The Elephant in the Room

No, I'm not purposefully trying to ignore the utterly gut-wrenching loss we suffered to Virginia Tech in overtime last night. In fact, I'm still just trying to process it. What does it all mean? Some assorted thoughts:

• Sylven Landesberg is a great player. But he's no superstar. And he's no Sean Singletary. And he's not ready for the NBA, not even close. My complaints with Sylven run three deep: 1) he's not good defensively, 2) his jumper, while improved, is still not a weapon that he's confident in using, and 3) he's afraid to take and make the big shot (UNCW game-winner notwithstanding); he hasn't developed into the closer we so desperately need him to be. Landesberg needs to be a four-year player, but I fear he'll hamstring the program by trying to leave early. The NBA doesn't care if you can't play defense, but that league does tend to dislike shrinking violets.
• Virginia Tech has surpassed Virginia in the pecking order of college basketball. But given the facilities at each school, the tradition, and the coaching talent, I think this is a short-term development. This Virginia Tech team is average at best, and this average team is at or near the peak of what they can accomplish. Our team is currently below average when it comes to ACC talent, and last night's loss proved it. I'm not worried about the trajectory of our program, nor am I concerned that Tech has now become a better basketball school than UVA.
• We're not an NCAA Tournament team this year. We might be an NIT team. Virginia fans should rejoice if Tony Bennett can coax a winning season out of this bunch. I'm not down on the team or the players, mind you... just taking a realistic look at the roster. We have two players who should be ACC starters (Landesberg and Mike Scott), and a few others that belong on ACC rosters as role players. We have some guys on our team receiving regular playing time that simply do not belong on an ACC-caliber roster.
• $10 tickets... Ergg... Well, let me start by saying that I applaud the athletic department for FINALLY realizing that they had priced themselves out of being able to attract new fans and rectifying the problem by offering a cheap ticket option. The idea sort of backfired when the Hokies scraped together enough pizza delivery money to invade our home arena en masse. Why was the Duke game ticket price not lowered, but Virginia Tech was? Somebody in the ticket office made a blunder that must be called out. Furthermore, Virginia fans need to make it a freaking point to keep Hokies out of and away from our home games!
• Tony Bennett will get it done at UVA. My confidence in this fact wasn't shaken at all by last night's game. Once he stockpiles his own talent and gets his systems ingrained in the players to the point that they execute on an instinctive level, we'll be where Washington State was over the last few years -- winning consistently, Tournament appearances every two out of three years, consistent trips to the Sweet Sixteen. We'll get there. Be patient.
• I hate Virginia Tech fans now more than ever. They are the scum of the earth. They pick fights and are openly contemptuous. I wish them nothing but the worst, forever more. Jeff Allen and Virginia Tech deserve each other.