Virginia Basketball 2009- ULS: Unidentified Losing Season

First off I’d like to own up to my predictions. I went an astonishing 0 for 4 yesterday including being incredibly wrong about Georgia Tech. Clemson should be thoroughly embarrassed and should not get higher than a 6 seed following that performance, which has been a theme down the stretch this season. Maryland played much better than I expected, especially Eric Hayes, let’s see how long they can keep it going. Miami continues to disappoint me greatly. Jack McClinton only took 11 shots yesterday and they had absolutely no chance with that happening.

                That brings me to the topic of today’s article which is the end of UVA’s season. I think it’s appropriate that the season ended on a game that was full of boneheaded coaching decision and an inconsistent lineup. Mamadi Diane ended his career at UVA with a career-high 24 points. The game was lost however in the first half when the Hoos had one of their signature 5 minute scoreless streaks when Coach Leitao inexplicably had Diane, his leading scorer at that point, sitting on the bench. The Hoos fell behind by 10 during this span and could never recover, despite the efforts of Diane and Jamil Tucker, who finished with 13. Other highlights from the game included Mike Scott’s 12 hard fought rebounds. He and Sylven Landesberg unfortunately struggled to score only mustering 14 points between them.

                No one expected UVA to win this game that didn’t have a substantial rooting interest towards them, so no one should really be upset with the outcome. However there is one glaring thing that I’ve noticed that should raise a few eyebrows, and that was the play of Mamadi Diane. Diane had 20+ points for his second straight game last night but could also be seen offering words of encouragement to Landesberg and Scott who were both struggling to score. This is the role that Diane should have been in all season. Whether it was a crisis of confidence due to Coach Leitao’s constant yelling or lingering effects of off season ankle surgery Diane could never quite seem to ascend to the level of play that we’ve seen out of him the last few games. I personally believe that Coach Leitao made a mistake in burying Diane on the bench, despite what previous articles have been perceived as. When I wrote after the NC State loss that Diane should not have been playing it was not because I think Diane is a bad player, but that it seemed to me that Coach Leitao was moving more towards the youth of the team and that if that was the case then Diane should not have gotten those minutes. I think the recent reinsertion of Diane into the lineup further shows the Coach Leitao still didn’t know what he wanted the team’s identity to be even to the bitter end. If he wanted to go with the youth movement Diane should never have played. But if he wanted to have Diane on the floor to help develop younger players like Sylven Landesberg then he should have been doing that all season long. Last night to me demonstrated the importance of having a player like Mamadi on a young team can be. I think the only reason Virginia even kept it within 13 points is because of the leadership and maturity that Diane showed. Without that leadership I don’t think this young team would have been able to keep it close for as long as they did and that 5 minute scoreless streak would have been the end of the road. Last night’s performance showed that Mamadi should have had a much larger role on this year’s team and his recent playing time shows that the coaching staff was still undecided on the identity of the team, which I think is the theme of the year.

Wahoos Roll at JPJ

Virginia 75    Virginia Tech 61

                 The UVA men’s basketball team had an extremely impressive performance against the hokies last night at the John Paul Jones arena. Led by Sylven Landesberg’s 19 points and 9 rebounds the Cavaliers showed that last Sunday’s win over Clemson was no fluke and hinted that good things may be to come. In addition to Landesberg, Jamil Tucker added 13 points off the bench and Calvin Baker had 10.

What was the most impressive thing however was Coach Leitao’s willingness to stick with the lineup on the floor that he has exhibited over the last 3 games. I don’t know where the man who would yank Solomon Tat after 45 seconds for dribbling the ball off of his foot but I like this new coach. Without the pressure of being taken out players like Jeff Jones have really started to blossom and thrive in the offense and the team is playing better as a whole. At one point Jones, who scored 8 points in 26 minutes and was 40% from 3-point range, made an incredible reverse lay-up. This was the kind of play and aggressiveness that was just not there earlier in the season. The team is now more relaxed when they play and is more willing to take risks and allow plays like that to happen because they no longer fear getting the hook if they screw up.

This mentality also extends to the defensive end of the court. You can say all you want about Jeff Allen being suspended but Assane Sene was a beast in the paint last night. The stat line doesn’t show anything too impressive, 4 points, 4 boards, and 2 blocks, but Sene’s mere presence helped stifle the attack of Virginia Tech. Sene’s presence in the lane as a shot blocker allows the cavalier’s perimeter defenders to be more aggressive in attacking the ball because there are no easy shots with the 7 foot shot blocker in the middle of the lane. This more aggressive defense allowed the Cavaliers to push the tempo of the game all night long to the point where the less athletic Hokies just could not keep up anymore.

I thought the Hoos looked best with Zeglinski at point, Jones at the 2, Landesberg at the 3, Scott at the 4, and Sene in the middle. This lineup is extremely talented but more importantly, extremely young. Seeing this team excel to the level it did last night gives me incredible optimism for the future of UVA basketball. This has been driving me nuts all year but Leitao seems to have finally settled, or resigned to, this younger developing lineup. This collection of 2 freshman and 3 sophmores could easilybe the starting 5 for the next 2 seasons and probably should have been all of this season. This group plays fast, exciting, and aggressive basketball lead by the dynamic scoring ability of Sylven Landesberg, who has emerged as the teams go to player even as a freshman. With big bodies like Scott and Sene to clean up the boards, Zeglinski to distribute and Jones to alleviate some of the defensive pressure on the inside with his ability to hit the three this team has all the pieces in place to be not just a good, but I believe a great ACC team in the future. Even their bench is strong. Jamil Tucker consistently provides a spark off the bench and Mustapha Farrakahn has shown flashes of brilliance. The core players of the UVA basketball team are young and talented and last night’s game showed that and also made me extremely excited for the future, and I hope everyone else is too.