ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603110097
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C.
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA NEVER LIVED UP to expectations, and had its second losing season in 19 years.
It wasn't that long ago that Virginia was picked third in the ACC and 19th in the country and was full of promise for its men's basketball future.
How could so many people have been so wrong about this team?
``We are better than 12-14,'' UVa coach Jeff Jones said prior to the ACC tournament. ``We should be better than 12-14. But, we have not played better than 12-14 and that is our fault.
``When we were down at ACC Operation Basketball, I heard that Harold [Deane] said we were the team to beat. I said, `Harold, what the hell are you talking about?' We flat-out weren't ready to be that kind of team.''
The expectations created by a 25-9 season in 1995 did not fade quickly. The Cavaliers spent seven weeks in the polls, rising as high as No.15, and as late as Feb.21 were a four-point choice to beat ACC front-runner Georgia Tech.
The Cavaliers led the Yellow Jackets by 12 points in the first half and lost. They led Duke by 17 points in the first half and lost. Six of their 10 ACC losses came in games they led at the half.
Compare that to the 1994-95 season, when they led at the half in only five ACC games, but finished 12-4 and tied for first in the regular season. UVa was that rare team that seldom blew leads but frequently overcame big deficits.
Maybe that developed a false sense of security because, as junior Jamal Robinson pointed out Friday night, ``These uniforms aren't what get it done. It's the players inside the uniforms.''
The Cavaliers got themselves in position to win again Friday night, when they were tied with Wake Forest twice in the early stages of the second half. However, in what has become a familiar scenario, the Deacons made a run - two runs, in fact - and broke open the game.
Remarkably, none of Virginia's losses were by fewer than five points. In 1994-95, the Cavaliers were in every game until the end. This year, nine of their 15 losses were by 10 points or more, many in games that were close for a while.
``How do you explain it?'' Robinson asked a reporter who was ready to pose the same question to him.
Youth and inexperience may have been a factor, but not as much as UVa's talent or the distribution of that talent. Too many of Virginia's best players played the same position - on the perimeter - and not all of them had good years.
Deane, who finished second to Wake Forest's Tim Duncan in preseason All-ACC voting, shot only 34.4 percent from the field and had more turnovers (104) than assists (99).
``I felt bad, as a player, if I didn't have a three-to-one assist ratio,'' said Jones, who played point guard at Virginia from 1978-82. ``As a coach, even two-to-one is not satisfactory.''
In Deane's defense, many of his turnovers came when he tried to get the ball to UVa's two post players, Chris Alexander and Norman Nolan. Alexander wasn't good at coming to meet the ball and, when he did, there was no guarantee he would hold onto it.
The biggest disappointment might have been Nolan, a 6-foot-8, 243-pounder. In maybe his greatest miscalculation, Jones said before the season that Nolan, if given comparable minutes, would approach the production of NBA-bound Junior Burrough.
Nolan didn't come close to Burrough the sophomore, much less the Burrough who averaged nearly 25 points in the last eight games of the 1994-95 season. Nolan, who may have led the ACC in shots had blocked, scored in double figures once in the last seven games.
``His practice habits definitely, absolutely [and] without question need to improve,'' Jones said. ``It's something we've been on him about for a long time.
``At times, he gets shots blocked because he's being guarded by a taller defender. The fact that it happens so often is the result of poor shots and either an inability or simply not gathering himself to explode quickly.''
Nolan usually drew taller defenders because Alexander was no threat offensively. Alexander played in 105 games, starting 59, without ever scoring in double figures.
The Cavaliers could have survived with Alexander's lack of offense if he had been a force on the boards. Although he was an outstanding defensive player, Alexander frequently was victimized for second-chance baskets.
UVa gave up 38 offensive rebounds in its last two games with Wake Forest, including a 70-60 loss Friday night in the ACC tournament. It left the Cavaliers at 12-15, only their second losing season in the past 19 years.
There is no indication that things will be better next year, despite the return of UVa's top five scorers. The center position is a mystery following the arrest Tuesday night of recruit Melvin Whitaker.
It could be argued that Virginia has not had a more critical signee than Whitaker, a 6-10, 225-pounder. However, it is highly doubtful that Whitaker, who faces a felony charge of malicious wounding, ever will play for Virginia.
Earlier, UVa freshmen Scott Johnson and Darryl Presley had been arrested on petty-larceny charges Feb.13. Although Presley continued to practice, but not play, Johnson dropped off the team this week.
``Darryl and Scott made childish mistakes,'' Robinson said. ``We didn't really know Melvin, but you never would have thought he would have done [what has been alleged]. You have to wonder what was going through his mind.''
Virginia's fall recruiting class, with Whitaker, was ranked among the top 15 in the country. Without him, it gives the Cavaliers some more of what they have in perimeter players Willie Dersch, a McDonald's All-American, and Monte Marcaccini, a transfer from Pepperdine.
The starting center right now would be 7-4 Chase Metheney, who committed 24 fouls in 77 minutes of ACC play (12.5 per 40 minutes). Recruit Colin Ducharme, once viewed as a likely redshirt, could press Metheney for a starting job.
``I can't say I'm excited about next year because I'd rather be playing right now,'' said Courtney Alexander, the Cavaliers' third ACC All-Freshman player in as many seasons. ``I guess `curious' is the best way to describe it.''
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Wake Forest's Tim Duncan (left) swats a shot attemptby CNBby Virginia's Norman Nolan on Friday.