Men's Basketball
Team of the Week
Jan 19th
Written before yesterday’s near-catastrophe, clearly, but nice to see that ESPN’s Andy Katz has named Virginia the national “team of the week” for last week:
There’s no way I thought UVa would nab this honor in mid-January.
I knew coach Tony Bennett could take a collection of players, mold them into his style and maximize the talent. But he’s clearly exceeding the expectations for this squad.
Virginia was projected to finish with NC State at the bottom of the ACC. Three games into conference play, the Cavaliers are the only undefeated team in the league and looking as confident as any other squad in the conference.
Virginia isn’t just squeezing out wins, either. This past week Virginia beat Georgia Tech after the Yellow Jackets had beaten Duke. Georgia Tech then went on the road and beat North Carolina. Clearly, the Yellow Jackets are one of the most talented teams in the ACC. So taking out Georgia Tech, keeping the Yellow Jackets off the free-throw line (3-of-11) and playing an unselfish game was no fluke.
Virginia is getting balanced scoring from Sylven Landesberg, Mike Scott, Sammy Zeglinski and Mustapha Farrakhan. But it’s the defense down the stretch that is winning games.
In the win over Miami, Virginia blitzed the Hurricanes with a 33-21 halftime lead and never looked back.
That means the Cavaliers have won three games against teams that were ranked in the AP poll at one point (UAB, Georgia Tech and Miami).
Virginia is still fragile. The Cavs could easily lose to anyone remaining on their schedule. But if the home court continues to be a staple for them, then it’s not unrealistic to think they can win at least six more ACC games. If they do, the Cavs would be 9-7 in conference play and right there to get an NCAA berth. That in itself was unthinkable two months ago, a credit to Bennett and to the players who believed in him like the ones who did at Washington State. The Bennett hire was questioned, only because he came from out of the region. It was never an issue about his coaching.
I really anxious to see how UVa plays this weekend against Wake. It’ll be an interesting litmus test of where this team stands right now.
Some pub for Tony Bennett
Jan 18th
John Feinstein is pretty much unreadable when he isn’t writing about golf, and he’s a Dukie, so you pretty much have to disregard anything he says. Give the devil his due, though: his recent profile of Tony Bennett for the WaPo is a decent, if shallow, read.
The Tony Bennett Effect
Jan 18th
So I’m watching the ESPNU broadcast of Virginia’s win over Miami, and they posted the most amazing stat. Want the clearest example you can imagine of the effect Tony Bennett has had on this program: Check out the following statistics:
–Turnovers. Last year, UVa ranked 242nd in the nation in number of turnovers. This year: 3rd in the nation.
–Assist/Turnover Ratio. Last year: 245th. This year: 15th.
–3-Point FG%. Last year: 242nd. This year: 7th.
–Points Allowed. Last year: 294th. This year: 23rd.
Those numbers are simply astounding. Mind-blowing.
This team has already accomplished more than anyone could have hoped, and I won’t be disappointed no matter what happens the rest of the way. At this point, however, I must say it:
Tony Bennett is a miracle worker.
Break up the Hoos!
Jan 13th
Six straight wins? Two wins, no losses in ACC competition? What’s going on with Tony Bennett’s Cavs?
Sylven Landesberg scored 22 points and Virginia used a 16-4 run late in the second half to surge past Georgia Tech (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 AP) 82-75 on Wednesday night.
Virginia (10-4, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its sixth straight game, its longest winning streak since it won seven in a row in the 2006-07 season, and opened ACC play 2-0 for the first time since 1994-95, when the Cavaliers won their first four conference games.
That’s right; this is the first time the Hoos started 2-0 in the ACC since I was a third year. That blows my mind. If you will recall, that was a pretty good season (Elite Eight).
Wow. Just…wow. Tony Bennett for President.
Will Sherrill profile
Jan 10th
Nice profile of Will Sherrill in the Washington Post yesterday:
Considering Will Sherrill’s background, the Virginia junior forward would appear better suited for the White House than an ACC front court. He grew up in New York’s Upper East Side, boarded in high school at the renowned Phillips Andover Academy in Massachusetts and is pursuing double majors in history and economics at U-Va.
He was the sports editor of his high school newspaper, serves as a student-athlete mentor at Virginia and spent his summer interning with a hedge-fund firm. And after two seasons as the player cheering at the end of the Cavaliers’ bench, the walk-on has improbably carved a niche within first-year Coach Tony Bennett’s rotation.
Read the entire piece; it’s good stuff.
If you had told me before the season that a walk-on would be starting in the ACC opener, I would not have been optimistic. Sherrill plays hard, though, and he does the little things. He helps the team, and that’s all you can ask.
Hoos open ACC play with nice win
Jan 9th
The Cavalier men’s basketball team played perhaps their most complete game of the season this afternoon in Raleigh, NC. It couldn’t have happened at a better time: the opener of the ACC season. With a victory over NC State, the Hoos are now 1-0 and in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Sylven Landesberg had 23 points to lead the Hoos. Mike Scott had 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Sammy Zeglinski scored 10 and pulled down 8 boards.
The most encouraging aspect of the game was that Virginia really took care of the ball, much more so than we’ve seen out of the team all year. Zeglinski had only 1 turnover in 36 minutes of play; Calvin Baker had three assists and no turnovers. Yep, you read that right: Calvin Baker. The kid is playing under control, and he’s been a big asset to the team.
Virginia was down by ten points midway through the second half, but they clamped down on defense (we haven’t seen that often) and they looked determined to come back. Too frequently this season, this team has looked defeated when they got behind late in games. Today, no heads were drooped, and no one on the roster quit.
I’ve been saying it all season: Tony Bennett has this team pointed in the right direction. It’s taken some time, but today we all saw some real evidence of the progress Virginia has made thus far.
Nice ACC debut for Coach Bennett, on the road no less. Now he needs to forget about it. In the ACC, there’s always another tough game around the corner. For Bennett, that means a contest against Georgia Tech, who beat the Evil Empire today.
I hope to see JPJ full and rocking for that game on Wednesday night.
Ummmm…guys?
Jan 6th
I’ve given the Hoos the benefit of the doubt this year, but last night’s victory over UT-Pan American was a disgrace. That kind of effort isn’t going to cut it in ACC play.
More on the UAB win
Dec 31st
Jerry Ratcliffe (a “statement win“) and Jeff White (a “signature win“) on last night’s victory over UAB. (Plus, here is STL’s take.)
I think we’re in danger of overreacting to this win, but it was a nice showing for a team that was in need of a victory like this. I remain encouraged about the team’s direction.
Nice win!
Dec 31st
Wow, nice win for the Hoos over 24th-ranked UAB. That’s right, the guys beat a ranked team. No, it isn’t Kansas, but I’ll take it.
I listened to the first half of the game in the car via XM Radio; sounds like I picked the wrong half:
The biggest win of the young Tony Bennett era came just the way the first-year coach likes it. Defensively. Well, for a half at least. The Virginia men’s basketball team used a solid second-half defensive effort to rally past 24th-ranked UAB on Wednesday night, 72-63, the first win over a ranked team in Bennett’s short tenure.
Sylven Landesberg had 19 points and 6 rebounds, while Mike Scott made his return to the court with 10 points and 7 boards. Mustapha Farrakhan scored ten, but drew special praise from Coach Bennett for his work on the defensive end, especially against UAB’s Elijah Millsap in the second half.
I keep saying it: this team keeps improving. I don’t know how many they’ll win this year, but they’re going to be fun to watch, methinks.
