled the ball a distance that equals 22.1 miles (38,949 yards) since 2000, is quite a daunting task for the Cavaliers (9-3).

Common thinking puts the pressure to stop the Red Raiders solely on the players in the back half of Virginia’s nickel and dime packages on defense.

Virginia coach Al Groh has other ideas, demanding a team approach in the matter.

“Clearly, we have to reduce the point total down from an average of 42 points per game,” Groh said. “That’s too much to ask just 11 players to do. We need 33 players to do that - 11 on defense, 11 on special teams, 11 on offense.”

Preaching field position, clock management and time of possession could reach previously unseen heights in the days ahead.

Texas Tech, obviously, cannot score on offense if Virginia maintains possession. Several Cavaliers, however, said they do not anticipate being able to duplicate the game-winning drive against Maryland with ease. That drive took 15 plays and covered 90 yards and used more than seven minutes. A majority of Virginia’s touchdown-producing drives this year has taken between two and four minutes to unfold.

Regardless, the Cavaliers hope to take advantage of Texas Tech’s lackluster run defense - the Red Raiders ranked 10th in the Big 12 and 78th nationally against the run.

“We feel confident running the ball on those guys,” said Virginia tailback Mikell Simpson. “Teams in their conference had success running, so we are just going to try and follow the script that other teams have been doing; and they have a high-scoring offense so it is probably going to be a shootout.

“If we can just run the ball successfully and manage the clock with that, then we can keep their offense off the field and limit their points.”

Virginia rushed for 121 yards or more in eight games and scored seven rushing touchdowns in its past two games, using a rotation at running back that started with Cedric Peerman, included sporadic doses of Keith Payne and Andrew Pearman (after Peerman was lost for the season) and finished with Simpson.

Simpson, a sophomore, emerged as a valuable, dual-threat weapon, churning out 409 yards on the ground and hauling in 34 passes for 335 yards in the final five games.

“It just feels good to be a vital part of the offense and contribute in every possible way to help win games for the team and get to 10 wins,” said Simpson, who opened the season as a slot receiver.

“I always had confidence in myself. I was just given an opportunity to go back to running back due to injuries, and when I got back there I was fortunate enough to take advantage of my opportunities.”

 

STAB's Howie Long commits to Virginia
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
December 22, 2007

Standout football player Chris Long won’t be the only member of his family to play sports at the University of Virginia. His brother, Howie, has accepted a scholarship offer to play lacrosse at UVa.

The youngest and smallest of Pro Football Hall of Famer Howie Long’s three sons, Howie Jr. is a 6-foot, 185-pound junior defenseman at St. Anne’s-Belfield. Chris graduated from STAB, and the other Long brother, Kyle, is a senior there.

Kyle Long, a 6-7, 280-pounder who’s also one of the state’s top high school football players, has signed to play baseball at Florida State. Depending on where he gets drafted in 2008, though, Kyle could end up turning pro.