UVa comeback falls short
By Whitey Reid
Published: December 21, 2008

Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen, the brains behind Virginia’s motion offense, recently said that one of the negatives of his scheme — because of its free-flowing nature — is that it can sometimes look as though you’ve never practiced.

Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena was one such occasion.

“We were making cuts just to make cuts,” said Virginia coach Dave Leitao, who adopted Paulsen’s motion attack prior to the 2006-07 season. “We were passing just to pass. It wasn’t an attack mode. We weren’t looking to get the ball down low. We weren’t looking to penetrate or change sides of the floor with the basketball.”

That disjointed play cost Virginia the most in crunch time. UVa didn’t score on its last five possessions of the game, a span of over four minutes, and lost for the third time in four games — a 58-56 setback to Auburn in front of a crowd of 11,070.

“I’m obviously disappointed,” said Leitao, whose team was outrebounded by 14, “particularly with our inability from start to finish to play the game that we prepared to play.

“The two things we emphasized before the game were our ability on both ends to execute a specific gameplan and then to do it with a high level of passion, and we didn’t sustain either. It obviously cost us at the beginning, it cost us in the middle and it cost us in the end.”

UVa (4-4) had battled all the way back from a 13-point second-half deficit. A Sammy Zeglinski jumper gave the Cavaliers a 56-52 lead before Auburn’s Tay Waller and DeWayne Reed hit back-to-back 3-pointers in a 52-second span to put the Tigers (6-4) back on top.

Virginia got the ball back with 14 seconds and a final chance to tie or take the lead. Leitao designed a play for Sylven Landesberg to drive as far as he could to the basket. If he was stopped, he was to pass to Zeglinski, who was rolling off a screen. That’s precisely what transpired — only Zeglinski’s 3-point attempt was blocked by Reed in a play somewhat reminiscent of Hakim Warrick’s game-clinching swat against Kansas in the 2003 NCAA championship game.

“I felt like I could get the shot off,” said Zeglinski, who had nine points and five assists, “but Reed made a nice play on the ball.

“The play worked. I just wasn’t able to get the shot off quick enough.”

Leitao sounded iffy as to whether it was the best possible shot.

“I told him if his feet were set and he was comfortable and he was open — that it was a quality shot — that he could shoot it from either 2 or 3,” Leitao said. “If not, [he was] to drive it as deep as he could go and we could space out and kick and drive again.

“But he sprinted off and took the shot. I think it was a little untimely because there was a man there, but there wasn’t that much time left either so maybe he felt he had to take it.”

In truth, it was the first half where Virginia lost this one. UVa set a terrible tone, playing its most wretched 20 minutes of the season.

With 6:02 remaining in the half, the Cavaliers were somehow able to tie the game at 21 on a pair of free throws by Landesberg. However, they didn’t score again the rest of the half as Auburn closed on an 11-0 run that was punctuated with a monster put-back jam by Lucas Hargrove. On the play, the 6-foot-6 Hargrove soared over two UVa defenders and dunked with one hand.

The play capped an inept stanza in which Virginia shot just 21 percent from the floor (5 of 24). Baker and Zeglinski were a combined 1 of 12.

As time expired, UVa players were hit with a chorus of boos as the headed into the locker room, down by 11.

In the second half, Landesberg was a one-man wrecking crew. The freshman, who notched 15 of his game-high 22, was hell-bent going to the basket and drawing fouls. It paid off as he helped Virginia, momentarily, retake the lead.

“I just wanted the ball every time and wanted to make something happen,” he said. “That’s what that was — just wanting it.”

Clearly, Virginia could use more players with a similar attitude.

Dunks

Mamadi Diane’s struggles continued. In 20 minutes, the senior didn’t score — he didn’t even take a shot — and had no rebounds or assists. Sylven Landesberg said Diane is not 100 percent recovered from offseason foot surgery and also has an unspecified knee problem that has been bothering him. “I think it’s just a mentality thing,” said Landesberg, when asked about Diane. “In practice he plays real good — as good as anybody else. He just has to get used to game situations again. He’s still coming back, still trying to recover. … his knee hurts a little bit. He’s just been recovering from all these injuries, but he’s going to be back.” … Former Virginia signee Johnnie Lett had three points and three rebounds in 10 minutes of action.

 

Cold-shooting UVa falls again -- to Auburn, now
Auburn takes a big lead into halftime, then overcomes a Cavalier rally with a late 3-pointer. | Auburn 58, UVa 56
By Doug Doughty | The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Before he gets settled in as offensive coordinator for Virginia's football team, perhaps Gregg Brandon could take a look at the Cavalier men's basketball team.

Boos rained down on Dave Leitao's bunch Saturday after a first half in which the Cavaliers had five field goals, only two from inside the 3-point arc.

The booing was a little more muffled after Auburn thwarted a second-half UVa comeback and prevailed 58-56.

Tigers junior DeWayne Reed, whose 3-pointer with 1:24 remaining had erased a 56-55 UVa lead, blocked a Sammy Zeglinski jumper with four seconds remaining that could have won it for the Cavaliers.

"Obviously, I'm disappointed, particularly with our inability from start to finish to play the game we had prepared to play," said UVa coach Dave Leitao, whose Cavaliers (4-4) lost for the fourth time in their last five games.

Auburn, which came into John Paul Jones Arena as a 312-point underdog, was ahead 32-21 at the half and twice stretched its lead to 13 early in the second half.

"We just gave away possession after possession after possession," Leitao said.

A 24-9 run enabled the Cavaliers to grab a 56-52 lead on a Zeglinski jumper with 4:02 remaining, but they never scored again.

UVa missed its last four shots from the field and had a turnover when it failed to get off a shot within the allotted 35 seconds. The Cavaliers also had a 35-second violation in the first half.

"More times today than probably any time this year, we got ourselves deep into the shot clock," Leitao said. "If guys are spry and they're attacking, we would probably find shots earlier in the clock. We were making cuts just to make cuts and passing just to pass, and we weren't in an attack mode."

It wasn't as if Auburn (6-4) was lighting up the scoreboard down the stretch. The Tigers had two field goals in their last six possessions, including a Tay Waller 3-pointer with 2:16 remaining that trimmed UVa's lead to one.

After Reed's go-ahead jumper, a missed Lucas Hargrove 3-pointer gave the ball back to Virginia with 20 seconds left. The Cavaliers called timeout with 14.7 seconds left.

If Leitao had trusted the team to attack on its own, he wouldn't have called a timeout, "but, especially after we were up 56-52, I didn't feel we were getting quality possessions," he said.

Leitao set up a play to get the ball to freshman Sylven Landesberg in the right corner and have him drive to the basket, with the option of dumping the ball back to Zeglinski for a 3-pointer if traffic became too congested inside.

"I told Sammy, if his feet were set and he was comfortable and it was an open shot, that he could shoot it," Leitao said. "He sprinted off and took a shot that was a little bit untimely."

Only one Virginia player, Landesberg, scored in double figures. He hit both of his 3-point attempts and also converted 10 of 14 free-throw opportunities to finish with 22 points -- the fifth time he has had 20 or more.

After missing his first eight shots, Zeglinski finished with nine points and five assists, compared to one turnover. A third freshman, 7-foot Assane Sene, came off the bench to play a season-high 22 minutes and contributed nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

"It's just energy," Leitao said. "He's not perfect, but he was the one guy in there who was rebounding and battling."

Sene's only field goal came on an early dunk, but he earlier had missed a dunk and thinks he has the capacity to become more of an offensive threat if his teammates start looking for him.

"When I missed the dunk, I felt so bad because that was the first time it had happened to me in a big game," Sene said. "I told myself, 'It's still early. Maybe I'll get another chance.' And, I did. But, I know I can do better offensively."

Auburn was picked fifth place out of six teams in the Southeastern Conference's Western Division.

 

Loss leaves egg on UVa vets' faces
Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Let's talk about missed dunks for a second. Because the Virginia basketball team had two of them in the first half Saturday, and those things really get you thinking.

Is there a more deflating play in all of sports than the missed dunk? Not blocked, mindyou. Missed.

One second you're soaring toward the rim (In your face!) and the next, you're watching the ball ricochet far, far away from its intended target as the crowd groans (Egg on face!).

Saturday's game was a big, lousy missed dunk for UVa. The Cavaliers got booed off the floor at halftime, rallied to take a late lead and then lost it, falling 58-56 to Auburn at John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cavaliers are by no means a great team -- that No. 12 spot in the preseason ACC poll is looking about right at this moment -- but the Eagles are quite beatable, even for them. Mercer beat them. Dayton beat them. Northern Iowa beat them. But the favored Cavaliers couldn't, mostly because they have zero veteran presence.

Oh, they have veterans. It's the presence part that's missing. Mamadi Diane has played in more than 100 games in his UVa career. In this one, he ran around for 20 minutes and didn't take a shot. Not a single shot from a senior who once scored 26 points in an ACC game against Maryland. See anything wrong with this?

Junior Jamil Tucker played his 68th game for UVa on Saturday. He was held scoreless and grabbed one rebound.

Point guard Calvin Baker started eight conference games last year. But he often looked completely lost, forgetting the shot clock, stumbling through the lane, failing to find open teammates.

"He, like everybody else, didn't play with the same kind of passion that he needed to," UVa coach Dave Leitao said of Baker.

"When you don't, other things are missing. Decision-making is one of them. Leadership, ability to run the team, defense -- all those things suffer when you don't have the proper mindset."

The proper mindset originates with the coach, but somebody on the floor has to step in and affirm it, too. Usually that somebody is a guy who's been around, somebody who's seen bad starts lead to losses and knows how to prevent them, somebody who's earned the ears of his young teammates.

UVa doesn't have that guy right now. The Cavaliers' three most energetic players against Auburn were freshmen. Guard Sylven Landesberg put in another strong effort with 22 points and a variety of determined moves toward the rim. Sammy Zeglinski struggled with his shooting but helped lead the rally in the second half. And 7-footer Assane Sene grabbed nine rebounds and blocked four shots, a solid outing from a raw rookie.

But that's not enough. At some point, these older players have to contribute -- mostly in that always-elusive "leadership" category -- if the Cavs are going to make anything of this season.

"We were real passive as a team," Landesberg said. "They weren't beating us on talent on the first half; it was basically a mentality. They were just more aggressive. They were punking us on the boards."

Oh, yes. The boards punking. Auburn outrebounded the Cavs 44-30. That's one of those all-important effort indicators. And that can't happen, particularly at home.

Mike Scott is going to be a key to changing that. The sophomore is a big body (6-foot-8) and a good athlete, and so far he's been the team's leading rebounder. But he collected just three Saturday.

"Coach always tells me I can't play like a sophomore," Scott said. "I have to play like a junior or senior. I haven't been doing that, even in practice."

Leitao's lack of faith in the veterans was evident on the game's final play. After the Cavaliers called timeout with 14.7 seconds remaining, trailing by two, only two players touched the ball. Both were freshmen.

The result was a blocked 3-pointer. Not exactly a missed dunk, but it sure felt similar.
 

Cavs go flat at the finish
By Jeff White
Published: December 21, 2008

College basketball prognosticators get it wrong at least as often as they get it right, but the forecast for the University of Virginia men looks accurate thus far.

And that doesn't bode well for the Cavaliers, who were picked to finish last in the ACC. Yesterday against Auburn, expected to be one of the Southeastern Conference's weaker teams, U.Va. stumbled again, sending most of the crowd of 11,070 home unhappy.

Virginia went up 56-52 on a Sammy Zeglinski jump shot with 3:58 left, and a second straight victory seemed within the reach of Dave Leitao's club. But the Cavaliers did not score again, and the Tigers left John Paul Jones Arena with a 58-56 victory.

U.Va.'s lead was still four with 2:20 left, but moments later, Auburn guard Tay Waller buried a 3-pointer to make it 56-55. Then, after a shot-clock violation by the Cavaliers -- their second of the game -- guard DeWayne Reed hit a 3-pointer off the dribble to put the Tigers ahead 58-56 with 1:20 left.

"We're up four, and in the blink of an eye, we're down two," said freshman Sylven Landesberg, who led U.Va. with 22 points. "It was crazy."

The Wahoos (4-4) had an opportunity to force overtime or win in regulation after calling a timeout with 14.7 seconds left. But the possession that followed ended in disaster, as so many others had yesterday.

Auburn converged on U.Va.'s No. 1 option, Landesberg, forcing the 6-6 swingman to pass to Zeglinski. The redshirt freshman point guard, aware that time was running out, put up a 3-point attempt from the right wing, but the ball didn't get far.

Reed blocked Zeglinski's shot, and Auburn (6-4) gained possession with 2.1 seconds left. The Cavaliers never got the ball back.

Virginia's performance late in the first half was even worse. After Landesberg's two free throws made it 21-21, the Cavaliers went scoreless for the final 6:02 of the half and trailed 32-21 at the break.

In the first half, U.Va. was 5 for 24 from the floor. Its 21 points were by far its fewest in a half this season, and Virginia thrice allowed the Tigers to beat it down the court for uncontested layups or dunks.

"I don't know how to explain that," Zeglinski said. "We came out flat, and they took advantage of it."

For the first time this season, an opponent outrebounded U.Va., and the totals weren't close. The Tigers grabbed 44 rebounds, to 30 for the Cavaliers. Fourteen Auburn rebounds came at the offensive end.

"They were punking us on the boards," Landesberg said.

The bright spots for U.Va. were Landesberg and center Assane Sene, a 7-0 freshman from Senegal. In 22 minutes -- his longest stint as a Cavalier -- Sene grabbed nine rebounds, blocked four shots and altered several other Auburn attempts.

"Defensively, he's so long," Tigers coach Jeff Lebo said.

After picking up two quick fouls, Sene played only four minutes in the first half. But he was "able in the second half to be just be a presence, by his length, his energy, his rebounding," Leitao said. "There are other guys around him we need to have that same energy and passion from."

U.Va., which opens ACC play next Sunday at Georgia Tech, hosts Hampton on Tuesday night.

 

Virginia gets a bad Reed on Auburn
By Chris Lang
Sports writer
Published: December 21, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — In Auburn’s first nine games, point guard DeWayne Reed hadn’t shot particularly well from 3-point range, nor had he been much of a shot-blocking threat, not surprising considering Reed’s relatively diminutive 6-foot-1 size.

In the final 1:22 Saturday at John Paul Jones Arena, Reed bucked both trends. He used a head fake to shake his defender before stepping back to hit the 3-pointer that gave the Tigers the lead. Then, with four seconds left, Reed blocked Virginia point guard Sammy Zeglinski’s 3-point attempt, sealing the Tigers’ 58-56 victory.

For Reed, a 32-percent long-range shooter, the shot capped a 2-for-7 day from long range. The block was just his fourth of the season.

“We made big plays at the end,” Auburn coach Jeff Lebo said.

Virginia did not. The Cavaliers (4-4) didn’t score in the final four minutes, a drought reminiscent of the ugly first half when Virginia shot 21 percent and made more 3-pointers (three) than 2-pointers (two).

Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao was irked by his team’s lack of passion from the outset. He wasn’t the only one. Virginia left the floor at the first-half buzzer to a shower of boos from the 11,070 in attendance.

“It was definitely surprising,” Zeglinski said of his team’s flat start. The lack of intensity was evident on the glass. Auburn (6-4) out-rebounded Virginia 44-30 and limited the Cavaliers to two offensive rebounds.

“They were punking us on the boards,” said guard Sylven Landesberg, who led Virginia with 22 points.

Auburn took advantage of the Cavs’ early lethargy, building a 32-21 lead at halftime and extending the edge to as many as 13 points in the second half. Zeglinski picked up two first-half fouls and played just 10 minutes before the break. Even when he was in the game, he struggled. He missed all six of his first-half field-goal attempts and failed to register an assist.

“He’s one of the keys to their team,” Lebo said. “When he starts to play well, he starts to make shots and he’s passing the ball for open layups, and that’s when they play their best. Overall, I thought we did a good job on him.”

Zeglinski got hot after halftime, and his teammates followed suit. Zeglinski stole the ball from Quantez Robertson and scored in transition to jump-start a 10-3 Virginia run that cut the Auburn lead to 45-42. The Tigers responded with five straight points to push the lead back to 50-42, but Virginia went on a 12-0 run to take the lead. Zeglinski tied the game at 50 with his only 3-pointer, and his layup with 4:46 left gave Virginia 54-50 lead.

“At halftime, we made adjustments and we came out with a lot more passion,” Zeglinski said. “We kind of put them on their heels a little bit.”

Virginia took a 56-52 lead into the final media timeout, but the Cavs reverted to their first-half ways when the game was on the line. Calvin Baker took an ill-advised 3-pointer early in a possession. Landesberg tried a circus shot with the shot clock winding down, and it failed to catch the rim. The Cavs were called for a shot-clock violation on one possession, and Zeglinski missed a shot on another.

“If guys are spry, and they’re attacking and they’re moving with a general quickness, then you probably find shots earlier in the clock,” Leitao said. “If you combine that with execution, you’re going to find openings that you can make plays from. We were making cuts, just to make cuts and passing just to pass. It wasn’t an attack mode.”

Tay Waller hit a 3 with 2:14 left to pull Auburn within 56-55, and Reed hit his 3 after Virginia’s shot-clock violation. The Cavs had one last chance in the final 20 seconds down 58-56. Virginia designed a play with two options, the first being for Landesberg to reject a ball screen and penetrate and try to get to the line. Auburn cut that off, and Zeglinski came off a stagger screen. Landesberg kicked it back out, but Reed flew in from Zeglinski’s left to block UVa’s final shot attempt.

DRIBBLES: Korvotney Barber led Auburn with 14 points and 13 rebounds, his second double-double this season. … Virginia was outrebounded for the first time this season. … Landesberg hit more free throws (10) than Auburn’s entire team (eight). … Mamadi Diane played 20 minutes for Virginia but didn’t attempt a shot. He had two steals and a turnover. … Virginia’s 7-0 freshman, Assane Sene, only scored two points, but had led the Cavaliers with nine rebounds and four blocks.
 

Cavaliers unravel after rallying COLLEGE BASKETBALL
December 21, 2008 12:36 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE

--Dave Leitao wanted two things from his team yesterday: to execute and play with passion.

He got neither.

For the majority of its nonconference contest with Auburn in front of 11,070 at John Paul Jones Arena, the Virginia men's basketball team was stagnant.

The result was a 58-56 loss that left Leitao disheartened about another stale performance from his young squad.

"We didn't sustain either [execution or passion]," Leitao said. "Obviously it cost us at the beginning, it cost in the middle, then it cost us late."

The late part was particularly troublesome to Leitao.

The Cavaliers (4-4) rallied to take a 56-52 lead after falling behind by 13 points in the second half.

But Auburn (6-4) received back-to-back wide-open 3-point baskets from Tay Waller and DeWayne Reed to take a 58-56 lead with 1:24 remaining.

The Cavaliers had a chance to reclaim an advantage, but freshman point guard Sammy Zeglinski's 3-point attempt was blocked by Reed with 2.1 seconds left.

"It was a little bit untimely because it was a man there," Leitao said of Zeglinski's 3-point attempt. "But it wasn't much time left either, so maybe he thought he had to take it."

The Tigers inbounded the ball to Quantez Robinson to run out the clock, leaving the Cavaliers a bit stunned their comeback was for naught.

"It was just like a huge swing," freshman guard Sylven Landesberg said. "We were up four and in the blink of an eye, we were down two. It was crazy."

The Cavaliers have themselves to blame.

They fell behind 32-21 at halftime after shooting 21 percent from the field. They made just two 2-point baskets during the first half.

The shooting was much better in the second half (52 percent), but that's when rebounding woes doomed Virginia.

It was outrebounded for the first time all season (44-30). The Cavaliers surrendered 14 offensive boards.

Sophomore forward Mike Scott said his three total rebounds were "embarrassing," while Landesberg was even less complimentary.

"They were punking us on the boards," he said.

Leitao also didn't enjoy watching Auburn retrieve nearly every loose ball. He said the rebounding troubles were the primary reason he cited a lack of "passion" as the team's downfall.

"We had instances where either our perimeter people were standing at the elbow, or our post people were standing at the block, while [the Tigers] were jumping," Leitao said. "You're not going to survive like that."

The Cavaliers also aren't going to survive with the poor point guard play they received yesterday.

Zeglinski and Calvin Baker combined to shoot just 6-of-22 from the floor. In the first half, they shot a combined 1-of-12 and registered just two assists.

Baker was particularly erratic, but Leitao said the entire team was out of sync.

He said the Cavaliers gave away "possession after possession after possession" in the first half, which allowed the Tigers to open their 11-point lead.

"We were making cuts just to make cuts, passing just to pass," Leitao said. "It wasn't in attack mode."

Landesberg and fellow freshman Assane Sene were the only players who consistently attacked yesterday. Landesberg finished with a game-high 22 points. Sene, a 7-foot reserve center, finished with just two points, but had nine rebounds, and four blocks and was an intimidating presence on defense.

The Cavaliers hope to put forth a better showing tomorrow when they host Hampton before their Atlantic Coast Conference opener at Georgia Tech next Sunday.

 

Effort isn’t there for Cavaliers
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: December 21, 2008

There’s a board in the Virginia locker room that lists several points of emphasis for Coach Dave Leitao’s basketball team.

One of them is to play with passion — a tenet that Leitao has believed in ever since he has been associated with the game of basketball.

For whatever reason, the Cavaliers didn’t get that message on Saturday when they lost for the fourth time in their last five outings. A passionless bunch, the Wahoos dropped a 58-56 home game to a mediocre-at-best Auburn team that improved to 5-5.

Meanwhile, UVa slumped to 4-4, its worst start since Leitao’s first season (2005-06).

The coach, often spotted displaying his displeasure on the court, was soft-spoken off it after getting little out of his team in front of a home crowd listed at slightly more than 11,000, an obviously inflated figure.

Talk about the passion

“Two things we emphasized were to execute a game plan and do it with a high level of passion,” Leitao said. “We didn’t sustain either and it obviously cost us in the beginning, it cost us in the middle, and it cost us late.”

The Cavs trailed 32-21 at the half and were down

42-30 with 15 minutes left in the game even though Leitao clearly lit up his team during the halftime talk.

Still, it seemed only a few got the message. The others must have had visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.

One thing became abundantly clear. If this team — which at this point doesn’t seem to have a bright future come ACC time — is going to do anything, then the freshmen are going to have to lead the way.

Freshman Sylven Landesberg got the message, although it didn’t pop up in his inbox until halftime. Better late than never.

Held to seven points in the first half (one field goal), Landesberg was so fired up when he came out for the second half that he wanted the ball in his hands every time down the floor.

A note to the rest of the Cavaliers — that’s called passion.

Sylven against the world

He finished with a team-high 22 points, the only UVa player to score in double figures. That hasn’t happened in almost exactly two years when the Cavs squeaked past Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in the San Juan Shootout.

We don’t want to go there. Believe me, if you had seen it firsthand like me and about 43 other people in the arena, you wouldn’t want to revisit that putrid display of basketball that set the game back all the way to peach baskets.

Even though Jeff Lebo’s Auburn team did everything in its power to keep Landesberg away from the basket, including fouling him what seemed like a thousand times, he still got the job done, including a 10 of 14 showing from the foul line.

Another freshman, point guard Sammy Zeglinski, turned it on for most of the second half after playing in a zombie-like state for the first 20 minutes.

Together, the firm of Landesberg, Zeglinski & Scott fought back and took the lead at 52-50 with 5:24 to play and held the lead until two Tigers treys from Bonusphere nearly sealed UVa’s doom with 82 seconds to go.

From there, the Cavs found ways to botch any hopes of cheating the Reaper.

After an 0 for 6 first half, Zeglinski finished with nine points and five assists, including a couple of nifty passes inside to a chomping-at-the-bit Mike Scott. Yes, Virginia, it is legal to toss the ball inside the painted area.

Meanwhile, veterans like Mamadi Diane and Jamil Tucker created a new statistic: dribbling around a lot without any dividends. Diane, who was expected to take up much of the scoring slack created by Sean Singletary’s departure, played 20 minutes, didn’t take a shot and had no rebounds and no assists. Tucker was 0 for 2 and played nine minutes of uninspiring basketball.

In other words, as you sit there drinking your morning coffee and juice, you can feel great that you scored just as many points yesterday as Diane and Tucker — nada.

Though he had nine points and four assists, Calvin Baker made us all wonder just what he was doing sometimes, dribbling into traffic heavier than Route 29 at rush hour, failing to pass and instead putting up a shot that had a snowball’s chance.

Give Lebo’s Tigers some credit. They double-teamed Scott the few times the ball was worked inside. They confused UVa’s motion by switching defenses a few times and Auburn played, well, with passion.

What a concept.

“They weren’t beating us with talent but they were more aggressive, punking us on the boards, and everything,” Landesberg pointed out. “We were passive on offense and defense.”

Note to Virginia: these meetings you’re having a couple of times a week at the arena, they’re not a gathering of the Red Hat Society. It’s basketball. It’s dog eat dog.

Yes, Auburn punked you guys because you let ’em. And if you think the Tigers punked you, just wait until you visit Chapel Hill, Durham, College Park, Winston-Salem, and a few other choice destinations in the ACC.

Auburn isn’t very good, but you have to give them one thing. The Tigers play hard and they listen to their coach. Sometimes that will get you by when talent, or a lack thereof, won’t.

If this bunch of Cavaliers doesn’t get its act together soon, it’s going to be a very long winter. In a world of punk or be punked, Virginia’s players should listen to Landesberg talk about how he survived basketball in the playgrounds of New York City.

Right now, the Wahoos are being viewed by the outside world as a bunch of softies.

In the jungle that is the ACC, softies last about as long as Paris Hilton’s singing career.

With a road trip to Georgia Tech only a week away, and only one more warm-up game scheduled in between, the Cavaliers better start toughening up.

 

Littles fits right in with Cavs
By Jay Jenkins
Published: December 21, 2008

Lyndra Littles let her actions speak louder than her words.

The senior forward was in limbo, sidelined for several weeks while awaiting word on her impending return to the Virginia women’s basketball team. While reserving comment during the emotionally troubling time, Littles often went the extra mile inside and out of practice settings to serve as a veteran role model.

“One thing about Lyndra, there was a point where she didn’t know what was going to happen, nobody knew what was going on, but she never stopped working hard,” said Virginia guard Monica Wright. “Every day in practice she brought it. That’s one thing that I am really proud of her for, she never once gave the team the runaround or gave up.

“She always worked hard in practice and she gave us everything she had. That’s what we appreciated about it.”

One early sign of commitment came when Littles waited at the airport for the team’s return following their stunning road victory over Tennessee in November.

“I was acting like a crazy woman when they showed up at the airport in the middle of the night,” Littles joked.

Days later, she hopped in a car and drove to Norfolk on her own dime to watch Virginia’s loss at Old Dominion.

Littles, who once questioned her own issues with her maturation process as a student-athlete, also agreed to run point guard for the Cavaliers’ scout team.

Well, that did take some getting accustomed to.

“At first I was actually going back and forth with coach. I said, ‘I am not a point guard.’ I was like, ‘I don’t want to play point guard,’” Littles recounted. “Then once I did it consistently, it improved my ball handling and actually it became fun.”

More importantly, Littles, who will play her second game of the season today at 1 p.m. at home against Mount St. Mary’s, was not a distraction for a team searching for an early-season identity.

Littles, after learning the she had been certified by Virginia officials Thursday, enjoyed a dazzling debut. She scored 17 points in 21 minutes as the 17th-ranked Cavaliers improved to 8-2.

Despite having to sit, the senior’s absence allowed Virginia coach Debbie Ryan to find meaningful minutes for underclassmen, including freshman Chelsea Shine.

“I think obviously it is a great asset to have her back and to develop all the players that we were able to develop in the first nine games was excellent,” Ryan said. “We had a chance to give freshmen really great playing time in critical times, critical situations where they had to learn.

“They had to step up and now you have a much stronger team because they had to step up and Chelsea Shine was the recipient of a lot of Lyndra’s playing time. It’s going to be good for her as time goes on.”

Having been inserted into the starting lineup for the first time in her career on Thursday, Shine scored 14 points. She is likely to start again today, but it is a temporary move.

“Lyndra is probably going to sneak in there and start at some point,” Ryan said. “It doesn’t really matter to Chelsea and it doesn’t really matter to me either. I think Chelsea is just as comfortable coming off the bench. She just gives us energy.

“I don’t think it is fair to the team to start Lyndra at this point. Lyndra has to earn that back. She is going to sit there for a little while and come off the bench. She has no problem with that and I don’t think she wanted me to start her [against Monmouth]. I think she knows this team has been playing without her and she has to earn her spot back, and I agree with her. That’s something that both of us understand that a team develops people who as we go through the season have to earn their spot, and she is going to have to earn her spot now.”

Having played a game with her teammates, Littles sees the “sky as the limit” for the Cavaliers.

“We can be awesome,” Littles said. “I think that’s what good teams do to become great teams. When you lose somebody you recollect yourself and you focus on what your main goal is, and then you work hard.

“I think this team has worked hard and we put in the work.”