Season Defined

Well, I went out on a limb and said the Miami game was a must-win for the basketball program; that it was a game that would ultimately define the season. The Hoos hung for a while, but eventually fell 74-62. Mike Scott was held scoreless, and seemed listless all game.

Season defined.

We weren't good enough to survive an unfairly-scheduled five-game meat grinder against ACC teams headed to the NCAA Tournament (Wake, VT, Maryland, FSU, Clemson), and the losing set us on a downward spiral that led to another loss in Coral Gables. Next is a home game against Duke, and another certain loss. Next week's game at Boston College represents our last chance to rally for a .500 record this season.

I think we all knew that there would be no quick fixes for Tony Bennett with this team. However, the 5-2 start in ACC play inflated everyone's expectations... that the team failed to live up to those expectations isn't much a surprise to me. I think there are really a few things that need to happen before Virginia Basketball is an NCAA Tournament contender once again:

1) Cycling the Leitao players out of the program.
Our roster is littered with scholarship players who are poor fits for Bennett Ball. Guards who aren't sound with the ball, aren't particularly good off the bounce, aren't consistent defenders, and aren't reliable shooters/scorers -- Farrakhan, Jeff Jones, and Calvin Baker. Wings who are one-dimensional or no-dimensional -- Tristan Spurlock and Solomon Tat. A big who lacks the basketball experience/acumen to play sound low post defense -- Assane Sene. We're trying grind out a season with an extremely flawed and at times downright dysfunctional roster. To Coach Bennett's credit, sometimes it has worked. But we need to see these players listed above exiting the program, and their scholarships filled by players who are better fits in Bennett's systems... and frankly just all-around better players overall.

2) Layering talent. Specifically, layering talent that can SCORE.
Anyone who has watched UVA play this season can tell you that we have Sylven Landesberg scoring the ball, often Mike Scott scoring the ball, and on rare occasions Sam Zeglinski, Mustapha Farrakhan, or Jeff Jones scoring the ball. Jerome Meyinsse has pitched in some garbage buckets from time to time. Beyond that, we have no scoring. Sene and Jontel Evans are offensive liabilities when they're on the court, and that's putting it very gently. Virginia Basketball won't win consistently until/unless we can put three reliable scorers and five scoring threats on the court at all times, which means we need a MINIMUM of six players on the roster who can score on a dependable basis. Right now we have two such players (maybe two-and-a-half if you count Sammy.) Coach Bennett preaches defense and ball security first, but you can't ever win games if you can't outscore the other team. We need an influx of athleticism, of low post grit, of winning mentality and hustle, but especially of confident and competent scoring ability. Every single recruiting class needs to include at least one guard who can score and one big who can generate offense. More importantly, every recruiting class must include legit ACC-level talent. No more scholarship-swallowing stiffs!

3) Overcoming the losing mentality.
Face facts. It's a harsh reality, but right now the Virginia basketball team is soft. Need proof? They have generally struggled to win close games this season (think back to the Stanford, Penn State, Auburn, and both Virginia Tech games.) Other than against Cleveland State and ACC cellar-dweller NC State, they have proven themselves unable to overcome adversity. They allow poor efforts to snowball into embarrassing blowouts (think back to the USF, Maryland, Florida State, and both Wake Forest games.) But why is this happening? With an energetic new coach and a mostly excited fanbase, how has this happened? I think you need to look no further than a damning lack of on-court leadership. There may be some big personalities on this team, but none of them have stepped up as the rallying point for the team during difficult times. I think Coach Bennett can develop some leaders, but I also think overcoming three seasons worth of losing will be a difficult thing for this current group of players to accomplish. We have no players who strike me as the type of guy who just flat out refuses to lose. And that's an alarming realization. Losing has become weirdly comfortable to these guys, it seems.



So what's the answer?

At this point, all I can say is CLEAN HOUSE.

The scholarships of Calvin Baker, Jamil Tucker, Solomon Tat, and Jerome Meyinsse come off the books after this season. Baker and Tat are good stories, and Mayo plays hard, but I say good riddance to all. None of them are legit ACC-level players.

Rumors are swirling that Tristan Spurlock and/or Assane Sene might transfer after this season. If it happens, I say good riddance. Spurlock is about the worst fit any player could be with a Bennett team, and Sene hasn't improved in nearly 19 months in Charlottesville. He's not skilled enough and not disciplined enough to ever be a reliable contributor to a Bennett team.

Finally, Sylven Landesberg might still be mulling the jump to the NBA. I don't think he's ready, at all. I hope he gets that message and decides to stick around, because losing his scoring ability would absolutely cripple any chances that next year's team has to be competitive in ACC play. But if he puts on the blinders and charges ahead to the next level, I have to say good riddance. He's still a defensive liability, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. His flat unwillingness to step up as a leader has been beyond frustrating to watch.


Tony Bennett needs to be ready to build around the core of this team -- Landesberg (if he stays), Mike Scott, Sam Zeglinski, Jontel Evans, and the incoming freshmen.

The "next step" for the 2010-2011 effort will be to establish a few more reliable scorers, develop some sort of baseline toughness level for the team, and assemble another good recruiting class.

It's going to be a long, hard process, and it's only just begun. More patience is required... which really sucks. I'm tired of waiting.