Leitao stresses mental strength

Toward the end of practice on Saturday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia coach Dave Leitao decided it was time to see what his players were really made of.

Leitao’s final drill required groups of players to make 82 end-to-end layups in two minutes. For the mathematically challenged, that’s a deuce about every 1.46 seconds.

On their first attempt, the players hit just 76. On their second, they notched 80. On their third, they made 79.

At that point, Leitao asked Mamadi Diane, one of just two seniors on the team, if he should lower the target number.

“No!” Diane shouted, for all his teammates to hear.

Diane then gathered everyone at midcourt.

“He was telling us to catch our breath since some of us were kind of tired,” explained Virginia sophomore Mike Scott. “He was just saying we had to dig down real deep.

“We realized it was the last drill of practice and we had been going hard for two days. We knew if we could just get through the drill, we would be finished.”

On the fourth attempt, the players finally found their mark, finishing with 85. A dunk by freshman John Brandenburg was the clinching basket.

“Coach was just stressing mental toughness,” Scott said. “We should have made 82 on the first time. It shouldn’t have taken four or five times to do it. It’s all about mental toughness.”

That’s a trait that wasn’t on display too frequently last season when Virginia finished 10th in the ACC.

This season, Virginia must adapt to life without three-time first-team All-ACC guard Sean Singletary, the heart and soul of the team.

Diane is the team’s leading returning scorer, but he will also be counted on to fill some of the leadership void left by Singletary’s departure. That’s what made his rallying-the-troops display during the drill so encouraging.

“I talked to him about [leadership] off the court,” Leitao said, “and I talk to him about it when he’s on the court in allowing him the space to do it.”

When you consider the youth on this year’s Virginia squad — eight of the 13 scholarship players are freshmen and sophomores — Diane’s biggest contributions may have just as much to do with how leads as how he shoots.

Leitao admitted that some of his freshmen — who had only heard about his hard practices — were probably in a little bit of a shock following the first two days in the gym.

“It’s always a little more difficult, especially when you come from high school and you don’t really practice with that kind of intensity for that long period of time before,” he said.

Dunks

Leitao said he had no idea how long Jamil Tucker (shoulder) and Calvin Baker (foot) would be out. “I don’t know from a doctor’s standpoint,” he said, “but you try and concern yourself with how quickly they can get back. We won’t know exactly until we get all the information. Jamil’s has been ongoing for a little while, but it just got worse. Because Calvin’s just came up, [we don’t know] how much time it’s going to cost him.”… Sophomore Jeff Jones twisted his ankle midway though practice and didn’t return. However, Leitao said he didn’t expect the guard to miss any time.