Cavs get shot at redemption

If everyone can agree that Virginia’s infamous trip to Puerto Rico for the San Juan Shootout back in December of 2007 was the lowest point of the Dave Leitao era, then last year’s sojourn to Ohio is surely a close second.
Yes, UVa’s 108-70 loss at Xavier would definitely fall under the subheading of “Burn after Viewing.”
The loss to the Musketeers was even worse than the score looked. The Cavaliers allowed Xavier to shoot 64 percent from the field, including a Playstation-like 16 of 26 (62 percent) from 3-point range.
Leading by 31 points at the half, Xavier players set a goal of winning by 60. That wound up being about the only statistical milestone they didn’t reach (probably because coach Sean Miller emptied his bench early).
“[The] first play [of the game] we gave up a dunk and all five guys were in violation of where they were supposed to be, and it went on from there,” said Leitao afterward.
And that brings us to this afternoon’s rematch between the schools at John Paul Jones Arena.
So many times, teams claim to use the memory of a bad performance as motivation. It usually works for about the game’s first five minutes.
However, in this case — given last year’s calamity — you’d think that Xavier (10-2) would have UVa’s attention for the duration.
“It left a bitter taste in our mouth,” said Virginia junior Jamil Tucker. “Coach stresses to us that having them come to our house, we can’t let the same thing happen again…
“I would definitely say that was the worst game ever — just from beginning to end.”
Virginia (6-4) should have plenty of mojo heading into this one. The Wahoos are coming off one of their best performances of the season — a gutty overtime win at Georgia Tech on Sunday night that featured several heroes.
Xavier, after winning its first nine games and ascending to No. 7 in the nation, has hit a bit of a rough patch. The Musketeers were hammered by Duke, then lost at home to Butler.
Xavier, now ranked 22nd, has most of its team intact from last season. The one big loss was pint-sized point guard Drew Lavender, who outplayed Sean Singletary.
“He had been for them a tremendous lead guard, point guard,” Leitao said. “He was a very good coach on the floor and those kinds of things.”
The subtraction of Lavender has transformed Xavier into more of an inside-oriented team, according to Leitao. “[They] try and get the ball below the foul line with post-ups and drives a lot more than they did last year because the ball’s not in his hands as much,” Leitao said.
Virginia may look to press more, given the fact that guards Terrell Holloway and Dante Jackson have 49 turnovers to just 51 assists.
One matchup to keep an eye on will be between Xavier’s leading scorer Derek Brown (14.2 PPG) and UVa’s Mike Scott.
“It will be a big challenge for Mike or any of our guys because he has so many different dimensions, starting with his tremendous athleticism,” Leitao said. “He does some things that you marvel at.”
Leitao said his players have to be careful not to get too revved up for the rematch.
“It can work against you as much as it can work for you,” he said. “[It’s a] different venue, different year, lot of different players, different structure, and so we have to be able to take care of the matters at hand with this particular team.
“But I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some level or part of their mind that wasn’t on last year.”
Dunks
Virginia freshman Sylven Landesberg (19.1 PPG) may have his work cut out for him today when he faces Xavier’s C.J. Anderson and B.J. Raymond. “Both of those guys match-up [with Landesberg] size-wise and are physical and have a mindset that I think is a challenge for [Landesberg],” Leitao said. “As a five-man unit, I think they’re about as solid of a defensive team as we’ve seen.”…Leitao said Mamadi Diane’s struggles probably have to do with a number of factors, including the senior tri-captain not having time to work on his game over the summer because of offseason foot surgery, the new 3-point line, not as many open shots without Sean Singletary and the resulting lack of confidence. Diane, Virginia’s leading returning scorer from last season, is averaging only 4.1 points so far.